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(09/08/95 9:00am)
and Mike Tuhy The Chestnut Cabaret is dead. Long live FUBAR. At least, that seemed to be the sentiment of the crowd that club owner Jim Millspaugh invited to the grand reopening of his nightclub on 38th and Chestnut streets. Why the name change? "Because it's not the Chestnut Cabaret anymore," Millspaugh said, adding that the new club has cheaper prices and more "college-friendly" music. "We're trying to gear it more towards the college crowd," FUBAR manager Ryan Barnett said. Last semester, the Cabaret's prices were consistent with Delaware Avenue clubs such as Egypt and Maui. Barnett said FUBAR hopes to compete with the "college bars like Cavanaugh's and Smokey Joe's." For example, pitchers of beer will cost $3.50 and Tuesday nights will feature 25 cent draft beers. Also, students looking to start their Friday frolicking early can take advantage of FUBAR's $1 Happy Hour -- where all drinks cost a dollar -- from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Aside from drink specials, FUBAR offers patrons a psychedelic decor complete with neon strobe lights and a swirling spotlight which shines the club's logo onto the dance floor. The stage, which also featured the performance of the Long Beach Island, N.J., band Hyperactive, was dominated in the early hours by a big-screen TV alternating between the MTV Video Music Awards and a computer-animated movie about bees. Live bands will only perform on Thursday nights -- other nights will feature music supplied by disc jockeys ranging from WDRE's DJ Chaz to Asylum's DJ Rich Russo. The crowd itself was predominantly composed of "industry folk [friends and business associates of Millsbaugh's, plus area journalists]," according to one of the bartenders, though there was a smattering of University and Drexel University students. The student reaction was, for the most part, very positive. "Good stuff," was College junior Alex Saltzman's opinion of the revamped club. He plans on returning regularly because "the weekly line-up seems pretty good." Last night's one main drawback was the near-total lack of interest in the dance floor, which was only visited by a woman coaxed to dance by a City Paper photographer desperate for a good picture. "This kind of music you really can't dance to," Wharton senior Kelly Johnson said. "That's really my only problem -- that and the fact that I'm a little offended by the dress of some of the women." But what does FUBAR stand for? "It means whatever you think it does," Millspaugh said. "I just picked it out of a hat."
(09/01/95 9:00am)
In the past few years, Penn has developed by far the most dominant sports teams in the Ivy League. At the same time, the various Philadelphia professional sports teams have all gone into states of decline. However, one thing both Penn's teams and Philadelphia's pro teams have in common this year is a lot of question marks. Here's a rundown on the five major teams in Philadelphia, all of whom play at the CoreStates Spectrum/Veterans Stadium complex. Football After treading water the past four years under former coach Rich Kotite, the Philadelphia Eagles have a new head coach, former Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes. They also boast a new starting tailback, former 49er Ricky Watters, and some talented youngsters on defense. But the success of the team will, once again, fall squarely on the shoulders of enigmatic quarterback Randall Cunningham. If he can handle the "West Coast offense," the Eagles should be playoff-bound. If he flakes out again, the "Iggles" (as the devout fans call them) are in big trouble. Basketball When they drafted the 7'6" Mormon center Shawn Bradley in 1993 (passing up Anfernee Hardaway to do so), the management of the Philadelphia 76ers said it would take three years to gauge whether he'd be a star in the NBA. Well, this is the rail-thin Bradley's third season and it's time to find out once and for all whether he's the next Bill Walton or the next Manute Bol. At least Bradley will have help: forwards Clarence Weatherspoon and Sharone Wright have a lot of talent, and first-round draft pick Jerry Stackhouse has drawn comparisons (however guarded) to the Chicago Bulls' Michael Jordan. Hockey The Philadelphia Flyers should thank their lucky stars that they're prompt. Three years ago, if they had contacted the Quebec Nordiques an hour later about acquiring superstar center Eric Lindros, he would be wearing a New York Rangers sweater to this day. Instead, the Flyers got him as the centerpiece to their team and to the NHL's number-one scoring line: the so-called "Legion of Doom," comprised of Lindros, John LeClaire and Mikael Renberg. They made it to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, and don't be surprised to see them playing for the Stanley Cup next spring. Baseball In the early months of the season, it looked like the Phillies were going to run away with the National League East in their first full season since they won the NL Pennant two years ago. Since then, they went into a major freefall, falling nearly 15 games behind the Atlanta Braves. At press time, Jim Fregosi's team was still barely in the lead for the National League wild card race, but fans shouldn't get their hopes up too high; remember, the Phillies once lost the pennant after having an eight-game lead with ten games left in the season. Lacrosse The Philadelphia Wings are perennially one of the top teams in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (MILL), having won the league's last two championships. Until recently the City of Brotherly Love's best sports team boasted the brotherly superstar tandem of Paul and Gary Gait, who were both on the Syracuse team that beat Penn in the 1988 NCAA Lacrosse Final Four. However, Paul was recently traded, leaving Gary to carry the team on his own.
