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Stabbing Westwa precedes techno night tonight at the Blind
Pig. Check out tb modern rock group as they start the new
school year off d the right tone. Solar, the regularly scheduled
techno night, wi follow its performance. Tickets are $15 and can
be obtained at ie Michigan Union Ticket Office or Schoolkids'
Records.

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otorow in Daily Arts:
Need something to do this weekend? Have no fear,
because the List here ... tomorrow. With the times and da
of what to do, your weekend may never be lame again.
Wednesday
September 9,1998

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Movies fizzle i summer heata



By Geordy antsoudes
Daiily Arts Wter
Another Labor Day has come and gone, and
that means that summer is officially over. No
more lazy days. No more mundane summer jobs.
And no more cinematic blockbusters until
Christmas.
Film fare this surnmer left something to be

desired. Officially opening on Memorial Day, the
summer season started off with what might have
been the most over-hyped, but never over-panned,
film "Godzilla." Could it be that the public has
finally sent the message to Hollywood execs that
the plot does matter? Don't count on it.
As long as there are mildly successful '70s
television shows that can be re-made into

schlocky movies, we don't stand a chance.
Case in point: for those of you who actually
went to go see "The Avengers;" keep your ticket.
Because it seems like only 10 were sold they are
somewhat of a collectors item.
Speaking of rarities, sequels were scarce this
summer. "Lethal Weapon 4" decided to take the
best of the first three movies, and put it into what
is the best one since the original. New editions
Chris Rock and Jet Li made this the most fun of
the action movies this summer.
Other major studio offerings included the two
rocks-hurtling-at-Earth movies: the surprisingly
successful "Deep Impact" and the Bruckheimer
standard "Armageddon."
Disney's "The Mask of Zorro;' while very
entertaining (and.I don't just mean because the
film stars Caroline Zeta-Jones) performed far
below expectations and will be lucky to break
$100 million.
Most of the blockbusters made a lot of money,
but as far as gross in relation to cost, no other
movie released by a major studio can beat
"There's Something About Mary." The raunchiest
and funniest movie of the summer has been soar-
ing for two months now and has accomplished
two rare feats: it broke the $100 million without
ever holding the number one spot and it finally
broke into the top spot in its eighth week in
release.
One constant facet of the summer movie col-
lection is that there are always good, even great
movies that no one sees. This summer the honor
gets split between "Out of Sight" and "The
Negotiator."
In "Out of Sight," George Clooney and
Jennifer Lopez set the screen ablaze as a bank
robber and a FBI agent caught in a odd relation-

Courtesy of Twentieth
Cameron Dlaz poses for the hottest hair-do of the summer in "Something About Mary."

ship in one of the sum
While Samuel L..
put forth stellar
$ummer
Movie
Review.

nmer's top films.
Jackson and Kevin Spacey
performances in "The
Negotiator" which
received great reviews and
sold very few tickets.
Attention Kevin
Williamson: now might be
a good time to explore a
new genre. With the lack-
luster showings of
"Disturbing Behavior"
and "Halloween: H20," it
appears that teens today
are more interested in Leo
and Matt than slasher
films.
The upcoming sequel to
"I Know What You Did
titled "I Still Know What

moment, Matt Damon made a guest apparance
in the year's most incredible film thus farteven
Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan."
There are few important films that hayebeen
released in the past 10 years and this one t tt the
top of the list. Oscar should go knoc on
Spielberg's door next spring, as well as tledoors
of Tom Hanks and any of the supporting actors.
That is too bad for Jim Carrey, who, for a
month, had a decent shot at winning an Oscar.
Moviegoers got to see Carrey's acting abilities
shine in "The Truman Show," and were apparent-
ly pleased. The movie received incredible reviews
and Carrey's fans were less fickle than they;were
two summers ago when he was excellent as 4 psy-
chotic "Cable Guy."
Fall is now here and there is very little time left
until the studios start giving "Saving Private
Ryan" a run for its money.
And for all of you who are still who are suffer-
ing from Leo withdrawal, fear not. You can now
own him in the mediocre film that millions of
screaming teenyboppers helped make the most
successful movie of all time.

Last Summer," aptly

Courtesy of DreamWorks Pictures
Steven Spielberg an his dynamite cast explode on movie screens this summer with the critically
*clmed "Saving ivate Ryan."

