Cracks in foundation don’t cause ‘Fracture’ to fall

Carly at the Movies column by Carl Larsen

Although there are a few minor cracks in the foundation, “Fracture,” currently playing E.B.S. (everywhere but Staunton), is too good a movie to miss.

Seventy-year-old Sir Anthony Hopkins and 27-year-old Ryan Gosling play, respectively, a clever cuckold who murders his wife and an arrogant young lawyer who prosecutes what looks like an open-and-shut case.

“Fracture” is reminiscent of those taut old film noir babies like “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” as full of twists and turns as a Rube Goldberg contraption and directed smooth as silk by Gregory Hoblit. No wonder – Hoblit is a veteran and has won nine Emmy awards directing projects for Steven Bochco in “L.A. Law,” “NYPD Blue,” and “Hill Street Blues.” He’s a pro, and it shows.

The very beginning sets up the intrigue and captures you immediately. Sir Anthony blows the brains out of his cheatin’ wife, and when the cops arrive, admits it. Switch to the D.A.’s office, where a self-satisfied young lawyer is about to quit and join a big-shot private law firm and make a zillion bucks. He takes the open-and-shut case almost as an afterthought to decorating his new office, and finds out the murderer, who has decided to defend himself, is one smart cookie.

It’s hard to believe that Hopkins has made 16 movies since he was in Staunton making “Hearts in Atlantis” in 2001, but the old Oscar-winner shows his mettle and had me cheering for him to get away with it from the get-go.

What does this fine film lack? Well, as we said at the top, there are a couple of plot slip-ups. And we were expecting a grandiose courtroom speech by Gosling at the end, but it wasn’t necessary.

Every time I see this actor I become more and more impressed. He was great in “The Notebook” in 2004 and copped an Oscar nom last year for his portrayal of a druggie teacher in “Half Nelson.” He’s growing rapidly into a major star.

David Strathairn is his usual competent self as the District Attorney, and sturdy Bob Gunton shows up to deliver The Message.

All in all, it’s a fine little beginning-of-summer flick – one to practice on while getting in the mood for shifting your brains into neutral during all those dumb hot weather blockbusters we’ll have to endure from now until September.

Meanwhile, Back at the Dixie:

“Hot Fuzz” is in town as a first-run film, and should be just as much fun as the rollicking “Shaun of the Dead” British satire back in 2004. Same crew, same cast.

“Shaun” was absolutely the funniest zombie movie ever made, and this new one takes on Tough Cops. It hasn’t played in my town yet. I’m gonna have to desert the big city and move back to Augusta County so’s I can see some good movies!

Carl Larsen is a regular contributor to The New Dominion. Look for his At the Movies column on Mondays.

Another perspective on the Tech-UVa. rivalry

Column by Chris Graham

After the 9/11 terror attacks, it became the custom around big-league baseball, once it got back up and running, to add a rendition of “New York, New York” to the traditional seventh-inning stretch.

A sign that the nation was beginning to get over the shock and horror associated with the terror attacks came at Fenway Park in Boston not long after baseball’s attention turned back to its September pennant races.

After the final notes of “New York, New York” came across the loudspeaker, a voice broke the quiet that followed, exclaiming, “But the Yankees still suck!”
That’s how the story goes, anyway.

I haven’t had my “Yankees still suck!” moment in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy from a couple of weeks ago now – and can’t imagine that I will for some time.

I’m a 1994 graduate of Virginia Tech’s supposed in-state rival, the University of Virginia – and have rooted for UVa. teams dating back as far back as I can remember. And as such, I’ve known basically since birth that I have to hate the Hokies.

And I have been very good at that – for several years, my wife, Crystal, a Virginia Tech alumna, and I wrote columns for a local newspaper that we worked for at the time poking fun at the other’s alma mater, and I always did what I could to get the best of her in that respect.

And to be honest, my dislike for Hokie football and basketball, in particular, only intensified in recent years – as Tech made its way, with UVa.’s aid, I might hasten to point out, into the Atlantic Coast Conference.

It wasn’t a good Saturday in the fall unless both Virginia won and Virginia Tech lost – and the loss by the Hokies had to be galling, too, like back when they lost to Temple in 1998.

It had to hurt Hokie Nation – I would settle for nothing less.

But now … well, that all seems a tad silly now, doesn’t it?

I actually find myself having thoughts about how I hope Virginia Tech teams will do well on the athletics fields – if only to provide a modicum of comfort to a Hokie Nation that has had its heart ripped out.

It makes me want to tear up when I see the response at Penn State – where fans held up placards spelling out VT at their spring game this month. Or seeing Ohio State players wearing VT-logo helmets at their spring game.

Or seeing Allen Iverson sporting a VT logo on his signature arm sleeve.

I’m going to be in the stands for the Commonwealth Challenge football game this fall – the series returns to Charlottesville in November, alternating as it does from year to year from campus to campus.