(09/01/95 9:00am)
In terms of quantity of theaters, Philadelphia is a lousy place to go to the movies. But in terms of quality, it's not half bad. At the moment, the Penn campus is home to only one movie theater, and there are only six others that are easily accessible by public transit. However, the ones that do exist range in quality from good to excellent. The pride of the Philadelphia cinema scene are the two Ritz theaters: the Ritz Five (214 Walnut St., 925-7900) and the Ritz at the Bourse (4th and Chestnut streets, 925-7900). The two theaters specialize in "art" movies (anything ranging from Schindler's List to Belle du Jour to Pulp Fiction), and between their ten total screens, odds are that virtually every art movie in current release will be playing here in Philadelphia. Cinemagic 3 at Penn (3925 Walnut St., 222-5555) just opened this summer on campus. For the most part, the theater shows mainstream fare, but there's usually at least one art movie playing at any one time -- for instance, at press time the theater was showing the Harvey Keitel film Smoke. The other local theaters generally show big-name movies. There's the AMC Midtown (Chestnut and Broad Streets, 567-7021), the AMC Olde City (Sansom St. between Front and 2nd streets, 627-5966) and the UA Sameric (1908 Chestnut St., 567-0604). The UA 69th Street (53 S. 69th St., (610) 734-0202) has a good selection and is only one block away from the 69th Street subway/surface station, but it is deep in West Philadelphia, so be careful if you go there. The only other movie theater of note in town is the UA Riverview Plaza (Reed and Delaware St., 755-2219), which has twelve screens -- and thus is usually showing every feature not available at the two Ritz theaters -- but is also only accessible by car. In addition to all the professional theaters, Penn has two on-campus film societies that regularly screen movies for students. The Penn Film Society, which shows at least one film a week at Irvine Auditorium during the semester, generally shows either recent mainstream movies (Sleepless in Seattle) or Hollywood classics (Citizen Kane). Threat Theatre, which shows films every other Wednesday night at Stiteler Hall, deals mainly in alternative fare, ranging from Hong Kong Kung Fu movies to horror films from New Zealand.
(03/29/95 10:00am)
To protest the fact that March is not also Black History Month, Vanessa Washington decided to picket an event sponsored by the new campus group White Women For Racism. But when the Wharton sophomore arrived at the group's meeting place in Houston Hall, she was shocked to be welcomed with open arms. Washington is now planning to file a grievance with the Office of Affirmative Action against the Women's Center, which sponsors WWFR. When Washington started marching outside of the meeting, Women's Center Director Elena DiLapi, the program facilitator, invited her inside. "Because of the structure and the purpose of your protest, it would not be appropriate for you to picket at this time," DiLapi told Washington. She then offered Washington some tea and scones. Washington and DiLapi started to discuss the issue when Nyota Singali, another African-American picketing the meeting, joined the discussion. She too was offered tea and scones. The group continued to foist pastry onto the two African-American women until Washington left in tears. Washington said she felt hurt, confused and discriminated against. "The reason I went to that meeting was to protest WWFR." she said, "They were so nice that they wouldn't let me do that. I don't expect to come here and be treated like that -- especially in a forum that says it is definitely racist." DiLapi, however, said that just because the group was created for white women, it is not inappropriate to be hospitable to individuals of other races. "Before we can enter into a dialogue laden with hate-mongering and stereotypes, we have to examine the outsiders first," she said. "We believe that racism should be informed, and we have a responsibility to get to know non-white women before we persecute them." Singali was both disgusted and confused by the group's policy. "How can they say they're racist towards Africans and then behave so politely to these same Africans?" she asked. "Here's this white women's organization against tolerance, practicing tolerance."
