ARTS Poet Raptosh keeps it in the family by Darcy Lockman Diane Raptosh's dedication of her firstbook ofpoems"JustWestofNow" to her family is especially appropriate considering that much of the poetry rings familial. The book isaprovoking delve into Raptosh's own past, replete with uncannily familiar images and emotion. "My focus on family is a question of housekeeping," said Raptosh, whose family life based itself upon a close- ness bespeckled with great difficulty, burdened by her father's death when Raptosh was just seventeen, "In addi- tion, (I write aboutmy family because) they are a great cast of characters, and I've known them longer than anyone else." "Just West of Now," the poem that supplies the title for the collection, brings up issues that tie the brunt of the poems together. Is it better to be within a place you love, or simply to keep remembering the place from afar? "Since returning to Idaho (where Raptosh was born), I've decided that you can have the best of both worlds," she said. The two sections of the book, titled "PlaceNames" and "Blood Ties," both deal with emotional bonds, the former to places and the later to people. "Place serves like a character in one's life," said Raptosh, "It has personality, si- lences, contours, voluptuousness. People and places are very similar things." Herpoetry illustrates this principle, as poems in the "Place" section focus on the contours of the land, as well as the people. In "Weather Watch" Raptosh writes, "Talking about the weather again / in this letter from Stanley, / Idaho, John covers every inch/of precipitation, saying he thinks / of me every time he watches / the weather channel. No snow / in Michi- gan, I write, though / hail's falling heavier than a shot/ fowl to the earth." The poems in "Blood Ties" are replete with detailed memories of fam- ily pictures and dialogues. In "Black and White of My Mother at Twenty- One" she writes, "The year's 1953. She's looking up,/unafraid and slightly left, / black eyes pearl-lit. It's as if / she's looking straight into / her life. Or it's that /she's matched eyes with one /she'd ask to be her lover. /At this point sheknows/she'll marry. Who. /Where. When. She figures time / irons things out." The rhythm and meter Raptosh uses is unpredictable, changing with almost every poem. The one consistency is the calm and gentle yet persistent tone that each stanza creates. "I try different rhythm and meter in my work. I like to have each poem decide for itself what rhythm and meter to take on," she said. Raptosh believes that poetry is re- turning to the forefront of literature, a point she sees illustrated in the in- crease of poetry readings, and in Presi- dent-elect Bill Clinton inviting a poet to read at the inauguration. "Poetry is very much blossoming rightnow," she said. Currently, Raptosh, who earned her Masters in Fine Arts at the university, is teaching at Albertson College of Idaho and working on hersecondbook of poetry. "The book is about half finished. This one is less about family, morepoems about offspring and birds," she said. So will Diane Raptosh dedicate her next book to children and birds? Prob- ably not. But as she illustrates with her first book, the poems' intended audi- ence is quite irrelevant. Diane Raptosh'spoems speak to awide audi- ence. Another great poet emerges. DIANE RAPTOSH, author of "Just WestofNow, "willreadselectedpoems from her book, as well as previously unpublished work, tomorrow atSp.m. at the Kuenzel Room in the Michigan Union. Admission is free. Raptosh Film doesn't get outta here 'Alive' Brutal story of cannibalism gets soft Hollywood film treatment replete with too-cute stars Madonna laughing all the way to the bank. What else is new? Madonna s film 'Body' by Michael Thompson Sex, death, courtrooms, more sex and Madonna! Welcome, ladies and gentle- men to the worst film of the year Now I'm sure that it comes as no surprise to anyone that "Body of Evidence" is a bad film. It's got Madonna in it, how could it possibly be good? But, surprisingly enough she isn't the worst thing about it. Let's begin with the utterly ingenuous plot. Rebecca Carlson (Madonna) is accused of screwing her lover to death. While defending her, Willem Dafoe gets laid and a nice hot-wax treatment. Is she guilty or innocent? Is anyone in the audience paying attention to the plot? Did someone actually direct this film or was it just left up in the air? Yes, there are many questions in this brilliant mystery, but the biggest one of Evidence has to be: what in the hell Willem "I'm Directed by Uli Edel; written by Brad Jesus Christ" Dafoe and Joe "I'm Mirman; with Madonna, Willem Dafoe, Mamet's main fucking man" Mantegna Joe Mantegna, Anne Archer. are doing in this film? And how in the hell didanyone convince Joe Mantegna to say "Do you believe in karma?" The acting is bad from start to finish. Madonna simply plays the character she has created for herself in real life, so she's neither good nor bad, just redundant. WillemDafoe isn'tsleep walking, he's dead. Hedelivers "I don'twant to lose you" with the same intensity you get when you hear "I'll haveadiet Coke." Anne Archer is the saddest case here. Just when you thought it couldn't get worse than lines like "You get him, Jack," poor Anne is now stuck in the role of the pathetic horny secretary to the deceased. This script was obviously written after "Basic Instinct" became a success. It's also a rehash of all the old film noir films of the forties and fifties. But Willem Dafoe is no Robert Mitchum and Madonna certainly isn't Barbara Stanwyck. The script could have been cut by probably a hundred pages. Willem Dafoe is married for no particular reason. His wife's in the film for about five minutes ,so who cares if