I already know that I’m going to have a hard time rooting all that hard against Beamer’s Boys – and if I had to make one bet on what will happen that day, it would be that I will shed a few tears during the moment of silence for the victims that I assume will be a part of the pregame ceremonies that day.

Now, when the whistle blows, and the game gets under way, I know that I will be rooting for my ‘Hoos to put an end to the long winning streak that the Hokies have in the rivalry matchups.

But if they don’t – eh, at least there’s some consolation in the knowledge that the Hokie Family will have something else to feel good about in this most difficult of years.

Go ye into the world and smile …

Bishop’s Mantle column by Jim Bishop

The 2006-07 academic year at Eastern Mennonite University is almost history. To this observer, each seems to go by faster than the previous one.

Sunday, the 89th annual commencement at EMU, will be my 36th to cover in my role as public-information officer. I’ve heard many speeches and watched hundreds of students walk the gangplank, receive their sheepskins and exit the platform as full-fledged alumni, with all the rights, honors, duties and fund-appeals ascribed thereunto. Read more

Starbury Hill

Stop the Presses column by Chris Graham

I went out and bought a pair of Starburys last week.

Yes, I know, this is breaking news, for sure.

But really, it is significant – if you know the backstory to Starburys.

The basketball shoes are being hawked by New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury as the alternative to high-priced sneakers that have actually gotten some kids killed – as hard as it might be to hear that and then try to comprehend it. Read more

Songs for pols, media voices

Column by Max Friedman

Every once in a while, I get in the mood to assign songs to certain politicians, political groups and the news media talking heads/commentators. Read more

Hanger pushes back

Story by Chris Graham

Emmett Hanger is not going to be pushed around by the local Republican Party apparatus.

“A lot of attention has been paid to the fact that there are individuals within the Republican Party in leadership positions who are not supporting me,” said Hanger, a three-term incumbent state senator who formally kicked off his campaign for the GOP nomination in the 24th Senate District today with events in Augusta County and Rockingham County. Read more

Truth and consequences play out in ‘The Hoax’

Carly at the Movies column by Carl Larsen

I’m not sure why we humans are fascinated by fakes, crackpots, con men, charlatans and snake oil salesman of all ilk.

Maybe it’s because the rest of us are so dull. But for whatever reason, our interest is doubled when the crackpot is also a billionaire. Read more

Inside the NFL draft

Story by Chris Graham

Pete Williams is like the rest of us – he sees the glitz and glamor associated with what is basically picking names out of a hat and wonders what it is that makes the NFL draft the spectacle that it has become.

“What I wanted to show is how this progress came along through the eyes of players, pro general managers, agents and the college programs,” said Williams, a University of Virginia grad and the author of The Draft: A Year Inside the NFL’s Search for Talent.

Williams also admits to another fascination – “in watching the draft and seeing how some guy who finished third in the Heisman balloting doesn’t get drafted at all, and some guy who you never heard of from Southeast North Dakota State gets drafted in the first round.”

Williams’ book is an attempt to solve these twin mysteries – and for ACC fans, in particular, the way he goes about doing his job is of special interest. Williams spent significant time following the programs at the University of Virginia and at Florida State and following players including former UVa. stars Chris Canty, Darryl Blackstock and D’Brickashaw Ferguson to see how the draft process works from the programs’ and players’ perspectives.

He focused much of his attention on the UVa. program, he said, “because he does have his tentacles into so many NFL teams by virtue of his long career as an assistant in the NFL. I was really curious as to how he went about preparing players for the process.”

What Williams learned in his time following UVa. and FSU surprised him.

“You tend to think that there’s this focus on, Oh, the next game, and we can’t look any further ahead, let alone to the next level of play. But you go into most college-football programs in the fall, and you’d probably be surprised to see scouts pretty much having the run of the place,” Williams said.

“During the day, they’re talking to assistant coaches, they’re looking at film in the football office. They’re talking to everyone from secretaries to academic advisors to you-name-it. They’re watching practice.

“To me, when you have 20 to 30 guys wearing their team NFL-logo golf shirts on the sidelines, that doesn’t exactly reinforce the image of the student-athlete. But colleges are smart enough to realize that the more guys that they send to the NFL, the more they’re going to have a reputation as an NFL prep school, and the easier it’s going to be for them to recruit guys out of high school,” Williams said.

“It’s a fine line that they walk. They want to keep guys in college, don’t want them to leave early for the NFL, certainly, but they realize, too, that part of the marketing to high-school kids is showing themselves as getting guys ready for the NFL,” Williams said.

Williams’ book also goes into detail about what players do once their college careers are over and their attention turns to draft weekend. It’s all about finding an agent and setting on a plan for getting ready for the draft combine, he said.

“These days, players all drop out of school once their bowl game is over,” Williams said. “They enroll in one of these combine prep schools in these training centers in Arizona and Florida. What happens is an agent says, I have exclusive access with this trainer, who has gotten these guys prepared for the combine, and I have a far superior network of NFL contacts who can tell me exactly what you need to do in these three months in terms of your physical training and blah blah blah.

