ARTS Tuesday, January 26, 1988 The Michigan Daily Page 7 It sure beats Saturday morning By Andrea Gacki If you've ever witnessed the hor- ror of Saturday morning cartoons and commercials plugging action figures and "cartoon" cereal, you may well fear for the future of the art of ani- mation. However, The Festival of Animation, playing through the week at the Michigan Theatre, will restore your respect for this medium. The Festival is a compilation of the best in animated films from over the years, representing a wide scope of styles, themes, and cultures. The shorts range from the humorously poignant Sunnyside Up by Paul Driessen, a story of a des- perate man trapped on a desert island, to the hilariously witty child's eye view of SDI and the environment in Oh, Dad. Different styles are also represented, from the rollicking ani- mation of Face Like a Frog to the ingenious stop-motion of Traveling Light. There is indeed something for everyone. A particularly fascinating part of the festival is the computer anima- tion spot presented by Pixar and Disney Animation. These shorts, however, are reminiscent of the first "moving pictures;" people were so overwhelmed by the sight of those films that plot was virtually non- existent and almost distracting. But, of course, who needs plot in the computer animated film of Peppy - the singing pineapple? Many foreign animated works are also represented. The festival in- cludes Academy Award-winning shorts like Fredrec Rofusz's The Fly and Zbigniew Rybczynski's Tango, both veritable treasures of anima- tion.That's Not The Same At All is the first Russian film in 10 years to be in a touring festival. Also present is the recent Grand Prize winner at Annecy, France (animation's equivalent to the Academy Awards), a Bulgarian short entitled Crushed World. Stunning art abounds in these films, but audiences also expect an- imation to be funny. In this festival, you won't be disappointed. Two works by Andrew Stanton particu-, larly stand out. His film Somewhere in the Arctic, depicting the chase of a polar bear by three inept Eskimos, puts the Roadrunner and Wile, -E Coyote to shame. Stanton's other work, A Story, follows the adven- tures of an ordinary, ostracized kiid named Melvin who's pulled into TV land (he gets a concussion as he crashes through the screen) and i hilarious in its rejection of the fairytale norm. If for no other reason, go to the Festival of Animation to find out what happens when Bambi Meets Godzilla, the animated short-by Mary Newland. Anyway you look at it, even this carnage is eons ahead of G.I. Joe and other Saturday morning characters. T HE FESTIVAL OF ANIMA- TION kicked off at the Michigan Theatre Sunday. night, and will run through Friday. Showtime is 7 p.m. each night. Tickets are $2.75 for students and $3.50 for adults. Peppy the Pineapple is one of the many stars of The Festival of Animation showing this Michigan Theatre. The quality is better than Saturday morning cartoons and you won't have early to watch them, either. Fruit Loops are optional. Nveek at the to wvake up Books Voices and Visions: The Poet in America Edited by Helen Vendler Random House $29.95/hardcover Voices and Visions: The Poet in America, a collection of essays on 13 American poets, is described as the companion text to the PBS series of the same name which begins tonight at 10 p.m. However, it is much more than a cursory glance at American poetry. Edited by Helen Vendler, a Harvard professor and poetry critic of the New Yorker, it is a massive under- taking that sometimes succeeds, in the words of Wallace Stevens, in taking an "answering look" back at American poetry. However, it also blinks a few too many times in its view of American poetry. Voices begins, as any American poetic study must, with the founder, Walt Whitman. In the essay on Whitman, Calvin Bedient asserts, "There could not have been a Whit- man before the 19th century in America, when material progress and idealism were for the first and last time in an exuberant accord that seemed to strike hosannahs out of railways and factories as well as stars." Although Bedient correctly as- sesses this point in American his- tory, his own poetic writing style - "strike hosannahs" - at times deters from his objective: to show Whit- man's creation of the American po- etic tradition. It is ironic that the most disap- pointing essay in the book is on Robert Frost,. the unofficial poet laureate of the United States. Richard Poirier overstates the importance of the conflict between Frost's tradi- tional verse and Eliot's High Mod- ernist work. Poirier writes, "Frost was far too intelligent to set himself up as a public alternative to Eliot or to Eliot's modernism." For the first portion of this essay, the reader wishes that Poirier followed his subject's action. Mercifully, Poirier does an excel- lent job of discussing the underlying complexities of Frost's deceptively simple verse - "What must be learned is a proper wariness of all metaphors, which is what [Frost's] famous 'mischievousness' in the management of his own poems is most significantly about." The biggest surprise and biggest success of Voices is the treatment of the New York school of Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, and William Carlos Williams. The three essays especially stress the impor- tance to all three of examining the ambiguous place of art in society and creating a new poetic on Stevens' belief that' are things as seen." form relying "Things seen The study fades considerably in the last five essays, which cover more contemporary poets. Alan Williamson's essay on Hart Crane is well done and shows why Hart Crane might be worthy of inclusion in the collection. However, Crane died at the age of 31 after publishing two books of poetry, so it seems unclear what, if any effect, Crane had on American poetry. Even Williamson admits, "When I teach him, I often make one or two immediate con- verts; but for the majority of stu- dents, he requires patience, study, and suspension of prejudices." Arnold Rampersad's essay on Langston Hughes is the most inter- esting of the last