_ l71liYA JY{i w rs.A ar r ww Yar ,: . ,:::. ..... ..... Richman, the Roadrunner Once upon a time, Jonathan Richman was a rocker. With the Modern Lovers, he captured the spirit of minimalist garage rock. After that, the endearingly goofy singer/songwriter pioneered new ways to be cute, releasing a series of low-key, funny records. During this time, he became one of the most reliable good-time live acts. Catch him tonight at the Blind Pig. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. and tickets are $8.50 in advance. Page 5 Monday, March 27, 1995 'Muriel' weds tragedy and comedy I 4 Sarah Rogacki aify Arts Writer Muriel wants be the Dancing Queen, the disco bride with a white satin jumpsuit and a blonde wig. Isn't that what we all want from life? Well, maybe not the disco ball and the plat- form shoes, but a moment in the spot- light, a time to be beautiful, a feeling of acceptance, or at least a little re- venge on all those fluffy girls who Ortured us all through high school. In "Muriel's Wedding," Muriel Heslop gets her revenge and a lesson in life. Winner of Best Film at the Australian Academy Awards, P.J. Hogan's first feature takes the tradi- tional coming-of-age saga and rein- vents it amid remnants of ABBA and post-nuclear pop culture. Set in the tourist town of Porpoise Spit, we find uriel living with her Bundy-like family, still trying to fit in with the local pep squad of blonde floozies. After ripping off her father, a rotten politician who's being au- dited by the government for dirty dealings, she escapes to Sydney with her vivacious friend Rhonda to start a new life and create a new image. After losing weight and buying a hip wardrobe, Muriel begins fantasizing about wedding Muriel's Wedding Directed by P.J. Hogan with Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths At Ann Arbor 1 & 2 dresses and starts hanging out at every bridal boutique in the city. Muriel ultimately gets her dream wedding, man and all, at the ex- pense of her family and friends. When tragedy strikes, she real- izes that she's not the Dancing Queen she always wanted to be, but a shadow of the caring person she once was. A cinematic hybrid which falls somewhere between comedy, trag- edy, and the realm of '70s sitcoms, P.J. Hogan's script successfully communicates the triumph of the unlikely heroine with sincerity and wit. Bringing out the extraordi- nary in the ordinary, Hogan's slice of life portrayal is perfect right down to the beanbags and bar scenes. Taking a cue from other unique, feel-good films such as "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert," the director's work stands out among the new market of Australian films being imported to the States, es- pecially with distributors "will- ing to take a chance" such as Miramax. Thank heaven Hogan won an Australian Academy Award. The cast is brilliant, from the lead performers to bit characters. Toni Collette's portrayal of the bumbling Muriel will strike a chord in everyone, with her un- stoppable idealism and quirky gestures. She's perfect and quite deserving of her award for Best Actress. Rhonda, played by Rachel Griffiths, delivers spunky one-lin- ers that steal the show. Griffiths is an inspiration, showing her versa- The awkwardness and desires in 'Muriel's Wedding' speaks to the 'Dancing Queen' in us all. tility to play both comedic and tragic scenes. Even Brice, played by unknown Matt Day, gives a bittersweet performance as Muriel's jilted first love in Sydney. With a soundtrack made up al- most entirely of ABBA songs, this film is more fun than the Nectar- ine Ballroom on Euro-Beat night. "Muriel's Wedding" runs away with the bouquet and the Aussie Academy Award. Eat your heart out Richard Linklatter, this film's a real trip. 'Paper Dolls' smashes Here we see the cast of 'Major Payne' running away from an angry mob of moviegoers. Hup-two-three-fourl 'Major Payne a real pain in the eyes Sarah Stewart *aily Arts Writer Whoever decided to call Damon Wayans' (of "In Living Color" fame) newestfilm "MajorPayne" should have known better. He or she should have guessed that"Major Payne," easily one of the worst films of the year, was bound to be described as a major pain - the admittedly bad pun is just too accurate to resist. 0 "Major Payne" is one of those films that leaves you stunned, bewil- dered and embarrassed all at the same time: stunned that some producer (in this case Wayans himself) was will- ing to support such a film, bewildered because more than two people actu- ally showed up to watch it and embar- rassed that you were one of those people who paid good money to see ch a bad film. When it comes to Flms like this, you can only hope the popcorn's outstanding. In an effort to make "Major Payne" sound better than it really is, call it a comedic character study of Major Benson Winifred Payne, one mean, military killing machine who finds him- self at the helm of Madison Academy's Junior R.O.T.C. It seems that the mili- - ry doesn't need his talent for killing htnow - apparently he's killed all the enemies - but Madison's Junior R.O.T.C. has placed last in the Virginia Junior Military Games for the last eight years and needs the Major to spruce up the program. What the Major doesn't seem to understand is that boys, even Junior R.O.T.C. members, don't respond well to being called turds, ladies or worse, and they especially don't appreciate being paraded around campus in pretty dresses. Unfortunately, the audience Major Payne Directed by Nick Castle with Damon Wayans At Briarwood gets almost as little amusement out of the whole thing, as the Major's tactics rarely draw more than a brief chuckle. Dr. Emily Watson (Karyn Parsons), the school counselor, is there to charm the Major and supposedly keep his disci- plinary actions