is Mozart receives special birthday bash Richard Gere plays the same pathetic GQ in "Intersection." Enless 'Intersection' BY CAMILO FONTECILLA There has been since time immemorial an unbending axiom in Hollywood: the lives of the rich and successful always make appealing subject matter for film. Regardless of any other supporting elements. Period. Lately, however, it seems as if audiences are becoming more attuned to the quality of the products they view on the silver screen. To see material of the caliber of "Intersection," staying at home and flipping through ____________ the countless available channels will do just fine. ntersection Mark Rydell's latest film is ex- Directed by Mark Rydell; written by tremely baffling. Promoted as a David Rayfiel and Marshall thriller, it turns out to be a sentimental Brickman; with Richard Gere, Sharon drama. Unfortunately, there isn't any Stone, Lolita Davidovich. sentiment in it. There is plenty of misplaced comedy, however. Given the irrepressible need to enjoy somewhat the hour and forty-five minutes that one is encaged with this movie, the audience rather maliciously cultivated the art of reverse reaction. That is, to laugh when one is supposed tocry, and to cry, well, cry laughing. "Intersection" examines the relationship between Vincent Eastman (Rich- *ad Gere), his wife Sally (Sharon Stone) and his lover Olivia (LolitaDavidovich). The film opens with an impending accident in which even Gere is bound to lose his flippant cool. But before we witness the crash, we flashback to the events that lead up to the dccident. Throughout "Intersection" Vincent struggles with the choice between the impetuous Olivia and the high-strung Sally. Since they both love him despite his less-than-gentlemanly behavior toward them, the decision rests solely on his shoulders. Despite being the central character, Vincent Eastman does not possess any redeeming attractive features. He relies solely on his charm, but even this is extremely artificial, nothing more than the product of an unimaginative *creenwriter. Gere, of course, feels perfectly comfortable in this world, a world that he has firmly established in his career, that of candy-coated smiles and expensive outfits. Eastman, therefore, is authentically non-descript, and since the women characters are defined by his actions, they too become too grayish to command attention. To give Stone and Davidovich some credit, they do try their hardest to work with what little they have. Stone is strangely repressed as Sally, but she does have some moments of liberation in the flashbacks to her youth; during her engagement party, she gives the lustful Vincent an orgasm in thirty seconds flat and then runs back downstairs to socialize with the family's guests. lavidovich is exuberantly energetic, but to no avail, since she has no hteresting dialogue to channel this energy through. The image of a clock ticking recurs again and again in the film, with no relation whatsoever to the thematic makeup of the plot. It is one of many examples of the arbitrariness that floods "Intersection." Everything relies on the whims of Vincent, a whim of a character himself. The screenwriters save a little twist for the end, in which Stone gets to replay her final "Basic Instinct"' ice-pick scene, but this time with a letter. She pulls it out, puts it away again, and so on. This time, however, there is no real threat. Everything is so contrived by now that any ending will do as long as it's an ending. By KEREN SCHWEITZER Conductor Gustav Meier is a mu- sical purist. As professor of conduct- ing and Director of University or- chestras, Meier prefers a musical ex- perience that is devoid of pretensions and affectations. He does not artifi- cially appeal to his listeners; rather, he allows the music to speak for itself. He said, "My function as a conductor is not to demonstrate what I think, but to allow the piece to emerge from the orchestra - I only try to honor the composers." It is this humble and insightful approach to music that has earned Gustav Meier a reputation as one of the most popular and well-respected professors in the University School of Music. Professor Meier's hectic schedule leaves him little time to personally acquaint himself with all of the musi- cians in the University Symphony Orchestra. For this reason, his re- hearsals can often be intimidating and frightening. Nevertheless, when I re- cently spoke with him, he was warm, friendly and happy to chat with me. Meier prefers to talk about music rather than his numerous professional achievements. He was eager to dis- cuss the upcoming Mozart Birthday Celebration concert. This concert consists of an entire