Author: Keith Carroll
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Bedside Manner
My sister and I are waiting in our mother’s empty hospital room. We’re both too tired to speak, so we stare at our Blackberrys. It’s been a rough 36 hours. As my sister sits up against the wall, furiously texting my cousin updates we don’t have, I’m sprawled out on my mom’s bed, trying not to…
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Reel Noteworthy: “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest”
Several weeks ago, I wrote a review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s novel of the same name. In case you missed it, I mentioned how much I loved the film, and expressed concern over the upcoming American remake. Dragon Tattoo is the first film in a trilogy, with the second…
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Reel Noteworthy: “Scream 4” Don’t Mess with the Original
The problem with Scream 4 isn’t the recycled plot. It’s not the all-too-frequent references to other films and, surprisingly, it has nothing to do with Courteney Cox’s immobile upper lip. No, the problem with Scream 4 is that the creative team couldn’t decide whether they were making a satire or a legitimate horror film. Between all the…
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Reel Noteworthy: “Date Night”
Mean Girls was funny. Baby Mama had me in hysterics and The 40-Year-Old Virgin is one of my all-time favorite movies. Surprisingly, I even liked Evan Almighty. I, like many others, happen to think that Steve Carell and Tina Fey are funny people. In fact, they’re so funny, it’s not unrealistic to think a collaboration between the…
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Reel Noteworthy: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Call me uncultured, but I’m usually not one for movies with subtitles. I don’t want to read a movie. I want to watch it. This past week, I decided to give open-mindedness a try, and called up “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, a Swedish film, on Netflix. Within 15 minutes I was hooked, subtitles and…
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Reel Noteworthy: “I Am Number Four”
Okay, I’ll admit it. The only reason I saw “I Am Number Four” is because Dianna Agron of the “Glee” fame is in it. Sure, the trailer looked interesting, and the movie had a decent amount of potential, but if I’m being honest, she is the main (only) reason I went. Luckily, I wasn’t disappointed. Directed…
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Reel Noteworthy: Go With It
I called it. Natalie Portman. Christian Bale. “The King’s Speech“. The King himself, Colin Firth. Heck, I even listed Tom Hooper as my sentimental favorite to win Best Director. My point is, with the glaring exception of Best Supporting Actress, my Oscar predictions in last week’s column were spot on. So, it’s time now for me to say it.…
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Reel Noteworhty: Oscars – Who Will Win vs. Who Should Win
It’s here. The big one. The night that (almost) everyone has been waiting for: Oscar night! Yes, that’s right, this Sunday night, the 2010 award season comes to a close as the winners of the Academy Awards are announced. It’s a tradition for me to watch the Oscars with a sick fascination, eager to see…
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Reel Noteworthy: “Blue Valentine” (2010)
So there I am, Valentine’s Day afternoon, with a few hours to kill before I have to go to work. I decide I want to watch a movie. An Academy Award nominated movie. With a little less than two weeks before the big show, I know I need to get cracking if I want to…
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Reel Noteworthy: “The Town” (2010)
My problem with The Town isn’t that it’s directed by Ben Affleck. It has nothing to do with Rebecca Hall’s one face for every scene. Even Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively didn’t bother me as much as I expected her to. No, my issue with the Oscar-nominated film is the male lead’s performance. While Affleck did a fair…
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Reel Noteworthy: “The Kids Are All Right” (2010)
I love the movie channel here on campus. It’s great for showing recent movies, or amazing older ones. The other day as I was flipping channels, I landed on The Kids Are All Right, a movie I’d wanted to see in theaters but never got around to watching. Luckily, I caught it from the beginning,…
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SUNY Presidents’ Salaries Revealed
With the economy continuing to struggle, many colleges, both public and private, are being forced to cut their budgets significantly. The SUNY system has reallocated more than $400 million in the past two years, forcing the reduction of programs across several campuses. Despite this, one thing that has not taken much of a hit is…
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Reel Noteworthy: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” (2010)
The temptation to write my blog about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 is more than I can stand. I saw it twice in its opening weekend (including an IMAX showing), and loved it both times. It was my favorite book in the series, and has quickly become my favorite film as well.…
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Reel Noteworthy: Super Troopers (2001) Jay Chandrasekhar
Going over previous posts on this blog, I realized that I’ve only written about movies that are funny for the wrong reasons. And while Tamara and Obsessed are pure entertainment, it would be nice to talk about a film that was funny for the right ones. Broken Lizard’s Super Troopers gives a new angle to…
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In Presidential Search, Students Give Input
Members of the SUNY New Paltz community have a number of qualities they would like to see in the new college president: They are looking for someone who is personable, intelligent, has a visible presence on campus, and perhaps most importantly, is open to communicating with them. The Little Rebellion spoke to several student groups…
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Reel Noteworthy: Obsessed (2009) Steve Shill
Not too long ago a friend of mine came to my room so we could watch a movie. It was the typical situation: he wanted to watch an action movie, I wanted to watch a comedy, and neither one of us was willing to budge. Then it hit me. We could do both. So we…
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Reel Noteworthy
Movies are kind of my thing. For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved going to the theater, watching them at home, and, as I got older, critiquing them with others. While many people my age are going to clubs and bars, my friends and I go to the movies. When we make bets,…
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Mitch Scott: Teaching Self-Reliance
When Mitch Scott graduated from New Paltz this past May, he knew exactly what he wanted to do: teach English. The only problem was that nobody seemed to be hiring. “I attended Teacher Recruitment Day, applied to schools up and down the East Coast all summer, dropped off resumes in person, and all of it…