The Hill Prince
4) online to see other groovin' photos
tiken by Dave Rochind from the Beck
, ncert at Hill Auditorium.
RTg
FRIDAY
FEBRUARY 4, 2000
5
michigandaily.com /arts
Beck
By Gabe Fajuri
and Chris Kula
Daily Arts Editors
'Sexx' circus takes center ring at Hill concert
Last night at Hill Auditorium, Beck
turned it up, and made "all the people
Beck
Hill Auditorium
Feb. 3, 2000
tight backing band
scream"
The seminal
solo artist of our
generation (so
far), Beck has
been called loser,
slacker and
genius. On
Thursday, he
proved himself
both and a mas-
termind, both the-
atrically and
musically.
For a solid hour
and 40 minutes,
Beck and his skin-
delivered a rousing
singers and the typical rock outfit) tore
through a mishmash of music lifted from
more than four of his releases, including
the latest - and greatest party album of
the year -"Midnite Vultures."
On stage, Beck cut a slight figure -
by far the smallest member of his
assembled ensemble. But stature was no
indication of the man's stamina, voice
and outpouring of energy that, once
rolling, nearly overwhelmed the sold-
out crowd.
Surrounded by industrial sized duct
work and bathed in a barrage of high
speed lighting, Beck took the audience
on a trip through the depths of his often
unintelligible mind, stopping at destina-
tions that included six additional tracks
from "Vultures" including upbeat num-
bers like "Milk & Honey," "Peaches &
Cream" and "Sexx Laws," the album's
current single.
Though the first three songs of the
evening seemed a bit tentative, as soon
as the now familiar opening sample of
"New Pollution" rang through the loud-
speakers, a triumphant cheer escaped
the crowd's lips, and the Beck train was
truly off and rolling.
Highlights of this section of the show'
included selections from last year's
"Mutations" release: "Cold Brains,"
"Sing it Again" (performed with a
friend named Smoky on guitar) and
"Tropicali."
The funk reared its beautiful head
again with a ground shaking rendition
of"Odelay's" hit single and chant-along
favorite, "Where it's At." Beck pranced
from one side of the stage to another
throughout the song, urging fans on by
repeating the song's chorus of "Bottle
and Cans/Just Clap Your Hands"
The bouncing hype of "Where It's
At" served as the perfect musical
springboard for "Debra," the crazy-
sexy-cool soul jam that closes Beck's
new album and was the showstopper on
last night. When Beck hit the ultra-high
falsetto line "I met you/At J.C. Penney/I
think your nametag/ Said Jenny," the
ladies in the audience made no doubt
that they wanted to "get with" the man
himself.
Listening to Beck's voice reach
Smokey Robinson heights, one can't
help but wonder about its origin. To
quote Charles S. Dutton from the tri-
umphant '90s film "Rudy," "You're five
foot nothing, a hundred and nothing
where the hell is that falsetto coming
from, young man?"
Not long after the band left the stage
following the romping, horn-driven
"Sexx Laws," the cheering masses were
granted a two song encore - but not
before they were treated to a display of
turntable wizardry from DJ Swamp.
The mix-man had supplied tasteful
backing effects throughout the show,
but during his short solo set let his
chops fly and left the crowd gaping at
his dextrous mixological stylings.
Beck and his hockey-pad clad min-
ions returned to the stage with the ear-
numbing "Novocaine" and ended the
evening with another ferocious "Odelay"
selection, "Devil's Haircut." Following
the final chords of the night, the band
degenerated into a state of total and utter
onstage anarchy with Beck leading the
charge. Horn players mounted stage
scenery, guitarists writhed across the
floor and the mastermind himself shuf-
fled offstage, shoulders burdened with
guitar stands, set to a soundscape created
by a thoroughly entertained audience.
mix of funk, folk and rock - transcend-
ing genre and warping labels.
