Bob Fosse's Oscar-winning 1972 musical, "Cabaret" bows tonight.
Starring Liza Minelli and Joel Grey, "Cabaret" documents the lives of
singers and dancers struggling to survive in Nazi Germany during
World War II. Presented in conjunction with the Film/Video Studies
Department, "Cabaret" screens this evening at 6:30 and tomorrow
at 7 p.m. Admission is $5.

9A

Monday
November 24, 1997


JNXS frontman Michael Hutchence
dies of apparent suicide in Sydney

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - INXS lead singer
Michael Hutchence apparently committed suicide
Saturday at a Sydney hotel, leaving fellow band mem-
bers waiting at a rehearsal studio where they were
&eparing for the rock group's 20th-anniversary tour.
A worker at the Ritz Carlton found the body short-
ly before noon after Hutchence failed to appear for a
morning appointment with the Australian
Broadcasting Corp. Hutchence's father and girlfriend
Paula Yates confirmed it was the 37-year-old singer.
Australian TV stations and the Australian
Associated Press reported that Hutchence was found
hanged.
Investigators removed a leather belt from the scene.
No illegal drugs were found, although there were "a
mber of prescription medications," Inspector
Christopher Hogg said. An autopsy will be carried out
today.
The death of the singer prompted daylong radio
tributes to INXS, which sold 20 million records since
1981, peaking in the late 1980s.

Rock music commentator Ian "Molly" Meldrum
said Hutchence's death came as a complete surprise.
"I saw Michael and Paula with their baby daughter in
Los Angeles around about eight weeks ago, and I've
never seen Michael more peaceful and happier in his
life," he said.
Hutchence had flown from his London home to
Sydney earlier this week to prepare for the band's 20th
anniversary "Lose Your Head" tour, which was to start
tomorrow.
The tour- which was to have been the group's first
in their homeland of Australia for more than three
years - has been canceled, according to concert pro-
moter Michael Gudinski.
Yates' lawyer, Anthony Burton, said the singer's
girlfriend was being comforted by friends at the cou-
ple's London home. They have a daughter, Heavenly
Hiraani Tiger Lily.
Last month, Hutchence said he planned to marry
37-year-old Yates on the Tahitian island of Bora Bora
in January.

Formed in Perth in 1977, INXS shot to internation-
al success a decade later with the album "Kick,"
which sold 9 million copies. It featured four hit sin-
gles: "Never Tear Us Apart," "Need You Tonight,"
"New Sensation" and "Devil Inside."
The band toured throughout the world and per-
formed its stylish dance-rock at major charity con-
certs, including the Live Aid series in the 1980s.
The group once cranked out a hit album every year
or two, but Hutchence remained self-deprecating
about his success.
"I basically just stumble through all this," he told
the Associated Press in an interview earlier this year.
"I am a tenacious, ambitious person, it seems, if I have
to admit it to myself, but I didn't notice at the time."
Record sales for the group had fallen in recent
years, but Hutchence remained a celebrity in
Australia, largely because of his high-profile
romances with Australian pop star Kylie Minogue,
model Helena Christensen and Yates, the former wife
of rock star Bob Geldof.

INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence, center, was found dead of an apparent sui-
cide Saturday morning In a Sydney hotel.

Eastwood's 'Midnight' can't overcome own evils

By Neal C. Carruth
Daily Arts Writer
Clint Eastwood's "Midnight in the
Garden of Good and Evil," adapted
from John Berendt's best-selling book,
is the most compellingly flawed film of
1997, and the most
offbeat work of its R1
director's long R
career. idnigh
John Cusack of
stars as John Kelso,
a fictionalization of
Berendt and a free-
lance writer from New York enlisted by
Town and Country magazine to cover an
elite gala thrown by one of the wealthi-
est residents of Savannah, Ga., the enig-
matic Jim Williams (Kevin Spacey).
In the hours after Williams' bash,
Williams shoots Billy Hanson (Jude
Law), a hot-tempered hustler, and
claims self-defense. At this point, Kelso
realizes that his Town and Country arti-
cle is small potatoes. He could have a
book on his hands.
So Kelso stays in Savannah, where he
investigates the shooting and works in
cahoots with Williams and his attorney
Sonny Seiler (played by the delightful
Australian actor Jack Thompson).
Eastwood opens the film with color-

ful glimpses into the folkways of
Savannah, with its rigid social hierarchy
and twisted Old South customs. The
first hour plays like a comedy of man-
ners, in which a bemused Cusack runs
up against some lovably eccentric char-


