Too much to see? We'll make it easier with these festival highlights:
TICTOC Kick-Off / Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media / 33 E. Congress Pkwy. / Suite 530 / 9:30am - 11:00am Breakfast, Performances, Installation and Special Prizes!
Festival Kick-Off / 524 S. Wabash Ave. / 11:30am-12:30pm Mucca Pazza- the Punk rock marching band, Sur Taal- a fusion of classical
Indian and modern dance performance, and introductory remarks by Maggie Ness, Mark Kelly and Dr. Warrick Carter.
The CORE / 524 S. Wabash Ave. / 11:00am - 4:00pm Entertainment, music, henna tattoos, fortune tellers, giveaways and more!
Artwalk and Sale / Various Locations / 5:00pm – 7:00pm -- Jump on a trolley and explore the vast and varied galleries of Columbia College Chicago! Exhibition receptions from 5:00pm – 7:00pm
Greg Osby, Columbia College Jazz Ensemble, and the Columbia College Vocal Jazz Ensemble Main Stage / Grant Park / 11th St. and Michigan Ave. / 4:00pm - 5:30pm The saxophonist, composer, producer and educator performs live.
Buddy Guy Performing with CCC R&B Ensemble Main Stage / Grant Park / 11th St. and Michigan Ave. / 6:00pm - 6:45pm Chicago's very own blues legend performs live.
Spectacle Fortuna / Harrison St. and Wabash Ave. / 7:00pm - 8:00pm A collaboration of music, large scale puppets, street spectacle and community ritual proceeds into Grant Park to kick off the evening's festivities.
The Blessing / Grant Park / 11th St. and Michigan Ave. / 7:45pm - 8:00pm A raucous celebration for graduating seniors including cascarones --confetti /filled eggs.
The Pharcyde and The Detroit Cobras / Main Stage / Grant Park 11th St. and Michigan Ave. / 8:00pm - 10:00pm Two high-octane, dance inducing headliners rocking this year's main stage.
For more info please visit: http://manifest.colum.edu
John Woo's The Killer is one of those rare films whose evident flaws somehow add to the experience (guilty pleasure?), instead of detracting from it. It's an exercise in quantity over quality, but the importance of this film goes well beyond that. It's certainly not a triumph of subtlety, nor is it particularly adept in delivering social commentary behind its extreme sentimentalism and melodramatic events. Yet, it has a lot of heart, like Chow Yun-Fat's character. It takes its overly-commercial denomination and delivers something that is interesting, involving and new (to some degree).
Woo didn't create anything from scratch like some affirm, but instead added a new layer to old themes. He presented them with new energy, great editing and an amazing sense of pace. Even with all the flaws of his oeuvre and the traps he constantly fell into (he never seemed to be able to contain himself when dealing with emotions), he had the ability to hold your attention and sustain suspense for the whole film.
Woo's Heroic Bloodshed era was his way of retelling the martial arts classics of the seventies. From Ancient China, the heroic character was transferred into urban settings with Western connotations. Woo's characters feature the same code of honor showcased by the heroes in the film (and TV) adaptations of Gu Long's novels, and their roles in society are similar. Woo's work was also greatly influenced by American gangster movies of the Golden Age, the films of Jean-Pierre Melville, and Yakuza films. Of course, he also learned a lot from Coolie Killer (Terry Tong, 1982) and The Long Arm of The Law (Johnny Mak, 1984), both of which prepared audiences for the genre a few years before Woo's A Better Tomorrow.
Chow Yun-fat is Jeff, a professional killer who accidentally injures a young nightclub singer named Jenny (Sally Yeh). She risks becoming blind if she can't find the money to undergo surgery, and Jeff decides to take one last job to pay for the operation. However, things go wrong and he's spotted by a cop (Danny Lee). What follows is the building relationship between Jeff and the cop against the backdrop of a much bigger conflict between justice, crime and love. Like the heroes in many Yakuza films, the conflict between giri (sense of duty) and ninjo (instinct, inner feeling) brings suffering to the characters. It also brings them together, creating a bond between the two due to what they have in common.
Chow and Lee are able to shine even with Woo's manipulative, one-dimensional direction. Chow in particular is able to give passion and inner conflict to his character with just a facial expression. Although he often overdoes it, his performance is rich and convincing. His Jeff is a mix of Alain Delon in Le Samourai, Ken Takakura's Yakuza heroes and Wang Yu's swordsmen. While Sally Yeh gives a decent performance, her character is just a plot device. She's just used to render Jeff's struggle more emotional, and the character isn't given much depth. The only time where this changes is when Jenny holds a gun, determined to protect Jeff from Lee. The character of Sidney (Paul Chu Kong) is almost as interesting as the two main leads. He's the poster boy for what corruption can do to honor and friendship. His conflict is just as painful as Jeff's.
The real problem comes when we go beyond the major characters. Woo's notion that there can be a code of honor, no matter what background you come from, is welcome. But he delivers this message while depicting bad and good in a very childish, black and white way. Woo's effort is laudable, but he's not someone who can handle those themes with the subtlety and the realism necessary to make an impact. His heroes aren't shades of gray because they're real, but because he paints over black and white characters with his heavy hand. If you buy it, you'll be convinced by the conflict. Otherwise it feels a little manipulative.
