8 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 2, 2001 ARTS Oscar bells not in .Lo's future for 'Wedding Planner' Hill to host Sinopoli brilliant Dresden By Leslie Boxer Daily Arts Writer "The Wedding Planner," which is most certainly slated as a date movie, has belittled itself to less than a chick flick. Even I, a huge fan of romantic The Wedding Planner Grade: C-. At Showcase and Quality 16 comedies, must admit that this film was far from enchanting. The premise is simple: Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl falls, in love with boy, girl plans boy's wedding. Unfor- tunately, the film is never more than a cookie- cutter version of Mary may be a hopeless romantic when it comes to planning weddings, but whose idea of an after-work date includes a spruced-up TV dinner and vacuuming the baseboards of her apart- ment. As she explains, "those who can't do, teach - those who can't wed, plan." Yet, it seems that there is hope on the horizon. Mary, late for a meeting with clients, gets her shoe caught and is nearly killed by a runaway dumpster. Our fair hero, Dr. Steve Edison (Matthew McConaughey), saves not only Mary's life but her new Gucci shoes as well. There is some attempt at humor with a bed ridden Mary and jokes about her big neck (I can only assume it is a refer- ence to Lopez's famously large behind). However, these are put aside quickly for the inevitable love-at-first-sighting between Mary and Steve. The duo goes on a date and further falls in love. What makes the rest of the film so hard to stomach, beside the dialogue and hackneyed plot, is that there is no convincing chemistry between Lopez and McConaughey. Lopez does her best to look longingly at Steve, and in all fairness to her, I believe the fault lies with McConaughey. His almost kiss that is supposed to represent the culmi- nation to the best night of his life looks more like indigestion from M&Ms. Needless to say this would not be the movies if they did not include inconve- niences to the love affair. As it turns out, Dr. Steve Edison is the groom-to- Staatskap By Shannon O'Sullivan Daily Arts Writer Four and a half centuries later and still producing music that can be called a "virtuoso of refinement," the Dresden Staatskapelle returns to the Hill Auditorium this Friday night. Founded in 1548, the Dresden Dresden Staatskapelle Staatskapelle originally charmed listen- ers at weddings, church services, banquets, and court festivals. Beethoven was lle Although he graduated from tfied . ical school with a degree in Frfedi an psychoanalysis, Sinopoli lacks nd talent in the area of music, as h was the first music director in four decades to be democratically elect ed by the orchestra's musicians. * Sinopoli seems to focus on b era 1842 to 1942, with hopes -of "just trying to come back to the ld; sound, what we know threLtgh records and through descriptio* Not the aggressive sound typicalo modern orchestras, never forcing.'. He strives for "a very elegant homo geneity, we work very strong in this' direction." With the orchestra's intinate association with Strauss, SinopOl; stresses his view on such music a "very transparent and very fine. Not spectacular. Not heavy," as opp to typical conductors' interpreir tions of Strauss as very ponderous, dramatic, loud sounds. In praise of Sinopoli's nurturaof this elite orchestra, he was awarded Italy's highest award, the "Gran Coce as Merito," for his contribu- tion to the arts and music. Whether they are playing their hearts out to Courtesy o ColumliaP ictures "Are you sure Puffy won't find out?" Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Lopez star in "The Wedding Planner." You better watch your back, Matt. the classic story of romance with terri- ble timing. We are introduced to Mary Fiore (Jennifer Lopez), a control freak wed- ding planner, who is putting the finish- ing touches on one of her weddings. She wears a wireless headset, carries all kinds of emergency gear under her suit, and can fix the dress of a bridesmaid. 'Mary looks like she could be backstage -pampering to the many desires of J.Lo. Yet, the scene works as a mockery of what has become a major industry inl America -planning parties. What the audience finds out is that be in the wedding that Mary's career is hinged on. Steve is engaged to marry Fran Don- nelley (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras), daughter of the nouveau riche and the most sought after client in the Bay area. Mary stays with the wedding even after finding out Steve's secret because she prides herself on being a professional who can manage the challenge. The film writes off Steve's indiscretion of going to a movie and dancing with Mary as cold feet - even though we all know it is true love. Meanwhile as a miserable side story we have Mary's father (Alex Rocco), who sounds like he is deaf even though it is supposed to be an Italian accent, trying to set Mary up with her long- lost Italian childhood playmate. This part of the story is unnecessary and just plain stupid. "The Wedding Planner" is not a great love story and is even harder to stomach than the usual romantic comedy. But in its defense, the two stars do their best to. make up for the cliche-ridden story line. H111 /ucuIIUIm on target when Tonight at 8 p.m. he noted, "It is generally said that the orches- tra in Dresden is the best in Europe." Since then the orches- tra has grown to hold the reputation of being one of the world's finest. The Dresden Staatskapelle is not only renowned for its interpreta- tions and variations of standard and contemporary repertoire, but also the orchestra's k i 4 Michigan Opera WwVv ks presents MOZART Le Nozze Di F THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO CONDUCTED BY TIMOTHY SEMANIK Tickets ir advance at MUT) (734) 763-8587 S6 Students S14 Adult Tickets at Door 58 Students 16 Adult Fri. 2/2 8 p.m. Sun 2/4 3 p.m. Wed. 2/7 8 p.m. Sat. 2/10 8 p.m. University of Michigan East Quad Residential (ollee< 1 01 East Universirty, I3 Tyler (between Willardand IHill Sret) tWao close connec- tion with Richard Strauss has established its title as a "Strauss" orchestra. With world premiere per- formances of outstanding operas by Richard Wag- ner and Richard Strauss, the r 0 mL a nutv "Don Ju "Death ,an4 Transfigura- tion," "Et Heldenleben' or militant heavy-breath( ing develop" ment -of Tchaikovsky the Dresd$ Staatskapelle: is a welcomni tonic to khig homogenized age of orches Courtesy of UMS tras. Conduct- inopoli conducts the ing this full tonight at the Hill." orchestra oi 100 musi- cians, and driving them to plA their hearts out, Sinopoli builds t.e suspense of the DresW Staatskapelle to an ultimate bar- monic climax. The intense Giuseppe S or c h e st r a's Dresden Staatskapell development has mainly come from its accom- plished conductors. Presently, the orchestra is under the direction of Venetian-born con- ductor-composer Giuseppe Sinopoli. Ile, .mo.wod6- Zurich Capital Markets C~t Aalyst Program Define Your career with a hands-on position in Hedge Funds, Alternative Investments, Marketing, or Research. 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