OWN$ O partacus at the Michigan. Part three of the Spring Kubrick seies plays the Michigan tonight, replete with chariots, leather- men and Kirk Douglas. 7 p.m. Tuesday 8 January 25, 2000 utaItwmx t IRT Daily Arts takes a look at the recently unveiled exhibit of Chinese paintings at the Museum of Art. _,..._- Fractured lone' no knockout BpArvid Vittor ,A-ke note, boxing fans -"Play it to d Bone" is not a boxing movie with a riodrip in it, Rather, sports guru Ron Sheion's latest film (his previous efforts include "Bull Durham" and "Tin Cup") is about boxers on a road trip. It should be clear there isn't more than 20 minutes of actual boxing in the movie. Like many a heavyweight prizefighter, "Bone" is down for the count shortly after the spectacle begins, and never gets back on it feet. The story focuses on two has-been middleweight boxers -- Cesar Dominguez (Antonio Banderas) and Vince Boudreau (Woody Harrelson). The best of pals. they are given the chance of a lifetime when Cesar's old Unreal Tournament,' new Quae hit gaming highs Courtesy of Touchstone Pictures 'Play it to the Bone' stars Woody Harrelson and Antonio Banderas as dueling chums. promoter (played Play it to the Bone At Showcase and State over-obnoxiously by Tom Sizemore) offers them a chance to fight against each other in the undercard match ofa fiction- al Mike Tyson heavyweight bout for $50,000 apiece. The catch is it's that night and they have to get from L.A. to Vegas. and quick. Through some silly and incon- Convenient, isn't it? Of the trio, Harrelson's born-again Christian character is the least convinc- ing and interesting. Woody seems to be good at playing likable knuckleheads ("Cheers." anyone?), but he comes off as an insensitive creep who alternates between quoting The Bible and lusting for women. Banderas tries to play a macho man with a sensitive side, but he did a much better job of it in "Desperado." Gracie is merely a sexual tension generator that toys with both of them like a spoiled sorority girl. The road trip is an interminable sequence that drags on and on. Nothing happens that make you care about the characters. Lucy Liu of "Ally McBeal" fame makes a short appearance en route as a whiny, drugged out sex-kitten, but only annoys and lengthens this tedious portion of the film. The dialogue of this trio seems more like forced wit than genuine banter - Shelton is trying to make the viewer care about them, but it is way overdone and tedious. When they finally arrive in Vegas to prepare for the fight. things start to get interesting. As we see Vince and Cesar ready themselves for the match. one cas- ily falls into the excitement surrounding a big title fight. However, the bout itself is spotty in intensity. The actual boxing is heated and fierce as the fighting spirit of the two boxers that was only weakly developed in the road trip is brutally exposed. Unfortunately, Shelton's attempts to capture various aspects of the fight detract from what could have been a match of "Raging Bull" proportions. He often cuts to throwaway shots ofcelebri- ties in the middle of the fight. Fantasy- like sequences that are supposed to mir- ror each fighter's fears and obstacles between each round of the match seem confusing and out of place - their comic nature often draws too much attention from the intense boxing that surrounds them. Overall, though, this climactic fight is the highlight of this misguided, under- written film. The outcome of the match fails to surprise, and the ending of the film is sloppily concluded, freeze-frame style - -like a bad Jackie Chan movie. "Play it to the Bone" is one of those movies that had promise, but failed to deliver in almost every way. If you want a great boxing film, rent "Raging Bull." If you want a romance/comedy/sports flick, get Shelton's far superior "Bull Durham." Go ahead: Knock yourself out, but don't blame me if you waste your time on a tired flick like "Play it to the Bone." This holiday season first person shooter (FPS) fans were blessed with two outstanding. four-star, pieces of soft- ware - "Quake 3" by id Software and "Unreal Tournament" by Epic Games & Digital Extremes. Both "Q3 and "UT" are the first FPSs that are meant to be stand alone multi- player games. That means that they real- ly aren't meant for gamers who are more into story development and plot (those gamers should look into "Half-life" by Valve). Appropriately though, both games do come with a death match (lay- man's terms for a multiplayer game) y tutorial where you play through a t** sequence of stages Quake 3 against bots (com- puter controlled id Software players) so that you can gain some of the basic skills Reviewed needed to last for the Daily more than a few by Eduardo Baraf minutes in the vicious world of real human opponents. While the bots in both these games are impressively programmed to do more than just run around and fire, "Q3" takes the extra step by creating unique charac- i~ ~ III Courtesy of id Software 'Quake 3' raises the standards for intense, combat-style gameplay on the PC. T7- .'4; ppjAw. ... ters with distinct Unreal Tournament Epic Games & Digital Extremes Reviewed for the Daily by Eduardo Baraf ceivably illogical plot turn, Cesar and Vince suddenly can't get plane tickets and have to drive to Vegas. Naturally, they look to their mutual ex-girlfriend Gracie (Lolita Davidovich), who hap- pens to have a bitchin' convertible for the trip. This sets up the trio for a long drive through the desert with plenty of oppor- tunities to talk about their pasts, philoso- phize and rekindle old passions. personalities that allows them to act in their own man- ner (always trying to get a favorite weapon for exam- ple) as they hunt you down in the single player game. And while "UT" doesn't have this depth it does expands on some _. _ 4 Courtesy of Epic Games & Digital ExtremVS, 'Unreal Tournament' may be the best game released this year. Boy Sets Fire blazes into Shelter By Andy Kkin DO4v Arts Wrter Vith all of today's prefabricated pop stirs dominating the airwaves it seems necessary to turn to the underground to find musicians who care more about the Boy Sets Fire The Shelter Jan. 22. 