The China Syndrome (1979)

Okay guys, I'm really trying to get back into the swing of things and post a new movie review every Saturday!

This week I went nuclear. Not literally of course, but in the form of watching the 1979 thriller "The China Syndrome" about a nuclear power plant's partial meltdown and impending disaster.

The movie stars Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas, Wilford Brimley and a host of other actors. It was nominated for five Academy Awards, and won the 1980 Writers Guild of America award for the script.

The film was released on March 16, 1979, just twelve days before the real-life nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania. The accident helped propel "The China Syndrome" into a blockbuster.

Fonda stars as TV news reporter Kimberly Wells, who, along with Douglas as cameraman Richard Adams, go to visit the Ventana nuclear power plant outside Los Angeles. This is a part of a series on energy production. As Wells and Adams are observing the control room, the plant goes into a reactor SCRAM, or emergency shutdown.

Lemmon plays shift supervisor Jack Goddell, who notices an unusual vibration during the SCRAM. Turns out, the water levels in the reactor core has risen to high levels; and when the crew attempt to open relief valves to reduce the level, one water level gauge is dangerously low and the core of the reactor has almost been uncovered. Fears of a meltdown mount, but backup systems bring the reactor back under control.

Adams secretly films the activity, which he was not permitted to do for security reasons. When he and Wells return to the station, the news director refused to air the footage in fear of criminal prosecution. Adams then steals the footage and shows it to a pair of experts, who determine that what happened at Ventana was close to "the China syndrome," where the reactor core, at an extreme temperature, would have melted down into the plant and hit the ground water, exploding into the atmosphere and contaminating the surrounding area.

Goddell conducts an investigation of his own and discovers the Ventana plant is unsafe. He determines that if another reactor SCRAM were to occur at full power, the cooling system would be severely damaged. Goddell urges the plant foreman to allow the reactor to be disassembled and inspected. The foreman refuses, not wanting to pay a hefty price and shut down the plant for several weeks. This is where the thriller part comes in, where Wells and Adams come back to film and another SCRAM happens, and...well, you need to watch the movie to see the rest of the action.

Fonda and Douglas are brilliant, while Lemmon is fantastic as the concerned Goddell, just trying to protect the plant and the citizens around it.

If you're looking for classic old-school suspense and being on the edge of your seat, watch "The China Syndrome."

Tune in next week for another review! As always, all comments and review suggestions are welcomed!

-Laura Beth :)

Coming Soon: "The China Syndrome," "Flash of Genius" and More!

Hi everyone!

I just looked at my last blog post and realized that it's been exactly one month since I've written a post! Ack - I feel so behind.

I won't make excuses, but there's reasons why. I just got initiated as a sorority sister of Alpha Sigma Tau yesterday (yay!) and just school and work caught up with me. It's been really busy, but surprisingly not too stressful. Yet. There's still a month and a half of the semester left, and that include final projects, portfolios, and those lovely little things called finals in mid-December. Joy.

Anyway, over the last few weeks, I've been compiling a list of movies that I will be reviewing and writing about in the next few posts.

"Adam" (2009)
"Boys Don't Cry" (1999)
"Flash of Genius" (2008)
"She's Too Young" (2004)
"The Burning Bed" (1984)
"The China Syndrome" (1979)

Other thoughts: A 10-week series/installation reviewing all of the Muppet movies that have been made to date. The first, "The Muppet Movie" was released in 1979 and the most recent, "The Muppets' Wizard of Oz" was released in 2005.

One of the six films that I listed in alphabetical order beginning with "Adam" will be reviewed and posted between Friday and Saturday, but you won't know which one it will be until I post it!

Happy waiting in suspense (appropriate since it is Halloween week) - and have a great week!

-Laura Beth :)

The Express: The Ernie Davis Story (2008)

So I've been wanting to see "The Express" since it came out in theaters last October. But I never saw it for several reasons. One, neither my boyfriend or friends were interested. Two, I don't have a car on campus, so I would have to walk to the Sunchase Theater by myself or take the FAB (not fun). Three, I really didn't want to spend $6.50 on a movie that I would be watching by myself.

