w IMP lqww wwww

w

MW qw

i. f

'

Cf

m

$ , Y:'...k, ". .v. {{::+.'{{{i+:?': i4}}}}:ti4k";.:?{{i"}h \:N4: }::rfi}}%}:::fi':":"'":,.}:.,...,}.,}. ::":Xi":'::";;:.: ::::: y:::. :: {::.y."{:
V0. .. ..: ... ". { .{{.: : .'{: .3.h. ...." .. .. ............vr}...n. ... n... :.. :} .... :.. ww-. ":-v: v.v {Y,.i};:_i::_4Y::.++}: ii'}".: ".. .. h'"'+.4'.v Av. !.".:r y .} p v tw: v v: ..:-::::--::: .: ....::: - :v
..1G ... .. ..: }. v .: .. ... ....... ... v ...... .. i ':.. :... ... 4 :. rn....:. .. .. :{::?{":ti"}}:":{ z: ifi:"}\^}}}}. .. . $} . n !... .}....
.+" : .. $ r :.. :. .. , ... .. ... ... .. , :.:.: ". .,{..: . {:.:..:...... h....: ,.... n..y^$:v.'"{{,:4}:;r .:"}.;:+, ,.".,}, . ;.:jnh :: "::v. {:{v. "J' ": r".w. v $r
y.. 'v.. . :" {: .. l{4}h .4}r. '".h. i:"...4.v ..:.n}n.r}1..../.rr."... 4: :.: h .:. :.. .:... :...:..v%:,.. i' : : ... ,r+ .x .. .nn.. .v ": "hx: }....... }: ..:\ ..... :. n.. "" lam: v.:"2v. :'" }...:Y:. .. .. :.{Sw.: . .'y'-'i: '=":" :}., .:: ,.. A.i
.44iK sv:. .. r"v
:....n....,.s}.."...r$....,..}...r.::..::,...-.,, ..............."}{e'h.{". r.">:.R .CSC:h.'r!:.r.........,....:..,.....$4n.......... :..-.:dr..:...}.,:aN....:., .' ..:........>.r...,......"..::}...+ ,46:".,<'{tc.,.",.:: i .-:}.!} ' 3}: 0i .}tr?:asfx, vrv'i'::}::.%i5t ": 'f}:s. ' : .wfi :;rr..\,. .#£.'" :h'+ ,:{:'?{, " :'.'S:

.. } ......... ...... ; s}::::::v::::. :*::*::::}:::.v.}.:t..}:"i:::.:..;...v,..::::::: :::::;:.::::: mom:: v.v::::,.....................................
.....}r...i.....................:v.:: ::"}"h": : : :: .... .............s ...... }:::::v : ":}.:: .,.... . . ... n . .4: :: . . .. .v r. ... .r

Stoned
again
The Rolling Stones
Undercover
Rolling Stones Records
By Byron Bull
T HERE'S SOMETHING about a
Rolling Stones album that seems to
automatically preclude serious
critiquing. Maybe it's all those com-
ments Mick Jagger used to make about
his music not being art, just shit.
Maybe it's the glossy order form inside
my copy of Undercover urging me to
join the Rolling Stones OfficialFan Club
(only $11.50 for a one-year subscrip-
tion!) Maybe it's that of all the really
rabid Stones fans I know, none of them
had any taste in the first place.
The Stones themselves always shied
away from serious discussion of their
material contending they were just a
rock 'n' roll band intent on making good
dance records. Many professional
critics have seen fit to grant them
special status, as if just sticking
together for so long entitled a band to
special considerations. If a Stones
album was fairly danceable, and didn't
sound too much like the last release,
then everyone breathed a collective
sigh and jumped onto Pete Town-
shend's back again, or Paul McCar-
tney's or Rod Stewart's, because "we
expect better from them. Undercover
is getting the expected treatment, with
everyone commenting on how good it is
for their 23rd album, and how it's their
strongest record since Exiles On Main
Street. I think all the Stones had to do
was come up with something better
than Tatoo You (which wasn't much)

