The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, December 10, 1997 - 13 Director Waters puts 'House' on market By Bryan Lark Daily Arts Editor Mark Waters, director of what may be the first cinematic incest comedy, "The House ofYes," is weird. Or at least that's what his mom thinks. "I showed this movie to my mother and my aunts, who are 60 years old and live in Indiana, and I was very amused at their budgets and say 'Sorry, we really couldn't do much.' I wanted to not have that. With 'House,' it had so many things going on that I found appealing and it worked on so many levels, even when it was a play - as a great black comedy, as a greek tragedy with serious dramatic overtones, and as a kind of suspense thriller." how much they likedi it, 'Well, you know, there's not too much cussing in it or any- thing. Sure, it's weird, but you're weird - and it's funny.' That's my mom, though, who's a little biased." it. As my mom put More than N E NTERVIEW Mark Waters irector, "The House of Yes" Opens Dec. 18 at the Michigan Theater anything, however, "House" is a come- dy, with Josh Hamilton and Tori Spelling (that's right Tori Spelling) in support and with Parker Posey over- acting delightfully The Suicide Machines will play St. Andrew's Hall on Saturday, Dec. 27. Suicide chines to deliverker show By Colin Bartos Daily Arts Writer With the exception of a few bands, etroit hasn't quite been a hotbed of Vusical talent. Recently, though, some Detroit bands have gone on to bigger and better things, and deservingly, the Suicide Machines has been one of the biggest success sto- PA ries. The Suicide Suit Machines, named after Detroit's S favorite son, Jack evorkian, started back in 1990. They released a couple of records on their drummer's label, Old Skool Records, before catching the attention of L.A.'s Hollywood Records. Since the release of "Destruction By Definition" last year, the Suicide Machines have caught national atten- tion as one of the leaders of the so- called Third Wave ska invasion. The Machines don't play typical ska, ,Wough. It's more of a hard-edged yper-punk attack, laced with a little ska and reggae sensibility. There's no horns, with the exception of two songs, and it's not goofy, yet the Suicide Machines have been grouped in with the likes of Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish, and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Guitarist Dan said the group's a little tired of the label. "I think ska, as it is today, what's een popular in the recent past, is just inda slowly going out. I think people have had their fill of the goofy ska with the horns and all of that. It's kind of like at the tail end of that, and I think it's time for something new to break out." At the time they started, though, the Machines were the newest thing going in Detroit. "I can tell you as far as punk rock goes, when we started back in like '90, you know it was really hard to get a show," Dan said. "That's when the hip- hop thing was huge." It seemed like it took forever for the Machines sound to catch on, but when it did, it spread like REVIEW cide Machines Saturday, Dec. 27 t. Andrew's Hall, Detroit Tickets only $8 intense live shows wild fire. Gaining the respect of national punk and ska heroes like Rancid and the Bosstones, the Machines got noticed for their unbelievably crazy, and their melodic, energetic punk rhythms. Now that two singles, "No Face" and "S.O.S.," have enjoyed MTV airplay and a stint on this summer's Warped Tour went extremely well, the Suicide Machines have broken through, to an extent. It seems now, Detroit's punk scene is even starting to get noticed. The Machines' new album is set to drop in April, which should increase the buzz even more. This Christmas, the Machines will be back in their hometown to rock St. Andrew's, just as they blew out the Magic Stick for three straight nights last Christmas. This time, though, they're bringing along a 16-track mobile studio, and recording the show for a live album due, hopefully, this coming year. If you missed them at the Warped Tour this summer, you can't afford to miss them this time around. Come see an amazing show, be a part of a live taping, and have some fun. Support your scene and support the Suicide Machines, a true, heartfelt band that deserves whatever success comes to them down the line. Whether it's his mom or the critics and audiences of last year's Sundance Film Festival doing the talking, 33-year-old Mark Waters has been listening to praise for his controversial directorial debut for nearly a year, praise that at first caught the modest director off-guard. "It's hard to have perspective on the work you're doing and say after all this work I'm doing, does it suck. When I got the call from Sundance that said that the movie was the only entry that had a con- sensus from the programming commit- tee and they all loved it, I was like, huh, maybe it doesn't suck." But the story of "The House of Yes" begins long before Waters was brushing shoulders with Bob Redford and the assorted independent elite of Park City, Utah. A playwright and stage director by trade, Waters' Sundance aspirations of making it as a film director were only cemented when he saw Wendy MacLeod's hilarious and eccentric play, "The House of Yes." Inspired by his desire to adapt the play, Waters attended the American Film Institute's film school. Waters, as a director, was attracted to the story of one strange household as it struggles comed- ically through one s t o r m yt Thanksgiving weekend because of its ability to be produced on a rela- tively small scale, with