Skits-4-Phrenia appears Saturday night. An uncensored look at
just about everything, this sketch comedy show will be performed
twice, at 8 and 11 p.m., in the Michigan Union's U-Club. Tickets
are $4 and are available at the Michigan Union Ticket Office.

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* Read Daily Arts for a review of "Orphan Train," a play by
Michigan playwright Dennis North. The workshop production runs
this weekend and next, Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and
Sundays at 2 p.m at the Trueblood Theater. Student tickets are
$7 and cean be purchased at the League Ticket Office.
Friday
April 2, 1999

5


I

Tango' da
By Laura Flyer
Daily Arts Writer
After Sally Potter's flop film of 1997, "The
Tango Lesson," starring the sickly-looking, lame
Potter herself, the thought of chancing another
flick of the same genre doesn't exactly sound
a ealing. Thanks to director/writer Carlos Suara,
ll'ever, the tango in "Tango" is a very different
dance than its predecessor.
Calling it a visual master-
piece would be stretching it,
but "Tango" nonetheless
Tango deserves recognition for the
way it takes a vast open space
**I and fills every shot with great
beauty, almost like painting a
At Michigan Theater new picture in every frame.
All of the dancing, in fact
* almost the entire movie, takes
place in a studio that seems
larger than a football field.
Enormous silk screens, mir-
rors, and walls bring the agile
dancers to life.
Miguel Angel Sola plays Mario Suarez, director
of a tango dancing/musical/film who wants to
bring the dance to a new level.
He desires to erase the separation between the
stories told in musicals and the dancing itself by

nces around storyline

Rather than playing off of the standard "unrequit-
ed love" frustrations ("unrequited" in that Mario is
twice her age and half as attractive), she flirts with
him and he eventually wins her love,
But little is shown of their evolving relation-
ship. The film instead works through a series of
choreographed dances coinciding with the inner
emotions of Mario himself.
The mood of the dancing, for example, abruptly
shifts midway through "Tango" when Elena's jeal-
ous and threateningly violent ex-boyfriend
emerges and haunts Mario. The once smooth,
flowing, trance-like motions of the dance
sequences suddenly shift to sharp, forceful, delin-
eated physical movement. Neon-like colors of
blue, pink and green also fade away to deep reds
and browns.
Clearly, Suara meant to place the aesthetics of
set design above the dancing and progression of
Mario's relationship with Elena. And no doubt the
cinematography credited to Vittorio Storario
brought exceptionally exquisite beauty to the visu-
al experience, but "Tango" is too much like an
extensive stage performance that is one act too
long.
Suara has the right idea, but creates too many
scenes that are static; even the disco-like color fil-
ters and silk-screened dancers can't draw us into
the film.

courtesy of Acoustic Productions
Steve Sweney, and Ed McGee are members of ekoostik hookah.

Dave Katz,

Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Cecilia Narova and Juan Carlos Copes tango.
creating various scenarios through variations of
the traditional tango.
As he auditions talented dancers, he eyes one in
particular, the attractive Elena (Mia Maestro).

ekoostik hookan
to play Michigan

bleynik
appears i
'10 Things
"Anything that can get high school
kids interested in Shakespeare is good,"
proclaims Larisa Oleynik.
And, she would know, being both
high school kid and star of"10 Things I
Hate About You,' a modern retelling of
the Bard's "The Taming of the Shrew."
"Our interpretation of 'Shrew' is ...
v,, let's say it's extremely loose'" said
nik in a recent interview with The
Michigan Daily. "But it'll make
teenagers understand that the basic plot
is universal.'
If not exactly universal, the "Shrew"-

Student productions
shown at Film Fann 3

10 Things I
#ate About
You
Starring Larisa
Oleynik
Now playing

inspired set-up of
"10 Things" cer-
tainly is engag-
ing: Bianca
Stratford
(Oleynik), the
fiber-sophomore
at Padua High
can't date until
her sister Kat
(Julia Stiles)
does, but Kat is
described as
"tempestuous" on
a good day and as
"a heinous bitch"

