Thursday 18th September 2025
Blog Page 2058

Online review: Edge of Darkness

0

Based on the 1985 British miniseries of the same name, the film explores the horrifying secrets of a nuclear power company whose shady misdeeds are endorsed and hushed up by the US government.

While it feels as if Emma is not actually alive on-screen long enough for this to be a deep and probing look at family relationships, there is nonetheless well-acted and convincing emotion. Craven, as a strong-and-silent type with little left to live for, could quite easily have come across as shallow as a puddle on a summer’s day. Mel Gibson’s performance was, however, very engaging, and Thomas Craven was a well rounded character with more emotional depth than you might expect. However, there was perhaps not room in the story to successfully convey the struggles of the overly-enigmatic Darius Jedburgh (Ray Winstone) with his conscience and mortality. He has been sent to ‘clean-up’ any evidence of law-breaking at Northmoor, although never quite clear who employs him, or what in fact he is supposed to be doing except for fretting and popping prescription pills. Although Winstone’s performance is good, the character is overall slightly unnecessary and painfully close to interesting.

The film’s 15-certificate is apparently due to “strong bloody violence”, and Edge of Darkness does not disappoint in that respect. While the level of violence most probably won’t give you nightmares, a word of warning: as I found out to my cost, and much to the amusement of the man sitting next to me, it’s not the best film to watch if you have an aversion to vomit.

While this is not an unmissable film, and does not have the most original plot in the world, I would still recommend it for those who really enjoy a good crime thriller. Within its genre, this film ticks all the boxes. I jumped out of my seat a few times. Gibson broods for about 112 minutes out of 116, there’s tense music, a fist fight or two, more uncomfortably loud gunshots than I could count on both hands, and at one point a baddie’s car pirouettes into a lake. In slow motion, of course.

By the end I felt as if the conclusion had been quite a long time coming and that perhaps, it hadn’t really been worth waiting for. Overall, however, the balance of action, tension and understated dry wit is just about perfect, in a genre that can so easily churn out laughably over-the-top moments. Don’t get me wrong, there are some wonderfully cheesy cop-thriller lines – for instance, Craven: ‘I’m the guy with nothing to lose’, and Sanderson, CEO of Northmoor: ‘you are out of your depth and far from your jurisdiction’. But the film ultimately keeps its dignity, and you do come away with the feeling that it is very well made indeed.

3 stars

 

 

 

Sister Act

0

Chances are if you’re reading this, you endured a few interviews to get into your beloved Oxford college. Some tutors asked you to decode a problem or a poem and you probably said something a bit silly as you sat there in your uncomfortable ‘interview clothes’ wondering what you were doing there.

But, then and again, you didn’t have to go through a week of wearing different outfits, being whittled down and selected by all the second and third years in your JCR. You didn’t have to survive ‘rush week’.

So what is this elusive American custom that will determine your principal social group for your time at university – or ‘college’, I should say, in my best drawl? It is the initiation process into sororities and fraternities, which is totally student-run, usually secretive and always controversial.

Sororities are social groups that were modelled after men’s fraternities. In fact, most sororities are technically women’s fraternities. Most sororities started in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a way for young women who were at a male-dominated institution to share a common bond. Every sorority and fraternity has a name based on the Greek alphabet.

Moriah Lutz-Tveite, President of the Eta Epsilon Chapter of Delta Gamma at Vanderbilt University (I know, mouthful!), explains the secret nature of sororities.

“The name of a group, as well as other distinguishing characteristics such as the meaning behind a crest, is kept secret. Therefore, sororities are not secret societies in the sense no one knows who the members are; however, there are definitely elements of ritual mystery that are kept from the general public.”

The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) is the chief governing body for 26 sororities that are recognized nationally. Sororities have long been controversial for their exclusive nature that some view to be discrimination.

In 2007, The Delta Zeta sorority chapter located at DePauw University was evicted from the university because of alleged discrimination against less attractive women. The order followed the sorority’s dismissal of 23 members. The 23 members were demoted to alumnae status and were asked to leave the sorority house. According to a sorority representative, the evictions were legitimate; the sorors were dismissed for failing to meet recruitment criteria. However, the evicted sorority members disagreed, stating that they were released due to their appearance and popularity at the university.

And of course, online, you only have to Google ‘rush week’ to find numerous tips on how to dress, what shoes to wear and how to do your make-up – provoking accusations of discrimination.

Moriah is quick to refute these allegations, making the good point that appearance is important in all areas of life – and most job interviews.

“As far as dressing, sororities don’t select their members solely on appearance; however, they are looking to pledge the whole package – an intelligent girl with a great personality who is pulled together in body and mind. I don’t think this is really different than how job interviewers choose employees.”

