ARTS The Michigan Daily Tuesday, March 17,1992 Page 5 mw uamn, tiese teens are tough. Young Santana (rancnhito uomez Young Muno (Steve Wilcox) look so mean that they might grow up to be ... Like the American way Me is hollow and lame American Me dir. Edward James Olmos by Aaron Hamburger A merican. Me is an extremely environmentally aware movie. Not only does the film recycle the same actors, costumes, and sets over and over again in scenes where they don't belong, but it also recycles old plot lines and dialogue from every ethno-gangster movie ever made. One of the most hackneyed bits of dialogue, "You wouldn't find your head if it wasn't fastened on," (uttered by a little boy who apparently is too young to realize how dumb the script sounds) applies well to the people who made American Me. The movie has no plot in the original sense of the word. Instead, the screenplay provides a series of ob- ligatory scenes, stolen from better movies like The Godfather and GoodFellas, and serves them up with a touch of salsa. An obligatory race riot scene precedes the obliga- tory young kids fall into crime scene. Then there's the obligatory Mafia in prison scenes (for a good les- son in quality, compare these segments with similar scenes from the far superior GoodFellas) followed by some obligatory rival Mafia war scenes. The movie even has two obligatory sex scenes going on at the same time! The only original thing about this movie is that it features recurring obligatory scenes of ho- mosexual rape, each one depicted in loving detail. Don't bother asking what the title means, because it has absolutely nothing to do with anything in the movie. Presumably it refers to the ethnic/racial divi- sions that cause Bad Things like crime and drugs. The filmmakers, however, are so concerned with being fair and showing all sides of the situation, that its hypocritical depiction of the Hispanic drug Mafia never really offers more than a token condemnation of its activities. The portrayals actually glorify mob life while the script hollowly condemns it. The movie, which is the directorial debut of Ed- ward James Olmos, only proves one thing: Olmos should stick to acting. His direction is gratuitously stylish; his camera swerves, swoops, pans, and does everything but stand still. At times, the plot is so incoherent that it is im- possible to tell who the different characters are on the screen. For example, one character seems to have suddenly disappeared, until you find out that he has actually shaved his head and has been there all along. Then again, based on Olmos' performance in the movie, maybe he'd better stick to directing. Nothing Olmos does in the movie points to his much better work in movies like Stand and Deliver. He mugs stone-faced through most of the movie, bored, smok- ing a cigarette, trying to imitate Humphrey Bogart or Al Pacino. The only time Olmos shows any emotion is in the overripe voice-over narration,which actually rhymes! The filmmakers seem to have had a noble cause in mind when making this movie - an attempt to show the horrible nature of the drug Mafia in East L.A. and its devastating effect on the Hispanic community. Unfortunately, movies like American Me do little more than to trivialize this serious subject matter. AMERICAN ME is playing at Showcase. Dreams Made Flesh Pacifier Interplanet Records After the first few chords of "Arkansas," the track which starts off Pacifier, you begin to think that Dreams Made Flesh actually has some potential. The lustful singing of Buff, complemented with back- ground vocals from MG (pseudo- nyms if you haven't caught on by now), and the hard driving rhythm section of Peech on bass, and Rooster on drums, shows glimpses of a powerful rock outfit. Where they go wrong couldn't be any sim- pler to detect. There's only so far you can carry the same bass line, the same vocals, the same subject matters - get the point? Dreams Made Flesh just lacks creativity. By the time you're asking yourself how much longer can this song really be, you notice that you're already on track number six. Unfortunately, at that point, there are still six more songs to go. Buff's singing works well for a song or two, but her aspirations to- wards being a brutal female vocalist with a sensitive side die soon after- wards. Things have gone awry when you find yourself laughing at just now much she wants to be some- thing she's not. MG is no better. Sharing lead vo- cals on about half the tracks, his voice doesn't possess the ability to change in any noticeable variation or tone. What results is an average singer crooning to average songs. The music on the album also suffers from a scarcity of variation. The bare-bones rhythm lines and guitar lines are fine, but in this case, simplicity is not the key. As you're expecting for a song to suddenly jump into a ripping guitar jam, or a quick drum assault, you are instead disappointed by hearing the non-de- viating, altogether boring, riffs played over and over again. What's truly sad about this album is howwthe lyrics have been wasted. MG, who wrote every song on Pacifier, displays a knack for great poetic imagery. The music, however, doesn't cut it. Good poetry put to mediocre songs isn't very memo- rable any way you look at it. If you're not one for surprises, Pacifier