ARTS
The Michigan Daily
Wednesday, March 25, 1982
Page 5
A selection of campus film highlights
pletely control the individual. With
White Heat the help of Donald Plaesence, DuvallA
rebels, becoming aware of the in-
aou Ws 149)sidiousness of those in control. The
The greatest James Cagney plot doesn't depend on dialogue, but
gangster film. For years Cagney rather on a sophisticated balance of
had been refining his hard-nosed, the elements of the film. (Friday,
crime-ridden image. Here he was March 26 and Sunday, March 28;
able to give the complete perfor- Michigan Theatre, 5:30,9:3;)
1-tal:i Reggae, American style
mance of psychosis and violence. In
scene after scene Walsh and Cagney
piece together the definitive portrait
of the American gangster. (Friday,
March 26; Nat. Sci. 7:00)
Close Encounters
The Third Kind
(Steve Spielberg, 1977)
Of
Spielberg took his phenomenally
successful science-fiction symphony
of sight and sound and recut it for its
"re-release. He excised some of the
good parts, and some of the bad par-
ts, and ten added an inconclusive
-conclusion. His film, as it stands
now, is more of a hodgepodge than
the original. But what the heck, he
didn't touch the really important
scene: the landing at Devil's Tower.
You've still got John William's ex-
.travagent score, Douglas Trum-
ball's luminous space ships, and the
crazed acting of Richard Dreyfuss.
A treat for all the family. (Friday,
March 26 and Sunday, March 28;
Michigan Theatre 3:00, 7:00)
THX-1138
(George Lucas, 1971)
For all those people who think Star
Wars was directed by an empty-
headed fool. Lucas' first movie
(based upon a film he made at
college) is a brilliant combination of
visual effects and sound editing.
Robert Duvall is a dissatisfied
worker at a robot production center.
This' society of the not-so-distant
future promotes drug use and
prohibits sex in its attempts to com-
The 400 Blows
(Francis Truffaut, 1959)
An impressive first film, by one of
the most revered of film-makers.
Telling a somewhat
autobiographical story, Truffaut
shows a young boy as he struggles
through school, hangs out in the
streets of Paris, and is finally sent to
reform school. This is a movie that
started the life of Antoine Doinel,
later seen in Truffaut's Love At 20,
Stolen Kisses, Bed and Board, and
Love On The Run. (Friday, March
26; Lorch Hall7:00,9:00) r
Dawn of the Dead
(George Romero, 1979)
One of the most blatant, violent
movies ever made. However,
Romero has such a sense of style
and tempo that the film is quite able
to stand on his own without the
violence. A much better film than its
predecessor, Night of the Living
Dead, Dawn takes us, not only on an
examination of our own fears and
nightmares, but into a satire of
America. (Saturday, March 27;
Lorch Hall 7:00)
Prince of the City
(Sidney Lumet, 1981)
The most overlooked film of last
year, and one that should have been
nominated for several Oscars-Best
Picture, Director, Actor, and Sup-
porting Actor. Treat Williams plays
a New York Detective who is torn
between his devotion to his
colleagues and his own slightly
criminal efforts to rid the city of
crime. All right, so the movie is
three hours long; big deal. It has
more intelligence and emotion in one
scene than Golden Pond musters up
in two hours. (Saturday, March 27;
Aud. A,'6:30,9:20)
By Mark Fischer
THE BEATLES showed us in the
'60s and early '70s that popular
music can serve as an effective
medium for strong ideological
messages. Reggae, it seems, has
picked up where the Beatles left off.
Social, political, and religious themes
dominate reggae lyrics-many urge the
overthrow of the world's ruling classes,
others expound the virtues of the
Rastafarian religion and its founder,
Rastafari Haile Sellassie, and the
related call for unity of all of Africa's
peoples; still others, like Peter
"Legalize It" Tosh, praise and call for
the widespread acceptance of ganja.
But while many of reggae's
traditional ideological stances may
have validity, the fact remains that
most reggae fans in American don't
listen to the music of Ja because it's the
music of Ja. We listen to it simply
because it sounds good and it's fun to
dance to. Perhaps that's why it took a
reggae band from America-from
Cleveland, the self-professed rock
capital of the nation, no less-to put
ideological crusading on the back bur-
ner in the name of fun.
