smatter of opinion... NOW president Patricia Ireland and Playboy writer Asa Baber sign copies of their books tonight. Borders. 5:30 p.m. michigandaily. com/arts RTS MONDAY MARCH 26, 2001 heartbreakers' cons entertaining film out of comedic formula University Art Museum merges art and science in 'Paradise Now' By Jeremy Sullivan For the Daily B Wilihelmina Mauritz Arts Writer When most people think of Sigourney Weaver they think of the "Alien" series and her tough bitch attitude. The same thing goes for artbreakers Grade: A- At Showcase and Quality 16 Jennifer Love Hewitt - the TV series "Party of Five," and her sweet young vir- ginal image (or maybe just lots of cleavage). In the movie "Heartbreakers" both of these actresses are able to shine and actually break through their stereotypical s. They also get a chance to show their chest size and shapely bod- ies along with their comic acting abilities, which are surprisingly quite strong for both of them. "Heartbreakers" is a charming romantic comedy reminiscent of such classics as "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and "A Fish Called Wanda." It revolves around a mother- daughter con team. Max (Weaver) men to marry her and has her daughter Page (Hewitt) seduce them into infidelity. Max catches them in the act, files for divorce and receives a hefty settlement for all her "pain." At the start of the film, Page has declared to her mother that she is ready to be on her own and wants to part ways. Max reluctantly agrees until they discover the IRS has taken all their money. Page agrees to do more hit but it has to be big. It to be Palm Beach. The two set up shop and cruise the area to find their next victim, William B. Tensy (Gene Hackman), the billionaire owner of a tobacco company who subsequently appears to be dying from his own products. Hackman is brilliant. In his first 30 seconds on screen he is able to portray the entire depth of his char- acter through his actions, body lan- guage and facial expressions. Tensy stumbles out of his mansion, hacking while simultaneously smoking a cig- arette, swats a cat out of his way with a cane and proceeds to stumble to his knees on account of all the coughing. You can't help but laugh at the sheer hypocrisy of the scene. "Heartbreakers" has a very strong supporting cast overall, which only adds to the movies greatness. After Hackman, you've got Jason Lee ("Mallrats") as well as Ray Liotta who plays the first victim of the mother-daughter duo that we get to witness. There is a scene at the very beginning where Liotta is carrying Weaver in his arms down the hall to their hotel room and the hall just keeps going and going with Weaver obviously not getting any lighter. His facial expressions alone (as well as his buckling knees) encompass the scene perfectly. Like any good con movie "Heart- breakers" has lots of funny moments and plenty of twists and turns that I guarantee you won't be expecting. It seemed that every time the plot was moving in a predictable direction and I thought I had figured out what was going to happen next, it would slip in a zinger and change course, always for the better. As with most romantic comedies, endings seem to be where they lose steam and go for the predictable Last summer, scientists announced to the world that they had completed a rough map of the human genome - the genetic blue print of the human race. For a per- spective on genetic breakthroughs like you've never experienced Paradise Now Museum of Art through May 27 before, visit the University of Michigan Muse- um of Art's exhibition, "Paradise Now: Picturing the Genetic Revolu- tion." You are guaranteed to be impressed, daz- zled and to stare in awe for hours -- no kidding. The exhibit will run through Courtesy of MGM-UA ABOVE: Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sigoumey "The Alien Slayer" Weaver display their raw sex appeal in "Heartbreakers." Ripley, you can break my heart any day. BELOW: "Tiger Woods, y'all, It's all good, y'all." (read: Boring). "Heartbreakers" did fall prey to some of this but not as much as one might think. The movie did a good job of sticking with its already well-defined, realistic charac- ter development (for a Hollywood movie that is). Overall, "Heartbreak- ers" left me feeling satisfied and not at all like I had just been scammed the S8 admission price for pure drivel. May 27, and will feature a panel dis- cussion April 11 from 5 - 7 p.m that will be moderated by University President Lee Bollinger. Undoubtedly, decoding the human genome is one of the most ground- breaking accomplishments in scien- tific history. Biotechnology will give science, medicine, agriculture and business unprecedented opportuni- ties for growth and advancement. With the developments come progress and excitement, but also protest and debate. While some peo- ple see the developments with enor- mous promise, others view genetic research as a formidable threat. From either perspective, it is a uni- versal truth that genetic research is rewriting the definition of life. Dur- ing this scientific transition, artists can be invaluable guides and inter- preters. By creating images that express the abstract concepts and new possibilities accompanying the genetic revolution, they remind us of the implications genetic research has for society. "Paradise Now: Picturing the Genetic Revolution" is the first major exhibition of contemporary art to address the deep questions associated with biotechnological research. The exhibit, featuring 34 works by 18 artists, explores artists' reactions to genetic discoveries, and to the broader ethical and societal implications raised by advancements in the field. "Paradise Now" gives voice to the humanistic meanings of genetic exploration by drawing par- allels