In order to recruit new members, most NPC sororities participate in Formal Recruitment, otherwise known as rush week. This is a week-long period in which potential members visit all the sororities. This week has traditionally been at the start of the school year; however, deferred recruitment which is at the start of the second semester is gaining in popularity.

Last week was rush week at many American colleges and Moriah was in charge of recruiting new members to Delta Gamma.

“There are some variations on what the exact rounds are at each school but Vanderbilt is pretty close to the standard. Here, the first day is called Display Round. Potential new members (PNMs) visit all the houses. The first day is mainly conversation with sisters, etc. At the end of each day, each PNM fills out a card ranking her preferences. Each sorority has their own voting process, but they each determine which girls they would like to invite back the next day. “The next day is Philanthropy Round, giving the sororities a chance to teach the PNMs about their respective philanthropies. The third day is Entertainment Round. Each night less girls are invited back to each house. The final night is Preference Round. The mood is more serious for this night. PNMs get to see a bit of the sororities’ rituals and get a chance to talk with sisters. After this night PNMs sign a card ranking their three choices, and the chapters again vote. The Greek Life Office at the school compiles the info from both sides to create a Bid List. So, then you have Bid Day where the PNMs find out what sorority they’re in. Then they go off to have a fun day with their new sisters!”

Isn’t it all a bit selective and exclusionary, a process akin to turning university into a primary school playground? Moriah disagrees.

“As far as selectivity, the process is set up so every girl who stays with the process will get a bid. However, many girls drop out when they get cut from whatever group they really want to be in.”

When I think of rush week, the image that springs to mind certainly isn’t the orderly one Moriah portrays. I think of the bitchy girls in Sydney White, the frat parties of American Pie…and so the list goes on. But Moriah thinks that her university experience has been enriched by her sorority.

“Being in a sorority has introduced me to a whole new group of friends that I otherwise wouldn’t have. To me, the best thing is having dozens of girls I can call up at anytime whether I want to go to a party or am having a bad day and need someone to talk to. It really is like having your family at school. I definitely have good friends who aren’t in my sorority, but my sisters are on a different level.

“Being president of my sorority has helped me hone my leadership skills. Having to manage a large number of your peers can be very challenging as you have to deal with every type of personality. I think this experience is definitely preparing me for my adult life.

“Probably, most importantly, I just have a ton of fun. I just got from break last night and we had a 2 hour rehearsal for our Entertainment Round skit, and even though we were working it was the most fun I’d had in a month.”

By their nature, sororities are just for girls. At Oxford, which lost its last female-only college (when St Hilda’s began to admit male students) in 2006, this feels a

slightly alien concept to most undergraduates. Moriah said:

“I really can’t imagine having co-ed fraternities. I know they exist, but it would be such a different experience. I think if we had co-ed fraternities the campus would be very divided. If we were in a co-ed fraternity we would just go to our own fraternity’s party and probably not have a lot of social interaction with other groups.

“I also think that sororities are an excellent support system for women. Even though we are in the modern era of co-ed education, I find it very refreshing to have a group of women to relate to. Also, I don’t think we’d want to live in the same house as boys- they’re very messy and the frat houses are always gross from parties!”

Having lived at an Oxford college for a year, Lindsay Conner, of Sigma Kappa, Georgetown College, has a different perspective on the issues. She too thinks that being part of a sorority has been overwhelmingly positive.

“I chose my sorority, Sigma Kappa, because it represented the values and standards that I wanted to develop and grow into over my four years in college.”

But what if she hadn’t got in? Is being so selective not a recipe for peer pressure and social exclusion?

“I did get into my first choice, but I feel that all of the other organizations on campus had something unique to offer. My rush week was stressful and fun at the same time. It is an exhausting experience, and emotionally it can be very draining. It can also be difficult if you decide to go a different way than your friends or if one of your friends does not get accepted into the same house that you do.”

“Social exclusion can be a controversial subject regarding Greek life. While it is possible to be rejected from every Greek house you wish to get into, one can usually find a fit that works well for both the individual and the organization. Greek life is not for everyone, and there is a large amount of people who choose to remain independent from Greek life and still have a great college experience.”

Lindsay spent a year studying at Regent’s Park as a visiting student and so experienced Oxford college life, which she found very different to the American sorority experience.

“Living in the college system in Oxford was different but also very rewarding. I really enjoyed the independence that accompanies Oxford as opposed to going to class every day and having attendance policies.”

“I did enjoy the interaction with people without considering Greek affiliations. Often in Greek life, sororities and fraternities develop competition with one another that can be excessive at times. I actually prefer the Oxford system because I was able to create my own academic schedule for the week while still making time for myself.”

