Cincinnati discovers class in historic Taft Museum of Art
Emily Hoferer
Managing Editor
I’ll be the first to admit that I am not an art aficionado. I do not know as much as I would like about art, so going to the Taft Museum of Art was a little intimidating, but I had such a lovely time that I would put it on a must-see list for anyone living in Cincinnati or the surrounding area.
The Taft is unique in that its museum is located in an old house with a modern addition and is nestled in downtown Cincinnati. The building stands out among other modern office buildings. One of the perks about visiting the Taft Museum is that parking is free, a true blessing downtown.
The house itself is also a true work of art. It was built in 1820 and owned by a couple of rich entrepreneurs until the Taft family moved in and began collecting art. The Tafts are relatives of William Howard Taft, who served as the 27th president of the United States as well as the country’s 10th Chief Justice.
The rooms of the Taft house are beautifully furnished to make it feel less like a boring, stiff museum and more like a comfortable, unique artistic experience.
Displayed on the walls of various rooms is the permanent Taft collection. Although it does not host extremely famous paintings, it holds works from famous artists such as Goya, Rembrandt and Whistler.
Currently, the Taft is displaying a collection of landscape paintings from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. The exhibit showcases how the landscape was developed between the 1500s and the 1800s.
While this was interesting, the true gems of the collection are the permanent paintings, as well as many other small objects such as watches, sculptures and vases housed within the Taft.
The museum also boasts the merits of its Lindner Family Cafe. After going through the exhibit all morning, the cafe’s light, fresh lunch was surprisingly delicious.
“Views from the Uffizi, Painting the Italian Landscape” will be on display at the Taft until Oct. 13.
During the holiday season, the museum will feature a more traditional exhibit of historic decorations for an “Antique Christmas at the Taft Museum of Art,” from Nov. 21 to Jan. 4.
Beginning in the new year, film lovers can ogle the costumes from various period pictures including costumes from “Titanic” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” during the exhibition “Fashion in Film: Period Costumes for the Screen,” from Jan. 30 to April 26.
If you are dying to visit the Taft, I recommend going as a group with a docent, or tour guide. Their vast knowledge and friendliness can make a visitor’s experience at the Taft all the more personal and enjoyable. The Taft Museum is not only a great art museum, but a historic landmark for the city of Cincinnati.
Fox favorites return with “Fringe”
Felipe Garcia-Wasnich
Staff Writer
“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”
This television series based on Governor Schwarzenegger’s blockbuster
films had its season premiere Monday, Sept. 7 at 8 p.m.
The show follows the life of now sixteen-year-old John Conner, played by Thomas Dekker, who is destined to be the leader of the human resistance against extermination at the hands of machines.
Connor, his mother Sarah (Lena Headey) and their mechanical guardian angel, Cameron, played by actress Summer Glau, face fresh new challenges in the show’s second season, including more interactions with shape shifting Terminator Catherine Weaver (Shirley Manson).
“Fringe”
The newest show from acclaimed “Lost” producer J. J. Abrams has
also drawn much hype this season. “Fringe” purports to be a science
fiction spectacle which stars John Noble, Anna Torv and Joshua Jackson.
Though the show will focus on the cases of a particular section of the FBI specializing in obscure and unusual incidents, it will also deal with the bonds between co-workers and family members. The show’s premiere aired Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 8 p.m.
“House”
The perpetually sarcastic and bitter Dr. Gregory House, played to perfection
by Hugh Laurie, returns with an Emmy on the shelf and shocking new medical puzzles
ahead.
Dr. House, a modern day Sherlock Holmes with an M.D., struggles through another season of stumping cases and drug addiction as the season begins on Sept. 16 at 9 p.m.
This year House’s best friend, Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) will struggle with the death of his girlfriend.
“Don’t Forget The Lyrics”
Though his hilarious guest-appearance in “The Chapelle Show” showed
the American people a new side of Wayne Brady, he’s back winning the hearts
of the family-friendly middle class as the host of a gameshow where contestants
must remember the lyrics to popular tunes. The premiere airs Friday, Sept. 12
at 9 p.m.