2000 pI political message. music than the paycheck. On Sat urda. five piece hardcore heroes Boy Sets Fire took the stage at The Shelter, the small and dingy basement of St. Anarews Hall in Detroit, and made it abundantly clear that they were serious about music and, like- wise. their heavy treated to three opening acts before the main event. This is Forever, Hyatt and Reach the Sky got the crowd moving, but it was not until BSF took the stage that the energy and excitement of a hardcore show was achieved. People clawed towards the stage, screaming along to the emotional lyrics while moshing violently vet respectfully, in the small and over- heated club. BSF's music and lvrics make them one of the most intense bands in emo-core. Out of the silence of one song, soft guitar entered and a high pitched voice sang, "I am no one, I am nothing" then crashing back in with a scream of "God please help me!" Other numbers dealt with larger social movements which gen- erate an equally powerful response from the audience as they scream along to lines like, "Silence kills the revolution!" BSF however. reaches a level of rele- vance beyond other hardcore bands by being able to step outside the relatively r encapsulated hardcore scene. Lead vocalist Natvin Gray interspersed both political and personal dialogue in between songs, covering a variety of top- ics from rape. revolution and even the old lyrical standby, heartbreak. Yes, even these guys take time out for love. Yet it was hard to find love amongst themselves and almost called it quits this past summer when internal conflicts caused a rift. Now on a new label. Victory Records, BSF is stronger than ever. What makes BSF different from other bands with a similar agenda is their abil- ity to step off the soap box and look at things realistically. Gray talked about the importance of making their message of equality and justice known outside the hardcore scene. He then explained a song about an older friend who spent a lot of time partying while younger, and now was dying of cirrhosis of the liver and AIDS while drinking herself to death. When the show was over the band stuck around the stage to exchange hugs and conversation with fans until the sweaty crowd finally emptied out into the cold night thoroughly exhausted and enlightened. Paying a mere seven dollars, fans were of the bots' cooperative functions (such as allowing computer controlled team- mates to give you and each other cover), which fits nicely with the game's ingen- uous, level design. Nevertheless, these bots really contribute little to your over- all enjoyment and not what you should be buying either of these games for. Neither should you buy them for the stories they offer in the single player part of the game. In "Q3,' the plot revolves around Sarge who, after propelling him- self unarmed into an army of adver- saries, must fight an assortment of foes until he gets to the last bad guy, Xaero, in the Final Battle. in "UT" the story is the overused sci- fi plot where the world has done away with war by having fighting death matches, with the players purpose being to defeat all the competitors in these killing-no-holds-bar leagues and achiev- ing the title of Grand Champion. With the stories out of the way let's get to the elements that really matter, start- ing with your arsenal or in other words your main form of contact with your fel- low players. Arsenal Few things are more important than the artillery you are offered in a first per- son shooter, it is the means to the mass genocide of your adversaries and no new game can contend in the every crowding FPS market without a complete set of weaponry. "Q3" comes with all the standard weapons, from the up close and person- al gauntlet to the weaker, yet still effec- tive, machine gun and shotgun (the strafers favorite) to the three more devas- tating weapons: the rocket launcher, lightning gun and rail gun all of which carry the appropriate punch, at times, sending players vaulting across the arena. Over the years, id has edged these weapons to the perfect balance where anyone person with any weapon can kill any other, leaving skill to be the deciding factor. It is important to note that some hard- core "Quake" players (including Thresh, the player who won a Ferrari and a load of cash in "Quake" tourneys) who feel the slight changes, like slowing down the reload speed of the rocket launcher a few milliseconds, has ruined the game. Aside from that, "Q3" does spice it up with its over the top special items like "Quad danage" "Regeneration" and "Haste" that make the empowered player the most devastating but also the most tar- geted. These items aiso