Arts & Entertainment
Jack Nicholson has Trouble with film
“Man Trouble”
By Gerry Beltz
Staff Reporter
Even diehard Jack Nicholson fans
will probably find thal“Man Trouble”
(Lincoln 3, 12th and P streets) just
isn’t worth the trouble.
In one ofhisfirstattcmpts in acting
in a straight romantic-comedy,
Nicholson portrays Harry Bliss, a
guard dog trainer who is up to his neck
in marital problems and overdue bills,
just waiting for that “big break.”
Enter Ellen Barkin (“Switch”) as
the “big break.”
She plays a recently divorced op
era singer, named Joan, whose home
recently has been burglarized.
Joan moves into the home of her
sclf-ccntcrcd sister Andy (Beverly
D’Angelo), but is still frightened. She
remembers an advertisement for Bliss’
service, she calls him and POOF! It is
love at first sight for Harry.
From there, the movie becomes
very difficult to describe in terms of
plot and character development be
cause director Bob Rafcison (who
previously directed Nicholson in “Five
Easy Pieces”) never really decides
which way he wants to take the
storyline.
Sometimes the viewer follows a
plot involving a book Andy has writ
ten about a former boyfriend (who is
also a gangster). Other times the
viewer briefly sees the changing lives
of Harry and Joan.
See TROUBLEon 9
Films to compete for awards during I
Sheldons Great Plains Film Festival I
oy <jerry Benz
Staff Reporter
The first annual Great Plains Film
Festival will open at 7 p.m. Thursday
at the Mary Ricpma Ross Film The
ater located in the Sheldon Memorial
Art Gallery.
Featured during the festival arc 34
competition finalists, who will com
pete for nearly S10,000 in cash awards,
and a special posthumous tribute to
Academy Award winning actress
Sandy Dennis.
The festival will run through Aug.
2, screening the finalists in feature
length (more than 30 minutes) dra
mas, feature-length documentaries,
short (less than 30 minutes) films and
videos and films and videos by Native
American artists.
To qualify for the festival, entries
had to be received by June 30th and
were required to originate from the
central United States or the Canadian
Great Plains Region.
The awards ceremony will be held
on Aug. 1 in the Sheldon Gallery, and
all winners will be screened for the
public Aug. 2.
A tribute and special award given
to honor the late Sandy Dennis, who
won an Academy Award for her per
formance in “Who’s Afraid Of Vir
ginia Woolf?” will also be a part of the
festival award ceremonies on Aug. 1.
Dennis was bom and raised in Ne
braska.
Competitors will compete for five
awards: grand prize (given to the film
or video that best reflects the ethnic
heritage of the region); best film or
video by a Native American; best
dramatic feature film or video; best
documentary feature film or video;
and best short film or video.
The festival had an impressive start
with the regional premiere of “Gas
Food Lodging,” directed by finalist
judge Allison Anders about the heart
and strength of three women in the
New Mexico desert.
“Gas Food Lodging” tells the story
of Nora (Brooke Adams), a divorced,
working-class mother who is trying to
raise her two teenage daughters Trudi
(lone Skye) and Shade (Fairuza Balk).
Trudi isa lough-talking monument
to teenage rebellion, doing everything
her mother tells her not to do. She
attempts to hide her true tcenngs ana
dark past with her language and pro
miscuous behavior, but her real feel
ings eventually surface when she
meets and falls for a nice guy named
Hank.
Nora, a waitress at a local truck
stop, is always wanting the best for
her daughters but is frustrated by
Trudi’s disobedience.
Shade, the film’s narrator, is an
adolescent girl who spends much of
her time at the local theater watching
black-and-white Spanish movies, and
wants to find the same romantic love
that she constantly sees on the screen. -
Complete schedules for the festi
val arc available at the Ross theater.
Festival passes, which arc good for
admission to all screenings and spe
cial events including the awards cer
emony, arc $25 and available at the
theater.
Individual tickets for the screen
ings will also be available at the door.
Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for
UNL students and $3 for senior citi
zens, children and members of the
Friends of the Ross Film Theater.
SAN0MAN.
SEASON or MISTS
In Person . . .
Tue1a/ P^y 28
Hol Cf&vtt+Ai*
Writer of SANDMAN. QOOO OMENS. BOOKS OF MAGIC,
and the new SANDMAN oodecBon
SEASON OF MISTS
Jilt 7
Artist on SANDMAN and WONDER WOMAN
#
,v Cosmic Comics MegaStore
Edgawood Plaza
56th & Hwy. 2 - 423-2584
'far and ohm* the matI tmenHie and matt human
comic nf the decade '
Samuel It. IVIany
'(Unman hut IniVHlni. out of whole doth, a mythtdagj
Mot just nf the camlet, hut of t lory letting i tudf '
Frank McConnell
COMMOWEAl MAGAZINE
18 and Older Night at
The Royal Grove
Lincoln's Rock Palace
Thursday Nights 8:30 pm - 1 am
$2 Drink Minimum
Official I.D. Required
340 W. Cornhusker Hwy. _477-2026
