The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 18, 1997 - 9 'Apocalypse' sparks laughs Holden (Ben Affleck) falls for Alyssa "Fingercuffs" Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), a lesbian artist in "Chasing Amy." Am' chases, catches success Smith's latest meshes dick jokes, human emotion °y John Ghos Daily Film Critic "OK, Holden. Time for a little test: Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, a man- .friendly lesbian and a man-hating les- bian are all walking down separate roads toward this four-way stop, see? Now tell me; which one gets to the does justice to the cliche, "you'll laugh - you'll cry!" In "Amy," Smith ambitiously push- es his talents beyond the trivial "hanging out" mode that defined his other movies, and he explores com- plex issues of identity, relationships and sexuality - specifically homo- 4ersection Tirst?" "I don't know, Panky. I'm gonna gtess the man-hat- ng' esbian." "Right. Know *hy?" 2"No, do tell." Z"Because the othe ients of your fucking WAnd so we meet B m-e crass but lovabl vo Kevin Smith's "C Aiariously naughty sharp humor, pensive therglorious return o Bob. "Amy," the third Smith's so-called "Ne ("Clerks" "Mallrats") successfully meshes h 'kes with sincere hur ne moment you're s fortably next to your not to laugh - the ne -holding her hand, look and telling her that sh Amy" is that rare phobia. REVIEW Yet Smith's approach was not Chasing Amy at all heavy-hand- ed. For instance, **** the film quickly At Ann Arbor 1 & 2 and Showcase gets rolling with Banky (a brilliant Jason Lee) swapping oral sex war- r three are fig- stories with the seductive Alyssa imagination!" Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), a lesbian anky and Holden artist he and Holden (Ben Affleck) e main characters have just met at the comic book con- hasing Amy" a vention they're attending. flick that boasts Holden, who is disappointed by commentary and Alyssa's sexual orientation, eventually f Jay and Silent befriends the beautiful charmer, and the two develop a relationship that cau- installment of tiously develops into romantic love. w Jersey Trilogy" Banky becomes frustrated and jeal- ), is a movie that ous at the thought of losing his lifelong is trademark dick friend to a converted lesbian and con- man emotions. At flict erupts on various levels. The con- quirming uncom- flict deepens when a jealous Banky date, pretending asks Holden why Alyssa, who claims xt moment you're that Holden is the only man she's ever ing into her eyes, slept with, was called "fingercuffs" in e completes you. high school. movie that truly Still, in-between his lesbo jokes and "fingercuffs" stories, Smith raises some intriguing questions on and off the screen. "Chasing Amy" possesses a genuine authenticity, an honest feeling of trust that is probably a result of Smith's per- sonal attachment to this film -- Smith met Adams on the set of "Mallrats"; he has been dating her for more than two years; and he based "Amy"'s script on his tumultuous relationship with her. So, not only is "Amy"'s male lead based on the director, but the female lead (Adams) is, in essence, playing herself. It's no wonder that Adams plays her part with such honesty. But to her credit, it was probably very dif- ficult to play such a deeply personal role - a role from which she had lit- tle professional distance. The other cast members are wonder- ful, as well. Jason Lee, formerly a world-class skateboard champion, plays the homophobic Banky with deft cyni- cism, sardonic wit and perfect comic timing. Ben Affleck is solid, too, and even the film's music, done by Soul Asylum's Dave Piner, rocks. But it's Smith's uncanny under- standing of colloquial language that allows these actors to succeed. "Amy"'s production, through indie studio Miramax, cost $250,000, prov- ing that a screenwriter can succeed with "mere" language. Like life, Smith's tale revolves around people and their conversations, and it thrives because of it. "Chasing Amy" does not have artis- tic or visual profundity, or a cross- cultural, universal appeal. It is not well-polished (Smith's lax editing techniques are reminiscent of a poet who grows so attached to his work, he refuses to revise) and it does periodi- cally lapse into cheeseville - but all these shortcomings are irrelevant because Smith's film speaks to us - we walk away changed. His film is endearing, frustrating, disturbing and - let's not lose our focus - funny as hell. Apocalypse Wow! James Finn Garner Simon & Schuster So what are your plans for the night of December 31, 1999, which some believe will mark the end of the world? If you are planning to party your brains out in honor of the apocalypse, you may want to reconsider. Because according to author James Finn Garner, the year 2000 may not necessarily mark the end of civilization. In the well-written and humorous book, "Apocalypse Wow!," University alumnus Garner explores the many different aspects of the apocalypse, as well as the art of prophesizing. Scholars will appreciate the book's intelligent style, and all readers will appreciate the abundant laughter it delivers. Garner first discusses the theories of the most famous prophets, from the 16th-century seer Nostradamus (who allegedly foresaw the death of the Kennedy brothers and the rise of Hitler), to the American prophet Edgar Cayce (the "Sleeping Prophet") who would make predictions while in a light trance. Garner is good about providing infor- mation on each of the legendary prophets, but even better at mockingly poking holes in their