Zucker
Continued from Page 9
derful about that.”
Also with David and Abrahams,
Zucker wrote and directed “Airplane,”
“Police Squad!,” “Kentucky Fried
Movie” and “Top Secret” and di
rected “Ruthless People.”
The Zuckers’ moviemaking con
tinued — in 1986, they formed Zucker
Brothers Productions.
Zucker said his relationship with
David has been an important part of
his career. Although the brothers many
times disagree on an approach, they’re
civil about it.
“We’re not rolling around on the
floor about it, like we did when we
were kids,” he said.
The brothers may have different
approaches, but their similar sense of
comedy has aided their working rela
tionship, he said.
“We definitely have a similar sense
of humor,” Zucker said. “We have
since we were kids. We have differ
ent interests in and out of the movies,
but we connect on our sense of hu
mor. Our comedies reflect that.”
Zucker has two movies to be re
leased this summer: “Naked Gun 2 1/
2:The Smell of Fear,” on which he
served as co-executive producer, and
“Lame Ducks,” on which he served
as a producer. He worked with David
on both.
“Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of
Fear” continues the story of Lt. Frank
Drebin, the irreverent cop of the 1988
comedy “The Naked Gun: From the
files of Police Squad!”
“Lame Ducks” is a “chaotic con
temporary comedy” in the tradition
of the Marx Brothers and The Three
Stooges, Zucker said. The film tells
the story of three oddballs who unex
pectedly meet when a wealthy woman
enlists their help to fulfill her late
husband’s dream of founding a ballet
company.
Both films allow Zucker’s love for
slapstick comedy to shine through.
Zucker said he has always enjoyed
“the zaniness of it, the surprise of it.”
Although most of Zucker’s films
have been comedies, he also directed
the serious, ethereal “Ghost,” nomi
nated fora 1991 Academy Award for
Best Picture.
But even the solemn “Ghost,” about
the murder of a stockbroker and his
quest to keep his artist girlfriend safe
from the person that murdered him,
was infused with characteristic Zucker
comedy.
This was especially apparent in
the character of Oda Mae Brown
(Whoopi Goldberg), the offbeat psy
chic who helps the murdered Sam
Wheat (Patrick Swayze) protect his
girlfriend, Molly Jensen (Demi Moore).
Goldberg’s moments of breezy, audi
ence-oriented humor in the midst of
death added to the film’s wide ap
peal.
Zucker said that he was “looking
for a good movie” when the opportu
nity to do “Ghost” came along.
“I wasn’t looking for a comedy or
a drama, or whatever,” he said. “I was
just looking for a good movie.”
Zucker said that “Ghost” was a
new experience for him. It was Zucker’s
first drama and the first film he’d
made without David.
“I was familiar with the job,” he
said. “But I think the important thing
for the director to do is to really love
the script and have a vision — that
was something I had in ‘Ghost.’ I
really loved ‘Ghost,’ and I under
stood it. It was a challenge.”
Zucker said that although he thought
the film had a shot at “being big,” its
grosses were beyond his expectations.
The film grossed more than S203
million in 1990 alone.
“We (Zucker and ‘Ghost’ screen
writer Bruce Joel Rubin) crossed our
fingers and held our breath when it
was released,” he said. “But it wasn ’t
a huge surprise to us when it was
successful.”
Zucker was reluctant to name a
favorite movie, but when pressed,
said that “Ghost” was his most satis
fying project.
“Ghost was wonderful,” he said.
“Airplane” also was very satisfying
“because it was the first film and
because no one expected anything
from it.”
Directing is Zucker’s favorite part
of moviemaking. Although it is a
“grueling” job at times, he said the
rewards outweigh the demands.
“The diversity of filmmaking
appeals to me,” he said. “Unlike other
professions, you’re not doing the same
thing every day. ... If I had to pick
one (aspect), directing, because di
recting is the most diverse of all_
There s a little bit of everything in it.
“And I enjoy shaping movies.”
_nggggim
Presenting “The Five Heartbeats" (left to right): Michael Wright (Eddie), Leon (J.T.), Robert
Townsend (Duck), Harry J. Lennix (Dresser) and Tico Weils (Choirboy). Townsend co-wrote,
directed and was executive producer of the musical comedy-drama.
Heartbeat
Continued from Page 9
The movie is best when it just
allows the audience to watch with
out teeling manipulated. 1 ne good
scenes, like those when the Heart
beats perform, are good primarily
because they’re filled with fun and
not with gimmicks.
So “The Five Heartbeats” is a
run, gooa-iooKing movie mai is
hollow at points and thus is only
slightly recommendable.
“The Five Heartbeats” is play
ing at the Cinema 1 & 2, 201 N.
13th St.
Etiquette
Continued from Page 9
Bill Maltas.
4. Realize that for some classes,
students have to write a critique or
report on a performance. They have
to take notes. When doing this, take a
small notebook, take sketchy notes
and don’t flip pages during a quiet
moment in the performance.
5. At a concert, no matter how
catchy or rhythmic the work is,
NEVER, EVER tap your feet. This
distracting for both the performers
and the audience.
