Tuesday, January 13, 1987
Daily Nebraskan
Page 7
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Shoes, canned ships won't be seen
on interstates, but in Hall's America
By Greg Neely
Staff Reviewer
"Rich Hall's Vanishing America,"
(Macmillan).
Rich Hall started on Letterman's
daytime show making cute little dio-
Book Review
ramas. He is a master of the sight gag.
He is a stand-up comedian. Of course
there is cable TV and those innovative
sniglets. As if this isn't enough, he now
delves into writing.
His task? To see America as it isn't
seen from the interstate. He says, "I
wanna go through construction for the
next 200 miles; I wanna see roadside
attractions, waving plastic hands in
Winnebago windows, porch gliders, and
eateries where they don't have a
sneezeguard over the salad bar."
He succeeds in this task, getting a
glimpse at some of the cheesy and
bizarre locations of America I am dis
appointed that he didn't write about
that wonderful tourist and souvenir
mecca, that's right, I'm talking about
Wall Drug, S.D., home of the mythical
jackalope.
However, he does go to several other
weird and esoteric places. There is
Faust, home of the Texaco Tanhauser
Orchestra. We go to Pocatello, Idaho,
home of the 5 cent to $1 store. He takes
us to Wisconsin Dells, home of the Affy
Tapple. We even go to Atlantic City, the
"ugliest town in America."
What makes these strange places
even stranger are the weirdos that live
there. We meet Fred Suss, builder of
ships in a can. There is Pandi Neeb, a
refugee who learns all his English from
the product lables in his grocery store.
There is Naydra Zundorf, driver of the
Hot Wagon, a combination lunch coun
ter, video station and library. These
characters could only exist in a great
country like America.
Besides weird people and places,
Rich Hall muses on some other myster
ies of the road. Questions like: How did
that one shoe get on the side of the
road? or, why is it if you hit someone
from behind, it's autmatically your
fault? These are burning questions on
mi mind.
So if you have a wanderlust that
needs satisfying or you just want to
road trip, take the gas and beer money
and buy this book.
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Courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn
Sid (Gary Oldman) and Nancy (Chloe Webb) smooch outside
a London club in "Sid and Nancy."
'Sid and Nancy ': a film
of vicious love and death
in post-punk generation
By Stew Magnuson
Senior Reporter
NETV to air civil-rights struggle
"Sid and Nancy" is the story of the
birth and death of punk. It's the terrify
ing story of heroin junkies, and most of
all, it's the romantic story of Sid
Vicious, the angry bassist for the Sex
Pistols, and his clinging groupie lover,
Nancy Spungeon. It's the story of two
people who loved each other, but not
themselves.
Movie Review
Director Alex Cox is now two for two.
If director John Hughes is the voice of
the future yuppie suburbanite kids,
then Cox has firmly established him
self as the filmmaker for the post
punks. Cox established himself with
the excellent "Repoman," and now
tells the story of Sid and Nancy
lovers, punks and symbols.
Cox has a talent for creating memor
able images. Some scenes from "Sid
and Nancy" will stick in my mind
forever. The two lovers walking through
a riot of battling police and punks,
smiling and untouched. Sid engraved
the name "Nancy" on his chest with a
razor blade. From their bed, Sid and
Nancy, strung out on dope watched
their New York hotel room go up in
flames, not bothering to get up and run
for safety.
"We're so prettyOh so pretty
Vacant! And we don 't carer
"Sid and Nancy" begins when Sid
meets the blond American professional
groupie at a friend's apartment. Sid
and palJohnny Rotten enjoy destroying
Rolls Royces, spray-painting apartments
with naughty words and spitting on
their audiences while pounding out
revolutionary, gut-crunching rock'n'roll.
Nancy scores some smack for Sid, and
they fall in love.
Sid, already well on the road to self
destruction, lets Nancy hop on for a
ride.
Malcolm Mclaren, the Sex Pistols'
sleazy manager, watches Sid fall around
on stage, too stoned to play a simple
chord. The more stumbling the better
for Malcolm: Sid Vicious is a symbol, a
star, the ultimate nihilistic punk. That
sells records and concert tickets for
Malcolm. But Malcolm's plan back
fires. Sid's self-destruction breaks up
the band in the middle of a U.S. tour.
The film's recreations of the Sex Pis
tols' gigs are stunning. Drew Schofield,
who plays Johnny Rotten, looks and
sings like the Pistols' frontman. And
his acting offstage is also great. Gary
Oldman and Chloe Webb are also more
than look-a like actors. They make Sid
and Nancy come alive on screen.
The acting, directing and music are
great. That leaves the script. Some of
"Sid and Nancy" is based on docu
mented occurences. Other parts are
pure speculation by Cox and his co
writer Abbe Wool. Whether Nancy's
death was truly accidental is a matter
of speculation. The final scene is pure
fantasy, an ending that rivals the end
ing of "Repoman."
How one interprets the lives and
deaths of Sid and Nancy is up to the
individual viewer. But Cox makes little
effort to glorify them. He simply creates
two real characters in love. Yes, even
nihilistic punks fall in love.
"Sid and Nancy" is a total success. It
recreates two memorable characters, a
time and an attitude through brilliant
directing and acting. Don't miss this
film.
"Sid and Nancy" plays one final
weekend at Sheldon Film Theatre
starting Thursday through Sunday, with
nightly showings at 7 and 9 p.m. There
are matinees Saturday at 3 p.m. and
Sunday at 5 p.m.
In the 1950s and '60s, America fought
a second revolution to secure "inalien
able rights" and equal treatment
under the law a second revolution to
make "liberty and justice for all" a
reality for black Americans as well as
white.
The fight was waged by blacks and
whites in the streets, the churches, the
courts and the schools of the American
South. It was a struggle for racial inte
gration and equal rights that changed
the fabric of American life, a struggle
whose reverberations continue to be
felt.
"Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil
Right Years, 1954-1965," airing Wed
nesdays at 8 p.m. beginning Jan. 21 on
the Nebraska ETV Network, is a six
part documentary series that tells the human
stories of the movement for social
change in the words of both famous and
less-known participants. "Eyes on the
Prize" is close captioned for hearing
impaired viewers.
Through contemporary interviews and
historical footage much of it never
before broadcast "Eyes on the
Prize" traces the civil rights movement
from early acts of individual courage
through the flowering mass movement
and its eventual split into factions.
"Eyes on the Prize" chronicles the
civil-rights years through the individ
ual stories of people compelled by a
meeting of conscience and circumstance
to play a role in history.
Audition
Tonight is the last night of audi
tions for the Gay Community's
Theatre production of "Torch Song
Trilogy." The auditions begin at 7:30
p.m. at the UNL GayLesbian Re
source Center, Nebraska Union 342.
There are parts for five men and
end
tonight
two women (one younger and one
older).
The cast decisions will be posted
outside the center at 9 tonight. Call
472-5644 for more information. The
Theatre will not discriminate against
anyone.
