1QA - The Michigan Daily - Monday, February 3, 1997 'Gridlock'd' promises a smooth ride Solid performances by Roth, Shakur bring film success By Prashant Tamaskar Daily Arts Writer Already a tale of nearly legendary proportions, the strange and unusual saga of late rapper/actor Tupac Shakur continues with the posthumous release of "Gridlock'd." The film takes a RI gritty, sincere look at the lives of two heroin junkies who V are trying to termi- nate an addiction that dominates their existence. Shakur is Spoon, the bassist in a three-person, spoken-jazz band, who, along with mates Stretch (Tim Roth) and Cookie (Thandie Newton), lives for. the thrill of the high. When Cookie lands in. an emer- gency room due to < an overdose, , Spoon and Stretch N. vow to quit by entering a detox program the next E rehab center isn't as easy as it seems, especially without medical insurance. Frustrated by all the bureaucratic hoops through which they have to jump to attempt to straighten out their lives, the protagonists hastily return back to their ® _smack dealer, who SVIEW is later murdered. Spotted at the GridloCk'd scene of the crime, Spoon and Stretch *** become the police's At Showcase prime suspects. In addition, they are stalked by the true killers, who are searching for some missing heroin. Believing that everything will turn out all right if they can just enter detox, the lead characters continue to seek assis- tance with their drug problem, while avoiding the cops and the bad guys. At the heart of "Gridlock'd," like so many other sub- stance addiction films, is the strug- gle to cease usage. But, writer/direc- tor Vondie Curtis Hall offers a twist. Is Hall What if the failure to quit is due more to the inability of society to offer proper help than to a per- sonal weakness on the part of the addicts? In presenting this idea, Hall leads his characters from government office to government office on a wild-goose chase that is meant to infuriate both them and the audience. In contrast to the almost optimistic outlooks of Spoon and Stretch, an air of helplessness is created, as the viewer empathizes with the plight of a couple of downtrodden stiffs. While they are trying to change their lives, they receive little help from a system that is supposed to support them in a time of need. The sense of powerlessness increases when Spoon and Stretch find them- selves mired in a murder case. However, to his credit, the director always keeps the focus of the film on the addiction and not on what would be a more conventional (and less interest- ing) action sub-plot. The two most affected by all of the governmental red tape, Spoon and Stretch have an intriguing, brotherly relationship. Collectively, they form a unit - with varying personality traits meant to complement each other. Spoon and Stretch are held together by an addiction that probably forged the friendship at its beginnings. Their bond, however, is extremely deep and tran- scends both race (an element that thank- fully isn't emphasized) and drugs. Shakur and Roth have excellent chem- istry and do a commendable job of bringing the two junkies to life. Shakur, in moving away from his gangster per- sona, brings a serene composure to his more assertive, level-headed character. He fully captures the frustration, desper- ation and hope that simultaneously over- come Spoon throughout the film. Fueled by the actor's charisma, we understand that he is not a bad person, but instead someone who was merely led astray. Roth is effective in playing the more difficult of the two parts. Stretch, who is kind of a loose cannon, doesn't want to stop using heroin, but he only does so because he knows that Spoon can't quit without him. With his honest delivery, and restrained facial expressions, Roth adroitly expresses the physical anguish that plagues a person who is making the ultimate sacrifice for his friend. Driven by Hall's skillful writing and direction, the lead actors' solid perfor- mances and a soundtrack that tells a story in and of itself, "Gridlock'd" is a creative, intelligent production of an Music disa By Christopher Tkaczyk Daily Arts Writer The musical theater world is not something to be taken lightly. To achieve success, a musical theater per- former must have the balanced quali- ties in all of the areas that encompass the field: drama, song and dance. Withl 1three morning. The two find out, however, that entering a drug Director Vondie Curti Several true-blue gems save Seals' latest Son Seals Son Seals Live, Spontaneous Combustion Alligator Records Son Seals, like the late Albert Collins, Lonnie Brooks, Buddy Guy and Luther Allison, is a part of the great tradition of urban-blues musicians of the post-B.B. King generation. For many years, musi- cians like Seals have labored in obscuri- ty on small labels (like Alligator) to keep the tradition of the urban blues alive. That is to say, keep it alive until the folk festival circuit "rediscovers" it again. What disappoints me is that I've heard Seals play better than this. Some of the sides he cut in the early '70s are great examples of