In the previews, it looks reminiscent of a typical football movie. "Rudy," "Remember the Titans" and "Radio" are such examples. Don't get me wrong, I love these movies (I'm a sucker for them actually), but every story is very much the same: an underdog player or team beats the odds against them and wins the championship and become legacies. They all get repetitive after awhile. But "The Express" was a bit different.

It is similar to "Remember the Titans" in the fact that the movie is set during the heated Civil Rights Movement. However, one big difference is "The Express" is set from the late 1940s up to 1963, while "Titans" is in 1971. Another difference is "Express" follows Ernie Davis from childhood through college, while "Titans" is focused on high school. For a good reason too, because the point was to tell the story of integrating both the high school and football teams in Northern Virginia.

Anyway, enough about comparisons. "The Express" is a great story about Ernie Davis rising through racism in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. His mother then remarries some years later and relocates Ernie to Elmira, New York. He joins a Small Fry Football League and clearly shows excellence and athleticism from there and on through to Elmira Free Academy. But the real action starts when Ernie (Rob Davis) is preparing to go to college.

Syracuse University's famed football coach Ben Schwartzwalder (Dennis Quaid), who arranges for his best player, Jim Brown (Darrin Dewitt Henson) , to come and attempt to recruit Ernie. After learning that Schwartzwalder will make him a better player, Ernie enrolls and comes to Syracuse.

Then the story changes. Ernie notices that no African-American player has won the Heisman Trophy at Syracuse, but Schwartzwalder tells Ernie it's about winning games, not trophies. Then the other players think Ernie is getting preferrential treatment by wearing Brown's number 44. The team experiences racism first-hand when the play the West Virginia Mountaineers, and Ernie defies Schwarzwalder's oreders not to score more than once, because Ernie is determined not to give into racism.

I'm not going to spoil the ending, because the whole purpose of writing this blog is to get YOU interested in seeing the movies I write about. But I will say have the tissues handy.

"The Express" features spectacular performances by Dennis Quaid as the hard-nosed, gritty yet compassionate and proud Schwartzwalder; Rob Brown as Ernie; and Nicole Beharie as Sarah Ward, Ernie's beautiful and down-to-earth girlfriend studying at Cornell, who surprised Ernie after he was told there were not many African-American women on or around campus.

Check this movie out - you'll love the action and compassion that comes with it!

Stay tuned for next week - I haven't quite decided what movie to review yet - so if you have suggestions for these "rare gems," please let me know! I appreciate all comments and suggestions!

-Laura Beth :)

Welcome to the Best Entertainment You Haven't Seen!

Wow, it's been a long time since I've written. The main reason I set up this blog was for class purposes with Professor Halliday, but now it will become a true blog!

This is the first edition of my new "assignment" of sorts. I'm calling it "The Best Entertainment You Haven't Seen!" This will not only be posted here on Blogger, but it will be linked through The Rotunda Online, where I'm hoping the Longwood University community and many others will drop by and read this!

I was going to explain "The Best Entertainment You Haven't Seen!" but I think I'll just start it right here, right now.

Happy reading, and please post comments! I'm open to any suggestions and comments you may have! Thanks for reading and look for a new Best Entertainment piece to be posted about every week!

"Rollercoaster" (1977)

Who likes roller coasters? I know I do. One of my dreams one day is to go to Cedar Point, the amusement park with 16 roller coasters in Ohio. Couple roller coasters with suspense and impending disaster? I think we may have a pretty good movie. The summer of 1977 brought such a movie to the silver screen, and it's one of the most interesting films I have seen in a while.

I actually stumbled upon the movie through Wikipedia, looking for roller coaster movies or ones that had local amusement parks that I have been to, such as Busch Gardens Williamsburg or Kings Dominion near Richmond.

I searched it on YouTube and was engrossed in watching the 10-part installation for a few hours.

