ARTS
Wednesday, May 29, 1985
Page 6
The Michigan Daily
Stalione menaces again
Setting: You're supposed to figure War and its troubled veterans - an
By Chris Lauer it out from the mention of American issue they have no right to raise if
POWs. they don't intend to follow through,
F LAUNTING BAZOOKAS, ex- Premise: Don't miss the first two which they don't. Like everything
ploding arrow tips, yards-long mutes of the moviese this tactic was obviously
knives, helicopter gunships thick as Conflict: In a sequence about aseedit -whatbetter wyosl
flies, machine guns bigger than TV long as a TV commercial, Rambo is premeditated-wticha bte wy t
daredbth msso commander, generate emotion than to kick off the 4
movies ever dared, what seemed like betrayed by the mission scars of a nation's emotional trauma.
a full division of Russian and Viet- a personification of American errors I know it gets the job done quickly but
namese troops (guarding a handful of in Vietnam. If this doesn't make the what a disgrace both these films are
forgotten American POWs), bamboo audience hot blooded for action, in for stooping to such ploys. If anyone
huts more flammable than any oil another 30-second take, the leading goes on a rampage it will me, over
refinery, enough graphic torture, lady is maching-gunned to death these movies' greedy, conniving,
references to bureaucratic foul-ups moments after a first, promising kiss strategically mise resentative ap
during the Vietnam war, and splat- Get the picture? The idea is to do sracally m iee naver-
tering of the leading lady's guts to everything else lickety-split so there's tisement.
sucker even the most mild-mannered more time for exploding bamboo The tragedy is that sure as banks
audience member into a vicarious huts. Undeniably the degree to which e trgdy th ure as anks
rampage-Rambo: First Blood Part First Blood II achieves this is a Fi Bleod Part Ili can't be far
II is a carefully orchestrated assault remarkable demonstration of genius. behind. Remember Rambo as a gun-
on the senses. But what about style-don't tough slinging maniac-warrior in the first
Plot summary? Picture the Fourth guys always have style? It just film? In light this not-tooplausible
of July emanating from a single man. wouldn't be the same if James Bond sequel where straight out of prison
Says Stallone, "This one First Blood single-handedly blew-up an un- and with straightouprin
Part II, makes the first one look like derground nuclear weapons facilit psychological testing in sight, Rambo
Alice in Wonderland." The without first having a vodka martini, is handed a veritable arsenal and
achievement of this, I grant, is pure shaken but not stirred. Rambo is too told, "d not engage the enemy. Just
genius; the film was awarded an R busy with fireworks to manifest any take pictures."-can the creative
rating unaided by human flesh. The style. Meanwhile the clever ad boys consultants have any lack of excuses
original took half the film before are shoving Rambo down our throats for sending Rambo on another red
Rambo really got rolling whereas in trying to make us feel sorry for him. fire turkey shoot?
Part II he's blasting away in no time Did James Bond, or Clint Eastwood I think about it - Rambo: Pictured is S
at all. Consider the elements of or Bogart ever need that kind ofi The moreIh at it a Picte se
genius. suckering to back themselves up? Of Firste art fI is st a g2- caater de
Establishment of character: The course not-we liked them for their minute advertisement for First Bled ge often up
first movie awkwardly and time- style-which they took the time to Part III. Kind of clever.
an ie A econsu mingly characterized Rambo as show us. ' -v r~-'
aofrustrated Vietnam vet-this time Unlike other Stallone vehicles, the he T ee 0 'CA lo
its mostly just the look in his eyes and First Blood films are not har-
heway he breathes. mless-their unrelenting senseless-
violence is downright scary. Action By Julie Jurrjens
adventure films are expected to
string an audience along with HE THREE O'Clock took the stage at Detroit'
vicarious thrills, but there comes a - St. Andrew's Hall, Saturday night shortly afte
< point, say around the two-hundredth midnight. Rumors had been circulating in the audienc
senseless death at the hands of a about how long the set would be-a friend of mine ha
o542SA Building protagonist who has no style and less come across drummer Danny Benair in the men'
J dialogue, where it stops being fun and room, who'd mentioned that singer/bassist Micha
764-9216 becomes something else-perversion. Quercio wasn't feeling well and that the set might hav
Perversion of the action-adventure to be cut.
