Arts@Entertainment
Seagal action flick has few bright spots
David Badders/DN
“Under Siege”
By Gerry Beltz
Staff Reporter
Some people thought Steven
Seagal couldn’t do it, but others had
faith in him, and it paid off.
He finally starred in a movie that
didn’t have three words in the title.
All kidding aside, “Under Siege”
(Cinema Twin and East Park 3), for
all intents and purposes, also could
have been titled “Die Hard 3: At Sea.”
The soon-to-be decommissioned
USS Missouri is taken over in a com
bined strategy between the corrupt
Commander Krill (Gary Busey, play
ing yet another big-mouthed jerk),
and Strannix (Tommy Lee Jones),
who happens to be the tactical genius
of the two.
They (and their army of cohorts)
kill thp captain, imprison the crew,
and set out to off-load and sell the on
board nuclear missiles.
Ryback (Seagal) is the cook. (Ac
tually, he’s a cook who JUST HAP
PENS to be a highly decorated ex
Navy SEAL who JUST HAPPENS to
be specially trained in firearms, mar
tial arts and explosives.)
Ryback manages to escape the
“group imprisonment” because he is
locked up in a meat locker for demon
strating what constitutes as “striking
an officer” (and subsequently gives
Busey one big honkin’ scar).
Of course he escapes and sets out
to wreak havoc upon the ship by knock
ing down the bad guys with his bare
hands, knives and machine guns (all
armed with one standard Hollywood
never-emptying clip), accompanied
by his sidekick Jordan Tate (Erika
Eleniak, the requisite, R-rated flesh).
Seagal is decent in his portrayal of
Ryback, but this character has just as
much, if not less, depth than the char
acters of his earlier films.
Busey’s character, at the start, has
similarities to the detective he played
in “Point Break,” but eventually dete
riorates into something very predict
able.
Jones is the best part of this movie.
He makes Strannix into a babbling
psychopath who brings a few bright
and humorous spots to the film.
From the “Isn ’ t That... ?” depart
ment, Colm Mcaney (Chief O’Brien
from tclevision’s“StarTrek: The Next
Generation”) and Michael Dcs Barres >
(from television’s “New WKRP In
Cincinnati” and Murdoc on
“MacGy ver”) both have brief parts as
two of the terrorists.
The movie could have made it up
to three reels if Seagal had broken into
a sweat or actually had to replace his
gun clip.
A must-see for the quintessential
Seagal fans, “Under Siege” has a few
good parts, but still may manage to
evoke a yawn or two from the average
action-loving moviegoer.
Delicious comedy delights audience
theater ^
By Stacey McKenzie
Senior Reporter
“Tartuffc,” a French word for
truffles, is a delectable theatrical dish
— right down to the bottom.
The satirical comedy, written by
Moliere in 1664, was put on bril
liantly Saturday nightby the 13-mcm
ber cast at Howell Theatre in the
Temple Building.
The plot swirls around the creamy
center — Tartuffc, played marvel
ously by Craig Holbrook.
Tartuffc is moved by the ways of
the Lord. He serves as the spiritual
counselor to Orgon, played by Michael
Solomonson.
But Tartuffe is an imposter and a
hypocrite out to acquire Orgon’s
wealth and wife.
“I may be pious, but I’m still a
man,” Tartuffe says to Orgon’s wife,
Elmirc, played by Sharon Bigelow.
Most everybody — the maid, the
wife, the kids and the brother-in-law
— knows Tartuffe is a fraud.
But Orgon is oblivious. He’s com
pletely duped by Tartuffc’s vigor for
religion.
Musical interludes with the actors’
humorous pitter-patter going on in the
low- lights give the aud icncc a breather
from thcongoing rhythmic and rhym
ing dialogue.
Solomonson was splendid as
Orgon. His rows with the maid,
Flipotc, played by Schann Kucera,
were full of funny goodies.
“I can’t think why we keep that
monster on,” he says of Flipotc.
Flipotc Hits about between the pil
lars and over the chessboard-style
floor, trying to save Orgon’s daugh
ter, Marianc, from being betrothed by
her father uTTartuffe.
Mariane, played by Jennifer
Walker, is in love with Valcrc. She
feigns suicide if she can’t marry
Valcre.
Flipotc tries to save her, taunting
Orgon with every word she can mus
ter.
Orgon, who screws up his face in
frustration, says,“It’s maddening, I’ve
got to hit her.”
