June 15, 2004 Online Since 1996 Vol 78 No. 54
The Appalachian | Entertainment
Stepford Wives an awkward balance of genres

Ryan Finn
Staff Writer

"The Stepford Wives" is a movie that has no idea what it wants to be. It believes that it is part satire, part comedy, and even part horror film. Truthfully, though, it doesn’t much succeed as any of them.

The film is a remake of the 1975 mystery/thriller that, to my knowledge, employed moments of unsettling menace and witty camp to construct a feminist cautionary tale. The phrase “Stepford Wife” derisively came to mean any woman/wife/girlfriend who ignored the tenets of feminism and cowed submissively to their respective men.

If you have seen the trailers for the remake, or have read anything about the film at all, the “twist” should not be surprising: the climax of the original film is simply used for the entire premise of the remake.

Joanna Eberhart (Nicole Kidman) is the high-powered television executive who suffers an emotional and physical breakdown after being fired. Apparently, an angry victim of one of her cruel reality TV shows went on a shooting spree. I suppose they’ll fire people for anything these days.

To start anew, Joanna and her very supporting/dominated husband Walter (Matthew Broderick) whisk themselves away to the cloyingly Martha Stewart-esque community of Stepford, Connecticut. There they meet dozens of frumpy husbands with unnaturally perfect wives.

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Velvet Revolver album will due in place of Chinese Democracy
Jason Kirby
Staff Writer

The wait is finally over. On June 8 Velvet Revolver released one the most heavily anticipated albums of the year, “Contraband.”

The band is headed-up by former Stone Temple Pilots front man Scott Weiland. His partners in crime are none other than the ex-Guns n’ Roses trio of guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagen and drummer Matt Sorum. Rounding out the cast is second guitarist Dave Kushner.

Hopefully this album will help in filling the enormous void for Gunners everywhere who are desperately awaiting Axl Rose’s “Chinese Democracy”. But people who know Axl, the last original member of Guns n’ Roses, know better than to hold their breath.

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Phil and Gaye do Americana music
Ryan Finn
Staff Writer

Crossroads Coffeehouse presents a night of acoustic Americana music for the Appalachian community.

Phil and Gaye Johnson, the hosts of “The KingPup Radio Show,” will play Thursday night at 8.

“The KingPup Radio Show”, best described as small time Opry, plays on the air all over the world and has been available at www.radioyur.com since June 1998, showcasing regional acoustic Americana artists.

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