10 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 10, 1995 Anchoress': hook, line ,and stinker By Shirley Lee Daily Arts Writer When moving pictures were in- troduced a century ago, the public's enchantment had less to do with the medium's representa- tional competence than with the new possibilities for expressing the supernatural within a natural- istic frame. Nowadays, true ge- nius meets and surpasses both of the above two cinematic goals. One of the nice things about ge- nius - true genius, one-of-a-kind, unapologetic, so clear-eyed it's scary genius - is its refusal to be bottled up for the convenience of its inferiors. The latest release by director Chris Newby is a generic, bizarre black and white film that falls short on not one, but on all of the afore- mentioned cinematic objectives. "Anchoress," at its core, is an old-fashioned film which taps into the camera's unique ability to con- vey the bizarre, but with little visual conviction. Director Chris Newby's "Anchoress" chronicles the life of a young woman named Christine who, out of her own free will, encloses herself in a darkened, tiny room adjacent to a church. Newby trans- forms Christine into a figure sym- bolic of all goodness, one who is forever sealed and cemented from her medieval world. Christine chooses this path in the hopes of fleeing from an unwanted marriage and of devoting her body, heart, and soul to the Virgin Mary. Conflicts explode immediately upon Christine's transformation from a woman of dogmatic nature into the town's soothsayer, driving all townspeople to frequent her gloomy hut. The film, in its en- tirety, is of little excitement besides the oh-so-climatic conflict between the priest's conventional views and Christine's pagan doctrines. "Anchoress" has hardly any dia- WCBN Bash n' Pop Seems like most of the best recent shows have been benefits for one good cause or another. Tonight's 5-band extravaganza at Rick's keeps up the trend; It benefits WCBN Radio Free Ann Arbor, a nonprofit, all-volunteer student and community-run radio station. WCBN's trademark is its diverse, eclectic free-form programming. Tune In, and you might hear punk rock, classical music, world music, jazz, spoken- word, television jingles (or some ear-bending collage of these elements) and literally any other kind of music. Surely WCBN plays something for everyone's tastes. Which is precisely why everyone should head out to Rick's tonight and catch the amazing, mostly local music on the bill. First up Is a side project of the band His Name Is Alive (right) called Airplane. Next are the scd-fl bubblegum sounds of Godzuki, a local favorite. Third is the droning, Velvet Underground-inspired Outrageous Cherry, who rocked the Majestic last week. Next up is Brainiac, who make some of the most messed-up bizzaro stuff you're likely to hear on this planet. And headlining is The Dirt Eaters, another His Name Is Alive offshoot that can be heard on the 4AD release "Mouth By Mouth." All this for $5, If you're 18 and over. Doors open at 8:30 p.m., and the music starts at 9. You must gol DROGE Continued from page 8 does a residency tour build a devoted audience, butthe approach helps the band. "It allowed the band togrow,"saidDroge, "it allowed us to see progress. It encour- aged the group." The warm reception for the residency tourwasthe firstindicationthat 1994was going to be a good year for Droge. Since the release of "Necktie Second," he has received a steady stream of good press, praising boththesoundofhisband andhis songwriting. Like most singer / songwriters, Droge's material stems from personal experiences, yet his songs aren't entirely vI logue, is incomprehensible and dull. The theme of "Anchoress" is de- Anchoress irected by Chris Newvby with Natalie Morse and Eugene Bervoets At the Michigan Theatre serving only in Newby's refusal to reduce women's brilliance on both societal and personal levels. The storyline is simply conformity vs. individuality. That is more than suf- ficient for an essay or a short film, but this is a feature length film. Halfway into the movie, I wanted to take every character aside, slap some sense into them, and tell them to get a life. Do yourself a favor, Newby: A new script is in need here, please. What I enjoyed, however, was the fact that Christine is a woman who shoves crap back in people's face, challenging authority and pick- ing at people's heads. The film is representative of any directors' sophomore effort. Yet, it's lacka- daisical, annoying, boring, and non- sensical. I hated this film. It made me feel sick inside. It didn't make me think as much as it made me think I wanted to be somewhere -- anywhere - else for that matter. confessional. "'If You Don't Love Me' is very much fiction,"he explained. "A song like 'HamptonInn' isfairlyreal,it'spretty much just truth, lyrically. A song like 'Fourth of July' sort of splits the differ- ence. There's a truth and definite literal- ness to where the song came from, mean- ing that it was a friend's suicide that inspired it; (while I was) writing the song, it became partly fiction." For the better part of the past year, Droge has been on the road, which means he hasn't had much time to write new songs. When he's on the road, he sketches out ideas, instead of writing songs."Istart lots of things and think about lots of things, writing-wise," said Droge. "When I've got lots of time on my hands, I write a lot. Being on the road, I got lots of interviews and radio stations to go to, soundchecks and driving, so Ijust store information- fragments, ideas and starting points. It's nice to collect lots of those, because writ- ing just doesn't happen sometimes." Even if touring doesn't offer much opportunity for songwriting, Droge doesn't regret being on the road at all: "When I was at home (overChristmas), I just got stir-crazy and was ready to go back out. It's really cool to wake up in adifferentcityeveryday, different show -it's always different, nomatterwhat. Even if you're in sort of a routine or pattern." .1~ ! 7 Make " Part-time positions available as Diversity Facilitators *Co-facilitate discussion groups for incoming students on issues of diversity and community eAn exciting opportunity to promote understanding * MULTI COLOR SPECIALISTS o ARTIST ON STAFF " RUSH ORDERS " NEAR U OF M CAMPUS 1217 PROSPECT, ANN ARBOR 665-1771 OFF with this ad. On State at Liberty - Adults $5.00 Students w/id $3.001 { Matnees-_Mon - Fri 4:30 --BALL SEATS $3.00 24 hr INFO . 994-4024 .Now serving Coffee and Capuccino, 27 Academy Award Nominations 13 Academy Awards Nominations 7 Academy Award Nominations LPo FriCTON 1:30 4:30 8:00 11:00 4:30 7:00 11:45 Starts Friday Mar. 17 Brandon lee in Late Show Fri & Sat 1:30Satj= Suda ni 1100 & 11:45 Friday & Saturday Only Qualifications: *At least sophomore standing -Experience with workshop presentations,teaching, and/or small group facilitation -Desire to work with incoming students Applications Available: -Office of Orientation - 3011 SAB -Campus Information Center - Michigan Union -North Campus Information Center - North Campus Commons Compensation: -$6.25 per hour -Approximately 10-12 hours per week 'Lunches on days you work Employment Period: -May 22 to August 10 -Must be available at least two week-day mornings (8 AM - Noon) each week during both spring and summer terms Applications Due Monday, March 13 Please return by best restaurants/bars for... coffee_ March 31 to the Daily at 420 Maynard, 48109. 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