Secretariat Feature

http://staticmultimedia.com/movies/secretariat-is-a-winner

The race is on, and starting Friday, October 8, audiences will be able to race the theater to see Disney’s latest inspirational motion picture film about a race horse and its owner. One is a massive, chestnut-colored horse, known to his friends and family as Big Red. Everyone else will call him Secretariat. The other, a self-described Denver housewife, is less recognized, but she is as gallant and charismatic as her steed. Her name is Penny Chenery Tweedy, and her faith in this horse will galvanize the nation, revolutionize horse racing and, ultimately, change her life’s course entirely.

Based on a true story, Secretariat brings the story of the 1973 Triple crown winning horse to life. The story draws fans of past horse films such as Seabiscuit, following the star horse and its owner as they strive to prove themselves to the world. Housewife and mother Penny Chenery Tweedy (Diane Lane) agrees to take over her ailing father’s Virginia-based Meadow Stables, despite her lack of horse-racing experience. Against all odds, with the help of veteran trainer Lucien Laurin (John Malkovich), she manages to navigate the male-dominated business, ultimately fostering the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years and what may be the greatest racehorse of all time.

“The story is about heart — Secretariat’s and the heart of the woman who owned him. Both were greater than anyone imagined,” said director Randall Wallace, who is the Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated screenwriter of the global hit Braveheart. “I believe that when Secretariat was running the last of his races, he was no longer running against other horses; he was running for the joy in becoming who he was meant to be.”

Wallace compared the film to an impressionistic painting, one adhering to the basic facts but not to the point of turning into a documentary.

“ESPN compiled a list of the 100 top athletes of the 20th century and Secretariat was 35th — and the only non-human on that list,” said producer Mark Ciardi. “That’s how unbelievable his presence was. What makes it really interesting is going underneath that story . We knew we had the ending, but not many people know about Penny’s story, and that was incredibly compelling to us.”

The actual Penny Chenery approved the film when producers approached her with the story idea. Chenery makes a cameo appearance in the film when Secretariat wins the Kentucky Derby.

The horse, itself, also adds its own momentum to the story.

“Horses speak to our primal nature,” said the director. “When all is said and done, this is a story about a tremendous horse. But, beyond that, I wanted to understand and experience the way this unique animal had affected people who themselves were special. All my life, I have been intrigued by the mechanism and the moment of transformation: What happens when what we call a miracle occurs? What happens when someone, in this case a horse, does something that no one else has ever done or that they themselves have never done? What happens when someone stops doubting and starts believing? And this story is full of those moments.”

Most of all, however, Secratariat is about the remarkable transformation that comes about when people, or animals, believe in each other.

“What’s at stake in the story of Secretariat is something that is fundamental to everybody. Destiny comes knocking on the door of Penny Tweedy. She had given up her dreams of a career. She had become a mother of four, a wife, a prominent member of her community. But when her father becomes ill and her mother dies, destiny knocks on her door and says, ‘Penny, here is an opportunity to do something .’ And it was something that nobody else believed that she could do. That was something else that inspired me about this tale — that time and again, she is told that she can’t do this, that this isn’t her identity, that she’s a housewife . And she keeps reinventing herself, tackling issues in a manner that allows her to make her way in what was a man’s world at the time. She’s a mastermind financially, but most of all, she’s a leader,” Wallace said

Amish Grace Review

http://staticmultimedia.com/blu-ray-dvd/amish-grace-docudrama-needs-forgiveness

In all regular fashion, Hallmark provides an inspirational, moving film with Amish Grace, a docudrama following the 2006 tragedy in which a man shot and killed five Amish children and injured five others. In similar regular fashion, the film delivers poor, melodramatic acting, annoying TV blackouts place for commercial breaks, and bits of unrealistic and inaccurate information. Luckily, none of these is enough to hinder the film’s message of grace and forgiveness.

The viewer learns to forgive and love others along with the film’s main character, Ida (Kimberly Williams-Paisley), whose daughter is one of the children killed. Ida has difficulty accepting the Amish community’s way of forgiveness, especially when the community won’t forgive her sister for leaving to join the “modern English” world.

