ARTS
The Michigan Daily Wednesday, March 28, 1984 Page 7
Catching a
By Joshua Bilmes
POLICE ACADEMY is the kind of
movie which does not lend itself to
being reviewed. As far as entertain-
ment goes, it provides quite a bit, but
the parts which make up this enter-
tainment are all very bad, and a
description of them would hardly do the
film justice. Still, it must be done.
The plot is not very original. It is, in
fact, the same as that of Stripes. A bun-
ch of assorted stereotypes gather at a
police academy after getting in trouble
with the law or their employers. They
go through training, and then go to the
real world and try to deal with some
blantantly contrived situation which
serves as a rite of passage.
The collection of stereotypes on hand
for this movie is led by Steve Gutten-
berg as Carey Mahoney. He is the Bill
Murray of the movie, who is forced into
attending the academy after he wrecks
a car in his job as parking attendant. He
tries to get himself kicked out, but finds
this impossible. He ends up liking the
job.
Like all such movies, there must be a
black character or two to help provide
racial humor. Police academy has
Bubba Smith as a really big black
trainee, and Marion Ramsey, who finds
raising her voice to be a physical im-
possibility. To help provide the sexist
humor, Kim Cattrall plays an unusually
good-looking female trainee. And, of
course, there is the obligatiory obese
person, along with two other cadets on
hand for the express purpose of getting
tricked into entering a gay bar and
providing some homophobic humor.
As I said, the movie is better than the
sum of its parts, which really isn't all
that surprising - it would be difficult to
be worse.
This entertaining rip-off - with
enough racist, sexist, and homophobic
humor to occupy a KKK convention for
many hours - was put together by
Hugh Wilson, who directed and helped
write the screenplay, and Pat Proft and
Neal Istrael, the other authors. Wilson
was the creator of "WKRP," and the
film manages to work in large part
because of his abilities. Even when
directing the most ridiculous and awful
sequences, he does so professionally,
and therefore, the movie looks a little
thief
more classy than the cloth from which
it is made.
Wilson did a good job, casting the
movie. The actors all have a good
comic touch, but are not so good that
you can see them striving mightily to
rise above the material.
So, all in all, the film is quite enter-
taining, though far from perfect. Much
like Stripes, it suffers from an ending
provided to show everyone in action.
Both films would have benefitted from
sticking to the training arena. The
tagged - on riot in this movie is
perhaps a little worse than the sequen-
ce behind the iron curtain in Stripes, for
it is far too predictable.
If you want a few good laughs, Police
Academy is a decent choice. It is
derivative, and the humor is not very
refined, but it is funny. And that is, af-
ter all, what counts.
Steve Guttenberg and Bubba Smith take a questionable joyride in Police Academy.
... ... .......... .. ....... ......
David Crosby is
still young
To Subscribe:
764-0558
By Ben Yomtoob
and Don Blome
A TRUE ROCK legend is coming to
Second Chance. From 1964 to 1984,
from Woodstock to Wargames, David
Crosby has left an indelible mark on the
history of rock music. He began by
helping to popularize the folk-rock
genre in his early days with The Byrds,
and continues today with the same en-
thusiasm even if his style has changed a
bit.
Who can forget the pioneering voice
of The Byrds? Once considered
America's answer to the Beatle's, the
group never quite met that challange,
but left us with some great songs such
as "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Turn,
Turn, Turn," and the controversial.
"Eight Miles High" (co-written by
Crosby). Eventually Crosby left the
group and The Byrds' fortunes quickly
diminished.
Fortunately, this was not the last the
world saw of Crosby. With Graham
Nash of The Hollies and Stephen Still of
Buffalo Springfield, he formed Crosby,
Stills, and Nash (the origin of the name
is still unknown), and together they
have made the perfect musical
chemistry.
They have made a number of albums
of varying quality, yet all contain their
now-famous harmonies and the skillful
guitar work of Stephen Stills. Foremost
among these albums is the unparalleled
Deja vu, made when Neil Young was in
the group.
The group's most famous appearance
was one of its earliest. Crosby, Stills
and Nash were at Max Jasgur's farm in
upstate New York along with Neil
Young. The four had recently banded
together, but had not yet played
together. In spite of this, they put on one
of the most critically acclaimed per-
formances of Woodstock.
Able to change with the times, (the
group was made famous by their Six-
ties sound), CSN recently released an
album called Allies with a distinctly dif-
ferent sound. Not all will agree that it
is good, but the group's variety and
flexibility is undisputable.
What can we expect from Crosby on
Thursday night? Will he be playing
songs from The Byrds era, from early
CSN, from more recent CSN, or some
new compositions of his own? It's hard
to say, but we can always count on him
to put on a hell-of-a show.
Thursday at Second Chance.. . don't
miss it.
