Newton's favorite band The Maids of Gravity are playing with industrial band God Lives Underwater on Thursday at St. Andrew's Hall; call 961- MELT for more information. AiRTSig ti g Wednesday June 7, 1995 Eastwood bridges the gaps in'Madison' By Scott Plagenhoef DailyArts Editor "Bridges of Madison County" opens with the son and daughter of the recently teceased Francesca Johnson discovering se collected mementos and memories of a 30 year-old affair. As the daughter begins to read a letter containing the now famous psuedo-new age machodribble of Robert James Waller's novel, the dis- traught son commands her to "burn it, to get rid of it." Fortunately the film does. Staying true to the characters, loca- tions, even the narrative structure of the book, but dissecting the dialogue, screenwriter Richard LaGraveneses and 9irector Clint Eastwood have trans- formed water, well actually more like vinegar, into wine. They have liberated the passionate story of two individuals, one bored, one almost too well-traveled, who find the ultimate connection in four short days and yet do not secure it, from the muck of Waller's bloated, mystic meandering. There are a few stray lines that lapse into the Walleresque, but the film man- ages to remain grounded; it refuses to film. It is after all a story of how she truly become flowery or overstated. Much of discovers love years after she thought the credit lies in the direction of she had and whether she should abandon America's only rural auteur, Eastwood, her life and family. who gives a tremendous study in re- Streep's performance does not simply straint and detail, and the engrossing per- reflect a woman falling in love, but it en- formance of Meryl Streep. compasses as enriching a character sketch as in any recent American film. She uses all of her resources -her face, her body, her breathing, thectimbre of her voice -to cre- Bridges of ate a character with a competent, yet te- dious life, transformed into something Madison County whole by her four-day love affair and the Directed by Clint lifetime of memories it subsequently pro- vided her. Hernear-apoplectic stammering Eastwood; with Meryl is not a personal gimmick, ala Hugh Grant, Streep and Eastwood it is the stumbling of a woman confused At Briarwood and Showcase and consumed. Streep's Francesca Johnson does not talk the way people act, she talks the way people speak, and it is In possibly another decision made to truly transfixing. distance the book from the faults of the The enduring beauty of the story is novel, Eastwood allows Streep and her that neither Francesca, nor Robert character, Francesca Johnson, a bored Kincaid (Eastwood), the "National Geo- Italian-born housewife whose vision of graphic" photojournalist with whom she America certainly didn't resemble Iowa, falls in love, are strikingly attractive or to appropriately take the focus of the even extraordinary people. It's not diffi- cult to see why Julia Roberts and Richard Gere or Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze would be in love, yet Streep and Eastwood must make you feel that they are in love. Individually, their characters are not special, collectively they are. Yet the film is not without its road blocks. The script's subplots and lesser characters are uninvolving and underde- veloped. The slow deconstruction of the daughter's marriage is a tired and obvi- ous metaphor, yet this and the suppos- edly comic relief of the two siblings, do little to detract from the film's focus. Incredible in the simplicity of the story - much of the film takes place in a farmhouse kitchen - but startling in the complexity of the characters, "Bridges of Madison County" echoes the restraint of "The Remains of the Day," the missed opportunity of "The Age of Innocence" and, dare one say, the should-she-stay-or-should-she-go of "Casablanca." Amidst the current revival of the '30's and '40's style, light roman- tic comedies, "Bridges of Madison -free of frivalty and convention, full of' passion and heartache. Ironically, in a summer of young, attractive couples from Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline to Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman strug- gling to pull off cute without sliding into melodrama, it is the middle-aged Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood who manage Tludhoney refuses to milk the cow By Matt Carlson - The Cow" is a sloppy, tangled garage- cover of Spin?" Daily Arts Writer punk mess of power-chords, slide guitar, Mudhoney takes their cynicism The life ofarock 'n' roll star can be the vocal wails and slurred words, utilizing even further on "Into Your Shtik," the life of a whore - fame and fortune for all of Mudhoney's influences from the album's best track, when Arm those whospreadtheirlegs wideenoughto Sonics to Link Wray to the Stooges screeches "Suzie's just a girl who's give the customers what they crave. So ("1995" an intended rip-off of the doing her job/ Working with the man- how has Mudhoney guitarist Steve Turner Stooges' "1969") - a hell of a fantastic agement to the stars ! Kissing ass is just n spending his free-time since his band album, but hardly exploitable to the part of the job / Oh she loves her job / eturned from a European tour two weeks Lollapalooza youth and the MTV-con- What the hell, she does it so well" - ago? sumed consumers. one line that painted too accurate a "I've been working in my yard and "I would say we're probably getting portrait of one current MTV/Spin star, riding my bike." smaller, and that's OK," Turner remarked. Courtney Love. MUDHONEY When: Saturday, June 10 Where: Phoenix Plaza Ampitheater Tickets: $10 in advance. oors open at 7:30 p.m. No, Mudhoney hasn't been cokin' it up in the Viper Room with Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson or jammin' on stage at Planet Hollywood with Bruce and Demi. In fact, Mudhoney has made numerous, questionable marketing mistakes in the last few months including turning down the Lollapalooza '95 bill. What the hell kinda rock stars are they anyway? "We've been getting these questions *e what's going to happen to you when you get really big," Turner. said "Well, we're not going to, and if we did, we'd run screaming in terror. Especially now, after we've seen a bunch of our friends go through it. Some have handled it great, but I don't want to handle it. And thankfully, due to my lack of songwriting ability, I won't ever have to handle it." Steve, you're being a bit too hard on rself. After all, numerous critics have appraised Mudhoney's fourth full-length album "My Brother The Cow" as the record that would break the band like fel- low Seattleites and friends Nirvana and Pearl Jam before them. But "My Brother "Our tastes are fairly obscure - the stuff that I've always been into has been un- popular at best. But we reached the point we wanted to reach when we got together and put out a single. We never really had any goals. Everything's been gravy." "My Brother The Cow" (named after a friends response to an outing to Burger King - "I will not eat of my brother the cow") also contains some of the best words that singer/guitarist Mark Arm has ever penned including two, "Generation Spokesmodel" and "Into Your Shtik," that firmly confirms Mudhoney's entire opinion on fame. Spin ("That's a maga- zine I hate," said Turner), one of the larg- est arenas for bands to spread their gos- pel, is reduced to rubble when Arm, as- suming the role of a fantasy rock star, in- tones "Hey kids, how do I look on the "At one point, Turner said, "Courtney was supposedly crying about how Mudhoney has a song about her. I ac- tually like Courtney -she's weird -and I know that that song is about a lot of differ- ent people. But if she thinks it's about her ... if the shoe fits or something." In addition to antagonizing industry icons like Courtney and Spin, Mudhoney also refused the opportunity to join Love and her band Hole on Lollapalooza '95 - a chance to deliver the critically ac- claimed songs from "My Brother The Cow" to the largest possible audience. "I hate Lollapalooza," explained Turner all too easily. "We turned it down so quickly. The booking agent asked us if she should accept the calls for Lollapalooza on our behalf and we SEE MuDHoNEY PAGE 10 Think You're Pregnant? " Free Pregnancy Test * Information about pregnancy K-mart and options WASH.. NAW. Coley e COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL Pregnancy Counseling Center a 'PACA Women Helping Women Ypsilanti (313) 434-3088 (24 hours) Highschool 2950 Packard, Ypsilanti, MI (I Block East of Golfside)