4B - The Michigan Daily - Wu4 t e. - Thursday, February 1, 1996

Sentimental movies make romantic

By Kristin Long
Daily Arts Writer
Remember when love stories were
something that both men and women
enjoyed? Remember when they made
rmmance flicks that became instant
classics?
Once, in the not-so-distant past,
Hollywood produced stories that en-
chanted audiences, and gave hope to
hopeless romantics, but lately that is
all just a thing of the past.
Perhaps, a good love story is hard
to produce. It takes a great deal of
sensitivity and thought to make a mas-
terpiece that does come across as sen-
timental mush.
' The characters have to have that
certain chemistry that make their re-
lationship captivate audiences. The
plot has to be more than the ordinary
fairy tale, and the suspense and drama
have to combine to create a classic
Iscreen romance.
The golden age of film had its share
of incomparable tear-jerkers that have
survived the technology of modern
film. Hideously long epics like "Gone
with the Wind" even attracted many

sentimental souls. Clark Gable and
Vivian Leigh portrayed the drama of
yesteryear that began the dawn of the
love story. In "Casablanca,"
Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid
Bergman represented war-torn lov-
ers caught in a battle between lust
and loyalty.
Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr made
tear-jerker history in "An Affair to
Remember," as the two mesmerized
individuals who were lost in a struggle
of truth and humility. In "Breakfast at
Tiffany's," the sexy yet classy style
of Audrey Hepburn enchanted George
Peppard.
These stars were the sex symbols of
the era; they ruled the big screen.
They knew how to schmooze their
audiences, and instill classic love. The
endings always had us hunger for more
because we could not see how true
love prevailed. They just don't make
love like that anymore.
When the Big '80s swept the silver
screen, theater fans got a bundle of
exquisite romantic flicks. Actors from
the "brat pack" stole the hearts of
American teens. "Pretty in Pink" and

"Sixteen Candles" live as classics for
Generation X. Even "The Breakfast
Club" and "St. Elmo's Fire" fulfilled
the perfect fantasy. Today, many still
sit around and think, weren't the '80s
fabulous?
Hunks like Andrew McCarthy and
Rob Lowe had the babes swooning.
The simplicity of Molly Ringwald
earned her the reputation as the pin-
up goddess in teen magazines.
The amazing thing was that these
films rarely struck critical best seller
lists. None of these flicks were Os-
car-caliber films, but they did live
up to their potential with a younger
crowd who could relate to a major-
ity of the characters' emotions and
experiences.
The late '80s and the very early
'90s had some incredible romances,
too. "Pretty Woman" introduced a
new romantic leading lady with
then-unknown Julia Roberts. Meg
Ryan took the lead with her roles in
some of the best romances in recent
memory. Hits like "When Harry met
Sally" and "Sleepless in Seattle"
modernized old-fashioned love with

fans sigh
several references to the classic "An
Affair to Remember." Ryan bruised
her record, though, when she starred
opposite Kevin Kline in the dud
"French Kiss."
Sentimentalists enjoyed D.B.
Sweeney and Moria Kelly in "The
Cutting Edge, " where Olympic pairs
ice skaters fell for each other on and
off the rink. In the sugary "Only You,"
Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr.
created a desire to travel across the
ocean to Italy to fall in love.
Aside from these few, this decade
has so far produced minimal hits in
the love-story category. We are now
half way through the '90s, and for
what do we have to call our own?
A couple of years ago, Annette
Bening and Warren Beatty got caught
up in the "An Affair to Remember"
craze that struck Hollywood when
they made "Love Affair." Unfortu-
nately, both the actors' performances
and the film's script were weak, and
"Love Affair" flopped.
Over the winter break, some mov-
iegoers enjoyed "The American Presi-
dent," but really a love affair with the
commander in chief? Not in this life-
time.
Sentimental moviegoers did have a
winner with Sandra Bullock in "While
You Were Sleeping," but in the not-
so-distant 21st century, will we really
look at the film as we do similar '80s
flicks, saying, "Weren't the '90s
great?"
The makings of the perfect fairy
tale do not necessarily have to be
the classic boy-meets-girl scenario
where we all know the plot. For
instance, take the action-packed
thriller "Speed" with Keanu Reeves
and Sandra Bullock. The point when
we can tell that the two have fallen
for one another adds a whole new
twist to the plot. It's not cheesy, not
flaky, but passionate -the kind of
hot romance that, as they say, can
only happen in the movies.
More recent releases like "Bed of
Roses," starring Christian Slater and
Mary Stuart Masterson, have all the
makings of sentimental fluff.
Romantic movie fans want the good
stuff. The turn ofthe century is quickly
approaching, and the great many ro-
mance-starved film fanatics are wait-
ing for that ideal flick.
Maybe all we can do is wait for that
perfect fantasy, and preoccupy our
minds with the home video collection
to pass the time.

