ARTS
Wednesday, April 4, 1984
,,he Mid
V"
:higan Daily
Screenwriter returns
Page 7
Long live the king
Jy Joshua Bilmes
W HO WON two Hopwoods, helped
write three flying screenplays,
and is going to be in Ann Arbor this
week? The answer is David Newman, a
veteran Hollywood screenwriter and a
Michigan alumnus. Today, at 2 p.m. in
the Lorch Hall Auditorium, where his
name has probably flashed on the
screen, he will give a talk on "Talking
About Screenwriting." Tomorrow, he
will appear from 3-5 p.m. in the Hop-
wood Room for a reception. Both events
are open to the public. He will also
:make the rounds of all of the film
classes.
But who is David Newman? Most
recently, he has helped write screen-
plays for the three Superman movies.
He has worked with his wife,
collaborator Robert Benton, and Mario
Puzo.
He was a student here in Ann Arbor in
the late 1950s, as was his wife, Leslie.
While here he won two Hopwoods. The
first was in the minor fiction category
in 1957. The following year he won in the
major drama category. Hopefully, he
will not be too overwhelmed by deja vu
during Thursday's reception.
In the early '60s, he was on the staff of
Esquire magazine, as was Robert Ben-
ton, a screenwriter and director who
has worked with the Newmans on a
large number of projects. One of their
first was the screenplay for Bonnie and
Clyde which was released in 1967. The
stars were Warren Beatty and Faye
Dunaway.
1972 was a busy year for Newman,
with two of his movies being released.
One was Bad Company, directed by,
Benton. Jeff Bridges and John Savage
were the stars. The film told the story of
drifters during 'the Civil War who
traveled West on stolen money.
Better . known is the other 1972
release. The director was Peter
Bogdanovich. The stars were Barbra
Streisand and Ryan O'Neal. The title,
What's up Doc?
The next major film with the
Newman name attached was Super-
man, The Movie, 1978. Benton and the
Newman's were called in to rewrite the
first draft by Mario Puzo. The film had
more stars in it than can be listed here,
but a partial list would have to include
Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, and
Christopher Reeve.
That was the start of a long-lasting
association with the Man of Steel. The
Newmans helped on Superman II, and
wrote Superman III singlehandedly.
They are currently at work, for the
same producers, on a Santa Claus
screenplay; the film should be released
in time for Christmas in 1985.
This week, then, is a good opportunity
to find out about the art of screen-
writing and how to get started in the
film business. Or, if you have less am-
bition, perhaps you could get a few tips
on how to get your very own Hopwood
award. It could be one of those once in a
lifetime opportunities to go up, up, and
away in your own writing career. And
then you can come back to Ann Arbor 25
years from now and do the old film-
video visit roulette.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - ABC's
"Dynasty" claimed first place in the
Nielsen ratings but CBS won the week,
even though it gave "Dallas" a night off
to allow another visit from The Wizard
of Oz.
The two nighttime soap operas have
been in a seesaw battle for first place
the past three weeks.
The Wizard of Oz, the 1939 fantasy
classic starring Judy Garland, tied for
ninth place. It was the 25th time the
movie has been on network television -
17 on CBS, eight on NBC.
Seven of the Top 10 places were taken
by CBS. NBC took two, including a
ninth place tie with Oz for "Flight 9:
Disaster on the Potomac." The movie
recreated the crash of the Air Florida
jet into the Potomac River at
Washington on Jan. 13, 1982. ABC had
only "Dynasty" in the Top 10.
The new CBS comedy, "Kate &
Allie," was eighth. Starring Susan Saint
James and Jane Curtin, it made its
debut last week in fourth place. That
was the first time a half-hour comedy
had been in the Top 10 since the
premiere of "After M*A*S*H" at the
beginning of the fall season.
"Cagney & Lacey," the police show
making a return to CBS, fell out of the
Top 10 to 12th place.