(12/06/94 10:00am)
There's trouble in Quakerland yet again. Yes, the men's basketball team soundly defeated Ohio State on Saturday, but it was an ugly game. Not because of the action on the court, but because of the fashion on the court. For the first time this season, the Quakers unveiled their new uniforms to the Palestra crowd, and the consensus reaction to the bizarre melange of stripes, solids and triangles was decidedly negative. Eric Rychel, a Wharton senior, was disgusted with the new shorts. "They should go back to the old ones immediately -- they should just call a timeout and go change," he said. Penn coach Fran Dunphy (who declined to be interviewed for this piece) didn't take Rychel's advice -- the ultra-baggy, ultra-loud shorts stayed on for the length of the game, despite the fans' overwhelming revulsion. College senior Keith Keller, while a fan of the new uniform tops (which have a distinct NBA-flavor to them), loathes the shorts. "The shorts are butt-spanking ugly. They look like they were stolen from the design of the tail of a jet plane. I'd rather our players play naked than wear those shorts." Nudity was not an option -- President Rodin was in attendance -- so the offending shorts stayed on. They didn't affect the team's play, but they did upset the devoted fans, who were not expecting to see a Palestra version of Fashion Faux Pas. "The warm-up jerseys look like maternity suits," claimed third-year medical school student Noam Harel, while college junior Jonathan Teitel declared, "stripes belong on a Bengal tiger, not our beloved Penn Quakers!" The players themselves can't see what all the fuss is about. "When we're on the court, we're not looking at our shorts," said junior forward Tim Krug. Well, Tim, you're one of the lucky ones. The other 6,000 of us in the Palestra had to stare at the damn things all afternoon long. The biggest (and loudest) proponent of the new uniforms was former Notre Dame coach and current ESPN2 color analyst Digger Phelps. "Oh, I love 'em," he exclaimed during halftime, blowing off Rodin and athletic director Steve Bilsky to expound at length on the Quakers' supposed newfound fashion sense. "I think they're great," he continued. "If I was the coach here, these would be the uniforms without question." Digger did not explain why the Notre Dame uniforms were so bland when he was in charge. He did add that "these new uniforms fit in perfectly with what we try to do at the Deuce [ESPN2]." Well, considering the Deuce's idea of style is sticking two fat guys in silk paisley shirts so they can argue about Nebraska and Penn State, you have to agree with Digger on that one. Surprisingly enough, the decision to replace the Quakers' classic-looking uniforms with these polyester monstrosities was not made by the fashion-conscious players (who, you'll remember, pleaded with Dunphy last year to let them wear black sneakers). Rather, the uniforms were forced on us by APEX, a "hot" new sports merchandising company. APEX is in the midst of a grand scheme to flood the nation with their vomit-inducing designs. So far, they've infected Villanova, Kentucky, and George Washington in addition to Penn. And while it's a big complement to be included in such illustrious company as Rick Pitino's Wildcats, the fact remains all the teams wearing APEX uniforms look like they're working for Amtrak. As long as we keep the current outfits, we'll be the laughingstock of the Ivy League -- Jerome or no Jerome. As Lisa Perrone, a Cornell junior who came to Philly for Saturday's game, put it: "You guys are gonna catch a lot of crap for those [uniforms]." For once, Pete "Yoda" Carril is going to be laughing at us instead of the other way around. Wharton Junior Ben Frost came up with the one possible reason for keeping the hideous things. "They wouldn't be my first choice, but if that's what it takes to get into the top 25?" Yeah, Ben, but remember that when you sell your soul to the devil (or, in this case to APEX, which is close enough), you always get screwed in the deal. Alan Sepinwall is a College junior from Pine Brook, N.J., and Managing Editor-elect of 34th Street.
