Arts & Entertainment
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John Bruce/Daily Nebraskan
Special dinners help residence halls heat monotony
By Bryan Peterson
Staff Reporter
Students in residence halls arc
presented with several special din
ners each semester. Each residence
hall complex has a special dinner
forThanksgivingand thcChristmas
holiday.
Complex residents will be
treated to a special Hawaiian dinner
Thursday. In February, residents
will likely dine on favorite food
items of past Olympic competitors
during the Winter Olympics. In
March, each complex will have its
own unique promotional meal.
Hanna Hess, food manager of
Selleck Quadrangle and Hewitt
Training Table, said Selleck resi
dents may eat a “Las Vegas Din
ner,” although plans arc still tenta
tive. Ellen Wagner, food service
manager for the Abci-Sandoz com
plex, is planning an ethnic dinner in
March which will feature foods of
Oriental, German, Irish, Swedish
and other origins.
Douglas Rix, assistant director
of housing/food service, said spe
cial dinners in residence halls break
monotony and develop enthusiasm.
Wagner added that this is true for
kitchen employees as well as com
plex residents. According to past
surveys, students want more special
dinners.
Hess said she works closely with
the student government of the resi
dence hall, which provides help and
input for every special dinner.
“We could not do it without
them,” she said.
The special dinners arc publi
cized to hall residents, who can
attend free. The dinners arc not
advertised to the public, but com
plex residents may invite non-resi
dents at their own expense.
The special dinners require extra
preparation in the form of menu
planning, testingand soon. Though
the extra work may begin days in
advance, Hess said, it is not so much
hard as labor-intensive. It becomes
a labor of love as students apprcci
ate the special mood and menu.
“We put our heart and soul onto
the dinners to make them the best
experience possible,” she said.
Wagner said her most challeng
ing dinner was an outdoor buffalo
feed in 1976. Planning began in
March, and the dinner was served in
September. Although another buf
falo feed is unlikely, Wagner said
she is always willing to listen to
student ideas for special dinners
and will try them if possible.
Film sets love and ethics against the ’80s
By John Coffey
Staff Kcportcr
“Broadcast News” is a slice of life,
love and the evening news from James
L. Brooks. Lincoln ilcs best remember
the writer/director/produccr as the
man who brought “Terms of Endear
ment” to town. For many, Debra
Winger comes to mind when thinking
of that film; there’s little doubt that
another young, attractive brunette
will be associated with “News” —
Holly Hunter. Hunter, while sharing
the screen in this picture with such
greats as William Hurt and Jack
Nicholson, is the person who really
lights up the screen. Her only previous
starring role was as Mrs. H.I. (“Ed”)
MeDonnough in the hilariously funny
“Raising Arizona.”
Hunter plays Jane Craig, the
network’s most talented young news
producer, who is married the ’80s way
— to her job. Her professional drive is
so strong that any romantic relation
ship is merely an afterthought. So
m uc h a woman on the go, she is always
pressed for lime with thatcvcr-prcscnt
deadline looming. One of Jane’s
opening scenes shows her in the hotel
room, phoning the crew to remind
them of a meeting, then unplugging
the phone and, realizing she has a hall
hour until the meeting, bursting into
tears. Yes, she even schedules her cry
limes. (Incidentally, this hotel scene is
probably set in Lincoln, as later the
reporter signs off from “Lincoln,
Nebraska.” I hope it was the state of
Jane ’ s I i fe and not the state of her hotel
room that made her cry.)
Jane’s best friend is Aaron Altman
(Albert Brooks), a brilliant reporter
who unquestionably has the brains but
lacks the beauty to be a network star.
Aaron is aggressive and abrasive in
pursuit of the story, but his personal
side is just the opposite. He’s sensi
tive, funny and massively insecure.
“Wouldn’t this be a wonderful world
if insecurity and desperation were
attractive... if needy were a lum-on?”
he asks Jane in a moment of self
pitying contemplation.
The up-and-coming network star
to-be is Tom Grunick, played by
William Hurt. This role represents
quite a reversal for Hurt, who usually
plays a man neat ly frantic with intel
ligence (“Children of a Lesser God,”
“kissoflhe Spider Woman,’’“Altered
Stales”). Tom has the character depth
of a swimming pool for newborns. He
isn’t well-educated, can’t write and
doesn’t understand the news he’s talk
ing about. But he looks good. Further
more, he’s being groomed as heir to
the network’s anchor (a cameo by
Jack Nicholson).