otherwise, meaning Bianca has her
icured hands full.
hough she expertly portrays the
Prada-loving, superficial, ultimately
misunderstood Bianca, Oleynik con-
fesses that she was initially attracted to
the more showy role now occupied by
fellow screen newcomer Stiles, who
Oleynik describes as "perfect and
amazing" as Kat.
"When I read the script I really fell in
love with Kat," said Oleynik. "I was in
ial, too, they kept calling me back
for Bianca but I was like, 'No no no no.
You don't understand.' Bianca used to
be incredibly annoying and now, thanks
to several rewrites, she's turned down to
a lower level of annoying."
Oleynik's kinder, gentler, if still
mildly irritating Bianca "goes through a
transformation," said her portrayer.
"I think it's just that she's been so
used to her entire life - being cute and
tl 's all she really needed, which is
for a lot of girls. They just smile
and giggle and they're set."
Oleynik herself hasn't had to rely on
such smiley, giggly behavior to get to
where she is now, appearing on both the

Courtesy of Richard Cartwright
Larisa Oleynik stars as Blanca Stratford.
big screen in "10 Things" and the small
on NBC's "3rd Rock From the Sun."
Oleynik's almost incessant work
since childhood and her attendance of a
school for professional children has
prevented her from the cutthroat popu-
larity and politics of high school, exag-
gerated for comedic effect at the Padua
High of "10 Things," for better or
worse.
"I never had to deal too much with
the popularity, the cliques, the kind of
backstabbing that goes on. I go to a
really small school and I've gone there
since kindergarten. There really is no
room for cliques - there's only about
50 people in the class. So, it's like, if
you're not friends with everyone,
you're screwed."
Out of school and on the set of "10
Things," Oleynik found a fast friend in
her on-screen love interest Joseph
Gordon-Levitt, who now finds himself
opposite Oleynik on a weekly basis on
"3rd Rock."
"Joe and I have a great relationship
but believe you me, it's strictly platonic.
I love him so much as a friend. Like,
right now, I haven't seen him in three
weeks and I just miss him. I guess that's
what comes across, more than a
boyfriend-type relationship."
"Then again, you kiss someone and
you know you're acting," said Oleynik,
reconsidering her previous statement,
"but still, a kiss is a kiss - it means
something."
Oleynik has less trouble distinguish-
ing fantasy from reality as far as "10
Things" itself is concerned.
Pushing its PG-13 rating, the film is
decidedly ribald, filled with obscene
amounts of sexual innuendo and under-
age drinking. But Oleynik, citing her
film and the similarly oversexed "Cruel
Intentions," believes teen films should-
n't necessarily be looked to for role
models.
"Our job is to tell stories and make it
as entertaining as possible. But in terms
of the actions of the characters, the
main story line, there's nothing offen-
sive. And plus, it's fantasy."

By Matthew Barrett
Daily Arts Writer
No more games for the hockey
team? No more NCAA basketball
tournament to watch? No plans for
the evening? Not a problem, because
tonight M-Flicks is putting on their
third installment of Film Farm in the
Natural Science Auditorium. The
event features 1l student films that
were selected to appear from the 37
entries that were submitted to M-
Flicks.
According to M-Flicks Co-
President Michael Cataletto the idea
is for Film Farm to be a place for stu-
dents "to showcase their prospective
film talents and try to show that our
school has a film program."
John Wambaugh, the other co-
president of M-Flicks, feels that
Film Farm offers students "the
chance to get some attention and
praise for showing their films."
A student taking advantage of the
opportunity is Adam Schwartz, one
of several people involved with the
feature "No Pants!" Schwartz
worked on the silent black and white
film with other members of his
group for a film and video class. The
plot centers around two college stu-
dents at a party who get their pants
stolen and then have to run through
the streets of Ann Arbor to retrieve
the missing garments. Schwartz,
who calls the film "a wild comedy"
also appears as one of the pantless
students.
Another student showing off his
film tonight is Luke Bassis, who
worked on "Eternal Love" for a film
and video class. For the picture,
Bassis teamed up with Karina
Knighen, Margret Grunow and
Omaria Jett, who plays the film's
protagonist. Shot in black and white,
"Eternal Love" tells the story of a
man who remains haunted by the
loss of his one true love. The film is
set in a cemetery and includes sever-
al flashbacks to when the two used to
be together. Bassis feels that Film
Farm "is a great idea because it
offers students a place to exhibit