and it would rate masterpiece status
with the music press.
Personally I've never been much of
an admirer. I won't deny Jagger and
Richards are intelligent men (Richards
particularly so), but they always
seemed more like entrepreneurs, and
the band was just a very proficient
money making machine, I won't argue
they made a definite mark in the early
days of the British invasion, but I've
heard little originality since then. Their
records were always too hip, reflecting
the current musical and production
trends, the songs making reference to
all of the topical drugs.
Stylistically neither Jagger . nor
Richards is a strong lyricist, and none of'
their writing displays much human in-
sight. No matter how hard Jagger
screamed and ranted about his charac-
ters' sexual obsessions and power hang-
ups, he just couldn't breathe much life
into them. Not the way someone like
Randy Newman can. I admit their idea
of stripping the male ego naked to
reveal an essentially repressed and
depraved soul, pathetically dependent
on the opposite sex, has worked in cer-
tain songs. But they turned it into a
formula and ran it into the ground. And
for all the power of their raunchy,
seething rhythms, the Stones could
never musically match the ex-
pressionistic power of the Who in their
heyday. Great party music, sure, but no
deeper than the vinyl it's printed on.
Now let me say I actually like the
new album. I like it a great deal.
Despite a few bad songs, Undercover
rates as one of the better rock albums of
1983. Far more inspired as a comeback
album than what we were subjected to
with Bowie or Dylan. This is a mature,
at times even provocative album, and
it's a hell of a lot of fun. It's hard rock,
boasts some eminently danceable
tunes, and contains some really incisive
writing. For some odd reason it's also
the most violent Stones record I've
heard, much more so than what their
usual love-hate songs display. If Jagger
or Richards were the type of person
who barred his soul in his work, I'd be
worried about the both of them. As it is

.............:::.......... .:......., ..V .....:...... r . ,.::... . r:.......-,...,. a e. .... "., r.::...cs.:m..t-x.. r.T. rra: rasf. F uc.>..vx..vxrr:..va: rscm-rr:.cvs:w:v.: xce: :::"r .vmr rw ::5.-n:..:..cn.:vx ...

I'm not sure if they're making a com-
ment on what they see going on in the
world around them or if this is just
another weird gimmick. I wonder if
they know themselves.
Side A of Undercover is the weaker
side. The melodies sond formula at
times, the content pretty in-
distinquishable from what was on any
recent Stones album, albeit a bit har-
sher. The opening "Undercover of The
Night" is hardly the, political treatise
that it's been frequently labeled; the
images it conjures up are of the usual
sex and violence variety. There are
timely references to mercenaries, cut
out tongues, death squads, and jungle
training camps, but none of it is tied to
any strong central idea. Much like it's
video, it remains a moderately enter-
taining idea that was never fleshed out.
Still, with Jagger's devilish vocals
scampering about the hot guitar tracks
by Wood and Richards, with its
machine gun-like burst of synthesized
drums, it's a far cut above "Start Me
Up."
"She Was Hot" doesn't help as a follow-
up. Loud and crude, it's a sleazy
recollection of bed-hopping across the
country. Amidst all the blaring guitars,
Jagger drools and yelps about the joys
of groupie fucking with all the wit of a
tanked-up lowbrow. He plays the part
with a pitiful slant, as a sniveling sub-
missive completely at the mercy of a
nubile young nymphos who take en-
thusiastic joy at the opportunity of
jumping on his aging bones. Do we
really need this? Did Jagger need this?
"Tie You Up (The Pain of Love)" is
perfectly encapulated in it's title. Not
so hard on the ears as "She Was Hot,"
it's the same old retelling of all the
painful implications of love (read lust).
Jagger babbles nonsense like, Pay for
it/Cry for it/Women will die for it,
and extols the thrill of cuming on them.
Keith Richards gets the honor of
singing, or whining, the dumbest song.
An uninspired bit of romantic fluff
called "Wanna Hold You," noteworthy
only because it sidesteps sensuality for
old fashioned naivete. Sweet, but so is
Diet Cola and I can do without the after-
taste.
At this point, almost halfway through
the album, the momentum begins to
pick up again. More of a sustained
mood piece, the reggae influenced
"Feel On Baby" flows with a dreamy,
mesmerizing quality. Jagger's painful
yearnings for the redem-
ptive/restorative powers of physical in-
timacy works well against the lush in-
strumentation, including a beautiful
drum/synth drum duet by Charlie Wat-
ts and Sly Dunbar. The strength of the
lyrics is the utter simplicity, the
strained cries of Cure my body, make
me whole/Feed my body, feed my
soul, buffeted by an endless chorus of
Feel on baby softly echoing in and out
of the background. A delicate weaving
of softly twisting textured 'sounds, it
recalls "Waiting On A Friend" as a fine
example of what the Stones can do
when they cut the crap.
Side B opens with the feverish "Too
Much Blood" and things don't slow
down much until the album's end. "Too
Much Blood" stands out as the album's
best song, and is an instant classic, a
furious, fabulous knock-out of a rap
tune. As the song quickly builds, one in-
strumental track coming in on the heels
of the other, Jagger shuffles through
various persona, in an ugly caricature
of the times. First he's cynical and