From the opening groove of "Mixed
Bizness' Beck and Co. (made up of a
three-piece horn section, two backing
DAVE ROCHIND/Jaily
Beck makes all the girls -- and some of the guys - scream at Hill Auditorium.
For a few moments, though, during a
mid-set acoustic portion of the show,
the train nearly ground to a halt, thoug
Beck - adding harmonica to his
acoustic guitar strumming - made
every effort to keep things energetic.
Smart scares, jokes all in spooky fun
for a fitting end to 'Scream' trilogy
By Erin Podolsky
Daily Arts Writer
Courtesy oMiramax
Sean Penn strums away as fictious jazz guitarist Emmett Ray in "Sweet and Lowdown."
Alien hits right notes
mo 'Sweet' styled fiMlm
By Laura Flyer
Daily Arts Writer
In one of his more quaint and charm-
ing films, Woody Allen has finally
decided to incorporate his cherished love
for music into a drama with a little-
4nown jazz guitarist as its focus. "Sweet
and Lowdown" is narrated in documen-
tary-style but its lead role, Emmett Ray
(Sean Penn), is a fictional character.
With a more relaxed pace and contem-
plative feel than
Allen's only other
film in this mode,
"Zelig," "Sweet
Sweet and and Lowdown"
Lowdown combines a rich
Grade: A- story with the sen-
suous sounds of
At the State the famous jazz
guitarist, Django
Reinhardt (played
in the film by
M i c h a e l
Sprague).
The story
begins in a jazz
club with a familiar middle-upper class
setting of aficionados in a local town
luring the '20s and '30s. When Emmett
is playing the guitar, his eyes are closed
and his lips and head move slightly to the
rhythms of his strumming. These deeply
expressionistic looks contrast his own
personality and allure women who think
his soul is filled with attractive turbu-
lence and emotion.
In truth, Emmett lacks the courage to
express himself and feel emotion, and
Ereats his women with remote indiffer-
ence. Some fall in love with him, but
each time they do, he says that he had
warned them not to get attached to him,
because he's "not the marrying kind of
guy."
A mute laundress named Hattie
(Samantha Morton) changes this convic-
tion of his, though he would never admit
it. Hattie is a simple girl, awkward at
times, but with a pretty face. Though her
character never says a word, Morton
gives an incredibly poignant perfor-
mance as she facially expresses how she
feels according to her moods. Emmett
treats her with little respect which ignites
these emotional shifts, but she appreci-
ates his quirkiness and love for the guitar.
Finding Hattie unsatisfying, Ray even-
tually moves on to the seductive, fashion-
able Blanche (Uma Thurman).
Undeniably deluded in her perception of
people, Blanche is convinced that every-
one is motivated by some lofty poetic
conviction. For example, as Ray engages
in one of his favorite hobbies of watching
trains pass by, Blanche ponders over the
implications of his interest in the loco-
motive and how it could be related to the
rhythms and beats of his guitar songs.
Yet she is not entirely impervious to
reality. She can see how Ray's stub-
bornness towards falling in love impedes
a chance to impart emotional beauty into
his music and become a more accom-
plished guitarist than he already is.
Emmett doesn't seem to fear much,
except for one person: Django
Reinhardt, whom he has met twice and
both times is unable to speak a word and
merely collapses to the ground.
See SWEET, Page 8
Try, if you will, to ignore the cliches surround-
ing the third film in the "Scream" trilogy. This is
not an easy task given that the movie gleefully
prides itself on building up and, every once in a
great while, tearing down the assumptions about
genre and expectation that it trumpets through
mouthpiece characters who apparently know all
there is to know about horror movie patterns.
This all-knowingness is, of course, the basis of
the "Scream" movies - in acknowledging all that
came before, creators Kevin Williamson and Wes
Craven allow for twice the satire while still man-
aging to create a pretty scary atmosphere.
