He'll see the big board...
Catch the hilarious Kubrick film,
"Dr. Strangelove," tonight at the
Michigan theatre. 7:00 p.m. $6.25
for students.
michigandaily.com/arts

RTS

MONDAY
OCTOBER 15, 2001

5A


The future is bright for 'U' alum,
Marsh: Director of new film 'Mission'

By Jenny Jeltes
Daily Arts Writer
Sometimes you have to lose everything in order
to gain anything. "Mission," written, directed and
produced by University alum Loren Marsh, shows

Mission
Grade: A-
At State
Marvin comes to

us this through the lives of
two young men, both wanting
to get themselves out of their
own predicaments but not
quite knowing what it is they
need to do.
Marvin (Chris Coburn), a
struggling writer, has just
come to the Mission, a transi-
tional neighborhood for
young people living cheaply
in San Francisco, to stay with
his brother Nathan (Shane
Kramer) and write-his long
overdue novel. After not get-
ting published in New York,
the Mission itching to write

for opportunity that he's willing to fake carpal tun-
nel syndrome by flushing his hand down the toilet
for hours on end, in order to get off of work so he
can record a record with his band.
Marsh does an excellent job of developing both
of these characters. The scenes with just these two
carry an energy that makes the dialogue sharp and
oftentimes hilarious. The film would fail if one of
these characters were absent, for the opposite ten-
dencies of the two subtly reveal each of their
shortcomings. Leonard does a superb acting job,
and he is definitely the most intriguing to watch,
for his gestures, mannerisms and speech are so in
line with his "loveable-loser" type persona that
one can't help but feel sorry for him, yet admire
him for what he may never achieve.
Although some of the acting is not as impres-
sive and sometimes feels a bit forced, (aside from
all the scenes with just Coburn and Leonard), the
story itself is well-written and it has a wonderful
message. The notion of "finding oneself" avoids
being cliched due to the dynamics of the neigh-
borhood, and the experiences that Jay and Marvin
have gives the film a light, yet insightful presence.
A stunningly beautiful, mysterious woman named
Ima (Sandrine Holt), for example, appears in Mar-
vin's life throughout his stay, and an obvious
attraction is never acted upon, for she disappears

before he even has a chance to respond at times.
Later he learns that Nathan fixed this girl up to
steal his old stories, which he held onto dearly. In
this sense, Ina represents Marvin's reluctance to
'let go' of his old unsuccessful and familiar ideas
and start trying new things. Ima sees his talent, yet
tells him he can't go on like he is.
The overall setting of the film is beautiful, for
one sees the run-down city buildings, the bars and
the flats in all their glory, because money is not
what the Mission is all about. In addition, a scene
with Marvin, Jay and a couple of girls encapsu-
lates Marvin's first 'shroom experience on the
beautiful beaches of the Headlands on the Pacific
Coast.
While Marvin eventually comes to terms with
the need to abandon his prior mindset about life
and success, Jay hits rock bottom when he realizes
he will never be prosperous in a band. One can see
that ironically, these two men are experiencing the
exact same thing, just in very different ways. The
two meet and learn what they were supposed to
learn, and then go their separate ways, and that is
that. They go on to new experiences and, hopefully,
growth, for that's what life is all about. As Marvin
quotes Henry Miller in the last line of the film, he
shows life's wonderful irony: "I have no money, no
resources, no hopes; I'm the happiest man alive."

Cour tesy ofTouchstone
No use crying over this film. Chris Kattan stars as "Corky Romano."
or Romano
doesn't fit tebill1

something that will once and for all be noticed. Jay
(Joshua Leonard), his brother's roommate, finds
Marvin's persistence and rigid plan absurd, for he
doesn't seem to know how to have fun. Jay, on the
other hand, is so hopelessly goofy and desperate

Quirky, witty
' Scrubs' adds pulse


to newI
By Christian Smith
Daily Arts Writer
Months before the fall television
season even began, most of the buzz
had been surrounding Fox's "Unde-
clared," the new
college comedy
from "Freaks
and Geeks" cre-
Scrubs ator Judd Apa-
tow. But only a
NBC few weeks into
the term, the
Tuesday at 10 p.m.. excitement is
« # quickly fading
after its disap-
pointing ratings,
despite getting
wildly enthusi-
astic reviews.
With the top-
rated new comedy "Inside
Schwartz" being excluded for its
lack of ... comedy, the surprise suc-
cess belongs to NBC and those
wacky doctors of the new comedy

7V lineup
series "Scrubs."
Smart and inventive, "Scrubs"
focuses on first-year medical resi-
dent John "J.D." Dorian and his
experiences in making the transition
from medical student to practicing
doctor. While the show is unique
and innovative, it does bare some
similarities to others on television.
Besides a hazy physical
resemblance to Tom Cavanaugh (of
NBC's other quirky hit, "Ed"), rela-
tive newcomer Zach Braff displays
a similar eccentric charm as the
fresh-faced intern, J.D. The clever
sight gags and fantasy sequences
are reminiscent of "Ally McBeal,"
only here they are more funny than
annoying.
The excellent supporting cast is
equally hilarious, and will have
viewers constantly asking, Isn't he
that guy from that one show?'
Chocked full of versatile young
actors as well as seasoned veterans,
"Scrubs" also includes Donald Fai-

