ARTS
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, March 21, 2000 = 9
Film goes 'Beyond'
the WWF legends
Producer Levinson
hits streets again
with 'The Beat'
By Matthew Barrett
Mily Film Editor
N othing, not even the deep love
and appreciation that I had for pro-
fessional wrestling during my middle
school days, could have prepared me
for "Beyond the Mat." Going into
the movie, a documentary about the
Beyond
the Mat
Grade: B+
At Showcase
world of profes-
s i o n a l
wrestling, I fig-
ured that it
would go one of
two ways -
sensational or
expose. I
couldn't have
been more
wrong. The
film avoids the
extremes and
instead gives us
an intimate
look at the lives
are at various
hoists up each of his legs and slides
them into his pants. Funk then takes
a look in the mirror and we see, up
close and personal, the damage that
decades in the ring have wreaked on
his face.
A montage of Funk's career shows
us glimpses of his matches, most of
which end with a bloody face. Funk
seems to be inching closer to retire-
ment, but feels obligated to make
good on a promise to appear in
Extreme Championship Wrestling's
first pay-per-view event.
Many of Funk's greatest wars in
the ring came against Mick Foley
(the wrestler now known as
Mankind). The action borders on the
insane when the two step into the
ring where, along with the usual
antics, they throw each other into
barbwire, tables and electrical equip-
ment. Somehow, Funk and Foley
remain friends outside of the ring
and poini out that hurting each other
only leads to bigger paydays.
The film also takes a look at Foley
in his Mankind days, focusing in on
his relationship with his children.
Both his wife and their children fear
for Foley's safety and wish that he
would steer clear of the spectacular
stunts that have become his trade-
mark. When Mankind wrestles in a
Courtesyof www.wwf.com
The ever expressive Vince McMahon has a small part in "Beyond the Mat."
particularly brutal match, we see his
wife and children sitting ringside
with tears streaming down their
faces until they leave their seats in
anguish. Moments later though,
Foley is back to his old self - jok-
ing with his children while he gets
mended on the operating table.
The most eye-opening portion of
the film is a look at the life of Jake
"The Snake" Roberts, who in his
prime was one of the top draws in
the WWF. Through a series of inter-
views, we learn of Roberts' troubled
backstory and his current problems
with cocaine and his daughter.
Roberts now wrestles in smaller cir-
cuits, and although he still has a
somewhat loyal fan-base, is just a
shadow of his former self. After the
film was completed, Roberts spent
time in jail for non-payment of child
support.
The man behind the madness here
is writer-director Barry W. Blaustein,
a wrestling fan who decided to hit
the road for a greater understanding
of the sport that intrigues him.
Blaustein focuses on the men behind
the wrestling-personas in an attempt
to give us a better feel of what
they're really like - for the most
part, they seem to be friends despite
the fact that they wail on each night
in and night out. "Beyond the Mat"
is a provocative look behind the usu-
ally drawn curtains of the world of
professional wrestling, and should
be interesting to both wrestling and
non-wrestling fans alike.
By Jennifer Fogel
Daily Arts Writer
The makers of "Homicide: Life
on the Street" are back with a
vengeance on a new network with a
new day. After seven years of
episodic cases every week on
"Homicide," creators Barry Levin-
son and Tom Fontana have teamed
up once more for UPN's new hour-
long drama "The Beat."
"The Beat" features best friends
Mike Dorigan (Derek Cecil) and
Zane Marinelli (Mark Ruffalo), two
New York beat-cops, going through
their workday and their private
lives. As it turns out, their private
lives can be just as dangerous as
patrolling the streets. In the first
episode we meet Mike and Zane's
significant others. Mike is engaged
t- --d tiident Elizabeth, while
Zane finds himself unwittingly
* wrestlers who
points in their careers.
There's Terry Funk, an aging vet-
eran who ignores the concerns of
doctors and family and continues to
enter the ring, despite the fact that
both his knees are failing. We're
introduced to Funk as he wakes up
one morning and then watch as he
1Opaque'
By Nick Falzone
Daily Arts Writer
Many artists prosper in the art
world because they can successfully
remove their viewers from reality.
The Beat
Grade: B+
UPN
Tuesdays at 9 p m.
exhibit a 'transparent' art
attached to the
psychotic Beat-
rice, who will
eventually kick
him out of his
own home and
then torch the
place to
express her
love for him.
However, the
adventure does
not end there.
