ARTS Rob Reiner's' Men' provide a few guilty pleasures murder one of their own during an illegal hazing incident. Enter Demi Moore, an average lawyer who has been working on the case and wants Cruise to put the two men on trial because she believes they were acting under orders issued by base commanderNathan Jessup (Jack Nicholson). "A Few Good Men" skips along entertainingly, breezily, intermittently combining jokes with big dra- matic set pieces like the final courtroom confrontation between Cruise and Nicholson. Reiner's direction, however, is too soft, more suitable for romantic com- edy than serious drama. It's like watching Hany and Sally doing their verbal sparring in a courtroom. There doesn't seem tobe very much hinging on the outcome. Reiner bathes the movie in a fuzzy golden halo and turns on the laugh track, usually at the expense of Demi Moore as the dizzy comic foil, oddly reminis- cent of Meg Ryan in "When Harry Met Sally...". Though the movie wants to tackle serious issues like honor and individuality in the military, every time "A Few Good Men" talks about the differing views of honor in the film and achieves a bit of complexity, Reiner backs off, particularly at the end. Nicholson delivers a passionate and even persuasive speech explaining his point of view, but then Reiner writes him off as an animal by having him physically assault Cruise shortly thereafter. The marines don't seem to be very happy with the outcome, yet instead of exploring their reaction, Reiner has Tom Cruise give a little Hallmark card speech about honor, flash his trade- mark grin, and then Reiner pours on the triumphant trumpets and "The End" appears in laughably pre- cious script lettering. Although "A Few Good Men" isn't very deep, it still has an irresistible momentum due largely to the strength of its cast. Each actor, one after another, nails his performance on the head. Tom Cruise, who in his last attempt at serious acting, "Born on the Fourth of July," gave a performance that was technically strong but failed to involve the audience on an emotional level, succeeds brilliantly ini making Daniel Kaffee a sympathetic, fully-rounded human being. Cruise goes from drunken pathos to the cool rationality of the courtroom scenes with Nicholson and more than holds his own. It's his best work ever. Nicholson, who has the flashiest role, is fun to watch and Kevin Pollack as Cruise's right-hand man, adds strength and even a note of grace to what might have been a throwaway role. Kiefer Sutherland, of all people, shines as a fierce Marine bulldog. Finally, Kevin Bacon, as the prosecutor battling cruise, con- firms that his expert performance in "JFK" was no fluke and that he is indeed one of Hollywood's best character actors. "A Few Good Men" features strong performances and is slickly entertaining, but don't be too surprised if when you leave the theater you feel like you've just been watching "When Harry Met Sally...". A FEW GOOD MEN is playing at Briarwood and Showcase. Tom Cruise making a case for why he should win the Oscar this year. Talip Ozkan The Dark Fire Axiom/Island Records The music of Talip Ozkan is at once dizzying and powerfully beautiful. He is world renowned as a studious and accomplished performer of classical Turkish music on the saz. Yet, you must experience his dexterity and fret acro- batics to realize his virtuosity. The saz is a four to eight stringed member of the lute family considered Turkishinorigin.AlthoughotherAxiom releases suffer from over-production, "TheDarkFire" exemplifies the natural resonance of the saz and the raw inten- sity of its plucked metal strings. Most of the tracks pair Ozkan with a percussion- ist who doubles on saz. Yet, "Girdin Yarnin Bahcesine" and similar compo- sitionsaremostimpressivebecause they allow Ozkan to jam solo saz, creating freely flowing improvisations (called 0 taqsims) while stretching or compress- ing the rhythms. Ozkan's rich vocals span from de- scriptions of heroic 15th century trou- badoursto loveand dance. Buried within these songs is the archeology of Talip Ozkan's native land. -Chris W),od Orchestra of the Opera de Lyon Kent Nagano, conductor John Adams: The Death of Klinghoffer Elektra/Nonesuch A year and a half after its world premiere, John Adams' "The Death of Klinghoffer" is available on CD. The opera, about