Meanwhile, the wife of the shooter deals with her own conscience and has trouble understanding the welcoming Amish community. As her life crosses paths with Ida, their journeys take new turns and they learn the true meaning of grace.

Grace leaves unfilled holes at the end of the film, however. Ida never reconciles with her husband and the Amish community over the issue of her sister’s “shunning.” Viewers are left wondering if Ida will ever see her sister again and how the film’s concept of grace applies to her sister’s “sin.”

Anyone familiar with the Amish culture will likely be annoyed by the small inaccuracies that appear throughout the film. Such factual errors and changes to the story are to be expected with a film adaptation of real events, however, especially when the film is for a TV channel with a strict budget.

Cheap TV productions come with cheap acting, as well. While the actors in Amish Grace deliver in more intense, emotional scenes, their day-to-day lines come across as canned, unrealistic, and melodramatic.

The faults of Amish Grace, however, are typical of made-for-TV dramas, and such faults have been much worse in other films than they are in Amish Grace. Viewers who watch Amish Grace without high expectations are still sure to be pleased by its inspirational message and extend some grace of their own to the film.

“You Again” has all the ingredients for being a hit Family Comedy

http://staticmultimedia.com/movies/you-again-has-all-the-ingredients-for-being-a-hit-family-comedy

High school. The biggest fight for survival that has ever existed. But when the fight between the popular kids and the not-so-popular kids makes its way to the world of adults, things get messy.

Messy doesn’t even begin to describe what’s in store for Marni (Kristen Bell) when she learns from her mother, Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis), that her arch nemesis from high school, Joanna (Odette Yustman), will be marrying her brother (James Wolk). When her family easily warms up to the bride, Marni becomes determined to prove to her family the nightmare she knows Joanna to be. The rivalry intensifies when Joanna’s aunt Ramona (Sigourney Weaver) shows up to help prepare for the wedding. Ramona is Gail’s own high school enemy, and suddenly, everyone begins to take sides.

“I’ve always been interested in producing or writing comedy with heart that is grounded in believable story-telling,” said producer John J. Strauss, screenwriter of the mega-hit There’s Something About Mary as well as Disney’s The Santa Clause 2 and “The Lizzie McGuire Movie.” “I like a relatable story that has people behaving in ways that we wish we could in real life but don’t quite. This script had those elements.”

With a classic theme and an all-star cast that includes Betty White, Kristin Chenoweth and Victor Garber, You Again promises non-stop comedy.

Weaver commented on the fun director Andy Fickman brought to the set.

“He is the only director I know who seemed to love all of us as a cast and all of our individual characters at the same time” Weaver said. “He had us all out each day singing and dancing. It was hysterical. He is a sweetheart.”

“The rapport between the cast evolved, thanks to Andy Fickman, who from the very first day set the tone,” Garber said. “The bottom line: We all really enjoyed each other. I think that’s going to translate onto film.”

Betty White also kept the cast laughing, on and off screen.

“No one is funnier than she is—on camera and off,” Fickman said. “She kept the cast and crew laughing every day . Her generous heart and spirit is matched by her beauty and grace.”

A few musical numbers will also contribute to the fun with Mary Ann Kellogg (Twyla Tharp Dance Company) choreographing.

“When you have a movie starring Kristen Bell, Victor Garber, Sean Wing, James Wolk, Christine Lakin and Kristin Chenoweth—all veterans of musical theater, if you don’t throw in two or three musical numbers, you are being wasteful,” Fickman said.

You Again has all the ingredients for being a hit family comedy: familiar family situations—an upcoming wedding, rivalries, high school nemeses—and lots of music, combined with slapstick comedy that will make people laugh out loud.

“There’s so many ways that this movie will reach you,” Weaver said. “Even though there is a lot of broad comedy, this story tackles real feelings people have left over from the struggles of high school, lost friendships and missed chances. It’s a story that resonates with all of us.”