remain after the enhanced player is killed leading to a steal the bacon type rush that results in that stick out from the bunch are the dev- astating rocket/grenade launcher combo that can be charged up to shoot 6 projec- tiles at once, the immensely useful and deadly sniper rifle (great for picking off campers) and not to forget the Redeemer wich gives you a nuclear'missile at your disposal. The rest- the impact hammer, ripper, flak cannon, Bio rifle, etc. - are worthy additions to a "UT" master's selection. With all these creative addi- tions, it is a little disappointing that the "UT" team didn't flesh out the items scattered around the levels, but this is a minor complaint. Both "Q3" and "UT" come to the table loaded to the teeth, but while "Q3" sticks to the weapons it made famous through "Doom" and "Quake," "UT" flexes its muscles and adds a few wel- come wrinkles to its mix making it the definite winner in this category. Graphics/Sound Graphically, both games are impres- sive and keep your computer hot, push- ing it to the limits, but at the same time these two similar games have two very different, distinctive looks. "Q3" is a much darker and grayer game sticking to the dungeon and space locals of its predecessors, but with the godlike programming at id (amazingly the graphics engine is programmed by just two people, John Carmack and John Cash, rather than the double digits of most programming teams) have put together the 'absolute best 3D. game. engine out there, if only because it final- ly brings curve mathematics (true round- ed surfaces rather than ones composed of small squares) to the genre. "UT" is still beautiful and actually much more vibrant with colorful lighting effects and tight textures but just doesn't push 3D graphics anywhere new like "Q3" does. Sound in both games comes in strong and it's hard to critique either. "Q3"s weaponry and explosions pump the bass letter and more convincingly than "UT"s, but "UT"'s over-the-top mortal kombat-esque announcements ("Player one is on a killing spree!") and its often mature, spoken taunts ("Die, bitch!") definitely liven its adrenaline rush. So while "Q3" wins this category because it sets the next watermark for 3D graphic engines, "UT' manages to take a close second with it's wider vari- ety of textures and fantastic lighting effects. But looks aren't everything and although graphics and sound visually separate the two games, few would argue its importance over gameplay. Gameplay/Level Design of red eye from the constant fear of blinking. This type of crazed gaming is what "Q3" was developed for and it shows, all the levels are tight and intense and the weapons all connect in moment However, "UT" is in no way slow and often gets your heart pumping just asfast as in "Q3;" it just comes off as much more of a thinkers game. This is due to its far more expanded weaponry; pro- moting stopping to pick the best weapon' for any given situation, as well as~its.far greater variety of types of gameplay: Other than the standard Death-match that "Q3" is in total control of, the on other type of gaming it offers is CaptuiF the Flag, where multiple users are bro ken down into teams which try to invade the others teams camp in search of their flag "UT" on the other hand has the stan- dard Death-match and capture the flag but it also offers Domination where you battle in teams and try to keep hold' of marked location in a level as long as pos. sible as well as the truly inspired assault' levels in which it is your team agait another like Capture the Flag Domination but you are trying to secure some large building or object. The levels go from trying to board a train from a helicopter to storming a castle to raiding a beach a la D-day (that makes "Saving Private Ryan" look like "Driving Miss Daisy") as well as many more. To give credit where credit is due "Q3" is at the core of great gameplay. Everything about it is intense and exitir but the element it is missing is the lasting appeal that "UT" gains form its excessio variety. "Q3" is amazing but after sitting down and playing "UT" for a while one can't help but notice its shortcomings. and that is why "UT" is better game m this category. Conclusion - MULTI COLOR SPECIALISTS . ARTIST ON STAFF * RUSH ORDERS " NEAR U OF M CAMPUS 1217 PROSPECT, ANN ARBOR 665.1771 JFF with this ad. http:www.tahirtstudio.com -I -i '1 Multicultural Career Fair January 25,2000 To Michigan Union SCOREKEEPERS S 75 LLA DRINKS U hpCK ANF Standing alone, "Q3" and "UT" are beacons of light that future gameswill follow. Yet there can only be ct brightest star and unless you are only looking for forensic death matching that has you dodging three rockets while circle strafing an opponent while trying to move toward a quad- damage spinning above the corpse of its old possessor that is offered in "Q3," "UT" with it's expand'dd weaponry, level design, gameplay types and full-blown level editor Th- comes free with the game (though yc must be quite a computer wiz or a 3D architect to get any use out of) is the game to buy. especially since it offers almost the same blazing gameplay. And it must be extremely frustrat- ing fog id Software, the company that x I i Noon - 4:0pm Discuss full-time and internship positions with organizations from across the country. Meet with graduate/professional school programs. Viour homepage for a list of participating oranizatio)ns and schools.