s
Get a throne for Queen 'Priscilla'
make this film such pure joy to watch.
Imagine the monotony of the stark
Australian desert shattered by the ap-
pearance of a mauve bus sporting a
huge glittery pump on the overhead
luggage rack. It's "Speed" with an atti-
tude.
Tick, known on stage asMitzi (Hugo
Weaving), originates the plan and con-
vinces the older, but wiser transvestite
Bernadette (Terence Stamp), to join
him andhis stagepartner Adam, known
as Felicia (Guy Pearce), for the ride.
Bernadette is reluctant; he and Adam
are antithetical beings, Bernadette hav-
ing years of experience and Adam still
relishing the immaturity of his youth
and beauty. But eventually Bernadette
accepts, and they all depart on the
fateful ride in a bus christened as
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
Their travels take them through
small towns in the Australian outback
where they have a chance to sport their
outrageous outfits. Tick dons a dress
made entirely of lavender and mauve
flip-flop sandals, with curled wig to
match, and Adam a baby-blue themed
corset outfit with a plastic noodles wig,
matching, of course. Bernadette may
prefer simpler, two-piece outfits, but
strutting together down the street they
cause quite a sensation. Even dogs turn
their heads in curiosity.
It's not all fun and games for Tick,
Adam and Bernadette. As they im-
merse themselves into the most iso-
lated regions of the continent, they are
forced to face the homophobia of those
who feel threatened by their sense of
freedom. Priscilla is defaced by strang-
ers at night with the message "AIDS
fuckers go home." Adam's impulsive-
ness gets him into trouble and near rape
by macho townsfolk. But they face
other challenges as well; in one town
their performance is completely over-
shadowed in the eyes of the customers
by aprostitute thatcan shootping-pong
balls and open bottles with her genita-
lia.
The performances are extremely
invested and genuine. Stamp is dyna-
mite as the soft-spoken but poisonous
Bernadette. When confronted by an
irate intolerant woman in a bar, he
calmly tells her to go light her tampon
on fire because it will probably be the
best lay she'll ever get. Pearce is the
unbearable but gorgeous Adam; he is
extremely physical and expressive but
never has anything nice to say. The fact
that he knows Bernadette's real name
is his trump card, and he wields in
gleefully. His moments of self-indul-
gent opera lip-synching atop the huge
pump on the bus are examples of some
of the most beautiful cinematography
ever seen. Hugo Weaving is also sensa-
tional. Tick's emotional maturity and
his unabashed love of drag make him
nothing short of heroic as he leads his
friends on this quest through never-
ending barren territory.
But there are other shining stars in
the film. The drag costumes are abso-
lutely mind boggling, and could even
make the movie stand alone as a docu-
mentary. There is also a fabulous
soundtrack that rescues old and new
dance classics and repolishes them for
Mitzi, Felicia and Bernadette's parad-
ing pleasure.
"Priscilla"' is a social, visual and
emotional event. It is highly serious in
content, and yet at the same time it
refuses to take itself seriously. Any
self-respecting moviegoer will not let
this one pass by. Ifdisinterest is spurred
by homophobia, you have much more
to learn from it than you think. A tip:
read all the credits, and decidedly stay
until the end of them. "Priscilla" is a
film that rightfully refuses to end.
PRISCILLA is playing at the
Michigan Theater.
Exactly the outfits we wear when tromping through the Austrailian outback.
MOTOCASTER SPEEDS INTO DETROIT WITH THEIR FUEL-INJECTED PUNK POWER-POP
Motocaster(formerly Motorolla) is
a power-pop / punk trio on Interscope
that shapes massive walls of guitar
distortion into catchy, three-minute
songs, not unlike a much poppier Sonic
Youth or a less despairing Nirvana.
While this description may contradict
the stereotypes of the aforementioned
bands, it nevertheless describes
Motocaster's heavy pop stylings to a
tee.
"The Buddha," the opening cut of
their new album "Stay Loaded," is a
great slab of seething guitars and pum-
meling drums topped with singer Bo
Taylor's raspy but melodic voice; that
the Raleigh, North Carolina group uses
amellotron isjusticing on the tasty pop
tart that is Motocaster. Songs like
"Straightfaced" and "Pull the Plug"
show that the band has one incredibly
catchy sound that they perform really
well.
While not adiverse-sounding band,
Motocaster certainly are good at what
they do. Not only that, but "Stay
Loaded" was produced by Mitch Eas-
ter, formerly of Let's Active and early
R.E.M. producer; his power-pop ex-
pertise gives Motocasterafuel-injected
oomph to their sound. It's hard to be-
lieve that they've only been around for
just two years
By the way, Motocaster will be
playing at the Shelter tonight (located
in St. Andrew's Hall); it will be inter-
esting to see if they can drown out the
din ensuing from the L7 show right
above their heads. The mighty
Motocaster should be more than up to
the task. Just give 'em your L7 ticket
stub at the door; call 961-MELT for
more information.
The Young Women's Health Project
University of Michigan Medical Center
FEMALE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
The Young Women's Health Project is conducting an ongoing,
federally-funded study of nutrition and its impact on menstrual
function. Subjects are needed who have experienced
or are regularly engaged in any of the following behaviors:
" binge eating
* intense dieting or fasting
* vomiting or other types of purging
If you are interested, and you are a sophomore woman,
you may be eligible to participate.
For further information, please contact Eva Rosenwald,
Project Coordinator at 936-4867.
All subjects will be paid for their participation In this project.
The Dean of Students Office
is hosting a
Public Comments Session
regarding
the
Interim Dance/Party Policy
Wednesday, September 28
7:00pm-9:00pm
in the Kuenzel Room of the Michigan Union
and Thursday, October 13
7:00pm-9:00pm
in the Koessler Room of the Michigan League
Anyone wanting to make a public comment
pertaining to this policy is invited to attend.
The Interim Dance/Party Policy is available at:
Michigan Union Scheduling Office, Room 1310
Michigan League Manager's Office
North Campus Commons Administrative Offices
Dean of Students Office, 3000 Michigan Union
Ten feet of country, but no 10-gallon hats
By CRAIG GREENBERG
The "Ten Feet Tall Tour" rolled
into the Palace on Friday night, enter-
taining and energizing the fanatic crowd
for nearly four straight hours. This tour
combines the efforts of three of
country's hottest stars: Lee Roy Parnell,
though he did little moving or dancing
around the stage himself, his fast-paced
tunes kept the crowd dancing and sing-
ing along. Diffie performed acouple of
new songs from his new album that
surely inspired many to purchase the
CD. Diffie'sencoreperformanceofhis
See COUNTRY, Page 8
STen Feet
Tall Tour
Palace of Auburn Hills
September 23,1994
Joe Diffie, and Travis Tritt.
The performance was unique not
because it of its similarities to a tradi-
tional rock concert, using blaring mu-
sic, elaborate sets, and laser lights to
dazzle the crowd, but because - un-
like the crowd of 12,000 - all three
performers were cowboy hatless. For a
country show, this is rare!
Lee Roy Parnell promptly began
We're adopting new
family members at
We offer a variety of positions,
FULL AND PART TIME.
S 5 Dn
~
_t w :; ,
~ . _.._ r r .,. .., . , t, .._ , <,<