40 -The Michigan Daily - Friday, December, 1, 1995 An empty 'Mtone By Neal C. Carruth Daily Arts Writer Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson star in "Money Train," a rather dim-witted action/adventure comedy that desperately wants to be a suspense caper. Of course, the two actors are reunited after their 1992 smash "White Men Can't Jump." While "Money Train" attempts to re- vive some of the energy of that film, it is ultimately derailed by a trite 5toryline, occasionally laughable dia- Iague and some hokey characteriza- tions. Snipes and Harrelson play John and harlie, respectively, "brothers" who Money Train Directed by Joseph Ruben; with Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson - At Briarwood and Showcase grew up together in a NYC orphan- age. When we meet them, they are transit cops for the New York subway system. Due to Charlie's reckless gam- bling habit and petulant temper, John must continually serve as his keeper _;nd guardian. Eventually, Charlie loses his job at the hands of the ma- levolent transit director, Patterson ,Robert Blake), and concocts a plot to steal the train that carries the transit system's payroll and revenue. Along the way, both John and Charlie fall for their tough-as-nails colleague Grace Santiago (Jennifer Lopez). Lopez, formerly a Fly Girl on TV's "In Living Color," is the best thing about "Money Train." She ex- 4des considerable heat and sex ap- .peal. Unfortunately, her character is rather poorly written, as is often the case in this male-oriented genre. She does her best with the material, ,hough, and gives Santiago real sizzle. Snipes and Harrelson bait one an- other with more testosterone-induced banter that gets old rather fast. The fprmula and dialogue are reminiscent of "Running Scared" (1986), a con- siderably better film that is much Award-winning play comes to Power Center Woody's sad 'cause his movie sucks. lighter on its feet than "Money Train." In fact, this film is rather like a sec- ond-rate fusion of "Running Scared" and "Runaway Train" (1985). Nei- ther the relationship between John and Charlie nor the attempt to hijack the money train are very compelling. This is largely the result of the auto- pilot performances turned-in by both Snipes and Harrelson. Even though they are both generally charismatic actors, their performances tend to be rather inconsistent. In "Money Train" Snipes gives us his usual brash but endearing confi- dence. He's fun to watch, but it's nothing we haven't seen before. And Harrelson plays the somewhat be- fuddled loser, a role he has been un- able to shake since his days on "Cheers." John is a little less mild- mannered than Woody Boyd, but Harrelson probably could have phoned-in the performance. Also troubling is Robert Blake as Chief Patterson. I could overlook the unexceptional performances by Snipes and Harrelson, but Blake al- most sends his scenes careening into high camp, with his improbably wicked villain. The filmmakers have turned a two-bit transit director into a vengeful, megalomaniacal ego wor- thy of a James Bond movie. Director Joseph Ruben (an alum- nus of the University) can't keep from lapsing into cliche. And his direction, of a number of scenes, including the climactic money train heist, is sub- par. We are treated to all the plot rudiments from the vast wasteland of American action films, including ex- plosions, a damsel in distress andmale camaraderie. Of course there's noth- ing wrong with these elements when they are handled in a novel fashion. Otherwise, this tired "buddy film" formula needs to be put to sleep once and for all. By Erin Crowley For the Daily For its 100th production, MUSKET, the University's biannual, student-run musical, takes a fantastical, frantic, fairy-tale journey through the imagina- tive world of Stephen Sondheim's show, "Into the Woods." Premiering on Broad- way in December 1987, Sondheim's collaborative effort with James Lapine produced a show which again confirmed Sondheim's dedication to authoring plays that not only delighted and charmed, but also considered profound emotional and aesthetic truths about the way we live and interact as social beings. Deservedly awarded three Tonys, "Into the Woods" explores pressing social realities by inviting its audience to revisit the fairy tales that we've all been raised on-this time, from a more mature, emotionally and intellectually astute point of view. Mike Babel, a senior in the Musical Theater Program and the directing eye propelling MUSKET's production, explains "these are the characters we've know for a lifetime." Enter Cinderella, Jack and his infa- mous magic beans, a trusting little girl capped in red, a baker with a fresh loaf in the oven, and a lonely, tower-bound woman with a head of golden hair some might mistake for a ladder. Masterminding the interaction be- tween the characters and their wishes in the first act, the witch promises to break the spell of infertility that she has cast on the Baker and his wife if they will bring her a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold. Is it all beginning to make sense now? Into the woods each character travels to find and possess that which he/she desires, crossing paths with one an- other and complicating one another's stories. "They have a very immature point of view of only their worlds, but as all their worlds interact, they become aware of other people and how they actually affect one another," Babel said. INTO THE WOODS When: Tonight and Saturday at 8p.m., Sunday at 2p.m. Where: Power Center Tickets: $9 ($6 students). Call 7641450. Sondheim spins these familiar char- acters' tales together, inventing con- nections between them, throwing them into wild and wonderful confrontations with one another, and, ultimately, haunt- ing them with resonances that we could have never detected in those "happily ever after tales" that once lulled us all