Arts & Entertainment
Punt the ’80s, live for total pleasure in ’90s
Brian Shellito/Daily Nebraskan
, \
By Jim Hanna
Staff Reporter
I watched a lot of TV, and I slept a
lot over my semester break.
One night I merged both hobbies
when I fell asleep with my TV on.
It got to be about 6 a.m., and I
woke up to a live broadcast of the
latest space shuttle launch (being the
livin’-on-the-edge guy I am, I dozed
off with CNN on my screen).
Even though I was half-asleep, I
still managed to ask my dozing self,
“Why in the hell are they still broad
casting shuttle launches live? Who
cares anymore?”
Who hasn’t seen at least one shuttle
take off? Are people seriously setting
their alarms to wake up at 6 a.m. and
watch this crap?
Do me a favor CNN. Only carry
live shuttle launches if they’re going
to blow up. Give me a reason to
watch.
I turned off my TV and slept until
noon.
So, what’s the point? Well, 1 don’t
think I need to remind anyone that it
became 1990 while we were away.
As I watched the stupcfyingly dull
shuttle escapade, it occurred to me
that we should breathe some new life
into a new decade.
This is not the ’80s. The shuttle
was a big deal in the last decade, but
it’s nothing to the high-tech Ameri
cans of the ’90s. If all we are going to
do in 1990 is copy the dull trends of
1989, why even have a new decade?
A lot of things have just gotten old
lately, and now is as good a time as
any to get rid of them. Here arc some
things I hope we can punt this decade.
I'd like to open with a touch of
pessimism...
I don’t think any of us will make it
through this decade alive. One of the
doomsday forecasts (greenhouse ef
fect, overpopulation, Quaylc as leader
of the free world) will almost cer
tainly come true before the decade is
out.
Even if our world isn’t destroyed
by 1999, we should live our lives as if
it were going to be. We should live
our lives for total pleasure, as if we
were in the final days. I guarantee
we’ll have more fun.
Now then, I’ll start by suggesting
that we ban buddy/cop movies. Don’t
get me wrong. This was an okay film
device back in the ’80s, but we are
just loo cool for it now. Plus, it’s been
battered into the ground as a movie
theme.
I haven’t seen it, but how good can
“Tango & Cash” be? Ooh! Ooh! Let
me guess. Two cops are forced to
work together on a case even though
they hate each other and would rather
work alone, but they go through some
trying times and experience a few
near-death, macho bonding experi
ences and end up complementing one
another as a law enforcement team.
Yikcs! My heart races and my crotch
tingles at the thought of such an ut
terly innovative and engaging movie.
Another hope of mine as we head
toward the 21st century is that Bob
Hope will either die or just shut up.
Talk about something that’s getting
old — cripes. Hope made movies with
Bing Crosby, who was ancient when
he died almost ten years ago. I'm
sorry, but old people arc never funny
on purpose Oh, Bob! Please tell another
Dolly Parton/big breast joke
...THEY’RE SO FUNNY!
Another elderly comedian who
needs to move on to the nether w orld
is George Burns. I do happen to have
a great deal of respect for George, but
he has simply become too old. Are we
really supposed to believe that he’s
sleeping with all of those young,
pulchritudinous babes he surrounds
himself with? I find it hard to believe
he even gets erections at his age.
Let us also hope that the ’90s will
sec the end of Spuds McKenzie, a far
too over-rated organism. Are we to
believe he’s sleeping with those women
he hangs out with, too?
On the University of Ncbraska
See HANNA on 11
Cops, suspense featured in ‘Internal Affairs’
By Troy Falk
Staff Reporter
Richard (“An Officer and a Gen
tleman”) Gere and Andy (“The
Untouchables”) Garcia star in “Inter
mOTif1
:-1_^—
nal Affairs,’ ’ aj’ripping thriller about
the investigation of a corrupt cop.
Sex, drugs, violence and rock ‘n’ roll,
“Internal Affairs” has it all.
Gere plays Dennis Peck, a classic
| “black hat” character. This cop runs
a prostitution ring, a protection agency
and an assassination ring.
In a scene that displays this lack of
morals, Peck’s partner calls his wife
to discuss their troubled marriage.
While she is talking to her husband,
she is in bed with Peck.
Avila, played by Garcia, is an inter
nal affairs cop who ends up investi
gating Peck after Peck’s partner is
found to have planted drugs on a
suspect. Avila is the “white hat”
character of the movie. In a classic
scene, Peck offers Avila a prostitute.
Avila’s response? “No thanks.”
Peek tricks Avila’s wife into meet
ing him at a restaurant. He knows that
Avila istailinghim.Thiscauses Avila
to believe that Peck is sleeping with
his wife, even though Avila’s wife is
innocent.
