ARTS^ENTERTAINMENT J2&&SZ.
Movie’s plot
not ‘Brief’
but complex
“The Pelican Brief"
By Joel Strauch
Senior Reporter
“The Pelican Brief,” the newest
film adaptation of a John Grisham
novel, tries too hard to follow the
book, leaving filmgoers who haven’t
read the novel in the dark.
The story begins with the murder
of two Supreme Court justices. The
CIA, FBI and every police depart
ment in the nation are baffled and arc
unable to find any worthwhile leads.
A Tulanc law student. Darby Shaw
(Julia Roberts), uncovers an unlikely
suspect by researching possible con
nections between the two justices.
Shaw compiles her theory into the
Pelican Brief, which she shows to her
professor and lover Thomas Callahan
(Sam Shepard). Fie thinks it has some
merit, and he gives it to a friend in the
FBI.
The brief gets passed up through
the ranks until it reaches someone
who doesn’t want the information re
vealed. Callahan is killed in a car
explosion from which Shaw luckily
escapes. She goes underground an a
attempts to discover who is trying to
kill her. Unfortunately, everyone she
tells about the brief gets killed.
Shaw elicits the aidofWashington
Post reporter Gray Grantham (Denzel
Washington). The two of them re
search the contacts that Darby’s sus
pect had with law firms in the capital
city. After some lucky breaks in their
research and in escaping from the
assassins, they manage to expose the
conspiracy behind the deaths of the
Supreme Court justices.
Julia Roberts is convincing in her
role as the frightened but determined
Shaw. She does a sol id job of portray
See PELICAN on 14
By Gerry Belt*
Staff Reporter __
In an adventurous trip back to the
Old West, “Tombstone” tells about
^-- Travis Heying/DN
Bryan Peterson and Cinnamon Dokken (not pictured) started their bookstore with only 3,000 books and no heating. A
Novel Idea, at 118 N. 14th St., shows their entrepreneurial success with more than 30,000 books in stock.
New bucks in old books
Persistent owners cultivate A Novel Idea
By Heather Si nor
Staff Reporter
An entrepreneurial spirit, eco
logically sound merchandise and a
love of books make the used book
store A Novel Idea at 118 N. 14th
St. the ideal business for owners
Cinnamon Dokken and Bryan
Peterson.
These two UNL graduates
opened the original A Novel Idea
on 16th Street 2 1/2 years ago as
full-time students.
Peterson had been collecting
books in his father’s basement and
said that both he and Dokken bought
and read far too many books.
Between the two of them,
Dokken and Peterson had two to
three thousand books when they
opened their store in the summer of
1991.
They spent their first year in a
basement room with no heating or
air conditioning that they rented
for $50 a month.
“It was so cold in there that
sometimes I wore six layers of cloth
ing,” Dokken said.
Because of the wiring, Dokken
said only one major appliance could
be run at a time.
“Lots of times the lights would
go out and people would look for
books with flashlights,” she said.
Because it was just the two of
them running the store, Dokken
said they studied, took catnaps and
practically lived there.
“I can’t believe we did it,” she
said.
They built bookshelves out of
wood from old homecoming floats
donated by fraternities, and they
adopted their store pet, O.K. the
cat. -.
In fact, O.K. has become such a
strong favorite to passers-by in the
new store that often Peterson and
Dokken come to work to find lip
stick kisses on the glass window.
The owners said many of their
devoted customers had been with
them from the beginning and had
followed them to their current lo
cation three blocks from campus.
Everyone has been supportive
and encouraging, they said, and
they have good relations with the
other used bookstores in Lincoln.
Dokken and Peterson have at
least 30,000 books in stock. This
tenfold increase from the original
inventory has come from trade-ins,
garage sales, auctions and attics,
Peterson said.
“At first we couldn’t imagine
filling the place. Now we don’t
have enough room.”,
Their strongest sections in the
two-level store arc martial arts,
literature and foreign languages,
and all books sell for about half of
their original coverprices, Dokken
said.
They also sell a few textbooks,
role-playing game supplies (such
as Dungeons and Dragons), chess
books, new martial arts books and
store T-shirts.
Both Dokken and Peterson said
they enjoyed their self-made busi
ness and continually come out
ahead.
“What we lacked in knowledge
and experience we made up for in
blind ambition,” Peterson said.
New horror novel is like a geneological project
Anne Rice
“Lasher”
Alfred A. Knopf
I have never been a big fan of Anne
Rice.
I have always found her work to be
long-winded and full of information
that has absolutely nothing to do with
the story.
Her latest work, “Lasher,” does
nothing to change my views, only to
reinforce them.
“Lasher” is the sequel to the novel
“The Witching Hour,” which intro
duced Rowan Mayfair, her husband
Michcal Curry, and the whole clan of
Mayfair witches. The first half of the
“ W i tching Hour” was good, until Rice
goes into an extensive history of the
Mayfair family.
Boring.
“Lasher” chronicles Rowan’s ab
duction by the demon Lasher and her
attempts to escape with her and
Micheal’s child, which Lasher has
tried to take over. After Rowan es
capes, Lasher sets out to mate with
another Mayfair witch,but this doesn’t
work and a good many witches bleed
to death as a result.
Although the story itself sounds
interesting, the execution is anything
but.
Rice spends an unbelievable num
ber of pages on events that really
don’t deserve the treatment. The first
forty pages are dedicated to Mona
Mayfair’s seduction of Micheal Cur
ry, who is her uncle, and are full of too
many references to other Mayfairs.
This seems to be the main problem
with a book like this that has a huge
number of characters: it’s hard to
keep them all straight.
While reading “Lasher” I got to the
point where I didn’t care about any of
the characters because there were too
many to worry about.
FansofRicehavcnodoubtalready
picked up and consumed this book.
For non-fans who are looking to add
another author to their reading list,
look elsewhere.
— William J. Harms
Tale of Earps is more than O.K.
more than just the infamous gunfight
at the O.K. Corral.
Director George Cosmatos
(“Rambo: First Blood Part II”, “Levi
athan") again proves his incredible
ability to weave an enjoyable tale for
all kinds of moviegoers. From adven
ture to drama to suspense, this one has
it all.
Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) has just
arrived in Tombstone, Arizona after
resigning as Marshal in Dodge City.
He and his brothers Virgil (Sam
Elliott) and Morgan (Bill Paxton) plan
on stalling their own business and
settling down to a quiet life.
Nope. Not a chance.
Before Wyatt’s spurs have had a
chance to stop clinking, he realizes
that a gang of ruthless gunmen called
the Cowboys — characterized by a
red sash—nave a viselike grip on the
throat of the town.
Sure enough, a power struggle en
sues between the Cowboys and the
Earps (aided by Doc Holliday, mar
velously portrayed by Val Kilmer).
People start getting killed left and
right, and eventually anyone wearing
a red sash has the life expectancy of a
security officer for Captain Kirk.
The shootout at the O.K. Corral is
shown, but it’s not the climax, and
See TOMBSTONE on 13
The Daily Nebraskan's Filmj Rating System
J i i i J
uenmte classic; a
must-see
Catch It on the big
screen
Worth seeing
eventually
Go see If you have
nothing better to do
Go only If someone
else is paying for your
ticket
riM nranhk