I
Page 8'- The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 17, 1987
'Thaw'
ends
chill
By Wen Kaplan
and Mar Swartz
As winter winds down, a certain
restlessness falls upon Ann Arbor.
Classes are almost over. Almost.
Finals are closing in much too
soon. We're all looking for a way
out.
Michigamia, a campus leader -
ship organization, is providing us
with the perfect out.Though neither
U2 nor Bob Geldof is scheduled to
appear on the Diag today for the
first annual Spring Thaw, it still
promises to be one great fund -
raising concert extravaganza.
Running from 11:45 until 6:30
p.m., Spring Thaw will feature
entertainment by nine Ann Arbor
bands. These include everything
from the traditional big-band tunes
of the Michigan Jazz Band, to the
whacked out doo-wop of Strangers
on a Train, to the progressive
sounds of the ensemble that won
the Battle of the Bands, Iodine
Raincoats.
Although the concert is free,
Spring Thaw organizers will be
wandering around the Diag with
buckets in hand. They will be
seeking support for the local
Ronald MacDonald House, located
near the University Hospital.
Ronald MacDonald Houses across
the country provide lodging for
families who want to be near their
critically ill, hospitalized children.
According to Spring Thaw
Co-Chair Dan Habib, the campus
wide concert will be a first for the
University.
"This is the first time anything
like this has been done," he said.
"We wanted to find a way to bring
people together."
The concert will feature various
types of music, from jazz to new
wave to rythm and blues. Several
local, as well as University, bands
are donating their time and talent to
the event. In addition, campus
security will provide their services
free of charge.
The schedule for the benefit
concert is as follows: The Potential
Brass Quintet kicks it off at 11:45
a.m.; the Michigan Jazz Band plays
at 12:10; Strangers on a Train at
12:50; Private Sector at 1:30; The
Friars at 2:25; Iodine Raincoats at
3:10; The Brothers Woe, a blues
group, at 4:05; the Difference at
4:45; and finally, Mission 4
Impossible, wrapping it up with a
5:40 appearance.
Barring inclement weather, what
could be a better way to spend a few
hours of your Saturday afternoon?
Finals loom dead ahead, so before
hitting the books, take a break and
check out any of the nine local
bands at the Spring Thaw. If you
don't go for the music, at least go4
for the worthy cause, the sunshine,
the squirrels, or just the crowd.
'Arizona' raises cliches
Daily Photo by SCOTT LITUCHY
A Night of Desirable Objects
Ralph Records recording artist Phillip "Snakefinger" Lithman treated Ann Arbor to an exciting per-
formance at the Blind Pig this past Monday night. The talented guitarist was backed by his band, The
Vestal Virgins.
S...
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Don't forget
to
pick up
your
Michigan Daily
By Daniel Rosenberg
There are many types of movies
which are not worth seeing. There
are horror films which aren't scary.
There are mysteries which aren't
suspenseful. And there are comedies
which aren't funny. Such is the
trouble with Raising Arizona.
The film stars Nicolas Cage as a
chronic convienience store robber
who falls in love and marries his
booking officer, Edwina (Holly
Hunter). Sadly, Nature is not
always kind; Edwina can't bear
children. The happy young couple
is determined to start a family,
however, and do just that by
stealing eight-month-old Nathan
Arizona Jr. (T.J. Kuhn), one of the
five sons of the wealthy million -
aire, Nathan Arizona Sr.
The rest of the film consists of
at least half a dozen absurd chase
scenes. Literally half of this film is
devoted to these. It gets rather
boring, and appears as if the writers
Ethan and Joel Coen realized that
the film wasn't that humorous and
tried to solve the problem, like all
Hollywood films do these days, by
using chase scenes. They didn't
succeed.
The jokes relating to Cage's
inexperience at fatherhood were
sometimes funny, such as referring
to Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care
as the "instructions" for the infant.
But these moments were few and far
between. The majority of the
humor was the third-grade level. It's
the old "destroy property for
laughs" routine. It's not funny to
see guests routinely destroy the
host's house. It's not funny to see
Cage keep returning to prison for
repeating the same damn crime. It's
not funny to see the villian prove
he's mean by shooting at rabbits
and lizards. It's just not funny.
Nicolas Cage and the infant T. J.
Kuhn gave the only decent per -
formances in the film. The rest of
the cast gave uninspired recitals of
classic stereotypes. There's the
Southern housewife, Holly Hunter,
whose only concern is that there are
no "cuss"' words in the environment
of the child. There's the franchise
salsemen, Trey Wilson, who won't
let even a crisis pass without
finding an opportunity to plug a
product. There's also the obligatory
boss, Sam McMurray, who abuses
his welcome as a dinner guest. Hey,
haven't we seen this too many
times.
What is really surprising is that
these are the two men (Joel and
Ethan Coen) who brought us one of
1985's best films, Blood Simple.
In that film, the Coens were given
virtually no budget, and still
managed to produce a chilling mur -
der mystery combined with brilliant
Hitchcock-type black humor. Now
these men are rewarded for their fine
work, and recieve a larger budget for
Raising Arizona. What do they do?
In an attempt to make a comedy,
they couldn't even make a film as
funny as their horror film. That's
pathetic.
Hopefully, Joel and Ethan Coen
will realize this and make up for it
in their next film. After all, every -
one's entitled to one bad film. Just
so long as we don't have to see it.
i
Let Them Know
How You Feel! I
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