I-Tal is a group of reggae-ers which,
above all, wants people to enjoy them-
selves.
"Our philosophy, basically, is to get
people having fun, not to concentrate on
violence, which a lot of bands do," said
guitarist and vocalist Dave Smeltz, I-
Tal's leader and stage captain. "When
we're playing, we try to project people
having fun, and hope it carries over."
If showing people a good time is I-
Tal's goal, the group is scoring quite
well with Ann Arbor crowds, and has
been doing so every time it's played
here. The three-year-old band first
came to town in the middle of last year
to warm up for Steel Pulse at Second
Chance, and has developed quite an
area following during the half dozen
or so times they have returned since
then. Both the Michigan Union's
University Club (Friday night) and
Rick's (Saturday) were filled to their-
300-odd capacities for I-Tal shows last
weekend, and lines were so long for
both shows that people had to be turned
away.
Those who did make it inside were
treated to a danceable mixture of a
heavy bass, various types of light per-
cussion, a mostly background, rhythm-
based guitar section, and the sound of a
trumpet-like flugle horn which in this
group is musically almost equivalento
to a typical rock group's lead guitar.
Steve Mauer, the horn player, har-
moniously dominates with his high-
pitched brass melodies when he is
playing.
I-Tal's song list combines reggae
classics like Bob Marley's "Get Up,
Stand Up" and "Jammin' " (perhaps
the audience's No. 1 favorite), and
Dillinger's "Cocaine" (another crowd
pleaser), with songs of their first and
only album, I-Tal.
One of I-Tal's original songs, "Dub It
Inna U.S.A.," essentially tells the
group's story: I-Tal is a bunch of
Americans who are playing reggae. Yet
critics have chastised the group for just
this fact. If you're not truly
Rastafarian, or at least Jamaican, the
critics say, you have no business
playing reggae-you're a farce.
Well, it is true that only one of the
group's members, George "Gibro"
Gordon, is actually from Jamaica, and
that half of the I-Tals are white; that
only three members of the group have
Rasata dreadlocks (Gibro doesn't even
have them); and that the I-tal stage
accents sound a lot more Jamaican
than they do "in real life."
But so what? A major reason for I-
Tal's great ability to turn on its Ann Ar-
bor and Cleveland audiences is the fact
that the group is American and can
relate to their fans.
In fact, the group's lone female,
vocalist and keyboard player Ellie
Nore (if that's not her real name it
should be), is a 1978 grad of Cleveland's
Orange High, the alma mater of several
members of the audience 'in Rick's
Saturday night.
One of the Doug Neary (OrangeC
'78), who has seen the band "an easy 15C
times" in either Ann Arbor or
Cleveland, compared the relativea
crowd responses in the two towns.t
"Just because Ann Arbor is a college,
town, word gets around easier, and it's
usually more crowded here. but I-Tal
still gets it in Cleveland," said Neary.f
"I've seen them every time there but
once in this little bar that gets reallyt
hot. There's only about 30 or 50 peoplef
dancing, though.
I-Tal's great popularity as a night-
club band stems from its ability to re-
late to its funloving crowd. The boppers
on the usually packed dance floor spur the
group on with cheers and smiles, and
the group will respond with smiles and
dancing on its own. What's" more, the
band members are very approachable
before and after sets-they exhibit none
of the conceit or aloofness that some
better known or even lesser known
musicians tend to give off.
Yet even though I-Tal is, in the words
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of its bassist Ron Jarris, "a band that
likes to have fun and not bum out, a por-
table party," the group is not without
more far reaching ideals. According to
Smeltz, one of those ideals is
"definitely, down with black and white
oppressors," and another is "the unity
of all people."
But while other reggae groups try
achieving similar goals merely through
their lyrics, I-Tal illuminates their
ideals by example. "It doesn't matter
what color people are out there," said
Smeltz. "'Everybody can get together
no matter what-put them on a dance
floor and it's one person. As you see on
the stage, we're a whole bunch of dif-
ferent people up there-black and
white, male and female, and if we can
get together everyone else can."
m -
"A great love story..."
1:15 WARREN BEATTY W
445 DIANE KEATON NEW!!
s~so NEW!