Sorority life is obviously a world away from Oxford college life in terms of its rituals and initiation processes, but when you think about it, rush week is not really too different to Freshers Week. Sure, you’re already stuck with your college. But frantically chatting to people, wearing well-thought-out outfits, doing your best to impress, finding a new set of friends – does that ring any bells? Although at least here in Oxford you can legally sentence your liver to death at the same time…

 

What you’ve been missing

0

Readers who have had their Shreddies this morning will be keen to point out that this column is here for exposing underrated genres, and that I am abusing it no end by writing about a single author. True. But then just what genre will contain all of Orhan Pamuk, a writer at once simple and yet so complicated?

He is simple because he uses for his material the basic building blocks of human existence: cigarettes, raki (a foul aniseed spirit ubiquitous from Athens to Alexandria) and love. Simple, because in many of its truest points the Turkey he writes about could be anywhere. Simple, because he can reduce sprawling reflections on time or human suffering to the kind of words that an illiterate housewife would use. Simple, above all, because at rock bottom he is a storyteller.

Scratch the surface, however, and you will see a vast depth of thought and learning. From the little bricks of common experience Pamuk builds great architectures of feeling that stretch from the tabloids to Aristotle. My Name is Red is at once an electric thriller and one of the most lucid expositions of Islamic art theory I have ever read. Snow, a novel about fundamentalist Islam in Turkey’s easternmost reaches, has the feel of a film noir and the intellectual weight of an Economist leader. When he gives free reign to his vigorous erudition and intellect in his topography of Istanbul, the result is up there with the very best travel writing.

Pamuk also enjoys reflexive writing, playing in the shadowland between the writer’s life and his work. The White Castle dramatises the discovery of its own manuscript in a loft, while My Name is Red names characters after the author and his little brother. The Museum of Innocence takes this further: it features a greenhorn writer with bad nerves by the name of Orhan Pamuk, while Pamuk himself is apparently building a real-life version of Kemal’s fictional museum on the very site marked on the book’s map. Categorise that, if you will…

TO TRY: My Name is Red

 

Drama Briefing

0

A dimly lit room in Keble in 1st Week and I’m trying hard to remember why exactly I’m here. Simon (star of last term’s SIL3NC3) is walking around my fellow Blithe Spirit cast members, calling upon the ‘spirits’ in a loud and authoritative voice, while I decide whether to laugh my way through this experiment or simply find another topic for this week’s Drama Briefing.

‘I understand rehearsal techniques but isn’t this taking it a little too far?’ my mother had asked tentatively, as I explained about the planned séance. If things don’t go so smoothly, we’ll provide the inspiration for an Oxford-based teen horror film. Right now, I’d gladly swap this for a run-of-the-mill team-building exercise – paintballing, anyone?

The only thing worse would be airing my interpretive dancing skills in front of a panel of New Writing Festival directors at their sadistic audition sessions or preparing to bare all in Equus this week. Acting – it’s a tough job but somebody’s got to do it.

Cast member Sophie King is blindfolded and attempting some automatic writing – is it a 21 or a 12? Simon leads us to a makeshift Ouija board. The glass moves to spell out the name of one of the suicide victims Simon has been telling us about and suddenly everyone becomes a lot more serious.

We sit at the (unfortunately rectangular) table joining hands in the dark. The mood is a bit lost on me as I am a little too short to reach properly and am practically lying face down on the table. I have also failed to find my neighbour’s foot as instructed. “Are you there, Jane?” Simon asks.

This has got to be the most exciting moment of my week – well, after finding out the new OUDS Jobcentre was finally up and running. There are some loud knocks and a few sharp intakes of breath. Then the lights are on, the cast blinking and our director laughing. ‘And that’s what would happen in a séance’ we are told. ‘Anyone for pizza?’ Our Thursday night drama was an impressively confident experiment in manipulation but I think we’ll all be glad to be the ones performing during our next foray into the occult (that’s 5th week in the O’Reilly if the ghosts of our ex-lovers haven’t claimed us by then).

Review: Romance is Boring

0

I can’t sing. There are dying, flea-bitten and rabies-ravaged dogs whimpering away their mortality in god-forsaken council estates somewhere emitting noises that would be a better approximation to the vocals of Stealer’s Wheel’s ‘Stuck in the Middle With You’ than the squalid rendition I’m currently belting out for the (dis)pleasure of my housemates. Gareth Campesinos! can’t sing either. The difference between me and him: he’s worth listening to.