The classic romantic triangle be
tween the three comprises one of the
movie’s main themes. It’s easy to be
drawn in There’s a healthy balance
between the three characters with no
one outdoing another in their love
pursuits. To this classic triangle add
the 1980s perspective that the charac
ters are married to their jobs. It is their
love of work that influences their
romantic quests.
The second main theme involves
journalistic integrity and ethics.
Aaron represents the old-school
Edward R. Murrow approach to news,
always striving for the truth, always
trying to do the right thing. Tom, on
the other hand, is the new-fangled
approach to a news program that real
izes ratings are the bottom line and a
pretty face sells. (Imagine someone
from “Entertainment Tonight” an
choring the “CBS Evening News.”)
Jane is Plain Jane American, caught in
the middle of the networks’ dilemma:
Should they program integrity or rat
ings?
The answer from the news division
president’s point of view is easy.
During an emergency report on a
Middle East crisis that needs to go on
the air immediately, the president
chooses Tom to anchor the report over
Jane’s objections that it should be
Aaron, who has impeccable knowl
edge of foreign affairs. During the
report a great shot from behind the
anchor’s desk shows Tom anchoring,
with Jane some 20 feet above in the
control room force-feeding him infor
mation through an car-plug. Like a
master puppeteer, Jane knows just
what string to pull to command a
flawless performance. By being fed
by little bit, he’ll lower our standards
where it really counts... flash over
substance.” It takes the integrity ques
tion from the frying pan and throws it
into the fire.
Before seeing this movie, I made
the mistake of reading every review I
could get my hands on. It’s an inevi
table problem in the Midwest —
things arc big on the coasts, garnering
mounds of media, and eventually the
trend makes it to Nebraska. “Broad
cast News” came out a couple of
weeks later here than in the larger
Eastern markets. If you listened to
everything you’ve read or seen about
“Broadcast News” you might be
slightly disappointed. Not that the
movie’s not good, butcould even God
live up to His advance billing?
the right questions, comments and
pronunciations, Tom, while not
understanding a word he’s saying,
comes off his network anchoring
debut looking brilliant.
And Aaron, who is brilliant, gives
a network anchoring performance cut
from the laughing stock. The heal of
the bright lights overcome him and he
sweats profusely. All the smarts inside
his head can't reverse the fact that on
the outside of his head he looks very
dumb.
In one of the film’s most critical
scenes die two themes merge. Jane
tries to come to grips with her feelings
for Tom. Aaron tries to come to terms
with his feelings for Jane. Tom, who’s
not in the scene, is accused by Aaron
of being the Anti-Cronkite. “And bit
Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
(From left) Holly Hunter, William Hurt and Albert Brooks in
’‘Broadcast News.”
Movie series
to open with
Bakshi fantasy
Movies ranging from the naive
fantasy of Steven Spielberg’s
“E.T.” to the naive realism of Penel
ope Sphccris’ “Decline of Western
Civilization” will be included in the
University of Nebraska at Omaha’s
Spring Film Series, sponsored by
the Student Programming Organi
zation.
Tickets arc $2 general admis
sion; $1.50 for UNO faculty, staff,
students and alumni with ID; and
$1.50 for seniorcitizensandchildrcn
under 12 years old. The films will be
shown in UNO’s Eppley Audito
rium Friday s and Saturdays at 7 and
9:30 p.m., and Sundays at 4:30 and
7 p.m.
un reo. a-/, tsaipn oaKsm s
animated fantasy “Heavy Metal”
will be shown. The six-segment
anthology weaves together
Bakshi’s rotoscoped animation;
music by Blue Oyster Cult, Devo
and Black Sabbath; and imaginative
stories encompassing science fic
tion, sword and sorcery, humor and
sex.
“Decline of Western Civiliza
tion,” a film by Los Angeles undcr
§ round filmmaker Penelope
phecris, will be shown Feb. 19-21.
Made in 1981, “Decline’' documents
the L.A. punk scene of the early
’80s. The film balances perform
ance footage of bands such as X, The
Germs, Black Flag, Catholic Disci
pline, Fear and the Circle Jerks, and
includes interviews with band
members, club owners and fans.
Steven Spielberg’s loving hom
age to the innocent charms and
magic of movie-making, “E.T.,”
will be shown Feb. 26-28.
March 4-6, “I Was a Teenage
Zombie” will be shown. The plot of
this 1987 release concerns a boy who
was “young, reckless and in love”
and then became “dead, young,
reckless and in love.” The sound
track for the film includes music by
the Violent Femmes, Del Fuegos,
Dbs, Dream Syndicate and the
Smithereens.
