8- The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 16,1993 'Musketeers' succeed on film again By ALEXANDRA TWIN Chivalry! Knights! Armor! Weapons! War! A damsel in distress, aforeign land and what's more, an evil, seething traitor. Will you fight to save the King? Death be not proud, Oh hero in waiting! All for one and one for all, boys and men, together we fall! On your honor, if you dare, Charlie and Kiefer with facial hair. The Three Musketeers Directed by Stephen Herek; written by David Loughery; with Chris O'Donnell, Charlie Sheen and Kiefer Sutherland. That "The Three Musketeers" is an exciting, modern, comedy/adventure is no small feat con- sidering that it is the fifth American film adapta- tion of Alexandre Dumas' 1844 novel. It begins with a daring young boy, D'Artagnan (Chris O'Donnell), whose delusions of grandeur take him on the road to Paris with the hopes of finding and joining The Musketeers -the king's special guards. However, along the way, he discovers that they have somewhat mysteriously and abruptly disbanded and only three men, now considered outlaws, remain loyal to the king. They are the lusty Porthos (the robust Oliver Platt), the smooth Aramis (the now bulky Charlie Sheen) and the brooding Athos (the mighty foxy Kiefer Sutherland). D'Artagnan, quite by acci- dent, encounters and offends each one of these men, nearly setting himself up to be thrice slaugh- tered, but thanks to his skills with a sword, he is soon welcomed into the group as one of the gang. Their supposed mission to defend the young King Louis (Hugh O'Connor) at first seems to be a bit of a vague and token noble gesture. Yet, it's soon put to the test when the reign of the King is shaken by a plot to overthrow the throne - possibly by forces from within--and itis up to the Musketeers and D'Artagnan to protect him. They are faced with the perils of their own small number, their outlaw status and the powerof a court of royal villains including the baneful, yet misunderstood Milady De Winter (Rebecca De Mornay), the nefarious henchman Count De Rochefort (Michael Wincott) and the menacing, lecherous Cardinal Richelieu (a wonderfully evil Tim Curry). Chris O'Donnell, the film's hero, is almost a little too fresh-faced to be endearing; he comes off more as annoying, but I guess that's just his role. Although his abundant, shaggy locks inspired more than one patron of the theater to comment objectively, "needs a haircut," it would seem that the most distracting thing about him is that you keep expecting someone to jump out of the bushes and yell "Hoo-Ha!" But this is not to say that the "Scent of a Woman" co-star is doomed to only playing ultra-modem roles. In fact, all four lead actors are very much "modern"actors and do quite well with the slightly more complicated material, particularly Kiefer Sutherland. As good and funny as they all are, you never forget that they're contemporary actors, used to contemporary roles, who are now attempting to show range. Maybe this is due to the fact that they've been in so many silly comedies or maybe it's because everybody in the whole country speaks with a French accent except for the four leads, a la "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves." Whatever the reason, their recognizability has an effect on the film, although not necessarily a bad one. If any- thing, it helps to keep the film more fun, silly and loose. All in all, this version of "The Three Muske- teers" is a success. The fact that the film as a whole doesn't attempt to accomplish that much does not undermine its success. It's not trying to be "Spartacus," and it wouldn't work if it did. THE THREE MUSKETEERS is playing at Showcase. Chris O'Donnel and Keifer Sutherland whoop it up in "The 3 Musketeers." Ultramarine United Kingdoms Sire/ Giant On Ultramarine's second release,a the follow-up to the critically ac- claimed "Every Man And Woman Is A Star," they manage to fuse dub, mellow '70's acid jazz and progres- sive music styles into their musical mix while staying true to '90's tech- nology. Indeed, Ultramarine have clearly used all of the technology at their disposal in updating all of these styles into a moderntheme that sounds remarkably fresh and original. "United Kingdoms" opens with oneof the album's nine instrumentals, "Source," which combines a mid- tempo, '70's style bossanovabeat with melancholy minorchords and a simple but jazzy flute motive. The sound is augmented, however, by amore mod- ern-sounding electronic bass line and sequenced keyboard textures. As a result, the technology works to bring the more archaic sounds up to date, giving the track a hypnotically unique style. This technique also works with outstanding results on tracks such as the funkier, more danceable "Queen Of TheMoon," the album's aural epic "English Heritage," and with the sub- tly cynical "Kingdom," which is one of only two songs to feature the thoughtful lyrics of vocalist Robert Wyatt. Unfortunately, the bitterness of lyrics such as "Happy Land / where it is a crime /they tell us / to be poor" is lost on the album's other vocal composition, "Happy Land," where the music just seems too upbeat to bring out the right sense of irony. However, "Happy Land" is just one small drawback in an album full of refreshing, pleasant surprises. In "United Kingdoms," Ultramarine has created a beautifully complex album that highlights the most vividly ambi- ent styles of the past and present, and combines them in a way that brings out a wonderful new style all its own. - Andy Dolan AMM AMMUSIC 1966 Recommended Records Reissuing AMM's early Match- less recordings, Recommended Records has revivified some of the most unquantifiable music ever pro- duced. While many critics and audi- ences dismissed AMM as self-aggran- dized, theoretically imbued noisy pranksters, AMM's integral position in the development of new music and of an experimental aesthetic cannot be shrugged off today. The audience could share AMM's experimental approach to music, but AMMUSIC could never be a popular music. AMM of the late 1960's repre- sents a sedimentation of revolution- ary approaches to defining and creat- ing music. Their theoretical musings developed separately from, but along parallel paths as, south-side Chicago's talented and playful Association for the Advancement of Creative Musi- cians (AACM), and John Cage's sound/noise/chance compositions. Yet, AMM is unique within its historical context. Emphasizing the collectivism of their music, AMM created music without sonic refer- ence points or leading personalities. The group's influences stem from all variety ofsound. Abandoning tech- nical ability to explore new modes of music, AMM redefined the param- eters of music. They squeezed new sounds out of their array ofinstruments and layered new dimensions upon music by in- jecting random broadcasts and iecord- ings into their performances. Their theoretical musings solidified their expansive improvisations, ordering an assemblage of sound into music. Denying conventional meanings and rules attached to music opened up unlimited possibilities for reinvest- ing meaning in sound; but, AMM's freedom also erected barriers between the performers' re-systematized pri- vate music and the audience, disasso- ciated from common conceptions of musical order. The audience could share AMM's experimental approach to music, but AMMUSIC could never be a popular music. Its creation stems exclusively from the dynamics of small group production and not mass consump- tion. AMM's sonic array can only be approached and appreciated by indi- vidual listeners. Each of us can explore the intri- cate dynamic of AMM's interaction or let the pieces flow over us into our sub-conscious and absorb into emo' tion; but AMMUSIC is nota common conduit. Maybe we can redefine com- munication through these reinvented tunes. - Chris Wyrod m i YO LA TENGO ON TOUR Ultramarine explore new sounds and ideas on their latest album, "United Kingdoms." PAINFUL, the Matador debut that SPIN magazine hails as a "casually majestic masterpiece." "...a savvy sense of how to meld pop song structures with galvanic noise." NEW YORK NEWSDAY fill.