Arts ^Entertainment
Grandpa not just
another roommate
By Joel Strauch
Film Critic
As bad as your roommate may
seem to be, at least he’s not your
107-year-old grandfather.
TV’s “Columbo” (Peter Falk)
returns as a cynical and often an
noying old man in “Roommates,”
an entertaining film inspired by a
true story.
Michael Holeczek (D.B.
Sweeney) was left an orphan and
would have been put in a home if
not for the intervention of his fi
ery grandfather Rocky (Falk).
Rocky raises his grandson and
continues to guide him into man
hood when the two become room
mates during Michael’s college
years as a pre-med.
Rocky is kicked out of his con
demned building and moves in
with Michael, who lives in a typi
cal college house with five other
roomies — students from China
to whom Michael is giving En
glish lessons.
Michael has difficulties adjust
ing to his grandfather’s domineer
ing attitude, but.quickly rediscov
ers the special bond that has grown
between them.
When romance blossoms in
Michael’s life, Rocky points out
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two must span the huge genera
tion gap that threatens to cost
Michael both his new-found love
and his grandfather.
The two resolve their tremen
dous differences, and Rocky
serves as Michael’s mentor as he
gets married, becomes a doctor
and raises a family.
Rocky tenaciously clings to life
to ensure that Michael can leam
all of life’s lessons from him.
The film isenjoyable and often
hilarious, due to Rocky’s biting
wit and the situations in which the
roommates find themselves stuck.
But it provides traumatic ups
and downs, making the audience
laugh one minute and burst into
tears the next.
Fil m: “Roommates”
Director: Peter Yates
Stars: Peter Falk, D.B.
Sweeney
Rating: PG
Grade: B
Five Words: Roomies’
generation gap creates
humor.
There seems to be a Holly
wood fascination with death, and
the movie world won’t seem to let
up.
This is another film that re
quires a box of Kleenex for those
who couldn’t make it through “Old
Yeller” without drowning the
people in the row in front of them.
The acting in the film is solid,
providing a believability that
might otherwise have been diffi
cult to attain with the often far
fetched plot.
Falk is fantastic. His portrayal
of an elderly man who refuses to
let himself grow old gives hope to
those of us who are just realizing
our mortality and those who are
already coasting down the hill.
D.B. Sweeney is equally good
as the grandson who wants his
grandfather to admit that he is an
adult and let him make uninflu
enced decisions.
The audience at the film would
have fit in quite well at a bingo
hall, and it was refreshing to see a
film without boisterous teenagers
babbling about their petty prob
lems.
The crowd was completely cap
tivated by the story and the only
sounds were the laughs and sobs
that the emotional roller coaster
of the movie dictated.
“Roommates” is no Oscar
shoe-in for next year, but it is a
pleasurable way to spend an
evening and it’s clean enough to
bring the whole family.
Gerik Parmele/DN
Kevin Gregorius, a sophomore broadcasting major and KRNU music director, stands in
the KRNU studios Tuesday afternoon as disc jockey James Hruska, a sophomore
broadcasting major, gets music ready to play over the air.
KRNU stays on the edge
By Jeff Randall
Staff Reporter
Somebody stole the music.
That’s how Andy Fairbairn,
. pne of KRNIT s four music direc
tors, feets about college music’s
recent shift toward the main
stream.
“It’s good to see that some
really talented bands are getting
the recognition they deserve,”
Fairbairn said. “But at the same
time, it’s a little disconcerting.
It’s like they’ve been taken away
from us in a sense.
“We used to be able to say
‘This is something different, not
many people listen to this.’ Now
everybody listens to it.”
It all started a few years ago,
when bands like Nirvana, formerly
shunned by Top-40 radio, sud
denly became the Next Big Things.
Ever since then, Fairbairn said,
things have changed dramatically
in the world of music. And those
changes have affected KRNU,the
station staffed and directed by the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
i
broadcasting department.
Fairbaim said college music
—often labeled as alternative—
is becomingmore popular because
of an aging audience.
“Basically, the people that grew
up listening to this type of music,
either in college or in high school,
have grown up,” he said. “They
have entered the professional
world and their disposable in
comes are being used to support
new music.”
Now more than ever, the cat
egories and labels attached to
music are becoming increasingly
blurred, Fairbaim said. But one
label in particular makes Fairbaim
cringe.
“The word ‘alternative’ just
sucks,” he said. “I mean, what is
alternative supposed to mean?
“It used to mean anything that
wasn’t played on Top-40 radio
and wasn’t seen on MTV. But
now a lot of those bands aren’t
alternative at all if you use that
definition.”
“Indie,” is also used to describe
this type of music. The word came
into use to describe artists who
were on independent record la
bels.
