Page 6-E-Thursday, September 10, 1981-The Michigan Daily
Moviegoers find paradise

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The Michigan, Daily-Thursday, Septei

By DENNIS HARVEY
Moviesmoviesmoviesmoviesmovies.
Perhaps the average hey-let's-go-to-a-
movie-that-would-be-fun..........
will not understand, any more than I
might be able to comprehend sitting
through a whole football game or get-
ting excited about a math course. To
each his own, and mine is movies. If
you feel somewhat the same and hap-
pen to be attending the University of
Michigan, it's the sort of combination
prone to make one believe in gawd all
over again, or at least periodically
break into Cole Porter tunes.
You cannot, as yet, major in
moviegoing at this university, but it's
certainly possible to feel as if you're
doing it, anyway.
FRESHMAN YEAR my roommates
were at first amused, then envious,
then appalled, then amused all over
again by the extent of my obsession.
Let's face it, when something more im-
portant than academics comes up, you
learn how to survive grade-wise
without having to think about it.
No one makes a big deal out of it,
perhaps because Ann Arbor as a
booming metropolis is no big deal; but
it seems very likely that this town, bet-
ween all the campus film co-ops and
about 16 commerical screens in the
area, may be the single best place to
watch movies in the country. You might
just shrug. It makes me sigh.
THE CO-OPS AND regular theatres
provide more than enough opportunity
for you to take moviegoing as seriously
as you wish. You can go the dull route
and see some big-name piece of enter-
tainment on the weekends. Or you can
take full advantage of the possibilities.
There are four major film co-ops
currently functioning on campus. Bet-
ween them, they generally come up
with an average of two or three films
each weeknight, with at least twice as

listeners willing to think about what
they are hearing, or at least notice it
with fresh ears, as if it might make a
difference."
Among the commercial rock
stations, there are a couple of unexpec-
ted cases of consistently good
programming. The first, WIOT (104
FM), is a progressive and relatively
unpredictable affiliate of the "Super-
stars" network, a nationwide group of
stations with essentially the same ap-
proach (WWWW was a Superstar
member before it shifted to country-
western).
The second is the real Cinderella
station-WTWR (92 FM). Ever since a
format switch two years ago, WTWR
has been surprising everyone with a
masterful combination of new and old
singles, from novelty songs to prairie
g tunes, scratchy Frank Sinatra records
to classics from the Rolling Stones and
Bruce Springsteen. The format is
similar to that of an AM Top-40 station,
but the sets are diverse, with a virtually
unlimited playlist.
WCBN's strong jazz programming
has formidable competition from two
other stations on the FM dial. Just to
the right on the dial is WEMU, the public
station from Eastern Michigan Univer-
sity. A professional, National Public
Radio-affiliated station, WEMU
programs jazz most of the time-jazz
that is somewhat more predictable and
mainstream than what is generally of-
fered on WCBN. (This means, essen-
tially, less experimentation, less avant
music, more of a reliance on well-
known and popular jazz artists.) A
typical radio scan may find WEMU
presenting "A Tribute to Benny Good-
man," while WCBN offers a full side of
Eric Dolphy improvisation.
Further into the jazz mainstream is
Detroit's WJZZ-commercial sch-
maltz, by WCBN or even WEMU stan-
dards. You'll find George Benson here,
along with Chuck Mangione, Al
Jarreau, Earl Klugh, and Freddie Hub-
bard. While critics may shun this more
commercial brand of jazz, WJZZ has

established a large market in Detroit,
and has probably done the genre more
good than harm.
CLASSICAL MUSIC is refreshingly
abundant op the FM dial. In a
remarkably small slice of the band-in
the 90-92 range-there is a pack of
public classical stations with largely in-
terchangable formats.
Among these stations is the Univer-
sity's WUOM, a professional station
which incorporates some National
Public Radio programming (including
the popular "All Things Considered"
news show at 5 p.m.), and presents a
variety of locally produced features.
The music here is almost entirely
classical (including the daily "After-
noon Musicale," from 1 p.m. until 4:30),
although jazz is featured on Saturdays.
During the evening, you can hear a
classical music program called "Music
of the Masters," a Wednesday night
feature called "Opera Night," or a
special broadcast of a taped concert
from Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, or
elsewhere in the state.
WUOM IS ALSO strong in presenting
local news and events-the news depar-
tment follows the University issues
closely, and reviews them during the
"Morning Show," the "Noon Show,"
and on the nightly "News Final," which
airs at 10:30. The staff keeps listeners
up to date about concerts, plays, films,
lectures, art exhibits, etc., which take
place in the state. (WUOM has a sister
station, WVGR, which carries the same
programming to listeners on the state's
west side.)
Elsewhere on the dial, "easy
listening" formats have become in-
creasingly popular. Stations such as
Ann Arbor's WIQB and WPAG, and
Detroit's WNIC and WMJC, have
scored high in the ratings, and they
have become the accepted fare for
many students. There is plenty of Barry
Manilow, Seals and Crofts, Neil
Diamond, and Linda Ronstadt to go
around on these stations, which, like the
rock stations, are virtually identical.
And then there are the beautiful
music stations. . . whoops, out of space.

An ever-changing scene. Doily Photo by PAULENGSTROM

many available on Fridays and Satur-
days.
Cinema Guild leads the list as the
oldest and most influential of the film

co-ops. Also, along with the Ann Arbor
Film Co-op, it regularly screens more
(and more interesting) movies thanE
anyone else.l
AS ALWAYS, it is housed in the
auditorium of Lorch Hall (formerly OldI
Architecture and Design) - a fairlyI
nasty place, but you'll survive.
The Guild shows a steady, worthy and,
respectable series of relatively recent
films, vintage American classics and;
famed foreign works, with some,
passable if not overwhelmingly eccen-
tric shlock.
Financial scares - something that's
shaken up most of the film
organizations in the last year - have
reduced the number of free showings,
short subjects and obscure choices, but
not to any alarming extent.
THE GUILD has long been respon-
sible for the city's single great annual
contribution to the world of film: the
Ann Arbor Film Festival, which for 18
years has provided a showcase for
16mm filmmakers around the world.
The week-long festival is hardly a dive
into amateurity; the films screened are
often dazzling in their imagination and
startling in their technical proficiency.
HAIRINDIVIDUALISTS
" Personalized Styling
" Precision Haircuts
" Permanent Waves
" Free Consultations

Held in the restored Michigan
Theater on Liberty, the event is in the
early spring, with winners shown on the
last evening. (The judges' choice of
these is always one of the most in-
furiating and amusing things about the
festival).
Aside from being a complete media
overload, the festival is also perhaps
unmistakable THE Ann Arbor event -
you'll get to see, and perhaps even
engage in intellectual chit chat with, all
the truly chic people in their modified
Annie Hall outfits.
The Ann Arbor Film Co-op, like
Cinema Guild, screens about five nights
a week, and admission is, with rare ex-
ceptions, $2.00 for a single feature and
$3.00 for a double.
But the A2 Co-op movies tends more
toward the cultish and eclectic. It
shows minor but interesting genre
films, camp pieces, concert flicks,
programs of animation, trick, ex-
perimental and classic shorts, oc-
casional 3-D films and other oddities,
along with the usual solid diet of recent
hits, foreign classics and commercially
neglected gems.
The Co-op also sponsors the annual
Ka/ C~~ 3
CarJ~t- ---

Do
Rollin' with the radio


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