10 - The MWhigan Daily Summer Weekly-Wednesday, May 6, 1992 I ! 11 oth6110 Beautifully. shot in black and hellwhite, the film barrels along at a dir. Orson Welles nosebleed, speed metal pace, clock- by Mark Binelli ing in at only 91 minutes (Atomic If the thought of directing Citizen Shakespeare,indeed).Becausehewas Kane at age 26 isn't enough to make forced to shoot Othello in snippets allof yourecentgraduates feel worth- over such a long period, Welles used less, lazy and impotent, then check an unconventional, rapid-fire editing out Orson Welles' other masterpiece, technique,brilliantly covering up the Othello, which he began filming at fact that he sometimes had to film the ripe old age of 33. The project, bits of a single scene at different madeover four years and funded with locations, occasionally even without salaries Welles received from acting some of the principle actors present. in other films, remains the ultimate This pacing often makes the film exampleofguerrillafilmmaking.One feel rushed at times, stretching the scene - the murder of Roderigo - believability of the love between the was even recast ina bathhouse so that Moor(Wellesin annoyingblackface) the elaborate costumes Welles was and Desdemona (Suzanne Cloutier). unable to afford could be replaced by Also, the film's sound despite the sheets. extensive remixing for this fortieth anniversary restoration - remains distracting; Welleshadhisactors dub their lines in a studio after the shoot- ing, and some of the synchronization is off, while other speeches are sim- ply unintelligible. Visually, however, Othello is un- touchable, from its opening funeral procession to a shadowy fight scene in the sewers of Venice to simple shots of our tragic hero staring into a mirror. The power, for instance, of the final, climactic interaction be- tween Othello and Desdemona - the powerofseeing hersmothered by a white handkerchief as she's sur- rounded by darkness - more than Serious Buffalo lyrics by Annette Petruso In the competitive world of guitar- based sonic assault, Buffalo Tom has a couple of advantages. Though the band's new album,LetMe Come Over, isn't their most novel release to date, Buffalo Tom manages to crystallize a nice compression of American indie guitar-rock. Thisaccomplishmentisn'tsurpris- ing considering the band's influences that guitarist/vocalist Bill Janovitz listed for us from a pay phone some- where in Virginia. "When we formed, we were really into Husker Du and Replacements and SST and Home- stead stuff as well," he says. "Soul Asylum, we do get compared to. I don't have any of their records ... but I thinkthey wereinfluenced by Hsker Du and the Replacements as well..." Though the bands and labels that Janovitz mentioned now are relatively dated, and less influential than, say, corporate alternative like Nirvana or Soundgarden, Buffalo Tom does have the fact that it's a three-piece band on their side. Though this band format hasn't been the most commercially successful, theclarity and fluidityofit gives the band something special, es- pecially live. "It may have something to do with the philosophy, you know," explains Janovitz. "We only had three guys' that were really interested in it at the time, in being in the band ... The format is good because it leaves us a lot more freedom and Ithink if we had another guy up there on stage for in- stance, it would lock us into arrange- pho are immensely popular among college students, yet ostracized by "college music" demagogues for their classic rock influences. Trey, however, is a bit leery of the comparison. Phish and some of those bands are going toplay afewshowstogetherover the summer. It will be great for the ticket buyers,but Trey isafraid itwillbe "too much fucking jamming!" They dohavesomesomething brew- ing about playing with soWe big band, but he wouldn'ttellme whothey were. I'm not one to start any rumors, so let your mind wander. PHISH will be at St. Andrew's Hall tonight. Doors open at 9 p.m. Tickets are$12.50inadvance,$15atthedoor. Call 961-MELTfor more information. w ments more. This way it's a little bit more challenging, it gives us a bit more room to roam." Buffalo Tom, however, doesn't take many chances lyrically. Let Me Come Over features the basic me-you in a classic (rock) struggle. Janovitz elaborates, "In a sense, most of our stuff is about relation- ships, interpersonal relationships and stuff, but I'd like to think there's a newer twist to it. We do take the lyrics pretty seriously. I think we take them a lotmore seriously than