blues/funk/rock fusion (it sounds better than I just described it). Seals has a gift for rhyth- mically propulsive guitar lines and vocals that gently tread the boundary between grit and grace. Which is not to say that the album is without merit. Quite the opposite. Seals displays much of the same emotive ability that has made him a darling of the "chitlin circuit" But the record is spotty. Several of the tunes get bogged down in a rock 'n' roll sensibility that robs the music of its behind-the-beat ease. Tunes like "Your Love Is Like A Cancer" and "Crying For My Baby" have a C rushed feel about them that takes away from the slow moody nature of Seals' vocals. Similarly, on the most rock-oriented tunes, organ is substituted for piano, giving the songs a wide, garish sound. Redeeming the album are stellar tracks like "I Need My Baby Back," "Every Goodbye Ain't Gone" and Lowell Fulson's excellent "Trouble, Trouble." Here, the band seems to relax into a blues groove in which it is obviously more comfortable. Seals' piercing, urgent guitar work is sup- plemented by some able work at the piano on these tracks, especially in "I Need My Baby Back." This is where Seals' true talent lies: In making the nuts and bolts of the song subordinate to his own emotional powers. If you can get through the crossover tracks, the true-blue gems are-well worth the wait. This is not an album for blues neo- phytes. But people who are already afi- cionados of urban blues and who like powerful live recordings will be pleased with this one. -.James Miller Catherine Hot Saki & Bedtime Stories TVT Records "Hot Saki & Bedtime Stories" is an album that has it all. Catherine has composed 14 psychedelic-glam pop songs, ranging in topic from absolute debauchery to the innocence of a child- hood fantasy. This Chicago band's style of candy- coated lyrics and experimen- tal music is easy to swal- low, and, not surpris- q dingly, tasty to the last drop. At times, Catherine might sound like the Smashing Pumpkins; at others, the Beach Boys, Foo Fighters or mellowed-out John Lennon. Regardless, Catherine has skillfully com- bined acoustic and electric guitars with just enough inventive musical tricks to produce a unique sound that stands alone. "Four Leaf Clover" this album's first single, is a song about summertime I Son Seals plays the urban blues. relationships and the allusions that are attached. For the song, Catherine employed D'Arcy (Smashing Pumpkins) to sing this duet with singer/guitarist Mark Rew. Although they are not Sonny and Cher, this song is still excellent, and it will have its lis- teners wondering why Billy Corgan doesn't shut up sometimes and let D'Arcy take over. The song "Vegas Glam" is based on Catherine's gambling misfortunes dur- ing its last tour. Rew sings it like so many others have before: "I'm ready to lose everything." Staying on the topic of vice, Rew sings, "With all the drugs I've been dropping ..." on "Punch Me Out." "Pink Floyd Poster" is a humorous song about getting stoned and trying so hard to find revelations in the posters of the '70s. One can try so hard that the intoxication becomes irrele- vant. One of the most beautiful songs on "Hot Saki & Bedtime Stories" is "Sign of the Cross." Rew originally played the song for his infant son. He liked it so much that it appears on the album. When he sings, "You're not sucking my blood, you're sucking your thumb," it's all about his son's fascination with vampires, not some freaky gothic theme. Catherine has created a wonderful album that covers just about every base. It's just as the title implies: There's probably nothing better than "Hot Saki & Bedtime Stories" for the soul. - Brian M. Kemp the musical play R becomes a power- ful storyteller that can alter an audi- ence's emotions or destroy its precon- ceived views. The Basement Arts production of "Assassins" was a slap in the face to its composer, Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim musicals are not intended to be simply acted; they are written as pieces of theater that combine song, story and art with highly developed characters. "Assassins" is a show that looks at the men and women who have attempt- ed the life of presidents, and it illus- trates them as humans who are in search of the American Dream. While heartily attempting to present an excel- lent production of an excellent show, director Randy Kurstin and his random cast of misfits presented an evening of mixed performances. Still, to mount a production of a Broadway musical requires a large amount of talent and experience. The task taken by Kurstin and company was not a small one, and they should be commended for their intentions. While there were a few shining moments from some cast members, the show was a large disappointment. Kurstin's intentions to direct the musical arose after witnessing the orig- inal off-Broadway production in 1991. He said the show he experienced didn't tie together well, and it was more of a review than an actual play. If his intentions were to create some- thing different, he did accomplish something. Definite characters were