ARTS The Michigan Daily - Monday, April 10, 2000 - 9A S'Virtua' marks strike for Sega Arcadle soccer games; who could conceive of such a thing? The arcade mode of Virtua Striker comes from people who somehow or other got the brainstorm. Kind of a dreary day, really. The main virtue of the game is that it can be played quickly; there aren't that many sports games that let you get it over with in a couple minutes if you want to Grade: B- Virtua Striker 2 For Dreamcast Sega Reviewed by Daily Arts Writer Ted Watts just play for a short time. Usually the only exceptions to dragging periods or halves or innings were homerun derby's or their equiva- lents. Here you can play some real- ly quick soccer for some super low scoring, ending up with a kickout when you tie. Unfortunately, of course, the game is soccer. Maybe it's fun to play soccer, but it is not the most interesting game to watch. at least Courtesy of the Los Angeles Til Jack Black, lead singer of Tenacious D, Is making a splash in the latest John Cusack film, "High Fidelity." Jack Black ampoonshis way ir m into thee ar'ts ofmoviegoe~s ond rate soccer obsessed team you want, like Tunisia. Here the game drags on for a longer time. And no mat- ter how energetic the announcer is when he screams "Gooooooooooooooooooal!", it's just not interesting. Well, the game has well. designed characters, although they lag behind the other Dreamcast sports games. When you score some interesting things go on, like getting a rainbow goal, whatever that 'means. And. you can injure players to the extent you can get thrown out of the game. But in the end, the overall stink of soc- cer covers the game. If you like that, then feel free to enjoy the disc. from an American point of view. And playing the videogame version of soccer is more akin to the view- ing of and not the playing of the sport. And if you win, the game will drag on even more. The other drag is the non-arcade mode. When you play tournament mode, you get to play as whatever sec- The Los Angeles Times Jack Black, wild-man lead singer of off-the-wall cult band Tenacious D, is performing with the group at a Hollywood nightspot in an orange T-shirt featuring a picture of a gorilla 'head. Black's unruly hair flops in his eyes, his sweaty round face reddens with every oddball raunchy lyric, and faithful fans are cheeing him on. It's force-of-nature craziness remi- niscent of John Belushi. Familiar primarily to regular Hollywood clubgoers, Black and mild-mannered partner Kyle Gass are each playing acdustic guitar and singing original - often X-rated -- songs about Sasquatch, Dianetics, sex backstage, Jesus and Satan, any number of bodily functions and Fat Albert. They call themselves "the greatest band in the world," and while that's meant as a comic exaggeration they do have one high- profile fan so taken with Black that he's given Tenacious D's loose cannon another role to play that could make him a star. The fan is actor and writer John Cusack, and in the new film "High Fidelity" Black is stealing scenes as a belligerent record store clerk named Barry. The film, which opened to mostly rave reviews, provides Black the kind of breakout role that has audiences howling and wondering just who that crazy heavy-set guy is -- a reaction not unlike the filmmakers. "I've never met anyone like Jack Black," says the director of "High Fidelity," Stephen Frears. "It's as if he's come from the moon. I had no idea what was coming next." ' Black, who's been acting for years in smaller parts in films such as "Enemy of the State" (1998), "The Cable Guy" '(1996) and "Waterworld" (1995), said the role of Barry is "definitely the best part I've had. It's the biggest, juiciest, fun- niest, best opportunity to get wild. I was intimidated by the part at first. They had to talk to me because I was afraid of failing ... I'm really glad they did because if this movie was coming out with someone else in it I'd be freaking out." i "High Fidelity" is based on Nick Homby's popular 1995 novel about a struggling record store owner, Rob (Cusack), with a pathetic love life and two employees - Barry and Dick (Todd Louiso), whom he calls the "musical moron twins" There aren't many customers (they only sell vinyl), so the three pass the time compiling