mJbe 5tcfID iau Say anything Take advantage of Wide Open Mic tonight at the Gypsy Cafe. Singers, poets, comedians and musicians are all welcome. So if you want to be heard, then hurry down to the Gypsy Cafe for an audience who wants to listen. Festivities begin at 9 p.m. Located on 214 N. 4th Ave. Free. Join the fun! Wednesday September 10, 1997 9 'Star' shines bright First-time director Arteta puts memorable cinematic experience on the map By Julia Shah Daily Film Editor inobody ever said that life on the streets of Los Angeles was glamorous. Or that the shadowy and often revolting vities on barely lit corners have any- t gi n common With Hollywood R -t, the glitzy prof- it-hungry machine l that rules the city. But in one of the rnast powerful and . engaging movies of the year, the two paradoxical worlds are juxtaposed and deconstructed with *aralleled wit, insight and style. In his first feature film, director Miguel Arteta (who also wrote the screenplay) creates a film that is neither confined by conventions nor afraid of exploring truth. He uses his rich and memorable characters, including hope- fil,, but streetwise Carlos (Douglas Spain), his violent pimp father Pepe (Efrain Figueroa) and the other offbeat members of Carlos' dysfunctional fam- ily; Xo play masterfully with viewers' *otions, displaying the skill and effect of a Carnegie Hall pianist. His plot, as deiep and soul-wrenching as Carlos' mournful eyes, carries the weight of a deply disquieting drama that is offset by.the light, zesty flavor of resilient hope in the face of tragedy. s At1 Arteta explores life through the eyes of a person trying to survive on the streets, and "Star Maps" becomes many things all at once. It is a drama that deals with race and class issues, as well as destructive interaction between family V I E W members. It is a touching romance Star Maps story about two innocent young **** people who fall in the Michigan Theater love in a unrelent- ing world. It is a hilarious romp through the quirks and delusions of its unique characters. And amazingly, as the film explores different styles and aspects of story- telling, it continues to pleasantly sur- prise as it becomes more complex and spellbinding. Spain as Carlos will be a face that few people will forget after this motion picture. His portrayal of a boy returning from Mexico to Los Angeles with the dream of becoming a movie star is riveting and unforget- table. Though his father employs him to sell his body on the street corners under the facade of selling star maps (maps showing the locations of celebrity homes), he never loses his naive determination to achieve fame on the silver screen. To Carlos, sex with these male or female clients is just another perfor- mance, as illustrated when a "good per- formance" in bed has him imagining himself reveling in the triumph of an Academy-Awards-type ceremony. But his break finally comes when one of his clients, a beautiful actress on a hit tele- vision series, promises to get him a part on her show. Carlos' acting career is about to launch, and Pepe refuses to let Carlos out of his repulsive daytime job. Pepe continues to terrorize the family, which is also comprised of Carlos' kind and responsible sister, his mentally unstable mother and his eccentric younger broth- er. While Carlos' work for Pepe reveals the life of a male prostitute, his experiences with the actress and the television studio allow Arteta to satirize the nature of the industry. "Star Maps" exposes television for all its shallowness (the writers joke about how exploiting an affair between an illegal immigrant and a rich white woman will promote social aware- ness), its scandal and its impersonali- ty. This brilliantly constructed jab at the business is done in an impressive- ly witty and amusing fashion, and the result is highly effective. As "Star Maps" progresses, audi- ences never know what Arteta has in store for them around the corner. But while it is guaranteed that in this deteri- oration of Carlos' family life, some level of tragedy is in store, Arteta pulls it off with one of the most amazing movie endings in recent cinematic his- tory. Near the film's grand finale, I never laughed so hard at a moment when every fiber of my body was telling me to start bawling. Just as he did through- out the film, Arteta uses surrealistic humor (this time involving a Hispanic comedian and an astronaut suit) to off- set the darkly disturbing aspects of the story. Though this bizarre and risky technique would normally threaten to ruin a movie, Arteta manages to suc- cessfully pull it off with astounding results. Rarely does a movie comeqalong that is so many things and that has so much to say. "Star Maps" is one of the most hilar- ious, most touching, most disturbing and most intriguing movies I've seen in a long time. After a summer that pro- vided more soggy fizzles than fire- works in movie theaters, "Star Maps" will give people faith once again that quality pictures are definitely still being made. "Star Maps" is a film that packs the punch of King Kong. It is the one movie this year that you definitely don't want to miss. Douglas