program devoted to Mozart and can best be described by Meier as "a col- lage of Mozart's chamber works." The tradition of the Mozart concert is not necessarily an American tradi- tion. "These concerts occur in almost every large city. Switzerland, my homeland, also has a traditional Mozart concert." Meier stressed that Mozart is one of the only composers whose work is varied enough to require its own con- cert. He said, "The unbelievable abil- ity of Mozart, the sheer naturalness of his works makes this kind of perfor- mance possible. His music is abso- lutely divine. Bach is the only other composer where this could be pos- sible." The concert consists of three con- certos performed by distinguished members of the Music faculty. Penelope Crawford will perform the Piano Concerto No. 15 in B flat on pianoforte. Meier described this in- strument as "across between the harp- sichord and a piano." The Flute Concerto No.1 inG will be performed by Leone Buyse, the newly appointed flute professor at the University. She said, "It is hard to believe that Mozart did not enjoy the flute because of the beautiful idiom- atic writing. It is a thrill to play this concerto with an orchestra, it brings life to it." Lastly, violinist Andrew Jennings and violist Yitzhak Schotten will play the Sinfonia Concertante. The performing faculty members are not the only musicians delighted to perform in this concert. Meier men- tioned that the musicians in the or- chestra also enjoy this concert. "The students get a real kick out of it. These very talented musicians are always excited when they hear Mozart's in- credible art form emerging from the notes in front of them." When I asked if Mozart was his personal favorite, Meier grinned and said, "I have many favorites, but Mozart has a special place in my heart." TH~E MOZRR THDA Y CELEBRATION CONCERT will be THursday at Hill Auditorium at 8 p.m. A dmision is free. Essence of life depicted strikingly in 'Baraka' By JOHANNA FLIES Get this - two filmmakers and their crew traveled around the world Baraka Directed by Ron Fricke for 14 months, visited six continents and 24 countries, flew helicopters over volcanoes, filmed the pyramids, ex- amined mosques, watched the clouds fly by and stared at some sort of monkey. And then they made a movie out of it. Without starts. Without a plot. Hell, there isn't even a script for this sucker. What there is, instead, is a star- tlingly beautiful, surprisingly mov- ing pictorial narrative about the cycle of life and the protective/destructive relationship between nature and hu- man beings. "Baraka," which can be translated as a blessing, a breath or "essence of life from which the evolutionary pro- cess unfolds," is most powerful in the clarity and simplicity of its vision. From the first view of a snowy mountain range to the last shot of stars in space, the images are bathed in a light that brings everything into perfect focus, from the texture of an iguana's skin to the designs of a woman's sari. This larger-than-life, smacked-in- the-face, eye-widening effect has as much todo with the 70mm format and director Ron Fricke's all-inclusive cin- ematography as the images them- selves. Beginning with a series of shots of cliffs, waterfalls and other sights National Geographic would kill for, Fricke emphasizes the untouched en- ergy of surroundings where human existence has no influence. But be- fore you can get bored by yet another exquisite rock formation, Fricke makes a shift to include animate ob- jects from bugs to animals to humans as the beginning of a study of their interaction. The men chanting and swaying in a religious ritual are no more bizarre than the birds flying in sweeping arcs across the sky. The red paint of a child's face is just as deeply beautiful as the pink tint of a baboon's. Hu- mans and the natural world move together in a well-defined ritual. One of Fricke's most impressive techniques is also one of his simplest. He frames individual shots of animals and people by focusing on their faces as they stare into the camera. Remi- niscent of many of the most powerful photographs, these shots provide not only the opportunity to study the am- bassadors of unfamiliar cultures but also create an intimacy that draws all living creatures on our planet to- gether. The horror and disgust one feels at the first instance of human destruc- tion, which comes in the form of a roaring buzzsaw, is proof of the po- tency of the ideal the film's first se- quence describes. After this initial intrusion, Fricke bombards the audience with increas- ingly disturbing practices and envi- ronments of modern, "civilized" so- ciety, from the crowded squalor of Calcutta to the