Music. students collaborate tonight at Hill Auditorium. As part of the 54th Annual Midwestern Conference on School Vocal and Instrumental Music, Kevin Sedatole directs a program represent- ing the many facets of the School of Music. 8:15 p.m. The con- cert is free, and tickets are available between 4-6 p.m. at the Hill Auditorium Box Office. ftoaftwomliff LlTS Check out a review of "Gloria," the latest film starring Sharon Stone. Friday January 22, 1999 5 Simple Plan' sets web of Irony By Bryan Lark Daily Arts Writer When director Sam Raimi, a ,Detroit-area native and Michigan State alumnus best known for the tongue-in-cheek morbidity of the vil Dead" series and "Darkman," akes a film called "A Simple Plan," 'Wolf' howls in shame A Simple Plan At showcase at least a hint of irony can be expected. Indeed, irony involved is that the film is far from simple and nothing goes as planned for the characters. But perhaps more surprising is the brilliant fashion in which Raimi avoids the out- landish, though Courtesy of Paramount Pictures Billy Bob Thornton, Bill Paxton, and Brent Briscoe contemplate their find in 'A Simple Plan." uJ ingenious, trickery that has marked his previous films. "A Simple Plan" is a rivetingly snowy tale of money lost and moral dilemmas found that Raimi injects *ith a sort of bleak charisma and a compelling symbolic order that make the script's many fulfilling plot twists all the more thrilling. "Simple" follows one complex winter in the lives of the Mitchells - Hank (Bill Paxton), his pregnant wife Sarah (Bridget Fonda) and his outcast brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton). The complexities begin when ank, Jacob and Jacob's equal in serdom Lou (Brent Briscoe) stum- ble upon a downed plane, conve- * niently stuffed with a bag of cash. The three presume it is drug money from a transfer gone awry. If it's drug money, they reason, then it's not stealing and Jacob and Lou reluctantly agree to Hank's plan of saving the money until the snow melts, to see if anyone's after them or the cash, then spending it in the spring. That is, if they make it through the winter with those million. This leads Hank, Jacob, Lou and Sarah, whose initial aversion to the money is matched by her later green-driven ambition, into temptation, greed and a world of criminal behavior they never knew they had in them. The result is a twisted and shock- ing mystery/tragedy of almost bibli- cal proportions replete with actors at the top of their form and a director experiencing a stylistic renaissance that should garner him newfound respect and clemency for creating the Sharon Stone-Leonardo DiCaprio western "The Quick & the Dead." Paxton has never been better cast than as the everyman knee-deep in extreme circumstances, and Fonda finally finds a fully matured role that doesn't cast her a pot-smoking or pistol-packing cutie. Both turn in the best performances of their career. Thornton, however, doesn't just give the performance of his career, he gives one of the best perfor- mances of the year, as the slow-wit- ted Jacob who's torn between his strained familial bond with Hank and Sarah and his beer-busting loyalty to Lou. The performances are only enhanced by the forboding atmos- phere orchestrated by Raimi, chock- full of loaded images of crows and foxes, plus oppositions between snow-covered landscapes and linger- ing close-ups that catch the charac- ters at the their most calculating and vulnerable. Also calculated is Raimi's shrewd use of Danny Elfman's creepily evocative score and Scott B. Smith's savvy, bare-necessities adaptation of his already blistering 1993 suspense novel, filled not with heroic gestures but with human frailty. But the true hero of this wonder- fully grim and invigorating tall tale, if there are any at all, is Raimi him- self and he just may find himself, along with the incomparable Billy Bob, anointed with an Oscar nomi- nation for his splendidly realized troubles. That is, if everything goes as planned. But like free money stirred into an already tumultuous gene pool, Oscar prediction is never sim- ple. On the other hand, two hours of swift, shocking entertainment is "Simple," indeed. By Garth Heutel describes the adv Daily Arts Writer who travels from t The Performance Network publi- mother in finding cized its current show, "The Moon dren. Wolf," as a family piece, describing it The story itse as "delightful for children 8 to 108." Aesopian spiritual While it is difficult to find children of Native Americ who are 108 years old, even more dif- vates the audience ficult is finding anyone, children or tions found just adult, who will be delighted watching else in the product this original The costumes a piece. Adults will a Midsummer-e likely laugh at