N Rodger Kame Jew in the Lotus "Stalking Elijah. M Medeski, Mai copies of its new netz reads at Shaman Drum. The author of "The " will read from andsign copies of his new book *-Shaman Drum. 8 p.m. rtin and Wood, oh myt The music trio will sign vest release today at Tower Records. 2 p.m. m5kAn&Ug~f iTomorrow in Daily Arts: U Come back to Daily Arts tomorrow for a preview of "Blood Wedding," University Productions' new presentation of the Federico Garcia Lorca play. Ad Tuesday November 17, 1998 5 I 'Max Q' hurls through television airwaves and crashes By DWkran Orneian Daily Arts Writer If you've seen "Armageddon," then you've also seen "Max Q." The new television movie is Jerry Bruckheimer's first foray into the world of television, an attempt that fails miser- ably. For those unfamiliar Max Q with Bruckheimer, he is the man responsible for * several mediocre but extremely popular films ABC such as "Top Gun," "Con Thursday at 9 p.m. Air," and the laughably bad "Armageddon." For "Max Q," Bruckheimer has recruited the talents of Bill Campbell, best known for his role in "The Rocketeer." Campell plays Clay Jarvis, the cocky, heroic pretty boy astronaut who is an exact parallel to the role Ben Affleck played in "Armageddon." Geoffrey Blake (Jonah Randall), the wise-cracking filmmaker who doesn't really know what he's in for, is basically the same character Xe Buscemi played in "Armageddon." U fortunately, Randall doesn't have half the talent of Buscemi. While his character is sup- posed to provide the comic relief, the urge to change the channel dramatically increases everytime he opens his mouth. Dennis Arndt plays the Bruce Willis role, while Leslie Horan fills in for the part Liv Tyler played in "Armageddon." The biggest fault of "Max Q" is that it's too ambitious. It uses second-rate actors for roles that Hollywood's biggest stars couldn't make work. But the plot and dialogue are just as poor as the acting. Within the telefilm, NASA is desperate for more financial support for its space program so it is forced into a joint venture with Kaysat, a multi-billion dollar company co- funding the mission. Of course, NASA isn't happy about "selling out" to the greedy cor- poration, but it has no choice. The main goal of the mission: to release Kaysat's very expensive satellite, which would allow for thousands of new television channels to become available. Jarvis cleverly replies, "Yeah, but there still won't be anything on." Witty and original? But something goes terribly wrong once the astronauts get up in space and their lives are put in danger by the satellite - the very thing that is funding their mission. From this point the film becomes even blander, as the new focus of the mission is to get the astro- nauts back home, relating the story from both the astronaut's point of view in space and through mission control's viewpoint back in Houston. Since the show's creators didn't want to face a plagiarism suit by copy- ing one movie entirely, it looks as if they decided to "borrow" heavily from both the very bad "Armageddon" and the very good "Apollo 13." Several hindrances face the heroes while they struggle to get back to Earth, just as what happened to Tom, Bill and Kevin in "Apollo 13." The crew worries about running out of oxygen before they make it back. The possibility of the ship burning up in the atmosphere on its return home becomes another worry. These are obstacles Bruckheimer hopes will make viewers care enough to continue watching his ridiculous movie. But the char- acters are so poorly developed, so cliche and just so annoying that, by the end of the movie (if you haven't already changed the channel), you may end up wishing that the whole lot of them chars, just so long as you don't have to listen to another one of their embarrassing one-liners. Perhaps some real dialogue would prevent the cast of "Max Q" from becoming one-dimensional comic book characters. But maybe Bruckheimer is trying for this effect since he uses low angle shots to make his characters seem more heroic and momp- 1 lki ., s t ,. : #4 1 4 Courtesy of Touchstone Televison Bill Campbell stars as Commander Clay Jarvis In "Max Q," a television rip-off of "Armageddon." an "action-packed" score taken mostly from logue instead of creating a melodramatic "Armageddon." action flick. But as it stands, "Max Q" is Perhaps "Max Q" would have worked if merely a poor mockery of movie block- Bruckheimer tried to make the television busters. Bear in mind that "Armageddon" movie a comedy and included wittier dia- really didn't deserve the ticket sales. Depp steps from eVegas to video By Matthew Barrett and Aaron Rich' Daily Arts Writers Today's release of the high school