RezSiimwi Jlzi~g Get a little 'Wild' at Borders tonight Jon Krakauer is the author of "Into the Wild," a c-aptivating true story of a young man who turns his back on civilization and heads north to Alaska. Krakauer reads at Borders tonight at 7:30. Hell also appear beforehand on WCBN (88.3 FM) radio's "Defending the Earth" program at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday March 12, 1996 5 khi comic is the Mac-daddy of laughs 'Def ComedyJam'regular thrills Fox audience By Eugene Bowen Daily Arts Writer It's not easy being a comic, but don't tell Bernie Mac. Comedy comes as eas- ily to this man as breathing; ask anyone who has laughed 'til they cried while *tching his routines. He is a favorite ot HBO's "Def Comedy Jam," as well as-many other stand-up outlets. Satur- day~night he showed Fox Theater audi- ences at two sold-out shows just how funny he is. Mac couldn't wait three seconds before he lit into the audience saying: "You Detroiters are the.most fur-coat- wearingest people I know." One of darkest brothas on the comic cir- t, Bernie Mac was also quick to bemoan Detroit's cold weather and contrasted it with Tampa's 100-de- gree temperature. Yet it was quickly apparent that relationship problems would be the Bernie Mac topic for discussion. He began by alluding to the days when, as a child, he had to account for ev- erything he did and everywhere he went: "Then young boys grow into tung men and they're free of all that slit. Then they get married, and they have to go through all that shit again. Now it's the wife keeping tabs on everything we're doing. They check our underwear. They buy us pagers so they can keep tabs. Then, as if their I REVIEW Bernie Mac Fox Theater March 9, 1996 nosey asses didn't already know too much, they order caller ID." Mac eventually returned to the past, reminiscing about his childhood. We cannot consider ourself familiar with his routines without recognizing his distinctive way of re-pronouncing words. Saying "momenchum" instead of momentum or "connegate" instead of congregate, Mac blames his parents for giving him this illiterate gene. "I used to hate when my teacher asked my parents to come to school. I'd prefer my mother because my dad would fuck up a word without mercy. If he came to my class, I'd be fucked with by the whole school for the rest of the year. "My mom wasn't much better, though. She ended every word with an 's.' She worked two jobs and all and couldn't afford tojust come to my school, but I didn't want my dad com- ing. She'd go, 'Lawds, Lawds. I's can'ts leaves works earlys. I's jus' can'ts.' "But I loved me some grandmama. Oh yeah. And, better yet, remember Big Mama. Not just mama or gran'ma or granny, but Big Mama. She always wore some ol' flowered dress and had a bad back and swole-up ankles. She'd slide her feet instead of walking every- where she went, humming spirituals along the way." Bernie Mac's two-hour stage antics caused nonstop laughter. He clowned about his crazy brother who, when he walks, takes up both aisles of the side- walk. He also humorously warned abu- sive men to quit battering their women - hinting at what might happen to brutal guys. He even had to deal with a slightly drunk-acting person in the audience who, mistaking him for the late comic great Robin Harris, started shouting his demands for some jokes about Be-Be's kids. Mac received the praises of both the largely-black audiences he per- formed before. Dressed to impress and known for their willingness to freely heckle anybody on stage who isn't up to snuff, those who packed the Fox would have been more than willing to shun Bernie Mac, had he deserved it. The standing ovation that greeted his farewell proved that he had delivered a first-rate show to one of the most nit-picky audiences pos- sible to perform before. Bernie Mac is all that, and that's all there is to it. "I love you, Robert Redford, I love you eveny though you're old." Outstandig cast is goo i -d news By Ryan Posly Daily Arts Writer In the past 30 years, Robert Redford has made a career out of playing the quintessential American romantic lead. How- ever, his mesmerizing star power comes not just from his virile, WASPish handsomeness, but also from his intelli- gence and the way he frustrates our expectations of the. romantic star. Still waters run deep for Redford, which means that what you see is not necessarily what you get. Michelle Pfeiffer displays a similar persona on screen, and Lucy' falls and lands in funny fluff By Christopher Corbett Daily Arts Writer Sarah Jessica Parkerin"IfLucy Fell" has one run-down life. This "Square Pegs" girl is like a cartoon character smeared flat by a steam roller. Lucy, having never been in love, will turn 30 in 30 days and is seeing idiots who, after a date, take 20-minute dumps in her bathroom. She - with her wide, thy smiles, droopy strands of hair nd astonished eyes - cracks us up. She - wallowing in disgust - can only laugh at the hellishness. Maybe not. She makes a deal with her roommate Joe: They will jump from the Brooklyn Bridge to a watery grave if they don't find real love by the end of the month. The enormous calendar painted across the wall of their apart- ent becomes a neat motif: We often them drawing yet another black 'X' as they count down to "Death Pact Day." Eric Schaeffer ("My Life's In Turn- around") does a good job on both sides of the camera. As the director, he keeps the humor sharp. For the most part, "If Lucy Fell" is less a corny date flick than a twisted, black comedy. He gives us many unexpected, hilarious moments throughout - such as when the silent ucy takes her turn (when out with yet other "idiot ... savant"), makes a wish - and gets it immediately. As Joe, Schaeffer gives us a quirky, upbeat performance. He obsesses over thefantastique Jane(Elle