0 Q Q
on screen this month
More basketball flicks, the final (we
think) Naked Gun and yet another
Michael J. Fox money movie top
the list of films slated for release this
spring.
Naked Gun 331/3: The Final Insult
(Paramount)
After a year of wannabe spoofs such as
Fatal Instinct, Robin Hood: Amen in Tights
and Loaded Weapon I, it's refreshing to
see Leslie Nielsen back as Lt. Frank
Drebin in what promises to be the final
installment of the Police Squad-inspired
series. Co-stars include Priscilla Presley,
Fred Ward and alleged silicone queen
Anna Nicole Smith.
The Ref (Buena Vista)
Denis Leary
blew audiences
away last
Christmas with
a biting trailer
for this film-
that tore apart such flops as Sister Act 2.
Well, Leary will now get a chance to
show his stuff. The Ref casts the chain-
smoking comedian as a jewel thief who
kidnaps a bickering couple (Judy Davis,
Kevin Spacey) on Christmas Eve and
pays the consequences. Ted Demme
(Jonathan's brother) directs. I got two
words for this one: good luck.
Greedy (Universal)
The Secret of --
My Success, For
Love or Money
and Bright
Lights, Big City
- anybody
notice a trend here? Money hound Alex
P. Keaton just seems to live on and on
in Michael J. Fox's career. His latest is
Greedy, the story of a bunch of avari-
cious cousins who want a piece of their
uncle's (Kirk Douglas) fortune. Olivia
d'Abo - who scored big in Wayne's
World II - loses major points here for
her role as "a sexy pizza delivery girl."
8 Seconds (New Line)
Life imitates art. 8 Seconds is described
as depicting
the "meteoric s
rise of a mav-
erick hero.'.
And who
should be cast
as rodeo star Lane Frost but 90210's
own Luke Perry. Meanwhile, the
Baldwins, who are inundating
Hollywood as much as the Kennedys
are still ruling Washington, have anoth-
er star in the running: Stephen Baldwin,
as Tuff Hedeman, who is friends with
Dylan - er, Luke.
Above the Rim (New Line)
In a year that
has already
seen The Air
Up There and
Blue Chips, one
more basket-
ball flick couldn't hurt. Duane Martin
plays an up-and-coming basketball play-
er who must choose between proposi-
tions from a legitimate mentor and a
streetwise drug dealer. And in a brilliant
casting maneuver, Birdie (the drug deal-
er) is played by none other than rapper
Tupac Shakur.
Sirens (Miramax)
Sports Illustrated and Premiere maga-
zine can both rejoice over this film, as it
marks the acting debut of famed SI
cover girl Elle MacPherson. The plot,
however, revolves around an erotic
painter (Sam Neill) and the sexual
awakening of a clergyman's wife (Tara
Fitzgerald). Need we say more?
You So Crazy (Miramax)
As if a half-hour per week on the
small screen series Martin isn't enough,
comedian Martin Lawrence has his cel-
luloid dream come true in You So Crazy.
Lawrence, who previously appeared on
the big screen in Eddie Murphy's
Boomerang, presents his outspoken style
in this fresh concert film.
The Hudsucker Proxy (Warner Bros.)
The flawless Tim Robbins never seems
to disappoint. The Hudsucker Proxy teams
him up with Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul
Newman and director Joel Coen as an
up-and-coming executive who is being
duped by his peers, a la The Firm.
With Honors (Warner Bros.)
With Honors marks Joe Pesci's return
to the big screen after a one-year hiatus.
Alek Keshishian, who performed won-
ders with Madonna's tour documentary
Truth or Dare, directs this tale of a
Harvard student who learns about life
after he must bargain with a homeless
man (Pesci) to get his thesis back.
Threesome (TriStar)
Three of
Hearts redux?
This time it's a V
gay man, a
straight man
and a straight
woman who end up living together and
becoming embroiled in a bizarre love tri-
angle. See, her name is Alex, sos universi-
ty housing assigns her to a room with
two guys. Naturally. Alex (Lara Flynn
Boyle) wants Eddy (Josh Charles), Eddy
wants Stuart (Stephen Baldwin), Stuart
wants Alex. Get it? They certainly do.