created by the 12-member cast, making the production bearable. However, there weren't many shining moments during any of the musical numbers, save the ensemble of five who were on- stage for a limited number of scenes. Some of the better performances I Tim Roth and the late Tupac Shakur take a break from the action in "Gridlock'd." overdone topic. But even more memo- late Tupac Shakur, begins to quest* rable than the film's quality is the and regret the ill-fated situation in almost surreal experience of viewing it. which he has found himself, the movie Managing to be cruelly ironic, particu- serves as just another tragic example of larly when Spoon, as portrayed by the life imitating art. ppoints in 'Assassins' were given by Laura Heisler, who hilar- Garfield's assassin) was one of thisp' iously portrayed Lynette "Squeaky" duction's strongest points. GreenfiU Fromme, and Kelly Gillespie, who used his lack of vocal ability to human- made an over-the-edge housewife out ize Guiteau, and he won audience of Sara Jane Moore. Fromme and approval with his rendition of Guiteau's Moore were the conspirators who death song, which became a funny look unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate at a somewhat somber event. President Gerald Ford. The women's Jason Lindner's characterization of failure was hilari- Franklin Delano Roosevelt's attempted E V I E W ously overplayed assassin, Giuseppe Zangara, was anoth- when Fromme's er fine performance. However, the Assassins gun failed to fire, important scene of Zangara's death and Moore desper- hushed by the overly loud music P Arena Theater ately began throw- vided by the show's orchestra. While Jan. 31. 1997 ing bullets at the seated on the electric chair, Zangara's bumbling Gerald final lines of "flip the switch" were Ford. drowned out by the music and the loud A new turn that Kurstin provided in ensemble cast. While the exchanges the production was the casting of the between Zangara and the ensemble role of the Balladeer, who serves as the were powerful, they were hard to under- show's narrator. In the original off- stand, due to Lindner's strong Italian Broadway production, the role was accent and his inability to overpower played by a banjo-strumming man. the rest of the onstage spectacle. However, Kurstin decided to cast a The best acting of the evening caS woman as the Balladeer. Jackie Urso, from the show's director, Randy this production's Balladeer, failed to Kurstin, who took his turn onstage as conjure the character of the American Samuel Byck, the hijacker who spirit. While her different costumes of attempted to fly a 747 into the White red, white and blue helped to indicate House while Richard Nixon was in her role in the office. Kurstin's production, she Byck was highly didn't portray . g' detailed, and he the Balladeer T abein, O depicted the with feeling, character w often appearing t came Byck's qui stiff and awk- the paced mono- ward. Her voice, from show s logues were though beautiful Irector, Randyve x c e I I e n t at some points, spouted out by sounded strained KtnKurstin in what while singing the were some of the Balladeer's high- finer scenes of er chords. the evening. Another disappointment in the cast One of the evening's surprises was the was the performance given by beginning of the performance, when the Bernardo De Paula, who portrayed the show's musical director, Matth show's most important asset, John Witten, gave a touching rendition of te Wilkes Booth. De Paula's Booth simply National Anthem. The inclusion of the lacked emotion. While, at times, he anthem was a good way for the audience hinted at having a good singing voice, to realize that what they were about to he didn't use it to complement his char- witness was not just a piece of theater; it acter, who passionately acts out of con- was a piece of American theater. tempt to "kill the man who killed (his) The show deals with strong, emo- country." De Paula's performance of ,tional subjects that plague American "The Ballad Of Booth," along with society. While the cast and its ensem- Urso, was a weak one. ble gave excellent acting, the singi Adam Greenfield is an excellent was a large disappointment for ww actor; however, he is not a singer. His otherwise could have been a powerful portrayal of Charles Guiteau (James production. U ~ See. Be seen. Get paid for it. Be seen where the best people meet to enjoy great food and a lively bar. Best of all what they'll see is you enjoying a great workplace; excellent benefits and flexible schedules. Send us your resume today, because everyone here wants to see you succeed! Beta Alpha Chapter SCHOLARSHIP Remaining Rush Events Games N ghjt Feb. 3 7 p.m. Throw Down Feb. 4 7 p.m. Greene Lounge, EQ Touchdown Cafe Interested in reviewing TV and multimedia? Call Kelly at 763-0379 or stop by the Daily Arts Office. Now. To be eligible to rush PHI SIGMA PI co-ed national honor frateminty you must have at least a 3 0 GPA and between 12 and 95 credits, For more information, contact us at rayessj(dumich.edu L ewe 6- ®®® ®U E U r- PANSmMa Iy BEACH, FL --1 I I