8- The Michigan Daily - Monday, December 5, 1994
'Paradise' equals paradox
By SHIRLEY LEE and
PRASHANT TAMASKAR
"Trapped In Paradise" concerns
itself foremost with the story of three
men gone astray on Christmas Eve.
Trapped
In Paradise
Directed by George Gallo;
with Nicolas Cage,
Jon Lovitz and
Dana Carvey
Upon release from prison, sleazy Dave
(Jon Lovitz) and Alvin (Dana Carvey)
Firpo fool their older brother Bill
(Nicolas Cage) into taking them to
Paradise, Pennsylvania in order to
commit the perfect bank robbery.
Although the bumbling crooks
manage to successfully execute their
task, the Firpo brothers find that the
true challenge lies in leaving this Para-
dise before the warmhearted folks of
the small town eradicate their crimi-
nal ways.
In spite of the questionable artistic
merits of "Trapped In Paradise," many
argue for its otherwise worthy as-
pects. The above is evidenced by the
varying opinions of two movie view-
ers identified by the names, Prashant
and Shirley.
Shirley: This movie is paved with
crap!
Prashant: Perhaps, but the senti-
mentality of the film makes it well
worth watching.
Shirley: Don't give me that sen-
timentality baloney. "Paradise" suf-
fers just from a lack of true emotions.
Not one moment did I pity any single
character. They were just plain dumb.
Prashant: If you didn't feel any
sympathy for any of the characters,
you must be a stone-hearted grinch.
Although at times the movie was
slightly absurd, or even idiotic, most
viewers appeared to feel genuine pity
for the good people of Paradise, and
even for the rather moronic Firpo
brothers.
Shirley: The annoying laughs
and outrageous action scenes explod-
ing onto the screen allow you the
pleasure of mocking the incongruent
"Paradise."
Prashant: Mock as you may, I
disagree with you entirely. Granted,
there were some outrageous action
scenes, but in the end they just added
to the fun of the movie. This movie
wasn't necessarily made to win an
Academy Award; all it wanted to do
was entertain people with a humor-
ous, sentimental story of three im-
beciles trying to steal from good,
honest people. Even though I didn't
die laughing throughout the movie,
I always seemed to have a smile on
my face.
Shirley: Despite all, when it
comes down to it, the heart of "Para-
dise" falls into the pitfall of a trite
storyline and unworkable sequences.
For example, the unrealistic charac-
ter of the town coupled with the pa-
thetic robbery makes the film go down
the drain.
Prashant: I don't know what fault
you could find with the residents of
Paradise. Your cynical nature may
prevent you from acknowledging that
people can actually be generous and
benevolent, but I found that they were
a necessary and relatively believable
aspect of the movie.
Shirley: What I truly believe is
that simply because a film depicts
good and down-to-earth creatures, it
does not necessarily characterize the
worth of a story. Nonetheless, Gallo
captures well the aesthetic beauty of a
white Christmas. Now go on and dis-
pute me further!
Prashant: I will not dispute you.
The cinematography of the movie was
fabulous.
How can any place with Dana Carvey, Jon Lovitz and Nicholas Cage be called "paradise"?
Shirley: I can't agree with you
more, but the brilliant photography
does not rescue "Paradise" from de-
scending into hell. First of all, the
dialogue was inconceivably sopho-
moric. It's fair to say that a 10-year-
old could have effortlessly written
the script.
Prashant: Although you may be
mildly exaggerating, I do see your
point. The dialogue was not one of, the
strong points of the film. But again,
my point was that I found this film to
be entertaining. It was a cute holiday
comedy that may not be recognized
as one of the crowning achievements
in silver screen history, yet was still
enjoyable. "Paradise" was fun to
watch and it made me leave the the-
ater with a warm feeling in my heart.
Shirley: Yes, I admit my harsh-
ness. But for me, kinky cuteness
and sloppiness crippling the dia-
logue and characterization outweigh
your so-called warm feeling. "Para-
dise," in most if not all respects,
positions itself as the dumbest and
most defective holiday comedy ever4
to grace the screens. All I can say is
that "Trapped In Paradise" equals
"Trapped In Hell."
TRAPPED IN PARADISE is
playing at Showcase.
Rolling Stones fans get their satisfaction
By JAMES NASH
From the bursts of fire that greeted
the Rolling Stones to the stage of the
Silverdome on Thursday night to the
aural attack that followed, the "world's
greatest rock 'n' roll band" slighted
subtlety in favor of full-tilt rock.