Backbeat (Gramercy)
From Gramercy, the studio that
brought us Dazed and Confuised, comes
the highly anticipated Backbeat, the
story of the days before the Beatles were
fab. Ian Hart is John Lennon and
Stephen Dorff is Stu Sutcliffe, the
"wind beneath John's wings" in the
early 1960s prior to the band making it
big. uJim Radosta, The Graphic,
Pepperdine U.
about her new job is that she
The only regret Zelah Lusoc has
didn't find it sooner. A 1992
graduate of the U. of California,
Santa Barbara, Lusoc, 21, works
as a teacher's aide at the Devereux
Center, a foundation for developmen-
tally disabled people in Goleta, Calif.
She counsels and teaches high school
students, most of whom are emotionally
disturbed and/or mentally retarded.
After Lusoc gathers the students in
r their dorm for lunch and convinces a
reluctant student to eat, she explains
that not too long ago, she worked at an
accounting firm and made about
$20,000 a year. But, she says, the work
was out of touch with her interests.
"I had to drag myself out of bed every
Its Sunday afternoon and Jennifer Sc
year-old graduate of Vanderbilt U.,
cluttered desk, palming a bottle of asp
keeps next to her computer. She's w
most women in Washington wear thes
heels, pants, blouse and a blazer. Workin
program director for the Democratic Nati
Committee (DNC), Scully represents the n
ruling class in the capital city.
Scully, like many others in President I
Clinton's administration, rose to her posit
from the ranks of campaign volunteer. N
two years later, she plans parties and dinn(
the White House and elsewhere for the pr
she must work two with a vocational work program, and
additional part-time someone who worked there recom-
jobs to pay her rent. mended I work at Devereux, so I
But Lusoc, whose 31- applied.
year-old sister is devel-
opmentally disabled, Did you make any personal or professional
thinks her work with sacrifices to land this job?
her students is worth A substantial pay cut, but this is what
the sacrifices. I enjoy doing.
r < "They share
their life stories What's the worst aspect of your job?
with you and It's a dangerous job. There
how their day are a lot of chances to get hurt.
is going," If a kid acts up and you're in
Lusoc says. the way, you could get hit,
"When they kicked, bitten [or] scratched.
want you to help
solve their problems How well did your major prepare you for this
Zelah Lusoc helps studentToussaintJohnson at the Devereux Center. tyou feel privileged that job?
they want you to be Sosciology did not prepare me foar any-
morning to get there," Lusoc says. "I part of the solution.... I really feel like I thing. UCSB is very theoretical, not
was miserable, so I quit. My heart am making a difference." practical at all. But here at Devereux
wasn't into it and I didn't think I was you learn hands-on and there's a lot of
fulfilling anything." How did you get thisjob? in-service training classes you are
Now she earns about $6,500 less and After college I first worked full-time required to take.
major. "None of my friends in the because it provided me with
private sector moved up so quickly." more of a future than my old
Scully says her success in ob. Since that time, because
Washington has never been driven people have left, I've been pro-
by a huge salary - she makes muted.
between $22,000 and $27,000 a -
dully, a 24- year. Instead, it's a sense of power a Did you make any personal or pro-
sits at her (what she calls "a numbing drug") fessional sacrifices to land this job?
irn that she that drives her. "Walking ints the You live your job. I have no
earing what White House, getting a Marine ..Wpersonal life.
se days - escort to one of the dining rooms,
g as a and being announced to the What's the worst aspect of your job?
ional president's dinner guests Ihere are no safety nets in
iew makes you feel like you're a politics. If the president loses
part of history," she says. [the next election], we'll all be
Bill She notes, however, that looking for jobs.
ion the power is just a ladder for
ow, you to climb. It's something How well did your major prepare you
ers in that allows you to fight for for this job?
esident, what you believe in." The best preparation... did
vice president and major Democratic contributors. onot happen in the classroom.
Scully works an average of 75 hours a week, and she How did you get this job? . JenniferScully, 24, plans dinnersforthe president By learning how to socially net-
says it's snot unusual for her to work weekends. I was working in the public liaison work, I was able to learn a little
"One of the greatest things this administration pro- office at the White House immediately after bit about what Washington is like. Plus, I've always
vided its workers with was the ability to move up [Clinton's] campaign ended and worked very closely been able to think quickly on my feet and I've always
quickly and be recognized for their talents," says with the DNC. An assistant spot opened in the finance been extremely ambitious. Those are attributes that I
Scully, an English literature/European studies department [at the DNC], and I decided to take it didn't learn from school.
on the set
Ask surfers what their favorite movie is and they'll probably
answer: "Endless Summer." Released in 1966, Endless Summerfol-
lows two surfers as they search for the perfect wave at exotic locales
around the world.
