The Michigan Daily - WedaI 4c. - Thursday, October 12, 1995 - 3B
Epic film genre lights up screen with magic releases
DEAN BAKOPOULOS
Sound and Fury
"Here's my soul on side B." That's what
a friend of mine says about mix tapes,
they're ourgeneration'smost intimate way
of communicating. This same friend
doesn'thaveane-mail account. Shewrites
me letters. In longhand. They come by
U.S. mail. Into a box. It's really a novel
idea. But sadly, she's quite behind in
communication technology. Our genera-
tion has a novel way of communicating
(mix tapes and e-mail), and that shines a
bitoflightonourattitudesandrelationships.
You know all about mix tapes. They
are strings of broken promises and faded
memories on Maxell. They collect under
carseats and in underweardrawers. They
haunt you like a plague years afterwards
when certain songs don't allow you to
forget that ex-lover, ex-friend or ex-fatal
attraction. But it's our generation's form
ofpoetry. Take a delicately arranged col-
lection of songs from your favorite CDs,
and there you have it: a bold, touching
declaration of love and loyalty in 90 min-
utes. Curtandterseandimpersonal. Some-
one else's words.
It's the same way with e-mail. The act
of physicaly writing a letter, enclosing
photos and clippings, and addressing an
envelope are gone. Now we send cutesy
three-line messages via e-mail and re-
spond at least once a day. They are curt
and terse and impersonal. Your own
words, true but restrained enough to pub-
lish on the Internet, and meaningless
'enough for you to find the inspiration
behind them in a campus computing cen-
ter.
What if this impersonal communica-
tion disorder had existed throughout the
centuries? For example, if the classic
Shakespearean lovers Romeo and Juliet
had communicated through e-mail:
To:juliet@estate.capulet.com
From: bigragu@montague.edu
Subject: Wherefore art thou?
Text: Juliet- Just letting you know I
hadagreattimeatyourparty. Itwasgreat
fun. Maybe we can get together some-
time, eh? Gotta run. Have a BIO exam.:)
>smile< -Romeo
Or what about mix tapes? What if, say,
Cyrano de Bergerac relied on our use of
dubbing to paint a portrait of his love for
Roxanne? Imagine the scenario:
Cyrano: Uh, Roxanne? I made you this.
Roxanne: Ooh, a mix tape.
Cyrano: You know, I know I'm notthe
best-looking guy around, but I feel very
strongly about you, as you should gather
from side A.
Roxanne: Oh Cyrano, you put the Po-
lice song on here that's got my name on it!
Tee-hee! Oh, I love you! I love you!
Cyrano: Uh, I havetorun Roxanne. I'll
e-mail you later.
The revolutionarypossibilities areend-
less, ifonly our generation's communica-
tion technology had arrived earlier. Pic-
ture Jesus condensing the gospels onto a
90-minute audio tape collection of his
favorite songs. It'd be much easier to
understand. Picture the wars that could
have been averted with an apologetic mix
tapes. "General, call off the air raids. The
enemy's made us a mix tape with Jim
Croce onit. That's a surrender if I've ever
seen one."
Maybe some of our manic depressive
cultural icons wouldhave been spared via
e-mail. Maybe Ernest Hemingway
wouldn't have killed himself ifhe could
have sent an e-mail message out on a
Drunken Writers electronic chat room:
"This is Papa. I am sad. It rains. I have a
gun and I am broken and lonely and
bitter." Sooner or later, some other writer
may have come to his aid on-line: "Hey,
Papa. It's me, Steinbeck. <<hug, hug>>:)
Feel better?"
Sounds silly, doesn't it. Well it is. It's
silly to think that three-line messages
with cute symbols for smiles and hugs
can replace the genuine emotions of ac-
tual human interaction. It's silly to think
that a collection of someone's favorite
songs is the closest many people come to
an intimate correspondence. But we're a
silly and impersonal generation. That's
why people are checking e-mail at any
given hourofday or night on this campus.
It's the way we talk, and it's a bit disturb-
ing to technophobes like me. Leave me a
message. Fax me. Page me. Keep it im-
personal and brief. Make me a mix tape.
Buy a Hallmark card. Declare your feel-
ings with someone else's words. "Here's
By Joshua Rich
Daily Film Editor
Part of the magic of motion pic-
tures is that they frequently manage
to transport us into another place or
time. Sometimes we achieve this voy-
age when we adopt a character's per-
sonality; sometimes a setting so alien
and different from anything known
today engulfs us in all its intricacies
and grandeur.
On rare occasions throughout movie
history, films of the latter nature have
been crafted. Initially, we may re-
member the classic epics of Cecil B.