Directed by Alex Gclman, an as
sistant professor of theater, Tartuffc
deserves extra commendation for the
little things: the smoking oven,
Flipote’s adept shuffling of props,
Orgon’s nervous Finger-ticking and
Tartuffc’s playful sandwich and apple
munching.
There ,are more opportunities to
check this smoothie out.
“Tartuffc” plays at 8 p.m. Wednes
day through Sunday at Howell.
New album by railure proves to be just that
Ka/yUn/sj,
Failure
“Comfort”
Slash Records
Failure, which formed in June 1990,
originated in Los Angeles, but the
sound on its CD, “Comfort,” is dis
tinctly Scalllc-influcnced.
Ever since Nirvana rose to popu
larity last spring with its loose-edged
approach to rock, a whole generation
of similar MTV rock bands have ap
peared.
This could be a good thing — all
music takes its inspiration from some
where.
The 10-track CD is a distinctly
unoriginal offering for disenchanted
youth to slam-dive to.
Unfortunately, Failure fails to do
anything different from what has al
ready been done before.
Failure is a three-piece band that
would benefit from the addition of
another guitar. It sccmsas if the band’s
members arc trying to give them
selves a fuller sound by blurring parts
of their songs together.
The band demonstrates a dislike
for clarity. Song after song, the fuzzy
Nirvana-type guitar leads turn into
droning power-chord sequences, with
the drums and bass pounding out
rhythms in the background.
Over this the singer makes almost
unintelligible noises. All that is leftby
Failure is to merge it all together —
leading to a further loss of clarity.
A second guitar would also pro
vide a background during solo breaks,
which sound weak despite the compc
Courtesy of Slash Records
Failure is from left, Ken Andrews, Robert Gauss and Greg Edwards.
tent playing of singer-guitarist and
front man, Ken Andrews.
The bands’ lyrics also fail to be
different. Song titles include: “Sub
mission,’’“Macacquc,’’“Pro-catastro
phe” and “Salt Wound.”
Dominance and pseudo-violence
arc key themes, as in the introduction
lo “Pro-catastrophe.”
“I do believe it’s coming/Don t
dread its approach/The only problem
I might have/is that I hope lo see it/
Could start with an invasion/... I want
to see some blood.”
With the current level of popular
ity of this type of lyric and this style of
rock music, Failure may yet find itself
a market. However, “Comfort” is
unlikely to be the CD that makes its
name. p
The band desperately needs to find
something that is distinctly its own
and not merely a variation on every
one else.
-Matthew Grant
Unique vocals,
driving guitars
save unoriginal
debut release
_]
“New Miserable Experience”
Gin Blossoms
A&M Records
On their debut effort titled “New
Miserable Experience,” newcom
ers the Gin Blossoms have at
tempted a straight-ahead rock sound
to alternative music — a sound
reproduced a seemingly infinite
number of times by local bands
nationwide.
The exception here is that “New
Miserable Experience” works by
incorporating a driving electric and
acoustic guitar sound with an un
usual blend of mandolin, accor
dion and piano. The end result is a
fast-paced, 12-song set that echoes
the works of Matthew Sweet and
The Connells.
The album opens with the tunc
“Lost Horizons,” a guitar-filled,
up-tempo number that starts things
off on solid ground.
“Hey Jcalousy”and “Mrs. Rita”
follow with equal intensity and style
that finds the listener searching for
some much-needed diversitv.
Southern folk goes alternative
on “Cajun Song” with several ac
cordion and acoustic guitar breaks
on a bouncy tunc that breaks the
electric guitar monotony.
Side two opens,quitcdisappoini
ingly, in the same fashion as side
one, and offers nothing new to the
listener.
“Allison Road,” “Pieces of the
Night”and “29”continue side two,
with a country-csquc song called
“Cheatin’” ending the album in a
fashion that should have been used
throughout the entire set.
Complete with steel pedal gui
tar and every country lyric clichd,
“Cheatin’” is one of the few truly
original songs from “New Miser
able Experience.”
Though not a classic alternative
album, this quintet out of Tempe,
Ari/.., has turned in a fair effort
with “New Miserable Experience.”
Shoppers should take heed that
after a first listen to the album, this
review might seem a bit harsh. But
in the end, the only place you’ll
find this album is on a fixed spot on
your CD shelf to be lost in the
shuffle.
-Michael Lehr
