12B - The M chigan Daily -Weekend, et. Magazin - Thursday, MarCh 23; 2000

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The Mchiga aioy. Weekend,

CUT ADRIFT IN A SEA OF INERTIA

M From the Vault - Paul Thomas Anderson
AInderson's debut lays artistic groundwork

I've written about how lazy my house-
mates and I have been about a lot of
things this year. But lately we've reached
a new, lower level - apathy. Especially
this past weekend, we've been faced with
some of life's more difficult decisions.
"Ican't decide whether I want to watch
Gonzaga play St. Johns, or UCLA
against Maryland?" Ray said.
"Yeah, that's a tough one," Josh said.
"On the one hand, you have Gonzaga,
which is the Opie Taylor team of the tour-

nament, and on the other you have the
Maryland game, which means a lot in my
pool."
"That's a tough decision," Ray said.
"It's not like you actually get to choose
which game you're going to watch," I
said. "That's CBS' job, ya know"
"And they'll probably mess it up
again," Ray said. "CBS might be the
worst network that could possibly broad-
cast the tournament with the exception of
the WB."

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theater for every $25 spent at
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after 5 p.m.

"I want my bong right now," Josh said.
"Then why don't you get up off the
couch and get it?" I said.
"Because, that's a lot of effort," Josh
said. "I'd have to look for it in my room,
and I'm pretty comfortable with where I
am right now."
"Your room is
20 feet away and
the door is open,"
I said. "You can
even stop by the
kitchen on your4
way and make
some munchies."
"Yeah, but that
takes effort,
which is some-
thing I'm not Jon Zemke
willingt to sacri-
fice right now," . ch
Josh said.'Speaking
"Yeah, effort,
that takes a lot," Ray chimed in.
"If you think about it, this is one of the
best weekends of the year," I said. "You lit-
erally have non-stop basketball for four
straight days, wrapped around St. Patty's
Day."
"You realize you just put this weekend
ahead of the Final Four, which usually
takes place the same time as Hash Bash,"
Josh said.
"Yeah, but right now the world of col-

lege basketball is in utter chaos," I said.
"You have Pepperdine - the four-inch
afro squad - making Bobby Knight turn
a darker shade of red than his sweater,
while Tulsa shows the world a new reason
the Rebs are runnin'. You have 48 games
in four days with people screaming at
Gonzaga for screwing up their pool."
"OK, I'll give you that, but what really
makes it worthwhile are the commer-
cials," Josh said. "The 'Bracketville'
commercials are absolutely hilarious. I
mean when the Stanford's pine tree is
fighting with some other bunk team's
mascot, while Dean Smith is on the porch
saving 'It's going to rain,' how can you
top that?"
"And the one where the Gonzaga mas-
cot is on all fours, tied to a fire hydrant
and barking, while the old lady offers y\ou
finger rolls as you go by."
"OK, Jules. you're gonna have to get
off of my lap, because I'm about to go get
my bong" Josh said to our calico cat,
who had just jumped onto his stomach.
"it looks like we're going to be watch-
ing UCLA and Maryland," I said.
"Wait, have you seen this commer-
cial?" Ray said. "It's every guy's dream.
You're stuck as the designated driver,
then four beautiful women who barely
speak English ask for a ride home."
"Ah yes, Budweiser commercials," I
said. "They might not be the king of

beers, but nobody does game-time com-
mercials better."
"True. True," Ray said.
"So wassup?"
"Wassssup?"
"Hey, where's Dookie?"
"Waaaaaassssssup?"
"Waaasssssssssuuuuuuup?"
"So whatcha ya doin?"
"Watchin the game, drinkin' a brew"
"Was it you who woke me up when I
had passed out while I was cradling my
bong?" Josh said.
"You cradled your bona?" Ray said.
"Yeah, I was laying down, just like I
am now, with my bong laying across my
chest just below mr mouth and a lighter
in my hand."
"Dude, we need a wastebasket right
next to the coffee table," I said. "That way
we can take the huge pile of empty bot-
tles, overflowing ashtrays and other
assorted garbage off of the table so we
can eat in here."
"Why don't you just clear it off and
throw it away in the garbage in the
kitchen," Ray said.
"Because I'd have to get up for that,
and honestly, I don't have the gumption
to be in any other position right now
besides horizontal," I said,
"True. True"
-You can contact Jon Zemke by e-
mail atjzemke wnich.edu. Ifhe gets ulp.

By Matthew Barrett
Daily Film Editor
Writer-director Paul Thomas
Anderson burst onto the scene of the
movie world in 1997 with the criti-
cally acclaimed "Boogie Nights," a
sprawling epic about the '70s porno
industry. Before making "Boogie
Nights," Anderson wrote and direct-
ed "Hard Eight," a film about sever-
al characters who make their money
by either gambling or hooking.
When it was released in 1997, the
"Hard Eight" quickly passed
through theaters without much fan-
fare, despite receiving some positive
critical attention A gritty, no-budget
labor of love, "H ard Eight" is worth
a look, as it stands on its own as a
great film and contains themes and
stylistic tendencies that reappear in
Anderson's later work.
"Hard Eight" gets rolling when
Sydney (Philip Baker Hall) meets
John (John C. Reilly) outside a cof-
fee shop and offers him a warm cup.
We soon learn that John has just
returned from Las Vegas, where he
failed in his attempt to win enough
money to bury his mother. For some
reason, his story touches a nerve in
Sydney, who offers John S50 dollars,
a ride to Las Vegas and some advice
on how to turn the money into some-
thing bigger.
Once in Vegas, we meet
Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow), our
hooker with a heart of gold, and

Jimmy (Samuel L. Jackson), a busi-
ness associate of Sydney's. The film
was made before Paltrow was the
next big thing and her tender perfor-
mance is
among
her best.
A s usual,
Jackson is
at the top
of his
skills, QY
the sly
and evil
Jimmy to
p e r f e c -
tion.
All in u
all, the
film's cast is nothing short of stellar,
and the main credit for this belongs
to Anderson. Although both Reilly
and Baker Hall are a little more
mainstream nowadays, it was
Anderson who plucked the pair from
relative obscurity to cast them in the
two leads. Also appearing are Philip
Seymour Hoffman and Melora
Walters, who both went on to later
collaborations with the director.
The film is also significant for the
fact that it establishes many of
Anderson's trademarks - the con-
sistency among the cast, the long
takes and jump cutting on charac-
ter's actions. Some of the shots do
look a little bit rough around the
edges, but that's only natural for a

director's first time out. The story
also covers familiar ground here
with the constant mending of situa-
tions gone wrong and the surrogate-
father relationship between Sydney
and John, which bears some similar-
ities to the bond between Jack
Horner (Burt Reynolds) and Eddie
Adams (Mark Wahlberg) in "Boogie
Nights."
"Hard Eight" establishes
Anderson as a talented storyteller
- one who knows how to keep key
elements of the plot in the dark as
long as possible, vet not tov with the
audience. And althou h it covers
serious issues, the film is injected
with large helpings of humor, most
of which come courtesy of the
small-timing John.
Soon after they first meet, he
warns Sydney not to mess with him
because "I know three types of
karate: Jujitsu, aikido and regular
karate." John also tells a story - to
explain why he just doesn't use
matches - which culminates in a
moment that is beyond words.
At the end of last year, Anderson
released his latest opus,
"Magnolia." That film, along with
the success of "Hard Eight" and
"Boogie Nights," has established
Anderson as the dominant young
voice in American cinema. "Hard
Eight" is worth seeing for its fine
acting, along with the fact that it
began Anderson's ascension to the
world of auteurs.

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