And the results were mixed.
The concert charged from rocker
to rocker, leaving little room to
breathe. And that seemed to suit Mick
Jagger and company quite well.
Conspicuously absent were the
trademark ballads, from the classic
"You Can't Always Get What You
Want" to the lilting "Out of Tears,"
from the new album, "Voodoo
Lounge." When the Stones did slow
down - for "Miss You" and a pair of
early hits - Keith Richards' guitar
evoked emotion like few contempo-
rary ax-wielders can. And Jagger's
vocals were faithful to the original,
losing nothing in the 20 years since
the songs were first recorded.
The band drew liberally from
"Voodoo Lounge" their best album in
more than a decade. "Love Is Strong,"
the characteristic Stones rocker that
opened the album, was played with
gusto. "You Got Me Rocking" and
"Sparks Will Fly," high-octane rock-
ers that energize "Voodoo," saw
Jagger's vocals lost amid Richards'
searing guitar and the over-the-top
percussion of Charlie Watts.
The piercing drone of Richards'
guitar ran through most of the con-
cert, reaching a crescendo during the
encore, "Jumping Jack Flash." But
the poor acoustics of the Silverdome
ruined Richards' virtuoso playing,
trapping each note within a surge of
reverberation.
The Stones opened the second half
of the show with "Sympathy for the
Devil," complete with a goat's head
whose eyes beamed at the audience.
The multi-million dollar spectacular
featured a giant stage with a video
backdrop and a light show that rivals
Pink Floyd's. The concert ended in a
burst of fireworks that filled the
Silverdome with smoke.
But no technical flash can outdo
the Stones' own energy, which has
scarcely diminished over time. Jagger
pranced about the stage, stirring the
audience to classics such as "(I Can't
Get No) Satisfaction" and "Brown
Sugar."
Richards took the microphone for
a couple of songs, including "Voodoo
Lounge"'s "The Worst." His strained
See STONES, Page 9
NEGATIVE
Continued from page 5
Then the same thing happened when
the band attempted a new version of
the song "Black Sabbath" for the new
Sabbath tribute album, writing the
song from Satan's point of view. Roa-
drunner, the band's record company,
balked.
"Personally I hate them (Roadru-
nner)," Silver carefully chose his
words. "Not the workers, but the dumb
decisions, the fact that the things they
do, it's so obvious why they're Roa-
drunner and other companies are who
they are. But, we're bound to them."
MTV has also shied away from
the band, only showing a heavily ed-
ited version of the remarkable "Chris-
tian Woman" video and cutting its
playing time to almost half of the 11
minutes and banishing it to
"Headbanger's Ball" Saturday night
oblivion. Silver, who personally did
all the edits for the song, is particu-
larly annoyed by the cuts.
"We don't like doing edits, but if
we don't then some asshole at the
record company is going to do them,"
he said. "I'd rather cut my own throat
then let someone else do it."
Silver's role as co-producer and'
keyboardist is unique in a nonindus-
trial hard rock band; like Faith No
More the band seems to be one of the
few groups to successfully incorpo-
rate the instrument as it's own sound,
rather than to boost up songs live.
"Musically it's bullshit to say that
keyboards shouldn't be a part of heavy
music," Silver said. "It's just that
keyboardists as human beings don't
want to play that sort of stuff. That
doesn't mean that the instrument
should be banned from that vein of
music." When asked about keyboard
influences, he only answered "lots of
drugs."
Type 0 formed in 1991 in New
York out of the ashes of the legendary
band Carnivore and various local
groups. Last year the band invited
several local friends to go into the
studio and recorded a controversial
live album entitled "Origin of the
Feces," also notable for having the.
cover banned in England.
"It wasn't live; it was done in the
studio," Silver said. "We just took
everything we experienced on tour
and put it into comical performance.
We had friends come in and boo us
instead of having what every other
band doe. We had massive rejection.
While the band is huge in its home
town, Silver was more than ready to
leave.
"I was assaulted blocks from my
house to the point I was almost dy-
ing," Silver explained. "One thing I
can say about living in New York is
that anywhere else I go I feel safer."
He paused for a minute and
laughed. "Maybe except Detroit."
TYPE 0 NEGA TIVE opens with
Godflesh for Danzig at the State
Theatre in Detroit tonight. Doors *
open at 7:30 p.m. for metal-heads
of all ages. Call (313) 961-5450.
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