i
Catch the delightfully raunchy British smash "The Full Monty" as
it continues its rerelease at the Michigan Theater. Come dressed
or undressed to this gyrating comic extravaganza, though the
Michigan may frown on the latter. Don't miss the fun and feel free
to leave your hats at the door. 9 p.m. Admission is $5.
f1t Ld jigi 9Ot
0 Lucija Franetovic takes an inside look at the University
Dance Company's brand new show.
0
Tuesday
February 3, 1998
i
Update doesn't lower 'Expectations.
By Gerard Cohen-Vrignaud
Daily Arts Writer
How do you spice up a Victorian tale? Add a dash
of Ethan Hawke, a pinch of Gwyneth Paltrow and stir
in some sex.
Charles Dickens' classic Great Expectations has
been loosely adapted into a movie that is more enter-
taining and interesting than, even if it is not as
thoughtful and universal as, the original novel.
"Great Expectations" starts out as a nostalgic
exploration of a child's world. Young Finnegan Bell
(Jeremy James Kissner) is a meditative, artistic boy
who draws the scenery of Florida.
In the shallow waters of pretty beach, Finn meets
an escaped prisoner (Robert De Niro) who will have
a big impact on his life.
One day, he follows his uncle Joe (Chris Cooper)
to the crumbling home of the wealthy Ms.
Dinsmoor (Anne Bancroft), whose estate, overrun
by wild weeds, tangled trees and creeping vines,
symbolically mirrors the owner's damaged state of
mind.
Dinsmoor sees Finn as an opportunity to avenge
the wrong she once suffered by being stood up at the
altar. Summoned to entertain Dinsmoor's niece,
Estella, Finn eventually falls for the young beauty.
Finn dances with Estella every week for years until
they become young adults, played by Ethan Hawke
and Gwyneth Paltrow.
This moment seems to be the turning point for a
movie that had until then been enchantingly evoca-
tive. What was an child's fantasy becomes a fairly
conventional love story.
Estella leaves for France, urged on by the bitter old
Dinsmoor, and breaks poor Finn's heart. He turns to a
life of fishing and drinking, abandoning
his painter's brush for the fisherman's net.
Ten years later, Finn is offered the
opportunity to paint once again.
Brought to New York by an unknown
benefactor, Finn launches a successful art
career and fulfills some pretty great expec- Expe
on his handsome face throughout the movie. What
can be going on behind those vacant eves?
In addition, Hawke is given the task of narrating
the action periodically throughout the film. His words
usually lack the eloquence needed to correspond fit-
Great
ctations
At Briarwood
& Showcase
tingly to the visual expressiveness.
Paltrow, on the other hand, offers a
strong performance.
Both self-assured and insecure, tfl
actress shows us how seductive and coy
her character can be.
Anne Bancroft offers the film's best
performance as a tragic example of the
spurned woman,
While her cracked make-up covers a
face riddled with wrinkles, Bancroft
reveals the wicked and pitiful life of an
tations.
By chance, Finn is reunited with Estella,
in a particularly erotic drinking fountain
scene.
"Great Expectations" has a lot of great
aspects. Director of photography
Emmanuel Lubezki does a marvelous job
of shooting this modern Dickensian world.
Rich and textured, there is not a single shot
in this movie that lacks visual power.
A
In fact, the beauty of the film completely over-
whelms the flimsy plot. Once young Finn is aban-
doned in favor of Hawke's dopiness, the film fails to
maintain its thematic integrity. It is perhaps too
tempting to turn "Great Expectations" into a love
story starring Paltrow and Hawke.
Hawke's acting is by far the weakest part of the
film. Hawke seems to hold the same bewildered look
aging spinster.
° "Great Expectations" is dazzling to
look at but often feels very clich
Moments of tenderness are often lessened
by a trite screenplay and are always over-
powered by the visual strength of the film. As the
main character, Hawke fails to live up to expecta-
tions, looking more like a vapid 20-something than ar
introspective artist.
Nonetheless, the movie does succeed on lyricism
and aching splendor alone. "Great Expectations" mad
not be the masterpiece Dickens wrote, but it's still a
pretty good movie.
Photos courtesy of 20th century Fox
Fools in love Gwyneth Paltrow and Ethan Hawke (top)and dancing fool Anne
Bancroft (above right) trip the light fantastic in "Great Expectations."
CBS prepares for Olympics; networks plan sweeps strategies
Los Angeles Times
The February sweeps aren't all that
sweeping this year because of CBS' 17-
day coverage of the Winter Olympics in
Nagano, Japan. The international sports
event not only takes up more than half of
the network's
prime - time
schedule for the
month, but also
intimidates rivals
from throwing
big-budget pro-
gramming against
it.
So you'll have
to wait until May
for the big block-
buster. (February,
May and
November are the
months when net-
works prime th
programming
pumps to help
their local sta-
tions, which are
of such theatrical films as "Crimson
Tide," "Tommy Boy" and "A Circle of
Friends."
Cable's offerings include Spike Lee's
acclaimed documentary "4 Little Girls,"
a new Disney Channel documentary
series and the
HBO satire, "The
Pentagon Wars,"
starring Kelsey
Grammer.
Here are some
of the month's
highlights:
ABC
U "Motown 40:
The Music Is
Forever:" Diana
Ross hosts this
four-hour special
commemorating
the 40th anniver-
sary of Motown
Records. Smokey
rtesy of Columbia Pictures Robinson, Aretha
ntary "4 Little Franklin, Mariah
. 23 on HBO. Carey, Sean
"Puffy" Combs
and Berry Gordy are among those fea-
tured. Feb. 15 and 19.
