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July 09, 1997 - Image 10

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
Michigan Daily Summer Weekly, 1997-07-09

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

AT:MICHIGAN
Peter Fonda returns from obscurity to
star in 'Ulee's Gold,' garnering rave
reviews in the process. Playing tonight Wednesday
at 9:15 and Thursday at 7. July 9, 1997

Pynchon makes comeback with 'Mason & Dixon'
Mason & Dixon Wicks Cherrycoke, follows the activ- mechanical duck and an angry, everything. He writes profusely on ness for detail. The opening2
Thomas Pynchon ities of Charles Mason and Jeremiah cheese. astronomy, geometry, 18th century pages mostly deal with the title ch
Henry Holt and Co.. Dixon, the two English astronomers Such imaginative and colorful char- religious and political history, philos- acters' voyage to South Africa,G
**** and surveyors whose work produced acters grace this book with humor and ophy, narcotics, coffee and cooking. run much longer than necessary. A

250
ar-
a
An

How many lines affect us on a daily
basis?
There are the geographic kind -
county, state and national. But there
also run other, less-defined lines -
racial, economic, rural and urban.
Then there is the bloodiest barrier in
American history, dividing the North
and the South.
These invisible manmade lines and
the tragedies accompanying them
provide the theme of Thomas
Pynchon's "Mason & Dixon," a
strange and magical novel over-
whelming in its style, grand humor
and infinite breadth of knowledge.
The story, narrated by the Rev.

the notorious North-South
boundary bearing their
names. But this is
no straightfor-
ward tale of his- ®
torical fiction. '°= M
Familiar fig-
ures like
G e o r g e
Benjamin Franklin
and Dr. Samuel
Johnson materialize in the
narrative for cameo appearances, but
more noteworthy visits come from
the likes of the seductive Vroom sis-
ters, a farmer who turns into a large
beaver, a smiling eel, a horny

charm. The Learned English
Dog speaks with more
wisdom and elo-
quence than his
human counter-
parts The
black Jewish
slave held by
provides comic
relief, but also a
discomforting window
to the barriers Pynchon
laments. "Yet ifa Jew cooking pork is
a Marvel, what of-a Negroe, working
a Room?" Washington asks.
When not posing such questions,
Pynchon proves he is an expert on

Not only is Pynchon's knowledge of
these topics astonishing, but he
describes them with Language,
Spelling and Syntax archaic and
abstruse - d__ed fond of
Capitalizing the first Letters of ran-
dom Words, censoring his own
Profanity and using Punctuation of a
most unusual Sort ...?
If it wasn't for Pynchon's Fielding-
like language, the book would lose its
meandering sense of authenticity and
sentiment. Pynchon's writing style is
not as difficult to follow as some of
the topics he favors. "Mason &
Dixon" too often falls prey to
Pynchon's tendencies toward digres-
sion, dead-end sequences and fond-

strangely, it wasn't until very late in
the book that I felt fondness for or
personal connection with the main
characters.
Yet, soaring above these flaws,
"Mason & Dixon" can confidently be
labelled a contemporary masterwork.
Its pithy closing lines encapsulate the
promise of America and the transi-
tions of generations in a brutal and
beautiful promised land, where "T
Stars are so close you won't need a
Telescope."
But Pynchon never lets these stars
shine too brightly. Because, as the
villainous Wolf of Jesus predicts,
"Walls are to be the Future."
- Jeff Eldridge

'Speed 2' faiL
By Bryan Lark
Daily Arts Writer
"Relationships based on extreme cir-
cumstances never work out' repeated
Annie Porter throughout 1994's mega-
hit "Speed," even as she was falling in
love with maverick Jack Traven on a
doomed bus controlled by the whim of a
madman.
Similarly, sequels based on extreme
box-office success and severe studio
greed also never work out.
Perhaps the makers of "Speed 2:
Cruise Control" should have heeded
Annie's advice and left this soggy sequel
in dry dock. Less than seaworthy,
"Cruise" concerns Annie's (Sandra
Bullock) dream vacation with hunky
daredevil cop No. 2, Alex (Jason Patric),
after calling it quits with Jack.
With an uncanny record for being in
the wrong place at the wrong time that is
beginning to rival Bruce Willis's, Annie's
funship cruise is taken over by disgrun-
tIed cruise worker Geiger (Willem
Dafoe), who was dismissed from his
software design post for being critically
ill and, presumably, just a little too bug-
eyed.
Geiger threatens to run the ship
straight into the island of St. Maarten
if someone fails to comply. That some-
one turns out to be Alex, who tries to

s to match original film *
keep the passengers, especially Annie, flair for special effects and ensemble
from the whim of this particular mad- disaster-pic acting, "Speed 2" forgot
man. that it was supposed to be an entertain-
If this sounds all too familiar, that's ing movie that could stand on its own.
because it is a carbon, Caribbean copy of Instead, it is a mass-produced piece of
the first "Speed" excursion -- crazy studio fare, the kind that independent
guy takes over speeding vehicle, girl gets cinema was created to remedy, that fea-
on vehicle by chance, other guy tries to tures Bullock in a lacy frock and Patric
slow down vehicle, crazy guy kidnaps on requisitely handsome heroic autopi-
girl, mass destruction, girl gets tied up by lot attempting to thwart the plans o@
crazy guy, crazy guy dies, cute kissing leech-sucked psycho while things
scene, fade out. explode, get shredded and just plain
Under the impression that stealing the speed up.
plot wasn't Still, "Speed 2" is
enough, "Cruise" marginally enjoy-
also steals itself R E V I E W able, what with some
sSeotecee peed 2; Cruise rather innovative
some of the clever 10
irreverence and Control action sequences
sharp self-mock- involving the slow-
ing wit that was a At Briarwood ing of the ship
hallmark of the way of an oil tanW
original, though and an island par-
transformed here into forced one-liners adise, plus the sight of spunky Little
and an unfunny Tim Conway cameo. Miss Sandy wielding a chainsaw in a
Though primarily shooting aboard cocktail dress.
the cruise ship, erstwhile action wizard What is most upsetting though is that
Jan DeBont utilizes every major form of these people are stuck in this out-of-
transportation except pogo sticks to give control mess - we paid for it out of our
us the super-action and computer graph- own extreme circumstance of being
ics wizardry audiences apparently now strapped for entertainment.
crave. And, predictably, our relationship
Trying so hard to out-do its predeces- with "Speed 2: Cruise Control" ne*
sor and impress its audience with its even had a chance of working out.

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