I The Michigan Theater will screen two Academy Award nominat-
ed films tonight. James Coburn and Nick Nolte have both been
nominated for their acting in "Affliction," which shows at 7 p.m.
Edward Norton, who won an Oscar for his performance in "Primal
Fear," appears in "American History X," which will screen at 9:3-
p.m. $5.50 for students.
UZj £tiuu atg
Daily Arts returns with a review of "Sunset Boulevard,"
which runs this month at the Detroit Opera House.
Monday
March 8, 1999
a
'tentions'
teases
cruelly
Byarm Lai
Daily Arts Writer
Don't be fooled by the three stars that adorn this
review of "Cruel Intentions"- it's a poorly direct-
ed, overly acted and often offensive teen-wet-
dream version of "Dangerous Liaisons."
"Intentions" may be crude and cruelly demean-
for all involved, but its prurient interests pay off
Kinky, strangely moving and wildly entertaining
in the cliched so-bad-it's-grrreat fashion, "Cruel
Intentions" rises above its
mediocre B-movie trap-
pings to attain true guilty-
pleasure status, sure to be a
Cruel favorite of locked dorm-
Intentions rooms everywhere. .
** The hot teen cast- hot-
and-bothered, actually -
make the best of
"Intentions" by not taking
themselves entirely seri-
ously, hamming it up in
every frame.
Sarah Michelle Gellar,
as Kathryn Merteuil (the
Glenn Close role) is most
guilty of this transgression
of subtlety, vamping around in big hair and ridicu-
lously stylish ensembles, while finding time to
A
Kubrick dead at 70
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe portray stepsiblings in 'Cruel Intentions." incest, anyone?
coin new, decidedly un-Buflfy catchphrases like "I
wanna fuck!"
This declaration is aimed at her campy-acting
equal Ryan Phillipe, who apparently thinks pout-
ing doubles for emotion as Kathryn's stepbrother
Sebastian Valmont.
A master seducer, Phillipe's Valmont is the cen-
ter of the updated adaptation of Pierre Laclos'
1782 novel and he becomes less annoying as the
film unfolds, due to the refreshingly understated
presence of Reese Witherspoon.
As Annette Hargrove, the "paradigm of chastity
and virtue" as Valmont calls her, Witherspoon is
the target of Kathryn and Sebastian's hormonally-
charged, quasi-incestuous wager: Sebastian must
deflower Annette, writer of a Seventeen magazine
manifesto on virginity, or lose his Jaguar roadster.
But if he's successful, he has the pleasure of
introducing his manhood to his stepsister, who will
graciously concede the orifice of Sebastian's
choosing.
The horny triangle gets predictably complex
when love walks in and "Cruel Intentions" suffers
for it.
The greatness of "Cruel Intentions" lies in the
catty quips and casual sex that define the appeal-
ingly one-dimensional characters, including the
dumb-as-dirt Cecile (Selma Blair) who hilariously
stumbles into sexual experience and the marginal-
ly amusing Blame, a walking insult ofa gay stereo-
type made acceptable by the skills of "Dawson's
Creek"'s Joshua Jackson.
Other renowned actors, including Swoozie
Kurtz, veteran of the 1988 "Liaisons" former
Nurse Ratched Louise Fletcher and "Cybill'%
Christine Baranski, raise the film's skill level, but
since the adults are just as calculating and
depraved as the youngsters, "Intentions" is never
much more than a pleasantly over-the-top diver-
sion.
Writer and director Roger Kumble deserves the
praise and the blame for the film's absurdity, which
places the unbelievably campy performances of
the company rightfully in an incredible world of
posh Manhattan surroundings and even more
incredible acts of free love.
Never revealing more than Witherspoon's
cleavage and Phillipe's buttocks in said sex
acts, "Cruel Intentions" is a dirty little tease
but a rollicking, fun, dirty little tease that is
worth the cruelty of walking away aroused -
not to mention the three stars.
The Washington Post
Stanley Kubrick, the adventurous moviemaker
who took audiences from Spartacus' slave revolt in
ancient Rome through Dr. Strangelove's Cold War
fantasies and on to distant worlds in the year 2001,
died Sunday as he was finishing the final cut of a
long-awaited new film.
Police were called Sunday afternoon to the 70-
year-old director's rural home in Hertfordshire in
London's northern suburbs. Kubrick's family said
nothing about the cause of death; Hertfordshire
police issued a brief statement saying, "There are no
suspicious circumstances." Kubric's death was utter-
ly unexpected; a friend who spoke with him Saturday
night said there was no indication anything was
wrong.
His movies were often as controversial as they
were unique, and just as often came later to be
regarded as cinematic monuments that resonated
through American popular culture.
