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