ARTS The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 13, 2000 - 9 - Nearly perfect ten: 'hest in Show By Leslie Boxer Daily Arts Nwater From the comic tradition of "This is Best in Show Grade: A- At Showcase Spinal Tap" and "Waiting for G u f f m a n ," writer-director- actor Christopher Guest brings us the equally funny "Best in Show." Guest's trilogy of mockumentaries are all sharp satires that com- bine improvisa- tion with wit. "Best in Show," is no exception. It is the story of the prestigious Mayflower Dog Show in Philadelphia and the dog owners/handlers who make it there. Guest's forte is accentuating the eccentricities of his characters and let- ting them become the focus of the films. "Best in Show" adds to Guest's arsenal of characters overly doting dog owners. There is Gerry and Cookie Fleck (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara) and their Norwich terrier, Winkie. The couple, from Fern City, Florida, loves their dog so much that they have writ- ten, "G'd loves a terrier," in honor of his trip to the big show. Temperamental Weimaraner owners, Meg and Hamil- ton Swain (Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock), are a bickering catalogue obsessed yuppie couple that sees a dog psychiatrist in the opening sequences of the film. Other characters include trophy wife Sherri Ann Cabot (Jennifer Coolidge) who shares a love of soup and conver- sation/no-conversation with her much older husband, Leslie. Handling their two-time Mayflower best-in-show Poo- dle, Rhapsody in White, is Christie Cummings (Jane Lynch), a proud pure- bred lesbian dog handler. In the small dog category is Shih Tzu Miss Agnes and her owners, hair dresser Stephan Vanderhoof (Michael McKean) and his flamboyant lover Scott (John Michael Higgens). Rounding out the competition is Christopher Guest playing Harlan Pep- per, owner of a Bloodhound named Hubert. Pepper, who is a slow talking Southerner that loves to name different types of nuts (pine-nut, macadamia nut, cashew-nut), is a long way from Nigel Tufnel and Corky St. Clair, yet proves to be a comic force. Best in show, however, goes to obnox- iously inappropriate sportscaster, Buck Laughlin (Fred Willard), who gives the play-by-play at the show. He, like most "Show" cast members, is a veteran of "Waiting for Guffman" and could not have done a better job with his character. He is full of one-liners about the dogs and their owners that work with Guest and co-writer Eugene Levy's witty satire. The film is hilarious. It is pure come- dy and a very quick hour and a half. I cannot possibly do justice to the charac- ters in this brief synopsis so you must run to the theater to catch "Best in Show." Courtesy of Warner Brothers Christopher Guest stars In "Best In Show" as Harlan Pepper. He co-wrote the film. 'C.S.I: delivers nothing more than standard forensic fare U U Katie Den Bleyker For the Wail Crime Scene Investigation, "C.S.I." for short, is CBS's new drama airing in that wasteland of TV, Friday nights, C.S.Iu Grade: C- CBS Fridays at 9 p.m. (Paul Guilfoyle)~.whenosgvghi from 9-1Opm. "C. S. I. "I revolves around a department of forensic investi- gators in Las Vegas who ana- lyze the evidence of crimes in order to deter- mine who the perpetrators are. C.S.I. is headed by the stereotyp- ical "tough cap- tain," Jim Brass new, unwelcome recruit, Holly Gribbs. Gil Grissom (William Petersen), the senior forensics officer, supervises the rest of the officers, including single mom Catherine Willows (Marg Hel- genberger, "China Beach"), and dueling officers Warrick Brown (Gary Dour- dan) and Nick Stokes (George Eads). The idea behind "C.S.I." seems to be for the viewers to solve the crimes along with the CSI forensics experts as new evidence is amassed. However, as any seasoned police officer will tell you, it is awfully hard to solve a crime if you're asleep on the job. The fact that "C.S.I." is so boring that it is sleep inducing is the show's main problem. Perhaps this show would be more interesting to someone with an interest in forensic science, but to mere laypeople, most of the show's technical aspects are