ARTS
The Michigan Daily Monday, December 9, 1991 Page 5
Wild 'n' crazy guy ... matures?
Ex-Jerk Steve Martin looks for serious success with two new films {
by Michael John Wilson Yet instead of making us long come to a completely dramatic role, remember driving to the theater
for the days of King Tut, Martin's Although he says playing such a thinking, 'There are two laughs in it,
ORLANDO - The Jerk has fi- comedy background actually en- part is "not a primary goal," he there's this, and there's that. Two -
nally become somebody. With two hances his current seriousness. The thinks it will happen, "... and I did it no maybe one.' And the movie starts
new films this holiday season, fact that we've seen him juggle cats a little bit in Grand Canyon." and you're into it for two minutes, w
Father of the Bride and Grand makes his mature characters look re- It's a road toward which he's and the audience is with it. They're
Canyon, Steve Martin plainly re- strained, underplayed and disarm- been heading for many years now, into the story for some reason."
minds us that he's not just a funny ingly honest in comparison. In with his performances in the roman- Possibly his most personal pro-
comedian who makes movies (cf. Father, for instance, there are plenty tic comedies All of Me, Roxanne ject to date was last year's L.A.
Martin Short) - he's a first-rate of hilarious scenes that only Steve and, most recently, L.A. Story. Story, which he wrote and co-execu-
comic actor. Martin could do, like a Tom Jones Martin isn't, however, driven by any tive produced. The film is a love
Father of the Bride is a remake of spoof in a tiny tux. Yet what stands lifelong Streisandesque obsession to poem to his home of Los Angeles in
Vincente Minnelli's 1956 comedy out just as much are the sober, natu- win a Best Actor Oscar. He's simply the same vein (though nowhere as
about a father who won't let go of ral moments of family life which grown older. The move away from effective) as Woody Allen's
his daughter. Reminded in a recent Martin's honest performance pre- roles like The Man With Two Manhattan. But unlike Woody, who
interview that he's played a father vents from turning sappy. His per- Brains was, at first, "very con- now belittles his true comic genius '. .
before in Parenthood, the 46 year- formance is so truthful, so sincere, scious," Martin says. with a desire to make a significant
old Martin moans, "Next it'll be Ingmar Bergman film, Martin's not
grandfather. But it is kind of a se- 'When I first did Roxanne, and we had never about to forget his comic roots.
quel - it's like the kids are shown it to anyone, I remember driving to the He's not dying to play a dramatic
grown." In both cases, Martin cor-anoeIrm mbrd vigt th
rectly notes, " a think the role is theater thinking, "There are two laughs in it, role, and he isn't consciously trying
rety noeItik(th r ) s to become a respected actor.
particularly suited to me, to what I there's this, and there's that. Two - no On the other hand, however, we.
do, which is comedic drama. Or maybe one"' -Steve Martin won't exactly be seeing The Jerk I
maybe what I do now. It's not what anytime soon. "It's too late for
I did before." that it brings to mind the actor who "When I left stand-up comedy, I that," he says. "Actually, about
Words like "comedic" (which he originally played the Father of the left forever," he continues. "But three years ago I wrote The Jerk
pretentiously pronounced to rhyme Bride: the great Spencer Tracy. where I ended up in movies is not Part Two. And I had a great fifty
with "medic") are far removed Martin calls his other holiday conscious at all. It just happened. As pages ... but you need a hundred." Comic genius Steve Martin, here shown in a scene from the classic The
from the vocabulary of the wild and film, Grand Canyon, "a very dra- you get older and more experienced, Martin doesn't feel any pressurc Man With Two Brains, wants to become a serious actor.
crazy guy we once loved so much. In matic movie." Billed as Lawrence you choose different things." to return to his wacky Dead Men
person, too, Martin is not "on." Kasdan's Big Chill for the '90s, the He says that Roxanne, for in- Don't Wear Plaid days. "My most work or they don't. They're funny the merging of the hilarious and the
Genial, open and quietly impressive film is another kind of L.A. Story. stance, was his "scariest" role, be- successful films have been more se- or they're not. It's very hard, for a emotional. And that's what's
in his dark green suit and white hair, Martin stars (along with Kevin cause "you're wearing a big nose, rious, or more emotional, I should film like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels achieved in both of his new films.
