ARTS
Tuesday, March 5, 1985
The Michigan Daily
Page6b
........_ . -w-
Vision
By Emily Montgomery
The only thing worse than a movie
that's a take off of an earlier hit is a
poor take off. Vision Quest is the perfect
example of this.
With a plot structure quite obviously
stolen from Rocky, (which, I might
add, has already been successfully
emulated in The Karate Kid), V.Q. tells
the deja vu tale of a high school
wrestler determined to beat the
toughest wrestler in his state, who for 3-
years has remained undefeated.
Matthew Modine, who portrays
Louden Swain, the gutsy grappler, has
appeared in numerous films,
Streamers, Hotel New Hampshire,
Baby It's You, and Mrs. Soffel among
them. Vision Quest is his first starring
role, with the exception of the T & A
flop Private School. This is unfor-
tunate for Modine, because he deserves
better..Modine's presence is a blessing
Quest: A
for the makers of V.Q., though, as he is
the only factor which keeps the film
from severe schlockdom.
Modine's efforts to make V.Q.
anything but a hokey redundancy are
continuously undermined by all those
around him. No talent newcomer Lin-
da Florentino plays Carla, his
surrogate Adrian, as a hard core bitch,
making Swain's immediate affection
for her seem completely ridiculous. I
guess that's where the movie's title,
Vision Quest has its origin. Swain could
only be attracted to Carla for her looks,
since her personality is so contem-
ptible, she makes even Linda Blair in
The Exorcist seem like a charmer.
Dialogue is the problem Michael
Schoeffling (Sixteen Candles) as
Swain's friend Kuch, faces. That is, he
isn't given anything decent to say. As
he advises Swain, "You take the risk of
pissing off the spirits, which is not the
thing to do," I could not help but to
laugh out loud at the outright
terrible
ludicrousness of it all.
Many of the other characters in V.Q.
carry on in the same, nonsensical,
vacuous manner. Elmo, the short-order
cook at the hotel Swain bellhops, takes
thernight off in order to see the big mat-
ch. When Swain asks him why, Elmo
goes into a 15 minute story (Yes, I
timed it!) about some soccer game he
watched on T.V. that he had wanted to
see in person. All that time I was
thinking, couldn't he have just said,
"Hey kid, I wouldn't miss it," and left it
at that?
Much of the film, it would seem, ser-
ves not other purpose than to provide
visual filler for the soundtrack, (which
the film's promoters go to great lengths
to mention), includes songs by Journey,
Sammy Hagar, Foreigner, Quarter-
flash, REO Speedwagon, John Waite
and others. Madonna makes a cameo
appearance in V.Q. performing two
numbers. The hissing was so loud when
she came on the screen, though, I
couldn't hear what she sings.
All of Swain's friends are against him
deja vu
at first, but then when it looks as if he
might have a chance, they act as if they
supported him all along. This obser-
vation is a sound one, but V.Q. tries to
take it too far. After Swain gains sup-
port, his rigorous training schedule
starts to take its toll on him. He begins
to get persistent nosebleeds and he fain-
ts in the corridor of his school during
class break. His coach decides to forbid
Swain from continuing in his futile ef-
fort, which, at the time, seems like the
right thing to do. Then something really
stupid happens, Swain, in his anger,
climbs to the top of the gym pegboard,
something supposedly no one has done
before, so the coach says, "All right
Swain, you win," (Oh please!)
Matthew Modine and Michael Schoef-
fling are both talented young actors
who have proven their ability to handle
better parts than V.Q. offers. So why
are they wasting their time in this
disillusion? I can't answer that, but I do
have some advice for you. Save your
money and buy the soundtrack to V.Q.
instead.
x,
MO'
Hundreds
When:
Where: 1
P0-FLAKE
. h'! -V
Daily Photo by KA TEO'LEA
Carla (Linda Florentine) and Louden (Mathew Modine) balance out Vision
Quest: while she fails in her acting debut, he is the only redeeming thing
about the film, other than the soundtrack.
PRESEN'IS
The
ORIGINAL
VIE POSTER
of onginal moNie posters and memorabilia
rom the silent days to the present.