8307RES.NT
L:3 ~APAMOUNT
DONT YOU WISH
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Dudley Moore Liza Minnetli 3:30
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SUNSET STRIP
-compiled by Richard Campbell
Pigs With Win
cgs
fly tonight
1:15
3:15
5:15
7:20
9:40
By Elliot Jackson
N THE BASEMENT of East Quad
I there lives -a little cafe, known as
the Half-Way Inn, which is by day the
scene of much mellow hanging-out and
leisurely study, and by night a spot for
much. socializing and jukebox- and pin-
ball-playing. Sometimes patrons gather
with a purpose: to hear the bands that
play on week-ends, to eat Sunday din-
ner, to hold meetings, or . . . to lend
their support and their ears to a Pigs
With Wings-sponsored poetry reading.
"The Pigs with Wings," said Jay
Frost, self-styled PWW president, "is
an arts organization that is only begin-
ning to exist. The title exists because
we liked it, and wanted to-do something
with it, and the organization exists
because, as variegated as Ann Arbor is,
it has no real avenue for people to get
high-quality entertainment from the
fine arts.
"There's this popular idea around
that fine art isn't marketable; and
whether it be because artists are con-
sidered lunatics or out of the norm, or
because their art only appeals to other
artists, or because their art is difficult
to understand or because it doesn't con-
tribute much to society, or whatever
the reason is, there is no real avenue in
Ann Ar bor, no one showcase, for a
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format of poetry, fiction, drama, oral
interpretation, music-maybe even
dance-all going on in one evening.
There~s nothing geared for the person
who wouldn't ordinarily pick up a poem
or go to a poetry reading, or listen to
rock if he likes classical-or vice ver-
sa-to have a chance to hear things he
wouldn't go to listen to any other way."
As to how the Pigs with Wings was
wedded to the Half-Way Inn, and gave
birth to the Half-Way Inn Readings: "I
have," said Frost, "a way of getting
things if I really need them-if I smile
enough, even though I'm not too pretty.
I just walked down to the Half-Way at
the beginning of this year and told the
people there that I needed space for
some readings-that they would be a
little out of the norm, but that we could
help each other-the readings would
pull in more people, and the Half-Ass
(term of affection for the Inn) would be
providing a stage for the arts,
"The first reading," Frost continued,
"was successful in terms of num-
bers-in fact, it was over-successful in
the numbers of people we got to read;
we had people reading for two and a
half hours.
"Which was great, especially as we
managed to juxtapose different genres
of material-but the audience was
made up almost entirely of people who
knew the readers, or people who had
just wandered in, or the performers
themselves; even though we had about
50-80 people there; which is not bad for
an event like this, it was not quite the
audience I'd wanted.
"I think it's gotten a little better in
this regard (at subsequent readings),
but there's still an overabundance of
people from the immediate East Quad
vicinity. I want to appeal to a broader
audience.
"I really think we need support from
all quarters of the University,
especially because we don't have just
undergrads performing."
Looking ahead slightly, Frost cited
some of his future plans, including an
East Quad art gallery where students
can display their work, an arts
magazine, and a book of poetry written
by two members of the organization to
be printed by-what else?-Pigs with
Wings Press.
Gentle reader, are you intrigued?
have you examined your soul and found
there the glimmerings of an interest in
poetry readings-or reading your
poetry? Then come to the Half-Way Inn
Readings, to be held at 9:30 p.m., Thur-
sday, March 25, at the Half-Way Inn,
which is located in the basement of
East Quad (street entrance on Chur-
ch); if interested in reading, contact
Jay Frost at 764-0660 or 764-0637.
NOON LUNCHEON
Homemade Soup and Sandwich $1
FRIDAY, MARCH 26
Larry Hunter
The anti-death penalty organizer, AFSC:
"ARGUMENTS AGAINST
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT"
GUILD HOUSE -802 Monroe
1982
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ANN ARBOR
ANTIQUARIAN BOOK
FAIR AND SALE
- MICHIGAN UNION BALLROOM
SATURDAY, MARCH 27
10AM - 5PM
More than 30 Midwest dealers
Admission free
Ann Arbor Antiquarian
Bookdealers Association
Sunday Funnies
March 26, 27 8pm
Schorling Aud. Sch. of Ed 2.50
Dinner Theater
March 28 5:30
University Club 5.50
Impact Dance
April 1, 2,3 8pm
Mendelssohn Theater 2.50
Pint-Size Prod.
WILEY & THE HAIRY MAN
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