Macpherson) who, living across the way and having long, sleek legs and hair, makes him whistle "You, me, me, you." The pact gets him going. After a series of screw- ups, heeventually deals with his dream- trbie "properly," and then gives Lucy a hard time. She has to take risks also; because of their pact, she has to go out with any slob who asks. The film, after the pair makes their promise, takes off on a long, unbelievably funny stretch. Just as Joe tries to get with Jane, Lucy meets up with Bwick, played by Ben Stiller. A cross between Lenny Kravitz and Prince, he uses the word "art" as a verb to describe what he does for a l'ying. As a successful painter, he is so mn funny he steals the film. Because we've already seen her dis- mal luck and feel sorry for her because of it, we love when she hooks up with Bwick, whose over-the-top ridiculous- ness takes it all to another, even higher plane of insanity. You can practically see a hand grabbing the lever on the hot- water tank inside her and cranking it off the scale. In what may be the best scene of the tm, Lucy scopes Bwick's crib for the first time. He and his massive, morose, 1 REVIEW If Lucy Fell Directed by Eric Schaeffer with Sarah Jessica Parker and Eric Schaeffer At Briarwood and Showcase muscle-bound helpers "art" in front of her. Bwick, imbalanced and muddled earlier ("I dare for you not to have me call you" he had told her before, hand- ing her his number), now runs amok, slapping a monstrous canvas with paint and screaming at the top of his lungs, "I HATE THIS!" Thanks to the hilarious sequences with Lucy's and Joe's efforts, we for- give the film for stumbling on its way to the finish line. We get a few sub plots involving children at Joe's day-care center, and Lucy's jerky father, who blows her off. The two story threads aren't bad; they just feel unnecessary because we enjoy the four characters' relationships. We walk away satisfied, even though the conclusion of the death-pact story ends cheesily (Schaeffer switches from the spunk and funk he created earlier in the film to more of a conventional ro- mantic-comedy routine to resolve the movie). Sure,"If Lucy Fell" might leave a lot of people saying, "Like, gahg me with a spoon, oh-kah?" But if you take the film for what it is-mindless, often funny, fluff-you'll probably enjoy it. REVIEW Up Close :- and Personal Directed by Jon A vnet with Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer At Ann Arbor 1 & 2 and Showcase together she and Redford spark an intriguing blend of chemistry in Jon Avnet'sbroadcast- news-romance "Up Close & Per- sonal." A deftly directed but clum- sily written film, it tells the engrossing story of a young woman's meteoric her name to Tally, she quickly moves from desk clerk to weather girl to first-rate reporter under the tutelage of Justice. Her ambition is fierce, her raw talent plentiful and Justice's influence indispensable. Somewhere along the way, Tally and Warren fall in love. It is not the sappy kind of infatuation nor the passionate lust of most love stories. Rather, it is a sophisticated sort of attachment to each other that fluctuates realistically from strained to ardently happy. While Tally moves up in the industry, she motivates Warren to return to what he loves - field reporting - instead of continuing his decline by work- ing as a news director. Their relationship.is thus mutually beneficial: Warren gives Tally the knowledge and wisdom to make it to the top, and Tally gives Warren the courage and vigor to return to the life he left so long ago. As the film moves to itsbittersweet conclusion, it becomes clear that we are witnessing two extraordinary actors -not necessarily at their best, but on their game nonetheless. The film suffers from frequent bouts of weak dialogue ("Do you want to be with me?" "So much it hurts."), but Redford and Pfeiffer do their best to make it believable. Redford especially shines here as an aging news guru who has been out of the loop for some time. As he is looking for a new way into the business, whenever he hears an old name, Redford is forced to repeatedly say things like: "I haven't seen him since we covered Cambodia together." But Redford says it with just a hint of nostalgia and a touch of regret. He manages to shade his character, to show us glimpses into Warren that belie his surface. Pfeiffer, for her part, creates a likable protagonist for us to follow and root for, but it is Redford who draws our attention. The excellent supporting cast includes Stockard Channing See PERSONAL, Page 8 rise in the television news industry and the man who makes it possible. Sally Atwater(Pfeiffer)is anaive Reno casino craps dealer with dreams of becoming a star and moving herself and her sister from their trailer park to New York's Upper West Side, which she heard about on TV. So she fakes a demo tape and sends it across the country. Her only reply is from a small station in Miami, now run by former White House correspon- dent and respected hard-news reporter- with a name found only in the movies -, Warren Justice (Redford). Changing q F,1 i1 line 0 ~ ~, ""a "Wow, Ellel I'm excited. You're SO tall." 7'l r # Y '- . momp WY- S110 t e .,HtL41 y ; , . N" wdhU XXNN ~l~ ICR ~, N' 1 0 N ~ - . r'- -...-'-1 or fast relief from the nagging ache of taxes, we recommend TIAA-CREF SRAs. SRAs are tax- deferred annuities designed to help build additional assets-money that can help make the difference between living and living well after your working As the nation's largest retirement system, based on assets under management, we offer a wide range of allocation choices-from the TIAA Traditional Annuity, which guarantees principal and interest (backed by the company's claims-paying ability), t TTAA-CRFs diversified variable annuity or I , ~ *h u~ald~s..........