a w w U I I . MICH-ELLANY FILM Give me a break, it's a pennant race It's bombs away again for Moore z 0 y z 0 z W Y ArthurMiller INTER VIEW Highly acclaimed playwright discusses autobiography, American culture, and his experiences at the 'U" Arthur Miller is probably the most widely read and highly acclaimed living playwright. Miller, who graduated from the University in 1938, is the author of Death of A Salesman, The Crucible, and A View From the Bridge, among some three dozen works of fiction and drama. He received a Pulitzer Prize in 1949 for Death of A Salesman and his first literary successes were the two Hopwood Awards he won as a student at the University.Timebends, Miller's autobiography, will be.published next month. He recently held a news conference attended by WEEKEND Editor Alan Paul. Question: Why did you write your autobiography right now, instead of five years ago or five years from now? Miller: Over the last few years, I've had inquiries from three or four writers who wanted to do this, and I kept slacking it off and then I found that two of them were really intent about wanting to start some preliminary work on a biography and since I have trouble enough trying to figure out what happened myself, the idea of anyone else doing this with any degree of accuracy, I simply didn't believe it. There's also an increasing interest on my part in contemplating the nature of the amazing changes that I've been through, and that this world and this country have been through from my particular witness. I was interested in tracing them out myself. In other words, I didn't have the answers, I had the questions about how things got to be the way they are. I also found that an amazing number of people of my generation no longer remembered what had happened. History in this country vanishes very rapidly. And I thought it would be a good thing if I could manage it, to try and reach down to the roots of things as I saw them. As it turns out, it's not just a biography but a kind of history of the last half, century or more and I'm happy about that.. Q: Have you found looking back over the past forty or fifty years that there are certain cycles in American behavior? M: Oh definitely. I think it's been going on for longer than I've been around. Namely,a swing from more or less radical thought back to See INTERVIEW, page 9 I woke up this morning with a lot of important stuff to do. My column was due in the early afternoon, and I had no idea what I was going to write about. The Daily Libels were heading into the playoffs, on the strength of a 2-0 regular season, and were counting on my ace relief pitching at 3 p.m. (You were counting on that ace relief pitching, weren't you gang?...Gang?) And, as always there was studying to be, done...don't want to embarrass myself in tomorrow's classes. It's 7:17, Sunday night, and so far, I'm 0-for-3. No column. The Libels lost 12-1. A lonely, ornery stack of books is lurking on the shelf behind my door, thinking of ways to get back at me. But I was in the centerfield bleachers. It was supposed to happen like this: my pal Robert, for whom I purchased bleacher seats Friday night, was going to Tiger Stadium early this morning. He would wait in line until 11 a.m., when a whole bunch of people would show up and surreptitiously hand himwmoney. He would buy tickets. We would go sit down. It was a bitchin' plan. OFF THE WALL I'm a rowdy life lover in a sea of sheep. Angell Hall Why does everyone answer questions with questions. I don't know. Why do you think? What do you mean? Angell Hall Abuse these tables. We own them. Angell Hall A generalist is someone who learns less and less about more and more and ultimately knows nothing about everything. A specialist is someone who learns more and more about less and less and ultimately knows everything about nothing. Angell Hall Down with Deanne Baker reformism The Grad. library JOHN LOGIE My friend and former housemate Kim called me at some ungodly time like 9:30, asking when we should leave. I told her the game wasn't until 3, but she wouldn't believe me, because the schedule she got at the beginning of the season said the game was at 1:30. So I panicked, and showered, and staggered out to her waiting automobile long before I was ready to face the world. Five minutes out of Ann Arbor, I checked the paper. Game-time...3 p.m. "But Robert will be cold and hungry," we reasoned, and we sped all the way to Michigan and Trumbull. I scanned the ticket line several times. Robert wasn't there. Don't worry Robert. I'm not angry. Not so long as I can say this..."YOU MISSED IT! YOU BLEW IT! I WAS THERE AND YOU WEREN'T! A-HA-HA-HA- HA!" Three-and-a-half hours before the National Anthems, Kim and I were in the Upper Deck, socking away Tiger Dogs, jalepeno nachos, Hot Knots®TM, and Diet Cokes. Eventually this combination produced a precisision re-enactment of Pearl Harbor near my duodenum. Tiger bleacher creatures are an amazing bunch, too. In centerfield there are usually almost as many greasy dishwater blond burnouts as there were at the Judas Priest concert. (Yes, I did see Judas. They stunk.) And speaking of "stunk" it's one of the many tenses of the favorite verb of the guy who was in the seat next to me. And I heard them all:"This game stinks. Boy that stank. This is stinky! I hate just being ahead by one run, it stinks a lot!" Now before I go any further, I'd like to make something absolutely clear. I respect and appreciate the contributions of the soldiers who participated in the VietNam