Speaking of sex, Peck has sex with
almost every woman character ap
pearing in the movie. Peck also is an
expert at using psychology to get others
to do what he wants. “Trust me, I’m
a cop,” he constantly says to those
that doubt his morals.
Nancy Travic plays Amy Wallas,
Avila’s partner in the internal affairs
department. Her performance is less
than breathtaking - any actress could
have portrayed Wallas just as well as
Travic did.
Avila and Wallas get a big break in
their investigation of Peek when Peck 's
current wile submits valuable infor
mation. She lurns in Peck alter she
suspects him of having something to
do with the murder of an elderly couple.
Wallas is the senior partner, but she
eventually loses control of the inves
tigation and become Avila’s side-kick.
The information about the elderly
couple’s murder leads Avila and Wallas
directly to Peck and inevitably into
the interesting and suspenseful, but
still Hollywood-style, ending.
Gere and Garcia make the plot of
“Internal Affairs” believable. Gere
takes Peek, the highly decorated cop,
and shows the audience his capacity
for cruelty. Garcia’s Avila shows what
can happen to a good husband and
cop when he is pushed beyond his
limit. Avila is believable because of
his ability to succumb to human
imperfection. During one emotional
outburst, he slaps his wife in a crowded
restaurant because he thinks she is
cheating on him.
After seeing this Hick, it becomes
hard to trust any police car driving by.
“Internal Affairs” is playing at the
Douglas 3 Theatre, 1300 P St.
■ ■ -. 1 11 I
Minor characters sacrificed, but
novel good first effort for Weyr
By Julie Naughton
Senior Reporter_
Garrett Weyr
“Pretty Girls”
Pocket Books
“Pretty Girls” is the story of
three young women coming of age
at the University of North Caro
lina-Chapcl Hill.
Weyr’s novel, written in the
present tense, focuses on the csca
T—
padcs of the students who call them
selves the Amazon Club: Penel
ope, Alex and Caroline.
The somelimes-sappy protago
nists deal with various subjects and
problems: from anorexia, bulimia
and rape (Alex), to pregnancy
(Penelope), and a brother’s death
in V ictnam (Caroline). The women
use their friendship as protection
against the terrible world.
Penelope is the daughter of the
American ambassador to France.
She is an American citizen bom
and raised in Enjgland, and had
only been to America once or twice
before beginning college in North
Carolina. Penelope is wild, always
ready for a new adventure, and her
two friends depend on her to pro
vide the excitement in their lives.
She is the most interesting charac
ter in the novel.
Next there is Caroline, a Colo
rado native who lost her brother in
the Vietnam War. She cares more
about bet friends than she cares
about herself. She has very low
self-esteem and busies herself with
pleasing others. When others take
advantage of her, her first impulse
is to shut herself off -- to isolate
herself and stop dealing with her
problems.
Finally, there is Alex (short for
Alexandria), a New Yorker. She is
street-smart and intelligent, an
aspiring journalist. She works at
her school paper, runs five miles a
day, and forces herself to vomit
after every yummy meal.
Alex is absolutely terrified of
men, having been raped several
years before, and avoids relation
ships and dates at all costs.
Minor characters include room
mates (Cristen, Nancy, Belinda,
and one identified only as “South
Campus Sorority Sue”), boyfriends
(Edward, Colin, Simon), and down
right enemies (Sue).
Although most of Weyr’s major
characters at least have moments
dial ring true, many of her minor
characters are unbelievable. It’s
understandable that Weyr wants
Penelope, Caroline and Alex to be
the most exciting, the most inter
esting, the most valid characters in
the story. After all, they arc the
main characters.
But in illustrating this, Weyr
has sacrificed the minor charac
ters. The minor women are com
plete clods to the goddesses who
call themselves the Amazons. The
men arc portrayed as jerks. I n short,
the minor characters -- the support
ing cast, if you will -- fall some
where short of human. They arc
not believable people.
Weyr also lends to mention one
subject and, without saying any
thing more, completely describe
another subject. This is not only
confusing, it also is annoying.
Weyr makes a valiant attempt
to make her characters live and
breathe. She comes close to this
goal.
For a first novel, it’s not a bad
book. More than likely, Weyr will
clear up the writing problems she
had with “Pretty Girls” by the
time she finishes her next novel.
Weyr is a 1987 graduate of the
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill. She lives in Philadel
Khia and is reportedly at work on
cr second novel.
THEY GREW UP IN A LIBFRATED WORLD...
TOO TALL, TOO SMART. AND MUCH
TOO VULNERABLE TO SIMPLY BE...
"AN ENORMOUSLYTALENTFD WRITER
— Judith Rossner
^■HSHBEOtk , \'i4
-- ^ Courtesy of Pocket Books