it; world, a celebr children will find (Roger Corman w "TheMoon it more boring to mention Saran than C-Span. hanging rope. Presented by Enter the title c Performance the Ellipsis by Stacy Cole, w Network T h e a t r e and howls her dia Tonight through sway Ensemble and tually becomes as written and boy. Moving acros directed by the looks strangely li e n se mbI e''s doing Rum TumT founder, Joanna The Wolf quick Hastings, the woman bound in show is a clut- plaining about th tered, yet slow- children, whom th moving mix of a children's fable and locate and return t experimental theatre. Featuring a cast The audience is of six women, including Hastings, as minutes of this W the storyteller, in the only speaking hurriedly loses any (non-howling) role, the show when we realize th 'Pay ing'goes By Erin Pooisky Daily Arts Writer Family is complicated, but it's still family and blood never lies. "Playing by Heart" takes this particular mantra to heart in a portrayal of a group of adults searching for love and relation- ships in an unlikely world where everything says they'll never find happiness. Director/writer Willard Carroll draws the fam- ily of two parents, three sisters and one wild card, marked by tragedy and circumstance, in a series of well-executed vignettes that eventually tell us enough about these characters' lives to go beyond this now-commonplace device. Look no further for evidence of exactly what a powerful, tal- ented ensemble cast can do for an idea and a screenplay that would be miserable in the hands of the wrong actors. Meredith (Gillian Anderson) is a successful the- ater director who has been burned by love's bright light too many times; Trent (Jon Stewart) is a 38-year-old architect Playing By who is sick of casual sex without com- Heart mitment. They meet by chance but end up together on purpose. The two are especially impressive in the roles, with At Showcase Anderson living up to her prior work ("The X-Files") and Stewart displaying ability beyond the comedic. Gracie (Madeleine Stowe) wishes her C husband Hugh (Dennis Quaid) was more spontaneous and imaginative, so she sends him to an improv class while she sends herself to the arms of another man (Anthony Edwards). Hugh (and Quaid, who has been less than prolific of late) takes to pretending to be other people like a duck to water, and while Gracie enjoys the sex-only affair, she ultimately realizes that it's intimacy and love, not just plea- sure that she craves. Joan (Angelina Jolie) is a club-hopping motormouth acting student exiting a relationship and is left with nothing but her one-eyed cat; Keenan (Ryan Phillippe) is a handsome loner who doles out information about himself in bite-size portions. Jolie sparkles as Joan, speaking long, convoluted lines of heady, witty dialogue with ease.Phillippe doesn't fare as well, once again playing the uncommunicative pretty boy (this time with an emotional twist, but it's a twist than can be seen from ventures of a wolf he moon to assist a her three lost chil- If, a wholly non- journey with a hint an folklore, capti- amidst the distrac- about everywhere ion. nd scenery suggest esque, dreamlike ation of spandex ould be proud) not Wrap, neon and a character, portrayed ho alternately sings logue, which even- irritating as Goat- s the stage, she also ke Carmen Electra rugger. ly meets up with a chains who is com- e loss of her three e Wolf then vows to o their mother. then subjected to 30 olf's journey, which interesting qualities at the same thing is for the heart going to happen with each of the three children. Kids may enjoy repetition, but even in "The Three Little Pigs," the third pig got away. More like a particularly tripped-out episode of "Reading Rainbow" than a children's theatre piece, "The Moon Wolf" has other factors working against it. The music, provided by Scott Screws, is an unpleasant mish- mash of percussive noise, at times approaching comical heights. (If you listen closely, you can hear barking dogs and farts). The music, however, like the rest of the show, comes together at the end and turns out to mean something. Buried underneath all the ineffective imagery is a surprisingly touching story of motherhood and freedom. Unfortunately, this is a story which would have been served better as a fable rather than a play. "Teen Wolf," or even "Teen Wolf Too," are far better wolf-themed works than this. At least these movies don't take themselves too seriously. The Performance Network is located at 408 W Washington. Performances are tonight and tomorrow at 8p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12. For more information, call 663-0681. Mullis bares all in autobiography Kary Mullis Dancing Naked in the Mind Field Pantheon Kary Mullis divides his time