EVIEW
t in the Garden
f Good and Evil

acters.
This motley
crew includes a
transvestite named
the Lady Chablis,
who plays herself
in the film. Chablis
is the movie's most

Eastwood's daughter Alison), but the
shooting by Williams is so engrossing
that the romance is only a distraction.
It is Spacey who truly owns this film.
He can pack more nuance and sugges-
tion into a single glance than Cusack has
packed into his entire career. In Spacey's
hands, Jim Williams is utterly beguiling.
We want to believe him, though we
know we shouldn't.
Cusack consistently falls flat in
"Midnight." He seems unsure of the
proper attitude to strike in relation to the
fantastic and aberrant goings-on in
Savannah.
And though the film is never boring,
its running time of two hours and 40
minutes is certainly not an asset.

Eastwood allows certain scenes to drag
on too long, such as the ostensibly
important but ultimately unsuccessful
scenes involving a voodoo priestess
named Minerva (Irma P Hall).
Eastwood's career as a director is
somewhat puzzling. His films run the
entire gamut from predictable
("Firefox" and "Sudden Impact") to pio-
neering ("Bird" and "White Hunter,
Black Meart").
While "Midnight in the Garden of
Good and Evil" falls somewhere in the
middle of this continuum, at least We
have the pleasure of spending an
evening in the enchanting city of
Savannah. Thank goodness it's not
Madison County.

I

At Showcase

affecting character, and she carries her-
self with grace and confidence.
But the film turns a little too conven-
tional in its second half. We get some
shopworn courtroom sequences, and
even a corny scene where Cusack
instructs Chablis to create a diversion so
he can sneak into the morgue and play
detective.
Eastwood's innovative spirit collapses
and he begins to rely upon established
forms. Nonetheless, the film's early
scenes constitute some of the best work
Eastwood has done behind the camera
in his 20-film directorial career.
In the film's most uninspired turn,
Kelso falls in lust with a local singer
named Mandy Nichols (played by


Adam Sandier let a late-night Hill crowd down with his short, raunchy set.
Sandier disappoits
wit sloppy show


Gabriel Smith
Daily Arts Writer
The witching hour.
, The time of night when weird things
happen. When a full moon can trans-
form young, unsuspecting college stu-
dents into wild, raving party animals.
An the wee hours of Saturday morn-
ing, at the stroke of Mme
midnight, amidst the
'lght snow that was
*alling, the most A
unlikely of outcomes

m

i
!

E
d

came true. Adam
Sandler finally
showed his face in
Ann Arbor. The
comedian/musician from Saturday
Night Live and such movies as "Billy
;Madison" and "Happy Gilmore" had
cancelled his previous engagement last
month due to a bout of laryngitis. But
n the final stop of his tour promoting
his new album, "What's Your Name?,"
Sandler iade it on stage ... for one
- hour. Yes, Sandler played for all of an
hour in front of 4,000 screaming fans in
, Hill Auditorium, who shelled out
upwards of $15 to listen to eight songs.

Do the math.
Frankly, not every song was good.
Sandler is a man who is definitely not
known for his musical prowess, so he
must rely on his quirky humor and cre-
ativity. But when that creativity delves
into songs concerning human male
anatomy, as did the songs of the middle
portion of the con-
cert, it turns into
V I E i garbage. Sandler's
musical career has
am Sandier been built upon his
liii A uditoriumquirky tunes on
"SNL," as he's suc-
Nov. 21, 1997 cessfully been able
to take a simple
topic and expound on it, injecting his
brand of craziness into his work. Songs
such as "Red Hooded Sweatshirt,"
"Thanksgiving" and "Hannukah" are
extremely recognizable. If you
approach any person on the street, you
will find them knowing the lyrics to the
upcoming Holiday song:
"A turkey for me, a turkey for you. I
like to eat my turkey in a big brown
shoe."
See SANDLER, Page 10A

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2 sets @ midnight
witht speial guestMs.

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Working at a Star Theatre is
no ordinary job. You'll enjoy
a great work environment
and work with good people.
Every Star Theatre offers
advancement opportunity,
flexible hours, health
benefits, 401K and college
tuition reimbursement.
Now hiring fillpart-time,
and seasonal cast members.
Apply in person at any
Star Theatre or online at
www.star-theatres.com.

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PATV / o v V.1998



release dates subject to change without notice, sorry.
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Star Theatre Locations:
Southfield, Mt.Clemens,
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