Still, given those shortcomings, the film works on entertainment value. And it does so in a remarkable way. Its abundance of style, and the juxtaposition between romantic icons and poetic, "beautiful" violence - served with some of the best editing you'll ever see - makes for incredible scenes. Even with Woo's penchant for heavy-handed delivery, he draws truly memorable moments out of his cliché-ridden plot and tired characters. The first and final acts are simply a triumph of pacing and easily rank amongst the best action scenes ever filmed.
Woo is not as important a figure as other directors from the First and Second New Wave (Ann Hui, Wong Kar-Wai, Stanley Kwan, Tsui Hark, Yim Ho, Clara Law and others) for the artistic quality of his cinematic output, and the social/political/economical commentary he offers. He's instead important for his influence in shaping commercial cinema and the action genre for years to come. His films crossed over with a new audience from the West, making Hong Kong Cinema even more successful than it already was. This film is a healthy history lesson, helping us understand what we see in today's action films.
Put in the right context, The Killer is one of those films that overcome all their shortcomings and deliver entertainment from beginning to end. Your reaction to it mainly depends on the amount of manipulation you can stomach, otherwise its operatic, Shakespearean panache will attract you. This is must-see cinema. Just don't expect subtlety and restraint and you'll be fine. (LunaSea 2002)
Featuring SASE – “please include the cost of postage…this satirical look at pop culture features letters to celebrities written by Laila Ayi, the editor/publisher, and Mema Ayi; Campfire – a new kind of lit zine…featuring oral histories canvassed and collected by editor/publisher Jon Rybicki; Black Diamond – diversifying your writing portfolio…a magazine featuring short fiction and non-fiction, editor/publisher Monique Lewis; E-Town – taking you in a cerebral fashion…a magazine for Chicagoland’s high-school-age creative scribes, editor/publisher Cristina Cabrea; Red Rooster -- everyday humor counts…a lit zine, focused on humor and curatorially directed experiments… editor/publisher Stephanie Lu Jokich; Dynamite Walls – a little TNT for your writer’s block… a literary magazine, editor/publisher Kristen Jones; Anlemma – expanding your mind in the in the least hippie-ish way imaginable…a lit mag edited and published by Chris Heaver; The Hip-Hop Robot – like the sun, but much smaller…a hip-hop zine, editor/publisher Ryan Collins; Look Inward Through the Flesh – really… a lit mag that fuses authorial exhibitionism and the casual voyeurism of the reader, editor/publish Grey Ramsey; Brown Pulse – for the grown, sexy mature…a publisher taking on multiple projects: currently Ending the Baby Daddy Drama, a novel by Mianne Adufutse; Freight Train – a rollicking look at the literary world---featuring short-fiction, drama and non-fiction, editor/publisher Justin Hoffman.
The week of May 8 brings to a close the Spring Semester at Columbia College. That means its Book Buyback time, finals, Fashion Columbia, Manifest, Alumni College, Commencement, and good times had by all. Unless you've been living in a cave for the past month, you already know that Manifest is Columbia's year-end showcase and celebration of our student's work. On Friday, May 12, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Columbia's campus will be bursting with an unbelievable level of creative energy and activity.
The Artwalk and Sale will stretch from one end of the campus to the other with 15 different exhibitions, including BA/BFA Photography Exhibition, MFA Photography Exhibition, Product Design, MFA Interior Architecture Exhibition and MFA Architectural Studies Exhibition, Advertising Art Direction, Graphic Design and Illustration Senior Portfolio Show, BFA Fine Art Show, Fasion Columbia, Art of the Library, Theater Designers Gallery, and much more.
There will be 17 different performances, of one sort or another, taking place throughout the day, including the TicToc Performance Art Series, CCAP Community Schools Showcase, the Audio Arts Installation, performances of the musical Ragtime, 18 Feet of Theater and Caravan of Confidences, Sur Taal (Rhythms and Beats), Combat Finals, Lulu, Manifest Improv, Senior Music Theater Club, African American Club Performance, Senior Showcase, Adrenaline Dance Troop, and more.
Student Music Performances include The Lavellas, the Youngz Blvd, The Bullet that Breathed, Heather Perry, Mathew Santos with Try "Tombone Shorty," Sherry Armour, Ill Legit, and Lambic 3.
On the Manifest Mainstage you'll find the Columbia College Jazz Ensemble Meets the Vocal Jazz Ensemble (featuring internationally-celebrated Greg Osby), the R&B Ensemble, featuring Buddy Guy, the Changes, the Pharcyde, and headliners The Detroit Cobras.
There will be a variety of readings, including the Cultural Studies Forum, Senior Art History Symposium, BA and BFA Poetry Graduation Readings and Receptions and Fiction Writing Readings and Open Mic.
Additionally, there will be the Film on the Run, Portfolio Manifestations, the Clothesline Project, Educational Studies Learning Booths, Student Organizations CORE, Manifest Oasis Tent, a Reception for Graduating Asian Students, an Afternoon with film critic Richard Roeper, Media Tent in Grant Park with WCRZ, Frequency TV and the Columbia Chronicle, the AEMMY Awards, TV Department Senior Showcase, Interpreters for Practicum II, an Alumni Party, Senior Party, and much more.
Manifest concludes with Spectacle Fortuna, a collaboration of music, large scale puppets, street spectacle and community ritual as well as the Blessing, a raucus celebration for graduating seniors, including cascarones (a confetti-filled egg smashing).
