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 I- VIOLIN LESSONS Begnning throug t Ph Advanced. I. :L. p w Doctorate from U of M 20 Years Experience. Near Central Campus. For More Info. 663-8392 _- .... . I I .. t Rush AA 556 S. State M 1 T' 1 R 1 I FI r 17 1 0 1 I CI c1 tiunlfhI esI.