between scientific research and other forms of creative expres- sion. The exhibit is part of an effort Courtesy uofMuseum of Art Susan Anker's "Zoosemiotics" is one of the stunning pieces in "Paradise Now." to establish a relationship between the artistic community at the Uni- versity and other disciplines, such as the sciences. The Museum of Art seeks to present art that will engage audiences beyond only those dedi- cated to an interest in the fine arts. If you have only a few minutes, take a second to drop in and see "Mother and Child." This "living" work of art is made from genetically engine red grass. The large-scale portrait of a mother and child appears to be an eloquent black and white photo from afar, but with a closer look, you'll be spellbound to see the individual blades of green grass from which the portrait is composed. The artists, Heather Ack- royd and Dan Harvey, approached a team of scientists to design them genetically modified grass that keeps its green color, even under stress. "Paradise Now" is also likely your only opportunity to see a bold and colorful work of art grown from col- ored bacteria. By sealing the air into the work, artist David Kremer way able to put the work, "Biogenesis," into a period of stasis. If placed ml an incubation room, however, the living image will continue to grow. The best thing about "Paradise Now: Picturing the Genetic Revolu- tion" is that you don't need a con- centration in History of Art o appreciate it or understand it. No matter what your background is, it's sure to hold your interest. You'rc guaranteed to say the word "cool" at least a dozen times. Enjoy. 'Bus Stop' looks at urban Chinese styles By Elizabeth Manasse Daily Arts Writer Basement Arts will perform Gao Xingjian's .' "The Bus Stop" this weekend in the Arena Theatre. The play is a loose adaptation of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot." "The play is very heavily influenced by 'Waiting for Godot' it's pretty obvious. It's the futility of waiting and not making things happen," said director Claire Con- ceison, a visiting assistant professor in the The- The Bus Stop Arena Theater March 30-31 atre and Drama department. The play centers around eight characters who, in total, represent a cross sec- tion' of urban Chinese in the mid 1980's. They wait at a bus stop for a bus which never arrives, or does arrive but never stops. Their con- versation begins light but becomes more desperate and disillusioned as the wait increases. Its subtle criti- cism of the Communist sys- tem caused the play to be stopped after ten perfor- mances in 1983 and con- she added. Conceison has adopted an experimental style for the production. The performance will be done in the round and each audience member will be given a water bottle, piece of paper, or stone in order to create the play's sound effects. She hopes this in combination with an original score by Pei Lu, a Chinese doctoral candidate from the School of Music, will add to the enjoyment of the perfor- mance. "The set is very user friendly...it's a real ensemble piece that lends itself to experimenta- tion and I like to do experimental work," Concei- son said. Some of the experimentation includes changing the genders of two of the characters. "I think that making 'Glasses' and 'Supervisor' female enhances some of their personality traits in inter- esting very ways and it gives some of the lines they have with other characters a new reso- nance... it calls attention to that type of Chinese citizen who is the female acting in a kind of non- gender specific role in a male capacity," she said. Conceison tries to emulate and capture the feel of urban China through costumes. "[We've] cho- sen costumes that are similar to what people were wearing in 1983, but we haven't made the charac- ters Chinese people, in hope to make it relevant to a University audience in 2001...We've tried to do both of those things," she said. "Hopefully Chi- nese people who come to see the play, or people who've been to China will recognize that element, but everybody else can identify with the play -too." Conceison feels these changes keep the spir- it of Gao's message. "I think he'd be really excit- ed about this production. I think he'd like it," she said. Performance times for "The Bus Stop" are Fri- day, March 30 at 7 and 11 p.m. and Saturday March 31 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., with a discussion after the 2 p.m. show. tributed to the author fleeing China in 1987. The author, Gao Xingjian, has caused a great deal of controversy in the United States as well as abroad lately. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in October, 2000. Until his award, no Chinese writer had ever won the prize. His status as an exile complicated the Chinese reaction, since they refer to him as a 'Chinese-French' writer. "All these years they (the Chinese Gov- ernment) have been complaining that a Chinese writer has never won a Nobel Prize, and now they *illy got one and they're saying he's not a Chi- Courtesy of Chinastarcom Playwright Gao XingJiam looks forward to an exciting performance of his controversial work, "The Bus Stop." nese writer because he's been in France," Concei- son said. "The reason I chose to do the play is because he just won the Nobel prize and I know most peo- ple don't know his work, and I wanted to give the community and the University a chance to see a piece of his work since he is an important figure right now...I think it's his most significant play," p I ____________________________________________________________ **ATTENTION JUNIOR & SENIOR HISTORY CONCENTRATORS** COLLOQUIUM SIGN-UP FOR FALL TERM 2001 IS MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2001- 9:00 A.M TO 1:00 P.M IN 1014 TISCH HALL.