he's cheating on her? No one, no one cares about anything in this film because the producers are obviously trying to capitalize on the success of "Basic Instinct." No, "Basic Instinct" isn't the greatest film, but it has several things that "Body of Evidence" lacks. The first would be a director with a sense of humor. Uli Edel has no idea of what he's doing - if he was actually doing anything at all. What kind of director allows his actors to look bored during masturbation? Another lacking feature would be in the department of cinematography. It was obviously this guy's first day. The camera drags all over the dead man's house before we even see him and then cuts before we can tell if he's dead or just bored. I will admit that "Body of Evidence" does have two redeeming characteristics. The first is that it's cheaper than Madonna's book and just as silly. The second is that in comparison, every film I've seen recently is great. "Toys" is suddenly a masterpiece. And I'm sure that every Amy Fisher movie was just as titillating, although probably not as boring. At least there would have been commercial breaks where you could eat, sleep or run to the bathroom and throw up. With any luck, people will see "Body of Evidence" for what it really is, exploitative crap. I have a feeling that the new Van Damme movie is better. BODY OF EVIDENCE is playing at Showcase and Briarwood. * 49 Ann ounc in g Siblings Weekend 93 * WFrr m nr i ofn by Sarah Weidman "Nibble your bum?" is not a ques- tion you'd want to ask when leaving "Alive," the new cannibal film from director Frank Marshall. It's atrue story, adapted from Piers Paul Read's best seller, recounting the 1972 tragic plane crash of an Uruguayan rugby team over the Andes Mountains. Alive Directed by Frank Marshall; written by John Patrick Shanley; with Ethan Hawke, Vincent Spano. For all psychological purposes, "Alive" is a fascinating movie. The story itself is jarring when you realize that the survivors braved sub-zero tem - peratures with no food (until the fateful first bite) for 72 days. The survivors fall into roles of leader, follower and an- tagonist, much like "Lord of the Flies." The role of leader passes on from Anto- nio (Vincent Spano), the captain and therefore the natural leader of the team, to Nando (Ethan Hawke) once Antonio loses faith in his ability to lead. Religion is important to the men, who are primarily Catholics. Carlitos (Bruce Ramsay) serves as the group's spiritual leader and regularly guides them in prayer. The lone agnostic is even converted when threatened by an imminent avalanche. Eventually, Nando and Roberto Canessa (Josh Hamilton) evolve as the leaders and keep the survivors some- what sane. Unfortunately, the perfor- mances by these four men are some of the few that stand out. You would think that twohours watching the same people in the same location would allow one to get know the individuals and under- stand theirbehaviors. Instead, you touch just below the surface of Nando and Roberto, but can't keep the other survi- vors' names straight. When there is no connection with the characters, it becomes hard to get into the movie, and you realize that this is nothing more than a Hollywood take on a truly tragic story. The majority of the actors don't put on an Uruguayan accent. A few do, though, and only make the others' lack thereof more ob- vious. Frederico is an injured teammate whose flimsy accent sounds like the hero from "The Princess Bride" when he says "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die." This flaw brings laughs, not tears. A little more realism could be added to the appearance of the actors as well. Two and a half months in this dreadful situation would take some meat off their It's a law of nature that their teeth would at least become dull and grungy without brushing, especially - after eating human flesh for so long. bones (no pun intended), but by the end, the survivors look as heavy as they did when they crashed. In addition, there is no way the entire rugby team was as good-looking as the team portrayed. Every character had dark tousled hair, stunning blue eyes, and shimmering teeth. It's a law of nature that their teeth would at least become dull and grungy without brushing, especially after eat- ing human flesh for so long. Finally, the beard situation. Now, I don't know if Ethan Hawke justhas a facial hair prob- lem, but after 72 days, I'm surehe could grow more than a scraggly goatee. Only one of the burly Latin men ended up with a full beard. The true story is an intriguing one, yet at times it was almost mocked. Whether or not such light-heartedness was present at the time, I don't know, but it is a bit insensitive to build up the drama and then crack a joke. Immedi- ately after the crash, a survivor begins walking in the wrong direction and is turned around by a friend who explains, "He bumped his head." Of course he bumped his head - he just slammed into amountain. This sort of comment is prevalent, and tarnishes the emotional impact the story could have had. Al- though somecomedy couldhave worked to lighten the mood, which it actually did at times, the movie incorporated so much humor that it became difficult to empathize with the survivors. In general, I would much rather see the story in documentary form. The elements are fascinating and the hero- ism is commendable, but Touchstone and Paramount have put too much Hol- lywood in to make it believable. My recommendation is to read the book and then see the movie. That way, you will already know the characters so you can sit back and watch the spectacle. ALIVE is playing at Showcase. "Alive": the story of way too healthy-looking starving cannibals. 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