This is a summer disaster film directed by James Goldstone about an extortionst who leads a ride inspector and the FBI on a cross-country chase to find him. The extortionist places bombs on several roller coasters and leads the inspectors and authorities with a one-million dollar ransom to try and catch him.

The movie stars Timothy Bottoms, George Segal, Henry Fonda and Richard Widmark. This movie also marks the film debut of both Helen Hunt and Steve Guttenberg. It was one of four films to be created in Sensurround by Universal Studios. This technique was used to create the infamous 1974 disaster movie "Earthquake," along with 1976's "Midway" and the 1978 theater version of "Battlestar Galactica."

One of most interesting parts of the movie was it actually satisfied my desire of seeing amusement parks I knew in the film. It also gave me a glimpse of what the old Ocean View Amusement Park used to look like in Norfolk, about 20 minutes from where I live. The film also showed the Rebel Yell roller coaster at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Wonder World in Pennsylvania, as well as the Revolution at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California.

Though the plot was typical of 1970s disaster movies with overplayed drama and funny-looking clothes, Rollercoaster was genuinely entertaining and kept me in suspense the entire time.

If you're a roller coaster fan and like suspense and being on the edge of your seat, then "Rollercoaster" is for you!

I welcome comments and suggestions for movies to discuss! Thanks for reading!

-Laura Beth :)

Colleen Coffey Speaks About Mental Health Awareness

On a Tuesday night in early March, over 400 students, faculty and staff filled the Lee Grand Dining Room of Dorrill Dining Hall almost to capacity. The woman who took the microphone was just 24 years old. As the crowd hushed, the young woman opened her mouth and said, “My name is Colleen Coffey and I am here to tell you my story.”

What happened in the next hour and a half was a time full of testimony and reflection on Coffey's mental health from the time that she was 14 years old to the present day. Colleen Coffey presents her program, “Out of the Darkness,” to hundreds of thousands of people all across the country every year. She has traveled to not only colleges, but all levels of education to speak about the importance of mental health awareness. Her goal is to break down the stigma of being “crazy” if someone is suffering from a mental disorder or illness.

She first introduced herself with a brief glimpse of her life: she was born and raised in Nashville, Tenn., graduated from Belmont University, and lives with her dog in a newly purchased house. Then the topic changed to her journey with mental health that started when she was only in the eighth grade. Coffey provided several statistics to set the mood: “An estimated 20 to 25 percent of young people are diagnosed with a mental disorder. An estimated 80 to 90 percent of treatment is effective. But, 66 percent of people who need it don’t seek help.”

Coffey said, “I know what it’s like. I’ve been anxious, preoccupied with food and exercise, angry and sad.” She has gone through and dealt with three mental disorders: anxiety, clinical depression and eating-related issues.

Her presentation included snapshots of her life from age 14 to the present day. She chronicled the 33 days that she spent in a mental hospital in eighth grade, choosing not to take her medicine as often in eleventh grade. She told of learning that her parents were divorcing her junior year of college and having a full-blown panic attack. Coffey also talked about attending graduate school at Eastern Illinois University, finding her first love, and almost committing suicide after that same guy told her she was not mentally stable to be a politician’s wife.

Kate Planow, director of the office of fraternity and sorority life, attended the presentation and made several comments. “Colleen is a presenter from CAMPUSPEAK, which is an organization that we get many of our Greek Life-related speakers from. I actually knew about Colleen and the NO Stigma campaign [prior to her coming to Longwood].”

Planow thought Coffey’s presentation was “great and really put a different spin on mental health.” Planow also said that it is good for the topic of mental health to be discussed so openly.

In addition to Coffey’s personal testimony, she also met one-on-one with several of Longwood’s Greek organization presidents for a round table discussion about mental health. Planow said she “has heard good things” about what came out of the discussion, but has “not had as much of a chance to get feedback as I would have liked.”

