4B - The Michigan Daily-- Weekend, etc. Magazine - Thursday, March 16, 2000
Et From the Vault
Roberts' career began with promise in 'Mystic' debut

Daily - Weekend, etc. N

The Michigan


By Leslie Boxer
Daily Arts Writer
The last time I saw "Mystic Pizza," I
loved it. Of course, it was the late '80s
and I was probably in seventh or eighth
grade (and consequently taped it off
HBO to cherish forever). I had braces,
and movie stars were allowed to be a lit-
tle bit huskier. After losing the braces and
realizing that leggings under jean skirts
were not actually that cool, I revisited
"Mystic Pizza" and discovered that
although the movie is still charming, it
isn't a timeless classic of the '80s.
The film takes place in Mystic, Conn.,
a fishing village that fills with
Portuguese-Americans during the off-
season. The story follows the experiences

of three friends who work in the Mystic
Pizzeria: Jo Jo Barboza (Lili Taylor), Kat
(Annabeth Gish) and Daisy Arujo (Julia
Roberts).
The three girls are fresh out of high
school and enjoying that last wonderful
summer when friends are all together and
"growing up" seems just around the cor-
ner. All three girls fall in love and begin
to navigate their lives. Jo Jo is about to
marry Bill (Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio),
yet has trouble with commitment and the
fact that he wants to wait until marriage
before sleeping with her. Daisy, the pret-
ty but slutty Arujo sister, falls for the rich
preppie Charles Gordon Windsor, Jr.,
(Adam Storke) who drives a hot car but
has little else to offer. Kat is leaving
Mystic in the spring for Yale and falls for

a thirtysomething Yale graduate while
babysitting his four-year-old daughter.
Even though the story of young girls
involved in their first romance is cliche,
"Mystic Pizza" does not fall into old
traps; it remains fresh and light-hearted
throughout. There is always something
special about the summer following high
school, and the movie captures that cer-
tain breathlessness.
What is most interesting about the film
is that it gives us a retrospective view of
the early career of Julia Roberts. This was
Roberts' first notable role and led to both
"Steel Magnolias" and the very popular
"Pretty Woman." Roberts does well with
the character of Daisy Arujo. There is not
much complexity to Daisy, yet the audi-
ence likes the character. Roberts never

allows us to dismiss her as just a bimbo.
In retrospect, Roberts' portrayal of the
character may benefit from her unease
with the role of a showy and flirtatious
individual. In one scene, Daisy tries to
hail a car by standing on the side of the
road looking sexy. Roberts' portrayal in
this scene is somewhat out of character
for Daisy; she actually seems embar-
rassed. This seems more indicative of
Roberts' own anxiety and slight girlish
embarrassment of the limelight, and not a
misread of Daisy's character.
All of this quickly changed, as did
Julia's figure, with "Pretty Woman," the
film that made her a star. Many films
and more than a decade later, Julia
Roberts is at the top of her game and
more comfortable with her fame. Her
newest film, "Erin Brockovich," opens
Friday and seems to be a departure from
Roberts' usual romantic lead ("Notting
Hill" and "Runaway Bride").
As for "Mystic Pizza," I think it's
reaching time to tape over that movie.

tc Retro Recordings
MBV album
worth wait
By Steve Gertz
Daily Arts Writer
Everybody knows the tale. In 1991
Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, by injecting the
buzzsaw harmonies of Sonic Youth and
The Pixies with a healthy dose of pop,
redefined the possibilities of the electric
guitar for a whole new generation.
The lesser-known half of that story is
that a band called My Bloody Valentine
was simultaneously doing the same thing,
in a decidedly different although equally
innovative fashion, on the other side of the


::

0 - A .1 .

Courtesy of TriStar Studios
Roberts' fame continued to augment.

I

My Bloody
Valentine
Loveless
Creation/Sire
Released: 1991

Atlantic.
On "Loveless;'
MBV mastermind
Kevin Shields
completely decon-
structed guitar
music as it existed
at the time. He

Courtesy of Warner Brothers
Back when she was young enough to get invited backstage at Elvis' *gas gigs, Cybill
Shepherd tended to put her hands In the air and shake her body like she just didn't care.
CybilfSIs se11x hstr
fas to apvipetize

accomplished this primarily by manipulat-
ing amplifier feedback. While artists from
Jimi Hendrix to The Jesus and Mary
Chain had successfully utilized feedback
as a musical instrument, Shields elevated
the approach to an unprecedented level of
mastery. His "glide guitar" method con-
sisted of wavering drones, the pitch of
which he would control meticulously with
the tremolo arm of his guitar until he was
actually playing melodies with feedback.
By combining this approach with his
ace production skills and the honey-
drn- dva-ls f ier-/atat 1311nd

Butcher, Shields built sonic cathedrals.
Tape loops wandered in and out, splices of
feedback darted around like friendly bees,
the vocals and the drums were present. but
buried deeply under the layers of other-
worldly guitar noise. It sounded nothing
like a four-piece rock outfit with tradition-
al instruments, but more like the London
Philharmonic performing on acid at the
bottom of the ocean.
The gilded cacophony of songs like
"Only Shallow," "To Here Knows When"
and "Soon" hit British airwaves like a
splash of cold water and spawned legions
of copycats eager to recreate the majesty
of MBV's sound. The profound influence
of "Loveless" can still be detected by simi-
ilarly innovative bands such as Stereolab,
Mogwai and Radiohead.
It is the year 2000 and rumors of a fol-
low-up to "Loveless" have circulated for
nine years. Although Shields has collabo-
rated with a variety of other artists and lent
production skills to many more, no new
MBV material has surfaced. Perhaps we
will one day be treated to another dose of
Shields' heavenly noise, but until then we
still have "Loveless." Thank God for that.

