The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 24, 1999 - 13 Double eopardy' fails to thrill Erin Podosky )aily Arts Writer an indeterminate time during her incarceration in prison for murdering her hus- a Libby Parsons (Ashley Judd) runs laps around the yard. Aone. In the rain. In he dark. Trying so hard to beef up those girlie-girl muscles with sprints and pump- ng iron. While her two prison chick buddies root her on. It's so original that I almost puked in my popcorn. That's about the best that can be said for any part -- not to mention the sum - of Double Jeopardy," a wretchedly misguided attempt to put together an edge-of-your- seat revenge thriller starring Judd and Tommy Lee "No, I haven't made this movie before" Jones. Libby, framed because she's too beautiful and innocent to ever do something so nasty, learns that she cannot be tried twice for the same crime and Double resolves to find and murder her husband - again, because it *eopardy apparently didn't take the first time. * When we first meet Libby, she has a picture-perfect life: Handsome loving husband Nick (Bruce Greenwood), At Snawose smack-me-I'm-cute son Matty (Spencer Treat Clark), coastal Washington home straight out of an architectural magazine. She and Nick rent a sailboat and set out for a weekend of hot sex. She awakens one night to find herself covered in blood and a trail of gore that leads to the edge of the boat and into the deep blue sea below. Nick is missing and soon presumed dead. Libby is frantic and soon presumed responsible. After a quick r~she is thrown in the pen where she instantly becomes antisocial and determined o find, if not Nick's killer, then Nick himself. Many free weights, laps and vats of tapioca pudding later, Libby is a well-oiled achine out on parole and on the prowl. After doing six years for the crime she did- 't commit, she arrives at a halfway house run by jowly Travis Layman, a man who oesn't really believe in second chances but definitely believes in seeing the bottom >f his whiskey flask. By this point in the seemingly interminable movie, all of my opcorn is gone, which is good, because every time Layman said something either upremely bullheaded, obnoxious or just plain old loud, I would have required the ieimlich maneuver. my' brings back y Anika Kohon demean subtle complexity >aily Arts Writer adeptly played by Amy Br The woman's melodrama has found a new place and Neighbors," "Heat"), and ime. We're not talking daytime drama characterized by Daly ("Cagney and Lacey' 'heating husbands or warehouse explosions, we're talk- heart-warming show. ng about "Judging Amy" and it is on CBS at 10 p.m. Amy, recently separate he pilot aired Sunday, Sept. 19, at 8:30, wasting no years, finds herself ba l time establishing the dramatic Connecticut living with her tension between mother and ployed brother, Vincent. daughter, (both Amy with her Superior Court Judge, and t mother, and Amy with her own old daughter's anxiety abou Judging daughter) - a conflict all too confident, capable woma Amy familiar to women of all ages. from her mother's over-bea i *That the show is primarily about A family dinner scene b CBS female relationships does not sion of Luke Skywalker as Tuesdays at 10 p.m. preclude male viewership, In many ways this is a mic though it is likely to appeal to a is everymother. An over-be more progesterone-driven audi- lum swings from caring nL ence. It is not a sappy, romantic Both are manifestations of "chick flick," nor is it an angst- children go. This explains tidden display of male bashing. comparative literature, wh Either classification would washes dogs for a living. B 24-Hour Theater' oes it all in a day y Nick Faizone working on the play. "We talk through it, familiarize Many playwrights require months, them with the script and prepare it not years, to create a story that will for the rehearsal process," Garcia ne day be presented on the stage. explained. "We do everything to he actors who breathe life into the bring it to the presentable stage." lays' characters often need weeks, Then, between 1 - 2 p.m., the not months, before they are ready actors who will be presenting the *erform before the public. four one-act plays will arrive and omorrow, however, in "Revenge of the characters will begin to come to the 24-Hour life. Theatre," these Maddy Wyatt, a Music senior who two groups of acted in Garcia's play in last year's artists will pre- production, said that the Saturday Revenge of sent their talents rehearsal was a completely unique the 24-Hour to the world experience for her because of the Theater after just one incredible time constraints placed Arena Theater day of practice. upon her and her fellow