_Arts The Michigan Daily Thursday, July 15, 1982 Page 7 - A selection of campus film highlights Modern Times (Charles Chaplin, 1936) Classic comedy capers abound as C- haplin battles the rise of a technological America. He was able to put a dent in '30s machinery, but even the little tramp would have had trouble with today's assembly-line robots. (Thursday, July 15; Lorch Hall, 9:00): American Graffiti (George Lucas, 1973) One night ina sleepy California town Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Wolfman Jack, Cindy Williams, and Harrison Ford took over the streets in a series of escapades. Luckily seemed to pay that much attention to original story ideas with in- teresting characters. (Saturday, July 17; Lorch Hall, 1:00, 7:00, 8:35). The Pink Panther (Blake Edwards, 1964) A Shot in the Dark (Blake Edwards, 1964) For Panther fans only. If you're not a fan, like me, then this double feature will only result in fifteen minutes of great comedy and over two hours of hum-drum, sit-cam mindless entertainment. Yes, Peter Sellers is a comic genius, but the Panther films never put that comedy to constant, consistent use. Only in moments does Sellers shine in a glorious pratfall, or a garbled sentence. Both films are at the Michigan Theatre Saturday, July 17. (The Pink Panther, 2:00, 6:00, 10:00: A Shot in the Dark, 4:00, 8:00). Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975) Complete your Spielberg weekend Records _______ George Lucas was there to film it all. A warm, insightful look at growing up in the early '60s from thes director of THX 1138 and Star Wars. (Thrusday, July 15; Michigan Theatre 4:00, 7:00, 9:00). The Fox and the Hound' (Art Stevens, 1981) If you're wondering why animated movies have almost disappeared from the screen in recent times, take a look at two of the latest Disney' releases. The Fox and the Hound is a wonderful, warm, and earnest story of two natural enemies who happen to grow up as friends. This film has Robert Shaw all the classic animation you expect with the master'a first blockbuster from Disney. But hey, c'mon Walt, After the cuteness of ET. and the that plot isn't exactly the most suburban horror of Poltergeist, the ingenious thing. Tron, which will be subliial fear of Jaws i st for reviewed in tomorrow's Daily, also subliminal fear of Jaws is a must for attempts to overshadowv another serious fans of blockbuster movies. attemptshtooersando aothye Remember the fun of the summer of lack of characters and plot only it '75 when Robert Shaw, Richard uses fascinating computer graphics Dreyfuss, and Roy Schneider valian- in a world inside a computer. tly set out to capture Bruce the Animated motion pictures take an Shark, dead or alive? The only thing - awful lot of time and money to wrong with this film is that it make. Unfortunately, in both, no one spawned Jaws II. -compiled by Richard Campbell Lou Grant' cancellation intimidating, says Asner Sparks -'Angst in My Pants' (Atlantic) Telex -'Sex' (PVC-Jem) It's great that Sparks, America's funniest combo on four legs, is still making records after all these years. Why, it must be nearly a decade now that Mael Brothers have sought the elusive Fountain of Fame guided only by their incessant melody-spinning and quirky wit. Of course, I never understood why Sparks didn't win commercial fame to equal their critical acclaim aged ago. Maybe it's just that no one but Sparks takes "The Purple People Eater" and "She Wore an Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" seriously as major landmarks in the history of pop music. But there's just no way you're going to find anyone who makes songs as witty or winning as the selections on Angst in My Pants. My only regret is that, as funny as tunes like the current Beach Boys salute "Sextown U.S.A." are, most of the punchlines on Angst in my Pants can't begin to match even the premises of such Sparks oldies as their comment on pre-adolescent sex, "Amateur Hour," or their tribute to Albert Ein- stein, "Talent is an Asset." That unflattering difference is fur- ther accentuated by Sparks' current return to their earlier style of heavy duty art-pop. Back when they were doing Eurodisco with Giorgio Moroder, you really didn't notice the missing wit amidst Moroder's nervously chattering wall-of-synth production. Now, Sparks are returning to their roots and inadvertently exposing their gray patches. They've pushed the lyrics all the way up front again so that every song pretty much sinks or swims on the words alone. That means half of the album hits bottoms fast and the other half has to struggle just to get its nose above water. That's where Telex comes in. Telex were pretty much the first band to take Eurodiusco seriously as a sound con- cept applicable to other forms of music. Their Neurovision was certainly the trendsetter as far as the electropop movement that has come to include such diverse acts as Yello, Abba, and Depeche Mode. Following Neurovision, Telex pretty much dropped out of the picture, threatening to miss the very boat that they had helped set sail. Then, out of nowhere popped Sex with words written by "Ron and Russel Sparks." Sounds like another turning point in the history of recorded music, doesn't it? Well, sorry, not quite. You must remember that Ron and Russell Mael just aren't writing songs the way they used to. Admittedly, Telex add a whole new level of humor to the enterprise with their French-accented textbook English that flatly disregards every joke and thereby underscores their absolute daftness. But still, the only joke really worth chuckling over is "Sigmund's Freud Party," which is topped by a synthetic tap-dance in- terlude even funnier that any of the lines. Musically, Sex is a solid step forward from Neurovision, evidencing more of the bodily punch that seems to be missing from most electro-pop. But there's still something missing in the ,package: the knowledge that this is a very good album just cannot erase the sense that it still could have been that much more. Somehwere in the midst of these two good albums lies a great one. I hope that Telex and/or Sparks find it before someone else does and steals the glory that is rightfully theirs. -Mark Dighton Thanks to Schoolkids Recordsfor their generous help in obtaining albums to review in this column. INDIVIDUAL THEATRES 55th Av of hboy 16070 00 FOR ITI SYLVESTER STALLONE ROKY THURS, FRI-6:00 7:55, 9:50 5:30 p~m "EXTREMELY FUNNY" -VINCENT CANBY Funny talk DI ME and fast food IW THURS--6:15, 8:15 10:15 FRI--6:15, 10:20 (R) SNEAK PREVIEW FRI 7/16/82 AT 8:10 PM OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN RICHARD GERE DEBRA WINGER DETROIT (UPI) - Screen Actors Guild President Ed Asner said Monday cancellation of his "Lou Grant" television series, which he blamed on his activism, will be intimidating to other actors. Asner said he had no doubt the series was halted because he spoke out on behalf of El Salvador's guerillas but said it was too early to determine how lasting the damage may be. "Other performers will be in- timidated from speaking out," he said following a speech to the Com- munication Workers of America. "El Slalvador will be back in the news because the butchery is being reinstituted," he said. of his prospects for work now, Asner conceded in a news conference, "they're not breaking my door down." "Let me put it this way, usually during the primary season I am beseiged by candidates. There has been a paucity of requests." "Time only will tell whether there is anything against me," he said. Asner said he was in discussion on several projects, including a half-hour comedy "by two very good writers," a possible role as former Argentine publisher Jacobo Timmerman, an offer to play atorney Melvin Belli in a series and share a two-hour television move series with Elizabeth Montgomery.