Page 16 -The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 7,1990
Talking hard as dirty Harry
Pump Up the Volume
dir. Allan Moyle
by Kristin Palm
"I dunno, sex is out. Drugs are
out. Politics are out. Spiritualism is
okt. Everything's on hold. We defi-
nitely need something new."
-Christian Slater as Hard Harry
Poor Mark Hunter. His fairly
wealthy parents have just relocated
to a suburb of Phoenix. The town is
boring, the people are boring, school
is boring. On top of all that, he's an
introvert. Basically, as in any decent
movie about teenagers, life sucks.
But at night that sexy Christian
Slater voice takes over the airwaves
via Mark's dogmatic and pleasantly
foul-mouthed alter-ego, Hard Harry,
an anonymous pirate radio disc
jockey/commentator with a penchant
for on-air masturbation and Sonic
Youth. Harry's nightly tirade is, of
course, all the students at the local
high school can talk about (beats the
hell out of trigonometry). It also be-
comes all the parents can worry
about (beats the hell out of spraying
the kids' rooms to test for weed).
This contrived controversy, at least
in the world of director Allan Moyle,
makes for a decent - albeit trite -
plot.
Now, no Teenage Rebel film
would be complete without touching
on the subject of love, or at least
lust. Mark's paramour is Nora,
played by Samantha Mathis, a gutsy
thrift-shop afficianado who discovers
Hard Harry's identity after falling in
love with what he says on the radio.
Lots of critics rave about Mathis be-
cause she reminds them of Winona
Ryder. Maybe Mathis really is as
cool as Ryder but not in this role.
Unfortunately, Moyle has cast her as
a rather pathetic chick whose obses-
sion with Harry's pirate radio per-
sonality leads her to write him
cheezy love letters on red stationery.
Mathis is sometimes able to pull off
Nora's attempts to be ultra-cool and
oh so avant garde. When she can't
quite make it, Nora becomes that
annoying poseur from everybody's
high school who listened to Joy Di-
vision and then talked about it really
loudly in the hallways just to show
she was radical.
Actually, whether Mathis is good
or not is rather irrelevant because it
is Slater who takes this everyday
plot and turns it on its head with his
intriguing mix of raw anger and
raunchy humor. From his bedroom
radio station, Mark/Harry is able to
vent his angst on white, middle class
society and it seems that everybody's
See PUMP, page 18
Basement Arts is holding audi-
tions for Mass Appeal by Bill C.
Davis for two men on Sept. 11,
Frieze Building Rm. 2518. The per-
formances will be Oct. 4-6. Sign up
in Frieze Building Green Room (1st
floor next to Arena Theater) and
check the Theater Department office
for scripts.
Basement Arts, the student-run
"underground" theater, is having a
mass meeting Monday Sept. 10th in
the Arena Theater (1st floor Frieze
Building) at 6 pm. Actors, directors,
designers, and technical assistants are
needed for the upcoming year. All
students, theater and non-theater ma-
jors, are welcome.
Department of Theater and
Drama is holding auditions for Au-
gust Snow by Reynolds Price this
Sunday and Monday evenings, Sept.
9 and 10, in the Frieze Building,
Rm. 3541. Sign up for audition
time On the call board on the second
floor of the Frieze Building. A two
minute monologue is required, and
copies of August Snow are available
at the University Productions office,
Michigan League.
The Musical Theatre Program
is holding auditions for A Little
Night Music for upperclass students
enrolled in the School of Music or
the Department of Theatre and
Drama. Other interested students
must speak with Mr. Wagner (Frieze
Bldg. 2527A) today. Freshmen are
not eligible. Vocal auditions are to-
day from 4-10 pm in the Power Cen-
ter Rehearsal Room, continuing
with monologue and dance auditions
on Saturday; call 763-5213 for spe-
cific audition time and check the call
board in the Frieze Building. Scripts
are available in the University Pro-
ductions Office on a perusal basis,
and in libraries and bookstores. Fta-
miliarity with the show before audi-
tions is essential.
The University Musical Soci-
ety is accepting applications for
ushering positions for the 1990-0
season today, 6-8 pm, and Sunday
Sept. 9, 1-5 pm, at the Hill Audito-
rium Box Office. Preference is given
to returning qualified ushers, towns-
people and graduate students, and un-
dergraduate students, in that order.
The Ann Arbor Civic Theatre
will be holding auditions for Lanforf
Wilson's The Rimers of Eldritch
Sept. 9, 10, and 11 at 7:30 pm iat
the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre, 105
South Main. Casting requirements
call for seven men and ten women,
and the show will run Thursdays
through Saturdays, Sept. 20-Oct.,6.
For more information call 662-9405.
The Junior Theatre Company*
and Ann Arbor Community Educa-
tion will be holding auditions and
sign-ups for technical and costume
crew for Charlie and the Chocol te
Factory on Sept. 10 and 12 at 7 pm
in the Eberbach Cultural Arts Build-
ing (1220 S. Forest -- corner of
Wells St. off Packard, between Sta-
dium and State St.) All 6th - 12th
graders in the Ann Arbor area ar
welcome to audition. Call 994-230
ext. 227 for more information.
Th.e
..find:
whiths
instore.for our
JAZZ ENSEMBLE
AUDITIONS
Christian Slater may look like a nerd here but, rest assured, he takes his
shirt off during the film and he even sweats a little. Whew!
I',
4
4'
I usT',1
BIG-BAND
'A
kL
8 SMALL ENSEMBLES
DIGITAL MUSIC (MIDI) ENSEMBLE
HORN PLAYERS AUGUST 5, 6,7, 10
Sign up at Room 3061
RHYTHM SECTION PLAYERS, AUGUST 10
Show up at: 7:00pm Room 1320 Moore Hall
or call 763-1321
* n
t tr Afie naire to _Srand.(lp C .o y
Power Center
Saturday, September 8
8 pm
Tickets: Available at the Michigan Union Ticket Office.
$5 in advance, $6 at the door for students
$8 in advance, $9 at the door for non-students
For more Information, call the Michigan Union Ticket Office at 763-8587
II
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VIOLIN
LESSONS
Begnning throug
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Ph
Advanced.
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:L.
p
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Doctorate from U of M
20 Years Experience.
Near Central Campus.
For More Info.
663-8392
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Rush
AA
556 S. State
M 1 T' 1 R 1 I FI r 17 1 0 1 I CI c1 tiunlfhI esI.