Here are the Top 10: ABC's
"Dynasty," first; CBS' "Simon &
Simon," second; NBC's "The A-
Team," third; CBS' "Magnum, P.I.,"
fourth; CBS' "Knots Landing," fifth;
CBS' "60 minutes," sixth; CBS'
"Newhart," seventh; CBS' "Kate &
Allie," eighth; and CBS' The Wizard of
Oz and NBC's "Flight 90:. Disaster in
the Potomac," tied for ninth.
CBS won the week with a network
average of 17.4 in the A.C. Nielsen Co.
survey. ABC was second with 16.0 and
NBC was third with 14. The networks
say this means that in an average prim-
e-time minute 17.4 percent of the TV
homes were tuned to CBS.
CBS continued its lead for the season
to date. The ratings: CBS 18.1, ABC 17.2
NBC 15.0.
The lowest-rated show of the week
was NBC's "First Camera." This was
the lash time the magazine show will be
television's doormat. Next Sunday it
will be replaced in the NBC schedule by
the return of."Father Murphy."
ANN A T1B1,
INDIVIDUAL THEATRES
5th Ave oflibert 761-9700
$2.00 SHOWS BEFORE 6:00 P.M.
DAILY 1:00 P.M. SHOWS
Erans
... Dynasty's queen bee
,
Records,
Continued from Preceding Page
AMITY 'LSAT/GMAT/MCAT/GRE SEMINARS.
OUR GUARANTEE: SCORE IN TOP 25% OR TAKE
NEXT COURSE FREE. CALL NOW TOLL-FREE,
800-243-4767 ABOUT SUMMER AND FALL
CLASSES. 46JO417
MISCELLANEOUS
RECORD GIVEAWAY
The Cool Flames, Ann Arbor's favorite dance band,
k will be appearing at Annie's Dugout: Friday, April 6
at 9:00 PM. Everyone attending will receive a free
copy of their new hit single.
DANCING/NO COVER
r 80M0406
TRAVEL
UNIVERSITY OF Michigan Summer Study in Fran-
ce and Spain: July - August. For information call
Department of Romance Languages. 764-5344. 91P0408
EUROPE: From $439 Roundtrip air (Detroit/Frank-
furt), $370 2 mo. EURAILPASS, Hostels. Rainbow
Tours.800/253-4014 .59P0412
INSTANT EURAILPASSES
1 MONTH EURAIL youth pass $290, 2 months $370.
Eurailpass 15 days $260, 21 days $330. 1, 2, 3 month
available. Detroit/Frankfort charter from $439.
'G'reat Places Travel Consultants, 208 E. Washington,
769-1776. cP0616
TICKETS
{WANTED: April 28 Commencement tickets for
Orisler Arena. Will be willing to pay for them, Call
996-1876. 83Q0417
ROOMMATES
FEMALE WANTED to share 2 br. apt, for spr/sum.
Super cheap. $50-65. 761-1377. 89Y0406
Nonfiction - 'Walking
Sideways, Talking Backwards'
L IVE AND IN person, Nonfiction is
tight, tense at times, and driven.
The music isn't choked or constrained,
but it travels an edge that makes one
feel that at any minute it might be.
Looks must have a lot to do with it too.
Nonfiction looks serious. Billi Franx in
back on the drums; behind sunglasses,
fraternal twins Ben and Larry Miller
switching between bass and guitar,
both playing without any extraneous
movement.:.
On tape, though, as in their debut
cassette Walking Sideways, Talking
Backwards, things somehow loosen up.
Not that the tightness is gone com-
pletely, or that it isn't good - things are
just more relaxed, a little more open.
The wonders of production.
Side A is the only side that is really
produced though; side B comes from
last year's Cruisin' Ann Arbor perfor-
mance at Joe's Star Lounge.
So Side A sets the mood of the album.
It starts out with "Reckless In-
fatuation," a pretty-pop song composed
by Franx. "In fatu fatu fatu ation" -
nice hook and real danceable. Most of
side A is like that, poppy, but with real
nice pops, and hooks too.
