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. I ________________________________________________________________________________________ .1 . s- Via.. . m w vS Michigan Theater. UNIVERSITY OF MI CHIS -. -