The Michigan Daily - Monday, February 10, 1997 - 9A-
4Peak' finish anticlimactic
By Prashant Tamaskar
Daily Arts Writer
Although regarded by most critics
and viewers as mindless fluff, "Twister"
will probably be remembered as the
most influential movie of 1996.
Inspired by the huge financial suc-
ess of the tornado
film, studios have
rediscovered theR
dister genre, '
niery 25 years
after blockbusters
like, "Airport" and At E
"Tee Towering
Inferno" were the big events of their
tirg. Following in their footsteps is
"J.nte's Peak," the first of a pair of vol-
o pictures planned for release in the
nxt few months. Despite an encourag-
ingbeginning, "Peak" melts faster than
plastic in a lava pit.
'The movie is essentially split into two
pas, the first of which is meant to set
up~he latter. When seismic activity reg-
isiMis near the small Washington state
town of Dante's Peak, the United States
Gelogical Survey sends Dr. Harry,
,,organ (Pierce Brosnan) to investigate
tmatter.
$fter examining the area and noticing
Forror boc
Windows to the Soul
J.M. Barlog
'Books
For parents who arewondering what
their kids have been up to since they hit
the. college scene, "Windows to the
Soul" is bound to make for some sleep-
less.nights.
According to the book's author, J.M.
Barlog, college is nothing but an evil"
lace filled with hardcore
*ugs, demonic sex
and a pinch of rock
'n' roll (actually, D:
just satanic
chants).
"Windows to
the Soul" is a
horror novel set on
a: secluded
Miowestern college cam-
p04 Ali Goodfellow is the school's
*aitiful track star, who turns up miss-
iabefore the academic year begins.
He- worried roommate, Trish Van
W'ften, searches for answers, leading
he:into a nightmarish web of horror
ae deception.
Windows to the Soul" is a book
3r
a few irregularities, Harry concludes that
the mountain overlooking the area may
be ready to erupt. He meets with Mayor
Rachel Wando (Linda Hamilton) to dis-
cuss the possibility of an evacuation.
However, the city council, concerned
that this may damage the town economi-
cally, decides
SV I E Wy against warning the
public, as evidence
ante's Peak begins to mount.
The purpose of
** this portion of the
arwood and Showcase movie is to develop
the central conflict,
which it does rather well. Obviously,
something is going to happen, but the
question is when. Director Roger
Donaldson maintains interest by keep-
ing the audience in anticipation of the
impending disaster. Wisely, the signs
pointing toward a catastrophe are bal-
anced by contradictory findings, mak-
ing the decision not to evacuate more
plausible.
We are not given the opportunity to
learn more about the film's central char-
acters. The only thing we know about
Harry is that he is tormented by the
death of his fiancee, who passed away
four years earlier during a volcano
eruption. This information supplies
enough motivation for us to believe
Harry's behavior. Yet, we still do not
know enough to understand the man.
Along similar lines, the surface of
Rachel's character is barely scratched. As
mayor, an entrepreneur and a single
mother of two, she should be a strong fig-
ure. Instead, she, like Harry, is overshad-
owed by the hulking presence of doom. If
we were more concerned about the char-
acters, our fear of the imminent eruption
would increase. But, by reducing people
to tools, the film lacks a human element
and remains slightly detached.
Unfortunately, this weakness com-
pletely weighs down the second half of
the movie. After some distressing envi-
ronmental changes, Rachel and the city
council call for a town meeting at the
urging of Harry and his colleagues.
During the gathering, the mountain
finally blows, creating a major panic.
As earthquakes cause buildings to
crumble and the lava begins to flow,
nearly everyone flees the scene.
Serving mostly as eye candy, this part
of the film lacks creativity, as every-
thing in sight explodes and the uneven
special effects quickly become tedious.
When the characters face death, they
Volcanologist Harry Morgan and Mayor Rachel Wando watch as Dante's Peak begins to erupt.
manage to escape by sheer luck, not by
being particularly innovative. An unsat-
isfactory resolution ruins the moments
of greatest drama.
