ft Odytow R(du Replicants run rampant in A2 "Blade Runner," director Ridley Scott's 1982 classic science-fiction film, will be returning to Ann Arbor's Michigan Theater for a limited engagement this week. Harrison Ford stars in this mesmerizing, technical masterpiece that should not be missed on the big screen. Today's showing is at 4:15 p.m. Student admission is $5. Monday April 8, 1996 Year tbis:'Thimal' disappoints By Prashant Tamaskar Daily Arts Writer Imagine what would have happened if halfway through the O.J. Simpson trial, Johnny Cochran or Robert Shapiro discovered, contrary to their original beliefs, that their client was guilty of the-crime he was being charged with. How would they have reacted? This ntral question lies at the heart of"Pri- mal Fear," a clumsy courtroom drama / psychological thriller directed by Gre- gory Hoblit. } When one of Chicago's most revered archbishops is brutally murdered and a suspect is arrested, Martin Vail (Rich- ard Gere a successful defense attor- REVIEW Primal Fear Directed by Gregory Hoblit with Richard Gere and Laura Linney At Briarwood and Showcase ney, decides to pursue the case and the spotlight it projects. Although at first the egotistical Vail does not concern himselfwith the truth, he develops genu- ine compassion forhisseeminglyharm- less client, Aaron Stampler (played masterfully by Edward Norton), who was an altar boy in the archbishop's church choir. Moreover, there appears to be a lack of motive, as the defendant had nothing but love and respect for the slain religious leader who had picked the homeless Aaron off the streets and given him a place to live. However, as the trial moves on and Vail conducts more ofhis own research, the evidence begins to pile up against his client. A motive is revealed when the lawyer finds out that the perverse archbishop used to videotape Aaron and others performing sexual acts. Yet Vail still can't believe that the soft- spoken, polite suspect would have been able to murder anyone. That is, until the lawyer meets "Roy," Aaron's violent alter ego, who proudly admits to the crime. Vail is left trying to figure out how to defend a murderer, while trying to do what is best for the kind Aaron, all without losing the case and bruising his ego. The core of "Primal Fear" deals with corruption, sex and multiple personali- ties (what is this: a TV movie?). Al- though this has been done many times before, it doesn't seem as if the film- makers care. What the movie tries to do is dig deep into the psyche of not only the suspect, but also the slimy lawyer defending him (playing such a scum is not much of a stretch for Richard Gere). Unfortunately, it does not do this very well. All we find out about Aaron is that he was abused as a child, and the creation of Roy allows the mild man- nered boy to vent his anger. Come on, tell us something we don't know. At least the characterization of Vail is a bit more complex. Placed in a diffi- cult situation, his attitudes and actions oscillate significantly. First, all he cares about is victory and notoriety. Then, all he wants to do is help Aaron. Then, he wants to save Aaron and fix some per- sonal vendettas while winning. Finally, he wants justice. Yet in the end, what prevents the film from totally bombing is its conclusion. The completely uncreative, nearly laughable happenings manage to finally stumble their way toward the finish. Then, when it appears that an annoy- Richard Gere informs young Edward Norton to eat all his fruits and vegetables. ingly neat ending has been tacked on, subsequent events add a final twist that leave eyebrows arched and mouths wide open. For a brief second there is a sense of satisfaction that negates anything else that took place over the previous two hours. Still, despite the ending, it is difficult to overlook the rest of the film. Not that the production is of very low quality, rather, it manages to be extremely for- gettable. And it's also hard to ignore the obvious Simpson trial references. The media is obsessed with the case, a knife is the weapon of choice, there is a televised chase scene, the judge has many Ito-esque qualities, Vail could have been based on a dream team lawyer, and there is even a star- tling conclusion to the trial. Unfortu- nately, the one thing "Primal Fear" does not copy from the Simpson case that it could really use, is excitement leading up to the finale. This just goes to show that occasionally CNN can be more interesting than a movie. "How 'bout a little habeas corpus?" Beat's Ginsberg hits Hill Auditorium in style Fugees She Score Ruffhouse/Columbia Records I don't get it. Am I like the only person who wasn't surprised when Fugees' sophomore LP was released, and it was the bomb? It seemed like everybody was shocked when this trio released what is, to date, the best-flow- ing rap album of the year (yes, even etter than 2PAC's). Granted, the Fugees' freshman re- lease, 1994's "Blunted on Reality," was all right, but it wasn't all that. Yet some cuts on that album - like "Some Seek Stardom" and "Giggles" - hinted that when the Fugees returned, their next album would be off the hook. And is it ever. So what if it took them two years to get their act together. "The Score" is definitely worth the wait. 4.auryn has axed the weaved-in braids she sported on the last album in favor of the short, curly, more natural look. Homegirl is fine; everyone is talkin' 'bout her. She remains accompanied by her-two Haitian compadres, Wyclefand Prakazrel (Pras), and many bemoan this. I don't get this either. These guys have always based their political and so- cially conscious songs on their beliefs of black unity and support, and their fans are trying to get them to split up. * Besides, I don't think the guys are bad rappers. Listen to the brothas flow on the title track and on "How Many Mics." These guys are definitely above par in what they do. The only thing Lauryn has over them is