too scientific to be entertain- ing. Because the technical aspects of forensics dominate the show, "C.S.I." lacks the drama and tension that is pre- sent in other shows like "ER." One thing "C.S.I.".does have in common with "ER," however, is its grisly nature. "C.S.I." is a gross-out fest complete with rotting corpses that should not be viewed by those with weak stomachs. Another problem with "C.S.I." are its cheesy names and dialogue. The head of CSI (or the "top brass") is conve- niently named Jim Brass. The show's only African-American character is somewhat offensively named Warrick Brown. The dialogue consists of techni- cal jargon intermingled with inane comments on things like video games and football pools. Not exactly the stuff of riveting drama. The bottom line is that "C.S.I.' is like a TLC special: Somewhat interesting if the topic (in this case forensic science) appeals to you. Quite boring if it does not. "That's New England School of Law, since the first day we opened our doors. We were the only law school ever established exclusively for women. Today we continue to open doors for both men and women with innovative and relevant programs including the War Crimes Prosecution Project, FORWARD THINKING (Paul'Guilfoyle), who enjoys giving his investigators a hard time, especially his 'Fugitive' doesn't *find its 'Wings., By Matt Manser For the Daily Don't you hate when this happens? You come back from your house after a nice jog, only to find your wife mur- dered by a strange man. You grab the man by the arm to stop him, but his prosthetic arm falls off. You're so star- tled by this event that the man uses his real arm to reclaim the fake one and then runs away. Later, the police find no ACTORS/MODELS NEEDED FOR CASTING DIRECTORS AND AGENTS WEBSITE NEW AGE ENTERTAINMENT, INC. will be in your city soon in search of new talent for ActorsModelsDirect.com. For more information call 818-848-7318 or log onto ActorsModelsDirect.com Walk-On Try-Outs for the Michigan MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM Monday, October IS, 2008 7 PM3 P at Cridler Arena You must be a full-time student registered for a minimum of 12 credits and you must have proof of a physical signed by a doctor within the past 6 months. Call 763-5504 with questions. opportunities for overseas study, a business law center and coursework that includes Internet Law. Looking to the future is - Michael Scharf Professor ,, Directo: Centerfor International Law & Policy what we've always done..D. Duke University School of Lawv ABA- accredited New England School of Law 154 Stuart Street Boston, MA 02116 (617) 422-7210 adm iteadmin.nest.edu www.nesl.edu Member of the Association( YfAmerican Luw Schools a &' The Fugitive Grade: B- ces Fridays at 8 p.m. trace of the arm. The police also get word that you and your wife had a disagree- ment as to how to spend the major cash she has locked up in a trust fund. So CHICAGO HUMANITIES FESTIVAL XI NOVEMBER 2-12, 2000 OWN, you're arrested for murder, and put on death row. Then, as luck would have it, a freak car acci- dent occurs while you are being chauf- feured to prison, and you escape. Now free, you dedicate all your time to track- ing down the one-armed man and avoiding John Q. Law. Doesn't it suck when that happens? Okay, maybe this has never happened to you, but it did happen to David Jannsen in 1963 and to Harrison Ford in 1993. Now it's 2000, and it's hap- pening again. This time it's Tim Daly ("Wings") who plays Dr. Richard Kimble in a new version of "The Fugitive." The premise of "The Fugitive" is quite familiar, whether or not you've seen the movie or the original TV series. For those who are unfamiliar, the first episode (aired Oct. 6) reminds the audience of the story, showing Dr. Richard Kimble escaping from the car accident. Kimble then winds up on a bus to Cleveland, 0 strangely enough, wearing new clothes. While in Cleveland he visits an Internet cafe, goes on the net and types "one armed man" into a search engine. Believe it or not, Kimble turns up an article about a different -; n - v . * S . xri t f fn - I -------UZ w M . Si.f. .U .rm