Martin even displays the intellec- Kline, Mary McDonnell and Danny and you don't know if anybody say, like Parenthood," he explains. ... it's a funny comedy. But it He also maintains that he's not
tual side we had hints of in his phi- Glover) as one of six people who thinks you're an idiot... "So I'don't feel any kind of pressure doesn't have a heart of gold, it searching for the perfect role. "No,
losophy one-liners ("I studied the tries to find meaning in the brutal- "When I first did Roxanne, and at all. I feel the hardest thing to doesn't have deep emotions." To I haven't thought of that," he says.
great ones ... So-crates.") ity of the city. It's the closest he's we had never shown it to anyone, I pull off, actually, is a comedy. They Martin, "perfection in comedy" is See JERK, Page 7
a' Theater review
Marat/Sade a perverse pleasure
__R The haunting story of activist Jean- Paul Marat's
,N murder is eloquently played out by grimy inmates
Mr. Spock Leonard Nimoy) has spawned a Vulcan fashion trend. Ex-mannequin Kim Cattrall is trying out the
latest look in ear cartilage. Now available at a "cosmetic" surgeon near you, you can get these nifty implants in
a package deal with a tummy tuck and face-lift. Goody!
Scotty, beam us out already!
Star Trek VI: The
Undiscovered Country
dir. Nicholas Meyer
by Brent Edwards
Ever since Star Trek IV, it became apparent to follow-
ers of the movie series that all of the odd-numbered
Trek films were horrible, while the even-numbered
films were great. While Star Trek V continued to sup-
port this theory, rules such as this usually never last.
("No one has ever run back two kickoffs for touch-
downs against Michigan"; "Film adaptations are never
as good as the book.") But it is with satisfaction that
the latest and last offering, Star Trek VI: The Undis-
covered Country, joins the ranks of the other even-
numbered films.
The Star Trek films are made to appeal to fans of
the old series - no one who didn't like the series is ex-
pected to like the films - and what Star Trek fans
want is a movie that is as good as the better Trek
episodes and doesn't embarrass the audience (see the
fireside singing in Star Trek V to experience such
agony).
The premise behind Star Trek VI is that the Klingon
Empire is dying due to the explosion of their primary
moon, and the Klingons have decided to make peace
with the Federation rather than die out. The intrepid
crew of the Enterprise, just three months away from
forced retirement, is given their last mission: to escort
the Klingon Chancellor and prime peace proponent to a
Federation base for negotiations. As you might suspect,
trouble occurs when a saboteur takes action, and it
doesn't involve tribbles.
While the story in VI seems to be politically cor-
rect, just as IV's was environmentally correct, The
Undiscovered Country is fundamentally a combination
of classic episode elements: fighting space battles, sav-
ing Kirk from an alien planet, finding the on-board in-
filtrator, overcoming Kirk's nemesis, and saving the
universe from destruction.
Familiarity is also an important element to fans,
however, since much of the appeal of Star Trek is in the
characters and their familiar personalities. Star Trek VI
delivers in more than enough ways to satisfy any fan.
Kirk kisses an alien woman! Kirk gets in a fist-fight,
not only with an alien, but with a duplicate of himself
(thankfully, with his shirt on). Kirk and McCoy are
taken prisoner on an alien planet. Spock does the Vul-
can mind-meld. Chekhov claims that a classic story is
actually Russian. The only thing missing is Scotty
complaining that the engines "canno' take it much
longer."
Star Trek VI is most similar to Star Trek II, which
See TREK, Page 7
Marat/Sade
Power Center
December 8, 1991
"These poor souls offer themselves
up for your diversion. Is that not the
pinnacle of perversion?"
-Marquis de Sade, Marat/Sade
Women tore at their hair. One
clutched a sooty doll to her bosom.
Guards with blood smeared over
their chests stood next to nuns.