The notoriously reclusive American-born director,
who rarely left London, his adopted home, created
"2001: A Space Odyssey," "A Clockwork Orange,"
"Dr. Strangelove," "Lolita" and "Full Metal Jacket,"
treating themes as diverse as war, pedophilia, the
tyranny of technology, the nature of madness and the
nuclear age.
For more than three decades, the opening of a
Stanley Kubrick film has been an event, and the
planned July 16 release of his final effort - "Eyes
Wide Shut," starring Hollywood's first couple, Tom
Cruise and Nicole Kidman - might be the biggest
ever. Kubrick had completed enough of the film
about sexual obsession to allow an editor to bring a
copy last Tuesday to New York, where Warner Bros.
CEOs Bob Daly and Terry Semel along with stars
Cruise and Kidman were allowed a first glimpse. The
film was then immediately returned to London.
"He was on Cloud 98. He was very, very excited.
Obviously I'm really happy that he got to see how we
all reacted to the movie he made;' Semel said. He
talked to Kubrick by phone for an hour Saturday
night. "But if you'd have said to me he was either sick
or God knows what, that the next morning I would
find out he died -I would never have dreamt that."
In the film, Cruise and Kidman play psychologists
who are married but cheat on each other with their
own patients. Cruise reportedly wears a dress in one
scene.
To work with Kubrick, Cruise and Kidman moved
to London and enrolled their children in school there.
Filming took 15 months - one of the longest shoot-
ing schedules in recent movie history - and the
meticulous Kubrick spent months editing and re-edit-
ing.
Semel said Kubrick's passing would not delay the
film. "Short of one or two minor things, the movie
was finished. It would not, nor does it need to be, cut
in any way," he said.
Cruise and Kidman issued a statement saying they
were "devastated" and "in shock""He was a genius,
a dear friend and we will greatly miss him;'they said.
Kubrick's family - he lived with his third wife,
Christiane, with whom he had three daughters --
said there would be no further comment.
Malcolm McDowell, who starred in "A
Clockwork Orange," issued a statement through his
publicist saying Kubrick "was the last great director
of that era. He was the big daddy."
In an industry known for formulaic scripts and
heavily marketed concepts, Kubrick was one of
the few true renegades. He worked in total secre-
cy, often serving as his own producer, screenwriter
and cinematographer, and maintained absolute
artistic control over his films from start to finish.
He refused to travel for his films since the '60s,
and instead recreated elaborate sets in England -
notably a war-ravaged Vietnamese city in an aban-
doned gasworks for "Full Metal Jacket" - rather
than shoot on location.
Cobumn brings
Nick Affliction'
Group gives orgiastic performance for teens
By Adlin Roshl
Daily Arts Writer
Orgy has made quite a buzz for itself
since its critically acclaimed debut
album, "Candyass," premiered in
September. The album was also the first
release from Korn's record label,
Elementree Records, and Orgy man-
aged to make a good presence of itself
following that with a string of appear-
ances on last year's lucrative Family
Values Tour.
y Matthew Barrett
Daily Arts Writer
Alcoholism, child abuse and the
life-long effects that they have on
their victims are a few of the topics
examined in Paul Schrader's
"Affliction." Known to movie fans
as Martin Scorsese's screenwriter
for films such as "Taxi Driver" and
"Raging Bull," Schrader gives
udiences a legitimate movie and
makes a big step up from his most
recent directing effort, "Touch."
Based on the Russell Banks
novel of the same name,
"Affliction" centers its story on
Affliction
At the Michigan
Theater
W a d e
Whitehouse
(Nick Nolte)
a down on his
luck, two-
time divorcee.
Unhappy and
battling the
bottle, Wade
struggles to
have a rela-
tionship with
his disinter-
ested daugh-
ter and find
his niche in
life.
among other
audience by inserting grainy flash-
backs of the character into the first
part of the film. Glen was abusive
towards his wife and children and,
like the present, spent most of his
time drunk. These flashbacks serve
the film well, as they allow viewers
to see part of why Wade is in his
present state as his life unfolds
before us.
Willem Dafoe resurfaces for the
first time since the disastrous
"Speed 2: Cruise Control" as Rolfe,
Wade's brother. While Wade has
responded to his father's alco-
holism by taking to the bottle,
Rolfe avoids liquor and leads what
seems to be peaceful life as a pro-
fessor at Boston University. Rolfe
serves as the film's narrator and is
heard at several points via some
well-written voice-overs.
Despite strong acting from Dafoe
and Coburn, "Affliction" is clearly
Nolte and Schrader's show. Nolte's
Wade is a desolate man seeking
redemption in the eyes of the town
and his own heart. He neglects him-
self (Wade never makes it to the
dentist for a bothersome toothache)
and those that he is supposed to care
about, all so that he can prove that
the witness to the shooting in the
woods is lying. Nolte's intensity
throughout the film is matched only
by its direction.
