ArtsSEntertainment
Holidays mark high point for moviegoers
New releases should
make up for 1992’s
many disappointments
By Gerry Beltz and Anne Steyer
Staff Reporters
Winter break gives students a chance to
catch their breath from far too much school
work in the fall semester, time to party their
brains out, time to celebrate being home with
their families for the holidays.
The time off also gives moviegoers a break
in entertainment choices as well. Some of the
most promising films of the year will be re
leased in the last three weeks of December —
in time for the holidays and in time for Oscar
consideration.
All in all, the following holiday picks should
be a nice respite from all the crap released
during the rest of 1992.
“A Few Good Men” Can’t-miss director
Rob Reiner (“This is Spinal Tap,” ‘The Prin
cess Bride,” “Misery”) brings Aaron Sorkin’s
highly successful play to the silver screen,
complete with an all-star cast and no-holds
barred publicity.
Starring powerhouse Jack Nicholson as Col.
Nathan Jessup and Tom Cruise as hot-shot
attorney Daniel Kaffee. They go head-to-head
in a courtroom over the murder of a young
Marine in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
With Demi Moore as a brash officer from the
Judge Advocate General’s Office who spurs
Cruise on, Kiefer Sutherland as a “my country
or death” commanding officer and supporting
players Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollock and James
Marshall, this is a can’t-miss film.
“Peter’s Friends” Kenneth Branagh di
rects and stars in this dramatic comedy written
by stand-up comedian Rita Rudner. Rudner co
stars, as does Branagh’s wife, actress Emma
Thompson.
The buzz has been really good on this pic
ture, and if one can be judged by previous work
— “Henry V” and “Dead Again” stand up well
— it should be a great movie.
“Toys” Director Barry Levinson leaves pe
riod pieces behind in this semi-contemporary
film about a family of toymakers whose father’s
company has been taken over by an un-fun
uncle.
Robin Williams and Joan Cusack star as the
silly, but charming siblings, and the “Princess
Bride” Robin Wright as Williams’ wacky love
interest.
Levinson is a wonderful director, always
capable of touching the human element in his
characters and plucking the emotional strings
of his audiences. Williams is continually a
delight, and “Toys” should be no exception.
“Hoffa” Jack Nicholson starsin the title role
in Danny DeVito’s epic about the man behind
the name. (Or in the cement shoes, if you
subscribe to that.)
The prosthetics on Nicholson make his re
semblance to the real Hoffa more pronounced.
As said before, Nicholson is a powerhouse.
Noth ing he has done is bad, not even “The Two
Jakes” or “Ironweed.”
DeVito has shown prowess before with the
darker side of life, especially in “The War of the
Roses.” This film promises a gritty look at
organized crime, with a more human look into
the character of one of the mob ’ s most infamous
players.
“Damage” Jeremy Irons (“Reversal of For
tune”) stars as Stephen, a prominent politician
in England who is merely a bystander in his
dreary life and bland marriage.
He strikes up a torrid love affair with his
son’s girlfriend Anna (played by Juliette
Binoche), and the film’s numerous wild (and
rough) sex scenes between the two has saddled
“Damage” with an NC-17 rating.
Director Louis Malle (“AUantic City”) has
brought some wonderful and powerful imagery
to the screen in the past, and he looks to do it
again.
“Used People” Featuring a potent cast that
includes Shirley Maclaine, Kathy Bates and
Marcello Mastroianni, “Used People” looks to
be the comedic, heart-tugger for the holiday
season.
Mastroianni plays romantic widower Joe
who has been chasing the cantankerous Pearl
(Maclaine) for the past 23 years, but her mar
riage has halted his efforts.
However, on the day of her husband’s fu
neral, he asks Pearl out on a date, and the two
take it from there.
Other impressive cast members in the film
include Jessica Tandy, Sylvia Sidney and Marcia
Gay Harden as Pearl’s gloomy daughter who
enjoys dressing up as movie stars from the
1960s. •
“Forever Young” A romantic story set in
1939 with a smattering of science fiction thrown
in.
Mel Gibson portrays a test pilot suffering
from a broken heart because his love (Isabel
Glasser) is in a coma after a car accident. He
asks a scientist buddy (George Wendt) to put
him in a deep freeze, with hopes of seeing her
after he is thawed out one year later.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t thaw out for 53
years, and he is discovered by a young boy
(Elijah Wood from “Radio Flyer”). The boy
and his mother (Jamie Lee Curtis) help the
confused, freshly thawed man readjust to a new
world and search for his lost love.
“Leap Of Faith” Actors who turned down
the role of Jonas Nightengale, a con artist/
evangelist, included Patrick Swayze and
Michael Keaton. However, Steve Martin
stepped into the role, and it took off from there.
Jonas Nightengale brings his Gospel choir
and handmade miracles to a small town in
Kansas to make a quick buck, but finds more
than he planned for when his cynical business
manager (Debra Winger) falls for the local
sheriff (played by Liam Necson), and Jonas
undergoes a virtual emotional rebirth when he
bumps into a long-lost girlfriend (Lolita
Davidovich from “Raising Cain”).