+ Let's start off this week's
Hollywood news with sex. Lots of
sex. Cybill Shepherd ("Moonlight-
ing") has just penned her autobiogra-
phy and is it ever a juicy one. She tells
of all her sexual escapades with vari-
ous celebrities about town. Probably
the weirdest is her Graceland getaway
with Elvis Presley. Readers are treated
to Cybill's account eating deep fried
.peanut butter and mayo sandwiches,
then retreating to his "all red and
black" bedroom with four TV's, mir-
rored walls and ceilings (beat that,
Hotel California). Ewww. Well, he is
the King.
Even stranger is the Un-Cybillized
One's nookie session with Don "No,
really, I'm not gay!" Johnson. She
writes, "It was like wolfing down a
candy bar when you're starving -
fast, furious, intense - and it was all
over in five minutes." Double ewvw.
+ I guess the MPAA is finally
cracking down on the Farelly
Brothers, experienced purveyors of
the gross-out as a form of cinematic
entertainment. In their upcoming
film "Say it Ain't So," starring
Heather Graham, the Farelly Brothers
have been forced to cut some espe-
cially raunchy scenes. One involves a
guy masturbating in his car (twice, no
less) and the other involves using
waxed hairs from a beauty salon floor
to make a fake moustache. At this
rate my ewww factor is in danger of
entering the red zone.
a Digital horndogs eager to get
their hands on the latest "Tomb
Raider" game will soon have another
reason to put off getting a life. The
production details for a "Tomb
Raider" movie have been finalized,
and shooting will begir in a few
months. And who wili fill Lara
Croft's bountiful cvber-bra? Why,
none other than Anna Kournikova
Just kidding. It'll be Angelina Jolie
("Girl, Interrupted"). Admit it, I had
you there for a minute.
' Speaking of virtual vixens,
Pamela Lee will soon have her own
video game based on her new show,

"V.I.P." I hate to break it to you, tolks,
but this game is going to suck. The
reason? The French are making it.
No-name company Kalisto is in on
the project. To get an idea of their
plans, here's a quote from one of their
spokesmen: "In her film 'Barb Wire,'
Pamela played a character that did not
like to be called "babe" - in this
venture, she is most definitely a babe
- a cyber-babe." Ummm ... what? I
just don't understand the French.
a In Hollywood, you can make
pantsloads of money even if your
product is crappy and disappointing.
George Lucas reinforced this when he
was announced as the highest paid
entertainer of 1999. Jar Jar's pimp
pulled in a whopping S400 million
dollars from film and licensing royal-
ties for "The Phantom Menace." No
word on whether or not he plans to
save it or buy a house built out of
solid gold (and a rocket car).
, In an effort to take the guessing
out of this year's Oscars, "American
Beauty" is winning everything in
sight. On top of its Golden Globe
awards, "Beauty" has just snagged
the awards of the Screenwriter's,
Producer's and Screen Actors Guilds.
We can all take solace in "The Cider
House Rules" getting its ass kicked
come Oscar time. In related news,
"High Times" magazine voted "Being
John Malkovich" as best stoner movie
of the year. Way to go, Spike Jonze.
Those of you sick of hearing
cliched phrases like "Yeah, baby!"
and "Oh, behave!" can finally give a
sigh of relief. Mike "Austin/Dr.
Evil/Fat Bastard" Myers has chosen
"Sprockets" to be his next film pro-
ject. In the guise of his early "SNL"
Lharacter Dieter, Myers will likely
make fun of all things German for 90
to 100 minutes. "Would you like to
touch my monkey?" Myers' payday?
A shagadelic S20 million.
- Compiled by Daily Arts Writer
David Vctor Page 6
(wwiwi-page6.corn) and Entertainment
Weeklv Online (www ewonline.coni)
contributed to the report

Top 10 Pop Albu
(The nation's best-selling albums for
1. Carlos Santana, "Superr
2. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony,
3. Smashing Pumpkins, "Mac
4. Dr. Dre, "2001"
5. Beanie Sigel, "The Trut
6. Steely Dan, "Two Again
7. AC/DC, "Stiff Upper Lip
8. Macy Gray, "On How Life
9. Sisqo, "Unleash the Drai
10. Kid Rock, "Devil Withc
Top 10 Books
(The week's best-selling hardcover
1. "The Brethren," John Gri
2. "Daughter of Fortune," I
3. "Bridget Jones," Helen F
4. "Gap Creek," Robert M
5. "The Lion's Game," Nels
6. "Day of Reckoning,"Jac
7. "Moment of Truth," Lisa
8. "Ashes of Victory," Davi
9. "Sick Puppy," Carl Hiaa
10. "City of God," E.L. Doc
Top 10 Movies
(Who released them and how mu
1. "Mission to Mars," Touch
2. "The Ninth Gate," Artisan,
3. "My Dog Skip," Disney,
4. "The Whole Nine Yards," w
5. "American Beauty," Drearr
6. "The Cider House Rules," M
7. "Drowning Mona," Destin
8. "The Next Best Thing," P
9. "Pitch Black," USA Films,
10. "Snow Day," Paramou
THE WEEKL Y (
... Oh, the wacky things
"The Pope was clad
Purple is the color o
be some chance of r
sexual menace know
-Jon Stewart, on
"It's the sexiest part
attractve, but it caus
tongues on men, too
-Natasha Henstr
"There was talk aboi
vomit comet.' But I c
drive on the left side
on myself. It's just a
--"Mission to Mar
"Did you see him (C
was the satellite dela
delay."
-David Lettermar
"He was wonderful,
stepped out of a ba
-Norman Lear,
--Compiled by Jeff Di