under check, but mostly she bats her eyes and doles out childish reprimands for whatever naughty deed he just completed. Sh'e has more influ- ence on his desires than on his treatment of the boys. Supposedly these young cadets are classified with special needs, yet this fact is brushed to the side almost as soon as their respective problems are identi- fied. Instead of focusing on the chil- dren, the Major's problems occupy vir- tually every moment of the film. The film's biggest surprise is that the Major's personality change is so gradual that it's barely noticeable; you might expect him to evolve into a lovey- dovey teddy bear overnight, but this never happens. The Major's slow de- velopment might actually be a half-way realistic portrayal of a life lived mili- tary-style for way too long, but when translated onto the screen in the form of comedy, the perpetual insults and spit- throwing yells lose their appeal as fast as Major Payne can say, "give me 25." There are a few funny scenes, but none of them involve Major Payne's interaction with the cadets and none of them make up for the fact that this is a truly lousy flick. The Major's dancing debut-he's a master moonwalker and breakdancer - is something of a treat as is the "Apocalypse Now" spoof that opens the film, but these efforts would be betteroff isolated and used for sketch comedy; too bad "In Living Color" went off the air. Too bad for Wayans that he wasted so much effort writing, producing and starring in a film that should have by- passed the box office and headed straight to video. I had a dream last night that "Major Payne" was only in theaters for one week. It was a good dream. By Jenn McKee For the Daily Lizzie, one of the main characters in Elaine Jackson's play "Paper Dolls," often feels lost and confused throughout because she perpetually tries to keep track of topics and opin- ions. This seems to be a tipoff to the audience to not be caught up in such things, since it was through accept- ing the production's images - re- gardless of their placement or uncon- ventionality - that we experienced both mirth and pain simultaneously. "Paper Dolls" tells the story of two former beauty queens who are asked to return to judge a pageant. The two African-American women maintained a friendship for 50 years, stemming from their com- mon experiences - not only the pageants, but also broken promises and failed movie careers. They both live in their pasts to some degree, often coloring their memories to be more glamorous than they actually were. Maggie (Nyima Woods) was particularly consumed by her memories, playing out her victo- ries and moments of glory over and over, refusing to admit to losing any of her beauty or to growing older. Lizzie (Dee Dee White) was the antithesis, as she was obsessed with death and one's preparation for it. The pair were engaging to watch, as one often wondered why these two people would last 50 years with each other. With the exception of a few botched line cues and a confusing scene with the waiter (from which, I must add, Woods and White recov- ered extremely well), the acting was generally strong. Both White and Woods gave outstanding perfor- mances. Woods presented her character as both desperate and dignified. In one scene where she relives her pageant victory, she is wheeled across a run- way on a cart, flowers in hand, smil- ing, and waving. You pity her, yet envy her confidence. Woods portrayed her character as a down-to-earth dreamer who wanted to get caught up in Maggie's world, but who always gets the short end of the stick. She was always moaning, "You always get the good BE SURE TO FILL OUT A 'BEST OF ANN ARBOR' BALLOT AND VOTE - FOR YOUR FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT ANN ARBOR parts!" In this way, we see that though these two beautiful and talented Black women were full of poten- tial, they could not- in the 1930s - get past the black stereotypes portrayed in art, literature and film. They were not marketable as capable, aggressive young women. As a result, they not only seem to be hurt, but wasted as well. The stage was set in a unique way, with a sort of runway running through the middle of the floor. With the two sides of the audience facing each other, the play already had the feel of a . PaperDolls I Arena Theatre March 25, 1995 beauty pageant before it even began. This framing of the story was effec- tive and original, despite a tennis match feeling while dialogue was exchanged from opposite ends of the runway. At times, the play seemed con- stereotypes fusing, but that was only when I really concentrated on its se- quence. If you let yourself be led by it and didn't obsess about its structure, it worked marvelously. As a satire, it had many funny moments, though they were not without a catch. Every time I laughed, I felt a twinge of sadness as well. The play ended with Woods and White performing a sort of vaude- ville, showing them basically sell- ing themselves and their dignity in order to get a chance to perform. They had no choice but to stoop to hiding their beauty, telling jokes and singing the stereotypical, "Way Down Upon the Swanee River" in order to live out their hopes and dreams. "Paper Dolls" is a sad commen- tary on how stereotypes trap and condemn people without justifica- tion. Though one would hope that the situation is much better today than it was 50 years ago, I get the feeling we not nearly there yet. We've got a long way to go, but plays like this are a step in the right direction. U We've taken RECYCLING out to the Diag! Due to the approaching end of the academic year, | r a i..."Jokc !. ,. iiiii i it' 4i#iiarl i![[ IFwF N #1ksA[7t i' IM ;Vf lYT IYF7[tl 7s7FRAMR l7 RM 1vRwv i .:..: ::,....: .. . . ,ti .. .. ..... ::. >' U - I L W~'~aC4 - ia~ m