THE BIG CHILL
Seven University alumni gather together at the
funeral of a friend, the results being humorous and
touching. Are these the best years of our lives?
(Wayside Theater, 3020 Washtenaw; 434-1782 and
Movies at Briarwood, Briarwood Mall; 769-8780).
EDUCATING RITA
Does an inebriated professor have anything to
learn from a gaudy housewife? See Michael Caine in
Educating Rita and find out. (State Theater, 231 S.
State; 662-6264).
GORKY PARK-.
Can a jaded Russian agent detective save Russia
and the girl he loves from an international smuggling
scheme? Maybe, but he can't save the movie which
is boring and confusing. (Movies at Briarwood,
Briarwood Mall; 769-8780).
THE LONELY HEARTS
A love story of unknown quality and content. (Ann
Arbor Theater, 210 S. 5th; 761-9700)
i mu............................

Mick Jagger: Semper Suave

detached, telling us of a friend's pen-
chant for cannibalism (Hey, truth 's
stranger than fiction) and a moment
later he's groveling in a thick cockney
accent about The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre (When I go to the movies,
y'know, I like to see something
more romantic, y'know, something
like An Officer And A Gen-
tIeman ... something you can take
the wife to. ..:"). Inbetween the
raps he's howling, screaming, I wanna
dance, wanna sing, wanna bust up
every thing! in terrified desperation.
Coupled with this is a hotbed
arrangement, with Moroccan per-
cussion, some scathingly funky horns
by the sessions group CHOPS, and a
frazzled ditty of a sax riff by David
Sanborn. Jagger, and particularly
Richards, have shown a strong interest
in R&B (especially from the Third
World) before, and this is one of the
strongest funk-rock meldings yet (its
only recent rival being the Talking
Heads' "Burning Down The House").
Something forgettable called "Pretty
Beat Up" is thrown in right after,
giving one enough time to catch a few
gulps full of air. You can guess from the
title what it deals with. Before the
things be'gin to drag it's over and the
band launches into the shrillness of
"Too Tough." Deceptively simple on
the surface, it has enough depth below
to redeem it.
The album wraps up with its second
best cut, and it's also the sole socio-
political song, "It Must Be Hell." In it
Jagger assails a system that would
funnel so much of its resources into an
arms race at the expense of its
children, who go hungry and become
illiterate. Braced with a simple but
steely blast of guitars, Jagger takes all
the sneers and scowls of disgust usually
reserved for women and his fans, and
blasts out at our political leaders.
Referring to their antiquated
ideologies, he blasts out, It must be
hell living in a world, suffering in a
world like you!! It's a perfectly con-
cise line, bitter and acidic in its sar-
casm.
Mick Jagger, as he passes 40 and en-
ters middle age, has been searching for
some means of respectability. He wants
desperately to be considered as more
than a rock icon, because it's a title he
can't comfortably grow old with. He's a
decent businessman, but a failure as an
actor and that must hurt. His upcoming
autobiography and a crack at screen-
writing are more recent quests for
some other, more refined, career to
assume.

