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Show The Forum January 29,2003 Page5 Semester at Sea Promises Pricey but Memorable Experience Soderbergs Solaris: and Sleep Inducing Thought-Provokin- g the movie was interesting, but it definitely made me think. Peter Markowski Contributing Writer Its Matt Spears Contributing Writer This week, the movie review will be a bit different. A fellow movie critic and I will jointly critique the subject of this weeks review. His name is Matt, and he is extensively experienced in the field of acting, but it doesnt take experience to get hired on this paper! The movie is Solaris. PETER: L MATT: I dont know if Id say dozer-think- dont er - PETER: I makes me think and wonder about God, the specific emotions that lie in heaven and hell, and why I personally believe in Gods existence but for those that just want to be entertained, poor choice. ...and Clooneys butt. I thought the films themes were great, but the story didnt be renamed So-lame-- is. insert Butthead laughter. I give this film one thumb up for effort and one down for not being worth the dollar my did a great job acting and the visuals of the planet and sets were really cool. I even took friend paid for it. exceptional notice of the music, and after my last Experiencing the Arts class (with Nina Vought and Doug Wright), Im convinced that the composer was attempting to put Pythagorass theory of the Music of the Spheres iij motion. (Im edumacated.) I give it one thumb up for making me think, and mainly so I can feel justified for paying for Peters ticket. MATT: One thumb down for causing the person next to me to snore making me wonder if that is the sound a clogged artery makes before a heart attack.05 -- I idolize Clooney when he plays the smooth, charming, and subtle humor guy, but he should probably stay away from roles that focus primarily on MATT: v v tffi 'v . w. w WW' x s v V r .v vT". T v as ' "'tsx ute Traveling is only the surface of a shipboard education. Students live (100 days in the spring and fall semesters, or 65 days during the summer semester) on a floating univera fully stabisity campus lized ocean liner certified by the American Bureau of Shipping and the U.S. Coast Guard. The S.S. Universe Explorer becomes home to a student body comprised of 650 students from 250 accredited colleges and universities in the United States and a number of foreign institutions. Over 35,000 students have experienced unforgettable semesters with experiences in a wide variety of countries since the Semester at Sea program first set sail in 1971. Students visit six to ten counties each semester. Bennellick said, safety is the foremost concern and we will not set sail, nor port near the Middle East until things calm down over there. Prior to port at any country students are required to learn the cultural, historical, economical and political aspects of that country. However, the experience doesnt come cheap... Spring and Fall semesters on the S.S. Universe Explorer cost between $14,675 to $15,275. This includes tuition, room and board, and three meals a w r A . x... During an orientatioh held in the Shaw Center Thursday night Elizabeth Bennellick, Assistant Director of Enrollment Management for the Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE), addressed Westminster students interest- ed in attending the Semester at Sea program. Six Westminster College students attended the orientation. Although their fields of studies differ, these Westminster students felt that a semester or two at sea would be beneficial to them in their chosen majors. Freshman Casey Nelson said, It would be awesome! I always wanted to travel. 50-min- Solaris should I agree. PETER: really reinforce them. However, aside from the tragedy of the script, I think Jeremy Davies genre but is used to telling stories that dont relate with science fiction, (i.e. Traffic, Erin Brokovich, and human-boun- d Oceans Eleven stories.) Its ironic, dont you think? Amelia Fairbourn idea was fantastic and it still Clooney being depressed, take ten. Pointless sex scene, take twenty-fou- r just for kicks... I thought a lot of time spent in telling the story was wasted. Much of the flashbacks concerned a trite love story and Clooneys butt. I think Soderberg was experimenting in the science fiction .... Energy is more important than perfection. I agree with that and love it, so when walked away from this movie drained of energy I wondered what he was thinking. The said there really wasnt much growth just general emotion conveyed in each scene. I can picture the set now... George like it, but I respect it. ' dramatics. I think mainly I was bothered with this film because I remembered a quote Steven Soderberg gave. He definitely tell that the scenes werent filmed in order because PETER: er by the planet. movie I like to classify as or daydreamer movie. The idea behind the movie (whether its a physical andor spiritual journey to heaven or just a meeting of a ' higher intelligence) made me think for a long time after the movie, but more importantly, I had time during the movie to think about different religious views, whether atheists had a point or not, and hey! why not take a nap while Im at it! The person next to me watching the movie sure felt the need to. His snoring really added to the lack of bass in the theaters speakers. I cant say that the director overlooked the aspect that the whole movie, was just too slow to tell the story. I think he made that choice and stuck with it so I respect that. I a I thought this movie was certainly interesting. I did expect a bit more quality in both the story and the storytelling, due to the fact that the popular director (of late), Steven Soderberg, masterminded its way to the screen. The film is based uoon a Russian science-fictio- n novel about a space station orbiting a mysterious planet, Solaris. The film is told from the point of view of George Clooney, who plays a futuristic psychiatrist-widowwho is requested to pay a visit to the space station by his friend who works there. Clooneys character is challenged when he finds the crew of the station mostly dead and the rest severely disturbed by apparitions seemingly created a Indeed. I give him props for the way he gives his actors freedom to explore their characters and the emotional journeys they go through and the relationships that go with it. In this particular film you can MATT: ':W. W W Semester at Sea.pg. M y,.. cav uou pos'peopU.antjy levfeKon s(:iUs,toafce vm See 8 |