0 Page 8- The Michigan Daily - Monday, February 1, 1993 Noisy Medicine By Andy Dolan If you've read anything about Medicine lately, you probably have an idea that they sound almost as nice as a chainsaw cutting through sheet metal. You've probably seen them described as "mind-roasting", "eardrum-perforating" and downright "noisy". Well, frankly, all of these things are true, but they only tell half the story. If your ears survive the first few listenings, you will most likely discover some absolutely beautiful melodies lurking amidst the noise. But it's not until you finally get your head around the idea that the noise and the beautiful melodies are really working together to create a perfect balance that the real listening experience begins. As songwriter I guitarist Brad Laner explained, (That idea) is constantly working in my head, that is, trying to balance the noise aspects with the song aspects, because there's nothing I love more than a great song, but I also love noise. Different people respond to noise differently ... (but) we're not playing noise to be annoying, we're playing noise because we think it sounds really beautiful!" Unfortunately, several reviews of Medicine's debut LP, "Shot Forth Self Living", have insinuated that the group borrows too much of their sound from other noise /melody artists such as My Bloody Valentine and Curve. "Some people are hell-bent on making comparisons," said Laner, "but I think as time goes on, people will begin to see us for what we are, rather than what the English press says about us." As far as their musical technique goes, Medicine has a much different style of noise-making than those groups. Instead of using effects pedals, Laner uses a 4-track tape recorder for his guitar distortion. "I just turn it up to the absolute maximum ... (and) I have no way of turning it off on stage, so it's a matter of working around (the distortion) to get the sound." Medicine have just begun their first headlining tour, promoting their debut LP "Shot Forth Self Living," and this will be their first time in Detroit. "We said (to our record label), 'look, we don't care what you have to do, we have to play in certain cities,' and Detroit was definitely one of them," said Laner. He described playing live as "kind of ajoyful thing...we want it to be more than just a band playing, we want to take people someplace..that's the best thing for us." In the future, the band plans to take their sound even further away from the mainstream. "The next album will be more experimental and more pop at the sametime... (but) there will definitely be some hard-to-figure-out stuff coming from us... I'm planning for the next album tohave kind of ahalf-hour psychotic noise freak-out," he said, as if the current album somehow lacked "psychotic noise." Check out the second track on the album, "Aruca," to understand what he's talking about. Despite all of this talk of experimentation and noise freak-outs, Laner explained their creative drive as simply stemming from the fact that, "We just love playing music ... it's fun, it's a license to be a little kid again, to just pick up an instrument and make it howl!" Experience this "howling" first hand, and be prepared to have your senses twisted in a truly disorienting way. Medicine perform Tuesday, Feb.2 with Wig and Dusk at St. Andrews Hall. Tickets are only $3.00 in advance (p.e.s.c.), 18 and over welcome. Doors open at 9:00pm. For more information, call 961-MELT. Write for Arts For info about music, books, fine arts and theater staffs, call 763-0379 0 0 Two stars of the movie "Sniper" demonstrate the Nanci Griffith method of discussion: I'm right, you're wrong, so shut up and don't ask any questions. Condescending 'Snier' shoots itself down by John R. Rybock At times, it can be difficult to respect Hollywood when it treats the audience like an idiot. A perfect example is the new film, "Sniper," which one wants to respect as a fresh variation of an old story. Yet, from the beginning, the audience condescended to. Essentially, the plot is simple. Veteran sniper Tom Beckett (Tom Berenger) is sent into the Pana- FILM REVIEW Sniper Directed by Luis Llosa; written by Michael Frost Beckner and Crash Leyland; with Tom Berenger and Billy Zane. manian jungles to take out a drug lord who is financing an upcoming coup. His spotter, and sec- ond gun, is Richard Miller (Billy Zane), young man sent by the National Security Council with rank on Beckett. They are then sent out into the jungle, one a version of a city slicker, the other a country boy. Are there going to be conflicts? Will the "city slicker" not be as qualified as need be? Will he have to pull rank using a gun? The answer is an obvious "yes." Such sins of predictability can be forgiven if the film is entertaining enough - which this one is. However, when back-to-back scenes set up a bla- tantly obvious plot turn, it is a slap in the face to the audience's intelligence. We know what we should expect; we do not need it underlined. When the audience gets past its anger at the filmmakers, they can settle down to acliched, yet fun film. For those unfamiliar with sniping (is that an actual word?), it is basically the opposite of John Rambo. One shot, one kill, from several hundred yards away. Because of such distances, snipers do not get to know their targets, except for what the dossier says. This isolation is kept up by the film- makers, who do not have the bad guys in any scene without the good guys, nor do we hear anything from them unless the heroes can, too. Instead, the evil of the film is in both of the heroes. Beckett is the veteran, numb to everything, and Miller is the rookie, with his first taste of the hunt. Each is human, containing both the good and the bad within themselves. Tom Berenger's perfor- mance is typical, similar to his role in "Platoon," but with more humanity. Billy Zane ("Dead Calm") is able to keep pace with the veteran Berenger, giving us a fairly clear idea as to his reluctance, and later his desire, to shoot. Unfortunately, the filmmakers chose to end with action, which is opposed to the rest of the film. The rest of the film can be fascinating, especially the scenes when two snipers are after each other in the woods. It creates a quiet, deadly cat and mouse, which will end only when the first (and only) shot is fired. While a Stallone film fulfills a prepubescent audience's dreams, having the hero running through the woods, firing ahundred pound gun single handed, this film, like the art of sniping, is more subtle. The audience can appreciate that the sniper will wait days to take one shot, and the camouflage used to hide can be extraordinary, as when Berenger is camouflaged in an open field, and a truck rolls right past him. Other than the filmmakers as a whole talking down the audience, the only real problem with the film is some of the direction. Most of the work by Luis Llosa is a fine, basic, don't-let-the-direction- interfere type of approach. But the moments when Llosa does try to be cute are the worst in the film. Slow motion shots of a bullet flying at the camera are old, and seemingly unrealistic. It seems doubtful that anyone would be able to see a bullet coming. And when one is hit, especially in the head, by a bullet, it is very quick. Slow motion shots of this come off as lethargic. "Sniper" is adecent film. It is entertaining enough for the audience to forgive all the little sins in the film, and if they can separate the sins of the filmmak- ers from the film itself, and they have a taste for the slow pace of a sniper, this movie will end up being fun for them to watch. SNIPER is playing at Showcase and Briarwood. 