Planow and the other fraternity and sorority life staff invited Coffey to come to campus because “mental health is such a large topic” and “having someone focus solely on that in a ‘safe’ way is important,” Planow said. She added, “it is important for people to realize that mental health isn’t just depression and anxiety, for example, but can be you having a rough patch due to things going on in your personal life.”

Planow was enthusiastic about the program and responded that she would “definitely” invite Coffey back to Longwood in the future.

Here’s the link to the original story about Colleen Coffey and “Out of the Darkness”: http://media.www.therotundaonline.com/media/storage/paper1354/news/2009/03/04/Features/out-Of.The.Darkness.Mental.Health.Awareness-3658538.shtml

First Super Bowl Party Fun, But Needs Better Organization for 2010

On Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009, the Lankford Student Union, Lancer Productions (LP) and the Residential and Commuter Life (RCL) Advisory Board hosted the first campus Super Bowl Party.

It was heavily advertised, with promises of the biggest screen around campus and plenty of food being provided from different restaurants.

However, on that Sunday afternoon, no one was expecting how many students would show up.

The party started at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, an hour before kickoff. There was plenty of time for students to come in, find a seat, leisurely chat with friends and pick up food and drinks.

Just five minutes later, at 6:35 p.m., there were over 300 students in the Student Union Ballroom, lined up in a figure 8 pattern. The lines were running into the hallways around the Ballroom and out the front entrance of Lankford. Students were weaving in between couches, chairs and tables to get to the food that was provided by Aramark and several community businesses.

You do the math: 10 Pizzas + 50 Wings + 2 Pounds of Chili + 20 Gallons of Chips + Salsa + Cookies + Subs = Enough Food for Over 300 Students?

Not exactly. With over 300 students filling their plates, the food went fast. Most of it was gone even before the game started.

There were so many people packed in the Ballroom that it was very difficult to move around to find a seat or get more food and drinks.

The sponsors of the event had planned ahead and set up several tables and chairs in the ABC rooms down the hall from the Ballroom, which helped control overflow. There were about 30 students in the ABC rooms for the duration of the two and a half hour game, which made for a more pleasant, and less crowded, viewing of the game.

Despite complaints and frustration over the long lines and shortage of food, many students, particularly freshman, were overall pleased with the party.

Freshman Ashley Weaver described the party as “flipping sweet! I had a great time with all my homies!”

Carmen Fortune said, “I loved it! [It was] kinda loud but I liked how they had an extra room set aside…it was much better watching the game in there.” Freshman Brittany Bevins echoed Weaver’s and Fortune’s comments: “It was fun. [I] had a great time with my friends.”

In regards to the food, Weaver said “what I got of it was good!” Fortune said, “I don’t know…I didn’t really get to taste the food.” Bevins “didn’t feel like waiting in line to try any.”

The freshmen had several suggestions and comments about the Super Bowl Party for 2010. Weaver stated, “Plan ahead for more people food wise…and space wise, possibly organize the lines and chairs better.” Fortune enthusiastically said, “More food!!”

Bevins said that “there wasn’t enough food for it.” She posed the questions of more food and planning the event better. She said later on in the interview that better planning is “a must.”

Junior April Keeney, a LP member, also offered comments. She said, “It was fun, but when LP [was] not expecting that many people, so we kind [of] ran out of food, people got feisty. We will try harder to be more prepared next year.”

For planning the event for 2010, Keeney stated that “next year we will plan better, reorganize the furniture, and deal with the food better.”

Keeney suggested that students “come to the LP meetings Mondays at 8pm in the Amelia Room and help us plan better.”

In addition to the weekly meetings, LP has email: lancerproductions@live.longwood.edu. They also encourage students to check their Facebook profile called “Lp Man.”

Here’s the link to the original article about the Super Bowl Party, which ran in the February 4^th issue of The Rotunda:

http://media.www.therotundaonline.com/media/storage/paper1354/news/2009/02/04/News/Super.Bowl.Party.A.Super.Headache.For.Some-3610475.shtml