latest creation, "Sights Unseen,' a story of family dislocatIon. At Page 5 !h mBorders Books and Music, 6I2 E.Liberty Street, 7:'3 p.m. Tuesday, N ' s September 26, 1995 'Girls' is all show and notale By Michael Rosenberg Daily Editor in Chief "Showgirls", the highly-hyped, highly-naked new film from director Paul Verhoeven and writer Joe Esterhasz, claims to take an exciting look at the world of Las Vegas showgirls. The problem is, as seen through the Verhoeven/Esterhasz prism,, that world just isn't that exciting. The film stars Elizabeth Berkley Showgirls Directed by Paul J'erlweven; with Elizabeth Bertley At Briarwood and Showcase , ,a ("Saved by the Bell") as Nomi Malone, a woman who goes to Vegas in search of glamour and fame only to find - surprise! -that the city can be a cruel and dirty place. Theoretically, we are supposed to feel sympathetic toward Malone for being taken advantage of, but the char- acter is so poorly developed that the only sympathy Berkley receives is for having to be in the movie. At first, the only work Malone can find is as a stripper and a lap-dancer. Eventually, however, she gets to be a showgirl, where she can put on actual clothes. Well, sort of. Does a g-string count? As Malone climbs the social ladder ofLas Vegas nakedpeople, she is forced to abandon some of the principles we didn't know she had. That is at the crux of what passes for amoral dilemmainthisfilm-awoman who does an dances selling out Deen. huh? Esterhasz and Verhoeven are the men who gave you "Basic Instinct." "Showgirls" is like "Basic Instinct" withoutthe murders. In "Basic Instinct," Esterhasz and Verhoeven gave us sex surrounding --and interfering with-- a murder investigation. In "Showgirls," they give us sex. "Showgirls" reportedly cost $40mil- lion. That money certainly wasn't spent on costumes. Or acting lessons, for that matter. There are a few interesting plot twists, but there isn't much of a plot to twist. Even so, the movie could still be enter- taining if Berkley gave a worthy perfor- mance. But unfortunately, "Showgirls"is not savedbythebelle. Berkley was clearly cast for her great body and a willingness to show it. As faras her ability as an actor, she has a great body. She's not exactly Meryl Streep, although in some ways Meryl Streep isn't exactly Elizabeth Berkley, either, ifyou know what I mean. And in Berkley's defense, while Streep gets to act with the likes of Clint Eastwood, Berkley is left to be romantic with ametal pole, or worse, Kyle MacLachlan. The problem with acting is that ifyou can't do it, you can't act like you can do it. Berkley is trying to play a two-di- mensional character, and she is short by about a dimension and a half. None of them racy pole-aancing pics for your eyes, folKS. Her costars are almost as inept. MacLachlan, as the show's entertain- ment director, doesn't seem intelligent enough to be cunning. Gina Gershon, as the star showgirl, gives the best per- formance of the film. But that says more about everyone else in "Showgirls" than it does about Gershon. As for the movie's NC-17 rating, it's well-deserved. I don't want to say there is a lot of nudity in "Showgirls", but you could use the film to teach biology. Verhoeven is apparently from the don't- go-more-than-I2-seconds-without- showing-a-pair-of-breasts school of filmmaking. But for a film with so much nudity, "Showgirls" is remarkably un- attractive. It is more sex than sexy, and more funny than fun. "Showgirls" is supposed to be a groundbreaker, to go where no other movie has gone before. But there are other movies like this. For a list of them. cal PPee-wee Herman. The Flaming Lips Clouds Taste Metallic Warner Bros. Being a "Buzz Band" hasn't changed the Flaming Lips' musical attitude or style all that much. If anything, the attention, touring and money funneled their way by the hit single "She Don't Use Jelly" andtheir 1993 album"Trans- missions From the Satellite Heart" has only given them a bigger arena to show off their freaky funhouse of songs. That much is immediately evident from their brand-new album "Clouds Taste Metallic." Much like their fellow freaks in Mercury Rev (Rev member Johnathan Fridmann co-produced this with the Flaming Lips), the Lips spe- cialize in bouncy, effects-laden psy- chedelicjourneys. Screaming feedback and glockenspiels reside next to each other quite comfortably on both Rev and Lips albums. But where Mercury Rev's songs seem to float off their al- bums in a jazzy, elegantly interstellar way, Flaming Lips songs have the wide- open feeling of Midwestern plains: Sprawling and un-self-conscious. On "Clouds Taste Metallic" Wayne Coyne and the rest of the Lips seem to have been roaming Oklahoma's plains and scaling every cumulonimbus in reach. The album is no less loopy or engaging than "Satellite Heart" but is much less pop- and single-oriented. The first three songs, "The Abandoned Hos- pital Ship," "Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus with Needles" and "Pla- cebo Headwound" flow into each other effortlessly. Come to think of it, most ofthe songs on "Clouds Taste Metallic" melt into each other in a very appropriate and trippy way. "When You Smile," "Kim's Watermelon Gun" and "They Punc- tured My Yolk" all share the same goofy-grin vibe and loud guitars. The songs that don't morph into one another quite literally stand out. "This Here Giraffe" is quirky, anthropomor- phic fun;"Brainville" features the Lips in raggle-taggle jug-band-on-acid mode, and it's mind-opening (literally); "Christmas at the Zoo" features sleigh- bells and animal liberation. "Evil Will Prevail" is plenty of creepy, ironic fun, and the single "Bad Days" praises the theater of the imagination in inimitable Flaming Lips style. When the band says that clouds taste metallic, believe them; this album is one of their highest highs. - Heather Phares The Blind Boys of Alabama I Brought Him With Me House of Blues Music/BMG A timeless gospel spirit has guided The Blind Boys of Alabama through travels that have taken them from Talladega, Alabama's Institute forthe Deafand Blind to Hollywood's House of Blues. These boys have been spreading their love of gospel for nearly 60 years. In January of 1995, Clarence Fountain and The Blind Boys of Alabama held church at The House of Blues in Las Angeles, Califor- nia. Those three nights of emotionally charged performances make up the 14 tracks of their first ever live album "I Brought Him With Me." This album is a joyful celebration of a musical spirit that was born during sla- very and has transcended decades. The Blind Boys rejoice in traditional jubilee music with tracks like the exuberant-and fast-tempo "Rain," the slow full-bodied a cappella "Listen to the Lambs," and the smooth swayingharmony of"Hush."The Blind Boys rendition of"If I Had a Ham- mer" takes you on a seven-minute musi- cal journey. It lets loose with a raw pulse reminiscent of James Brown's long;and hard-hitting groove style. The pop-gos- pel track "No Dope" reveals a secret to the group's longevity: "We don't need no dope/as long as we got hope." Their rich gospel flavor and the power of their message is energizing a whole new generation. "I Brought Him With Me" is a soulful explosion lit with the energy and strength that has kept The Blind Boys together for almost six de- cades. - Kimberly Howitt See RECORDS, page 8 The Flaming ups are fine, upstanding gentlemen that would never dream of watching a filthy flick like 'Showgirls.' 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