her singing ability. I knew she could blow ever since I heard herperform "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" on "Sister Act 2." With her sweetly sung "Killing Me Softly" emake, Lauryn continues to show that, apping or singing, she knows what's up. She has by now replaced Junior Mafia's Li'l Kim as the new woman in rap to watch. But Pras and Wyclef should most definitely not be overlooked. One great Fugees change easily heard on "The Score" is the lack of pot refer- ences. This was perhaps "Blunted on Reality"'s biggest weakness. The Fugees were trying to spit deep lyrics about important topics while simulta- *eously putting marijuana on a pedestal that only Cypress Hill hasbeen able to do. But, I doubt the three have changed theiropinion about the drug (they looked blunted as hell when they performed live on MTV). Now we have the Fugees bringing us to a more sober reality about everything from the government and inner-city despair ("Family Business") to poverty and homelessness ("Mista Mista"), and more so about the fact that too many of us could care less about it. The Fugees are the newest hot com- modity of hip hop. They have produced a tight album that will definitely perk up some ears. There ain't enough nice things to say about this album. It's phatter than phat; it's doper than dope. It'll renew your love of the rap art. - Eugene Bowen Drill Drill DV8 Records Drill continues in a fine tradition of pure, unadulterated bad music; it is a band that seems to purposely try to annoy the hell out of you. They try so hard that I had to give them half a star for effort alone. But beyond that, this album is just a joke. Let's start with lead singer, Lucia Cirafelli, a sort of patchwork she-Fran- kenstein of female vocalists. She's kind enough to show you herpink-and-black underwear three times in the liner notes, all while sucking her thumb, wearing herbest plasticized, black leather outfit and sporting a bitchy stare that would put Shannen Doherty to shame. And the vocals aren't what you would expect; they're much, much worse. She's a twisted vocal hybrid of Courtney Love, Alanis Morisette and Ani DiFranco, which translates into the kind of grating whines that could frighten large wood- land creatures. As if the vocals weren't obnoxious enough, they're laid over a mix of chunky guitar books and a sludge-prone rhythm section. In other words, the music is stuck in a sort of '80s glam / grunge limbo, which is not a pleasant place to be. Things get particularly unpleasant on the single "I Like You." To directly See RECORDS, Page 8A By Jacob Kart night's performance at the Hill Audito- For the Daily rium proved that he is about much more "Allen Ginsberg is about confused than that. Ginsberg read poems new mind writing down newspaper head- and old, sang with two different back- lines from Mars." This line from ing bands and discussed Buddhist teach- Ginsberg's recentpoem "Is About" cap- ings in a benefit for Jewel Heart, which tures much of his appeal, but Friday also included a blistering performance by rock-poet legend Patti Smith. Smith, introduced by Ginsberg as "one of the pioneers of spoken poetry and music," took the stage for the first half of the show. With a new album completed last week, a newly pub- lished book of poems and a massive tour planned for the near future, she appears ready for a return to the public eye from her "meditative cave" of the '80s. Her act was ragged and unorga- nized at times, but always inspiring. Smith was an intimidating presence on stage, despite her frail figure. She read several poems with gritty power, while her musical performances soared. The dirge-like "Walkin' Blind" from the "Dead Men Walking" soundtrack was a highlight of the evening, fol- lowed by a seeningly improvised poem with the repeated mantra, "The people have the power, the power to dream." Her impassioned beatnik call for em- powerment was met with wild ap- plause, and Smith rode this wave of emotion throughout the rest of the evening. Smith's newer songs, especially "Gone Again," written with her late husband Fred "Sonic" Smith of the MC5, were delivered with surprising punk ferocity for an all-acoustic band. But there was no doubt that the night really belonged to Allen Ginsberg. With his already legendary status rising due to the recent revival of beatnik culture, REVIEW Allen Ginsberg Hill Auditorium April 5, 1996 Ginsberg seemed determined to be un- predictable. He read only two short po- ems from the era of "Howl" and "Kaddish" (which he had read the previ- ous two years), preferring to focus on recent work, including Patti Smith-in- fluenced pairings of poetry and song. Ginsberg opened with two Buddhist- inspired songs in tribute to his spiritual teacher Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche, the founder of Jewel Heart. He accompa- nied the soulful "Father Death Blues" with rudimentary accordion work, backed by a viola and a stand-up bass. In a lighter vein was "Do the Meditation Rock," which managed to poke fun at Buddhism while describing the medita- tion process in great detail. The audi- ence clapped along to Ginsberg's Dylan- esque vocals and lines like "I fought the Dharma and the Dharma won." Rinpoche was then invited on stage to "submit himself to some American in- terrogation." Responding to Ginsberg's teasing demand to know "what kind of trip you are laying on everybody," Rinpoche described the purpose of Jewel Heart as "to serve and to share the See GINSBERG, Page 8A Allen Ginsberg performed at Hill Auditorium Friday evening. Don't Panic!! If you think you're pregnant... call us-we listen, we care. PROBLEM PREGNANCY HELP 769-7283 Any time, any day, 24 hours. Fully confidential. Serving Students since 197Q. I i STUDY ABROAD IN ISRAELi FOR CREDIT THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY I BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY C.a" .: <. .. iii r ' 1 V : ,aiaiiir