ARTS The Michigan Daily Wednesday, October 14,1992 Page5 The price of a lot of real estate angst Sinead O'Connor Am I Not Your Girl? Chrysalis/Ensign Yeah, I know. For Miss O'Con- nor to do an album of contemporary standards is more than a little ambi- tious. This sort of stuff is reserved for veterans with more than just two records under their belt. Just who does she think she is, anyway? Maybe, you think, she's run dry on ideas of her own. Au contraire, mon ami. Record- ing "Am I Not Your Girl?," Sinead O'Connor has actually pulled a quiet coup. By doing exactly what the world doesn't want her to do, she temporarily escapes the harsh spot- light of scrutiny she's caught in. That way, when she does record the follow up to "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got," it won't be such a big deal, expectations are lowered, and basically, the media probably won't care so much. Precisely what O'Connor wants. I guess Madonna isn't the only great manipulator after all. "But what about this one?," you ask. "Am I Not Your Girl?" is a re- spectable collection of lushly ar- ranged standards, which, for the most part, works. Highlights include a seductively crooned "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered," the beautifully dramatic "Success Has Made A Failure Of Our Home," and a campy romp through Marilyn Monroe's "I Want To Be Loved By You." A simple, light-hearted good time, this disc is a pretty diversion from O'Connor's usual heavy work. Got a problem with that? - Scott Sterling The Wallflowers The Wallflowers Virgin A more fitting title for this album is "Old, Baggy Genes." The Wallflowers, who are led by Jakob Dylan, Bob's boy, are conspicuously named after a Dylan classic, and have a rather retro sound. This had to be a set-up. When show-biz kids try to make names for themselves, comparisons to the legendary par- by Camilo Fontecilla James Foley has come a long way from the days of "Who's that Girl." In his adaptation of the lauded David Mamet play "Glengarry Glen Ross," he focuses incisively on the hopelessness of a society whose economy is going down the drain. Instead of documenting the effects of the recession on our nation as a whole, the film con- centrates on the mishaps of five agents employed at a small real estate office. As these characters struggle to cling to the days of economic abun-, Glengarry Glen Ross Directed by James Foley; written by David Mamet; with Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, and Alec Baldwin dance, they find themselves losing their integrity as human beings. They become more like starved beasts scourging for food in a post-cataclysmic world. The film kicks off when Blake (Alec Bald- win), an anonymous figure from Upper Man- agement (the office "downtown"), gives an ulti- matum to the employees of the office. A ridicu- lous contest will award a Cadillac Eldorado to the agent with the most sales, a set of steak knives to the one in second place, and for the losers, the boot. Blake praises the value of money and harshly scorns the insignificance and re- placeability of small-time workers in a speech symbolic of current events. The characters become entangled in a web of frantic sales as they attempt to bluff clients, or "leads", into buying land in the Glengarry Highlands, a territory composed mostly of wetlands. A late night theft in the office raises the stakes, setting the barren scenario for the ultimate degradation of these desperate men. Foley focuses on the film as an ensemble pro- duction, and the result is startlingly effective. Jack Lemmon plays Shelley "The Machine" Levene, an old-time salesman who constantly reminisces of better times. His outdated tech- niques are now ineffective, as is shown in a sale "sit-down" scene with a thoroughly uninterested client. Lemmon's pathetic perseverance through an obviously lost case is the emotional peak of the movie. Ricky Roma (Al Pacino), by contrast, has the upper hand, and knows how to sucker clients into signing the checks. As a rising entrepreneur, his troubles are few, until the theft turns his plans upside-down. His nonsensical and extremely psychological sales pitch to James Lingk (Jonathan Pryce) exemplifies the magnitude of mental manipulating skills required to twist a client's will. Both Lemmon and Pacino make the movie worth seeing, with performances that re- veal the angst of the American working man. But there's more. Ed Harris is Dave Moss, a frustrated character seeking an easier escape from a pressure he cannot handle. Unwilling to scrape for sales with the leads he is given, he comes up with a better plan. His brash final exit, as he gives up his job, shows the need of the working man to be respected as a human being. George Aaronow (Alan Arkin) belongs also to the old generation of salesmen, but instead of fighting on like Levene, mostly observes bewil- dered at the changes occurring around him, act ing as a shadowy comic foil. John Williamson (Kevin Spacey) is the incompetent supervisor of these four agents, recipient of all complaints and explosions of frustration. With his babyish face, he plays the perfect bureaucrat with an unde- served and overrated job. "Glengarry" plays slowly and will probably bore those seeking easy weekend entertainment. But with beautiful "Lynchesque" cinematogra- phy by Juan Ruiz Anchia, an explosion of color followed by an immersion into grays, and mag- nificent performances by all the actors, it strikes right in the gut and will probably be a good thera- peutic piece for a lagging interest in the present state of our country. O'Connor ent(s) are not fair at all. Jakob, on the other hand, is asking for it. For- tunately for him, this is a fine record. The band sounds remarkably like The Band. Keyboardist Rami Jaffe covers both piano and organ parts, and the swirling runs he plays on his Hammond remind the listener of Garth Hudson, and the dramatic ar- rangements would make Robbie Robertson proud. Jakob doesn't nec- essarily sing like Bob (although he doesn't sing like Lou Gramm either), but his voice is gritty enough to add a great deal of character to the songs. Jakob writes all the songs, and his lyrics are quite good. Instead of directly telling stories, or openly showing his feelings, his songs con- tain a series of images that unfold for the listeners to really think about what is being sung. One verse from "Shy of the Moon" describes how the constellation Orion "shoots the moon and takes it as his own re- ward." The chorus from "Asleep at the Wheel" succinctly illustrates a situa- tion in which nothing unexpected ever happens, even though it should. Dylan sings, "Asleep at the wheel / you know when to shift / 'Cos you know the roads here don't change." Julian Lennon and the Reddings, among many others, have fallen way short of expectations, but the Wallflowers should not face the same fate. -Andrew Cahn GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS is playing Showcase. at 11,11 11 [111,11 i u I Thinking about applying to Graduate School at the University of Michigan School of Education? If YES, come to a meeting TODAY, 6 p.m. Room 1322 (Tribute Room) School of Education Building Faculty and staff will be available to answer questions about programs, financial aid opportunities, and admission requirements. A pose from "The Christopher Columbus Follies: An Eco Cabaret." Book 'em, Dannon We're concerned. We're afraid that you're beginning to think one can survive on the culture scraped out of a tub of yogurt. We think you need do something about this. We want you to go the ArtVideo today at noon in the Museum of Art. After all, "Two Faces of the 17th Century: Rembrandt and Velasquez" beats Dannon any day. Trust us. We know what's good for you. Collect call Then, on Thursday at noon, we think you should go back to the Museum of Art and listen to what William Hennessey has to say about "How a Museum Collects: Recent Acquisitions at the Museum of Art." The Nina, the Pinta, and the Sneaky Maria Just when you thought the passing of October 12th meant that you'd never have to hear the name Christopher Columbus again, the Underground Railway Theater comes to town with their comical portrayal of Chris's infiltration of America. The Christopher Columbus Follies is a cabaret-style look at the quincentennial. Where else can you laugh and be politi- cally correct all for the low price of $5? They'll be sailing onto the ocean blue stage of the Power Center Thursday at 8 p.m. For ticket information call 763-TKTS. 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