On their third LP, this ex-Cardiff University septet find their frontman continuing to carve out an impeccable name for himself as a lyricist of deftness and daring. Sometimes his choice of phrasing might sound arse-clenchingly dire (vidi: ‘I think we need more post-coital and less post-rock/Feels like the build up takes forever/But you never touch my cock’). But to these ears; it. Just. Works. It has something to do with the conviction with which he delivers his lyrics of love, lust, lies and longing. It also has a lot to do with the six multi-instrumentalists going hell-for-leather behind him.

The band’s tried and tested collision of twee and hardcore credentials has come on leaps and bounds since their 2008 debut and although they haven’t completely done away with their more boisterous tendencies (the ‘bumbah bumbah’ refrain of ‘These Are Listed Buildings’, the full-tilt guitar work and group shout-alongs littered throughout the album keep much of the proceedings’ tone fist-pump friendly) there is a noticeable migration to places much murkier than they’ve been before.

Record highlight ‘The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future’ is a malevolently moody affair – all vocal distortion, death and decay – and sees the band effortlessly fulfill their potential of being something really quite special. The song’s line ‘And all you can hear is the sound of your own heart’ is pretty damn apt – this is heart-racingly good stuff. Plus it means I can’t hear the sound of my own singing either.

4/5

Review: Realism by The Magnetic Fields

0

You may not be surprised to learn that a band called ‘The Magnetic Fields,’ whose last album was named Distortion, have not always had acoustic pre-occupations. However, singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt consciously decided to take the noise out of his noise-pop, and the results are certainly worth a listen.

Merritt described it as ‘my folk album’, and opener ‘You Must Be Out Of Your Mind’ reflects the best side of this. It is a touching yet catchy song, with plenty of banjo, which is always a plus. It’s a shame that the rest of of the album is not quite as good, but it is a high bar set early.

Some miss that mark by a fair distance, however. ‘We Are Having a Hootenanny’ is as pointless as the title would have you believe, with the band giving you the ‘lowdown on our hoe-down’. No thanks. Other irreverent numbers like ‘The Dolls Tea Party’ work better, and the acoustic/banjo instrumentation is effective, as on the opener. The charm offensive continues onto ‘Everything Is One Big Christmas Tree’, but it rings more false. It is a pretty baffling effort, leaving one wondering where exactly the ‘realism’ enters into this album.

‘Always Already Gone’ is a thankfully received reminder of the band’s potential, with luscious string arrangements and ‘God Only Knows’ vocals, and as the album picks up itself back up towards the end, the closer ‘From a Sinking Boat’ doesn’t tempt fate too much. In ‘The Dada Polka’ Merritt tells his audience to ‘Do something strange’.

This album might have been seriously good, but unfortunately it is at times self-consciously idiosyncratic. This might reflect Merritt’s noise-pop past, but it is better that he went for the genre-switch with conviction and confidence, rather than a timid, clichéd effort. For the least that can be said about Realism is that it is interesting. In the best and worst senses of the word.

Four stars

15 years since…

0

The 1995 Mercury Music Prize must go down as having one of the best shortlists in the award’s history. No guilt awards, nothing overbearingly obvious, nothing alienating. Just a string of great albums.

Radiohead’s classic The Bends didn’t even make the list, such was the quality of the field. That Leftism missed out is no embarrassment – Portishead’s equally excellent Dummy ended up winning.

Paul Daley and Neil Barnes concoct an intense sound, with moments of the euphoric (‘Song of Life’), the sinister (‘Storm 3000′) and even the poignant (‘21st Century Poem’).

An unlikely collaborator in John Lydon brings something to this record, powerfully yelping ‘Burn Hollywood burn/Taking down Tinseltown’ on stand-out track ‘Open Up’, before it breaks down into an almost reggae outro. Throughout the record Daley and Barnes successfully combine dub and techno to groundbreaking effect.

‘Sonically we’re in control’ guest vocalist Toni Halliday purrs on ‘Original’, and she isn’t kidding.

Here’s What You’ve Missed: 2nd Week

0

The term’s first student offerings took to the stage this week, but did ‘The Magic Toyshop’ and ‘Far Away’ impress the crowds?

Scenic View: Israel

0

Israel is a country where religion cannot be ignored. Among the beautiful classical ruins of Bet Shean and Caesarea Maritima, in the archaeological sites of towns which may or may not have been built by Solomon, at the various places where Jesus may or may not have been, you are constantly aware that what you are seeing has significance beyond its face value. This is a land which has been fought over since anyone can remember. It was part of the empires of the Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians, Macedonians, Romans and Byzantines, even before the crusades began and religious claims were brought to the forefront.