THE MAN WHO LOVED WOMEN"
Burt Reynolds stars in a tepid and stupid remake
of Truffauts French classic. Even Blake Edwards
and Julie Andrews can't save this poor attempt at
humor. (Movies at BriarwoA_'l Briarwood Mall-,, 769-
8780).
RETURN OF THE JEDI
Third in a series of space-age flicks that combine
actior, amusing scenarios and charismatic charac-
ters in an enjoyable, albeit mindless, movie.(Fox
village Theater, Maple village; 769-1300).
RISKY BUSINESS
Tom Cruise does a fine job as Joel Goodson, a rich
and naivesteenager who inherits a beautiful
prostitute for a night, but still has the mettle and for-
titude to return to the routine satisfaction of
academia. (State Theater, 231S. State; 662-6264).
SCARFACE
Cuban immigrant Tony Montana (Al Pacino)
seethes with passion and ambition; his wildest
dreams come true, bringing along some wild night-
mares. The action is fast-paced, the acting is sublime
and the story is riveting. (Campus Theater, 1214 S.
University, 668-6416).
Guest appearances by Oliver Reed, Ann Margret,
and Elton John. (Ann Arbor Film Coop; Nat. Sci.
Aud., 7:00)
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT (Jeff Stein, 1978)
Also known as "Everything You Always Wanted to
Know About The Who but Were Afraid to Ask." Their
music graces a documentary about the group. (Ann
Arbor Film Coop; Nat. Sci. Aud., 9:00)
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (Norman Jewison, 1971)
One of Broadway's most popular musicals comes
to the silver screen. All of the great songs are intact
in the story of a small Jewish community in Eastern
Europe. (Cinema Guild; Lorch Hall, 6:00, 9:05)
EAST OF EDEN (Elia Kazan, 1955)
Fifties' idol James Dean is the star. Steinbeck's
novel is the source. Two brothers fighting for the love
of their father is the story. Jo van Fleet as the boys'
mother is the Oscar winner. (Classic Film Theater;
Michigan Theater, 5:00, 9:30)
REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (Nicholas Ray, 1955)
A James Dean double feature concludes as he joins
Sal Mineo and Natalie Wood in a study of juvenile
delinquency. (Classic Film Theater; Michigan
Theater, 7:30, 12:00 midnight)
MONTH PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (Terry
Gilliam and Terry Jones, 1975)
The British comedy troupe attacks the Arthurian
legends in an occasionally hilarious film. It's worth
seeing for the opening credits alone. (Mediatrics;
MLB 3,7:30,9:15)
TAXI DRIVER (Martin Scorcese, 1976)
Robert DeNiro is a lunatic taxi driver who likes to
so some very violent things. The evidence, as in
Scarface, is considered brilliant by some and just
plain awful by others. (Alternative Action; MLB 4,
7:00,9:00)
MyISSING (Costa-Gavras, 1982)
One of 1982's best pictures, and a deserving Oscar
winner for Best Screenplay, stars Jack Lemmon and
Sissy Spacek in an engrossing look for a missing per-
son in a Latin American country after a coup.
(Cinema 2; Aud. A, 7:00,9:15)

TERMS OF ENDEARMENT
A widow (Shirley MacLaine) tries to settle some of
the confusing points of a mother/daughter relation-
ship with her earthy daughter (Debra Winger). Sure
to leave even the most stoic in tears. (Ann Arbor
Theater, 210 S. 5th; 761-9700).
TESTAMENT
Jane Alexander stars as a mother trying to hold
-her family together after a nuclear holocaust. Her
performance is stunning and the film is poignant and
thought-provoking. (Movies at Briarwood, Briar-
wood Mall; 769-8780).
Sure is different from Yentl. (Classic Film Theater;
Michigan Theater, 6:30)
A RAISIN IN THE SUN (Daniel Petrie, 1961)
Sidney Poitier is the star. The film, from Lorraine
Hansberry's play, looks at the difficult life of a black
family in a poor section of Chicago. (Mediatrics;
Nat. Sci. Aud., 7:00,9:15)