between surfing, experi- menting with LSD and making Nobel Prize winning dis- 'coveries. Mullis discovered PCR, a polymerase chain reaction which revolutionized the world of science, changed how people think of DNA and earned him a ilobel Prize for chemistry in 1993. To call him eccentric would be an understatement. In 'his new book, "Dancing Naked in the Mind Field," Kary 'Mullis described his life in terms of science and all other random topics that manage to catch his attention for a ''few seconds. He infuses the book with a humor entirely "dnexpected for an autobiography of a scientist. Much of his humor in his adventures comes from the fact that he works with professional people who take their job seriously and don't know how to deal with an -iconoclast like Kary Mullis. Once he was asked by a safety inspector not to keep his 'case of beer in the same refrigerator as the radioactive 'material he worked with. Mullis assured the inspector 'hat the radioactive material was secured in a lead lined case but the inspector sent in another safety official to inspect him anyway. This person turned out to be a woman who ended up moving in with Mullis several months later. Mullis was also asked to testify about DNA in the OJ Simpson trial. He never was able to take the stand, part- ly due to his past LSD use, but did manage to smile and wave at the camera when it came to him. He also passed notes with Simpson about a person on the stand who he found attractive. Mullis' drug use isn't the main focus of the book but he does mention it unselfconsciously on many occasions. His first experiencestwith drugs were as a child, using codeine from his mother, for pain. He does explain that he was always interested in chemicals, and being a grad- uate student at Berkeley, his interest in chemicals such as LSD wasn't entirely out of the question. The overall tone of the book is mainly that of an intel- ligent person with a sense of himself as unique. Mullis plays up his quirks with a humor that makes him seem utterly normal. His interactions with authority, such as the emperor and empress of Japan, show how he likes being a voyeur in situations to which his fame brings him. Many things seem important enough to mention. His frequent correspondence with his mother and his visit to a strip club. All the stories have an underlying message that life is short and limitless. Just because a person is a chemist doesn't mean he can't be an accomplished surfer as well. Kary Mullis is not only smart, but cool. -Caitlin Hall Courtesy of Miramax Films Jon Stewart and Gillian Anderson in "Playing By Heart." miles away - secrets aren't so subtle when you're secretive). But Jolie manages to elevate this storyline above an irritating- ly morose level. Hannah (Gena Rowlands) and Paul (Sean Connery) are the parents of this strange brood, but they're in a crisis of their own. Paul has a fatal brain tumor and the weight of a 25-year-old affair on his shoulders that Hannah has yet to forgive him for or understand. Nominally the old folks of the cast, Connery and Rowlands prove that youth has no monopoly on beauty and that conflict can still be fascinatingly ripe even at the 40- year mark of a marriage. The film bounces back and forth amongst these four story- lines and even adds a fifth, much less successful one involving Jay Mohr as a dying AIDS patient and his mother (Ellen Burstyn, who looks like she had an unfortunate run-in with a plastic surgeon) as they spend his last days together. While this plot figures in the periphery of one of the sisters', it bogs down the rest of the crisscrossed film and feels like a cop-out tear- jerker next to the other, stronger threads. "Playing by Heart" features more people speaking more wit- ticisms than is humanly possible, but because of the acting the barb trading is palatable. Carroll can write funny, but because of the cast he found he can also pull off marvelous feats of poignancy that for the most part avoids sniffly sentimentality. "Playing by Heart" is an acting showcase at its best. Read the Michi an Daily On ine at http:I//lww. inichigandai1yco. -U . The University of Michigan School of Music Friday, January 22 Collage Concert Symphony Band, University Choir and other ensembles Kevin Sedatole and Sandra Snow conductors * "The Concert with Something for Everyone" [Remaining tickets available free at Hill Auditorium Box Office today only 4 p.m - 6 p.m For more information 763-30171 Hill Auditorium, 8:15 p.m. Monday, January 25 Pre-Mozart Birthday Bash Concert Lecture Prof. Ellwood Derr presents a talk which he has titled , * Punkitititi! Whozat? Whazat? Howzat? Auditorium 3, Modern Language Bldg., 7 p.m. '7t A nnual Monart Birthdav Rh Concert PRESENTING THE AMBA SSADO0RS 4: y '_