As a tourist in Israel, visiting the famous sites and surrounded by tourist groups from all over the world, it is possible to be completely insulated from the current conflict. Millions of pilgrims pass through the country every year in search of ancient holy sites, not modern politics and violence, and their needs are catered for by the numerous tour packages on offer, by air-conditioned coaches and hotels. The tourist industry is one of the staples of the Israeli economy, and the government is keen to protect it. However, if you look around you, it is almost impossible to ignore the signs of tension and ongoing conflict. The formidable West Bank barrier cuts across the landscape, an aggressive symbol of division. Upon visiting Palestinian areas such as Bethlehem and Jericho, one is forced through numerous checkpoints, with armed guards at every turn. Jericho, the location of one of the oldest urban settlements in the world, is under siege, surrounded by Israeli trenches. I visited not long after the Gaza War, and the increased security and suspicion was intimidating even as a tourist.

With this level of segregation across Israel, Jerusalem comes as a pleasant surprise. Jerusalem is a sacred centre for all three Abrahamic faiths. The rock upon which the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock stand, is variously believed to be the site of the creation of Adam, Abraham’s offering of his son Isaac, Jacob’s dream, and Muhammed’s ascension into the heavens during the Miraj. For this reason, you find members of every denomination of every religion jostling for space. Mosques, churches, monasteries and synagogues of every description fill the city. The city is technically divided- the Muslim, Christian, Armenian and Jewish quarters in the old town each have their own character, and yet the hundreds of shopkeepers and stallholders are happy to hawk their wares in every street as the crowds move freely about the city. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is shared by seven different Christian communities, with the closing ceremony requiring members of the Muslim families who have been given responsibility for the key. This arrangement, known as the status quo, is a little fraught, but demonstrates the religious compromise which is possible, and which is so desperately maintained in this most hallowed of cities.

Guest Columnist: Newspaper letters pages are duller without women

0

What explains women’s reluctance to write letters to newspapers? The question was raised with anguish recently by the admirably feminist Observer letters editor Stephen Pritchard. I was subsequently invited to discuss the subject on radio 4. Do women still feel excluded by newspapers, and, by extension, public life? Do newspapers fail to cover subjects that interest women?

I have two theories on male dominance in letters pages. The first is to do with male/ female psychology. There is a phrase which I hear often from men, which is: “ If you ask my opinion….” Women do not presume that anyone has asked their opinion, or would. They are historically more comfortable in private rather than public realms.

‘Women are far more tentative and fatally empathetic’

It is not so long ago that women were expected to leave the room at the end of a dinner, so that men could exercise their opinions on affairs of public importance. Men are not necessarily constrained by lack of knowledge or experience of a subject. They are innately confident of their ability to find solutions. Women are far more tentative and fatally empathetic. They are always seeing the sense in their opponent’s argument. They are also peace makers. None of this encourages letter writing in a public domain.

‘The women who do write to newspapers tend to be those who run enterprises or public bodies’

The women who do write to newspapers tend to be those who run enterprises or public bodies. They are therefore talking in a professional capacity. Men will write in any old capacity and on subjects far beyond their specialism. Women who write for personal reasons are usually motivated by shared experience.

In Wednesday’s Daily Telegraph two women wrote in response to the mother who killed her suffering daughter: “As a sufferer from ME for eight years I can understand the late Lynn Gilderdale feeling suicidal..”And, “ I and my son both suffer from ME, are housebound and struggle each day to cope.”

Health issues often trigger letters from women, although this is also related to age.This brings me to my second theory on the curious absence of women in newspaper letters pages.

The most enthusiastic letter writers are the retired. They have the time and are more reflective. They have a historical sweep, so can contrast, for instance, contemporary anxiety about waste, with war time frugality.

‘Pontificating is a low priority’

If women have disappeared from newspaper letters pages between university and grandmotherhood, it is probably because they have multiple demands on their time. Pontificating is a low priority.

‘The female letter is based on observation rather than opinion, so you miss the sharp, amused eye on the world. It is also practical and without pomposity’

However letters pages are duller without women. The female letter is based on observation rather than opinion, so you miss the sharp, amused eye on the world. It is also practical and without pomposity. The following is one of my favourite letters which appeared in the Daily Telegraph: “ Sir – I find labels in sweaters irritating on the neck. The first thing I do on buying a new cashmere jumper is to spend 10 minutes trying to unpick the stitching of the riveted-on itchy label without damaging the knitwear. Couldn’t manufacturers put the labels low on the side seam, where the laundry instructions are? Eva Hancock, Long Itchington, Warwickshire.

Sarah Sands is speaking at the OXWIB/Cherwell ‘Women in Journalism’ forum on Thursday of 3rd Week, at 8pm in Brasenose.