Williamson hands over the writing reins to Ehren
Kruger for "Scream 3," but the movie doesn't suf-
fer a bit from losing the patron saint of the latter-
day teen bon mot. There are
endless bad horror genre
:jokes, as well as plenty of
jewels for the faithful film
Scream 3 geek (a great one-liner regard-
ing "Vertigo" and "Psycho"
Grade: B proves Jenny McCarthy, of all
people, to be quite the jiggly
At Briarwood. Quality 16 comedienne).
showcase As the denizens of
Woodsboro grow up and get
out, so does the "Scream"
series, first moving to
Windsor college in the sequel
and now going all the way to
Hollywood in "3." The scope
gets bigger and bigger each time out, and after the
brief sequence involving "Stab" (the fictionalized
version of "Scream") in "Scream 2" (stay with me,
folks - the "Scream" kids were always a bit too
smart for their own good, and adding another layer
of unreality complicates things) it's only natural
that "Scream 3" is devoted entirely to the making
of a third "Stab" movie. It's not a bad move, either.
When going the self-referential route, you either
go whole hog or go home. The "Scream" franchise
has been built on a foundation of indulgent glut-
tony, and "Scream 3" is no different.
The survivors of the previous movies are back
as usual - not to mention a few of the dearly
departed through the magic of modern technology.
In fact, they're all back twice, because their fic-
tional selves from the "Stab" series are on-hand to
exercise their vocal chords and running skills.
Courtney Cox is tantalizingly superficial as Gale
Weathers and has several killer scenes with her
real-life counterpart ("My lawyer liked that," she
hisses after the real Gale decks her). As self-serv-
ing as the original Gale is, Parker Posey's perfor-
mance as actress Jennifer Jolie goes one better in
the bitch category.
Also on board for the final fright flight are Scott
Foley as "Stab 3" director Roman Bridger, Patrick
Courtesy of Dimensionfilms
'Oh my God, the killer really is Neve Campbell after all.' At the end, Gale and Dewey make a discovery of their own.
Dempsey as Detective Kincaide and Lance
Henrikson as "Stab 3" producer John Milton (no
relation to the author or Al Pacino's character in
"The Devil's Advocate" - or is he?). The film
boasts a slew of cameos that include Leia, Puddy
and the one and only Weiner Dog. Even characters
from other movie franchises make a brief appear-
ance, but my lips are sealed as to who the daring
duo is.
The smidgen of new plot (ignoring the old rela-
tionship issues always called up between Deputy
Dewey (David Arquette) and the first iteration of
Gale (Courteney Cox Arquette)) contained in the
film has Bridger's "Stab 3" production put on the
skids when members of his cast start turning up
dead. I'd say more, but Miramax would come after
me with a knife, a cloak and a leering mask.
Personally, I like my entrails right where they are,
thank you very much.
At times a little too smug and self-satisfied to
be true, though, "Scream 3" loses steam in its
final third, dropping biting humor in favor of
bloodbath. But the first hour or so is well worth
the price of admission, and there's much voyeuris-
tic pleasure to be taken in the grisly deaths of
those who die hard with a vengeance and the
scrappy survivalists. "Scream 3" asks us to play
the game we love to play: Are we smarter than the
script? It taunts us with early expirations that seem
patently obvious, but part of the contest is figuring
out when to believe the stereotypes it espouses and
when to realize our legs are being pulled. Trying
to outsmart the savviest genre trilogy alive is bet-
ter than sitting idly by while Freddy Krueger
wreaks havoc on Elm Street.
That's the real reason the "Scream" movies are
such fun. That's the real reason why "Scream 3' is
as successful as its predecessors. The "Scream"
movies keep getting smarter each time around.
And so do we.
SCREAM LOUDER.
SCREAM AGAIN.
SCREAM ONE FINAL
TIME, BABY.
'CAUSE DAILY ARTS
MAY BE HAUNTED
NEXT WEEK WITH
SOME FREE
'SCREAM 3' SCHWAG.
STAY TUNED...
t
READ
DAILY ARTS.
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