“But that doesn’t fit either,”
Fairbaim said. “I tend to think of
music as either good or bad, and
that’s where it ends.”
In the past two years, KRNU
has seen its near-monopoly on
new music in Lincoln disappear.
KYNN (101.9, The Edge) has re
cently switched from country to
alternative music. And KKNB
(104.1, The Planet) has been of
fering alternative rock in the Lin
coln market for almost two years.
Although these stations may
have infringed on KRNU’s for
merly exclusive position,
Fairbairn said KKNB and KYNN
pose no threat to KRNU’s success
or failure.
“I don’t really see it as compe
tition at all,” he said. “They play
the same songs over and over,
again. We try to give our listeners
some variety.
See KRNU on 10
Films descend on Lincoln
By Gerry Beltz
Senior Reporter
This weekend should be busy for local
movie theaters.
“Roommates” opens today at the Stuart
and Edgewood 3 Theaters, and stars D.B.
Sweeney and Peter Falk. A 107-year-old
man (Falk) is taken in by his grandson
(Sweeney) much in the same way that the
reverse was done years before when the
child’s parents died.
Although he will die soon, the grandfa
ther is determined to teach his grandson
about life. This one looks like a two-hankie
flick.
For the horror buffs, “The Mangier”
creeps into the Douglas 3 Theater today.
Based on a short story by Stephen King
about a piece of dry-cleaning equipment
that suffers from demonic possession, “The
Mangier” is directed by Tobe Hooper (“Pol
tergeist”), and stars Robert Englund.
No, this is not a joke.
In another flick, after being clinically
dead for over an hour, Hatch Harrison (Jeff
Goldblum) can see through the eyes of a
killer—who can see through Hatch’s eyes
— in “Hideaway,” starting today at the
Lincoln 3 Theater.
Co-starring Christine Lahti and Alicia
Silverstone, “Hideaway” will be one for the
psychological-thriller crowd.
For the kids, Chevy Chase makes an
other attempt at pulling his career out of the
toilet with “Man of the House,” opening
today at the Plaza 4 and East Park 3 The
aters.
Jonathan Taylor Thomas (“Home Im
provement”) is Ben, a kid who doesn ’t want
Mom (Farrah Fawcett) to marry Jack
(Chase), so he spawns several schemes to
drive him away.
“Pulp Fiction” makes its long-awaited
return to the capital city, dropping into the
Cinema Twin.
Among its seven Oscar nominations in
clude Best Picture, Actor (John Travolta),
Director (Quentin Tarantino) and Support
ing Actress (Uma Thurman).
Students who are either near-broke or
“Trekkies,” can beam down to the StarShip
9, where “Star Trek: Generations” starts
today.
Kirk and Picard, two legendary captains,
may not share a bridge, but they share a
cabin.
Live entertainment abounds
By Dawn Brunke
Staff Reporter
Pushin’ Skinny will bring their unusual
sound to Knickerbockers, 901 O St., on
Saturday.
There are two things that make this band
so original. The first is how the band formed.
All four members belong to Sigma Nu
Fraternity, and they began playing around
with the idea of forming a band about a year
ago, said bassist Ryan Anderson.
The second and more important part of
Pushin’ Skinny’s originality is its sound. It
is primarily a punk band. But instead of
focusing on the speed, Anderson said, this
band focuses on the melodies within the
music.
This unique sound has brought Pushin’
Skinny offers to record a compact disc in
Omaha with a sound engineer who is at
tempting to get recognition from a national
label, Anderson said.
“He is also trying to hook us up with a
national distributor,” Anderson said.
The band will start recording in May
after classes are out. Anderson said Pushin ’
Skinny was hoping this recording would
draw attention from a label.
The band has spent most of its time
playing in Lincoln and Omaha.
“We’ve talked to record companies
about playing out of state, but with all of us
being in school, we can’t make that happen
right now,” he said.
Pushin’ Skinny will open for Echoing
Green Saturday.
Also at Knickerbockers, Minneapolis’
60 Cycle Hum and the Return will take over
the stage tonight.
AttheZooBar, 136N. 14th St., Chicago
bluesman Matt “Guitar” Murphy will play
both tonight and Saturday night.
Looker will play at the Royal Grove,
340 W. Cornhusker Highway, tonight and
Saturday night.
Canvas Back and Cathy McCarty will
play tonight at Le Cafe Shakes, 1418 O St.
Saturday night, the Queers, the Breakups'
and XXY will take the stage.
On Sunday night, Clark County Blue Up
will take over Duffy’s Tavern, 1412 O St.
And at the Hurricane, 1118 0 St., Fat
Tuesday will play tonight and the Murmurs
will play Saturday night.