just five actors, a few sets and a few million dollars. But Waters vowed to think big even as his finan- Parker Posey Is Ken cial backers were ackie- Pin "The i thinking small. "Even though it had an economy of means, it wouldn't be a small movie. A lot of first time features were almost apologetic for not being entertaining because they would use as a melodramatic, insane woman obsessed with Jackie-O, who happens to have an illicit attraction to her twin brother and a penchant for bodily harm. Sure, this doesn't sound much like the subject matter of a mainstream comedy, a problem that never dawned on the liberal- minded Waters while making the movie. "It's funny that people bring this up a lot. I think that from living in San Francisco for five years, nobody there would say, 'Oh, this is controversial.' There, it's just like 'Oh yeah, sure. Kennedy obsession, incest, fine, whatev- er."' Kennedy obsession and incest are just two of the many themes dealt with in "House"'s rather short 90-minute span. This no-holds-barred, nearly all-inclu- sive subject matter within the span of the film stems from the film's fast-paced, wordy dialogue. The shotgun script, adapted for the screen by Waters, contributes to the melodramatic, stage feeling that Waters was attempting to create. The dialogue also rings of old screwball comedies, a resemblance that was not achieved by accident. "In preparing for this movie, when I was working with the actors in partic- ular, I showed them Howard Hawks movies and Billy Wilder movies and said we're not going to be doing this kind of more modern method- based style of act- ing where people sit back and take long pauses,' said Waters. "Instead,. I wanted them to be nedy wannabe really picking up isedyf Yes."bon their cues and se of Yes." completely going for this dynamic, ballistic ping-pong with the dialogue." The fast-paced table tennis match of words is mastered by the versatile Parker Posey in the film, allowing for a kind of whacked-out, sped-up, '90s version of "The Philadelphia Story," another sophisticated comedy featuring a dys- functional family and a cavernous man- sion. Only in this version, Posey stars as both the conniving Cary Grant and the lovestruck Katharine Hepburn. Waters also likens Posey to those cinema gods and goddesses of old. "The reason I cast Parker Posey is because I felt she had a kind of movie star presence that was like oldermovie stars. I like to think of her being a young Kate Hepburn crossed with a young Audrey Hepburn. If Kate were around today, she probably would've been cast in this role by me." All right, Mark. But would Kate have agreed to star in a film with such ques- tionable morals? Waters believes that in today's climate of everything-on-the- table Jerry Springers and Oprahs, "we've even reached the point as a society where people like me can do an irreverent, kind of comedic take on incest, not that sin- cere, overly precious movie-of-the-week type of film." A movie of the week "The House of Yes" definitely is not - not with a title that bizarre, even if a Spelling is involved. Where did the play acquire such a peculiar name that is never fully explained in the film? "Wendy MacLeod was visiting this family and she remembered being very impressed and - also disturbed and seduced by their extreme glamour, wit and wealth,' explained Waters. "Then she went into the bathroom of the house Mark Waters made a controversial splash at Sundance last year with his Incest- and Kennedy-obsession-fueled "The House of Yes." and somebody had written on the wall, 'We are living in a house of yes.' This just got her mind going and made her think of Edgar Allen Poe and pornogra- phy and the freedom of the upper class- es and gave her this queasy but interest- ing feeling that spawned the play." Waters interprets the title in a slightly different way. "For me, it means a place without boundaries, a place where porousness develops between people so that they flow into each other in ways they would- n't do outside of the house. I think it is really because of the insularity of the family, where they never leave their hometown and they tend to just sleep with each other." Waters, unlike his characters, has left his hometown in rural Indiana, to build upon his groundbreaking footing upon Hollywood soil. But is Hollywood ready for Mark Waters and his arsenal of taboos? Why does Hollywood need another independent director willing to be brutally frank? Mark Waters -justi- fy your existence! "Why not is the proper answer- why shouldn't I exist? I'll just say that I'll always try to do something that's a little out there and a little bit weird, something you haven't seen before - and that can't be a bad thing." So in the end, being weird with "The House of Yes" just may give Mark Waters longevity in the fickle film industry. Incest, Kennedy obsession, murder - a weird comedy only a moth- er could love. . . . . . . . . . . . m-.j FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 89X DJ, Giveaways, Beer Specials, Food & Fun ( Win a trip for 2 to Cancun! courtesy Horizons rraveIA2 r^ , . , W/a Pee, fo NEW Y-M rI U Advance reservations only ~ $20 at club. Includes party favors, champagne, all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet, door prizes. * * Complimentary ride home. 21+. Reserve now! Mon-: FirEst PIZZA Anniversary 66z-,E, Salebrationl 1166 Broadway Sat 11am-3am Sun 12,12 Small aiz Pizza ( 11 t o p p i n g Izza 4.49 11 topping Pus tax University Lutheran Chapel 1511 Wash tenaw 663-5560 JEpaTi $3.49 Plus Tax 'Specials: valid until_ 12123/107 V peils aiduti 2139