The Point... on Halloween

http://pointmag.biola.edu/read/article/2010/oct/23/whats-point-halloween/

The Point on Halloween from The Point on Vimeo.

Great CA Shakeout at Biola

http://chimes.biola.edu/content/article/2010/oct/25/biola-safety-quake-californi/

As part of the Great California ShakeOut, La Mirada held its annual earthquake drill at Biola’s Facilities Services building last Thursday.

“Every year they choose a specific location,” said Carissa Brooks, emergency operations manager for Campus Safety. “This year, they chose us. It’s exciting for us.”

Participating alongside the city

In past years, Biola participated in the state-wide ShakeOut by holding emergency preparedness meetings and having practice dorm evacuations. Such activities were done with little contact with the city, but, this year, Biola held an actual drill side-by-side with the city.

“It’s different being able to work with outside agencies,” Brooks said. “Communicating, building that relationship; that aspect is really huge. We have a strong working relationship [with the city, but the] fire department, we don’t have them come out as often.”

Working with other teams

“It gives us a chance to work with their emergency response team in a real type situation,” said Justin Shelby, public information officer for Campus Safety. “We learn an awful lot just from the way they handle the disaster.”

Held on the morning of Oct. 21, the drill involved Campus Safety, Biola staff and La Mirada emergency response teams acting as they would if a 7.8 earthquake occurred. Volunteers planted in the Facilities building pretended to have been injured and trapped by an earthquake, and Campus Safety employees, city response teams and the La Mirada fire department responded to the scene with medical assistance and search and rescue. The inside of the Facilities building was also prepped to appear and sound like a real earthquake had happened, Shelby said.

Simulating realistic appearances

“It was a lot more realistic than I expected it to be,” Shelby said. “They did a lot of work trying to make it look like there’d actually been an earthquake, sound effects, lighting. It looked kind of like a disaster area.”

Shelby said the broad purpose of having such a realistic drill is emergency preparedness. Brook’s position came out of Campus Safety’s decision to focus on preparedness.

“The better Campus Safety can do its job, the more students can focus on being students,” Shelby said. “This is also a good opportunity to put the focus on what are you, yourself, going to do during an emergency. It’s so we can come up with a good plan.”

Planning for emergency

Although such plans are never set in stone, Campus Safety has made a continual effort to have plans, or guidelines and checklists, as Shelby called them, in place to give them a place to start and to remind them of their job in the event of a real emergency.

Campus Safety chief John Ojeisekhoba said Campus Safety employees receive “tactical map books” that give them such guidelines. Campus Safety has also partnered with Auxiliary Services and Facilities Services to buy three storage sheds for emergency supplies. According to Brian Phillips, senior director of operations for Facilities Services, the sheds cost about $25,000 each. One shed contains three days worth of food and water supply that won’t expire for another five years. Campus Safety calculated how many students would stay on campus in the event of an earthquake, Ojeisekhoba said, and purchased $11,000 worth of food, about 3,000 meals ready to eat.

The other sheds contain about $13,000 worth of supplies, Ojeisekhoba said. The second shed contains Facilities supplies such as regenerators, power tools and lanterns that can be used in major situations such as an earthquake or a power outage like the one that occurred last spring. The third shed has supplies for the Health Center that include IV bags, bandages, wheelchairs, stretchers, and other medical supplies.

Such supplies would be needed if a high magnitude earthquake occurred, an event which Brooks said is highly possible.

Keeping Biola safe

Brooks said last week’s drill was an important part of keeping Biola safe, especially in light of Biola’s earthquake-prone location.

“A lot of people have never been in an earthquake,” Brooks said. “The reality of being in one in four years at Biola is pretty big. We’re not taking this lightly.”

According to Brooks, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake is more than likely in the next 30 years.

“You’d be silly to think that it’s not going to happen at some time,” she said. “The reality of an earthquake hitting in our lifetime is something [scientists] are all virtually convinced of.”

Southern California lies on top of several faults, including the San Andreas fault. According to a 2007 Southern California Earthquake Center forecast, California has a 99.7 percent chance of having an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 or higher in the next 30 years. The likelihood of an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 or higher in the next 30 years is 46 percent.

