RTS Carrey's 'Dumb'ward spiral ,.. \z < i a ~ :. ...rc? By SCOTT PLAGENHOEF If you're afraid that seeing "Dumb and Dumber" will amount to two hours of fart jokes, don't worry, it doesn't. They also manage to throw in multiple jokes about taking a piss, including one about drinking it, numerous shots to the testicles, and even an inspired, drawn out joke involving our old pal, laxative and its companion, diarrhea. Hilarious. Dumb and Dumber Directed by Peter Farrelly with Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels Yet, of course, in a year in which people couldn't have been dragged to a theater to see the thoughtful and insightful, such as "Quiz Show" or "Ed Wood" or the brilliant documen- tary "Hoop Dreams," "Dumb and Dumber" is, like "Forrest Gump" and "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" before it, a box-office juggernaut. "Dumb and Dumber" finishing the year as the number one film at the box-office for three weeks is, sadly, the perfect finale to a culturally vapid year which begat Tonya and Nancy, Michael Fay, the fall and reattached rise of John Bobbit, Newt, Gump and the Juice as our most discussed indi- viduals, and, in some cases, heroes. By now everyone has made up their mind about whether or not "Dumb and Dumber" is escapist, Three-Stooges-like hilarity or mind- less dribble and the more important question is why are people choosing the former and not the latter. This is of course not to say that a film, or any other art, which exists primarily to entertain cannot be worthy of anything but the most trivial or ca- sual appreciation. "Better off Dead" is funny. "Fletch" is hilarious. "Raising Arizona" is brilliant. Even television's leading morons, "Beavis and Butt-head" truly are a legitimate, clever, and oftentimes, hysterically funny, satire on our detached TV culture. None of the above could profess to being too particularly highbrow, yet none of them need to be prefaced when complimented with phrases confessing that not thinking or expecting much more than bathroom humor is a prereq- uisite to their enjoyment. Yet dumb sells. We are apparently content to shun the intelligent for the purposely unintel- ligent en masse. Already the overabundance of outlets for entertainment has stunted our thought process and made the line between legitimate news and the tab- loids extremely thin. Our desire to think in the simplest terms, or have others do our thinking for us, has resulted in the rise of Rush Limbaugh and Forrest Gump as national heroes. Even the "Time" man of the year, Pope John Paul II, is an individual whose function, at its most basic level, is to single-handedly determine the social, moral, and religious beliefs of millions of people; to do their think- ing for them. Exalted for his ability to misun- derstand or not even attempt to under- stand his surroundings, Forrest Gump and his holy-fool Gumpisms have been praised as an ideal philosophy for happiness. This summer, in an ironic - cer- tainly more than a deliberate -move, hundreds, maybe thousands, left their homes to join the throngs cheering for fugitive O.J. Simpson. Seeing the event on their televisions and recognizing where along the highway the white Ford Bronco was positioned, people hastily created makeshift signs cheer- ing the former football star and rushed off to join an historic event as it un- folded just as America's newest cul- tural icon Forrest Gump had. Without thought, individuals left their homes to cheer a man convicted of two counts of murder, an actour society regards as the most despicable an indi- vidual can perform. People were more content to be there, to be a part of it, than to consider the situation. Like so many Hertz commercials i >Y Pdys ".d ~Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?" "Butt of course." Huh-huh huh-huh. He said "poupon. in which we cheered the Juice through the airport or football games in which he was cheered as he ran from the opposition, he again ran, and we ran to be a part of it, and cheered. "Dumb and Dumber" is of course not the cause of the dumbing down of American Culture. Jim Carrey does not make us care about Michael and Lisa Marie. Nor does he persuade us not to vote in our national elections (or when we do, to fall for the most basic and undefinable of catch phrases, such as "family values") . But more quickly than slowly, Jim Carrey and others like him are monopolizing our time and energy. The key couplet from KurtCobain's most famous of songs, "With the lights out it's less dangerous/here we are now entertain us" is as an appropriate de- scription of our nation, particularly the younger generations never raised out- side of an entertainment-centric soci- ety. Our willingness to care about any- thing outside ourselves and what will make us happy, and does so immedi- ately, is being lost. At our most universal level, popu- lar culture, dumb sells, Gump hap- pens, and quickly we are becoming a nation in which "stupid is as stupid does." And "That's all I have to say about that." D7 M7f-ND~DThB is pfayin-g at Showcase and Briarwoocd. 'Jungle Book' is the same old story; no new chapters here By SHIRLEY LEE More often than not, cinematic portrayals of literary classics entail sloppy attention to details and cliche- laden plots and dialogues. Such is the case with Disney's recent release, "The Jungle Book," a busy live-ac- tion movie which strays far from Rudyard Kipling's stories. In this ver- sion, "The Jungle Book" provides only The Jungle Book Directed by Stephen Sommers with Jason Scott Lee to fill in the blanks. Mowgli is a kind of Heathcliff figure, torn away from his kindred spirit, Kitty, at the age of five, and raised in the jungle. The climatic showdown occurs when Mowgli, frightened by the sophistication and the dog-eat-dog attitude prevalent in modern society, must decide whether to embrace his human side or to come to terms with his animal soul. Director Stephen Sommers cap- tured well the juxtaposition of Mowgli's life as the jungle keeper with the supposedly "civilized" and proper way of life in the city. In the most plain terms, "The Jungle Book" concerns itself foremost with cut- throat aristocrats, swindling both the people of power and the people of the lower class. Mowgli must take on the challenge to keep a