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