Leon Klinghofler's mur- derontheAchilleLauroin 1985, brought together a classical dream team of Adams, librettist Alice Goodman, cho- reographer Mark Morris and director Peter Sellars. On record, the music itself is quite appealing. Adams' minimalism is en- livened here with emotion. The cho- ruses, such as the "Ocean Chorus" and "Chorus of Exiled Palestinians" are immediately accessible, even tuneful. The arias (actually somewhere between TRAVEL SMART THIS WINTER! FROM NEW YORK Rourdtrip One Way London $305 $155 Paris $398 $219 Rome $525 $320 Mexico City $360 $180 Oslo/Stockholm $458 $229 $630 $315 Costa Ria $450 $235 Cinma tiflat! validto nnefl var aria and recitative) are also agreeable, sung by distinguished Adams regulars as James Maddalena and Sheila Nadler. It's Goodman's libretto, however, that takes the work a level higher than its tunes. Shifting the focus to individual feelings instead of politics, she takes the subject of a made-for-TV movie and turns it into a series of profound medi- tations, closer to a Bach oratorio than an opera. Hardly anything happens; ac- tions are reflected on, remembered, not performed. And the dense poetry of Goodman'schoruses isbeautiful, though sometimes too obscure. From "Klinghoffer," toCorigiliano to Bolcom, American opera is thriving in the '90s. - Michael .Iohn Wilson Thomas Dolby Astrwnauts n Hieretics Giant Thomas Dolby ... Isn't he the one responsible for that tune "She Blinded Me With Science" that was a hit back in the early eighties when MTV still played 24 hours of music videos'? He sure is, and a decade later I am conscious of more Dolby originals. "Astronauts and Heretics," Dolby's fourth release, is packed with unique titles and lyrics, innovative sounds and an array of instruments, including pi- ano, keyboards, organ, synthesizer, sax, accordion, fiddle, banjoes andbass, lead, rhythm and slide guitars. In addition, Dolby boasts quitea surprisingguestlist - the most impressive appearances by Eddie Van Ilalen of Van Halen and Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead. Van I lalen plays lead guitaron "East- ern Bloc" and "Close But No Cigar." "Eastern Bloc" is an upbeat tune that allows for Van Halen's guitar licks to offer an interesting contrast that works well with Dolby's keyboards. Eddie's appearance on "Close But No Cigar" is much more subtle. The attention on this song is more directed toward the charm- ingly silly chorus that is easily memo- rized by the second repetition. Garcia and Weir appear on the beautifully engi- neered "Beauty Of A Dream." Garcia's lead guitar and Weir's rhythm guitar highlight Dolby's characteristic key- boards and vocals. -Jayne Wawrzyniak Southgang Group Therapy Charisma Well, they've got cool hair. Beyond that, this pop-metal four- piece from Atlanta doesn't have much to offer. The music is straight from the 'Group Therapy' does offer a few moments of hope, though. In terms of lyrics, they seem to have plenty to say about death ... seedy bar, and judging from this mo- notonous noise, these guys probably should have stuck to Motley Crue cov- ers. "Group Therapy" does offer a few moments of hope, though. In terns of lyrics, they seem to have plenty to say about death ("Final Resting Place"), cultural diversity ("Culture Clash City"), and our duty to help improve the world ("The Call"). The problem is, these sentiments are buried beneath shallow cliches such as the comparison of life to a "Tug of War." Unfortunately, Southgang's repetitive, mediocre mu- sic won't capture the attention needed to discover their good points. Alas, if only they'd spend as much time on their songwriting as they do on their hair. -Kristen Knudsen 3.: } 3 " . Southgang have cool hair, a new album, and they look like Extreme. They also do a good impression of sitting. I ____________________________U The office of Minority Affairs is now taking applications for Student Program Hosts for the KING/CHAVEZ/PARKS College Day Spring Visitation Program Application deadline is January 15, 1993 Student Program Ihosts are responsible for supervising and developing work schedules for teams of student leaders who will work with students from middle schools visiting the univer- WE It's Our Motto. Enough Said. WE ARE PLEASED TO OFFER A ON ALL NEW TEXTBOOKS TO STUDENTS USING THEIR ENTREE PLUS CARDS. .