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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 1990)
Arts & Entertainment Burial befits King’s ‘Graveyard Shift’ Jason Reed (Jonathan Emerson) gets a bit startled in Stephen King’s “Graveyard Shift." By Jeffrey Frey Staff Reporter For some reason, Stephen King stories never translate well into Stephen King movies. There were a couple of notable exceptions like “The Shin movit> ing” in 1980, and “Stand By Me” in 1986. Other than that, movies based on King’s novels have typically been very, very bad. And now there is another, and this one docs nothing to break with the tradition concerning movfes based on Stephen King stories. Based on a short story from the 1978 collection, “Night Shift,” the latest Stephen King excursion into horror, “Graveyard Shift,” has little to do with horror at all. “Graveyard Shift” is a horror movie without any thing squeamish or scary about it. Attempts are made at “grossing out” — these efforts have little effect and are of ten funny. Y et alter the I irst tew attempts, they become consistently boring. “Graveyard Shift” concerns Gates Falls, a small, isolated town in Maine (every Stephen King story involves a small town in Maine, in one form or another). The Gates Falls main source of employment is a textile mill — Bachman Mills—which has been re opened with a cluttered, decrepit basement that will have to be cleaned out for the company’s expansion. In the years since the closure of the Bachman Mills, the site has fallen into decay and has become a breeding home for rats. After the mill resumes operations, a group of workers are selected by the mill’s tyrannical fore man, Warrick (Stephen Macht), to clean the basement. One of those chosen is drifter John Hall (David Andrews), who has wandered into Gates Falls looking for employment. He’s a quiet, introverted man who says little aside from the See GRAVE on 14 -h Asimov’s latest delivers; ‘Nemesis’ intricate classic By Bryan Peterson Staff Reporter “Nemesis” By Isaac Asimov Bantam Books Isaac Asimov’s newest novel is the latest in a lengthy line of science fiction classics. “Nemesis” is the first new world created by Asimov since 1972’s “The Gods Themselves,” which won both the Hugo and Nebula awards. “Nemesis” has garnered much praise from science fiction writers, those in literary circles and even from The Omaha World-Herald. This is to be expected, as Asimov is America’s most prolific author with nearly 450 books spanning a variety of genres to his credit. In 1987, he was named a grand master b> the Science Fiction Writers of America, testimony to his great influence upon the world of science fiction. With such a background, the reader expects much from Asimov’s newest, and he delivers. As with the best science fiction, fulurisuc elements play only one of many parts in the book. Asimov has presented a number ol complex characters and a fine ploi whose several strands are woven together only in the last 20 pages. If there is a weakness in the book, it is the ending. It is tight and com plete, but everything falls together almost too quickly after a nearly 400 page buildup. “Nemesis” is an intricate work. The geography of the book (involv ing the sun Nemesis, which is circled by the planet Erythro which is orbited by a satellite which is itself circled by the colony Rotor) is matched in complexity by its human relations. Fifteen-year-old Marlene Fisher is at the center of the story. She is a young woman who docs not quite read minds, but nearly docs so by carefully watching body movements. Her unyielding revelations of peoples’ true intentions play a key role and bind the rest of thccharactcrs together: her separated parents, local government figures and an array of scientists and explorers. All of these people have expecta tions and plans for Marlene, but she will not be controlled. The planet Erythro turns out to be a living organ ism with a protective affection for Marlene, whose brain is the only one it can communicate with. Erythro calls Marlene to its sur face and watches over her, and she in See ASIMOV on 15 Senator's songs show promise, hut ‘Criminal' nothing special By Jeffrey Frey Staff Reporter Senator Flux “The Criminal Special” Emergo Records From the very start, the mem bers of Senator Flux write good, solid songs while displaying an impressive variety of instruments. The songs that comprise “The Crimi nal Special” show a great deal of promise on the part of this Wash ington-based band, but the album as a whole does little to take leaps above mediocrity. With this project, Senator Flux merely contributes to an already bloated mediocre market. Never theless, some of the selections from this album have all of the indica tions that this band has the poten tial to carve out a distinctive style. Senator Flux, while relying a great deal on vocals, uses such instruments such as tenor, C-mcl ody and soprano saxophone