“But the bottom line is that an agent doesn’t really have that much of an impact on the whole process,” Williams said.

Williams is not a Mel Kiper Jr. type – he readily concedes that he doesn’t have any more insight into which players will be drafted by which teams than the rest of us.

He does know one thing.

“As soon as the draft is over Sunday night, the attention turns immediately to next year,” Williams said.

Gooney prunes and scary maladies – that’s not all, folks!

Bishop’s Mantle column by Jim Bishop

“Shhhhhh … be vewy, vewy quiet. I’m hunting good humor. Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh …!”

Until our nimble nimrod finds some, I’m afraid you’ll have to settle for yet another double-barreled round of ricocheting repartee of poor caliber, shot from the lip. Read more

A sad day in Hokie Nation

Story by Chris Graham

Billy Hite’s first phone call went to his daughter. Then it was to 14 people who are like sons to him.

“When I did get through to one of them, you know, Have you talked to anybody else? And they kept telling me that they talked to so-and-so and so-and-so – but when I went to bed that night, I still didn’t feel comfortable, because I hadn’t talked to all of them,” said Hite, the associate head football coach at Virginia Tech, recounting the horror of Monday’s mass shootings at Tech that left 33 people, including the gunman, Cho Seung-Hui, dead, and had everybody who knew anybody that they knew to be on the Blacksburg campus scurrying to try to find out if they were OK.

Hite, who has been at Tech since 1978, also has a daughter, Kirsten, who is a junior at Virginia Tech.

“That was the first call that I made – and I reached her immediately. She was on her way on campus – and I told her to go back home at that point in time. I was very much relieved once I got a hold of her,” Hite told reporters on a conference call set up by the ACC ostensibly to talk about the conclusion of the spring-practice period across the conference.

Tech head coach Frank Beamer canceled the remainder of the Hokies’ spring schedule – including this weekend’s spring game – in the wake of the tragedies.

“He honestly felt at this point in time with as bad as this situation is that we’re better off right now just ending spring practice,” Hite said.

That decision wasn’t all that hard to arrive at – considering that the coaching staff, Hite included, had not accounted for all of their players by the end of the day on Monday.

“Each position coach was calling each one of their guys – and everybody had the same problem. I ended up getting about seven or eight of them (the first day), and by the next day, I talked to all 14 of them. And thank God they were all safe,” Hite said.

The coaching staff then turned its attention to requests from several players to be allowed to return home to be with their families.

“Some of our parents wanted their children home right away – and that’s what we did. I had talked to a couple of my players, and I told them to just go ahead and go home. I didn’t know what our schedule would be the rest of the week, but their parents wanted them there, and that’s what they needed to do. And Coach Beamer felt that way. He ended up saying, Anybody that needs to go home, tell them to go home,” Hite said.

Next up has been the incredible outpouring of support from around the football world.

“It’s been unbelievable. With me being here this many years, I’m amazed by it – I really am. And it’s not only players, but (former Tech coach Bill) Dooley has called twice. I ended up talking to his wife this morning. Bruce Smith wants to do something, and I don’t know what to tell him. Bruce Smith has called me four times – and left me a number to let him know if he could do anything. And the amount of college coaches around the country who have called – it’s been wonderful, it really has. I’m talking about ACC coaches, too, people that you’re competing against,” Hite said.

The competitions are a few months off in the distance. Hite thinks Tech football will play an important role in the healing process in Blacksburg and throughout Hokie Nation.

“That’s the one thing about the Hokie Nation. Football was probably the first thing that’s gotten this group together to respond the way they do,” Hite said.

“That’s the thing about not playing the spring game. At one time it would have brought everybody together. But at the same time, I’m sure some of those students are going to be buried this Saturday also. I think we made the right decision from that standpoint,” Hite said.

“I think this will make the Hokie Nation even stronger – if that’s possible,” Hite said.

The films of 9/11

Carly at the Movies column by Carl Larsen

Several Hollywood films have been made about the tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001. However, in the nearly six years since that day, many Americans (myself included) have been reticent to rekindle the pain we all felt by reliving the stories on film. Read more

Radio daze: Pushing Platters with frequency

Bishop’s Mantle column by Jim Bishop

“A dream is a wish your heart makes. . .” – Jiminy Cricket

Nearing the end of my illustrious high-school pilgrimage, my overriding dream – other than to graduate with some semblance of academic respectability – was to play music on the radio. I don’t mean sitting by my AM table model radio with my dial glued to 770, WABC, New York, or WIBG, 990, Philadelphia, although that’s how I spent many waking hours. I yearned to be a disc jockey, the guy with hits to my pits, who cranked out stacks of wax and pounds of sound to listeners who clung to my every word and phoned in requests and dedications. Read more

Next Page »