reputations as clairvoyants. For example, Garner questions whether Nostradamus really meant the Kennedy brothers, or perhaps another influential trio such as ... the Three Stooges? After putting these prophets' credi- bility to shame, Garner then details his own attempts at prophesizing the end of time. From crystal balls to cephaloman- cy (the art of "reading of omens that appear when a donkey's head is severed and boiled"), Garner gives readers an unbiased account of how soothsaying techniques work ... or actually, don't work. The rest of the book is devoted to an exploration of New Age theories, the zodiac, the power of crystals and other wacky apocalypse-related things. Whether or not you believed in the accuracy of the various predictors before, you'll probably take them with a grain of salt after reading this section. But Garner discusses all the aspects of prognostication in an informative man- ner, along with some successful ridicule. Garner, who is also the author of the best-selling "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories" and "Politically Incorrect Holiday Stories," has proven that he is king of the irrever- ent. This funnyman is out to prove that he can take what's grim (or Grimm), and extract light humor from it. One incredibly hilarious part of "Apocalypse Wow!" discusses a par- ticular discovery: When the distance from the entrance of the Great Pyramid to a stone inside it is mea- sured in "pyramid inches," you get the date of the end of the world - September 17, 2001. But in an ingeniously smart-ass fash- ion, Garner also points out his discov- ery that when you measure the distance in "hot dog inches" from Yankee Stadium's backstop to the terminal wall, you also get the date of the end of the world - the year 2000. Coincidence? I think not. Garner is also hysterically funny when he describes his experience channeling into his past lives. He finds out that he was not only a long-dead dolphin king named Kikki Kiikki Kuk XI, but also someone who ® went by the name of Cleopatra. As Garner says in his Journal, "I was tall and beautiful, with supple brown skin. I had many enemies. I wielded great power, and men cow- ered when confronted with my strength and beauty. I wore silks and furs, and was a crack shot with a .38 caliber." No, he wasn't the famous Egyptian queen Cleopatra, but Tamara Dobson's Cleopatra Jones - black, bad, beautiful and hell on the drug pushers in Harlem. "Apocalypse Wow!" does get a little hokey and loses its point near the end, but it nevertheless remains fun to read from the first to last page. Rather than worry about the end of the world, we should first read "Apocalypse Wow!" Then, if the world ends, at least we'll have gotten a good laugh out of it. - Julia Shih Arkansas David Leavitt Houghton Mifflin David Leavitt opens "Arkansas," his new collection of novellas, with a quote from Oscar Wilde: "I should like to flee like a wounded heart into Arkansas.' Appropriately, the three novellas that compose the book address themes of escape and retreat. Leavitt's protago- nists are all in hiding places, but even there, none can prevent complex events "from overtaking them. "The Wooden Anniversary," for example, describes the uneasy reunion of two old friends in an idyllic Tuscan setting. And in "Saturn Street," a man who drifts into volunteering at an AIDS charity unexpectedly falls in love with an AIDS patient. Though these are both engaging stories, the best novella in the collec- tion - and definitely the most origi- nal - is "The Term Paper Artist."tis narrated by a character named Dayid Leavitt, who states a central issueof the story: "Writers often disguise their lives as fiction. The thing they almost never do is disguise fiction as their lives." Leavitt's story follows his biography- Uqto a point: - The character D a v i d Leavitt is a writer who lives in r seclusiont',fter causing a lishing scandal. At this point, however, the fictional events take an unexpected turn: Leavitt's character begins writing term papers for college students in exchange for sex. "The Term Paper Artist" is ,witty, sharply written and carefully crafted. Nonetheless, it has already ignited another literary scandal. Esquire bought the rights to the story, then refused to run it, stating that its content was too explicit; Esquire's literary editor resigned in protest. The resulting furor of publicity will no doubt boost sales of "Arkansas" if only because readers want to see what all the fuss was about. But the literary gossip and large-type headlines are unnecessary; "Arkansas" can stand on its own merits. In each novella, Leavitt displays creative plotting and smooth, clear writing. His characters are flaw'ed, believable people; even their most inexplicable actions make sense, in terms of their personalities, and thus they begin to seem not so improba- ble. As a collection of novellas, "Arkansas" may not seem as substantial or important as a full-length novel would. But, until Leavitt writes another such novel, readers can be satisfied with the finely wrought realism in "Arkansas." -Elizabeth Lucas i AGAIN Il COUP ETS 1 15-.1. Universit nd Floor FLLNI,s BOOKSTORE Call Grade A Notes @ 741-9669 Course packets conveniently sold at Ulrich's Bookstore & Michigan Book & Supply. 549 E. Secon Dwight Ewell, Ben Affleck and Jason Lee star in Smith's latest, "Chasing Amy." r-a YOUR TEXTBOOKS t. F "'DU rtc. E.1-,MON Y k Y" t 4StA5 4V ,f>, Put the paper chase behind you... Finish all your reports with us! FREE MONEY =FEE STUFF 9 - \ j"1 .. ; a.eb' L 71 _ _f N