coming-of-age flick "Can't Hardly Wait" gets us thinking about things for which we can't' hardly wait: John C. Reilly at the Oscars, WCW Monday Nitro,: playoffs for the Tigers and the return of peach season. In the mean time, plan on settling for Jennifer Love Hewitt and the rest of the gang at a high school graduation party. Although this movie did not do much last summer, it should spread someY love on video shelves across the land. New On Former "Saturday Night Live" funny- man Norm Macdonald brings his wry Video ThIS wit to the small screen with "Dirty Week Work." In an interview with the Daily earlier this year, Macdonald stated that the movie is "funny." What more can we' say, except that Macdonald has been known to exagerrate from time to time. Can't hardly wait for Macdonald's next picture, "Ballbusted" knd finally, Johnny Depp lays it all on the line in "Fear and Eathing in Las Vegas" the story of Hunter S. Thompson's wild times in Sin City. Hugs and drugs abound, along with a few dis- Courtesy of Universal Pictures gusting sequences in Thompson's hotelroom. A bulky typewriter wasn't the only problem for Johnny Depp. ENTERTAINMeENT NEWStry . A brief look at who's doing what in the entertainent industry 'Slam's poetics break out ofjail By Laura Flyer Daily Arts Writer Spiritually empowering the mind and overcoming the temp- tation to resort to violence and hatred is an idealized notion that, if carelessly conveyed, can fall into a seemingly loftly and unrealistic trap. Director Marc Levin, however, whose suc- cess may be attributed to former experience in documentary filmmaking, creates a wholly inspirational yet realistic motif of this very idea in his drama, "Slam," laden with rich and powerful emotion. "Slam" pinpoints the utter frustration and helplessness felt by youth trapped in the perpetual ring of gangs, drugs and vio- lence in southeast, inner-city Washington D.C. What Raymond Joshua (Saul Williams) must discover is how to utilize his creative tal- ents of music and poetry so that he can replace vengefulness with an increasing $IAM buildup of awareness and communica- tion. notepad words that metaphorically reveal the essence of his troubles. He raps about everything from mythological and religious figures to brand-name food products and slang words. While his fellow inmates form alliances, thereby creating enemies, Ray chooses to stand alone. In a passionate, poetic rap he eventually proves to these brainwashed individuals that violence and revenge only deepen conflict and stagnate any future prospect of eliminating gangs and violence. Ray is able to connect with his friends in the 'hood while hoping to impact society as a whole. Hearing his display of talent, writing mentor Lauren (who conducts writing workshops in the jail), played by Sonja Sohn, becomes Ray's confidence-provider. On probation, Ray is introduced to local poetry slams by Lauren where he soon breaks free from his inner turmoil with the power of words. The blending of unique sound effects with color-filtered images work well in the film. In one scene, Ray looks out onto a lake while beams of a fading sunset seep through his body, a moment that illuminates the significance of his poet- ry and the emotions that flow through his soul. True, these images are cheesy and romanticized, but they are subtle and infrequent enough to get the point across. Often working with a hand-held camera, Levin is able to give a documentary-like and downright realistic feel to "Slam." This stylistic preference doesn't make the movie dull or the audience dizzy, such as Woody Allen does with "Husbands and Wives," but rather fits well with the movie's tone. The acting in "Slam" coincides with the film's realistic approach - Williams and Sohn (Lauren) are both convinc- ing and natural. On the other hand, an odd cameo by former D.C. Mayor and former cocaine addict Marion Barry, who plays a judge admonishing drug dealing, is ironic, but in poor taste for the movie. Miniscule flaws set aside, "Slam," successfully steers clear of idealistic loftiness and envelops the audience into a vat of heightened emotionality and drama. At the State Theater The turning point of Ray's life, which falls at the beginning of the movie, is instigated by his arrest for drug dealing. Sent to jail, Ray discusses his options with his lawyer. If he fights his charge in court, his chances of winning are vir- tually nonexistent; if he loses he'll face eight to 10 years in jail. On the other hand, if he pleads guilty, he'll serve two to three years maximum. What would seem like a simple solution becomes an extremely troubling one for Ray. He refuses to believe he is guilty of anything - his drug dealings