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Best Movies
Best Business
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Movies on campus were up to their usual tricks during the past school year.
A few things could have been better, afew things were the best yet, and it all
evened out in the end. Every week had at least twenty-five films to choose
from, and a few weeks went over thirty-five. Unfortunately, the closing of
Lorch Hall for renovations, combined with a decline in mid-week options,
did take aboutfivefilms off the weekly average of the past few years.
MOVIES ARE AN integral part of
the college experience around
here. You can go to football games, pig
out at Crazy Jim's, drop acid and ex-
plore the steam tunnels, go prowling
through the cemetery over on Obser-
vatory on Halloween night, hang out
with the ugly beautiful people at
Steve's, play Frisbee on the diag, and
just around everything else and still
have a yawning gap in your memories,
if you never got around to seeing
Casablanca, It's a Wonderful Life, 2001,
or another dozen or so of the campus
perenials.
Movies are like vegging out on MTV,
bar hopping, and party crashing.
They're a fashion that just around every
little campus subculture keeps an eye
on, and it doesn't matter if you're the
sort of person who wears a well
weathered pea green parka with a little
black beret over your ratty haircut or
the ultraslickened dude in the
Patagonia jacket and stylish shades,
you probably loved Stop Making Sense as
much as the next guy. It doesn't matter
if you just bought the new Tears For
Fears album, or the Sade album or the
Laurie Anderson boxed set, you
probably at one point in the year en-
dured the long lines for Beverly Hills
Cop and The Gods Must Be Crazy not
long ago.
Most of the films you've seen
probably on campus were brought to
you by a small group of hard working,
unselfish film lovers in one of the cam-
pus film groups like AAFC, or Cinema
Guild. These people endure lots of
hassles and get little credit or reward
for their troubles, and the least I can do
is acknowledge them here. These
people are sort of like a religious order,
passing down the classics from one
generation to the next, so that certain
classics and neglected classics endure
through the years. Some of these people
I talk to seem a bit disenchanted these
days, especially the veterans, who in-
sist that the newer, more affluent
student body seems to be lacking any
curiosity for film viewing, leading to a
rather notable decline in the showing of
foreign and more esoteric fare, these
last couple of years. It seems the new
kids want last years blockbusters and
"feel good" movies and so will pass up
My Dinner With Andre to take a date to
The Big Chill or Diner. It also means
next Fall's film schedule will probably
have more films like Gremlins and
Ghostbusters and fewer films like Bur-
den of Dreams, but I'm not complaining
because they don't even have film
groups on campus at Ohio State. I'm
also often amused/frustrated at how
out of something like 19 screens for first
run films in the city limits, the vast
majority seem to be full of Friday the
13th sagas more frequently then they
are films like Blood Simple.
But there's still something about
standing in line on opening night for a
movie like Indiana Jones and The Tem-
ple of Doom-which turned out to be a
real disappointment-or just walking
unexpectantly into a gem like Choose
Me that makes the few genuinely en-
chanting moments worth all the
mediocrity. Even though everyone has
cable now, and you can rent a VCR and
a couple of films in the Union basement
for about the same price as a pair of
tickets, I don't think people will stop
going to films around here any sooner
than they will stop filing into the foot-
ball stadium on Autumn Saturdays.
We'll still smuggle our popcorn and
beer into the theaters, probably talk too
loud and watch the opening trailers roll
with the same sort of excited expectan-
cy as kids picking up and shaking the
presents under a Christmas tree.
Best Film Festival
Ann Arbor's 8 Millimeter
The definite highlight was the 8
Millimeter Film Festival, which has
gotten better each of the three years I
have seen it. The entries this year in-
cluded very few real losers and a nice
helping of highly entertaining works.
There were more filmmakers and films
from abroad than ever, and the
programming was the most extensive.
The 16 Millimeter Festival went in the
opposite direction. A 40% drop in en-
tries was not matched by a drop in the
number of screenings. The result was
lower attendance and lower quality.
Too many films were clunkers.
Hopefully, next year will see the
festival get back on its feet.
Best Theater
Michigan Theater
The best place to see a movie is
definitely the Michigan Theater, which
did its own programming this year, as
opposed to renting the theater to
Classic Film Theatre. Highlights were
premiere showings of Streamers and
Daniel, a mini Monty Python festival,
and the overall eclecticism of the
programming, from cult films to family
classics. The best campus auditorium
is Angell Hall's Auditorium A. Seeing
Koyaanisqatsi there was a truly
awesome experience.
Best Campus Cinema In
The World
Ann Arbor!
Mediatrics presented a lot of free ad-
vance screenings of various first-run
films, such as Cotton Club, in addition
to a.good assortment of films. Alter-
native Action presented no less than
three different series on women and
cinema over the past four months.
Other series included films from Japan,
Eastern Europe, and the Near East.
Hill Street Cinema had its usual mix of
crowd-pleasers and thought-inducers,
while other groups came forth to show
films from China and Germany. The
variety was, indeed, staggering, and
could have been better if so many films
were not shown three times a term,
term after term after term. A minor
quibble, though, as Ann Arbor campus
cinema is the best, and that is all that
counts in the end.