* "Elmopalooza!:" Jon Stewart hosts
a musical tribute to "Sesame Street," fea-
turing classic songs from the children's
series and original music videos per-
formed by Elmo and Jim Henson's
Muppets. Feb. 20.
* "Oprah Winfrey Presents: The
Wedding": Halle Berry, Lynn Whitfield,
Carl Lumbly, Eric Thal and Michael
Warren star in a drama about an black
woman with only two days to decide if
she should marry a poor, white musician
or a successful, seductive black man.
Cou
Spike Lee's documen
Girls" premieres Feb.
Feb. 22-23.
* "Home Improvement": Tim and Jill
discuss having a baby girl in tonight's
episode, then find in the Feb. 24 install-
ment that one of their sons is smoking
pot.
* "Pocahontas": Mel Gibson, Irene
Bedard and David Ogden Stiers supply
the voices for the 1995 Disney animated
blockbuster. March 1.
"Christopher Reeve: Circle of
Friends": All-star benefit to honor the
actor-director and to raise money for the
Christopher Reeve Foundation. March 1.
CBS
* "The Grammy Awards": Kelsey
Grammer makes his debut as host of the
three-hour extravaganza honoring the
best in music. Feb. 25.
* "The Long Way Home": Jack
Lemmon and Betty Garrett star in a
drama directed by Glenn Jordan. March
I.
"The Winter Olympics": The action
begins Friday and continues through
Feb. 22.
Fox
* "The X-Files": Besides the episode
from horror master King (airing
Sunday), Fox's most popular series also
will feature a two-parter in which
Mulder uncovers new evidence of
extraterrestrial existence. Feb. 22 and
March 1.
E "The World's Scariest Police
Chases 4:" A new edition hosted by
retired Oregon Lt. Sheriff John Bunnell.
Feb. 17.
E "Moment of Impact": Bunnell also
hosts this special, featuring National
Safety Transportation Board footage of
highway mishaps. Feb. 17.
* "Daredevils Live! Shattering the
Records:" Two hours of first-time-ever,
record-breaking stunts. Feb. 24.
* "Breaking the Magician's Code:
Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed
2": Mitch Pileggi hosts this sequel to last
year's blockbuster. March 3.
* "Party of Five": The season
cliffhanger finds Charlie receiving his
final test results for cancer. March 4.
NBC
Theatrical films: The roster
includes "Circle of Friends" on Feb. 13,
"Tommy Boy" on Feb. 14, "Something
to Talk About" on Feb. 15 and "Crimson
Tide" on Feb. 22.
"Mad About You": Series star
Helen Hunt makes her directorial debut
with Sydney Pollack guest-starring as
the Buchmans' new marriage counselor.
Feb. 24.
"The 14th Annual Soap Opera
Awards": Leeza Gibbons and Drake
Hogestyn host the show, in which fans
vote for their favorite soap stars and day-
time series. Feb. 27.
"The Gold Champions" Three-hour
ice skating special. Feb. 28.
* "Frasier": Bebe Neuwirth returns
as Lilith and shocks everyone by reveal-
ing her seductive, feminine side. March
3.
Garth Brooks: The country super-
star headlines a new special. March 4.
Cable
"4 Little Girls": Spike Lee's docu-
mentary about the tragedy of a bomb
that tore through the basement of a black
Baptist church in Birmingham, Ala., in
the early 1960s. HBO, Feb. 23.
"Spytek": Roger Moore narrates a
three-part series examining the secret
world of spy technology. Discovery, Feb.
23.
"Bug Juice": New 18-part docu-
mentary series for kids that captures the
experience of summer camp. Disney
Channel. Sneak preview on Feb. 28; the
series officially begins March 1.
"The Sweetest Gift:" Helen Shaver
and Diahann Carroll star in a drama
about two families, divided by racial and
social attitudes, who learn the true mean-
ing of friendship. Showtime, Feb. 28.
"The Pentagon Wars": Kelsey
Grammer and Cary Elwes star in a satire
about government spending gone awry.
HBO Feb. 28.
Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures
"Oh, Pocahontas, Isn't It great that we're making our network debut on March I
as part of ABC's rejuvenated 'Wonderful World of Disney'?"
surveyed during
these periods. The ratings help deter-
mine how much advertisers are charged
for commercial time.)
Still, there is some high-profile pro-
gramming between now and March 4,
when the sweeps end. ABC, in particu-
lar, is charging ahead with a four-hour
documentary on Motown, a four-hour
drama from executive producer Oprah
Winfrey and a celebration of 30 years of
"Sesame Street."
Fox has an "X-Files" episode on tap
that was co-written by none other than
Stephen King. NBC is countering the
Olympics with the broadcast premi eres
N
y
pre-med
at nyu
I i I
" Principles of Biology
I and II
" Human Physiology
" Human
,. Reproduction and
Development
" Introduction to
Lab Techniques
" Organic Chemistry
and Lab I and II
" Introduction to
Quantitative Analysis
AM&
N
v
/0".
NV
Courtesy of Fox Television Network
GlIllan Anderson and David Duchovny find themselves embroiled In many conspira-
cies on "The X-FIles" this month, with one episode penned by Stephen King.
* Biochemistry I and II " General Physics
" Genetics I and II
. College Chemistry " Calculus I and II
I and II
summer
n the city
New Vork U Iniversrit
6 r
Internship
Pursuit
Date
2/3
2/4
Program(s)
Internships in Government and Public Service
FORUM for Internships Registration Session
n7.
" -AO-Rk Imram
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