Maybe the perversion lay here,
Marquis de Sade, or maybe your of-
fering of a play in an asylum in
France, with inmates for a cast, was
the ultimate perverse and burnt of-
fering.
The University Player's produc-
tion of Peter Weiss' masterpiece,
The Persecution and Assassination
of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed
by the Inmates of the Asylum of
Charenton under the Direction of
the Marquis de Sade, was both
hauntingly grotesque and beautiful.
Powerfully drawn and force-
fully presented, Marat/Sade has to
be among the best performances the
University Players have ever pre-
sented.
The character of de Sade, also an
CHANNELZ
Aren't you just sick and fucking
tired of pretentious, foul-mouthed
Daily Arts staffers reminding you
of how un-hip you are to the latest
sub-alternative musical trends?
Well, then check out the 1991
Billboard Music Awards (8 p.m.,
Detroit Channel 50),which gives
credit to consumer, not critical,1
faves. Artists set to appear include
Genesis, LL Cool J, Color Me Badd,
John Mellencamp, R.E.M., Mariah
Carey, Richard Marx, Bryan Adams
and, of course, the mighty Garth
Brooks.
inmate at the Asylum, has written a
play for his fellow inmates focus-
ing on the life of the French peo-
ple's martyr, Marat, who ends up
murdered at the hands of.Charlotte
Corday while bathing. The inmates
portray the people of France who,
aggrieved by the death of their pur-
ported savior, rally around his tub
where he is being bathed by his mis-
tress.
The most breathtaking perfor-
mance was delivered by Juliet Kerr;
Marat/Sade has to
be among the best
performances the
University Players
have ever presented
portraying an inmate who plays
Marat's mistress, Simonne Evrard.
Her movements, her voice and every
controllable nuance of her being
was utilized to perfection; the char-
acter's twitching and noticeable
psychosis never slackened. Kerr gave
us a woman struggling to control
her own body in order to portray the
character de Sade has cast her to be.
Aaron Williams, as de Sade, was
ruthless and cunning -the lover of
blood and it's inherent misery.
Williams so aptly and eerily por-
trayed the original sadist that if one
were to encounter him on the street,
s/he might run screaming in the
other direction.
Other noteworthy performances
were delivered by Amy Heath (as
the inmate playing Corday), whose
voice of liquid gold enhanced her
lovely, yet disturbing, portrayal;
Jeffrey T. Crisope as the believably
sex-starved inmate Duperret; and
Mark Willett as the Herald. Wil-
lett had an awesome capacity for
stealing the show, delighting the
audience with his command of the
rhymed verse that comprised his
part.
Less believable was Steven E.
Memran's portrayal of Marat.
While his invectives shook the the-
ater with their strength of convic-
tion, he let the audience forget about
the sores and rashes that restricted
him to the bathtub in which he re-
mained throughout the play.
Visiting director Lewis Palter
obviously knew what he was doing,
taking Marat's advice. "The impor-
tant thing is to pick yourself up by
the hair, turn yourself inside out and
see the world with fresh eyes."
-Caroline Gordon
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Swamp Terrorists
Nightmare
Factory Studio
As always, there are bands that
produce brilliant innovative music,
and there are those that trail behind
the former's tracks. The Swiss two-
sounds are patterned in the same old
dance beat, and this over-used raspy,
clogged-up-throat thing that is sup-
posed to chill, ends up annoying.
The first song, "Nightmare,"
starts out with a catchy, hammering,
gunfire-style beat. Maramba-like
with a girl and his desire to haunt
her: "I want your love/ I want your
soul/ I want your sex/ I want you/
I'm your nightmare." These words
are extremely over-used cheese,
heard in everything from George
Michael to Dead or Alive. The third
H. chants "Truth or Dare!". he
sounds like he is introducing a game
show for vampires.
"Girl the Truth" sticks in little
snippets of recordings from the me-
dia and from other songs, including,
quite heavily, the infamous Milli
MITCHELL
PHOTOGRAPHY
Holiday
(Special
GLAMOUR