The Michigan Daily- Tuesday, November 12, 1991 -Page'?
This is journalism?
My experiences with a shifty, evil
S(and fun!) Disney press junket
Theater Review
AACT's Fool for Love sees below surface
..
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by Michael John Wilson
ORLANDO - I had.no idea what
professional movie reviewing was
really like until Walt Disney
Studios sent me on a press junket -
a four day,-all-expenses-paid trip to
Disney World to preview their
three new movies and interview
their makers. It was an incredibly
hedonistic weekend in a 70°F dream
world that 'had nothing to do-with
film criticism and everything to do
with sw.aying my opinion.
And hell yes, I loved every
minute of it =-I was completely
swayed. If I was a real journalist,
I'd probably keep this little secret
to myself and just continue to enjoy
these junkets. Then again...
I saw hundreds of people down
in Florida - a whole subculture of
men and women who make a living
by simply writing down what they
think of movies. And most of them
are greedy-consumers of every little
freebie the studio gives them.
It's as if they never buy anything.
They've got their Commitments T-
shirt, their Silence 'of the Lambs
shorts, their Plot Shots carry-on bag,
and now, after this trip, their
Beauty and the Beast hat. And CD.
And shirt. And the Father of the
Bride boxer shorts. And the hand
that Rocks the Cradle turtleneck.
But the me.rchandise is nothing.
It's how they treat you down hero,
which is simply unreal. Of course,
you pay for nothing. A S400 plane
ticket, a 8200 a night'double room
to yourself in the "Beach Club
Resort," a free pass to all the theme
parks. And if you charge. something
Then again, we saw it on the last
evening, after having savored plenty
.of fo.od, learned a lot about ,ini-
mation and been sufficiently
schmoozed. Of course I'm going to
enjoy it. But objectively - hell, I
have no idea what objective means
anymore. No, I won't be reviewing
the films for this publication.
And then there were the "round
See JUNKET, Page 8
Fool for Love
Ann Arbor Civic Theatre
November 8, 1991
le is a macho, rough speaking
rodeo performer. She is a dis-
traught young woman, torn by
conflicting emotions. Together,
they are Eddie and May, forming-a
bizarre relationship of passion
arid violence from which they
cannot escape.
Sam Shepard's Foolfor Love,
the story of one chapter in this
despar-ate relationship, played at
the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre this
weekend, bringing the emotional
prowess of Sam Shepard's charac-
ters to life on stage.
Shepard's characters proved
themselves with incredible inten-
sity. The tension silenced the au-
dience. Cassie Mann, as May, gave
an explosive performance, creat-
ing a microcosm of the entire
play's violently contrasting
moods. In periods of weakness,
she crashed to the floor or curled
up in a ball. When angry, however,
May became the dominating and
powerful force on stage. Mann
created an aura about her character
which assigned her a predominate
role in unraveling the mystery of
the couple's past.
John McGowan's Eddie was
more a product of Mann's charac-
trerization than of his own inner
emotions. For this reason, Eddie's
relationship to May seemei
obsessive. In his anger, Eddie
threatened to leave, but he always
stayed when May begged him. Thl
actors played off of each othor
convincingly, with the excepticr-
of a few awkward, silent m -
ments which did not correlate
with the previous interactions.
Their relationship intensificd
and came to its climax only akot
the introduction of Martin, tl4e:
See FOOL, Page 8
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no hassles, no unpleasantness. And,
of course, Disney provides, the.food.
Ah,. yes, the food, the food. The
primary topic of conversation
among the other college journalists
Ihung out with. The first night; the
buffet dinner on a white sandy beach
with torches burning, silver plates
gleaming and steak sizzling. Break-
fast Friday morning, at- the '50s
style caf6 at MGM with the an-
-noying wait staff that acted like
they were ina '50s sitcom - great
eggs and fruit though. Friday night
dinner -on the aptly named Pleasure
Island at an Italian restaurant that
served us a fine swordfish and an es-
pecially memorable raspberry cho-
colate cake for dessert that I
couldn't even finish but I think one
of the other students- had wrapped
up in a doggie bag. Saturday lunch at
the MGM sci-fi drive in where you
.-sit in' a '50s style, ear and watch
trailers for cheezy '50s sci-fi movies
like Plan 9 From Outer Space and,
they bring you a chocolate shake
even if you -didn't ask for it.
'Satutday dinner, ah, Saturday dinner
..at the orgiastic Beauty and the
Beast- Dinner. Party on Mickey.
Avenue at MGM Studios, where
~' they built a very long 18th century
street just like the one in the miovic
and filled it with actors in period
dress and garries and it was like be-
ing in Bruege's painting The
Peasant Dance and my gosh this is
unbelievable FOQD like rack of
lamb, real pretzels, shrimp scampi,
bu uffet after buffet, delightful
dessert tortes. "Unbelievable" was
the most o.ften heard word at this
D ionysian . celebration which was
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