meaningless lists, like the Top 5 musical crimes perpetrated by Stevie Wonder in the 80s,or the Top 5 songs about death. - These guys, they're like idiot-savant Filofaxes of musical trivia information," Black said. "They're kind of lonely dudes that are friends, but they're also kind of mean to each other the way friends can be. "Barry wants to be making music, and since he doesn't have that going on he takes it out on the world and he turns insulting people into an art form." Cusack, who co-produced the movie, thinks it's the perfect part for Black. "It might be the first time his talent and a great role have come together with the right director," Cusack said. "It's rare to see someone get as broad and as explosively bizarre as you could possibly want and also break it down and do subtle, discreet naturalism with the best of them. That kind of range is dramatic and great." After watching Tenacious D - a mix of the Smothers Brothers, Cheech and Chong, Beavis and Butt-head and Spinal Tap - it's easy to see how Cusack thought that cast- ing Black was a no-brainer. "It jumped off the page in the book and it was the easiest role to write because he's this acid-tongued freak misan- thrope. He's just so insane. We all said, 'We gotta get Jack."' Black is an actor first, but just barely - he loves Tenacious D. Sometimes he's managed to combine the two: "The D" appeared on HBO in 1997 in 10-minute segments following episodes of "Mr. Show With Bob and David." And a 1999 "Tenacious D" comedy series on the cable network, though short-lived, included more wackiness - Jack and Kyle com- peting for the affections of Flama, a punk record-store clerk who worships Satan, and the two stumbling onto a cult that claimed to have the world's largest potato. More HBO shows are possible, and Black and Gass are writing a Tenacious D movie script. Black also wants his own TV series, the latest project being "Nos- tradamus 2000" "I play a wild-card crazy guy who sees flashes of the future. Jason Schwartzman ("Rushmore") plays the youngest Secret Service agent in history. We hook up in the pilot and rescue the president from robots." So is there anything he won't try? "I don't do stand-up, I don't have the (nerve) for it," he said, in a rare reflective moment. "With Tenacious D I have the guitar between me and the audience, and there's the music and Kyle to blame it on if it goes badly. But getting up there and talking for even five minutes, you're naked." WWW.MICHIGANDAIL Y.COM Apply now at the Law Library *non-Law Students *Law Students 9S.I. Students Apply in person: Room S-180 in the Law Library's under- ground addition, 8-noon and 1-5 Monday through Friday. Our Digital Color Copy Se vice w ill Beef Up Any Presentation! We Print from Hardcopy or Disk. Perfect For: *Graphs & Tables. * Report Covers. *Overheads. - Portfolios." Dollar Bill " 75 I COPYING I 611 Church Street Color Copies 1 Ann Arbor, Ml 48104 I f onyithopon;.5ill;No fdi* lp.05/31/00 (734) 665-9200 *"(fax) 930-280 L - hSit"°;: ,. -J """" ****-* *n* AA/EOE ! - . wr" .:. I FULL TIME Summer Employment WITH AN OPTION FOR PART-TIME SCHEDULE IN THE FALL SEMESTER WORLDWIDE EXPRESS . ,' ".¢ a * s 4,. y.' * y '. Your Needs: Starting wage $11.29/hour Paid Holidays Up to 3-weeks paid vacation per year Tuition Assistance up to $3,000/year Expanded Benefits: Reduced Airline travel Paid Medical Paid Vision Paid Dental Short term Disability Paid Life Insurance Maintaining a Balance Opt for a full-time schedule this summer then revert to a flexible part-time schedule ranging from 10 to 25 hours per week during the fall semester Full Time Locations Part-time: Fall - 2000 Summer: Plymouth Troy Toledo Grand Rapids Midland Ann Arbor Minimum Qualifications: Ann Arbor Plymouth Kalamazoo Lansing Grand Rapids A valid Driver's License having no more than one moving violation and zero accidents in the last two years. To receive more information by mail regarding employment, call: 1-888-395-3881 ext 222 Provide us with your complete mailing address at the telephone number above and we will quickly send you a complete application packet! Application request deadline is May 1, 2000 DHL Airways, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer Visit www.dhl.com for more information on DHL ff m