The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 15, 1994 - 11 Catch the Chain Reaction ... Tim Robbins and Paul Newman strike a pose in "The Hudsucker Proxy." Nice cigar, Paul. Hudsucker is refIreshngly brlliant By MICHAEL THOMPSON With such hits as "Darkman," "Raising Arizona," "Evil Dead," and "Blood Simple," to their credit, it was :hard not to go into "The Hudsucker Proxy" anything other than greatness. Sam Raimi is a home grown Michigan talent, and the Coen Brothers are among the top filmmak- The Hudsucker Proxy Written by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen and Sam Raimi; directed by Joel Coen; with Tim Robbins, Paul Newman, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bruce Campbell. ers working today. But then again, perhaps all of this talent could cancel itself out. What if they went just a little too crazy? What if the film was too much of an inside joke? What if super producer Joel Silver gave them too much money to work with? What if it was just plain bad? And what about "Crimewave"? That film was the only other Coen, Raimi collaboration. And the producer took it away from them. And "Hudsucker" is being produced by Joel Silver! Oh, no! Well, have no fear. Although the film is outrageous and also feels at times like an insidejoke, it's also hilarious and on the verge of brilliant. The story begins when Tim Robbins comes to the big city looking for a job. He walks into the Hudsucker building the same moment the boss walks out. Only the boss walked out the window of the 44th floor. So begins a wacky story of panic, stocks, a proxy and the stupidest looking, but most brilliant idea for a toy to date. Well, at least it was brilliant in 1958. £Raimi and the Coens fill their film with all kinds of logues in "Barton Fink" are nothing compared to the bang-bang-bang style of talk in this film. A single para- graph can refer to the idea man, a Pulitzer, a crossword puzzle, dinner and whatever else the writers were thinking about at that moment. At times the film feels like the three writers were sitting around saying: "Wouldn't it be funny if..." And as dangerous as that can be, fortunately what the Coens and Raimi think is funny, actually is funny. It's different and weird, but still funny. Style is a key factor in "The Hudsucker Proxy," and it would be too easy to say the film is style over substance. The Coen brothers have already demonstrated with "Barton Fink" that style can become substance in the right hands. And it plays out perfectly in this film. If you don't believe it then wait for their ingenious use of slow motion. Tim Robbins is the perfect boy genius imbecile. He is the common man that Barton Fink was so obsessed about. Robbins pins down the character through silly facial expressions and a true boyishness that simultaneously we admire and laugh at the same time. Paul Newman plays the spirit of evil and seems to be having a good time. His gravely delivery of "Sure, sure" is the key sign of evil. And that smile. Jennifer Jason Leigh almost overdoes her accent, but fortunately what she's saying is funny enough to overlook it. After "Single White Female" and "Short Cuts," it's nice to see her as a tough, take charge woman. The film, however, is not perfect. The story seems to go haywire towards the end and there isn't enough Bruce Campbell. But the humor never stops. After a Christmas movie glut of depression and doom films, it's nice to be able to go see an intelligent, witty movie. And it won't be out forever, unfortunately, so go soon. By TOM ERLEWINE One of the advantages of playing music for a number of years is that you know your area. Ask Eric Harabadian. He has played in several combos and written for local music publications, including "Jam Rag." Now, he is focusing his energies on Chain Reaction, the eclectic rock combo that he leads with his longtime friend, guitarist Bob Drozdzewski. "We've been a band for about seven years," recalled Harabadian. "We really kind of put a lot of empha- sis on finding the right kind of person- nel and then we put out two or three recordings. Now we've got something that's pretty stable - we've had the same group of guys for about a year now, whereas in the past it was a swinging door kind of thing. Basi- cally, it's been Bob and myself that have been the mainstays." In Chain Reaction, not only does he write all the songs, he sings and plays guitar, as well as managing the band. "I started playing when I was 13 or 14," he said. "I wasn't that serious about it until I was about 20. Someone approached me at work about if I wanted to sell my guitar; I just had this beat-up little acoustic guitar and I was still playing but noth- ing really serious. All of a sudden I had to come to terms with how I really felt about my instrument and music. I thought, 'I don't want sell it, I want to learn to play this thing."' Over the years, Harabadian has learned how to play his instrument well, blending pop, progressive rock, blues and straightforward rock 'n' roll into a distinctive mix that can be heard on their three self-released re- cordings. "Sonic Motion," a five-song cassette from 1990, was their first release and they received some atten- tion with it. That led to the full-length tape,"Out of the Ruins." "We still get comments from people about that one," Harabadian proudly said. "I'm really happy with it. I'd like to record another