“’Til Death”
Known as the gigantic unhappy brother on “Everyone Loves Raymond,”
Brad Garrett returns for the second season of his own sitcom. The comedy ponders
the different stages of marriage relationships.
“’Til Death” also stars Joey Fisher as Garrett’s wife. Eddie Kaye Thomas makes a hilarious return as Garrett’s young and nerdy boss, as well as the next door neighbor.
“Do Not Disturb”
Fox’s other sitcom, “Do Not Disturb” features the antics that
go on among one very quirky hotel staff. Jerry O’Connell and Niecy Nash
(“Reno 911” and “Clean House”) star. The show premieres
Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 9:30 p.m.
“The Simpsons”/ “Family Guy”
These classic comedies are back again with premieres on Sunday, Sept. 28 at
8 and 9 p.m. respectively.
Suspicions, specters raised within an award-winning true crime novel
Stephanie Metz
Arts & Entertainment Editor
In a culture fascinated by the dazzling forensic science of fictional shows like “CSI,” Kate Summerscale’s book “The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: a Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective” explores the shadowy figures of both detectives and criminals who interact at the locus of crime.
The story of the Road Hill House murder took the public and press of Victorian England by storm and, for American readers, may conjure up images of the media attention given to the O.J. Simpson trial or the puzzling Jon Benet Ramsey case.
Summerscale addresses society’s long-held macabre fascination with horrific crimes, their perpetrators and those elected to uphold justice.
“The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher” hearkens back to the origins of detective stories and England’s first use of an actual detective police force to search out criminals and unravel mysteries of the most nefarious kind.
Mr. Whicher, the eponymous detective of the case, is summoned by England’s Home Secretary to solve the case of the Road Hill House murder, one of the most gruesome and horrifying crimes of the Victorian age.
A three-year-old boy was brutally killed on June 30, 1860, on the grounds of his own home. Interestingly enough, what most shocked the public at the time was not the violent nature of the crime itself, but the idea that a murder of this kind could occur in a normal upper-middle-class home.
The murder unsettled many by calling into question what happened behind closed doors in even the most respectable families. The invasion and investigation into the sanctity and privacy of the Victorian home by detective Whicher outraged many during a period when the separation between what was public and what was private was still being debated.
Whicher’s accusations as to who had committed the murder drew heated criticism from many in the press as well individual citizens and eventually led to his ruin as a detective. The English public were obsessed with discovering the perpetrator and numerous letters from ordinary citizens were sent to Whicher claiming they had solved the case from afar. Were Whicher’s suspicions correct or was he merely a bumbling detective like Inspector Gadget? Never fear dear reader, I will not give away the ending; you must read the book to find out.
Summerscale posits the Road Hill House murder was a pivotal case in molding the role of the police force in solving crime, but also shows how detectives and mysteries are perceived by the public and in our fiction. The novel links the case to detective stories such as Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, “Murders in the Rue Morgue” and Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.”
The first few chapters of “The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher” unfold in the style of a typical English country house mystery with suspects and possible weapons galore.
Although the book works as a standard whodunit in many ways, Summerscale skillfully inserts commentaries on the historical and cultural relevance of the case without allowing the story to become bogged down in academic language. The history necessary to the case is painted in broad strokes that give the reader only what he or she needs to appreciate the story.
While all the facts and details of the story are true, portions of the book read more like a novel than a non-fiction book, which makes the story accessible to a wider audience.
Physical descriptions are provided for nearly all the characters as in any other novel. However, these descriptions are taken from historical documents of the period, as are weather descriptions scattered throughout the book to set the tone.
Even more interesting than these factual descriptions are the psychological profiles outlined in Whicher’s reports, and admirably fleshed out by Summerscale.
The last 50 pages of the book became somewhat tedious after the murder had been solved. The final chapters spent too much time following up the rest of the characters’ lives in the decades following the murder. It appeared that during her research, Summerscale had found some of the characters just as engrossing as the mystery itself, even though readers may not reciprocate that interest.