Thanks to drills like the one Biola hosted last week, Campus Safety would be prepared if a major earthquake shook Biola.

Shelby said he was pleased with how the drill went overall.

“It went really well,” he said. “We had good participation both from our staff, La Mirada public safety, and other agencies.”

Pre-law dinner introduces new minor

http://chimes.biola.edu/content/article/2010/oct/08/pre-law-dinner/

Last week’s pre-law dinner introduced about 35 students interested in pre-law to four guest attorneys, as well as to the new pre-law minor, which is available for the first time this year.

Attorneys Josh Phelps, Alicia Dewey, Kevin Lewis and Riley Todd spoke on the evening of Sept. 29 about their own experiences and talked about how to survive as a Christian in the world of law. Hosted by the department of history, political science and social science, the dinner has been held every other year in the past without the minor, but was held for the second year in a row this year, according to Dave Peters, pre-law advisor and professor of political science.

Interest in pre-law has grown over the years, Peters said, warranting the implementation of an annual dinner and a full pre-law minor.

“There were those that felt that we needed to have something delineated, identified; something we could recommend as a good foundational basis for entry into law school,” Peters said.

Biola’s pre-law minor launched this year

The new minor, which has been in the works for at least 10 years, includes a maximum of 18 units. Students can choose from pre-existing courses such as Colonial Period American Revolution, American Democratic, Rise of Modern America, U.S. Since 1920, Economics, American Constitutional Law and Studies in Political Science. Peters said additional recommended classes may be supplemented as well.

Peters emphasized that anyone could enter law school with any degree, but said many parents of prospective students look for a college with a specific pre-law program. The need to bring in new students warranted the creation of a pre-law minor. While there is no pre-law major, Peters said the pre-law minor can work with any major.

Junior Steven Haddadian is one such case. Haddadian, a marketing major, said he wants to get his law degree for entertainment.

“[Law schools] want your mind to be a clean slate and they want to be able to train you in the manner that they have in mind,” Peters said. “You could be a biology major, sociology major, any kind of major.”

Students excited about the new minor

Students at the pre-law dinner, however, expressed their gratitude for the introduction of a pre-law minor.

Junior Havilah Steinman and freshman Bre Phillips said they’re considering becoming pre-law minors.

“They’re preparing us for law school, teaching us to read, think and analyze,” said junior, pre-law minor Sarah Jurkiewicz.

Steinman said she would like to attend law school and felt the pre-law dinner helps her and other students prepare for law school.

“It’s a great place to network and make connections to get there,” Steinman said. Peters agreed. The minor assures a certain degree of preparation in logic, reasoning, and other areas needed to succeed in pre-law, he said. It also prepares students to be Christians in pre-law, which is why Peters invited only Christian attorneys to speak at the dinner.

Law a divine calling for Christians

“Law school is a very liberal institution,” said Todd, who currently works in the L.A. county district attorney’s office. “Go in as a conservative, you won’t be having tons of friends on Facebook.”

Even in a liberal environment, there is still something to be held accountable to and a reason, as a Christian, to hold others accountable for their actions. Law provides a way bring justice, Lewis said.

“The Bible is divided into law and gospel,” said Lewis, who has his own law firm with his brother. “Both are divine callings because God hates sin, and you can help right a wrong. You’re doing justice.”

Dewey, who is also a history professor at Biola, said Christian integrity also plays a part in law.

“I think integrity is probably the most important opportunity for a lawyer,” Dewey said. “It’s a critical character quality to have. You have to be strong. You can minister to a person.”

Peters said he thought the dinner was successful.

“Students were asking meaningful questions and getting honest answers,” Peters said. “People were there until 10 [p.m.] staying and talking to panelists.”

Enrollment cap

http://chimes.biola.edu/content/article/2010/oct/06/biola-enrollment-cap/

Biola on-campus enrollment is coming close to the school’s set students limit with 4,878 “full-time equivalent” (FTE), on-campus students, according to final fall 2010 enrollment numbers released by Biola Institutional Research.