(03/17/94 10:00am)
Joel and Ethan pay comic tribute to the '50s The Coen brothers tread such a fine line between the wittily surreal and the just plain bizarre that it's a wonder they don't fall into the pit of pomposity more often. Their last film (Joel directs, Ethan produces, and both write), Barton Fink, was an unmitigated disaster -- a pretentious movie ridiculing a man for his pretentiousness. But when they can keep the bulk of their work on this side of reality (as they did in Blood Simple and Raising Arizona), few filmmakers can match them for sheer cleverness. For the most part, their latest effort, The Hudsucker Proxy, manages to stay focused and funny without being dragged down by any weighty intentions. Ostensibly a loving but satiric homage to the kitsch of the late '50s, the movie is thoroughly incisive and biting. Unfortunately, every few scenes or so, Hudsucker starts to simply ape the style it's trying to parody. The film details the rapid rise and fall of one Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins), a recent graduate of the Muncie College of Business Administration who suddenly finds himself president of massive Hudsucker Industries after the previous head (Charles Durning) takes a leap out the 44th story window (45th, if you count the mezzanine) of the Hudsucker Building. The board of directors, led by carnivorous Sid Musberger (Paul Newman), promotes Norville out of the mailroom in hopes of driving the price of the stock down enough for them to buy a controlling interest. For a while, as the innocent Norville becomes caught in the bizarre machinations of the board, Hudsucker feels like a perverse cross between Terry Gilliam's Brazil, any Tim Burton film, and an old Katherine Hepburn-Spencer Tracy picture like Desk Set. In fact, halfway through the movie Jennifer Jason Leigh turns up doing a near perfect Hepburn impression (with a few Bette Davis mannerisms thrown in for good measure) as Amy Archer, a spunky reporter out to expose Norville as a fraud. Unfortunately, from the moment Leigh appears on-screen, the entire tone of the movie gets thrown out of whack. Until then, Hudsucker does a wonderful job of gently mocking the uptight cheerfulness of '50s romantic comedies. But Leigh is so good in her standard chameleon job that she loses any sense of irony. While everyone else is playing the comedic subtext, she's playing it straight. Every time she appears, she throws Hudsucker's rhythms off. The other performers are more than game, however. Newman is in rare form as Musberger, a true shark of a man who's never without his trusty cigar (he even finds time to light up while dangling out an office window). And Tim Robbins continues to amaze. Rarely has an actor been able to go from goofy naivetZ (Bull Durham) to utter evil (The Player and Bob Roberts) and back again with such apparent ease. In addition to making a boob like Norville so likable, he even shows a real flair for physical comedy -- his attempt to extinguish a fire in Musberger's office is a piece of Chaplin-esque genius. The Coen brothers clearly had fun writing Hudsucker (with an assist from horror maven Sam Raimi, who was also largely responsible for the film's gorgeous visuals), and that sense of fun is infectious. It's hard not to smile at the cleverness of the dialogue (when describing Norville's invention of the hula hoop, Amy describes it as "a thing that could bring everyone together -- even if it keeps them apart spatially"). In addition, they do a wonderful job exposing some of the sillier cinematic conventions of the Eisenhower Era: the way time is compressed to an absurd degree (Norville's transition from mailboy to corporate exec to overnight sensation to Public Enemy #1 occurs between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve); the way any skill can be mastered in a minute (a boy picks up one of Norbert's hula hoops and is an instant wizard, even spinning it around his head); and the way everyone speaks at a mile a minute (there's even a rhyming elevator operator who never seems to stop to breathe). In the end, The Hudsucker Proxy is a fairly entertaining ode to a bygone era that occasionally gets too caught up in that era for its own good. Had Joel Coen gotten Ms. Leigh to cut loose a little, the overall tone would have been much more consistent and much more enjoyable.