watchful eye on the treasures buried deep within the jungle. In the course of Mowgli's adventures, he ques- tions and consequently responds to the notion of nurture over nature. Sommers also made Disney's un- fortunate 1993 version of "Huck Finn" and again uses his MTV Lite approach to trivialize this literary classic. Then what did I learn from "The coming feature "Pocahontas," dur- Jungle Book?" Filthy manipulative ing the previews proves itself more people of high rank invariably harm charming than "The Jungle Book." the less fortunate; Disney films are Despite all, the film emphasizes still principally lackadaisical, through Mowgli's adventures and spending so much time and money struggles that evil shall not triumph saying nothing; the trend for sexual and that the good will eventually win innuendo in children's films is on out over the bad. That's all the cliche the rise, so to speak; filmmakers and plot I need to strike out "The have abandoned subtlety in product Jungle Book" as a worthy film. placement; the showing of a four- THfE-JUNGLEO-O K Ts playinglat minute musical scene from an up- Showcase. r a aW mythical entertainment for eight-year- olds. But the dauntless character of Mowgli, played by Jason Scott Lee, and the awesome cinematography must not go unnoted. Lee gives an inspired, instinctively physical performance as the adult Mowgli. Meanwhile, the rest of the cast watch motionless as their charac- ters develop so thinly that Lee is left Victoria Williams Mowgli surveys his jungle home with the greatest stye and elephants. Oh, the puns one can make about "Nell"... Nell hath no fury, Nell's bells .. Nell' speaks from the eart By PRASHANT TAMASKAR As the holiday season comes and goes, it is easy to classify all of the movies released as one of two types. They are either geared towards making lots of money, or focused on receiving some type of Academy Award. Michael Apted's new film "Nell" is no excep- tion to this theory, as it is clearly a Directed by Michael Apted with Jodie Foster and Liam Neeson do with Nell is extremely interesting. But the real strength of the movie is the aforementioned relationships. As is expected, love blossoms between the doctor and the psychologist. However, unlike most films where th-I two char- acters are at each other's throats, fall i,. love, then respect each other, Neeson and Richardson simultaneously respect each other professionally while waging war. This is important because it cre- atively documents the interaction of two people who obviously have high regard for their counterpart, yet still are adamant about their own beliefs. The movie, however, does have several weaknesses, mostly due to predictable characterizations and se- quences. Of course, the head of Richardson's psychology department is a cold, heartless man who only cares about using Nell as a research subject. Also, the film wouldn't be complete without a humorous scene of Nell being integrated into civiliza- tion, and being entranced by modern wonders such as skyscrapers and su- permarkets. Finally, for many people this movie may seem melodramatic and slightly cheesy. However, all of this isn't signifi- cant as the film will probably realize its goal of winning Jodie Foster another Academy Award. Although no one can question the fact that Foster is a fine Loose Mammoth Loose is exactly what Victoria Williams' latest release is. It wanders pleasantly from country ballads like "When We Sing Together" to the whimsical pop of "Polish Those Shoes" and from harder numbers like "Crazy Mary" to the tender acoustic "My Ally." Along the way, Williams straddles the ground she broke on "Happy Come Home" and "Swing the Statue" and charts a new path for herself somewhere in between the two and beyond. Through it all, she retains a relaxed, confident manner that suits perfectly her songs of love and hope. Though some find her voice to require a bit of getting used to, it is the ideal vehicle for her optimistic lyrical eye. Some may wince at the repeated "Who'za one" that begins "Happy to Have Known Pappy," but as the song builds and weaves its magic, Will- iams' voice cannot help but charm. Soul Asylum's Dave Pirnerguests on the wonderful "My Ally," the pair's voices mingling in inspired if slightly ragged harmony. Her joy in life and love is contagious and com- bined with the confidence in her voice, it makes "Loose" her best collection of songs yet. - Dirk Schulze Various Artists "Beverly Hills 90210 - The College Years" Soundtrack Giant Records Ya know, I have yet to understand America's fascination with Beverly Hills 90210. Honestly, what kind of problems can a group of filthy rich kids who never have to deal with real life situations - like poverty, for one - have? What, whether three nose jobs is just going a bit too far? However, if America's teens were to become as enthralled with the "Beverly Hills 90210 Soundtrack," I would be much more understanding. Featuring everything from the R&B sounds of "Not One More Time" (Stacey Piersa) to the Carribean beats of "No Intermission" (5th Power) to the Jamaican-influenced sounds of reggae as found in "Touch My Light" (Big Mountain), this 12-cut CD is sure to please the pickiest of music critics. This soundtrack also features the sounds of such well-known artists as Jade ("Every Day of the Week"), Af- ter 7 ("Not Enough Hours in the See RECORDS, Page 9 'ehicle for Jodie Foster to receive an Oscar nomination as best actress. How- ever, unlike many films in the past with similar intentions, thisproduction turns out to be fairly enjoyable. The story begins with the death of an old lady, who it is thought lives alone in the woods of North Carolina. However, when a doctor Liam Neeson) is taken to her cabin investigate the causes of her de- mise, they discover a young "wild woman" (Jodie Foster), who turns out to be the daughter of the elderly lady. Nell, as she is known, speaks an incomnrehensible language, and 1 The revisions and additions to An Ordinance to Regulate Parking and Traffic and to Regulate the Use and Protection of the Buildings and Property of the Regents of the University of Michigan, which were previously published in draft form and later modified, were approved by the Regents at their December meetincr The amended nrdinance wa. effective Tan 1 m