Arts
Thursday June 10, 1982
The Michigan Daily
Page 7
A selection of campus film highlights
The Treasure of
the Sierra Madre
(John Huston, 1948)
There's gold in them thar' hills.
And there's gold in this movie, as
Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston.
and Tom Holt scramble and scrounge
for the elusive yellow dust. The
trouhle starts whenthey find it. A lot
of it. Your hasic study in
microeconomics by the ever-
economical director, John Huston.
(Thursday, June 10; Michigan
That, -.00. 7.00. 915)
(Ridley Scott, 1979)
I first saw Alien on opening night in
Detroit and got so scared that I
vowed never to see -the film again.
The next night, however, I was back
to see more of the nasty beast. Scott
manages to create more than just s
realistic sci-fi environment for his
story, he builds a believable at-
mosphere. Alien is simply a typical
monster movie, but inside Scott's
world of new sights and sounds, you
can actually feel its hideousness.
Blade Rupner, Scott's next feature
starring farrison Ford, also has a
simple plot; again, it is in the details
of atmosphere and appearance that
the film breaks new ground.
(Friday, June 11; MLB 3,7:15,9:30).
THX 1138
(George Lucas, 1971)
Lucas's first commercial film,
hased upon his prize-winning
featurette made for his film school,
takes a contemplative look at a man,
THX 1138, living in the world of the
far future, a world that has far too
many similarities to America of
today. A surprisingly complex work
- you've got to listen carefully to
the multi-layered soundtrack to
know what's going on. (Friday, June
11; Michigan Theatre, 5:00, 8:15).
Private Benjamin
(Howard Zieff, 1980)
Not as bad as you think, but not as
good as you'd like. Goldie Hawn
volunteers for the army - the
one with the swimming pools, and
the condominiums, etc. As she
struggles with reality and her need
for self-sufficiency,vshe finds a
whale new world of love and adven-
ture. Somewhere in here there's a
message about the state of modern
womanhood, but it gets a little lost in
the plot. (Friday, June 11; Lorch
Hall, 7:30,9:30).
Peppermint Soda
(Diane Kurys, 1978)
This delightful story of a French
Jewish schoolgirl's life is slightly
episodic but still a brilliant debut
film from Kurys. (Friday, June
11;MLB 4, 7:00, 9:00).
The French
Lieutenant's Woman
(Karl Reisz, 1981)
The impossible task of translating
John Fowles novel for the screen
was adequately handled by Harold
Pinter, yet the stodgy direction of
Reisz never allowed any real
mystery or emotion to capture an
audience. Meryl Streep and Jeremy
Irons star as lovers in the Victorian
age, as well as the actors having an
affair while filming this very movie.
The film-within-the-film style
wasn't used to the best effect, all that
remains is a mildly interesting love
story amid a costume drama.
(Saturday, June 12; Auditorium A,
7:30, 9:45).
Fame
(AlanParker, 1980)
Lots of beautiful photography and a
middling soundtrack make for an
entertaining look at New York's
Performing Arts High School. In
between the heavily dramatic
monologues, there's fun times and
dancing in the streets. From the
director of Midnight Express and
Shoot the Moon. (Saturday, June 12;
MLB 3, 7:00, 9:30).
its ol i
By Richard Campbell
HAD I asked the audience at the
Saturday matinee of Star Trek II:j
The Wrath of Khan whether anyone had
never seen a Star Trek episode, I'm'
sure that no one would have responded.
The characters and situations the
crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise con-
tinually find themselves in are
something with which everyone is
familiar. Star Trek, The Motion Pic-
ture tried to be the Star Trek movie,
and became stale and boring in the
process. Star Trek II is content to be a
two-hour television episode - it's got
the same charm and silly plot twists
that made the series so much fun.
Like the TV show, Star Trek II is
quite willing to ignore events that hap-
pened in earlier episodes. Spock's
emotional ceremony and Kirk's return
to active duty, scenes that began the
first movie, are simply not mentioned
in the script.
Trek II starts with Admiral Kirk and
iagic
Captain Spock training new recruits.
Kirk is deskbound and seems more at-
tached to reading first-editions of
Dicken's Tale of Two Cities than hop-
ping from star to star, boldly going
where no man has gone before.
But, he's getting old. So when a war-
ning signal is received from a science
station, he decides to take command of
the good old Enterprise, apparently
still refurbished from the first movie.
And what would Star Trek be without
Kirk falling in love? The doctor in
charge of the station happens to be
Carol Marcus, with whom Captain Kirk
had particularly intimate relations
some twenty years ago.
Doctor Marcus has developed the
Genesis Device, a scientific marvel
with hideous military implications. In
addition, it seems that Khan, a
superhuman product of late 20th-
century genetic engineering who was
exiled to a barren planet in one series
episode, has escaped and wants nothing
more than to vanquish his old foe, Kirk.
The Genesis Device proves to be the
perfect bait.
See WRATH, Page 8
Star Trek II
boldly,-regains
_ --.__compiled by Richard Campbell
Records
REGGAEAtNIGHT
with DJ Michael Kremen
TONIGHT JUNE 10 7:30-11:30pm.
U-Club Michigan Union
Outside-on the Terrace
SPECIAL PRICES
Happy Hour 4-7 Free Snacks
Queen - 'Hot Space' (Elektra)
No, really, this record isn't half bad.
Okay, now wait a minute, maybe it is
half bad ... but it's also half good, and
since I'm the kind of person who always
said the glass was half full, you won't
find me complaining about Hot Space.
Based on the runaway success of
"Another One Bites the Dust," Queen
have gone for the funk-rock thing in a
big way on the first side of Hot Space.
And they certainly have the sound down
- so down, in fact, that it may never
get up again. Sure, it's as obvious and
tacky as you would expect, but with the
help of Giorgio Moroder-protege Mack,
the damn thing works, despite itself.
But now for the bad news - there's
also a second side, one that almost
threatens to cancel out the positive im-
pression accumulated on side one.
Their hearts seem to be in the right
place on the pro-gun-control tune "Put
Out the Fire" and the John Lennon
tribute "Life is Real," but if the wisest
words they can muster on John Len-
non's death is "Life is cruel/Life is a
bitch/Life is real-so real" I'd prefer
they just shut up and dance. In fact, if
Freddy Mercury in particular would
take that advice, this might even be a
great record . . . well, half a great
record. As it is, it's only a small but
nonetheless noteworthy surprise.
-Mark Dighton