Still, despite being burdened by shal-
low characterizations, Pierce Brosnan
and Linda Hamilton are convincing in
their respective roles. However, by them-
selves the actors cannot do enough to
keep the movie rolling, particularly as the
novelty of the volcanic blast diminishes.
With the release of "Dante's Peak,"
the first of 12 films with budgets of
more than $100 million scheduled to
play in theaters in 1997, the race to be,
the next "Independence Day" or
"Jurassic Park" has officially begun. If
this uninspired effort is any indication
of what is to come, this may just be the
year to stop going to the movies and
rediscover an old hobby.
)k does genre no justice
geared toward people in the 17- to 24-
year-old age group - in other words,
those post-Christopher Pike young
adults. The problem is that the book's
publisher, BAK Books, assumes that all
of us who grew up on Pike thrillers sub-
consciously desire the same junk we
read back in junior high.
For that reason, "Windows" caters to
those with short attention spans by
dishing out concise chapters with "cre-
ative" names like "School Daze" or
"Looking Everywhere," and each ends
with lines intended to imply
suspense. Big'whoop.
With its scary
cover and its
promising syn-
o p s i s ,
'"Windows" has
so much poten-
tial that sadly goes
untouched.
Contradictory facts with-
in the plot and the lack of likable char-
acters bring this book down. Even the
characters' motives and the novel's triv-
ial details cause a great deal of confu-
sion. Three weeks after her disappear-
ance, why does Ali's roommate seem
more concerned about her than do her
parents? When did fraternity parties
become places where the main activi-
ties are snorting cocaine and dropping
acid? And what the hell is a Bleat, a
term to which Barlog keeps referring?
There are just too many questions that
go unanswered.
Furthermore, a careful reader will be
able to pick up numerous errors in
punctuation and grammar, as if the pub-
lisher didn't care enough to edit this
book. These annoyances can be quite
distracting and often make this novel a
difficult one to read.
On the other hand, somewhere
around the last third of the text, the pace
picks up and the book actually becomes
exciting. When Trish and her boyfriend
Duffy delve deeper into her roommate's
mysterious disappearance, they are
sucked into a bizarre world filled with
perverted sex crimes, Colombian drug
lords and devil worshipping. The sus-
pense builds, and "Windows" becomes
hard to put down.
Nevertheless, this novel could really
use some improvement. The idea
behind it isn't bad, but somehow Barlog
doesn't do it justice. Though similar in
substance (suspense intertwined with
the supernatural) and structure,
"Windows to the Soul" attempts to pick
See BOOKS, Page I0A
Challenges for the 21st Century:
A review of the national conversation on race and gender equality
GlRISTOPHiiER EDLEY
Harvard Law & King/Chavez/Parks Visiting Profescor
Former Special Council to the President, White House Affirmative
Action Review Board
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11
Rackham Auditoruiu
7:00 PM
As part of African American Hertlage Month
"The Legends of Out People"
Sponsored by African American Programming Task rorce,
the Mack Law Student Alliance (BLSA), Black
Undergadute Law Association (BULA), and The Law School
FOR MORE INFO CALL:
MULTI-ETHNIC STUDENT AFFAIRS
313.763.9044
Announcing the
The 18th Annual
MICHIGAN
,
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1996-1997
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LEADERSHIP
AWARDS
CEREMONY
Honor the Wonders
Awards will be held April 15th from 4-6 pm in the MichIgan:: :
Union Ballroom.
The Committee cordially invites teuiest community to submitnmiais o'tse19W ner
Outstanding Student L
The Student Alumni Council will award stipends to five Outstar4dn
Outstanding New
Outstanding StudentOranization
Program of the e a
Get the low down on
the who's who of the
salarycharts...
Check out the .
Salay Sp 6 eent,
available
a NOW t
'~j~~ Slar
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" Advi
isor of the Year