A 'STIRRING' SURPRISE

As I told you last week, our team of writers hit the Boston premiere and afterparty for The Minus Man hoping to find the "next big thing." Forget that. The movie was an unqualified disaster (see page 6). To clear the memory, I went to see The Sixth Sense again--surprise, surprise, it was sold out--so I settled for tickets to the Kevin Bacon scream-fest Stir of Echoes. I have no idea how this one slipped through the cracks. Without a doubt, it's the scariest thing I've seen since the old-time psycho-horror flicks (Exorcist, Psycho, Rosemary's Baby, etc.). Bacon plays a working stiff who dares one of his wife's friends to hypnotize him. It turns out to be a costly move--he finds himself hallucinating 24/7, besieged by images of ghosts. Sounds hokey, but The Sixth Sense is fluff next to this one. Just try to keep your eyes open the whole time. I dare you.

TREND-O-RAMA

Trying to figure out fashion at Harvard is like trying to figure out what the "three meats" are in the dining hall's "three meat lasagna." It's a big mish-mash of good, bad and often ugly. It's like any normal school--only with a lot more prepsters and Gucci-lovers. But a friend of mine--a "proven" trendsetter (remember Hypercolor? That was all her. Cavariccis? Yup, those too.)--last week discovered the ultimate in cool. It has all the potential of a "crossover"--an unlikely bridge over the oh-so-wide gap between the flannel wearers and the Polo-loyal, between DHAs and Banana Republic. The trendiness began when she saw a member of the Harvard Snowboarding Club sauntering down Mt. Auburn Street with a bright yellow (gold? orange? it's an indescribable hybrid) t-shirt punctuated with red and blue lettering. She bought one off him on the spot (luckily, he had a few for sale; she would have given up her first-born for it, I'm sure). The buzz started building. Next day, I see six people wearing it in Lowell. Two days later, I see at least a dozen supposed "Snowboarding Club members" in the yard. It's the rage--get one while it's still in style (or in stock).

Questions? Comments? E-mail schainan@fas.