war, and I think the continued proliferation of the "crazed 'Nam vet" in the mass media is appalling. See LOGIE, Page 9 By David Peltz Poor Dudley Moore. It's very easy to feel sorry for someone who had to be subjected to having his name on marquees across the country for Best Defense, 1984's mega-flop with Eddie Murphy. Now, Moore must be subjected to more ridicule and humilation, as he stars in the equally pathetic new release, Like Father Like Son. Like Father Like Son is Moore's first film after a two-year self-- imposed hiatus from the business. An accomplished pianist, Moore appeared in various concerts across the country, longing to see if anything in his life "resurrected itself." Moore should have stuck with music; the only thing that resurrected itself in Like Father, Like Son was another sub par role for the once-proud English star. Moore stars as Dr. Jack Hammond, a brilliant surgeon and father to sixteen year old Chris, played by America's latest in a long line of heartthrobs, Kirk Canmeron. When Dr. Hammond accidentally drinks from a brain transference potion, he changes bodies with his son, forcing both to undertake the other's daily lives. Moore must go to school in Cameron's body; Cameron to the hospital in Moore's. (Haven't we seen this before on The Wonderful World of Disney?) It is here that Like Father Like Son runs into real problems. Moore's portrayal of the sixteen year old Chris as a clumsy, mischievous clod is incredibly overblown. Moore bumbles, stumbles, and ultimately embarrasses himself; he embarrasses the audience as well. Cameron also goes off the deep end with his depiction of his pops as a hard nosed, no nonsense father. But these faults almost surely lie more in the hands of Lorne Cameron (no relation to Kirk) and Steven L. Bloom's ridiculous screenplay. Moore once again displays his talent for slapstick, while Cameron (Bobby Brady with mousse) is truly likable and surprisingly effective in his screen debut. But both are saddled with an unworkable script and neither can come close to saving Like Father Like son. Director Rod Daniels must also accept some of the blame for this travesty. Daniels seems to have partaken in a brain transference of his own, with fellow director Martin Scorcese. Daniels uses enough of Scorcese's trademark camera movements to make any viewer reach for a large bottle of aspirin. This type of filmmaking simply doesn't work in light comedy, and Daniels, who directed 1985's Teen Wolf, once again shows that he has no comic touch. Cameron and Moore should be able to find some bright spots amidst all this gloom. Judging from the hysterical screams of the pubescent girls in the audience each time Cameron's mug appeared on screen, he is one actor whose future should only improve. And Moore? Well, at least he can take comfort in the fact that Like Father Like Son isn't anywhere near the bomb that Best Defense was. Or is it? Actually, it's probably too close to call. WEEKEND MAGAZINE Fridays in The Daily 763-0379 See THE LI for first-run rrc times, and oP c ° >A° . 'a P CARDS MUGS T-SHIRT SWEETEST DAY - INFLATABLES JELLY BELLY & GOE DOODLES 76 LOCATED ON THE LOWER L PLAZA ON THE CORNER OF SKTC L?Ab E ZINN DIANIThTROL 37: 1T4$ ULTIMATE sotb tDri AW.-,ME. 6 ANoIzlaCo~b SYM~PTOMS bo TABi GET IT ove. wW4"FAT"'i/ bN RF ! 3 06- Hill Street Forum Presents: Great Writers Series John Irving Wednesday, November 4 8pm Hill Auditorium Jay Mclnerny Wednesday, January 27 Rackham Auditorium John Irving is author of The World According to Garp, The Hotel New Hampshire, and The Cider House Rules. He is one of America's finest writers and a speaker of enormous wit and charm. Mclnerny's first novel, Bright Lights, Big City has become a huge success and is especially popular on college campuses. This is an opportunity to meet a new talent on the literary scene. Be a Sponsor! Your tax-deductible contribution of $25 makes you a Sponsor of this' wonderful series. As a Sponsor, you will get: -your name listed in the program of every performance -advance notice and ticket information about other exciting programs in addition to those in the series -an invitation for two to a special afterglow with either John Irving or Jay Mclnerny. ( Both will be studentcommunity receptions in. conjunction with Pilot Program at the U-M ) -the satisfaction of having played an important role in our community through support of the series. Be a Patron! Your tax-deductible contribution of $50 makes you a Patron of this wonderful series. As a patron you will enjoy all the advantages of being a sponseo plus -an invitation for two to receptions for both John Irving and Jay Mclnerny Order Form Return to Hill Street Forum-Hillel 339 East Liberty, Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104. Make checks payable to Hill Street Forum. Name Address Phone Date check Visa No. Exp. Date Signature Name to appear in program Great Writers Please send me: series tickets x $15- 1 would also like to be a2 Patron Great Writers Total Ever Consider St GERMANY - Tubingen I FRANCE - Lurcy Fellow LONDON - London Coll( ISRAEL - Hebrew Unive NORTHERN IRELAND - Applications for Study Abr graduate students 1988-89 DEADLINE: NOVEM For applications and ix The Horace H. Ra School of Graduate Fellowship Of 160 Rackham Bu 764-2218 Master card No more expert's rule! The UGLI Try the rapist not the victim Student Publication Building John Irving 0 Jay Mclnerny 0 Dick...is The UGLI fllild q . - r r -mmj I ,U4 I PAGE 8 WEEKEND/OCTOBER 9, 1987 WEEKEND/OCTOBER 9, 1987