The Miehion 1).gily -- WPpkRnri atp - Thiimtfav Ot-tnhar 1 17 QQd _._ R IuItf fViVI)lri "l .UUJ- TV~.fBU IG ILl.,. - III UG[QJ 9J1;f I.I1, L~/t' " Burton dreams a toony 'Nightmare' By TED WATTS Director Tim Burton's back with the stylishly rendered biography of cult movie director Ed Wood. And in keeping with the Murphy's Law type axiom "everything always happens at Ho Entertainment Center once," he's also back on video with *1993's "The Nightmare Before Christ- mas." If you have an unconscionably short memory, you may have forgot- ten some of the specifics of the film. First and most importantly, it is ani- mated in a beautiful model manner. Using stop action photography and careful movement of thousands of intricately crafted creatures, the film has a wonderfully realistic sense of movement for some twistedly beauti- ful models. The whole production is millenia ahead in realismof such clas- sics as "Rudolph the Red Nosed Re- indeer" or that Easter special with Bing Crosby. The mouths of the ma- jor characters move in a (relatively) realistic manner because of the care put into the models. The movie is technically lush and thus cool. The other major thing you may have forgotten is that "Nightmare" is a musical. Danny Elfman, leader of Oingo Boingo (now just Boingo) and composer of dozens of soundtracks, scored this puppy as well as provid- ing the singing voice of skull-headed Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King and hero of the movie. Elfman also provided the voice of Barrel, one of the top trick-or-treaters in the town and hentchman of the evil Mr. Oogie Boogie. Under Elfman's skilled claws "Nightmare" has more musical num- bers than a Disney flick destined to be an expensive Broadway production. And those numbers aren't of the ishy- squishy kind, they're more of the reamy-screamy variety. That as much as anything else places this film skull and shoulders above the rest. The movie begins with the deni- zens of the dark and dry yet slimy Halloween Town spending some down time after finishing up the pro- duction of yet another year's Hallow- een. And down time it is. Jack is all melancholy about having lost his spark for Halloween. He wanders off into the eternal night of his realm, only to find an interzone, a nexus that has 'CHAMELEON' DISHES SOME OF THE GOOD STUFF access to all of the holiday towns. Jack stumbles into Christmas Town and discovers his passion again. He decides that he will make Christ- mas this year, and returns to Hallow- een Town to marshal his people for the event. Of course, Jack has some different ideas about Christmas than the aver- age person. Of course, he is dead. Still, his preparations are quite lively. His research, involving such things as performing autopsies on teddy bears and disintegrating candy canes, bears interesting fruits. Jack gets a sense of the elements of Christmas, but ulti- mately decides he can make some improvements. So the vampires and werewolves get to work on making the improvements and everyone is ecstatic. Well, almost. The rag doll heroine Sally has a vision that the special Christmas will be a flaming disaster. Both her warnings to and affections for Jack go unnoticed by our Christ- mas-absorbed Pumpkin King. Santa Claus eventually says that she is the only person who makes any sense in Halloween Town, something that is obvious to the audience early on. Sally's fears are well founded, for both the bug ridden Oogie Boogie and the close-minded world populace work to destroy Jack's good inten- tions. But hey, Sally's on the ball and it wouldn't be too unlikely to guess from Burton's track record that the movie ends happily. Actually, some of the best parts of Burton's films work their way into "Nightmare". Paul Ruebens, having starred in Burton's "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" and playing the Penguin's father in "Batman Returns", is the voice of trick-or-treater leader Lock. Elfman is back, having scored every- thing Burton has done. And the dark viciial elements of the Batman films, "Edward Scissorhands" and "Beetlejuice" crop up rather expectedly. Specifically, the black and white snake motif found in "Beetlejuice" makes several appear- ances in "Nightmare", much to the pleasure of all. Of course, part of Burton's charm is his ability to tell a believable fairy tale about a passionate individual See NIGHTMARE, Page 7 1 U 1 1 1 1 1 MARIN riU 1 MONGOOSE1 IF e"JLodc ..'.. . 1 wilb Ukeuadmo 1 V- 1*Must present coupon Exp. 10/31/94 1224 1 1 Sales & Service 761-2749 1 Shock, Barrel and Lock on their Christmas revamping terror-rampage. Despite the odds against it, there are still those who do their best to keep the home fires a-burning and keep the local music a-happening. Local band and Diag favorites The Chameleon's Dish have just released their debut album, "Wishbone." The record is packed with nine distinctive songs showcasing the band's ability not only to craft decent hooks but play off of one another well as the twin guitars courtesy of Charlie Johnson and Michael Tomlinson bounce and grind over the loping rhythm section of John Barber and Nathan Adams while Jesse Schiffrin's violin rides the waves and lends its own sweet and distinctive voice to the mix. Johnson's voice is powerful enough to carry the band through its transitions from loud to quiet passages, giving the songs an added punch. The Chameleon's Dish celebrates the release of "Wishbone" tonight at the Blind Pig along with opening act the Bucket. Doors open at 9:30 and admission is a paltry $3. 6 L (js ;27 . T HEI \/ PLE GES The University of Michigan Cycling Tean would like to thank the following sponsors for their support and generosity: The Dean of Students Office is hosting a Public Comments Session regarding the Interim Dance/Party Policy Tonight! 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 Colic N E S Night! Ulrich's Bookstore Great Lakes Cycling & Fitness Adventure Profile for Speed * .. ."'''" (j i Yakima Avocet Andiamo ) . 1 ...and yes, we do have ib pound balls. Every Thursday Night Iop.m.-wa.m. Guest J "the Buckster!" 1950 South Industrial Ann Arbor, MI 48104 665-4475 U of M Cycling Team: 1994 Results 7th Place Midwest Cycling Conference (Road) Midwest Cycling Conference Mountain Bike Champions If your business would like to sponsor the U of M Cycling Team, please call Matt Curin at 764-7814. I.: U Make a good impression! Bring a friend to Music & Lyrics by I