actors. urday at 10 p.m. Preparation "The shortest amount of time a W for "Revenge of normal production rehearses for is a the 24-Hour month; I rehearsed for eight hours ''!Theatre" - a for this" Wyatt said. "(In '24-Hour Basement Arts Theatre,') you can't memorize word production in its for word; your goal is to get the play fourth year - across as accurately as you can." will commence Wyatt and her fellow actors decid- night at 10 p.m. At that time, four ed, in what some might see as a dar- tudent playwrights, who have been ing move, to go without scripts in the elected through an audition, will actual production. Yet Wyatt said that ather together in a room, each taking chances is part of what the egnsible for creating their own audience expects when viewing the ni-act play within 12 hours. final product. Music junior Dave Garcia, who "The most important part of all is enned a play for last year's "24- to have fun and take big risks," Wyatt our Theatre" production, explained explained. "People know about the hat while the playwriting experience conventions of '24-Hour Theatre, so as rigorous, he knew he had three they expect a more freeform produc- ther writers beside him going tion." hrough the same difficulties. Wyatt added that while she fre- "The process is a bonding experi- quently had to paraphrase Garcia's :nca though it's also incredibly lines during the actual production, n e," said Garcia, also Basement she still believed she and her fellow rts' director of publicity. "You actors got across the meaning of the ork with others toward a common play to the audience. oal: hilarious and crazy, absolutely Garcia agreed with Wyatt, stating razy, theatre." that while the 24-hour preparation After the ink dries on the pages of process "was equally grueling for all heir works, the playwrights will involved, I couldn't have been happi- Orchestra kicks off season with 'Czars.' By Kate MacEwen For the Daily This weekend the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra kicks off their exciting 1999-2000 season with the concert "Czars and Commissars." The concert marks the beginning of a season of many changes for the Ann Arbor Orchestra. Conductor, Sam Wong will be leaving the orchestra after seven Courtesy of Paramount Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones fight for their lives in "Double Jeopardy." Long story short: Libby wants her son back, wants revenge, blah blah blah, Layman chases her for violating parole but of course starts to believe her cocka- mamie "I was framed!" sob story, blah blah blah, Libby runs all over the country tracking down Nick, blah blah blah, she ends up in New Orleans because it's really fun to make movies in New Orleans, blah blah blah. The End. As if the utterly insipid story "Double Jeopardy" has to offer isn't bad enough, it's so poorly directed and edited that it seems at times that whole chunks were jaggedly removed, leaving either side of the excision flapping in the breeze. Things don't make sense, characters wander in and out or are conveniently killed, due process is thrown out the window and the world these characters live in generally seems to be certainly not this one. Meanwhile, Jones phones in his performance from wherever it is that rich movie stars move to when they don't feel like making movies for any other reason than the paycheck, and Judd slogs through yet anoth- er role pretending that just because she's pretty she's a quality actress who has a vocal range beyond purely deadpan. This is not a fun romp as a jilted wife chases after her conniving husband and poor little boy. This is a calculatedly awful portrayal of the dissolution of a life, and its very existence is an affront to good writing and decent filmmaking. "Double Jeopardy" is a perfect reminder as to why we can never drop our guard against cel- luloid crud. Just because we're entering Oscar season doesn't mean that every film is worth the hype. oman's melodrama Czars and Commissars Michigan Theater Tomorrow at 8 p.m. years. The 1999- 2000 season will have a series of guest conductors to precede Wong. The opening con- cert features guest conductor Arthur Post. Post, currently the resi- dent conductor of the New World Symphony in Florida, will lead the orchestra and piano soloist Rob University to bring the arts into the community. This season, the orchestra will collaborate with the University's Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies. With the help of Judith Becler, the director of the Gamalon Ensemble, Bonnie Brereton education director, and Charlie Sullivan, education and =rants coordinator, the Gamelan Ensemble and the Ann Arbor Orchestra will perform a Japanese percussion