will keep you entertained for a little while. If you like a little ingenuity in your music, look else- where. For fear of lapsing into a coma, you've been forewarned. -Nima Hodaei The Family Stand Moon In Scorpio East West Records America The Family Stand, V. Jeffrey Smith, Peter Lord and Sandra St. Victor, jam a fiery groove to a crescendo in the opener "New World Order." Lord and Victor wail defi- antly, "I've got this problem with this system of denial / The world court circus / Where the clowns control the trial." There's an angry chorus of "What is this new world order, c'mon," a lively flourish of horns, and then a breakdown. This is punc- tuated by a dizzying free jazz saxo- phone solo, a crucial moment of finding the groove and then the song rebuilds itself. The Family Stand has a band now. The Family Stand has gone revolutionary in both their mu- sic and politics. The Family's stand on this new world disorder is expounded upon in the provocative but pretentious title cut "Moon In Scorpio," "New world orders get seen for what they are 1 The same old folks trying to hold onto power / Is.the moon, is the moon in scorpio?" Is this Black rock rebellion with maximum artistic license or a fright- eningly retro trip to the pomposity of classic rock storytellers such as The Who? This is the critical question regarding Moon In Scorpio. Along the way we get delightful mind trips like "Winter In My Heart," a ballad featuring gorgeous strings by Claire Fischer over a funky hip-hop beat. And we get Lenny Kravitz-like forays in funky writhing with the psychedelic jams "Sky Is Falling" and "Chakra Love." The brilliant pop song "The Edu- cation Of Jamie" teaches a sister a lesson about the roots, "1, get Black; it's your resurrection/ Know 2, the white lies hold no protection/ And 3, know this, it's your one salvation/ The education of Jamie." Is this Black rock rebellion with maximum artistic license or a frighteningly retro trip to the pomposity of classic rock storytellers such as The Who? On the down side, the retro re- turns in "Shades of Blue" which sounds eerily like the Rolling Stones, and a limp "new jazz" piece entitled "Free Spirit." "In the Midst of Revolution," with Vernon Reid delivering a nicely spasmodic guitar solo, is a fair reprise of "New World Order." But this becomes quite re- dundant in the third return, "Boom Shock." The Family Stand knows what it. doesn't want to be (commercial and spineless), but can't decide who it is (the gamut runs from classic rock to hip-hop and many disparate hybri- disms in between). Unfortunately, Moon In Scorpio finds these rebels getting such a blast from being themselves that Lord's circular theme of harmony through rebirth crashes and burns into some- thing more chaotic and angular by the end. The Family Stand has its bases covered lyrically and vocally. They need to leave the pop ideologies far behind and just jam harder. - Forrest Green I Various Artists Falling From Grace - The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Mercury/ PolyGram The problems with reviewing movie soundtracks, especially if one hasn't seen the film, can be numer- ous. Often, the music has been tai- lored to fit certain segments of the film, making it have less meaning outside of that context. A couple of Top 40-friendly songs will also be thrown on to ensure increased sales. The soundtrack to John Mellen- camp's acting and directorial debut, Falling From Grace, doesn't fall into that trap. Snippets of dialogue from the film begin each track, giv- ing it something of a setting. . More importantly, because the film concerns musicians and was made by a musician, only two or See RECORDS. Page 8 What's a nice fellow like Sir Mixalot doing trying to bash a camera lens in? Love the four-finger ring, however. ... craggy Santana (Edward James Olmos), wrinkled Mundo (Pepe Serna) and male-pattern-balding J.D. (William Forsythe). Even though they're decrepit, these are still the coolest Hispanic Mafiosos you'll ever see on film. (NOT.) who what where when 'Tis St. Patrick's Day! Top o' the mornin' to ya, Erin go braugh, and all that malarky. We're feelin' the Blarney comin' upon us, so hang on to your shamrocks and ignore the green beer (which we're sure the Irish had nothing to do with. Just be- tween you and us, we suspect the Hallmark division of Budweiser is the real culprit). Quaff a Guinness or a Harp, start the cabbage boilin', and have a look at what's goin' on. (Don't pay attention to that lep- rechaun behind the curtain - he doesn't exist.) old fashioned Irish poesy and beats the Dickens out of television. We'll be there with bells on. Speaking of Irishfolk, we've just heard the most delightful rumor. Our sources say that The Pogues, noto- rious bad boys of Ireland (and thankfully without U2), will be ap- pearing in Lollapollooza II next summer - with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, of all people. Stay tuned for developments, and don't forget your "Bottle of Smoke." entertaining a couple folks from Arizona State University. Robert Spring will perform on the clarinet and J.B. Smith will honor us with some soothing ditties on percussion. Admission is free. =P The Fifth Annaul Jack L. Walker Memorial Conference THE POLITICS (OR UN-POLITICS) OF THE UNDERCLASS AND UNEMPLOYED i