Arts ^Entertainment
R.E.M.
“Murmur”
I.R.S. Records
1983
The college music scene
was forever changed when
R.E.M. released their first al
bum, “Murmur.” And al
though I didn’t discover it for
several years, “Murmur” has
since had a significant effect
on my own life.
“Murmur” was the begin
ning of what eventually was
deemed the alternative music
scene.
For me, it was the begin
ning of a love affair that never
betrays.
“Murmur” is one of those
albums that you can pull out
and listen to at anytime; “Mur
mur” is both sadness and hap
piness, hope and despair.
Michael stipe s criminally
incoherent vocals were ig
nored by the listener. I think
sometimes he made them up
as he went along, singing on
feeling alone. Yet, I didn’t
care that the songs didn’t make
sense because I could float to
the heavens on the feeling they
gave me.
“Murmur” has power. Not
hit-you-over-the-head-power,
but the power of the soft touch
of someone you love, or a
gentle spring breeze under
neath a shade Tree."^
“Perfect Circle,” the
album’s sixth track, still gives
me goose bumps if I sit and
lose myself in the song.
Listening to “Perfect
Circle,” I felt like Stipe must
have written the song after
having a vision. Awakened
from a dream, inspired by
some higher voice, he sat down
with his band mates and, in a
trance, wrote the song.
That R.E.M. doesn’t exist
anymore.
I’ve heard every R.E.M.
album since the high-flying
“Murmur,” and everything
crashes in comparison.
I’m not saying I don’t like
the newer stuff, but nothing is
quite the same.
Every once in awhile the
band lifts me, but I never fly.
There are a few bright spots,
but never a heavenly shine.
I need “Catapult,” and they
give me “Stand.” I beg for
“Laughing,” and I get “What’s
the Frequency, Kenneth?”
It’s saddening to hear
people proclaim to be R.E.M.
fans and then say they’ve never
heard “Murmur.” I want to
say, “You’ve never heard
R.E.M.”
I’m not much of a musi
cian. But I often tell people
that if I could leam to play
“Murmur” on a guitar, I would
sit on a street comer for die
rest of my life strumming the
album and doing my best to
croon like Michael Stipe.
“Out of time” — no way.
— Chris Hain, senior news-edi
torial andpoUUcal science major and
DaOy Nebraskan senior reporter
Send your “Deja Vu” to the
Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska
Union, 1400 R St, Lincoln, Neb.
68588-0448. Submissions must
not exceed 300 words and be
come the property of the Daily
Nebraskan. The Daily Nebraskan
retains the right to editor reject ajl
submissions.
Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures
American ambassador Thomas Jefferson (Nick Nolte) falls in love with Sally Hemings (Thandie Newton) in “Jefferson in Paris.”
Jerferson
not heroic
By Jeff Randall
Rim Critic
One of the main problems with
a lot of historical dramas is the
choice of narrator. When the wrong
choice is made, audiences are of
ten left wondering how the person
telling the story could possibly
know so many details about the
figure being examined.
In some cases, filmmakers make
the correct choice. Take, for ex
ample, the ex-lovers of Ludwig
von Beethoven in “Immortal Be
loved” or the rival composer Salieri
in “Amadeus.”
But it’s hard to believe that
Thomas Jefferson’s American
The Facts
Film: Jefferson in Paris
Director: James Ivory
Stars: Nick Nolte, Greta
Scacchi, James Earl
Jones
Rating: PG-13
Grade: D
Five Words: Jefferson
fathers more than
America.
bom son would know so much
about the details of his late father’s
life in pre-revolutionary France,
long before he was even bom.
It’s not only hard to believe, it’s
ridiculous to the point that the
entire film is nearly ruined by it.
Nearly mined. Various other
choices finished the job.
In “Jefferson in Paris,” James
Earl Jones portrays Madison
Hemings, one of Jefferson’s (Nick
Nolte) illegitimate children who
decides to spill the beans about his
late father’s less-than-idealistic
endeavors. Among those is an af
fair with Sally Hemings, one of
Jefferson’s slaves, which results in
Madison’s birth.
As Madison Hemings recounts
his father’s story to an eager re
porter (Tim Choate), the film shifts
its setting to Paris between 1784
and 1789, the years in which Tho
mas Jefferson served as ambassa
dor to the court of King Louis XVI
(Michael Lonsdale).
During this time period,
Jefferson developed a close per
sonal relationship with Maria
Cosway (Greta Scacchi), an En
glish aristocrat who happened to
be already married.
But no matter how many of
Jefferson’s flaws are brought to
light, it seems as though director
James Ivory had a hard time mak
ing such a romanticized American
hero look all that bad.
Jefferson regularly breaks into
overly dramatic speeches straight
out of the Declaration of Indepen
dence and the Bill of Rights. Even
his illicit affairs are cast in a light
that make them appear more the
product of the womens' flirting
than his own loneliness.
The end result is a film that
accomplishes very little with the
exception of its glimpse into a
society near breakdown. But the
scenes of aristocratic revelry and
revolutionary fury have little to do
with the narrative, and they only
end up detracting from the focus
on Jefferson.
When even the director of a
film can’t keep his attention on the
subject at hand, he leaves little
initiative for the audience to do so.
New videos like
box of chocolates
By Gerry Beltz
Film Critic
A potpourri of films will come
on video this week, kind of a
horrific, adventure-filled, funny,
Oscar-winning potpourri.
“Terminal Velocity” —
Charlie Sheen adds his name to
the list of actors to star in adrena
line flicks with his work in “Ter
minal Velocity ”
He stars asadaredevil sky diver
who watches a fellow skydiver
(Nastassia Kinski) fall to her
death, but does she really die? He
doesn’t think so.
There are better adrenaline
flicks than this one available, but
there are also worse ones. Roll
the dice.
“Hoop Dreams” — This is
the film that raised the stink at
the Academy Awards because it
wasn’t nominated for any award
beyond Best Film Editing (and it
didn’t win).
In what should have been a
nominee for either Best Picture
or Best Documentary, “Hoop
Dreams” follows two inner-city
youths who hope to achieve their
dream of one day playing profes
sional basketball.
This one is a must-see. Check
it out.
“Puppet Masters**—It looks
like, smells like and sounds like
“Invasion of the Body Snatch
ers,” but according to the title,
See VIDEO on 10
Affairs of the heart
to be heard on air
By Jeff Randall
Staff Reporter
For some people, talking about
personal issues such as love, sex
and marriage can be uncomfort
able, even among the closest of
friends.
But two professors at the Uni
versity of Nebraska-Lincoln are
comfortable enough to talk about
their own relationship on state
wide radio, and they plan to do
so, starting May 2.
Collie W. Conoley and Jane
Close Conoley will host “For
Better or Worse,” a call-in radio
talk show for the Nebraska Pub
lic Radio Network. Collie
Conoley is an associate professor
of educational psychology and
Jane Close Conoley is associate
dean of the teachers college and
a professor of educational psy
chology.
Both of them have had experi
ence instructing classes on mar
riage and child therapy.
Collie Conoley said the show,
which will focus on the com
plexities and secrets of a long
lasting relationship, would be a
good opportunity for people to
educate themselves and ask ques
tions.
“We’re hoping that there will
be a lot of people with issues that
they want to raise regarding rela
tionships,” he said. “And we’re
hoping that we can help those
See NETV on 10