_
The Ark Presents
Holly
Near.
with Janet Cuniberti
& Susan Freundlich
IN CONCERT
Tues., April 10
The Michigan Theater
$11.50, $9.50, $8.50
8: 00 p m
$25 Sponsor Ticket
Available through U C A M
Tickets
Schoolkids Records, P J 's Used
Records. Ticket World. the Union
Ticket Office
INDIVIDUAL THEATRES
A La A . a, tbe'y 761.9700
$2.00 SHOW BEFORE 6:00 P.M.
5 ACADEMY AWARD
NOMI NATIONS
b GM[AR B~fmAN
FANrw&K
(R)
DAILY 1:00, 8:00
HELD OVER!
"HILARIOUS, ONE
OF HIS BEST"
-N.Y. Times
WOODY
F810ADNWAY A
I DANNY ALLEN
ROSE (PG)
DAILY 1:00, 7:20, 9:35
Despite recent legal problems, David Crosby will be sailing into Ann Arbor
this Thursday at Second Chance.
lmwb
A patriotic Czech symphony
By Bob King
V ACLAV NEUMANN gestured in
frenzied restraint, his baton
displaying the emotion - -though not
the motion - that identified Leonard
Bernstein just a month ago.
From the opening melodies of the
harp in "Vysehrad," rising with the
palaces legendary glory and falling
along into the torrent of its ruin,
Neumann led the Czech Philharmonic
through an amazing display of artistry
and patriotism. The orchestra was in-
spring, performing with a richness and
passion that revealed a deep affection
for its homeland.
This spirit was appropriate; Ma Vlast
(My Fatherland) was composed to in-
spire exactly such sentiments. A cycle
of six symphonic poems, it sings the
praises of Czech culture, glorifying the
myths, legends, histories, and
prophecies of this central European
people,
The "Veysehrad" sings the story of
the legendary Czech castle, while the
"Vltava" describes the coursing of the
river Moldau as it wanders through
Smetana's (and, Neumann's)
homeland. The "Sarka" tells of an
angry maiden, and the limitless and
horrible desire for revenge of an upset
girl-friend.
"From Bohemia's meadows and
Gardens," the fourth poem, creates an
aural landscape. Ma Vlast's final
poems, "Tabor" and "Blanik,"
celebrate the past and future glories of
the Czechs.
Smetana's romantic era was one of
symphonic poems and program music.
The overall optimism of the work,
especially in the finial poem, disguises
the fact that during composition of this
cycle, Smetana, like Beethoven, was
deaf. This work, which has charmed
and inspired generations of Czechs, was
never heard by its composer.
Smetana's spirit saw through his own
constraints, and those of his coun-
trymen subdued by the Hapsburg Em-
pire, to create a masterpiece. Today
Ma Vlast has become the traditional
opening . work in the annual Prague
Spring Music Festival.
Neumann and the Philharmonic
came to Ann Arbor with more than
violins; Sunday evening the Czech
musicians called its audience back to
the old country. The Czechs performed
the "Moldau" with a sublimity that
surpassed the river itself. On its con-
clusion, Neumann turned with a smile
of more than musical pride.
After intermission, Neumann
resumed with "from Bohemia's
Meadow's and Groves," commencing
with a panoramic maelstrom engen-
dered by an effort to see too much at
one time. In "Tabor" and "Blanik" was
echoed the war song of the Hussits, per-
formed with the passion of heritage. If
the grandfathers of these performers
were Smetana's fellow musicians, their
ancestors were the heroes who inspired
him.
The Czech Philharmonic came to Ann
Arbor with the spirit of its homeland
and the talent of its musicians. And
though under foreign influence, Sun-
day, as in the past, the Czechs perfor-
med with a pride and optimism that
promised to one day fulfill the
prophecies of the "Blanik."
USE DAILY CLASSIFIEDS
THE UNIVERSITY OF
MICHIGAN
MEN'S
GLEE
CLUB
Patrick Gardner, Director
ANNUAL
SPRING CONCERT
Saturday, April 7, 1984
8:00 p.m. - Hill auditorium
Tickets: $5, 4, 3, $2 students
Hill Box Office April 1 - 7
March 2l*,22,23 -25
March 29-April 1
'preview per"or"nces
Children
"a comedy about adults"
by' A. R. Gurney
Wednesday-Saturday 8pm
Sunday 2pm
New Trueblood Theatre
tickets available at the PTP Ticket Office
in the Michigan League 764-0450
Michigan Ensemble Theatre
birected by Terence Lamude
The University of Michigan
A Musical Vaudeville
I
I
I
I
4
0
COMMUNITY
SERVICES
The University of Michigan
Minority Student Services
HISPANIC SYMPOSIUM:
GRASS ROOTS MOVEMENTS: ORGANIZING FOR
SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISPANIC COMMUNITIES
* Thursday, March 29, 7 pm, SCHORLING AUD., School of Education
Dolores Huerta speaks for United Farm Workers