full al- bum at some point, maybe put a full album out on CD. We're in the pro- cess of putting some songs together for a new cassette we want to put out this summer." The new tape will fea- ture several songs from their new bassist, Jive. Harabadian doesn't feel threatened by another writer in the group and intends to continue writing consis- tently. "I try to write at least a few times a week," he said. "It depends what kind of mood I'm in or what kind of concept I'm going for. Some songs come real easy, some are more of a developmental kind of thing. I find a lot of times at work ideas come to me. I've often thought about taking a mini tape recorder with me just so I can transcribe some ideas." Like any band making its start, Chain Reaction has played a variety of clubs and bars; "We've played some smaller places and we've played some bigger type rooms, too," Harabadian explained. They have faced a number of crowds and their set list reflects their diverse tastes. "Although I sort of consider us sort of an alternative band, we seem to go over pretty well with hard rock crowds too," he said. "I'd say about a quarter of our total show is covers. We're trying to add some newer stuff. We're adding that Cracker tune, 'Low,' and U2 and some other mate- rial. But we've done the Pretenders, Smithereens, some Iggy & the Stooges; we've done everything from punk to like classic rock to some R&B-ish kind of stuff to blues to our own material." And what does Chain Reaction's material sound like? "It's commer- cial yet alternative; in a way, it's sort of like an alternative to the alterna- tive. A lot of times these days people, 89X and stuff like that, when they use the label 'alternative,' what they're labeling a lot of times is everything from Alice in Chains to Pearl Jam to the Breeders to Beck." Since he has been covering the local music scene for several years, Harabadian has a good grasp of the Detroit-metro scene. "(There's) a lot of talent. I think it needs to be devel- oped and promoted more," he said. Although it's tough getting his band off of the ground, Harabadian would never abandon music alto- gether. "I never thought about that," he said, "because I love music too much. I've been playing music for a good 20 years or so, so I wouldn't want to stop. If it wasn't with Chain Reaction, I'd try to be doing some sort of creative project because I re- ally enjoy music." CHAiN REACTION will openfor the Happy Accidents tonight at Cross Street Station in Ypsilanti; call the Station at 485-5050. Eastern Michigan University presents E ar th D ay 1 9 94 Tuesday April 19, 1994 McKenny Union Ballroom 7.30 m Founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an organization dedicated to preventing the illegal slaughter of endangered sea life, Watson is internationally renowned for his daring, innovative and aggressive approach to the field of wildlife conservation. Sponsored by Student Government and your facilities fee. For more information. contact the Office of Camus Life at 487-3045. machine-gunned paced dialogue. Jack Lipnick's mono- 1TH HUDNU ER PROXY is showine at .Showcase. _ HOLE Continued from page 9 Straight World." There is pure pop, too, in the form of "Miss World" and "Softer, Softest," as well as harshly melodic punk/metal as heard in "She Walks On Me" and " Gutless." But the best tracks on the album defy simple classication, melding delicate melodies and ethereal effects with a harsh, metallic sound. "Plump" is an a ++++ - ----.+ rv vi .[![\ /. 6. . . .p tt ULYV~tG astonishing mix of raging vocals and guitars and floating, haunting melodicism, while "Doll Parts" show- cases Love's emotive range against an acoustic backdrop, and "Rock Star" is an anthemic putdown of Washington's Riot Grrrl scene. There are scads of influences au- dible on the album, from "Pod"-era Breeders to Chryssie Hynde to glam metal to Nirvana, but they are com- bined in a way that is different than anything else on the market right now and the album is more than the sum of its parts anyway. If any good comes out of her tragic loss, it will be that it showcases her strength as a performer as well as a loving wife and mother. "Live Through This" is a must- listen for anyone interested in women in rock as well as for nearly any Nir- vana fan. That Cobain did not live to see his wife's musical triumph is infi- nitely sad, but hopefully Love and her band will"Live Through This." - Heather Phares I LS& A COMMENCEMENT INFORMATION 0 op i MMMW T-SHIRT PRINTING LOWPR ICES I..................... . .. ... . -----, COLOR*... .R i The extra that makes the I difference! make a personalized calendar " enlarge your favorite photo I make your own personal greeting cards : : copy your art for your portfolio . add color to your graphs: : April 30, 1994 MICHIGAN STADIUM (Rain or Shine) 12:00 NOON Ticket DA's ITA"bation Students will receive 10 tickets place from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., 25 through Thursday, April 28. each. Distribution beginning Monday, will April take ----- ---------- ---- ------ ----------- ---- ----- - - - --------- I"f ^Y."."1114 F LSA DEVELOPMENT 350 SOUTH THAYER (Corner of North University and Thayer) in WITH JAY CRAMER." MARIANNE DOYLE." GREG GERSTNER . TONY GREENLAW Lower Level, below Comerica Bank :< : > ; ** Please remember that all students must wear academic dress to participate in Commencement. I K.