"It's every surfer's dream," explains Bruce Brown the one- f
man production team behind the cult film. After many requests,
Brown hit the waves again, and the result, Endless Summer /I, is
scheduled for release by New Line this summer.
This time, it's Robert "Wingnut" Weaver, 28, and Pat O'Connell,
23, globetrotting from paradise to paradise, including Indonesia,
Costa Rica and South Africa. Brown describes Endless Summer II Ead Suioioueril
as the story of "two ordinary guys who are stoked" to be surfing around the world.
This version, however, will be much more high tech than the original, which Brown
shot by himself with one wind-up 16mm camera. For the sequel, he and his son coor-
dinated 3,000 pounds of camera gear and a 12-man crew. "The world's changed a lot,"
Brown says. "I wanted to prove that you can still do it. You can still get off your butt and
take a leap of faith." uAnne Bergman, Daily Trojan, U. of Southern California
vido oCalendar
Marchreleases
Much Ado About Nothing (Columbia/TriStar) 3/2; Striking Distance
(Columbia/TriStar) 3/2; The Good Son (Fox) 3/2; Demolition Man (Warner Bros.)
3/2; So I Married An Axe Murderer (Columbia/TriStar) 3/9; Manhattan Murder
Mystery (Columbia/TriStar) 3/9; King of the Hill (MCA/Universal) 3/9; Judgment
Night (MCA/Universal) 3/9; Bopha! (Paramount) 3/16; Gettysburg (Turner) 3/16;
Fatal Instinct (MGM/UA) 3/23; What's Love Got To Do With It (Buena Vista) 3/23;
The Fugitive (Warner Bros.) 3/23; The Joy Luck Club (Buena Vista) 3/30; Dazed
and Confused (MCA/Universal) 3/30q
"1 think the most important thing as a generation is not to be sold back to
ourselves. Mass media's trying to sell it back to you as a beer or whatever."
-Helen Childress, RealityBites'screenwriter
D awn Clapperton is a one-
woman army of so rts. E ach
day, Clapperton performs a
balancing act by lugging three
large bags filled with camera
equipment throughout northwest
Indiana. As a television reporter for
channel 56, a Public Broadcasting
System affiliate in Merrillville, Ind.,
Clapperton does not have the luxury of
a cameraperson at her side.
"We have to do a lot more with a lot
less than other [broadcast] news depart-
ments," says Clapperton, a 23-year-old
journalism graduate of Indiana U.
The channel 56 news division -
located near Chicago - consists of only
three reporters. So Clapperton must do lid you make any personal or professional
her own camera work, interviewing and sacrifices to land this job?
editing for her stories, which air during I don't think money is a sacrifice if this
the weekday 6 p.m. newscast. is the field I want to go into. But some-
Clapperton works a noon to 7 p.m. times, I see my friends making $25,000 to
weekday shift. Today, after deciding $30,000 and it's frustrating, but hopefully
what story she will work on, she's out it'll pay off in the long run. I'm living
the door with a Dr. Pepper and a at home.... But with the money I'm
chocolate bar in what passes for making here, there would be no
lunch. "It's amazing, the num- other way.
her of news opportunities.
There's never a boring day." How much money do you make?
Though Clapperton did not $5 an hour, with no benefits.
always picture herself at such a
small station, she is following the What'stheworstaspectofyourjob?
dream she's had since the seventh The [financial] limitations that are
grade - to work in television. put on a relatively new PBS station in the
How did you get thisjob?
I moved back home after graduating
in 1992. I came over here and started
doing some volunteer work, and when a
position opened, I was hired.
Chicago market.
How well did your major prepare you for this
job?
I consider a large part of my education
at IU centered around [the work I did] at
"eporteruDawnmappertonnims nerown broadcasts.
the PIS station in Bloomington. May
classes helped in the way that I had to
write. U
18 * U. Magazine muco 1994 MAR01 1994 U. Magazine * 11
18 " u. Magazine
MARCH 1994 MARCH 1994
U. Magazine " 11