essays, perhaps be- cause Hughes' life and poetry is the most interesting and influential of the other three - Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Lowell, and Sylvia Plath. However, to be fair, these three poets are given only 100 pages out of a 500 page study - not enough to do either the poets or the reader justice. Voices must also be viewed as a study in critical styles.The two es- says to read for the critical approach are by the famous critics Hugh Ken- ner and Frank Kermode. Kenner be- gins his essay on Pound in a promising way, but in characteristic Kenner fashion, branches into a philosophical treatise of Pound's theories and loses any reader that does not have an extensive knowl- edge of Pound. Kermode is more accessible in his treatment of Eliot. He anticipates ar- guments about the inclusion of Eliot in an volume on American poetry and points out that after years of writing of drought, spiritual agony, and physical malady, Eliot's last poem, "The Elder Statesman," is a love poem dedicated to his second wife. Kermode explains, "To write such a poem was, for this poet, an act of originality, another surprise, something new. And since the desire to do things in verse is as we all think, American, we can end by say- ing that after all, and in spite of it all, he was an American poet." Although Kermode is able to fo- cus on Eliot's place in American poetry - not an easy task -- a ma- jor problem of Voices and Visions is that those who should be easier to place within American poetry are not. The focus on the poets' influ- ence on American poetry is often lost in philosophical discussions too in depth for an introductory text, and the "answering look" backward be- comes an introspective reflection to- wards the individual poet. However, it is definitely a study to be read by a scholar of American poetry or any- one interested in these poets. - Lisa Magnino Game Theory encountered Murphy's Law Friday night By Brian Bonet Friday night was Bargain Night at the Blind Pig. Four dollars to see one of Ann Arbor's finest bands, the Folkminers, open for cerebral pop- sters Game Theory, whose latest LP Lolita Nation is currently gaining both national and critical attention. However, consumers have to be wary of bargains like this because they often fall short of th e ir promise. Unfortunately this was the case with Game Theory's very aver- age Friday night performance at a "more crowded than I've ever seen it" Blind Pig. The spotty performance wasn't wholly the band's fault, though. Perhaps it had something to do with Game Theory missing a sound check because the Pig's happy hour band was performing when they ar- rived for one. Rhythm guitarist Donette Thayer's vocals sounded fine when backing u p singer/guitarist Scott Miller, but her lead vocals were barely audible dur- ing "Look Away," forcing the band to shorten the song into an instru- mental. Also, the band suffered from tuning problems all night, adding to the sound problems. The Pig's low ceilings didn't al- low Game Theory to air their MC5- type amoeba films which have been travelling with them on this tour,. and the five band members seemed claustrophobic on the bar's confin- ing stage. And just when Game Theory got into a groove shortly after one of the night's too few highpoints, "Friends of the Fam- ily," the sound system overheated and a five minute break ensued. You almost couldn't believe another thing could go wrong until Miller confirmed, almost apologetically, "The systems are overheated. We'll have to take a five minute break - I'm serious!" Needless to say, Friday night's hindered Game Theory performance was not their best, but it was far from a disaster - thanks to the tal- ented and witty Scott Miller. At the beginning of the show he asked the crowd how the sound was. When louder vocals were requested he re- sponded, "You don't know what you're asking for!" But after hearing him perform his show-saving solo efforts during the frequent tuning breaks, it appeared that the crowd did know what they were asking for. While the rest of the band mem- bers occasionally stopped to tune their instruments, Miller impres- sively poured out his "She'll Be a Verb" and "If and When It Falls Apart," and also did a sampling of songs by his obvious influences, Roxy Music and Alex Chilton. He played Chilton's "You Can't Have Me" solo, but got some impromptu audience participation from local musician Yuji Oniki on guitar dur- ing "September Gurls." Likewise, a much needed, energy-filled cover of Roxy Music's "Remake/Remodel," featuring guitarist Matt Smith of It's Raining, scorched. Ann Arbor has become a staple stop on Game Theory tours - this is the third year in a row they have played the Blind Pig. And each time they have been well received, not disappointing their many fans here. Maybe this is why Friday night's show was lacking. The sad thing was that Game Theory did not have control over most of their pitfalls. However, their set was shorter than last year's, and the band occasion- ally conveyed a "let's get this over with" attitude. But thanks to Scott Miller, the show did have its bright moments. Even though Game Theory were not at their best, they are welcome proof that the future of pop music is not necessarily ripped jeans and Debbie Gibson, or shopping malls and Tiffany. ID this Doily Photo by ALEXANDRA BREZ Singer/songwriter Scott Miller of Game Theory saved his band from disaster Friday night with his spontaneous soloing efforts. The band was plagued by numerous sound and tuning problems, the worst occurring during 'Look Away,' when rhythm guitarist Donette Thayer's lead vocals were barely audible. UM News in The Daily 764-0552 Your student government. The campuswide government. Come in and share with us your views on student Issues. Constituents' time is rescrved [or Tuesday. 9pm, In the Assembly Chambers. T HE LSA PR OJECT FOR L ANG UAG E RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INVITES YOU TO A TTEND A WORKSHOP "THEATRE SKILLS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION" A task oriented approach I - -am a-- I weeks aaaenda inclu~des: 1 i} I