“There are procedures for increasing that [FTE] limit, and we are now considering whether we want to apply for an increase,” said Ken Bascom, senior director of facilities planning.

This fall, 3,907 undergraduates are attending Biola along with 1,239 total graduate students. According to Biola Institutional Research, this year’s incoming class marks the school’s largest incoming class ever, with 909 freshmen, 328 transfers and 56 reapplications, while a total of 2,614 continuing students are currently attending Biola.

With enrollment numbers so high, Biola is well on its way to growing beyond the set cap on full-time students allowed on campus. According to Bascom, that cap includes “full-time equivalent” students physically attending the 95-acre campus, although there is no limit on the number of students Biola can enroll worldwide. There are 6,123 Biola students worldwide this fall.

Set enrollment cap limits growth

“The cap is in place so that we can maximize our space without compromising the educational enterprise,” said André Stephens, senior director of undergraduate Admissions. “Biola will continue to work with city officials to determine the number of students we can enroll given the size of our current facilities and parking. Our growth up to this point is under the cap that has been set.”

Biola set the cap in the late 1990s when enrollment was about 3,200, Bascom said. It allowed city experts to create an Environmental Impact Report, which the State of California requires. The enrollment cap became law in a city ordinance in March 2005. The ordinance was part of a master plan developed by Biola.

“When the City Council approved our master plan, that approval was done in the form of a La Mirada city zoning ordinance,” Bascom said. “They classify our campus as a ‘Planned Unit Development.’ The standard procedure for any PUD in the city is that the development plan, or master plan, becomes a city ordinance.”

Sophomore Stephanie McEachen said she thinks Biola should be allowed to grow beyond the cap.

“But that means that the campus needs more space to put those students,” McEachen said.

Enrollment cap does not affect campus construction

Bacom said the cap on enrollment does not affect the physical growth of the Biola campus.

“Biola has several hundred thousand square feet of buildings that it can build without any problem,” Bascom said. “These have already been approved by the city; they are just awaiting donor funds. These include Talbot West, the Center for Science and Health, and the Center for the Arts. These three buildings would add about 250,000 square feet to the instructional space on campus; that is equivalent to more than eight Sutherland Halls.” Bascom said that Biola has permission to build several more buildings beyond the ones he listed. In reaching its enrollment limit, Biola would still be able to expand in building square footage.

“We have a total of nearly 400,000 [sq. ft.] of future building space that we are approved to build under our current plan,” Bascom said. “Most of this space is entirely new buildings rather than remodeling of old buildings.”

Biola continuing recruiting efforts

Despite the cap on enrollment, Admissions will continue to recruit new students, Stephens said. Ongoing efforts include Admissions staff recruiting locally and out of state, campus preview events and tours, student ambassador blogs, the Biola Ethnic Advancement Team visiting local churches and schools, and using Facebook as well as other online marketing efforts.

“I can't say that there is ‘one’ thing that we are doing differently that has made the difference for students choosing to attend Biola,” Stephens said. “However, I do think some of our social networking marketing efforts (specifically on Facebook) has helped, as well as the effort we made to pursue students who fit the Biola profile who initially did not respond to our letters. Biola's reputation in the marketplace as a strong, Christian university with stellar academics resonates with students and families as well.”

Freshman Andrew Cleary said his positive experience with Admissions was part of his decision to attend Biola.

“Admissions was great,” Cleary said. “My counselor did a great job of checking up on me and was genuinely interested in what I was doing.”

Sophomore Cydney Sinner said the community influenced her decision to attend Biola.

“I love this campus,” Sinner said. “I love how everybody comes from different backgrounds of church and can talk about it in a mature manner, and I’ve never been so involved with people just caring about you.”

Stephens also acknowledged the role of a positive community in bringing students to Biola.

“We know that Biola is successful not because of the work that we do, but because of the work of the entire campus community making it a place where students desire to come,” Stephens said. “Obviously, God is the one who directs our paths, so we trust that He is bringing in the increase.”