genre-perversion of the tough guy Nonetheless, the Three O'Clock came out roarin
INSTANT: image-and. just plain perversion. with "Her Head's Revolving," from their newest LP
The result is, I feel cheated because Arrive Without Travelling. It typifies the new (an
all I got to see was a longer version of admittedly, somewhat disappointing), rockier a
the movie's TV advertisement. proach the band has taken. No doubt, the album ha
App1ctiea Potos What almost sends me on a rampage more commercial appeal, but seems to have sacrifice
of my own (excluding automatic several subtle essential somethings' that made the
while - U wait weaponry) is that First Blood II, like first two efforts, the EP Baroque Hoedown and the L
its predecessor, is damn carefully put Sixteen Tambourines, such groovy listens. The vig
hrs. 1:00-4:30 together. These guys didn't just hap- with which they approached the song made up for t
Mon- Fri pen to cheat the moviegoer - they lower quality of the material, and everyone was
student discount premeditated it. If that isn't enough, frantically frugging that it hardly mattered.
both First Blood movies purport to Guitarist Louis Gutierrez popped just aboi
examine a social issue-the Vietnam everyone's eyeballs in the high-density paisley crow
with a brocade, paisley, and day-glo ensemble th
would have done the Left Banke proud. Quercin
frequently likened to Davy Jones of the Monkee
CUO * ayeethereal consumptive chirbybiealoPa
Keyboardist Mickey Mariano looked as if he could
ti with this entire ad $1.00 off any $4 00 going to work as an office clerk were it not for t
admission.1 or)2 tickets Good alt rhinestone brooch at his throat. Benair was behind
m O O "" features thr 530/5
"M" etrsthRI pink drum kit in paisley and beads.
" Gutierrez was the visual focus of the band, gettii
eMlGHEL essas,~~emmssinto much aloof guitar-god posing, camping it up f
PALE SMAIGHE 1.50 BIZET'S the teen screamers. Benair competed, flourishi
PRIVATEFU N TUES. eo°'bsostrokes with big swirling gestures and crosses, pu
P A C AL S S Cctuating the rhythm with devilish grins a
DAILY 500 70 00 ALL SHOWS AILY 430 hoops-he's probably the most entertaining p
cussionist I've ever seen. Quercio was front and cente
rteen-cleanblurring his hallucinogenic lyrics with t
hgh tenor effectively.
q
4
4
ylvester Stallone as John Rambo, sporting a hefty piece of
velopment. The Heckler and Kotch MP5K 9mm submachine
stages Stallone and, indeed, hasa bigger speaking role.
ck: Powerful paisley
Quercio sailed into "Each and Every Lonely Heart,"
one of the gems off Arrive that retains the sensibilities
of the earlier records. Sixteen Tambourines' (referred
s to throughout by Quercio as Sixteen Ben Vereens)
r "When Lightning Starts" profited from the ex-
e pressionistic zeal the band attains in its live playing.
d The audience was grooving on the band's goofy spon-
s taneity and the rockier "Another World" found them
el pounding and clapping suncopation much to the band's
e surprise and bemusement, also giving Gutierrez
another opportunity to play rock star. The teens
g swooned Benair's thunderous drum opening to "Spun
, Gold" broke through, drawing audible gasps. The song
d itself has its catchy riff but lacks substantive connec-
p- tions between choruses. It surprises me that someone
as with such a sense for pop structure as Michael Quercio
ed would be afflicted with this problem ... it's musically
ir galvanizing but seems nonetheless overlong.
P These few flaws were soon forgiven as the band
or broke into their famously screaming version of the
he Easybeats' "Sorry." Gutierrez leaned out into a
so group of audience members, who furiously fanned his
flaming guitar strings, which closed up the generous
ut first set.
d The two two-song encores followed quickly (for a
at change). More great harmonies were evident in ex-
is cellent straightforward versions of a Radfinger tune,
s, and the Beatles' "Paperback Writer." It takes guts to
pt. cover the Beatles these days, when, since the death of
be Lennon, they have become such sacred cows. "Paper-
he back Writer" more than respectively did justice to
a Quercio's Revolver/Rubber Soul-era songwriting in-
fluences. It took little coaxing to bring the band back
ng for a second encore.
or Quercio, if he was really that ill, held up more than
ng admirably; the only evidence I could see of any under-
n- the-weather-ness was a kind of creeping glumness in
nd his delivery by comparison to the other band mem-
er- hers-but vocally he was swell. Mickey Mariano's
er, general joviality, Benair and Gutierrez' goofiness, the
his crowd's enthusiasm, and musical near-perfection
made for an excellent show.
Is
4
a
4