The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, July 19, 1990, Summer, Page 12, Image 11

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    Summer Movie not worth money
Continued from Page 11 •/
Celtic brogues,” debuted recently on
KUCV and continues Saturdays at 7
p.m.
At 8 p.m. Saturdays, KUCV lis
teners can hear another new show,
“River City Folk,” which features
acoustic and folk music.
OTHER
The Museum ol Nebraska History
will host4 ‘Father Flanagan and Henry
Monsky: Men of Vision” through
July 31. The exhibit will explore the
relations between these two men who
played major roles in the growth of
Boys Town. The exhibition can be
viewed free of charge.
UNL’s Mueller Planetarium is
featuring a new show, “How to Watch
a UFO,” which will run Tuesdays
through Sundays at 2 p.m. until Sept.
2, along with Saturday showings at 3
p.m. Admission is S2.50 for the 35
minute, “multi-media sky program.”
By Mark Georgeff
Staff Reporter
Theaters shouldn’t even take money
from people to watch “RoboCop 2,’ ’
and movie-goers should anticipate
another cynically dark look at the
future, which the low-budgeted
“RoboCop” took care of itself in
1987.
The setting for “RoboCop 2” is
again futuristic Detroit, an insidious
and foreboding final holocaust wait
ing to explode.
Crime, political corruption and a
deadly addictive drug called Nuke
rule and abuse the Detroit citizens
and maybe even this film’s produc
tion team.
But the movie’s setting is the only
resemblance to the original
“RoboCop.” Detroit could have gone
through nuclear meltdown from the
start and spared viewers from suffer
ing the boredom meltdown of
“RoboCop 2.’’
The first film’s production team is
back, except for acclaimed Dutch
filmmaker Paul Verhocvcn, who di
rected Arnold Schwarzenegger’s
“Total Recall’ ’ this summer, and the
original screenwriters.
With director Irvin Kershncr of
“The Empire Strikes Back’’ fame,
the story’s main charactcrs-RoboCop
(Peter Weller) and Officer Lewis
(Nancy Allen)-and the original spe
cial effects team, who have Academy
Awards to their credit, this film se
quel shouldn't worry about not achiev
ing box-office success.
Screenwriter Frank Miller, who
astounded the comic book industry'
with his darkly Gothic rendering of
the psychotic ‘‘Batman/Dark Knight
Returns” saga, lays the foundation
for a script here which might have
sheered the flesh off of the first movie’s
greatness, but doesn’t.
Very few, brief scenes of RoboCop
still struggling with his “Am Iman or
machine?” complex allow Weller to
probe his cyborg-castrated psyche.
The film’s minor characters arc
either retreads from the original film,
whining about their defenseless,
chopped and cropped off RoboCop
hero, or newcomers--bimbos, booz
ers and drug-seduced criminals.
The worst and most tasteless role
goes to 12-year-old Gabriel Damon
as the leader of the powerful drug
gang which puls out the fantasy-in
ducing drug Nuke for Detroit’s starv
ing populace. Yeah, right.
Hard-core movie-goers wouldn’t
expect director Kcrshner to fall so
horribly from his past “Star Wars”
backed grace, but he has.
Many wasted, long, unmoving
stretches of poor film direction and
cinematography forecast commercial
breaks to start up at any time.
There is nothing redeemable,
worthwhile or even mundane to say
about this insipidly moronic version
of a fantasy/sci-fi television movie
not even fit for broadcast.
‘‘RoboCop 2” is showing at the
Plaza 4 Theatres, 201 N. 12lh St.
Television music shows
offer up-close look at stars
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Too old
for head-banging music? Too much
smoke get in your eyes ai rock con
certs? Tired of shelling out the big
bucks for concert tickets only to have
a view that reduces the performer to
the size of a peanut?
Take heart. In the privacy of your
own home there is a way to see some
of the hottest musicians in the busi
ness. Up close. With no special ef
fects. And sans ear-splitting amplifi
cation.
In an industry where folk music
and acoustic guitars are making a
comeback, television, too, has picked
up a softer beat when it comes to rock
V roll.
wne oi me more uniiKciy places to
sec it is on MTV. The music net
work’s “Unplugged,” which airs
Sundays at 11 p.m., offers a mix of
big-name stars and up-and-coming
musicians in a decidedly different
format from its usual flash and fire.
The music is performed live specifi
cally for the program in intimate stu
dio settings. No videos or concert
clips.
“Unplugged,” which debuted in
January, has only one rule: no matter
who you arc, no matter what kind ol
music you play, everything on this
show is acoustic. No amps.
A recent “Unplugged” show fea
turing ex-Eagle Don Henley was so
successful it helped record sales, said
Gcflcn Records spokeswoman Bryn
Bndenthal. “We definitely sec an
impact from the show,” she said.
Showtime’s “Coast to Coast” is
another place to see favorite rockers
up close, without hype and in original
live performances. Unlike “Un
plugged,” Showtime’s program, which
• has no scheduled time slot, docs not
take place in a television studio and
musicians can use all the amplifica
tion they want.
Instead, writer-dircctor-producer
Ken Ehrlich assembles a gathering of
like-minded musicians to play what
ever their hearts desire at various clubs
across the country.
Hosted by Herbie Hancock, the
latest “Coast to Coast” installment
will air Saturday and features a cus
tom-made celebration of jazz, blues
and country music by performers such
as Bonnie Raitt, John Lee Hooker,
Lee Ritcnour, John Hiatt and John
Princ.
Both these shows not only offer a
new formal for old-time rock ‘n’ roll
ers, they also provide an inexpensive
way to boost the image of MTV and
Showtime.
On MiV s Unplugged, which
also has featured sets by Sinead
O’Connor and Elton John, the per
formers work for free. On “Coast to
Coast,’’ they are paid scale-aboul
$250.
By comparison, the televising of
major rock concerts such as Madonna’s
Blonde Ambition on HBO or the
Rolling Stones’ Steel Wheels on Fox
can cost big bucks. MTV doesn’t feel
it’s is worth it.
“The cost of (such) I i ve shows can
be phenomenal,’’ Doug Herzog,
MTV’s senior vice president of pro
gramming, said. “We had looked at
live shows, but everyone docs them '
At Showtime, Ehrlich has been
able to coax some of the most shy
singers in the business to do his show.
A segment featuring Van Morrison, a
well-known hater of live performing,
will air in September.
Ehrlich also is the man whodid the
critically acclaimed “Soundstage”
on PBS-the “granddaddy,” as he
calls it, of up-close music shows.
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(Mfer expires August
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Code 45/20