Schrader inserts powerful
sequences throughout the film,
including a virtuoso car chase, but
it's in the film's final frames that he
elevates the characters to a higher
level. Years of hatred and animosity
play out between Wade and Glen in
a sequence that will stick with
viewers for days to come.
Squeamish viewers be fore-
warned: "Affliction" is not for the
weak of heart. There are several
brutal sequences in the film, and a
certain character's demise is noth-
ing short of repulsive. But if you
can stomach the vicious scenes,
"Affliction" is a compelling and
thought provoking movie with out-
standing work by two pros at the
top of their game.
Orgy
Clutch Cargo,
Pontiac
Mar. 2, 1999
Orgy has since
managed to score
a hit single with
its remake of New
Order's "Blue
Monday," which
seems to be a sta-
ple on rock radio
and MTV these
days. MTV has
especially been
welcoming to the
group as Orgy has
made numerous
appearances on
the network,
who shrieked and screamed endlessly
for the group. Singer Jay Gordon was
constantly greeted with screams and "I
love you"s from any direction he looked
or pointed to during the performance.
The group obviously could not do any
wrong for the ladies in attendance.
Gordon was clad in a dashing, yet
space-like shirt with platform sneakers
and eyeliner while guitarist Ryan Shuck
and drummer Bobby Hewitt were simi-
larly dressed in a tee shirt also sporting
make up. Bassist Paige Haley and gui-
tar-synthesizer player Amir Derakh on
the other hand, were both dressed in a
more formal suit-like outfit finished, of
course, with make up.
The musical aspect of the group was
lacking that night and one had to wonder
if the group had spent too much time
with its looks and too little rehearsing its
songs. During the group's first song that
night, "Dissention' there were a couple
of moments of hesitation and wrong
notes hit by the group's guitar player,
Shuck, and its guitar-synthesizer player,
Derakh.
Bass player Haley, singer Gordon and
drummer Hewitt on the other hand were
right on the money with all the songs.
Apparently, they were the only ones who
had memorized the songs as both Shuck
and Derakh were both visibly seen look-
ing to them and asking for hints as to
where they were.
If things were not bad enough with
this, the group was also plagued with a
bad sound that night. One could barely
hear singer Gordon's voice above the
crash of noise that engulfed the instru-
ments. Only the steady keep of Hewitt's
drumming remained a strong constant
throughout the show.
The group cleverly left its hit single
doing such things as bowling and giving
advice on "Loveline."
One of the main things that strike you
about the group is the visually striking
look that it has adopted. Their look
simultaneously embraces vintage Cure
sensibilities, glam rock flamboyance
and '90s boy band good looks that
results in a mix of eyeliner, dyed hair,
trendy clothes and attitude. So its unsur-
prising that a lot was to be expected with
the group's recent performance at
Clutch Cargo's.
All the effort put in the looks depart-
ment was well-appreciated by the pre-
dominantly adolescent female crowd
"Blue Monday" to be its last tune that
night. As soon as the first couple of
notes to the song came out of the moni-
tors the crowd erupted happily and
began to jump in its place. Gordon
thanked the rabid crowd for the support
and left the stage with screams deafen-
ing the venue.
With this Pontiac performance being
the group's first night of a string of dates
Courtesy ofReprise Records
Orgy played to an enthusiastic audience of teenage girls last week at Clutch Cargo.
since its Family Values appearances, it is
perhaps understandable as to why it was
not playing as well as it had the last time
it was here. With such an enjoyable stu-
dio album and all the numerous hype
surrounding the band these days, it is
truly a let down to find the group's live
performance that night to have been
more of an exercise in fashion sensibili-
ties than musical abilities.
0 Wade works as,
things, a policeman in a small New
Hampshire town, his main source
of pleasure being his girlfriend
Margie (Sissy Spacek). He
becomes suspicious when an old
man is murdered while deer hunt-
ing with his guide, and pours him-
self into the investigation. Sensing
that something is awry, Wade
spends the better part of the movie
striving to fix it.
Complicating matters is Glen
(James Coburn), Wade's alcoholic
abusive father. With the part of the
bitter and hateful patriarch, Coburn
is experiencing a semi-revitaliza-
tion of his career. And while the
evil role would seem to lend itself
to overacting, Coburn avoids this,
letting the character and his past
speak for themselves.
Schrader introduces Glen to the
You rarely get a second chance
to make a first impression
IResume Packagel
!25 Copies (BN
"25 Sheets (Resume Paper) I
1 25 Resume Envelopes
L Expres4/3O/99 ..
Presentation by
Dean Lehman,
Dean of Law School.
" Will be speaking on law school and
the application process for law school.
" Includes question and answer period.
" Refreshments will be served.
" 138 Hutchins Hall.
" March 8, 6:30-8:30.
Sponsored by the Undergraduate Law Club.
MOM
r2u
Timber Lake & Tyler Hill Camps
2 Hours Northwest of NYC
11 A % 'k
A ~ v4 N ALR