Spain stars as Carlos in "Star Maps." global' misses groove 'Fire' cools down hot summer Global Grooves Vprious Artists Geffen -While an album of remixes isn't nec- essarily going to provide an earth-shak- in ;display of musical genius, it might nice to hear some sort of effort at genuine creativity. Global Grooves, a new album of techno mixing and electronica, does- n't seem to have it. In an attempt to remix oid, club hits and . incorporate artists not normally in the hno realm, Global Oroves fails to show igenuity, excepting a few sylized drumbeats. The songs used in their entirety with new backbeats and overdubbed lyrics, like Lisa Loeb's "Stay" and Cher's "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)," are surprisingly good. Hearing the driving beat Juan Patino mixes into the "anticipa- tion mix" of Stay makes you forget Loeb's horn-rimmed-glasses-good-girl image and entices you to boogie down. The samples, though, of really good songs, like Noa's "I Don't Know" fall short. The poetic imagery of the song, with a woman described as a bright, burning flower, fighting her way through con- fusion, is enough on its own, with a plain simple melody. So, the funky bass kick and strange synthesized bump-and-grind feel Dekkard injects is just a needless complica- tion. And then there's the humdrum done-before selections. Pete Lorimer and Richard "Humpty" Vission give Raw Stylus's "Believe In Me" a jungle treat- ment that screams "Where have I heard this before?" Still, there are some dance- Lisa Loeb able selections. Though "Lay Down Your Pain" by Toni Childs and "Love Him Anyway" by Sherree Ford-Payne share the same bongo drumbeat, they are still easy to groove to. And Rabbit In the Moon has remixed Garbage's "Queer" into a reverberating, repetitive tune, rem- iniscent of beeping garbage trucks, which is still somehow intriguing. In giving a second chance to all of these songs, the DJs should have tried harder not to parody the originals with new bass beats. These Global Grooves need a bit more of the world in them for the title to stand up. -Stephanie Jo Klein The Associated Press LOS ANGELES -- Six million dollars and change put Steven Seagal's toxic villain thriller "Fire Down Below" atop the weekend box office chart and proved summer is definite- ly over in the nation's theaters. , Hollywood's dog days of summer traditionally follow Labor Day and the start of school. The top 10 movies only took in S37.6 million over the weekend - compared to the S37.1 million that "Air Force One" alone earned in its July debut. "Fire Down Below," starring Seagal as a kick-boxing fed- eral marshal in Kentucky, was the only new film released nationally last week. Demi Moore's "G.I. Jane" was second with $5.3 mil- lion, bringing its total after three weeks to $33.6 million, figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. showed. "Money Talks," a comedy with Chris Tucker as a fast- talking con man, was No. 3 with $4.9 million in its third week. In limited release, "The Full Monty" earned $769,954 at 44 locations for a $17,110 per-location average. "Fire Down Below" had a $2,600 per-location average. Disney's "Con Air" passed the $100 million mark after 14 weeks in release. It was one of four $100 million-plus movies still in the top 20. The top 10 movies at North American theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by studio, gross, number of theater locations, receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled by Entertainment Data Inc. and Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.: 1. "Fire Down Below," New Line, $6.1 million, 2,336 locations, $2,600 average, $6.1 million, one week. 2. "G.I. Jane," Disney, $5.3 million, 2,016 locations, $2,650 average, $33.6 million, three weeks. 3. "Money Talks," New Line, $4.9 million, 1,994 loca- tions, $2,452 average, $29.9 million, three weeks. 4. "Hoodlum," MGM, $4 million, 2,020 locations, $2,004 average, $15.9 million, 2 1/2 weeks. 5. "Air Force One," Columbia, $3.9 million, 2,468 locations, $1,565 average, $159.3 million, seven weeks. 6. "Conspiracy Theory," Warner Bros., $3.3 million, 2,204 locations, $1,513 average, $67.4 million, five weeks. 7. "Excess Baggage," Columbia, $2.9 million, 2,211 locations, $1,291 average, $10 million, two weeks. 8. "Mimic," Miramax, $2.8 million, 1,959 locations; $1,437 average, $20.8 million, three weeks. 9. "Cop Land," Miramax, $2.6 million, 1,874 loca- tions, $1,399 average, $39.7 million, four weeks. 10. "Men in Black," Columbia, $1.8 million, 1,491 locations, $1,209 average, $237.3 million, 10 weeks. - 0 ^ *1. ~~~MMMMI_________ __ NOW HIRING e ASE O U ^ " } a u s e o ST. " A * Pizza Makers * Phone Attendants " Cooks * Delivery Drivers ** Starting at $6.50 ** Full and Part Time Workers Needed Apply at 624 Church Street on Campus 995-5095 __.. ..: _ U of M Students Then take part in Clinton's nationwide initiative, America Reads, by enrolling in Education 317, section #110 and becoming a literacy tutor. In Ed 317, you will learn about yourself as a teacher and learner through helping young children discover literacy skills they will need for life. jib mill'o"