laughable, sped-up repetition of city life to burning oil fields of Kuwait to the truly frighten- ing ghostly buildings of Auschwitz and, ultimately, to death on a funeral pyre. As the humans return to the elements, the images return to reli- gion and the untouched vistas with which the film began. In place of dialogue, Michael Sterns' soundtrack pounds out rage with booming drums, drifts into mys- ticism with monks' chants and sweeps along the clouds with soft melodies The sound is interwoven with the cycle of the film's theme but is cer- tainly developed enough to stand on its own. Admittedly, the film does drag out a bit at the end mostly because of its repetition of images from the begin- ning. This repetition is needed, how- ever, to create the sense of a continu- ing cycle of nature, life, religion, de struction and rebirth. Fricke should not be faulted for including an excess ofeclipses, oceans and meditating bald men. After all, it must have been hard not to includd more shots of the zillions of places they filmed where the essence of life makes itself known in the most stun- ning, evocative ways. The Jesus Lizard "(Fly) On (The Wall)" single Touch and Go Vinyl is great. There are few things more gratifying than a disk of man- made materials holding a code which n be translated into sound waves hichentertain the listener. The Jesus Lizard has added to this warm and fuzzy connotation by releasing "On" on seven inch. The single is represen- tative of their drill press-into-your- head music. The nearly out of breath vocals and dandy guitar noises pro- duce the fine sounding "On." The B- side, "White Hole," is a keen instru- mental that sounds as if it is being *un backwards. And if the music Tsn't enough for you, the cover fea- tures ajol ly good rendering of a bound, naked man with blood spurting from his chest and mouth. Neat! -Ted Watts Juvenile Committee Free us colored kids rand Jury Records "Free us colored kids" is the per- fect embodiment of bad rap art. Juve- nile Committee is a hoax created by Grand Jury to take advantage of two popular trends in rap -- gangsta rap and teenage rappers. This is one of those money-making albums which gives rap a bad name. Nothing on this record is to be envied. All the songs are whack. The beats are phony, the lyrics are stupid and none of the four teenage mem- bers of the group can rap. Sitting down listening to this CDI kept think- ing, "Real rappers like Ice Cube and Ice T fight a constant battle to legiti- mize rap and rap artists, and this is what all that fighting comes to?" The cuts on this CD are pure bull. "School Dayz" is about how these guys only go to school to find "ho's." "I Want That Girl" describes these guys' wet dreams. "Juvenile Gang- ster" shows that these guys ain't noth- ing but a bunch of wannabes. The group's manager, Michael Concepcion, an ex-Crip, claims that this group is his way of giving back to a community where he once caused harm. He wants to promote some "positive" teenagers. Yeah, right. Juvenile Committee is made up of four pre-pubescent looking, whack- ass rapping, wannabe gangstas who whine about being victims of the ghetto (without addressing any solu- tions to the problems) and then turn around and gloat over being the macks they think they are. Real positive, huh? Don't waste your money. - Eugene Bowen The Spelvins Whichever Train Comes BMG/Zoo The Spelvins have been doing the New York club circuit for years. Fi- nally, they are in a position to get the attention that they deserve, assuming MTV finds them buzz-worthy. "Whichever Train Comes" is their first release and it's a real sizzler. The band sounds similar to R.E.M., but they are no rip-off. The music is gritty and emotional. Every song is a win- ner-- perfectly executed and beauti- ful compositions. Standouts include "Looking for a Cabin the Rain," "The Girl that Radiates that Charm" and the title track. Bird, the vocalist, is absolutely stellar. He commands the listener's attention as well on record as he does live. The music creates vivid moods, which is a sign of excellence. Even $ 1oper person 3O DAYrONA BEACH BOARDWALK 1-800-535-2036 sBased on 4 people 'Mention this ad and get breakfast free *Va lid until March 3 though the music for the most part is pretty light (an attribute that is not at the top of the average music fan's list these days) there is a certain intan- gible power that exudes forth. Anyone could like this record be- cause, much like other great music its appeal transcends style. Just re- member where you heard it first. - Gianluca Montalti _ 0 Have You Always Wanted 10o Learn How to Play Rridu? A 4 ST MARY'S STUDENT PARISH p A i I a 11flA7 1 h11 Nl L !