Plot prevents climb of ‘Jacob’s Ladder’
By John Payne
Senior Reporter
Director Adrian Lyne has a repu
tation for making very stylish movies
that often are equally empty-headed.
The semi-erotic “9 1/2 Weeks,” or
even the ditzy “Flashdance” sure
seemed enticing at First, but proved to
be real yawners. His best effort, “Fatal
Atrraction,” worked not only because
of its taut script, but also because
Lyne held his usually heavy-handed
direction in check.
Lyne’s latest endeavor, “Jacob’s
Ladder,” aspires to be a riveting psy
chological thriller about death and
the afterlife. And once again, the trail
ers for this one sure get your atten
tion. But the problems that plague
this movie — and there arc a lot of
them — go beyond Lyne’s standard
directorial overkill. “Jacob’s Ladder”
is a hopelessly muddled flick that
manages to be more confusing than
compelling.
The “Jacob” in question is a New
York City mailman, named Jacob
Singer (Tim Robbins). Jacob is con
vinced that the angels of death are
calling him. He is nearly run over by •*"
a subway trains and cars filled with
faceless ghosts. Old acquaintances
disappear. Higher forces seem to be
erasing his life little by little.
He is troubled by recurring night
mares about his experiences in Viet
nam, and when daytime hallucina
tions set in, Jacob begins to question
his sanity. Is he losing his mind? Are
these bizarre visions reality or illu
sion?
There are several possibilities that
he considers, the most likely of which
is—are you ready for this?—a batch
of potent LSD whipped up by the U.S.
military and injected into the food
supply of American soldiers to attain
peak fighting performance in the
Vietnam War. The experimental drug,
we are told, was used as an experi
ment on Jacob’s platoon prior to a big
Army offensive.
None of the surviving platoon
members (they all live in Jacob’s
neighborhood, of course) can remem
ber the events of “that night” when \
they unknowingly took the drug. But
one thing’s for sure — they’re all
having the same residual effects. _
The big shift from the spirit world
to the Pentagon comes from out of the
See JACOB on 15
Jacob Singer (Tim Robbin) wigs out in a bathtub in “Jacob’s Ladder.”
«-—----—----:-77. " I
The one that ate L.A.?
Big earthquake exaggerations exist
in upcoming NBC disaster series
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Buy extra
water, hoard some groceries and dive
under your desk. NBC is about to
ravage the nation’s second-largest city
in an upcoming mini-series, “The Big
One: The Great Los Angeles Earth
quake.’’
Just remember, it’s sweeps time.
In the quest lor big ratings, televi
sion’s magnitudc-8 seismic disaster
is far more catastrophic than the real
“big one’’ that the government says is
at least 60 percent likely to rock
Southern California within 30 years.
Modem skyscrapers arc flattened.
Death and destruction arc rampant,
even though scientists and officials
expect most of the city and its resi
dents will survive the real great earth
quake.
The two-part series airs at 8 p.m.
CST Sunday and Monday.
“I don’t think we will ever see the
devastation they depicted in the
movie,’’ said Paul Flores, director of
the Southern California Earthquake
Preparedness Project, part of the state
Office of Emergency Services.
“The concern is that it’s difficult
to sell preparedness when people are
shown that level of devastation. It
leads to fatalism. The public will ask,
‘How do you prepare for something
like that?’”
Lucy Jones, a seismologist at the
U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena,
served as a technical adviser for the
mini-series and also as a model for its
heroine: crusading, quake-predicting
USGS seismologist Claire Winslow,
played by Joanna Kerns of “Growing
Pains.”
“The damage from the earthquake
is awfully extreme. They’ve gone for
the worst possible earthquake,” Jones
said. “It gives the image that in an
earthquake, you’re likely to die.
“The truth is that even in the w orst
ease scenarios, with 10,(X)()or 20,000
people dead, that’s one-tenth of 1
percent of the people in the affected
area. Even in a bad disaster, chances
are you’re not going to die.”
Jones persuaded the mini-series’
makers to tone down some exaggera
tions, but said many of her ob jections
were met by the response, “That’s too
bad, we need that for the dramatic
effect.”
