Arts & Entertainment
By John Payne
ft:,tif Reviewer_
I When the going gets tough, the
Bough take a road trip.
Jonathan Wacks’ new film,
R“Powwow Highway” takes a truc
1 to life look at the problems of today’s
American Indian while paying tender
homage to that great cinematic tradi
tion - the road picture.
“Powwow” is about the search
for personal heritage and the need for
friendship, and is one of the better
films of the year.
Enraged by corporate desecration
ot his Cheyenne reservation, Buddy
Redbow (A. Martinez) has been
lighting a losing battle all his life. A
mining corporation that is lobbying
to further rape the Montana land fears
Buddy’s influence^ over his tribe,
seeing him as militant and a trouble
maker.
The corporation has Buddy’s sis
ter thrown in jail on drug charges in
order to get him out of town during
the crucial tribal vote. Buddy needs
bail money and a ride to Santa Fe,
where his sister is being held.
He soon hooks up with Philbert
(Gary Farmer), a hulking, kind
hearted Cheyenne who is on a spiri
tual quest for his lost heritage. With
his war pony deemed “The Protec
IfToyjp
tor’ ’ (a ’64 Buick), Philbert intends to
find the4 4 four signs” of the gods that
will make him a worthy Cheyenne
warrior.
Together Buddy and Philbert set
out to circumnavigate the great
American west, stopping along the
way for caramel com, a powwow and
various detours.
The two men differ drastically in
their views of Cheyenne tradition,
and this difference results in a come
dic chemistry that really carries the
film. Buddy is a cynic, who wants
nothing to do with the “old ways.”
But it’s Farmer who really steals
the show, playing the soft-spoken
Philbcrt, anxious to explore the
sacred regions of Cheyenne history
and feel the spirituality that he
doesn’t get on his reservation.
Like most road movies, “Pow
wow Highway” breaks down a little
when the characters stay in one place
for too long. The last 15 minutes of
the film keep it from being truly
great, with the obligatory car chase
and a hokey ending that you can see
coming a mile away.
But the irresistible charm of
Farmer, along with gorgeous scenery
and great traveling music by Robbie
Robertson and CCR, make “Pow
wow Highway” a delightful road
picture indeed.
Courtesy of the Lied Center for Performing Arts
The Flying Karamazov Brothers
Karamazov Brothers
return to Kimball Hall
By Kelly Aiders
Staff Previcwer
The Karamazov Bothers are
coming, the Karamazov Brothers
are coming - head for Kimball
Recital Hall posthaste.
The internationally acclaimed
quartet, including “Dmitri” - Paul
David Magid, “Fyodor” - Timo
thy Furst, “Ivan’1 - Howard Jay
Patterson and “Smeidyakov” -
Sam Williams, have embarked on
a bus-and-truck lour across the
United States in their latest pro
duction, “Club.”
As part of Kimball’s “World
on Stage” series, the unrelated
brethren will grace the Kimball
stage at 3 and 8 p.rn. Sunday. The
group’s performances will com
bine music, improvisational com
edy and juggling in the most tech
nologically advanced production
in the group’s 14-year history.
A real crowd-pleaser, the show
sold out last year, and boasts of
universal appeal, said William
Subor, publicity coordinator for
the “World on Stage” series.
“It’s primarily family-type
entertainment, but there’s also a
lot of the topical humor that col
lege students like,” Stibor said.
Stibor mentioned antics such as
“The Gamble,” during which the
audience brings “impossible-u>
juggle” items (past offerings in
clude raw chickens, fish and Jell
O) and a hilarious take-off on the
old Bogie flick, “The Maltese
Falcon.
Though the quartet began on
the streets, it has bettered its sur
roundings, playing in perform
ance halls in Scotland, Australia,
China and elsewhere. The troupe
also co produced and starred in its
own acclaimed production of
Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Er
rors’ ’ at the Lincoln Center in New
York. .
Pre-performance juggling les
sons will be offered at 2 and 7 p.m.
The Lincoln Juggling Club will
offer this instruction on the lawn
southeast of the Sheldon Memo
rial Art Gallery on 12th and R
streets. , _
Tickets still are available for
the event, Stibor said. and cost $ 15
and $11 for general admission,
half-price for University of Ne
braska-Lincohi students and those
aged 18 and under.
Become a movie snob
Reviewers offer own helpful hints
By Mark Hain and
Becky Tideman
Staff Reviewers
Why are a selected few paid to review movies, while
the general public pays to view them?
What school did they graduate from to deserve such
a distinction?
In short, what do Siskel and Ebert know about movies
that the everyday Joe-off-thc-Strect moviegoer doesn’t?
Nothing.
They’ve simply refined a few crutch-like techniques
into a facade of expertise, and a reign of intimidation
and fear.
Anyone can be a Rex Reed or a Gene Shallot, and
why not? Is there a better way to impress your friends
than with your finely honed knowledge and appreciation
of quality films?
In an attempt to help encourage everyone to join the
elite ranks of pompous film enthusiasts, here’s a list of
helpful hints to help you become a connoisseur. Yes,
with justa few of these tips under your belt, you’ll be the
life of the party, intimidating all those who will listen to
your rambling by professing the virtue of early Soviet
cinema or by praising the works of Carl Theodore
Drcyer. So, read the following and become a MOVIE
SNOB:
• Despise Ted Turner, Turner Broadcasting System
and the entire idea of colorization.