Featured Films:
Starcatcher
Dance Lessons
Continuum
Eternal Love
No Pants!
Satyajit
The Ambitions Are
Playtime
Something Smells Like Zombie
No Outlet
Get Retarded
work we're proud of."
As with the previous two Film
Farms, attendees get to vote in sever-
al different areas for their favorite
films of the night. Awards will be
given out in four categories: Most
Original Piece, Best
Story/Screenplay, Best
Cinematography and Best of
Festival.
In addition, Film Farm 3 will be
hosted by popular actor and star of
the "Evil Dead" series, Bruce
Campbell. Along with an introduc-
tion to the festival and handing out
the awards, Campbell will hold a
question and answer session with the
audience. During this period, he will
take film-related inquiries from both
filmmakers and attendees of the
show. Cataletto seems enthused with
the choice of Campbell as the event's
host, adding "most of M-Flicks real-
ly considers Bruce Campbell a god."
So no matter what you're looking
for in terms of movies this Friday
night, Film Farm 3 seems to have
things covered. Cataletto feels that
the festival has a little something for
everyone and offers students "A
chance to see their fellow students'
films. We have dramas, we have
comedies, we have horror, we have
all the different types of films." And
they have Bruce Campbell.
Film Farm 3 is being held tonight in
the Natural Science Auditorium.
Tickets are $3 and the event begins
at 8 p.m.

By Chris Kula
Daily Arts Writer
Call Woody Harrelson, pick up
the newest copy of "High Times"
and say a quick prayer for the late
Timothy Leary, because Hash Bash
is here.
Thanks to this annual celebration
of the cannabis plant, hemp enthusi-
asts and marijuana supporters will
be found mingling on the Diag with
hippie bead-weavers and undercov-
er nares. The sound of African drum
circles and the ever-familiar aroma
of patchouli will complete the sen-
sory experience. And providing the
soundtrack to this festive occasion
is the Midwest's premier jam band,
ekoostik hookah.
Though the group keeps its base of
operations in
Ohio, it has
found a sec-
ond home in
ekoostik Michigan,
hookah playing fre-
Michigan Theater quent club
Tomorrow at 8 p.m. dates through-
out the year at
Kalamazoo's
Club Soda,
Fernd aIe's
Magic Bag
and Ann
Arbor's own
Blind Pig.
Last April saw the five-piece band
share a headlining bill with Guster at
the Michigan Theater, where it will
return on Saturday night as the fea-
tured performer in a special night-of-
Hash Bash concert.
"The Michigan Theater is a really
cool place to play, and we're excited
to be coming back, especially for a
night like this," said hookah bassist
Cliff Starbuck.
In addition to hookah's tradition-
al two-set performance, Domestic
Problems, a get-down, get-funky
party band from Grand Rapids, will
be opening the show. And between
bands, ganja-friendly comedian
Tommy Chong will be performing
his stand-up routine.
"All I have to say is be prepared,"

Starbuck said with a laugh.
In the last year, hookah has cer-
tainly been prepared to take the next
step from its current status of popu-
lar regional success to the national
level. The band has consistently
toured new markets, finding friend-
ly responses in jam-happy Colorado
and venturing as far west as
California and the Northwest.
The band's newest album, "Sharp
in the Flats," was also released in
February. A double live disc record-
ed during a gig at Cleveland's
Odeon, the record finds the band at
their best - jamming on-stage.
"There was a little bit of pressure
on us that night, knowing that it was
going to be the live album,"
Starbuck said. "But once we got
into our groove, just playing togeth-
er like we always do, it all came out
really nicely."
The band's musical formula has
remained constant throughout the
years. Drawing equally upon smoky
blues, jazz-flavored rock, romping
bluegrass and a touch of polyrhyth-
mic psychedelia, hookah embarks
upon sprawling improvisations that
swirl around the audience like a
melodic dust storm.
The energy created is not lost
upon the band's rabid fan base,
either.
"It's cool to feel the support from
people who are really enthusiastic
about how we make them so happy
with our music," Starbuck said.
As a way to give back to their
loyal followers, hookah puts on
Hookahville, its two day, bi-annual
music festival, which is set for
Memorial Day weekend at Buckeye
Lake Amphitheater in Ohio.
"We announced it at our last
show," Starbuck said. "We're get-
ting Bob Weir and his band Ratdog
to play with us this year, along with
some other people, so it should be a
lot of fun."
ekoostik hookah will be appearing
with Tommy Chong and Domestic
Problems. Tickets are $16.54,
available at all Tkcketmaster
outlets.

irl M F II 1 I a

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---"9

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