Unfortunately, the movie often lacks
enough drama. It takes all of part one
to reach the brink o! disaster. And the
plot is mucked up by a political assas
sination attempt, a soapopera involv
ing Winslow’s mother and sister, and
what Jones calls “gratuitous sex’
between Winslow and her husband
portrayed by Dan Lauria of ABC’j
“The Wonder Years.”
“The Big One” does have some
redeeming social value. +
II emphasizes the need for citizens
to prepare themselves by learning how
to shut off natural gas lines to their
homes and to assemble quake sup
plies such as water, food, batteries
and flashlights.
Damage to lifelines such as elec
tricity, water lines, phones and trans
portation links is depicted fairly ac
curately.
The movie also illustrates possible
shortcomings of locating Los Ange
les’ emergency operations center four
levels underground and correctly shows
how most citizens must fend for them
selves after a big quake.
But seismologist Claire Winslow
displays absolutely unrealistic cer
tainty in predicting the big quake is
imminent. And an Office of Emer
gency Services official, played by
Joe Spano of “Hill Street Blues," is
unrealistically portrayed as a politi
cal hack trying to muzzle Winslow to
protect a wealthy developer.
Such drawbacks seriously hurt and
oversimplify the depiction of the di
lemma facing officials who must decide
whether to warn the public about very
, uncertain signs that seismic disaster
. might be imminent.
ssseem
Don't miss this light, comic opera
done in the style of the commeciia
dell'arte, sung in English and perfect
for first-time opera goers. Written by
Donizetti and presented by The UNL
School of Music.
——
Friday, Nov. 9th, 8:00 p.m.,
Saturday, Nov. 10th, 8:00 p.m. &
Sunday, Nov. 11th, 3:00 p.m.
Kimball Recital Hall.
Tickets are $10/$8, (students half
price), and are available at the Lied
Box Office or by calling 472-4747.
F lend
Continued from Page 12
Cambridge, Mass. Fiend unveiled
10 original paintings taken from
his 30-picce exhibition “Diary of a
Lunatic,” which was shown earlier
this year at The Powcrhaus in
London and at Ground Zero in
Boston.
Fiend creates all Alien Sex Fiend
record jacket art, and his first oil
painting for “IT: The Album" was
shown in various galleries in the
United Kingdom.
Alien Sex Fiend was bom eight
years ago in a scummy London
nightclub called Thebatcavc. This
was the first performance of the
collective monster. Mad scientists
Nik Fiend and Mrs. Fiend emerged
with the purpose of annihilating
modem music. In the tradition of
gothic horror, the two brought a
nasty combination of The
Munnstcrs, The Cramps, The Mis
fits and Alice Cooper, which cul
minated in the most enjoyable
nightmare.
Alien Sex Fiend has constantly
mutated through each of its II
albums. The band is a force of
contrasts; using experimental sound,
members offer a danceablc music
by cranking heavy, guttural guitars
and hair-splitting synthesizers to a
syncopated beat. Industrial, pop,
rock, psycho-synthesis— all terms
describe the ugly beauty of their
sound.
a icw lacts aoout Alien sex
Fiend:
• Independently released 11
albums, 17 singles and four feature
videos.
• Attained Top 10 Independent
Chart status for each United King
dom release; infiltrated the Na
tional Charts as well as interna
tional alternative, dance and col
lege charts.
• Toured 15 countries, playing
to a total exceeding 400,OCX) people.
• Became first independent band
to tour Japan in 1982.
• Received personal invitation
from Alice Cooper to support his
“The Nightmare Returns” British
lour in 1986.
• Outsold Echo and the Bun
nymen and L.L. Cool J. two to one
in Germany in November of 1987.
• Contributed material for
Granada Television’s newest pro
duction “How to be Cool,” in which
Nik Fiend made his celebrated
screen debut opposite Roger Dal
try (The Who) and Garry Glitter.
Tickets for Alien Sex Fiend arc
the cheapest of any venue on the
tour. They are being sold in Ames
and Sioux City, Iowa, as well as at
Drastic Plastic and Homer’s in
Omaha, and at Project Import and
Pickles in Lincoln. Advance tick
ets arc S10. Tickets at the door will
be SI 1. Only 250 tickets will be
sold.
Nobody w ill be opening for Alien
Sex Fiend. Nobody dares.