work written by graduate student Gabriel Ian Gotld for the two ensembles. Part of this performance includes community outreach. The performance will be given for secondary school stu- dents along with a lesson in Asian cul- ture and music. The curriculum was co- written by developers for education for the orchestra and members c the Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies program. Along with working with the University, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra remains active in its outreach programs. With a goal of presenting the arts to everyone, the Orchestra involves itself in the community. Through 4ctivi- ties ranging from mentorship of a high school musicians, programs in senior centers, youth concerts and free tickets for those who can not afford to heir the orchestra, the symphony tries to intro- duce the symphony to the entire popula- tion. Conway in Borodin's "Prince Igor Overture," Rachmaninoff's "A Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" and Shastakovich's "Symphony Number Five." Along with the search for the new director, the orchestra has planned many other events for this year. The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra has made a conscience effort to work with the I Don't get curried .y of the show. Amy Gray, enneman ("Your Friends and her mother, played by Tyne "), lead the cast of this new, d from her husband of 10 ck at home in Hartford, mother and her semi-unem- Starting a new job as a rying to manage her six year t separation and change, this n struggles to free herself ring clutches. egins with Vincent's discus- an archetype, an everyman. rocosm for the mother. She aring woman whose pendu- urturer to controlling harpy. the mother who can't let her Vincent, with a degree in ho still lives at home and lunt, powerful, and at times, caustic, this mother bear will go to any length to make sure her brood is safely doing her bidding. Wisely, the writers are slow to reveal her Achilles heal. "I'm quitting," she tells her daughter when Amy finds her outside smoking during the last ten minutes of the pilot. There is an inner weakness behind her titanic facade of impenetrable strength. She is not a one- dimensional woman, but a sympathetic being everyone can relate to. She tells Amy, "Stop looking for answers, formulas. There aren't any." The show's action, periodically intercut with black and white photos of Amy as a young girl, her expres- sions mirroring her adult emotions, reminds the viewer that inside everyone is young and vulnerable. No mat- ter how mature people may appear, they have wounds, experiences from childhood shaping who they area and who they will become. This theme plays itself out not only with Amy but with Vincent, her mother, and her daughter as well. Amy must return to the vulnerability of her youth, re-learn all that she knows from another perspective, and audiences are privy to share this excit- ing journey with her. away with copying costs. r Hill Auditorium Box Off Saturday, September 25 ice , 9 a.m. rt - 12 p.m. $T -PRICE I iLRNL' new Laurie Anderson Songs and Stories from Moby Dick Detroit Symphony Orchestra Neeme Jarvi, conductor UMS Choral Union AmaliaHernandez' Ballet Folklbrico de Mexico Paco Pena and Inti-Illimani Lyon Opera Ballet Mats Ek's Carmen Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Claudio Abbado, conductor DaCamera of Houston: Moondrunk The King's Singers and Evelyn Gennie, percussion Sankai Juku: Hiyomeki Bill Frisell's New Quartet Buena Vista Social Club with Orquesta Ibrahim Ferrer & Ruben Gonzalez y su Grupo Emerson String Quartet American String Quartet Les Arts Florissants Purcell's King Arthur William Christie, conductor Theatre of Voices Paul Hillieredirector Paco de Lucia and His Flamenco Septet SALE Meredith Monk: Magic Frequencies Doudou N'Diaye Rose, master drummer Drummers of West Africa Martha Clarke: Vers ta flamme Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir Tonu Kaljuste,idirector Murray Perahia, piano New York City Opera National Company Rossini's The Barber of Seville Christian Tetzlaff, violin The Chieftains Ballet d'Afrique Noire The Mandinka Epic The English Concert Trevor Pinnock, conductor Ali Akbar Khan and Zakir Hussain Oscar Peterson Quartet Thomas Quasthoff, baritone Chen Shi-Zheng: Forgiveness Mammas: A Mediterranean Women's Music Summit Take 6 for $5! Yo-Yo Mafor $10! The Chieftains for $6! Paco de Lucia for $10! Berlin Philharmonic for $12.50! Bebe Miller Dance Company for $11! The King's Singers for $7! Valid Student I.D. required. Limit 2 tickets per event but choose as many events as you wish. Avoid Rush Ticket Sellouts. Limited quantity available for each event. I I