merely reflect the rut of continuous corruption in poor, minority-populated neigh- borhoods with the strength of perpetual crime and violence as his only means for survival. Intelligent and gifted, Ray finds his strength in his infusion of music and poetry, and, while in his jail cell, scribbles in his Perhaps the most anticipated movie in history is "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace." The long, awaited prequel doesn't hit theaters until Memorial Day Weekend, but that doesn't mean you can't have a taste of "Star Wars" a little early. According to the Official Star Wars Website (www.star-- wars.com),"'The Phantom Menace"'s trailer will have a spe- cial premier in theaters today. The trailer will play before and after selected films, in selected theaters, in selected states. Unfortunetly, there will be no special screening ofthe trailer in the state of Michigan. Michiganers will have to wait until the trialer goes-into *wide release on Friday to see it. Elton John will soon feel the love of Albert Brooks, as John has been commissioned to write the score for Brooks' upcoming comedy 'The Muse." Elton John, composer of 1994's "The Lion King," hasn't written the score for a live action film since 1971's "Friends." John will again team with his writing partner, lyricist Bernie Taupin, for the title song of the film, which, if there is any justice in the world, will not be a reworking of "Candle in the Wind."r Also on the windy front is the news that Germany's Wolfgang Peterson has signed on to direct the film version of Sebastian Junger's blockbuster book "The Perfect Storm," which tracks the true tales of fishermen fighting a chilling, killer maelstrom at sea. On another German front, Tony Scott, director of this week's "Enemy of the State," is set to helm "Josiah's Canon," a Holocaust-themed action flick. The rather timely and much-buzzed about script is billed as a contemporary heist thriller and concerns a legion of robbers, led by a concentration camp survivor, that attempts to steal Nazi gold from Swiss banks. Speaking of crimes against humanity, Keenen Ivory Wayans is in talks with the Fox network, home of his sole previous success "In Living Color," to create another, most likely lower-quality, sketch comedy show. Wayans, whose talk show failed grandly this summer and whose films have all but been forgotten ("Most Wanted" was hardly that), appears to be looking to duplicate the greatness of sketches like "I'll rock your world" Wanda, Fire Marshall Bill and bodybuilder Vera DeMilo, most of which included some form of Jim Carrey. - Compiled from www.starwars.com and Entertainmnent Weekly by Bryan Lark and Ed Sholinsky. New theater offers student discounts By Ed Sholnlky Daily Arts Writer What to do about those first run movies? Local theaters near campus rarely carry first run movies, or don't carry many. That leaves most students at the mercy of Showcase Cinemas or Briarwood. Now there's another option for movie goers. For a bit more driving time and a lot less money, students can make the trek out to Livonia's new AMC theater. Unlike Showcase, AMC Livonia offers a student discount, which brings the price of a ticket to $4.75. With its new renovations, seeing a movie in the evening will run you $7.75 at Showcase. AMC Livonia marketing director Tina Vocia says that the student discount is one of the ways in which the new theater hopes to attract students. The AMC offers 20 theaters - in comparison to the 24 .theaters at Showcase - which Vocia says, com- bined with the AMC already in Laurel Park Place, makes a "30-plex." With it, Vocia reveals that they plan to show lim- ited release films, like "The Mighty" that screened only at Laurel Park. Equipped with state of the art sound and stadium seating, the theater very much resembles the renovated Showcase theater. The seats also are made to transform into "love seats." This is nice if you have a date and want to cuddle up, but is a dis- tinct pain if you're behind two horny teenagers. That being said, the new theater is gor- geous and very art deco. It really ties well into the glitz and glam of Hollywood. The only drawback to ,the AMC Livonia is that it's in Livonia. But the extra gas money it takes to get to Livonia is insignificant compared to saving $3.a ticket. As far as megaplexes go, the new AMC appears to rank with the best. Its competitive student prices, glitzy deocr and brand new technology make the trip to Livonia seem not so far a distance. 'I __ U I Visit the Michigan Daily Online at www. michigan 1 .1 I DOYOU THINK.THAT THERE sHOULP DE A MAJORJMINOR PROGRAM OPflON AT THE UNWVERSHTY? THEN COME AND VOICE YOUR OPINION AT... AmuUnW Unamenav Uaswu I