By Wilhelmina Mauritz
Daily Arts Writer
"Corky Romano" has a running
time of about 86 minutes; it feels
about 80 minutes too long. It is a com-
edy with an
average story-
4 ..line, but it is one
that still exceeds
Corky any of the comi-
Romano cal attempts at
Grade: D which the movie
Gr 'eD continually
At Showcase strives. The
and Quality 16 jokes are all
dumb, and they
consist only of
humor a 5-year-
. ) old would find
funny (although
that's probably
underestimating that child's intelli-
gence level). Occasionally a joke
would be funny, but then it would be
strung out for about five to ten min-
utes. The truth is there isn't much that
is still funny after ten minutes.
As mentioned previously, the story
behind "Corky Romano" is actually
not half bad. It is about an absent-
minded veterinarian, played by Chris
Kattan, who happens to be the son of a
major Mafia player. His father, who is
on trial, needs someone to go under-
cover at the FBI and recover some evi-
dence. The only member of the family
the FBI wouldn't recognize is, of
course, Corky.
Corky is a good guy. He loves his
family even though they treat him like
dirt. He lives to make them happy. He
agrees to go undercover, but once
inside the FBI, he can't seem to get the
evidence and get out. He winds up in
one crazy scenario after another and
ends up coming out on top, as always

happens in these types of films.
Chris Kattan is actually quite good
in this movie. He doesn't exactly have
the best track record with movies, nor
do any of hisSNL co-stars. Kattan
definitely has some funny moments,
even if the movie itself does not. Kat-
tan did the best he could given a pretty
bad script with not one ounce of funni-
ness in it.
There is one, and only one, funny
scene in the entire movie that is
"Corky Romano." This scene consists
of Corky accidentally inhaling cocaine
(never mind why) and then lecturing a
bunch of young kids on the life of an
FBI agent. Continually thinking the
kids have their hands raised for a ques-
tion he just starts rambling at the speed
of light yet he can't even complete an
entire sentence. The kids are just sit-
ting in awe of this strange man. Why
this scene works and the others fail I
couldn't tell you, but perhaps it has to
do with the fact that it was fairly short
and therefore never got old.
Probably the biggest flaw in "Corky
Romano" is that it tried to go with too
many angles. Obviously the movie was
going for the comedy aspect and failed
miserably. On top of the comedy, they
tried to put this little mystery into it,
which was only slightly intriguing. At
the end, they tried to pull this "7th
Heaven" sort of finale that was com-
pletely sappy and stupid. Adding
drama to an SNL-like comedy is never
a good idea. Never. On top of all of
that, they ended with two completely
ridiculous and dreadful plot twists (if
you can even call them that) that just
made "Corky Romano" seem even
more juvenile than it had been previ-
ously. However, it somehow seems
appropriate to have an even worse end-
ing to an already horrible film. At least
the movie was consistent.

Courtesy of NBC
Hey, quit hangin' out the passenger side of your best friend's ride hollerin' at me!

son ("Remember the Titans") as
J.D's roommate and hotshot surgi-
cal intern, Sarah Chalke
("Roseanne") as the hyper-competi-
tive and beautiful Elliot Reid (yes,
it's a female) and the outstanding
John C. McGinley ("Office Space")
as the sarcastically unreadable Dr.
Perry Cox. As J.D.'s reluctant men-
tor, McGinley steals nearly every
scene he's in, bossing everyone
around with his biting cynicism,
while simultaneously remaining the
"good guy."
The first two episodes, focus on
J.D.'s first 36-hour shift at the hospi-
tal, his attempt to get under Dr.
Cox's thick skin, as well as his

unavoidable crush on Elliot, provide
laugh-out-loud hilarity for nearly
their entireties. But after only two
episodes, this show can only get
better.
Written and created by Bill
Lawrence, who also co-created the
politicalworkplace sitcom "Spin
City," "Scrubs," with its irreverent
wit and indelible charm, brings a
welcome change to the television
landscape. The single-camera, no
laugh-track style that frames their
awkward encounters and embarrass-
ing moments makes these doctors
seem more human than ever. Or at
least more than we'll ever see on
"ER."


* Milford to read from biography
of poet Edna St. Vincent Milay

By Lisa Rajt
Daily Books Editor
Thomas Hardy once said that
there were two great things about

Nancy
Milford
Borders
Tonight at 7 p.m.

the United
States: The sky-
scrapers and
Edna St. Vin-
cent Millay
The life of
feisty red-
haired poetess
Edna St. Vin-
cent Millay has
been recounted
before, but
never so elo-
quently, or
completely, as
now. Setting the

Receiving critical acclaim as well
as kudos from the average reader,
Milford's long-awaited biography
gives us new insight into the woman
whose private life was kept locked
up, literally and figuratively, by her
sister.
Readers now have the opportuni-
ty to glimpse more of Millay's life
than that which was revealed by her
poems and her most famous lyric,

"My candle burns at both ends / It
will not last the night / But, ah, my
foes, and, oh, my friends / It gives a
lovely light."
Biographer Nancy Milford first
ignited a spark among literati with
her 1970 biography of F.Scott
Fitzgerald's wife, Zelda.
Milford will be reading and sign-
ing copies of "Savage Beauty" at
Borders tonight at 7 p.m.

INDOOR SOCCER
Fall 2 Season: Oct. 28th - Dec. 23rd
Now accepting Registrations for Fall 2 Leagues
Registration Deadline: October 22nd ,

literary world aflame, much like the
poet herself, is the arrival of Nancy
Milford's "Savage Beauty: The Life
of Edna St. Vincent Millay." -

Individual Registrations are welcome
Call (734) 913-4625 for Details
WIDEWORLD www.wwsports.com
SPORTS CENTER

.W


SAI tan so,--moss ago 0%ANA" R Aft - &flAW M3VIO-r

Z