"Stab in the Dark" and "Ryptide
Zone" on side A also stand out. "Stab in
the Dark" has the characteristic Non-
fiction drive, along with a kind of mar-
ching movement; be good for a movie
soundtrack. The lyrics are really nice,
though nothing profound, just nice:
"Take a stab in the dark/gonna roll
with the night/gonna dig out a hole/and
fill my empty life."
"Ryptide Zone" is bouncy, like red
rubber balls or some other fun kid-
thing. Makes one want to skip: "I love
you a little/I love you lots/my love for
you could fill two pots/fourteen
buckets/fifteen cans." That's nice.
Side B, as previously mentioned, is
live, and recorded earlier than side A.
The songs here are just as hooky, just
as danceable, but there's more of an
edge. It would be hard to say which side
is better, they're both so different. Side
B is definitely more experimental.
"I've Got Mine" starts things out
fairly conventionally. Still, a
memorable chorus. Guess what? It's
about women.
Then come some very fine moments.
"Junkyard" is an instrumental,along
the old sixties surf band garage punk
lines, and stands up there with the best
of any of those tunes. From skritchy
tense rats scrambling over the objects
in the dump to the point in the spy
music when the bad guys secretly slip
LSD into the good guy's gin, this one
rocks.
"Walkie Talkie" is the song on the
tape that immediately reaches out and
grabs the most. In Franx' words,
" Walkie Talkie is a kind of rambling
tune about being too out of it to know
what is happening at a party. The
ROA
THE UNION
DRAWING
APRIL 6
feeling when you're just walking
around in circles." It was written by
Larry Miller. The song's intro sounds
like someone forgot to turn the'mike off
and the audience is just speaking non-
sense; lots of talk, not too much sense.
It's interesting to try to follow the
thread of one voice though (all band
members are simply rambling, it turns
out). In the body of the song, the Millers
switch- off back and forth with lyrics
with great twin-precision. The title of
the tape, incidentally, comes from
"Walkie Talkie" lyrics.
One complaint about side B: it ends
really quickly, just stops and leaves you
wondering what happened. A fade
THE UNIVERSITY OF
MICHIGAN
MEN'S
GLEE
CLUB
Patrick Gardner, Director
ANNUAL
SPRING CONCERT
Saturday, April 7, 1984
8:00p.m. -Hill auditorium
Tickets: $5, 4, 3, $2 students
Hil Box Office April 1 - 7 .
would have been nice.
Walking Sideways, Talking Back-
wards would be a good tape even if it
wasn't put out by a favorite local band.
Danceable, full of hooks and catchy
lines, poppy, and even managing to be
intelligent on top of all that. You can get
the tape at PJ's. It would probably.be a
good idea to go see Nonfiction live as
soon as you can, too. They may not be
"just a local band" much longer.
- Joe Hoppe
"VIBRANT
EROTICI5M'
-Molly Haskell,
Vogue Magazine
A FILM BY
CARLOS SAURA
CARMEN
(R).
m
®_
The Ark Presents
Holly.
Near
with Janet Cunibetti
& Susan Freundlich
IN CONCERT
Tues., April 10
The Michigan Theater
$11.50, $9.50, $8.50
8:00 p m
$25 Spopsor Ticket
Available through U C A M
Tickets
Schoolkids Records P J s Used
Records. Ticket World. the Union
Ticket Office
DAILY 1:00, 7:10, 9:10
I
"GENUINELY STARTLING!
The right audiences are bound to
appreciate the ot'iginality the color,
rage, nonchoaace, sly humor,
and ferocious fashion sense."
--net Mslin. NY. Times
DAILY1:0,7:25,930
Put your degree
to work
where it can do
a world of good.
Your first job after graduation should offer
you more than just a paycheck. We can
offer you an experience that lasts a life-
time.
Working together with people in a dif-
ferent culture is something you'll never
forget. It's a learning experience everyone
can benefit from.
In Science or Engineering, Education,
Agriculture, or Health, Peace Corps pro-
jects in developing countries around the
world are bringing help where it's needed.
If you're graduating this year, look into a
£nir mpr'nr~nniriitit/ vnu uiir r4parO to
i