SILKWOOD
Karen Silkwood discovers disturbing pieces of
evidence at her plutonium plant. When she attempts
to expose them, she mysteriously dies in a car ac-
cident. Several outstanding performances including
Cher. (Movies at Briarwood, Briarwood Mall; 769-
8780).
SUDDEN IMPACT
Clint hits again, suddenly and repeatedly, as Dirty
Harry Callahan -whose investigation of a murder
leads to a lovely lady and a psychopath. Sondra
Locke co-stars. (State Theatre, 231 S. State; 662-
6264).

TO BE OR NO
Mel Brooks I
the remake o
Hitler and ti
Matheson co-s
6264).
TWO OF A KI
The chemis
Newton John
ploitative filn
do not a movi
village; 769-13
UNCOMMONI
Gene Hackn
do mission mt
who are missin
don't expect
Maple village;
YENTL
A young Je
knowledge tha
tury society a
finally fulfills a
musical. (Mo
769-8780)

TALES OF ORDINARY MADNESS (Marco Ferreri,
1981)
The first local premiere film of the term stars Ben
Gazzara. It's based on a Charles Bukowski short
story, "The Most Beautiful Woman in Town."
(Cinema 2; Aud. A, 7:00, 9:00)
PEPPERMINT SODA (Diane Kurys, 1978)
Is Peppermint Soda the name of the girl, some
important symbol in her life, or not really anything
at all? Find out by seeing this look at early
adolescence. (Mediatrics; Nat. Sci. Aud., 7:00,8:45)
WHAT'S UP, TIGER LILY? (Senkichi Tanizuchi and
Woody Allen, 1966)
Allen takes a Japapese thriller, redubs it, and tur-
ns it into a dramatic hunt for some secret egg salad
recipe. Rather funny throughout. (Ann Arbor Film
Coop; MLB 4,7:00,10:30)
WHAT'S NEW, PUSSYCAT? (Clive Donner, 1965)
Woody Allen wrote the screenplay and made his
acting debut, but the stars of the show are Peter
O'Toole and Peter Sellers, who plays a psychiatrist
who is crazier than his patient. Ursula Andress is
also on hand. (Ann Arbor Film Coop; MLB 4,8:30)
BREAKER MORANT (Bruce Beresford, 1979)
A very, very good film. It's about three Australian
soldiers in the Boer War in South Africa who seem to
follow orders and end up getting court-martialled
because of it. From the director of Tender Mercies.
(Alternative Action; MLB 3,7:00,9:00)
TOOTSIE (Sydney Pollack, 1982)
A hilarious comedy, and not a bad performance in
the lot. Dustin Hoffman stars as an actor who has to
dress up as a woman in order to get a part. Teri Garr,
Charles Durning, Jessica Lange, Bill Murray, Dab-
ney Coleman, and director Pollack also star.
(Cinema Guild; Lorch Hall, 7:00,9:10)
THE SHINING (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
Terms of Endearment it's not, as Jack Nicholson
stars in Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece about a,
family spending a winter in the secluded Overlook
Hotel. The flawless technical aspects make up for a
slightly flawed plot. From the Stephen King novel.
(Classic Film Theater; Michigan Theater, 7:00,
11:30)
THE EXORCIST (William Friedkin, 1973)
Ellen Burstyn gets quite upset with her daughter
(Linda Blair) when she gets re-possessed by the
devil. Max von Sydow arrives to get rid of the Satanic
creature in an engrossing horror film. (Classic Film
Theater; Michigan Theater, 9:25)