However, those who persevere to the end will be rewarded in the book’s last pages with Summerscale’s riveting treatment of the killer’s psychology and the role both detectives and mysteries play in our society.
Overall, “The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher” was an enjoyable read, well-paced, interesting and a must-read for mystery junkies who enjoy solving riddles, be they fact or fiction.
‘Brideshead Revisited’ not worth visiting to begin with
Stephanie Metz
Arts & Entertainment Editor
A trip to see “Brideshead Revisited” may prove to be a nightmare vacation. Despite the movie’s critical success it ultimately does not resonate with audiences the way such a technically brilliant film should.
Based on the 1945 novel of the same name by British writer Evelyn Waugh, the movie depicts all the surface charm of high society framed by the bleak outlook of World War II. Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode) goes to a university and collides with the wealthy and frivolous Sebastian Flyte (Ben Whishaw) who absurdly carries an antique teddy bear for the first half of the film.
Although warned to stay away from Sebastian because of his homosexuality, he and Charles soon become fast friends, each with possible ulterior motives. As the movie proceeds, Charles becomes more and more entangled with both Sebastian and his sister Julia (Hayley Atwell) as he is pulled into the affairs of the wealthy Flyte family. They are staunchly British and strictly Catholic, unlike most families of their socioeconomic status. Charles falls in love several times throughout the film, not least of all with the Flyte’s lush country estate aptly named Brideshead.
The film has everything going for it technically, but fails to provide the genuine entertainment of other costume dramas.
The screenplay was penned by Jeremy Brock and Andrew Davies. Davies also wrote the script for the 1995 miniseries version of “Pride and Prejudice” as well “Bridget Jones’ Diary” and “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.” However, this film does not have the sparkle of his other successes.
The film features a great cast who admirably never put a foot wrong with heavy material. From the superb Academy-Award winner Emma Thompson to emerging British actors Matthew Goode, Hayley Atwell and Ben Whishaw who star as the film’s pivotal trio, all turn in solid performances.
Michael Gambon, known for his role as the second Dumbledore in the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise, plays the jovial sinner as Lord Marchmain.
Thompson breathes life into the potentially frigid and one-dimensional Lady Marchmain, while Whishaw is delightful as the eccentric Sebastian Flyte. Atwell is equal to the task of embodying the mystique and fashion this period is known for, while ultimately pushing her performance to a higher level than mere physical beauty.
Just as pleasing as the actors are the delicious costumes, encapsulating the high glamour of the ‘bright young things’ of European society in the decades before World War II. Art deco puts its best foot forward at all times. The scenery and lighting of the film are also breathtaking, but ultimately the story weighs down all the fun inherent in this period.
With a heavy thematic focus on religion, sexuality and numerous socioeconomic issues in between, the movie seems more earnest than melodramatic and more murkily thought-provoking than enjoyable.
Once the movie’s early glamour gives way to angst and rigid self-control, the joy and innocence of the characters’ early interactions is lost. Try as the filmmakers might, this loss cannot be equaled by the well-meaning integrity that follows. Maybe that’s “Brideshead Revisited’s” point, but it’s not much fun to watch.
Catherine Stahl
Diversions Editor
“Office” Marathon
Don’t want to wind up at Dunder Mifflin? At 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 15, begin your Career Fair Prep Week with four back-to-back episodes of “The Office” brought to you by the Career Services Center. This free event kicks off in the GSC Theatre and will feature prizes as well as valuable information about the upcoming Fall Career Fair.
GSC Movie
At 11 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 11, and Friday, Sept. 12, catch “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” in the GSC Theatre. On Saturday, Sept. 13, come out after dark to catch this flick on a giant screen on the greenspace. This event is free to all students with an All Card and sponsored by SAC and the GSC.
Stomp the Yard
At 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 16, the W.E.B. DuBois Academy Step Team will be performing in the GSC Theater. Following the performance, the team will teach some basic steps to the audience. Come out and enjoy this energetic art form brought to you by SAC.