peacefully to sleep. Babel's production intends to sound those resonances with emotional clarity. As he so poetically puts it, "this musical bridges the gap between the imagination of a child and the thoughts of an adult." If as a child, your imagination al- lowed you to sail to a land where little girls ultimately outwitted wolves and giants always fell to their death as if by some metaphysical guarantee in the prevalence of good over evil, as an adult it's a different story. Watching these same stories cast into a whole new world of confused mixing and retelling becomes an experience with revelatory power in "Into the Woods." Sondheim calls our attention to what Babel called the intrinsically "dark" nature of fairy tales, but does so with a light and opti- mistic spin. He asks us to consider that "dark" nature from a socially-enlight- ened vantage point, and always with a well-pronounced hint of humor.. In the second act of the play, death assumes a powerful presence and each character must confront his/her feel- ings of isolation and new awareness of the many realities (the many stories) around him/her. In the end, they dis- cover that they must learn to listen to one another and that fulfillment is only possible when they recognize thatthey are not alone - they are all in this together. "We all need a sense of community. We all do need to rely on one another and we do need to know that our actions affect the people around us" - a state- ment Babel said with a tremendous amount of sincerity and urgency. That statement is clearly the principle that has guided and informed this fall's MUSKET production. Pooling artistic visions, finding dif- ficult compromises, and devoting an inordinate amount of time and energy over the past six weeks of rehearsal, the students involved in MUSKET thisyear have clearly developed a strong, driven community that promises to deliver a show with emotional gravity and magi- cal levity - a show that will undoubt- edly prevent you from ever looking at that little red riding cap in the same way again. Pure Soul Pure Soul StepSun/Interscope Records Pure Soul - an all-woman R&B quartet - already garnered credibility earlier this year with the release of their debut single, a cover of the old-school "We Must Be in Love." "I Want You Back," Pure Soul's second single, pro- duced by BLACKstreet's Teddy Riley, garnered the group some additional props. With the release of their first full- length LP, Shawn Allen, Keitha Shep- herd, Kirsten Hall and Heather Perkins have presented the world with three Awl things that can't be touched: Outstand- ing voices, harmonizing together like angels descended from above, a loveli- ness that transcends all definitions of feminine beauty and four pairs of legs that could put any NC-17 fantasy to the test. From Pure Soul we get 12 songs of extraordinary quality, clarity and ex- cellence. Take "Wish You Were Here" or bet- ter yet, the remake of the O'Jays classic "Stairway to Heaven." These are some of the best-sounding love songs ever sung. I haven't been this excited about an R&B CD since last year's "A Love Supreme," Chante Moore's lovely, lusty sophomore release. Pure Soul does an equally remark- able job with "Baby I'm Leaving," which has a distinctly revivalist-bor- dering on gospel - sound. "I Feel Like Running" is a perfect blend of the psy- chedelic music of past decades with a '90s groove, opening with what ap- pears to be a sample of Zhane's "Hey Mr. DJ" remix. "Pure Soul" is without question one of the best R&B LPs released in some time. It is well-written and well-sung by some well-looking ladies. And to think I live in a country where po- lygamy is illegal. A helluva time to fall in love with four women simulta- neously. - Eugene Bowen The Effigies Remains Nonviewable Touch and Go A lot has been made in the last year about the punk revival, thanks to the sudden success of snot-rockers Green Day and their ilk. Unfortunately, not enough attention has been paid to real punk rock, the kind of music that makes you want to drive your car backwards through a forest blind-folded. This reis- sue of The Effigies' early recordings is a reminder that the punk of the eighties can still kick your face in harder than anything before or since. Which isn't to say that this is a great album. Personally, I like a little humor in my political subversion, and The Effigies are about as funny as a heart transplant. But no matter, be- cause underneath all the humorless rantings, The Effigies do have some- thing to say, and in today's world of faux alternative, I'll take all the hon- esty I can get. From the first song, "Body Bag," it becomes evident that "Remains Nonviewable" isn't going to be an amusement park ride. "See what it's like to be dead/Not a thought there to be had/I'm just not there to just not care/Sane's equal to mad," screams lead singer john Kezdy, with the kind of punk rock ferocity that dares you to disagree. The album keeps up the same lyri- cal intensity throughout. Songs about working for The Man, raging against The Machine, and other types of struggle, are all belted out over the kind of four-on-the-floor beat that en- courages good people to do bad things. Definitely not for the weak-of-heart. The music is your basic 3 c.hord punk - too fast to crack the top 40, yet slow enough that it doesn't become a parody of itself. Stuck right in the middle of the disc is the mandatory "punk won't die" song, "We'll Be Here Tomorrow." As The Effigies tell their listeners, "Go to the extrene say you'll be dead next year.", For the time being, at least, The Effigies' warning remains correct. Hard-hit- ting political punk rock, R.I.P. - JeffDinsmore Pure Soul. U ow Bo I I 6 L". Power Macintosh' 7200175 w/CD 8MB RAM/500MB hard drive, PowerPC-601 processor; quad speed CD-ROM drive, 15" color monitor keyboard and mouse. 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