DONT MISS M !
..,
Jazz phenom Ozone
promises to return
,
a"
t
a
:
Date:
MAR. 6
Time:
7 P.M. &
9 P.M.
Place:
MLB-3
This
Week!.
Sponsored By -Sy a
._
By Marc Taras
This is a review with a promise. It
runs something like this: those of you
who missed Makoto Ozone's standing
room only performance at the Blind Pig
need not despair. The 23 year old
Japanese piano virtuoso who set the
audience on its collective rear last
Monday, February 25, will return to the
newly revived Blind Pig April 25 as a
member of the quartet led by his men-
tor Gary Burton, the maestro of the
vibraphone. Ah, but Gary's story will
be related here soon enough. Last Mon-
day's solo recital was Makoto Ozone's
first moment beneath Ann Arbor's ap-
preciative sun. Both parties iptend to
see a lot more of each other.
Now then, if you missed the show,
here is a sample of what you may look
forward to hearing; if you shared in the
fun last Monday, return with me for a
moment and smile again with your
heart and ears. Gee...he was such a
friendly guy!
It would seem that such friendliness
and ease of demeanor is as much a
trademark of this gifted young artist as
his formidable and widely reported
technique. What you have been told is
no exaggeration or hyperbolei Ozone
(pronounced 0-zo-nay, please!) at his
tender years already combines the
facility of Oscar Peterson, the
playfulness of Chick Corea, and the
lyric-romanticism of Bill Evans. He.
shruggs off comparisons with other
pianists, except Peterson whom he
openly reveres. But during his opening
piece, "Crystal Love", his admiration
for Corea and Burton, whose duet piece
"Crystal Silence" was something of and
inspiration for the Ozone original, was
in resplendant evidence. He offered a
sensitive loving rendering of this most '
catchy number from his first major LP,
the eponymous Makoto Ozone.
After a fine interpretation of a piece
by guitarist John Scofield, currentlyin
residence with the Miles Davis band,
Makoto returned to his original themes
with the lovely ballad "I Need You
Here."
The remainder of the first set seemed
to me loving tributes which Makoto of-
fered with his usual candor and grace.
Humility, incidentally, is another word
which comes to mind. The highlight of
the first set was his improvisations on'
the heartwarming standard "Someday
My Prince Will Come". Here's a tune in
danger of becoming cobwebbed thati
Makoto has dusted off in complete in-
nocence. His statement of theme
recalled Bill Evans' treatment, but the
improvised passages... ooh la la! C'est
magnifique!
Makoto had already won the hearts of
the audience with his easy conversation 4
and amiable tone. His youthful ex-
citement and satisfaction was never
more in evidence than during his
recollections of a European gig which
paired him with Chick Corea. He told us
of writing his dedicational piece to
Chick; how he played it for him and met
with Corea's seeming approval. How he
labored over the title before deciding to
call it, in the finest jazz tradition,.-
"Choreography" (Coreagraphy?). This
was a marvelous patchwork of Chick's
phrasing and figures. It was as if he
had woven five of your favorite Chick
Corea short stories into one beautiful;;
yarn. Friends were heard agreeing that
if you listened with your eyes closed you
would swear it was...
The most significant part of the.
evening, even so, was the emergence of
the new voice. Makoto Ozone is opening'
up. He is willing to be heard. He wants
to meet you. And he whats to move you.'
His abilities will astound you and his ate
titude will put you at ease. He doesn't
flaunt it just 'cos he's got it. He told me
in conversation "It is sometimes easier
to impress an audience than it is to
move them." Makoto Ozone is a young
man who takes the time to move you. I
hope that he always will. If you heard
him last week, you do too, I am sure.
And when you hear him in April witia
Gary Burton you'll hope so, too. You
will.
BLUE FRONT
Packard at State
MARSHALL'S PACKAGE LIQUOR
S. State at Liberty
4
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PI
EPSI 12 Liter Bottles 1.69I 8-pack
Just buy two multi- ood thru3/19/85
packs of any r
Pepsi-Cola
product and
get a certificate
for a Free
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Sandwich at
Burger King.
11
LA EL I EL I I U Mr *-.m 204e
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