Best Improvement
Another one of the best things was in-
creased cooperation between Cinema
Guild, Ann Arbor Film Coop, and
Cinema 2. It started with a copresen-
tation of Fassbinder's massive Berlin,
Alexanderplatz, and went from there.
This term saw the three groups get
together to show a lot of important Ann
Arbor premieres, lesser known films
like Repo Man, and more popular items.
With the handy three-way pass that lets
you see any ten of their movies at a
discount, who could ask for anything
more?
Best New Films
Of The Year
Toss up between Stop Making Sense,
Witness, and Purple Rose of Cairo.
Don't even ask me to narrow it down
any more, I've left out too many
already and already feel like changing
my mind.
Best Sound
The Ann Arbor Theater, which is still
working the bugs out of their new multi-
track sound system but have managed
any other theater system in town sound
like a drive-in speaker by comparison.
Best Used Records
Wazoo
Wazoo is a massive used record store
with a selection bigger and wider than
the people who attend weight watchers
meetings. Wazoo has an obese load of
classical LP's, a hefty supply of jazz
albums, and an immense file of rock 'n'
roll discs.
There's a lot of rare stuff too: In a
recent visit to the store, I could hardly
have failed to notice that a lucky
customer has happed upon an original
raised-white pressing of The Beatles'
white album, which he subsequently
purchased for a mere $12.
The store is operated by a group of
men who seem to loathe the idea that
they're working there and getting them
to be overtly friendly is apparently
quite a chore for a non-regular
customer. But personalities behind the
counter shouldn't influence one's
decision of whether or not to buy a truly
fine record for a truly low price.
Best Record Store
Schoolkid's
Schoolkids' could raise its prices to
15 bucks an album and still not jeopar-
dize its business. There's something
about the store that causes it to be
mentally (and for some people,
physically) addictive. Maybe its the
environment: There's always an in-
teresting album on their overworked
turntable or an equally interesting em-
ployee behind the counter to amuse you
(usually unintentionally) while you
write your check. Schoolkids' has a
staggering collection of jazz LP's which
probably includes a number of albums
that the artists themselves did not
realize they made; and their collection
of imports is impeccable--enough to
make a wealthy midwesterner feel like
-he's on Carnaby Street and not East
Liberty when he's in the store..
Schoolkids' also stacks a hefty melange
of cut-outs and records which sell for
"The Nice Price," a veritable goldmine
for a sharp-eyed shopper. At this point,
there doesn't seem to be much danger
of Schoolkids' losing its position as a
deity in the eyes of religious record
buyers in Ann Arbor.
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STEREO CENTER
IS THE NEW HI FI STORE IN ANN ARBOR
WE CARRY HIGH QUALITY
EQUIPMENT INCLUDING -
Shear Impact: Memories from their'
Best Hairdresser
Shear Impact
If you're willing to take the time you
could probably find every hair style
imaginable on campus. Students use
hair to increase sex appeal, exhibit
their views on life and to make political
statements. Where do our voters go for
their styles? The preference is for
Shear Impact, located on South U.
They have a great reputation around
campus!
Best Travel Agent
Conlin
Travel is big business in Ann Arbor,
not surprising considering the out-of-
town students requiring transit to and
from home. Add the hordes of vacation
seekers at spring break time, and the
big business gets bigger. Which travel
agency best served the students this
year? According to our voters it was
Conlin Travel.
Style Shc
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YAMAHA
JVC
B&W
TANDBERG
KYOCERA
JBL
DBX
SONY
AR
PROTON
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School Kids: More than a record store
PARASOUND CARVER
...-om...
A
WE INVITE YOU TO STOP IN
AND TALK OVER YOUR
NEEDS WITH US.
LSEREO CENEER
605 E. William Ann Arbor, MI 48104 (313) 663-3600
Hours Mon. & Fri. 11-9 Tues., Wed, Thurs. 11-6 Sot. 10-6
Other times by appointment
GREAT
EUROPEAN VACATIONS
In 1985, American Express
offers a fabulous selection ofp
more than 100 yacations to
Europe from 4 to 29 days - span-
ning more than a dozen fas-
cinating countries.
For more information, come in or call:
REGENCY TRAVEL, INC.
601 E. William St.V A a c io
Corner of E. William & Maynard E Store
665-6122 __t __
EARN 8 CREDITS
UM STUDIES ABROAD PROGRAM IN IS
KIBBUTZ YIZRE'EL
June 2 - August 2
HEBREW (Beginning, Intermediate or Advanced) 5 cre
INTRODUCTION TO THE KUBBUTZ, 3 credits
TOURS THROUGHOUT ISRAEL WITH THE SOCI
PROTECTION OF NATURE
Teaching Staff:
UM Dept. of NES, Haifa U,
Kibbutz Research Institute faculty
FOR MORE DETAILS, CONTF
Hank Peiter, Office of Studie
5208 Angell Hail, 764-448
n i
Representative
24 Weekend/Friday, April 19, 1985
Weekend/F