With a talented performer such as Martin in
a role like this, it looks to be a hoot.
“Trespass” Originally titled “The Looters”
and slated for a summertime release date, it
became a victim of the L.A. riots. It was pulled
from its May release slot and retitled.
Bill Paxton (“Aliens”) and William Sadler
(“Die Hard 2: Die Harder”) star as two crooked
firefighters who unintentionally force two gang
members (rappers Ice-T and Ice Cube) into
protecting their turf.
■ . -- '■ .■ ■ .. \
Melissa Etheridge tours
to promote third album,
performs in Music Hall
From Staff Reports _
Rockin’ blues guitarist/vocalist Melissa
Etheridge will shake Omaha’s Music Hall
Saturday evening.
Etheridge, a Leavenworth, Kan., native,
is touring in support of her third Island
Records release, “Never Enough.”
Her first two albums, “Melissa Etheridge”
and “Brave and Crazy,” were popular with
critics and music fans alike. The self-titled
album included such singles as “Bring Me
Some Water” and “Like the Way I Do.”
“Ain’t It Heavy,” the bluesy first single
off “Never Enough,” is full of the searing
guitar and provocative lyrics for which
Etheridge is known.
Etheridge branches out with her latest
release into the areas of danceable rock with
the electric “2001”and the hard-edged “Must
Be Crazy for Me.”
Reserve tickets for the 8 p.m. show are
$18.75 and $22.75 and available through
TicketMastcr outlets.
Courtesy ot W F Leopold Management
Melissa Etheridge
Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
Danny DeVito and Jack Nicholson (abole) star in the DeVito-directed “Hoffa.”
Robin Williams (below) portrays a toymaker who must save his father’s
factory from his demented uncle in “Toys.”
What ensues is a deadly war that tears
through an abandoned factory with bullets and
explosions galore.
Directed by Walter Hill (“48 Hours”), this
looks to be a white-knuckler from start to finish.
“Chaplin” Robert Downey Jr. gets the role
of a lifetime as Tinseltown’s favorite son,
Charlie Chaplin.
Oscar-winning director Richard
Attenborough, who brought “Gandhi” to life,
fought long and hard to bring this story to the
screen, including squeezing the $30 million
dollar budget from Hollywood’s tight wallet.
It boasts an all-star cast, including Kevin
Kline, Dan Aykroyd, Diane Lane, Penelope
Ann Miller and Chaplin’s own daughter,
Geraldine.
Both “Chaplin” and “Hoffa” have been
highly anticipated screen biographies by mov
iegoers and are sure to be hot box-office draws.
“Lorenzo’s Oil” In a serious heart-grabber
from director George Miller, “Lorenzo’s Oil”
is based on a true story of A ugusto and M ichaela
Odonc (portrayed by Nick Nolle and Susan
Sarandon), two parents who waged a coura
geous battle to save their son from a rare genetic
disease.
Although it probably won’t get to Lincoln
until sometime in January, it has had limited
release in New York and Los Angeles, and both
Noltc and Sarandon could be nominated for
Oscars for their roles in the film.
“Scent of a Woman” Screen legend A1
Pacino plays a resentful blind man who is left
in the dubious care of a 17-year-old (Chris
O’Donnell) for Thanksgiving weekend.
During filming, Pacino reportedly enduced
himself into a hypnotic-like trance for his role,
and after filming was complete, told O’ Donnell
that even though he didn’t see O’Donnell’s
performance, he was sure it was great.
Pacino is also a Oscar nomination hopeful.
Mercy Rule, Ritual Device
to perform at all-ages show
By Bryan Peterson
Staff Reporter
Two bands will play at the Red and Black
Cafd, 1819 O St., Saturday night in one of
several concerts during this busy week.
Mercy Rule will open at 10 p.m. and will be
followed by Omaha’s Ritual Device*
Tim Moss, vocalist for Ritual Device, said
the band preferred playing all-ages shows and
would try to play more ot them in the future.
“We like playing the bars in Lincoln, but too
many people arc looking at their drinks,’’ Moss
said.
An active singer who often leaps into the
crowd during songs, Moss added, “We can’t
play unless we’re having fun.”
Ritual Device will have a single available in
laic January called “Charlie Jones.” The band
will be recording al Sieve Albini’s studio in
Chicago after Christmas and hopes to release an
album by spring.
Michelle Muhs, a collective member at the
Red and Black Cafe, said ihe cafe hosted con
certs every weekend.
“On the weekend, a lot of the music played
here is alternative and hardcore,” she said.
The cafe also has blues nights and open
microphone nighis during the week.
Bridget Pilloud-Stricklin, another collec
tive member of the cafe, said the Red and Black
Cafe did not make a lot of money from the
concerts, although alternative bands tended to
draw al least twice as many people as folk
bands.
“We usually have a younger crowd until the
bars close,” Pilloud-Stricklin said. “Until then,
it is the only place for younger people.”
The cover for Saturday’s concert will be $2
or $3.
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