THE WOODEN GUN (Ilan Moshenson, 1979)
Israel's Independence Day in 1950 is the setting.
The look at the young nation gained then also has
some relevance to modern Israel. (Cinema Guild and
the Program for Judiac Studies, Lorch Hall, 7:00,
FREE)
THE PROMISED LAND (Miquel Littin,1973)
The 1930s in Chile, which featured the brief ap-
pearance of the Americas' only socialist republic
serve as a base for an allegory of Chile's Allende
regime. (Ann Arbor Film Coop; MLB 1, 8:00, FREE)

Woody:'
it might have
Herman Woul

VIRIDIANA (Luis Bunuel, 1961)
A nun is about to take her final vows. But before
that she visits her uncle who seems to have little
more than sex on his mind. (Ann Arbor Film Coop;
Aud A,7:00)
THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE (Luis
Bunuel, 197x)
Bunuel did one of the things he liked to do best in
this motion picture: he satirized the middle class in
general and their sexual attitudes in particular.
French with subtitles. (Ann Arbor Film Coop; Aud.
A, 8:45)

THAT MAN FROM RIO (Phillippe de Broca, 1964)
Jean-Paul Belmondo stars in a spoof of James
Bond movies. From the director of King of Hearts.
(Cinema 2; Aud. A, 7:00)
HI MOM! (BrianDePalma, 1970)
A very, very early film for De Palma, who has
since done Dressed to Kill, Scarface,'and others. A
very, very early film for star Robert DeNiro, who
has since done Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, and others.
(Cinema 2; Aud. A, 9:00)
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (Lewis
Milestone, 1930)
The youth in Germany fight World War 1, and
become disillusioned as they discover the propagan-
da which got them to the front was just that.
Academy Award winner for Best Picture and Best
Director. (Cinema Guild; Lorch Hall, 7:00,9:00)
FUNNY GIRL (William Wyler, 1968)
Barbra Streisand's Oscar-winning film debut. She
stars as Fanny Brice, an entertainer who has a very
different life off-stage than on. The 3:30 show will be
preceded by an episode from Flash Gordon Conquers
the Universe. (Classic Film Theater; Michigan
Theater, 3:30)
FUNNY LADY (Herbert Ross, 1975)
The sequel to Funny Girl as Steisand again plays
Fanny Brice, this time at the height of her career.

THE BICYCLE THIEF (vittorio De Sica, 1949)
Many think this to be one of the best films from the
Italian cinema. A father and son look for their stolen
bicycle, which is vital to their livelihood, in the
streets of Rome. (Cinema Guild; Lorch Hall, 7:00,
8:45)
THE SEARCHERS (John Ford, 1956)
John Wayne in (surprise!) a western. He looks for
a niece kidnapped by Indians for years on end,
refusing to give up the hunt. (Classic Film Theater;
Michigan Theater, 7:00,9:20)
PATHS OF GLORY (Stanley Kubrick,1957)
One of Kubrick's earlier films. Kirk Douglas is an
officer caught between the high command and the
rank and file of the French Army during World War
I. (Cinema 2; MLB3,7:00)
THE CAINE MUTINY (Edward Dmytryck,1954)
Humphrey Bogart is Captain Queeg. His crew rises
up in mutiny and dumps him, which seems like a
good idea at the time. But later revelations indicate

SHOOT THE
1962)
A concert i
second-rate c
resume his co
(Classic Film
BREATH LES,
This is thec
Richard Gere
pointed to see
of a French
American stud
Theater, 9:00)
EDVARDMU
The Expres
style treatmen
titles. (Ann Ar
HAMLET (La
Shakespear
ten won Oscar
also starred, w
in Denmark. (
WOMAN OF T]
Spencer Tra
the very first i
plays a politic
Aud., 7:00)
STAGE DOOR
Katharine H
Eve Arden,a
theatrical boa
Aud., 9:00)

The Rolling Stones: No accounting for Tastes

TOMMY (Ken Russell,;1975)
A rock opera by The Who comes to the screen.

8 Weekend/January 13, 1984

5 V