'How U Like Me Now'? Not very much Disappointing, disastrous low-budget film from fledgling African-American director I 0 The Office of Minority Affairs is now taking applications for Student Leader positions for the KING/CHAVEZ /PARKS College DSpring Visitation rograng Application deadline is February 5, 1993 Student Leaders accompany visiting middle school students throughout the day serving as guides and role models while providing information about the college experience. Student leaders usually work in teams of three. They should be fairly outgoing indi- 4 viduals and have a keen interest in and commitment to ' helping students underrepresented in higher education develop personal motivation for a college education. Many positions available, flexible scheduling. Applications and job description can be obtained at The Office of Minority Affairs, 1042 Fleming Building, 1st Floor. For additional information contact Felton Rogers at 936-1055 I By AlisonLevy Just when low-budget indies are all the rage, and it seems like first-time and fledgling renegade directors can do no wrong, Darnell Williams pops on the How U Like Me Now Written and directed by Darnell Williams; with Darnell Williams and E Salli Richardson. scene with all the prerequisites for suc- cess: his own script, a teeny-tiny bank account, a director's chair and his very own part. However, just because you have all the right ingredients doesn't mean you come out with a tasty cake. Good thing no one gave Williams any more money because it would be wasted on this abysmal movie. Williams' theme-heavy debut film, "How U Like Me Now" examines the familiar territory of relationships in the nineties from an African-American per- spective. Burdened by arambling script, odious acting and various technical mistakes, this hip-comedy-wanna-be comes off as nothing more than adisap- pointing student film. The fragile story centers around underachiever Thomas (Williams) and his fast-track girlfriend, Valerie (Salli Richardson). Heading in separate di- rections, conflict arises between his self- i ishness and her aspirations. Various friends and acquaintances on each side are thrown in toexamineAfrican-Ameri- can life from every perspective from homosexuality, interracial dating, and ancestral identity. Trying to capture all these issues is Williams' biggestmistake. Unlike most twenty-something ensemble films, Wil- liams fails to maintain a central story line. By side-tracking to the others, no one character or story is fully devel- Interestingly, one of Williams' obvious aims is to eliminate stereotypes about African-American males, but his loose story recklessly creates other sterotypes. oped, thereby creating small theme- centered sketches and shallow portraits. Interestingly, one of Williams' ob- vious aims is to eliminate stereotypes about African-American males, but his loose story recklessly creates other sterotypes, especially focusing on women. In one very short scene, Will- iams effectively and humorously slices through the familiar and false assump- tions about young African-American males. However, he skims over interra- cial dating in a prejudicial manner and writes off women as gold-digging whores. In comparison, the African- American males appear somewhat well- rounded, while whitemen and all women are portrayed as cardboard cartoons of broad generalizations. On adeeper level, Williams blatantly subscribes to the Freudian fears that the female body is the castrated male and therefore some- thing disgusting and dirty. Technically, the film is a mess. There are several scenes near the opening that are overexposed for no aesthetic rea- son. Also included are severaljump cuts that aren't stylistically credible and ap- pear as careless continuity errors. Will- iams neglects to try anything interesting or innovative with the camera. With all the medium two-shots, the movie looks like itisastaged comedy sketch on film. Unfortunately, there is very little comedy in the movie due in part to a largley untalanted cast. Even DeSica had better luck with his actors by pluck- ing them from the streets. But Williams' castmates seem to emulate his back- ground in soap operas (Jesse in "All My Children") by copying the plastic and melodramatic style, while mugging every chance they get. The only thing worse than the acting, if there could be anything worse, is the underlying soundtrack singing the praises of peace, love, and brotherhood - purely nause- ating. HOW U LIKE ME NOW is playing at Showcase. ~ ~ epau Publishing Opportunities Gale Research Inc. has immediate openings for students & graduates to do research and writing for our reference books and other information-based products. Qualified candidates must have- ' college coursework in liberal arts wstrong writing skills researching experience proofreading and editing skills These challenging. entry-level positions have advancement opportunities. Our benefit package includes immediate medical, dental, and vision coverage; flexible work hours; tuition assistance; and profit sharing. If you are interested in joining one of the premier information providers for libraries and businesses worldwide, we want to hear from you. Call our 24-hour information line (313) %61-6519 or send your resume, transcripts, and non-returnable expository writing sample to: Editorial Recruiter f GaleResearch/M- 835 Penobsco Bida Uerott M 48226 i Equal Opportunity Employer, i 1/.' 1 I -- ATTENTION JUNIORS -- 1993 SUMMER INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES with PROCTER & GAMBLE Juniors interested in summer internship opportunities in Sales and Marketing are invited to attend an informative presentation: Monday, February 1, 1993 DAILY ARTS SEZ: Support Campus Cinema 0