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Arts & Entertainment 9
I Mass appeal focus of *Ghost9 director
By Julie Naughton
Senior Editor
For many filmmakers, moviemak
ing is a deadly serious business, a
business in which they must struggle
to share their version of art.
Not so for director/producer/writer
Jerry Zucker.
“I don’t see film as an art,” he said.
“I see it more as communication. A
movie isn’t a success until an audi
ence likes it.”
Zucker, director of the top-gross
ing movie “Ghost,” said that some
filmmakers are great artists within
film, but that he’s “a very different
type of filmmaker.”
He said that his films are geared
toward communication, while
filmmakers like Martin Scorsese cre
ate “art on film.” There are advan
tages to both approaches, he said.
“He (Scorsese) doesn’t appeal to
mass audiences the way we (Zucker
and brother David) do,” he said, “but
we don’t get critical acclaim and awards
like he (Scorsese) does.”
Zucker and filmmaker brother
David grew up in Shorewood, Wis., a
suburb of Milwaukee. Both attended
the University of Wisconsin and made
several student films while there.
Their interest in entertaining people
continued after college, and with friend
Jim Abrahams, the Zuckers formed
Kentucky Fried Theatre, a comedy
troupe that first played in the back of
a Madison (Wis.) bookstore. The group
moved to Los Angeles in 1972 and
went on to become the most success
ful small theater group in Los Ange
les history.
Zucker called Kentucky Fried
Theatre “a learning experience.”
“We learned ‘this works, this
doesn’t work,”’ he said. “We learned
how to entertain people.”
From the leftover chicken bones
of Kentucky Fried Theatre came
“Kentucky Fried Movie,” a collec
tion of short parodies.
The next step in Zucker’s career
was the ’80s hit “Airplane,” which he
wrote and directed with David and
Abrahams. Zucker said he did not
expect the film, inspired by disaster
movies of the ’70s, to do as well as it
did.
“People discovered it, just as they
did with ‘Ghost,’” he said. “It was a
surprise, and there’s something won
See ZUCKER on 10
Audiences poor etiquette
disrupts event for everyone
By James Finley
Staff Reporter
Despite all the praise that artists
' have heaped upon the Lied Center,
there has been one common criti
cism: The audiences can create a
disruption for the performers. If this
is noticeable in a hall as large as the
Lied, imagine what it must be like in
small venues like Kimball Hall or
Westbrook recital hall.
According to students and instruc
tors. lack of manners is becoming a
growing complaint at cultural events
on campus. While it is good that stu
dents arc attending these events, many
feel that students need to learn about
audience courtesy before attending
these performances.
One way students can learn cour
tesy and culture is through such courses
as “The Arts Today” and “The Music
Experience.” Ironically, these classes
are often perceived as being the cause
of the problems.
According to Larry Lusk, dean of
the College of Arts and Sciences and
a “The Arts Today” instructor, many
students don’t mean to be rude —
they just don’t know better.
“Lack of preparation or experi
enc% on proper etiquette exists,” he
said, “and perhaps we need to do a
better job of teaching it.”
One senior music education major
agreed.
“I think they try to be considerate
and discreet, and some of them are
intimidated by the experience,” said
music student Rick Peters.
Despite the best intentions of the
teachers and students, some infrac
tions of etiquette occur. People rustl
ing their notebooks, tapping their feet
and leaving while an artist is per
forming arc the most common com
plaints.
According to many of the per
forming faculty, such as Robert Fought,
there are some basic audience rules
that, if followed, will result in a better
experience for everyone involved.
Fought’s suggestions:
1. Be on time for the perform
ance. Enough said. It’s rude to show
up late; it shows a profound lack of re
spect for the performers.
2. Plan on staying for the entire
performance. If you were up there,
would you want people to leave?
3. If you must enter late or leave
early, wait until between pieces or
an intermission. It’s distracting to
walk in or out while a company is
while a musician is playing. Even if
you really don’t like the perform
ance, this is not the time to make a
statement.
“If it really offends you, wait until
intermission and unobtrusively leave,”
said senior music education major
See ETIQUETTE on 10
*
I
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►
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Director/producer/writer Jerry Zucker works on the set of one of his latest movies, “Lame
Ducks.” Zucker is one of the film’s producers.