You Did Last Summer," may rely more on the
neck and hem lines of Jennifer Love Hewitt's out-
fits than on the movie itself.
Speaking of Hollywood's golden boy of the


Thurman and Fiennes can't
avenge weak storylines

By Matthew Batett
OIaily Arts Writer
Exactly whathe powers that be at
Warner Bros. ire thinking when they
OK-ed "The wengers" is something
few will ever now. The script is sup-
posed to be funy but isn't. There is no
story. The vilin is about as scary as
the Michigars previous football loss,
and throughat the movie it's hard not
to root for im just so the wretched
thing will el. And this is supposed to
be a sumner blockbuster? A movie
that packs in the crowds and makes
people feecompelled to see it, twice?
The tru is that "The Avengers" is
neither o' these things, but rather a
horrendos stab at mixing witty humor
that doeq't work with high-powered
special effects
scenes. "The
Avengers" is the
type of thing that
The turns people
Avengers away from
No Stars movies. It's
aimed at no one,
At the Ann Arbar 1&2 and it's hard to
and Shocase think of any
group of people
who would enjoy
this.
The flick,
based on charac-

A preps
for Blues
and Jazz
By James Miller
Daily Arts Writer
The Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz
Festival is the event that proves that
people who say "there's nothing to
do in Ann Arbor" are as stupid as
you think they
are.
The wild
rumpus gets
Ann Arbor underway on
Blues and F r i d a y,
Jazz Festival September 1
Various Times and at 8 pm when
Locations Maceo Parker
holds court at
the Michigan
Theater.
'z. R u n n in g
concurrently
with the evil
prince of funk
is alto sax legend and fertile sample
source Lou Donaldson, with shows
Friday and Saturday at 9 and 11
p.m.

Courtesy of Triple X Records
Bo Diddley will appear at the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival.

The first day of outdoor offerings
at Gallup Park begins with award-
winning local underrated piano
hero Rick Roe at noon.
Campus favorites Poignant
Plecostomus take the stage at 1:15
p.m., followed by Olu Dara and up
and coming swingers The Atomic
Fireballs. Saturday concludes with
Groove Collective at 6:30 p.m.
Sunday is framed by the blues
and filled with ecclecticism.
Bluesman and DJ super-heavy-

weight Robert Jones opens at
noon and the mighty Bo Diddle*
finishes the day at 6:30.
In between, are acts as dig crsc
as Rosie Ledet (zydeco) and tie
New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars
Tickets are still available fer aW
the events through the Union ticlY
ets office and local businesses lilb
Espresso Royale, as well as t4"C
usual TicketMaster.
Hipsters come, lend them ym'4
ears.

I

Courtesy of Warner Bros.
Uma Thurman and Ralph Flennes star in the box-office bomb "The Avengers."

«

I U

ters from the

popular 960's television program,
centers aound two heroes trying to
prevent 1he maniac Sir August de
Wynter (Sean Connery) from taking
over the world's weather. Seems
August is fed up with the way things
are going and has decided that this is
the get-tich-quick scheme that will

help him bolster his bank account. He
informs representatives from various
nations that "the weather is no longer
in God's hands but in mine" and that
they will have to hand over a nice
chunk of their country's GNP if they
want to keep things comfortable in
their native land.
The only two who seem up to the
task of stopping this raving mad man
are John Steed (Ralph Fiennes) and
Emma Peel (Uma Thurman). Both are
intelligent and impeccably dressed
agents who bicker and playfully toss
around one liners as they feel each
other out.
Neither of the characters is very
interesting, and it's hard to accept
Steed as a dashing hero when his
weapon of choice is an umbrella. And
as for Peel, well, it doesn't seem like
there's much behind her leather jump-
suits.
But the poorly developed characters
pale in comparison to the other prob-
lems facing "The Avengers." The
movie is a joke. August is supposed to
be a man brilliant enough to take over
the world's weather. but when he holds

costumes to hide their identities?
Guys, ever heard of one way mirrors?
Or how about when Peel and Steed
are speeding around in a car only to
find that they're being chased by giant,
laser-shooting insects? Granted this is
an action movie, but still, working
within the realm of modern technology
wouldn't have hurt the situation.
And then there's the dialogue. The
rapid-fire lines just aren't funny, and
Thurman's English accent and wispy
voice are unbearable. The writers also
felt the need to throw in quite a few
dreadful one liners, the worst coming
when August proclaims "rain or shine
all is mine?'
Overall, "The Avengers" is a waste
of film, and the only explanation for
the presence of the talented cast is that
they must have had some sort of debt
to Warner Brothers that they felt
inclined to pay off. When something
like "The Avengers" is released, it
shows that those in the movie business
need to start taking more responsibili-
ty for the product that they turn out.
Casting stars and setting up special
effects doesn't make a movie, the story



DISCOVER CARD
presents
100 REASONS
YOU SHOULD BE
LISTENING TO
CLASSICAL MUSIC:

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