DeMille - "The Ten Command-
ments" or "Cleopatra" - as examples
of this trend.
Yet other filmmakers have pre-
sented motion pictures with like splen-
dor and historical value. For example,
Stanley Kubrick brought us
"Spartacus" in 1960 and then "Barry
Lyndon" in 1975; David Lean fol-
lowed his triumph in "Lawrence of
Arabia" (1962) with many large-scale
productions ending with 1984's "A
Passage to India."
Unfortunately, this genre of film
creation has, with few exceptions,
been rather inert since the days of De
Mille' s grand historical productions.
Moreover, in the past few years (es-
pecially since 1990's Oscar-winning
western, "Dances with Wolves") we
have had a great dearth in the amount
of epics emanating from Hollywood
and elsewhere.
This year, however, has seen a rela-
tive flood in the amount of large-
scale, richly-designed historical mov-
ies released. Three such films have
enjoyed a ride on this fierce tide, al-
though they have all met with (to put
it kindly) limited success.
The most profitable and arguably
the best member of the lot was
"Braveheart." Mel Gibson's beauti-
ful and gruesome film stood out from
the rest of this crop with intelligent
acting by a cast of relative unknowns,
sumptuously exquisite locations and
cinematography, and stunning battle
scenes.
The sappy and unsuccessful Sean
Connery-Richard Gere-Julia Ormond
(who is she?) star vehicle "First
Knight" also came out this past sum-
mer of 1995. This film is so shallow
and dumb that, from what I hear, it
makes even more sense when dubbed
in French and suave Dick Gere is
heard saying: "Madame Guinevere,
je t'aime!"
But the whole trend began early in
the 1995 season with the release of the
historical Scottish fable "Rob Roy,"
available on video this week. On the
surface, this film seems to be a multi-
million-dollar excuse to put mega-popu-
lar celebrities like Liam Neeson, Jes-
sica Lange and Tim Roth on the big
screen again. Instead, it actually winds
up a touching tale of love and determi-
nation. And hopefully it will help re-
kindle the style of entertaining and edu-
cational epic cinema that has been ab-
sent for much too long.
Other recent releases include:
"Casper" - This flick features a
post-pubescent Christina Ricci
hangin' with a post-"Last Seduction"
Bill Pullman to try to understand just
what is with that pesky little white
guy.
"Destiny Turns on the Radio" -
God Tarantino plays a magical genie-
like guy who helps loser Jim Belushi
(in his signature role) get back on top.
Hey, Quentin, a word to the wise:
Stick to directing.
"Eriday" - One of the last surviv-
ing members of the eloquent and po-
etic rap posse N.W.A., Ice Cube stars
in another weak film capitalizing on
the success of John Singleton's "Boyz
N the Hood." After all, who needs a
plot or decent acting when you can
sample classic tunes from George
Clinton and Sly Stone?
"Tommy Boy" - Wait. I forgot.
Which pathetic, stupid "Saturday
Night Live" cast member stars in this
embarrassing excuse for a movie? Is
it Adam Sandler? David Spade? Oh,
please God, NO! Or Chris Farley?
Yep. That's it. Now what do I win?
Hopefully a chance to correct all the
great wrongs and cardinal sins of my
life and pretend like I never had to
watch this drivel in the first placer
"Village of the Damned" - No
joke: This movie actually stars Chris-
topher Reeve. Enough said.
Uam Neeson is epic ... In a kilt.
" FREE Laundry Bags
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Charbroiled Burgers & Chicken
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Homemade Soup
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Try Our
Cereal, Candy, & Fruit Shakesi
Sandwiches " Salads
Buffalo Wings * Chili * Fries
Smoke Free Environment
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Evening Campus Area Delivery
812S. State Street
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Motor Town Juke Boys
"White Folks Havin' Fun"
I--
Tapes and CD's
Exclusively Available at
Schoolkids Records
E. Liberty Ann Arbor, Ml
VILLAGE CRNER
Ann ro~
B EST IUR
t9- 1995
P OP' e.
to hurs. aiam
rv Sat. S4m - 2am
S. Forest' t S. Univ.
995-1818
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
invites University of Michigan undergraduates
to explore the many opportunities
for professional growth within the firm.
Monday, October 16, 1995
Opportunities in the
Investment Banking Division
5:30 p.m., The Michigan Union, The Pendelton Room
Casual dress.
Wednesday, November 15, 1995
Opportunities in the
Information Technology Department
7:00 p.m., The Electrical Engineering &
Computer Science Building, Room 1005
Casual dress.
m
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