•Learn the Lingo. Familiarize yourself with a pleth
ora of technical terms. Find out what all those mysteri
ous credits really are (i.e. best boy, gaffer, key grip).
Also impressive is learning the terms for every conceiv
able movement the camera makes, as well as the fine
points of lighting. Used in combination, they can create
a double-whammy that will floor your friends (i.e. “The
chiascouro lighting couldn’t possibly have been aes
thetically sound if it wasn’t for the panning.’’).
• Never like a movie younger than you.
• Memorize a few foreign words. What possibly
could be more stunning than referring to a director as an
auteur, or the film as an oeuvre. For advanced students,
the term mis en scene can add real muscle to your film
snobhood.
• Embrace obscurity. This tip serves two important
functions. A) It instantly lends a selective flair to your
taste in films, and B) If you say your favorite film is a
rarely seen 1912 German expressionist masterpiece,
who can argue with you?
• Never categorize films in terms up of “thumbs up”
and “thumbs down.”
• It is a film, not a movie. If it contains considerable
merit, it may be motion picture, or for really good
measure a “work.”
• Use adverbs, lots of adverbs. The film wasn’t bad.
It was painfully disappointing, irreverently vulgar or
poignantly subtle.
• Give credit and praise to filmmakers in this order.
First, the writer, then the director and finally the actor.
• Sec lots and lots of foreign films; or, if you must see
domestics, make sure they’re low-budget. Bear in mind
that only the cream of the crop are exported. Other
countries don’t have the Hollywood mentality that pro
motes sex, violence or box-office receipts. Their prime
focus is movie-making. In Europe, Latin America and
Japan there seems to be a greater artistic freedom (in
fact, for purposes of snobdom, the artsier a film, the
better).
The language barrier, however, can be both a bless
ing and a curse. Subtitles can distract you from the on
screen action, or fade into the picture which can leave an
audience clueless. And dubbing can cause unintentional
hilarity with out-of-sync lips.
Still, just about anything with a foreign title is im
pressive. This is especially helpful when realizing that
for every “Bicycle Thief,” there arc three Italian films
about large-breasted vampire women who wear hip
huggers and keep male slaves in the dungeon. Nonethe
less, discussing the artistic merits of “La Castillo des
Brujas de Sange” will amaze your friends -- just don’t
tell them it means “The Castle of the Bloody Witches.”
The final tip is the most important: refuse to be
intimidated. It’s like someone seeing a Shakespeare
play for the first time. Some people are afraid of falling
asleep or being lost in a muddle of confusing Old
English, but find the spectacle, acting and production
exciting, and their old preconceptions are shot down.
Impressing other people loses its importance when
you find out Fassbinder, Bergman and Fellini aren’t
stuffy, pretentious or dull (well, at least not most of the
time). Classic films such as “The Cabaret of Dr. Cali
gari,” ‘ ‘Orpheus” or “La Strada’ ’ as well as contempo
rary films like “Women on the Edge of Nervous Break
down,” “Apocalypse Now” or “Blue Velvet” are
funny, scary and touching. They were made for people
to enjoy, not be intimidated by, and enjoying films,
rather than dissecting them, is what distinguishes a film
snob from a true film fan.
Football fans and others can choose
from a potpourri of weekend events
From Staff Reports
In addition to the kickoff at Me
morial Stadium’s 40-yard lineal 1:30
p.m. Saturday, football fans and oth
ers have a potpourri of entertaining
weekend events to choose from.
Harpsichordist Michael Eberth
will perform at St. Mark’s on the
Campus Episcopal Church, 13th and
R streets, at 8 p.m. today.
The concert is a presentation of the
Lincoln Organ Showcase and the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
School of Music.
Eberth, an instructor of harpsi
chord at the Struass Conservatory in
Munich, will be performing works by
French and German composers who
contributed significantly to the litera
ture of the harpsichord’s golden age.
Other performance pieces include
works by Claude Balbastre (1727
1799); Wilhelm Friedcmann Bach
(1710-1784), eldest son of J.S. Bach;
and Jaques Duphly (1715-1789).
UPC Sights and Sounds will pres
ent the 1988 Oscar-Winning “Rain
Man” tonight and Saturday night.
“Rain Man,” starring Dustin
Hoffman and Tom Cruise, is the story
of two brothers who are reunited after
25 years.
Hoffman is an autistic savant and
the oldest of the two brothers, while
Cruise must choose between his fast
lifestyle and taking care of his
brother. The movie’s theme centers
on the Cruise and Hoffman charac
ters finding a special love and need
for one another.
The movie will be showing in the
East Union Hollow Room. Show
times are 7 and 9 p.m. tonight and 8
p.m. Saturday.
Students who have free time this
afternoon may want to take advan
tage of the final day of a cartoon
display on the UNL City Campus.
German political cartoons dating
from 1949 to the present are on dis
play in Oldfalher Hall through Sept.
15.
The display celebrates the 40lh
anniversary of the Federal Republic
of Germany (West Germany).
“Cartoons: The Federal Republic
of Germany,” uses 90 illustrations to
show the nation’s political history.
The artists use a humorous and some
times critical lone to depict important
events and government philosophies.
Nineteen leading political car
toonists made their work available
for this exhibition. The cartoons,
published in German newspapers, are
from the Consul General of the
Republic of Germany.
The display in 1107 Oldfalher will
be open to the public from 1 to 4 p.m.
today.