The premiere
e p i s o d e
involves cases
ranging from
sometimes on videotape. It is
almost as if you are watching an
episode of "COPS." Thankfully,
there is no "Bad Boys" playing in
the background. Instead the drama
is mixed with a little humor as the
Mike and Zane continuously rip on
each other and their buddies. Many
of their cases are even like some-
thing out of "Candid Camera." Take
the guy who strips down to his
skivvies in the middle of Second
Avenue saying that he gets better
reception out there when he is
speaking with Bob Marley. (What's
even better is that pop-culture ilt-
erate Elizabeth still thinks Marlay
is alive.)
Like its predecessor, "The Beat"
also has its fair share of heartache
particularly concerning Zane.
When Zane was five, his father
supposedly killed his mother.
Unable to reconcile himself to his
father's guilt, Zane becomes a cop
in hopes of eventually clearing his
father's name. Meanwhile, Mike, a
by-the-book cop, has trouble com-
ing to terms with racism within the
department and the protest that is
being led outside. Don't forget on
top of that he has a wedding to
plan.
For viewers that never watched
an episode of "Homicide" you are
in luck. "The Beat" is more geared
to a mass audience, carried by two
very good-looking leads. The cases
are interesting yet brief enough so
that viewers with short attention
spans will not have to suffer
through monotonous cop talk. Plus,
the banter between the two cops is
hilarious as Zane tries to loosen up
his uptight partner, while Mike in
turn tries to force a little responsi-
bility on his overzealous friend.
Stay tuned for a guest appearance
by none other than Detective Munch
himself. Just watching Richard
Belzer at work is worth tuning in.
All in all, despite its unfortunate
luck of appearing on the UPN net-.:
work (Did you even know there was
such a thing?), "The Beat" holds its
own. All it needs are some interest-
ed viewers and a little luck.
transparent/
opaque
Museum of Art
March 18-Apr. 16
A n n e t t e
Lawrence, a
visual artist
based in Texas,
does this excel-
lentlv in her
newest installa-
tion, "transpar-
ent/o paque,"
which debuted
Saturday at the
Museum of Art.
In her exhibit,
Lawrence used
288 pieces of
string, which
spots on the muse-
down to the floor below and knotted
the strings individually to nine inter-
locking paper circles velcroed to the
ground. Although the pieces of string
are clearly impenetrable by light,
Lawrence positioned them in such a
way as to be virtually see-through.
As the viewer walks around the
installation, light hits the strings to
make parts of them disappear, conse-
quently creating transparency from
opaqueness.
The installation, in addition to
tricking the eye with its surprisingly
transparent nature, fills it up com-
pletely. Along with occupying the
viewer's vision, the exhibit dominates
the museum's apse, the semi-circular,
vaulted space that houses the work of
art. This spatial command is exactly
what Lawrence was looking when
designing her exhibit; it agrees with
her theory about how installations
should utilize their space.
"With installations, I think it's
important to occupy the space com-
pletely," Lawrence said. "You need to
justify the use of it with something,
but not something that's necessarily
big. The installation can be small, but
it must be powerful."
The exhibit, definitely a success in
occupying its space, was a collabora-
tive effort for Lawrence. She and
several University students worked
together to construct the installation.
She and her team built the work of
art entirely of brown packaging paper
and postal string, two materials
Lawrence uses frequently in her
installations. She said she enjoys
working with these substances for a
variety of reasons, but primarily
because of their commonplaceness in
society.
"I use these materials because
they're common, because they're not
expensive or elaborate," Lawrence
said. "They show that you don't need
much to make, something, just a
vision."
Lawrence's vision for the work of
art came about last fall after the
museum commissioned her and sent
her a picture of the apse. Without
ever visiting Ann Arbor, she planned
her entire installation by observing
only the photograph.
Lawrence finally arrived in Ann
Arbor March 12 and spent the next
six days setting up the installation
with the help of her collaborators.
The team, spent more than 30 hours
fusing the materials together to create
the installation.
By successfully finishing the
exhibit, the artists brought
Lawrence's vision to fruition as well.
The installation, powerful and
intense, certainly succeeds in creat-
ing an atmosphere of transparent
opaqueness.
cops using excessive force which
led to a prisoner's death, to (now
don't laugh too hard) a serial
pigeon killer.
"The Beat" is somewhat of a
departure from the acclaimed
"Homicide." For instance, "The
Beat" uses continuous storylines, as
if it were a weekly soap opera
instead of forcing a certain closure
within the hour. "Homicide" fans
will also notice a very different
form of camera work. Interestingly,
"The Beat" is shot in two distinct
styles, sometimes on the traditional
film for a television drama, and
converge in nine
A's rear balcony. She ran them
:
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