Fat man and little boy: Chris Farley and David Spade.
'SNL star hes new
film Black Sheep' ilh
an ace for Sade

Anthony Michael Hall (pre-puberty) and teen queen Molly Ringwald in that John Hughes ... uh, classic, "Sixteen Candles."


Spring

Commencement

Student Speaker
Call for Entries
The Office of University Relations is making a Call for Entries
for a Student Speaker at Spring Commencement
SAturday, May 4, 1996
10:00 a.mn.
Michigan Stadium
The student speaker must be receiving a bachelor's degree
during Winter Term 1996 or Summer Term 1996
Submit
- Curriculum Vitae (or resume) highlighting UM
scholarship and campus leadership
STyped draft of speech (no more than 5 minutes in length)
- Audio cassette tape of yourself reading the speech

OPEN
SKA TING

By Christopher Corbett
Daily Arts Writer
"After high school I was a stand-up
comic, and my only goal was to do it
long enough until I could pay my
bills," actor David Spade said in a
recent phone interview.
David Spade. You know him from
Saturday Night Live as the flight at-
tendant who waves "Buh-bye," as the
gossip reporter who rips on Michael
Jackson on "The Hollywood Minute"
and as the receptionist from hell
("Aaaand you are?").
But how do recent quantum leaps in
fame and fortune-last year he starred
in the hit film "Tommy Boy"-affect
him?
"You're so nervous and doing so
much press and hoping your film
does well - and you know if it
doesn't you're in trouble - that
it's hard to get excited. But when
'Tommy Boy' opened at No. 1, that
was a big deal. How many times in
your life will you have the No. 1
movie?"
From the tone of his voice, Spade
sounds like he's hoping for a few
more times - and he just might get
them. Spade's sarcasm and sharp-as-
a-thumbtack wit play off of partner
Chris Farley's slapstick, Jerry Lewis-
esque physical humor. When, in
"Tommy Boy," amonstrous elk comes
back to life in the back seat of Spade's
car, and annihilates it, Farley screams
"Awesome!" but Spade looks dazed
and confused. In contrast, Jim Carrey
would just scream, scream, and scream
some more. Sometimes two is better
than one.
"Black Sheep," opening tomorrow,
promises to have a formula similar to
"Tommy." If it's not broken, why fix
it? The two actors like each other,
which almost guarantees appealing
performances.
"The good thing about a film like
'Black Sheep' is it's not like a 'Lethal
Weapon' where it's written and then
you cast two stars and you say, 'I hope
you get along. Have fun!' 'Black
Sheep' is based on Chris and I getting
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along together and being funny to-
gether."
But don't count on the film to beat
you over the head like an "Ac*
Ventura" would. Fred Wolf - who
wrote SNL and "Tommy Boy" -
wrote the new film, and he knows
how to embellish and highlight the
pair's strengths.
"Black Sheep" (Spade described it
to me as "'Schindler's List' meets
'Home Alone"' - yes, the sarcasm
just pours through the telephone) has
a lot of jokes that come from Spade's
and Farley's days of chilling out to-
gether.
"In 'Tommy Boy' we used fat guy,
little coat,' which was from real life,"
Spade explained.
"Black Sheep" director Penelope
Spheeris, who also directed the"SNL"
big-screen spinoff"Wayne's World,"
let them go completely psy-clops at
times during the making of "Sheep."
When the dynamic duo is stowed away
in a cabin halfway through the film
they added a handful of scenes. Spade
said "Tommy" had a lot of physical
and verbal jokes, "but 'Black Sheep'
has even more physical than verbal
humor."
Spade will be playing chaperone-
turned-victim to Farley again. A han
is running for governor and Farley is
his Billy Carter-like brother who gets
him in trouble. Spade hopes to get a
better job (better than making can-
paign buttons) by offering to get
Farley out of the way.
"How hard can it be ... hmmmm,
very hard. We screw up everything
and now I'm part of the problem.
They ship us up to the mountains ad
we screw up everything there," be
said. Screwy.
Spade has solo plans for the fu-
ture, but said he'll definitely act in
another film with his "big bro" if
"Black Sheep" does well. His dream*
role? In a deeply reverential voice,
he spoke of "a scene in 'Cats.' . I
am writing something now. I guess
the best way to make myself funny
is if I write it. It's more of a roman-
tic comedy."
With Meg Ryan? "More like an
Ashley Judd. Or a Drew Barrymore."
Cut to the chase. Come on, who was
your favorite guest host on SNL? "The
funniest this year was Sean Penn -0
used him to give me a tattoo. He was
a blast."
And as far as the transition from
small screen to huge? "You have to be
quieter and smaller because you're so
big on the screen. I guess I'm spoiled.
But I love a movie when it's done,"
Spade said.
When asked what else has improved
(wink, wink) since his career move,
Spade replied, "Women like powe*
and money just as much as anybody
else. (Sheeah, right! What-EVER,
dude!). To be an average-looking guy,
I guess that sometimes prettier girls
talk to me than theyshould."
But to impress a girl? "When they
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