Uelw I~a ~ Another big visitor Kathlen Han , a University graduate and former recipient of this school's cherished Hopwood Award, returns to Ann Arbor today to share some of her celebrated poetry. The reading begins at 5 p.m. at Rackham Auditorium. Tuesday October 15, 1996 9 Perverse Tarantino style bleeds into crazy 'Curdled' Julia Shih For the Daily !Curdled. And I'm not talking about milk. I'm talk- ,ing about the blood that congeals after an outline has been drawn and the body has been taken away by the goner. As the newest Tarantino-istic offering from movie industry, "Curdled" comes packaged with all the blood, gore and perversion you can handle. - -But be warned: This is not a dinner-and-date movie. (Skip dinner unless you want to risk having your date see gnce again what you ate.) In fact, this is a come- on-an-empty-stomach-and-don't-eat-for-the-next- three-days type of movie. In _ _ _ order to fully appreciate this dark comedy, a strong stomach R and a warped sense of humor is dA y recommended. Gabriela (Angela Jones), is a young Colombian woman liv- ing in Miami who has a strange penchant for murders and serial killers. She is intrigued with the act of killing and keeps a large scrapbook containing newspaper articles about vari- ous murders from around the world. Her current obsession follows the works of a Miami serial killer 'dubbed The Blue Blood Killer, played by William Baldwin. The killer's signature involves torturously stabbing his victims multiple times, before finally *capitating them. While watching television, Gabriela spies an ad for th PF.C.S. (Post-Forensic Cleaning Service). She immediately quits her job and eagerly joins their ranks. As a member of PF.C.S., her job is to enter a crime scene after the *forensics team is through and clean up the mess. This includes the disposal of skull f'ragments and scrubbing off the "curdled" blood. For every one else, it is only a gruesome job. For Gabriela, r® G it is a fantasy come true. Filled with wide-eyed ques- tions and ponderings of the details of the murders, she makes her co-workers uneasy, as she spends much of her time discussing why or how the murders were committed. When the job of cleaning up a murder scene left by The Blue Blood Killer is up for grabs, Gabriela jumps at the chance, to the dismay of her partner. Unfortunately, it is also this crime scene that contains a clue which will reveal the identity of the killer, if found. With Gabriela at the scene to clean up and the killer returning to destroy the evidence, the plot leads inevitably to the meeting of the two. VIE£ W "Curdled" is the remake of a CUrded 1991 short film of the same name, written by Reb Braddock and John Maass, and directed At the State Theater by Braddock. Executive pro- duced by Quentin Tarantino, it shows definite signs of his influence, from the warped sense of humor to the multiple scenes of bloodbaths. This movie is another one which makes a person won- der: How many gallons of fake blood does a produc- tion team have to go through when Mr. Tarantino is involved? "Curdled" can be best compared to a "Tales From the Crypt" movie - it is thin on plot but extremely twisted. The film is fairly quick-paced, though the first hour seems to be devoted to an attempt at some sort of character development. Despite that, in the end, nobody really understands the motives of any of the characters. The cinematography is excellent: One highlight is a sequence in which Gabriela dances out a reenactment of a murder to the beat of festive Latino music, as Baldwin watches in the shadows. Jones, best known for her role in "Pulp Fiction" as Esmarelda Villalobos, plays the naively curious Gabriela well. Because we never really understand the reasoning behind her fascination with murder, we feel uneasy toward her character. She is a beautiful, seem- ingly innocent young woman who possesses some hidden yet extreme psychological derangement. One hysterical scene occurs when she passes out cookies to her co-workers, and one cookie, a headless ginger- bread man, catches a co-worker off-guard. Gabriela is a person who truly sees nothing wrong with her fasci- nation with gore, and Jones is able to play this intrigu- ing character convincingly. Baldwin's Blue Blood Killer is one that relies on (surprise, surprise) charm. He is the sexy yet danger- ous killer who enjoys the act of slaughtering socialites. The makers of this movie apparently believed that if they focused on Baldwin's good looks, the audience would forget to pay attention to his lack of acting skills. Nonetheless, Baldwin doesn't do much in this film except look seductive and occasion- ally butcher someone. MTV's Daisy Fuentes debuts in the film as a co- worker at P.F.C.S. Fuentes' acting is something straight out of a "Sweet Valley High" movie: forced and worthy of a good laugh. The whole premise of this film is to explore psy- chosis. The question is never who's crazy, but who's crazier. And from beginning to end, "Curdled" has a surreal quality about it. The opening credits are accompanied by festive music and various drawings of shootings and decapitations, foreshadowing the psychotic romp to come in the perverse final scene. Overall, this film is well-crafted and nicely shot, if the audience is able to see past the disgusting components to notice. As Baldwin exclaims after catching Gabriela dancing out the murder, "That's just about the sickest thing I've ever seen!" Billy Baldwin tangoes in "Curdled." He wants to be just like Al Pacino In "Scent of a Woman," but he never will, he never will. tiants' new 'Sowroo misses the mark hey Might Be Giants Factory Showroom Elektra "John Henry" started off as a bit of a disappointment to They Might Be Giants fans. The addition of an entire band at first seemed to detract from the Giants' original use of accor- dions, quirky lyrics and other strange fare. But, after seeing the album performed live, many unsure listeners were con- need that the album wasn't all bad. One can only hope that seeing the material performed live will work the same magic for "Factory Showroom," the Giants' latest album. Though they do retain the band, "Factory Showroom" seems to lose many of the distinctive traits of previous albums. The lyrics aren't as funny, the songs aren't as catchy and nearly all of them sound like what the Giants would for- iierly have put in the bin marked "B-Sides." Not surprising- ly, two of the songs have been culled from