Tag: NCC Chronicle
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Macho, Macho Men: Vulnerability in ‘Casino Royale’ and ‘The Bourne Identity’
Originally published in the North Central Chronicle on April 25, 2008. John McClane, Rambo, the Terminator. They are the American Action Hero: muscular, terse, a killing machine. They favor spouting clever catchphrases and blowing stuff up over expressing emotion. To them, women are hors d’oeuvres best enjoyed while they serve cold dishes of revenge to…
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Favre’s Retirement Ends Golden Age Of Quarterbacks
Published in the North Central Chronicle on March 28, 2008. February 3, 1997. My first Super Bowl. It was so exciting; the first game I remember seeing on television and my team was playing. It was my Green Bay Packers. And it was my Brett Favre. My family hosted the party. I was decked out in my…
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12 Angry Men
Published in the North Central Chronicle on Feb. 22, 2008, as part of a series called “Chad Picks Classic Flicks.” I was about 7 years old when O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murder. I’ve seen the highlights—the slow-speed chase, O.J. struggling with the glove—but I don’t remember the sensational media coverage or the racial debates…
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War Is Hell
Published in the North Central Chronicle on February 8, 2008. John Edwards is out of the race. I think he would have made a fine president. His fight against poverty and corruption did not jive well with mainstream media narratives, though they were well-publicized cornerstones of Edwards’ stump speech. But his other equally important message…
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Standing Tall: Comparing ‘High Noon’ and ‘On The Waterfront’
Published in the North Central Chronicle on Jan. 25, 2008 “I have here in my hand…” said Senator Joseph McCarthy in February 1950, effectively hoodwinking the country into a hysterical anti-Communism era known as the Red Scare. McCarthy claimed the list identified 200 Communists within the American government, so he and the House Committee on…
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Introverts: A Misunderstood Bunch
Published in North Central Chronicle on January 18, 2008. In a world where talk is cheap and time is money, life for an introvert can often become disorienting and exhausting. In a society dominated by extroverts, who gear more towards conversation and activity, introverts become marginalized for our perceived lack of social skills. The truth…
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Some Like It Hot
Published in the North Central Chronicle on November 2, 2007, as part of a series called “Chad Picks Classic Flicks.” After tackling a few different genres—film noir, thriller, crime drama—all of which can take a heavy toll on your senses, I thought it best to visit a genre much older than the film medium and…
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Where Are Our American Heroes?
Published in the North Central Chronicle on October 26, 2007. The Declaration of Independence. The Emancipation Proclamation. The Wright brothers. The fall of the Berlin Wall. These are great pieces of our nation’s history. They represent the importance of American freedom, ingenuity, and strength. Slavery. The treatment of Native Americans. The atomic bomb. Vietnam. Watergate.…
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Taxi Driver
Originally published in the North Central Chronicle on October 19, 2007, as part of a series called “Chad Picks Classic Flicks.” In this edition of “Chad Picks Classic Flicks,” I’m skipping over the 1960s in favor of tackling the wide array of great movies in the 1970s. I will return to the decade of sex,…
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Rear Window
Published in the North Central Chronicle on October 5, 2007, as part of a series called “Chad Picks Classic Flicks.” Today we’re going to visit the 1950s, a time when television shows delivered the least objectionable content, when the president of the United States was roundly respected, and when rock stars needed only to shake…
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McCarty Follows Uncommon Path
Published in the North Central Chronicle on September 28, 2007. How does one lead an uncommon life? History shows that the greatest leaders are those who rise to the challenge of leading an uncommon life, a life unafraid of what comes next. Esther McCarty is one of those people. Esther McCarty (’09) was born in…
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Murdoch Expands His Mega Media Empire
Published in the North Central Chronicle on September 14, 2007. First published in 1889, the Wall Street Journal has won countless Pulitzer Prizes and worldwide acclaim for its quality reporting and editorials. It also was the first news outlet to report Enron’s financial disaster, as well as the Sept. 11 attacks. So what lies ahead…
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The ‘Rite’ Of The Male Gaze
Published in the North Central Chronicle on September 28, 2007. Imagine: John Q. Student is sitting on a bench outside the Science Center with his friend Billy. John spots a voluptuous, scantily-clad young woman walking their way and takes a long look at her behind his sunglasses. He says to Billy: “Dude, check out that…
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The Third Man
Originally published in the NCC Chronicle on September 21, 2007, as part of the “Chad Picks Classic Flicks” series. With the parade of loathsome summer threequels having turned the corner, and with Oscar season nearing full bloom, I can finally take refuge in some good cinema. But with my schoolboy-like excitement for new good movies…
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Falwell falls
I’ll admit that I didn’t know much about Jerry Falwell before he died. I grew up in a Christian home and attended a non-denominational church, but I never tried to pretend I knew much about “the Church” or its leaders. Now that I’m a college student, I guess I have to start caring. But caring…
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Switchfoot’s ‘Oh! Gravity’ brings us back to earth
Originally published in the North Central Chronicle on January 26, 2007. Switchfoot has been in the biz for upwards of a decade, so one would hope that they would evolve for the better during that time. Thankfully, this ensemble can still make good rock music. That, however, doesn’t make the band invulnerable to the destined…