as well as oboe and organ, but only as a subtle bac kdrop for the i r bas ic roc k ‘n’ roll sound. Four of the five band members share the vocal duties, and it’s amaz ing that none of them can sing. This is the most distinctive draw back to their music. The instru ments arc played exceptionally well, when they can be heard. For all but two of the 10 songs on ‘The Crimi nal Special,” the lyrics are com posed and arranged by guitarist Jeff Turner—somewhat of a meta physical poet wannabe. Thv - itcct is a mixture of intriguinn and often comcdic lyrics which uo what the music often is not allowed: to lake charge and make the songs likeable. On “The Combine,”and ‘‘Testi monial,” saxophonist David Lev ine owns up to the fact that he can’t sing, and instead docs an imposing and incessant chant. It’s in these two songs that Turner’s philosophi cal observations and his skewed replies arc most prominent. How ever, it’s also these two songs which arc the most notably lacking of the impressive musical qualities that Senator Flux is capable of creat ing. “Great Sloth Heart," and “Fal leness,” are catchy, danceable pop songs. The songs are rich with the subUeticsof the horn section, while never becoming overpretentious. The guitars and percussion retain the same modesty, but arc restrained solely for the purpose of placing emphasis on the vocals. Other songs on this album have little variation and arc often bor ing. “United States Of Amnesia,” “Before The Sun,” and “Somnia” arc barely discernible from one another; they arc composed and performed well, yet there is simply nothing remarkable or fresh about the sound the band has created with these compositions. “TheCriminal Special” isan al bum that, while being basically av erage, showcases the promising future of a band with potential. Senator Flux deserves to be lis tened to because of their musical abilities. Their latest release, how ever, docs not take full advantage olThcsc abilities, and it is only on a few of the songs that the band proves their ability to create a dis tinctive and likeable sound. Flashy ZZ Top concert entertaining, refreshing By Michael Deeds Senior Editor Wilh all ihc live gimmickry — ihe shades, the beards, ihc lasers, the matching suits, the MTV babes and the“Rccyclcr” stage setting—Texas titans ZZ Top must have considered the risk of overdoing it on this tour. On the other hand, such worries proba bly never grace the minds of those so cool. ZZ Top left no doubt Friday night that they arc the coolest band in the world,especially to the 12,(XX)people crammed into a sold-oul Omaha Civic Auditorium. The performance was as much a show as a concert, and as silly as some of the tricks were, they were incredibly entertaining. And most importantly, the shenanigans never overshadowed the classic music, which was delivered wilh a slick ’90s punch. From the depths of a junkyard complete with mashed 3-D cars and a giant crane, beard brothers Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill pranced out to the beat ol beardless Frank Beard. The duo immediately trounced the crowd with synchronized motions coiy^rt~ performed on conveyor bells running in opposite directions. Gibbons and Hill walked toward each other on the treadmills, never moving, then stopped and let the belts carry them to each side of the stage. Such style dominated the show and drew a constant barrage of cheers from the auditorium crowd. ZZ Top performed about 20 tunes during the 90-minutc set, recycling older songs from the “Fandango!"era all the way up to “Rccycler days. Standards like “Blue Jean Blues" and “Jesus Just Left Chicago” were just as great as ever. Gibbons and Hill have the same vocal soul they were blessed with years ago, and Gibbons’ guitar playing accentuates it perfectly. It’s no secret that Gibbons has influ enced plenty of guitarists today, and he reminded everybody why that is on muay wun cnunky, tearing ruts. The band cranked out the MTV standards from “Eliminator” — “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Legs,” “Gimme All Your Lovin’” — which served as a premonition of the models to grace the stage. A ftcr a fi vc m in utc break i n which a giant crane picked up Gib bons and Hill, dropped them into a “rccyclcr” and regurgitated them in new red suits, the hard-halted, short shorted babes appeared, dancing at the duo’s sides. And, no, this was still not loo much. This was a stage show, Texas-style. But the highlights of the night re mained the down and dirty tunes, plain and simple. A sing-along of “Tube Snake Boogie” was a friendly gesture from the band, and "I Heard it on the X” and the encore perform ance of “Tush” couldn’t be rivaled. Ultimately, ZZ Top was a refresh ing show. It isn’t often a person gets to see such a phenomenal force of blues-rock, and when it’s on this size scale, it is truly awesome. About 12,(XX) Nebraskans probably haven’t shaven since Friday. Anne DaFraln Dally NabraaFan