that exact place. But true fans need not fear. While "Factory Showroom" may be disheartening at first listen, it does have some standouts which are worthy of a second glance. @"Factory Showroom" begins with "S-E-X-X- Y"a clever funk parody with a disco flavor. Covering more uncharted territory, the Giants continue with "Till My Head Falls Off," a surf-style ditty that will leave you huimming long after the CD stops its rota- tibn. Unfortunately, this is where the fun stops, for the time being. Though the Giants get a boost from covering the Cub's "New York City," they lose for ridding the song of its riginal sexy appeal. "XTC vs. Adam Ant"'s title unds like it would be a winner, but the song is surpris- ingly unfunny. Fortunately, the Giants are redeemed by "I Can Hear You." Recorded on Thomas Edison's wax-cylinder equipment, the song pokes fun at to-fi voice transmitting devices through the ages. It is in this song that They Might Be Giants' true humor shines through with lines like, "I can 'supersize that, please bring your car around," and "You can hear a buzz, that I'm buzzing you in." This is the one song thaf'manages to be both elegant and witty and, unfortunately, 'urider two minutes. "The Bells Are Ringing" is another Giants classic with rapid lyrics, melody and a well-suited Network's 'Radiation' glows bright It is entirely possible that they are giants, just look at 'em! snare drum. As you can see, "Factory Showroom" is not with- out charm, but this charm is too little too late. Fortunately, They Might Be Giants will soon begin touring for this album and its quite possible that these songs will sur- prise listeners live. Unfortunately, for now, this album can be put at the bottom of the heap of the Giants' previously out- standing recordings. - Lise Harwin Sammy Tales of Great Neck Glory q DCG Sort of like New Coke to good old regu- lar, Sammy is to Pavement - a smoother, blander version of a classic. Sammy distills the half-mumbled, half sung vocals, loopy guitars, off-kilter percussion and sunny pop hooks that Pavement made their own, and slav- ish imitators that they are, Sammy can't chart the heights that Pavement reach. That said, Sammy's major-label debut "Tales of Great Neck Glory" is a fun, if derivative album. Singer Jesse Hartman has a cheeky, knowing style on songs like "Neptune Ave. (Ortho Hi Rise)" and "Blue Oyster Bay" that makes the group's five-finger discount style of song writing enjoyable as a sort of in-joke between Sammy and its audience. While it may not be the real thing yet, "Tales of Great Neck Glory" provides some entertaining listening. - Heather Phares See RECORDS, Page 11 By Angela Walker Daily Arts Writer If one were to have walked in on the middle of Nelson Smith's "Human Radiation" they would probably have walked right back out. The sight of a psychotic-looking guy in a suit using a bicycle pump to blow up a foot- ball-shaped bal- RI loon that is wedged in «7 Humi between two Perfor pages of a book is strange enough. Add to that chaotic background music and Smith chanting over and over again, "I can be a part of something;' followed by, "I'll just fill in the blanks." Not to mention that he was surrounded by crazy tech- nological devices that were strewn about on stage. At a glance, this could be really scary! "Human Radiation" used abstract means to explore the energy of human consciousness and to illustrate the idea that thought is an entity in itself. The set included a variety of small appliances and household objects that were designed to appear like a mysterious broadcasting station, an experiment lab and a ceremony space, simultaneously. Smith was the lone performer, the writer, the artist and the director, all wrapped into one. Smith's movement for the duration of the performance was consistently done in a slow, deliberate, robotic manner: This correlated well with the music, which was an eerie, rhythmic beat inter- spersed with disorderly background interfere~, e. It gave the performance a sort of surreal quality, a slight detach- ment from reality. Smith set off elec- tronics by flipping switches on the floor of the stage; with the absence of shoes this was easily accomplished by using his feet. However, it was not done sub- tly enough for the audience to fail to take notice. arrr Smith completely changed his visual image at two different points in the show. He first appeared dressed in a sophisticated dark-colored suit, then while on stage removed that outfit to reveal a pair of gray coveralls under- neath. Later, he stripped for the audi- ence again changing into a VIE W black body suit with various an Radiation earthy colored Trance Network .materials woven around it. This Oct. 10,'1996 was an interest- ing and efficient way to illustrate turning points in the show. A number of innovative things were done with the set itself. At the start of the performance the audience was greeted by a New-Age display of tech- nology. More than 40 suspended radios, numerous speakers, record turntables and a brain in a jar, among other things, contributed to this atmosphere. As the show moved along, doors in the floor of the stage were lifted and objects such as wooden logs, tele- phones and electric fans were revealed and used as part of the performance. Smith shocked the audience by setting three cordless telephones on fire with a book of matches. Objects on stage were constantly changing positions, and one object was often pulled from the depths of another, such as a tiny tape recorder from the heart of a fresh loaf of bread. The script was poetic and repetitive. Many times key phrases were empha- sized again and again in chant-like out- bursts. Sometimes such language was overdone and unnecessary and could easily have been shortened consider- ably without losing its meaning. The entire performance lasted a little over an hour, but might have been more See RADIATION, Page 10 Do You Miss8 Your Dog?*1 THEN 6O HOME &SEE HIM! Put an ad in the Homeward Bound section of unit eudrtN mNuu It's just $10 to find a ride or find riders to help split the Gas! , am I _________ READ Weekend M A G AY I N E EVERY THURSDA Y "f Wonder What Jobs Math Majors Get? Find out! Come to the Math Department's Career Day on Friday, October 18 and speak with Math alumni from a variety of career fields! PANEL DISCUSSIONS Fact o ro o wam RRA± o Best Prices rAAwjdl Dell and Vegetarian Sandwiches * Largest Men's & Women Selection on Campus aI __ u I i II