Behind all the glitter, Townsend’s flick
‘The Five Heartbeats’ lacks structure
By Jim Hanna
Senior Reporter _
The performances are inconsis
tent, the dialogue is sometimes
hackneyed, the music is mediocre
and the theme is unoriginal.
Yet somehow, Robert
Townsend’s new movie “The Five
Heartbeats” is a watchable flick.
Inspired by the rhythm and blues
groups of the ’60s, “The Five
Heartbeats” tells the story of five
friends. who live the dream of
musical success and the nightmares
that come from that success.
This slick-looking movie fol
lows these five friends through three
decades of music-making starting
in 1965. The group’s songwriter
and main driving force is Duck
(Townsend), an idealistic goof who
is far too dedicated to his friends
and who never seems to be un
happy.
The remaining Heartbeats in
clude lead singer Eddie (Michael
Wright), Duck’s womanizing
brother J.T. (Leon), the level-headed
family man Dresser (Harry J. Len
nix), and the naive son of a minis
ter, Choirboy (Tico Wells).
The less-than-innovative plot
details their climb from local tal
ent shows to superstardom, com
“The Five
Heartbeats"
Robert
Tico Wells
Rated R
: 2 1/2
plete with No. 1 songs, gold rec
ords and appearances on magazine
covers.
Along the way, the dynamics of
the group friendships change and
the characters grapple with those
changes. The movie deals less with
group’s rising fame and more with
the altered friendships that go along
with it.
Townsend, who also directed
and co-wrote the movie, has cre
ated a sharp movie that is interest
ing from an aesthetic viewpoint—
i.e., it’s pretty to look at The screen
is always filled with lots of color
and sound and energy.
The problem with the movie is
its skeletal nature. There really isn’t
much substance behind all of the
glitter. The movie, in essence, is a
scries of interesting vignettes that
don’t satisfactorily congeal into a
whole movie.
For instance, there is a very
interesting scene in which the group
is driving through Georgia on its
first road tour. The men are pulled
over by angry, white, racist cops
who give them a hard lime. The
scene is well-done and effective,
but it is never tied into the remain
der of the movie — Townsend
simply plunks this cool scene into
a bunch of other cool scenes with
no connections.
This melange of scenes also adds
a sense of incompleteness to the
storyline. The Heartbeats’ rise to
fame comes from nowhere and
seems to happen too easily. One
day they’re collecting a paltry $100
for a talent show victory — and the
next they’re on the cover of
Newsweek.
The movie also stumbles on
movie cliches about the costs of
success. Is it a surprise to anyone
that one of the group’s members
begins to abuse alcohol and drugs
and ruins his life? Not really.
Townsend seems to be trying too
hard to make very obvious points.
See HEARTBEAT on 10
Falling short of potential
Repetition drowns album’s bayou roots
By Kristie Coda
Staff Reporter_
The Bluerunners had a lot of po
tential, but just didn’t deliver.
The song titles on their self-titled
album seemed to hint at a bluesy
rock, with songs like “Heat Down
Below” and “1 Sho Do.” Unfortu
nately, it was only a lease — the
audience is left wanting.
The Bluerunners’ Lafayette, La.,
roots are evident in their style, which
represents another convert to the back
to-basics trend in rock music today.
Their rockabilly bayou sound is inter
esting and enjoyable in small doses,
but becomes overwhelmingly monoto
nous by the end of the CD.
Liberal use of unusual instruments
The Bluerunners
“The Bluerunners”
Island Records
Rating 2 1/2
Ratings are 1 (bad) to S (oxcollenl).
such as the washboard makes up the
Bluerunners’ unique sound, but their
limited musical range is not enough
to carry them over From being mere
novelty.
The same instrumentation lhal
differentiates this group from others
is also among its drawbacks. Their
press release describes Steve LeBlane’s
accordion style as “bruising polyrhyth
mic delirium.” It would be more
accurately deemed a mind-numbing
staccato nightmare. This incessant
accordion assault detracts much from
music that can’t stand to lose much
more.
The best track on the album is “So
Long Ago,” which is the only one to
really depart from the Blucrunners
formula. It is a refreshing — though
not radical — change of tempo and
style that gives the listener’s ears a
break; unfortunately it appears third
on the album, and there is very little
See BLUERUNNERS on 10