alotof other bands, but I don't want to think we take them too seriously either. I don't want to think we're really morose or anything like that." Buffalo Tom: Unoriginal? Yes. Fun to see live? Definitely. Morose? Never. BUFFALO TOM play St. Andrew's Hall Friday night with the Jon Spen- cer Blues Explosion opening. Tickets are $7.50 in advance at TicketMaster (p.e.s.c.), $10 at the door. AMOO r -, 0 A Buffalo Tom by Andrew J. Cahn One nighta few months ago, a few friendsofmineand Iweresittingaround a fireplace eating crudites we listened to a Phish bootleg. The conversation carried on for a while as the tunes were fairly subliminal. At one point we hit a lull, and there was complete silence. The music at thatmoment wasaserious jam with the line, "Let's go out to dinner and see a movie,"repeated over and over again. Some of us were bopping along with big grins on our faces, while one guylookedconfused.Justafterhestuck. a carrotintothe dip,heheld itup inthe air, waving it as if to make a point, and announced,"Youknow,theseguysare really stupid!" It was hard to come up with an argument against him, since the evi- dence at that instant could easily prove that yes, they are stupid, but all we could say was, "Hey man, it's Phish." And boy, did that shut him up. Had Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio been in the room, however, he would haveagreedwith the carrot waver."It's true; it is a stupid song, but they're all not that way," he says. "I think any human being has levels of stupidity, levels of humor and levels ofdepth. "The different styles of music we play represent the different aspects of our personalities, and that song is just one of them. Some of the stuff we do is tooserious forsomepeople.Wejust try to have a good time." They must be having a good time, for the band has been together for al- mostl0years.Whatbeganasafew sets each week at a University of Vermont bar,Nectar's,hasevolvedovertheyears toa large national following. Although they wereonlysigned to Elektra within the last year, they've sold out places like the American Music Hall in San Francisco without the help of a widely released album. Theyareoftenlumpedtogether with acts like BluesTraveler, Spin Doctors and Widespread Panic, bands which I IVIMATFESI Holst's The Planets (tonight), Continued from page 8 Beethoven'sSymphonyNo. S(tomor- tional work, like a Dvorak symphony, row night) and Prokofiev's delightful Jarvi opts for the rarely heard No.6 in Classical Symphony (Friday night). * D-Major, to be played on Saturday And to top off the festivities, superstar night. Francissays,"TheDvoraksym- mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne and phony is an early piece, but it has an pianistAndreWatts will jointheDSO absolutely fabulous slow movement, tonight andFriday night,respectively. Neeme in May - there can be no 'Sometimes the very better way to celebrate the arrival of modem pieces in that type spring. of style are not very The 99TH ANNUAL MAY FESTIVAL interesting.' featuring NEEME JARVI AND TH/E - Derek Francis DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHES- OSO Violinisf TRA runs tonight through Saturday at li ll Auditorium. Tickets range from and of course, thescherzoisgood,too. $14 to $39for each performance, and This piece isn't played as much as the are available at the door or at the New World (No. 9) or the G-Major UniversityMusical Society boxoffice. Symphony (No. 8), or even the d- $7 rush tickets will also be available minor (No. 7). between 4 and 4:30 p.m. only on the But at the same time, Jarvi has day of the performance. Call 764- programmed the war-horses like 2538for more information. "0 4', WHAT'S ~* KHAPPENING RECREATIONAL SPORTS Intramural Sports Program SOFTBALL SAND VOLLEYBALL 3 ON 3 BASKETBALL Entries open: Wednesday, May 6, 1992 Entries close: Wednesday, May 13, 1992 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. iMSB TENNIS (Saturday & Sunday, June 6 & 7,1992) Entries open: Wednesday, May 27, 1992 Entries close: Wednesday, June 3, 1992 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. IMSB CALL 763-3562 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION . $4.00 Off 1 an n18.00 precision haircut! ELISHA BOLEN (includes shampoo, conditioner & hand drying) (Request participating stylists ' CHA ISM for appointment) IAI &bSK INCARE FOR HtM HER " " " """ ""315 E. Liberty, Ann Arbor, MI $10.00 Off 995-0804 a regular a55.0Q perm! (longer hair, slightly more) I Mon1Fri07 Free Parking (Request participating stylists for appotmenit)