Messin' you up with their Vudu That would be the Vudu Hipples, one of the Detroit music scene's hottest movers and shakers. Their smokin' brand of modern rock defines them as an irnense concert experience. Their singer has a big beautiful voice that perfecdy complements their soul-inflected numbers. Catch them tonight at Rick's; for more information, call 996-2747. i Page 94 September 11, 1 'Wong Foo' a fun, fluffy flick i ".. x.Ma, <.:....:. .. $y Joshua Rich Daily Film Editor Cloaked in gaudy women's clothing and sickening, pulse-pounding Euro- pean techno tunes, "To Wong Foo ..." begs enough questions to keep its audi- ence guessing for most of the picture. While the plot and themes in the film aren't too hard to grasp, we really wonder about more important things: Who is this Julie Newmar? What's with the strange title of this flick? And what on earth are Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes andpal John Leguizamo doing in drag?! Inquiring minds would be relieved to hear that Newmar was a popular glam model-queen of the '60s and '70s most famous for being the first Catwoman on Batman. The film's title comes from an autographed picture the dragsters find in a gay bar. And the three dress up like women for at least one major reason - publicity, baby, publicity. Thankfully, "To Wong Foo ..." of- fers its audience more than the out-of- control publicity that, in past weeks and months, has finally led it to the silver screen. In this case, originality is definitely sacrificed for showy cos- I Rmmtw To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar Directed by Beban Kidrom; with Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes At Showcase and Briarwood tumes, an outlandish screenplay and over-the-top acting. And yet, these fea- tures actually wind up being the film's saving graces, not its downfall. Strangely reminiscent of 1994's Australian drag-fest, "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert," this film also boasts a lengthy, absurd title as well as a simple linear plot that involves three cross-dressers who em- bark on a lengthy bus trip. Here, the country is America, the protagonists aim for L.A., and their vehicle is a car. Staying true to form, the girls are stranded in some redneck dust-bowl town where they encounter a smatter- ing of racism, sexism and overall igno- rance. You want to slap the local boys around when they take our heroes for bona fide females. You want to scream when the village mechanic is shown beating his wife. But you really want to laugh and feel good about the whole thing when Wesley and friends fix up the place and finally set everyone straight. With astonishing daring, the three leading actors embrace their roles and conquer the difficult task of acting in drag. This is, after all, a feat that only few before them have mastered. Snipes builds upon his flamboyant "White Men Can't Jump" charm and dominates the action whenever on screen (he even takes time to dunk a few basketballs while he's at it). Swayze comes back from his movie star limbo to deliver an endearing performance second to Terence Stamp's in "Priscilla." And Leguizamo ("Spic-o-Rama") is a bud- ding RuPaul (who also makes his ex- pected two-minute cameo) by play- ing the downright sexy Chi Chi. Much to their credit, we quickly 1 'Hey good-lookln', we'll be back to pick you up later!' forget that these ladies are actually guys. They continually maintain their feminine personae, even while galavanting across the country with homophobic cop Chris Penn ("Reser- voir Dogs") or hick wife-beater Arliss Howard ("Full Metal Jacket") out to get them. Director Beeban Kidron makes a fine distinction between the good (transvestites and friends) and the bad (everybody else) in this movie. But that just makes appreciating it all the easier. It is fun to see them strut around like Donna Summer and cosmetically make-over the local women in a way that would put Max Factor to shame. It is even more amusing to watch them beat up the shocked brutes who grab their crotches not expecting to find the king's crown jewels. Perhaps it is a good thing that "Tv Wong Foo ..." is a formulaic fluff ball of a movie. We don't have to sit there and pay close attention to intri= cate plot twists or tearful drama. in- stead, we can just relax, enjoy and ultimately discover that there really ig a polyester-wearing disco fan in all our souls. Cybernetic party mixes computers, science, art and music _ R . By Emily Lambert Daily Fine Arts Editor It really is possible to hold a rainbow in your hand. Mountains can move and carpets do fly. While most of Ann Ar- bor was hitting the snooze button one last time before Saturday morning's game, a diverse crowd was undergoing an untraditional psychedelic experience in the unlikeliest of places. A mind- altering, substance-free, cybernetic party was underway at the University Art Museum. A constantly shifting kaleidoscopic sight, which could be viewed from the floor or balcony in the darkened mu- seum, was accompanied by subtly ex- pressive, unusual music. An array of lights suspended from the high ceiling projected images onto a large, sand- covered canvas taped to the museum's floor. Beach loving volunteers from the audience, one ortwo at a time, played in Cybernetics Music-Image Environments Univernily Art Museum Septermber 9, 1995 the sand to insure perpetual change in the landscape. As waves and shapes flowed across the screen, they were altered by shifting mounds of sand which twisted and contorted the com- putergenerated patterns ofcolor. Hand- fuls of sand caught colors in midair, creating slow motion illusions which fascinated the audience, the participants and even the artists. After a six-minute excerpt, the two creators rose to discuss their work. John Dunn, a research fellow in the arts at the University School of Art and the cre- ator of the artistic software used, engi- neered the note by note composition which was taken directly from a DNA strand. Using a Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) synthesizer and knowledge ofmusical scales, he meshed the scientific and aesthetic building blocks of both DNA and music to create many subtle percussive and melodic sounds. "It's nature's harmony in DNA," he explained. "It's amazinghow nice it actually sounds." Dunn's collaborator was University faculty member Jamy Sheridan. Using the projected image of his computer monitor, Sheridan walked the group through the interactive, three-dimen- sional images he created using Dunn's software. The incredible swiftness and precision of a computer made the ani- mated effects possible and his artistry brought them to life. As cloudlike and starry structures moved across the screen, Sheridan became the navigator of a magic cyber-carpet. This event was the first of ten pro- duced by the New Art League, a sub- group of the Friends of the University Museum of Art. The series, Second Saturday mornings, introduces art by living artists and often commentary by the artists themselves, to art enthusiasts and mildly curious members ofthe Ann Arbor community. If you missed Saturday's presentation, don't worry, sugar. John Dunn has a web site where you can learn more about his software: http:/www.webcom/-stfa/, and the New Art League would love if you'd volunteer. Just be sure to catch next month's feature: Monumental Tropical Flowers in Watercolor, to be held Octo- ber 14, 11 a.m. at the T'Marra Gallery- Artsearch on first street. A party this good you don't want to miss twice. If you're interested in writing for our please c all73 N I Heather or Alex. #4 According to a recent su rvey: Join The Crowd. 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