Getting students to participate in
the arts is one of the goals of a liberal
ans university and UNL is no differ
ent in this goal. Students should take
advantage of the arts opportunities
open to them, but not at the expense
of the enjoyment of others.
Bluerunners
Continued from Page 9
in the way of aural reprieve in the rest
of the album.
The Bluerunners don’t demonstrate
the kind of musicianship needed to
make this record a winner. Their
drummer probably wasn’t even needed,
as a rhythm machine program on a
cheap Casio keyboard would have
sufficed to cover the kind of simple,
unchanging beat they arc so fond of.
Every song is a thinly disguised re
hash of the last, and you really only
need to listen to a quarter of the songs
on the album to know whai The Blu
crunncrs are about.
Frankly, this album was a disap
pointment. It promised much in the
First few cuts and then contented it
self with churning out the same sound
on all of the other tracks.
It seems that The Bluerunners
haven’t yet realized the difference
between consistency of style and cheap
repetition.
This alburn is worth a listen if you
don’t have to pay for it, but musically
it is a flawed endeavor. They just
don’t have the variety to keep a lis
tener’s attention. Instead, one just
hopes for the end. The Bluerunners
need to mature musically and stylisti
cally if they hope to be successful.
Slack truths revealed
Mythic ‘Bob’ exalted in ‘Tales’
By Bryan Peterson
Staff Reporter
Three-Fisted Tales of “Bob”
Reverend Ivan Stana, ed.
Fireside Books (Simon and
Schuster)
Somewhere in the dark and dank
bowels of Dallas, The Church of the
SubGenius still calls out to listeners
over AM radio and through back
page ads in obscure magazines.
The teachings of pipe-smoking holy
man and all-around big guy “Bob”
Dobbs were collected in “The Book
of the SubGenius,” a boggling me
lange of graphics, rants, conspiracy
theories and 1950s clip-art collages
that spreads the message of Slack.
Not only Slack, but cattle mutila
tions, “pyrollatulation,” “excrcmcdi
tation” and the “prcscripturcs” arc all
explained, or at least they arc dis
cussed.
Now, perhaps to further confuse
initiates, Fireside Books has unleashed
“Three-Fisted Talcs of ‘Bob’: Short
Stories in the SubGenius Mylhos,” a
collection of 27 pieces celebrating
the mythic “Bob” Dobbs in prose,
dramatic and artistic form.
The pages arc dotted with die names
of familiar figures from all over the
underground. From cyberpunk circles,
Lewis Shiner and John Shirley come
forth with stories, two of the best in
the collection.
Conspiracy aficionado Robert
Anton Wilson gives a taste of his
twisted webof reasoning, a taste vivid
enough to leave the reader wondering
whether there just might be some
- it
Where else could one
hope to discover that
‘pinks’ is a corruption
of the Sub Genius term
‘Pink Boys, ’ a reference
to any sheeplike
status quo normalcy
dupe, living in terror of
making his or her own
decisions..
-f t -
thing to it all after all.
DEVO vocalist Mark Molh
ersbaugh brings both words and pic
tures, and long-umc undergrounder
William S. Burroughs has reprinted a
caustic piece of his criticism.
Elsewhere among the talcs arc all
manner of revelations about “Bob”
and his past, the impending “Xist”
takeover and a description of “Bob”’s
meeting with “God,” in which “Bob’
must pass a 20-question quiz to get
his Prophet’s License renewed.
It goes something like this:
“A fish is to water as the mind is to
...?”
“Um... information?”
“No. Falsehood. One wrong. What
do all the evils in the world have in
common?”
“They’re all necessary ones.”
“Correct. And who commits them?”
“Everyone?”
“No. Everyone else. Two wrong.”
And so it goes, ending in a self
referential tangle that makes reading
the rest of the book seem rather moot.
Bui rejoice, brethren and sistrcn: “Bob”
passed the quiz.
The final and almost-longest of
these tales, ‘“Bob’ and the Oxygen
Wars,” is also one of the most engag
ing in the collection.
In this combination of fiction and
conspiracy, the reader is told The
Real Story on free energy sources, the
use of liquid electricity in fitting
forest fires, and the use of ol^gcn
therapy in curing almost any disease.
In fact, the secrets revealed in this
book are too numerous and too valu
able to reveal in their entirety. Verily,
the reader of this review should avail
him-/hcrsclf of the opportunity to
discover the truths known only to
“Bob."
Lo, some background history and
terminology may be beneficial and
can be found in “The Book of the
SubGcnius.”
Where else could one hope to dis
cover that “pinks" is a corruption of
the SubGcnius term “Pink Boys," a
reference to “any sheeplike status quo
normalcy dupe, living in terror of
making his or her own decisions,
usually possessed of an unusually
‘blank’ physical expression, charac
terized by mental temerity masked by
physical self-assurance?"
Buy now, and learn about Zom
bies for “Bob," The Conspiracy and
its Dupes, False Slack, and the prog
eny of human-Yeti matings before it
is too late!
“Act like a dumbshit and they’ll
tre?t you like an equal."
-“Bob,” from the Economicon
(4:18)
