Arts ©Entertainment
State]
of the
AK^S
Gerry Beltz
Saying bye
to Calvin
comes hard
first it was tsiooin county, tnen
it was the “Far Side.”
Bad luck comes in threes, and those
were the First two. The third was dealt
out on Thursday.
“Cal vin and Hobbes”is goingaway.
I found this out Friday morning,
and sat on my couch in silent retro
spect, looking back on a cartoon en
joyed by kids and adults alike.
It’s not just a daily comic strip
being lost, but an entire way of think
ing (plus some good pranks).
Not only that, how many questions
will go unanswered?
— Just what exactly was the infa
mous “noodle incident,” and was
Calvin involved?
— Will Susie and Calvin ever be
come boyfriend and girlfriend? Or
does Hobbes revoke his Get Rid of
Slimy Girls(GROSS)membershipand
run off with Susie?
— How much therapy wi 11 Rosalyn
need after all those nights of baby
sitting Calvin? Will she still like kids?
— Arc humans created from
spores?
— Did Miss Wormwood have a
nervous breakdown from having
Calvin as a student?
Thankfully, Calvin will not com
pletely disappear. He will continue to
appear in calendars and books world
wide.
Caivin has led a very... unique life.
He has been a Tyrannosaurus Rex
rampaging through a city, Spaceman
Spiff escaping from the enemy, and
he’s managed to jump out of his own
skin.
Creative genius is another quality
of Calvin’s, making a Iransmogritier
out of a simple cardboard box, and
using the same box — but in a differ
ent position — to create a time ma
chine (or was that a duplicator?).
Calvin also lived through some
downfalls and rough times over the
last few years. His propeller beanie
didn’t lift him off the ground, he broke
his father’s binoculars and his father
insisted on taking the family out on
camping trips.
v/iiu v/v na.i wwtaiiiunaiij' iwi“
'lowed Calvin through his life, and
some newspapers refused to run the
strip because of his outrageous behav
ior (that thermos of phlegm didn’t go
over too well).
The loss of “Calvin and Hobbes”
will be another blow to the comics
page.
With the way things are going, many
papers will likely replace Calvin with
something like “Rex Morgan M.D.”
or “Andy Capp” instead of something
cool like “Sherman’s Lagoon” or
“Funky Winkerbean.”
Hopefully, this winter, Calvin’s
snow sculptures will see new life in
the light of his disappearance.
On Dec. 31 —Calvin’s last day on
the comics page — 1 ask all loyal
Calvin and Hobbes fans to leave the
New Year’s Eve party they are attend
ing or preparing for, and go outside to
bui Id a two-headed snowman or some
thing that only Calvin could come up
with.
Let these monuments stand for a 6
ycar-old hero who spoke to an entire
generation.
Beltz is a senior English education ma
jor and a Dally Nebraskan senior Arts and
Entertainment reporter.
uounesy or Warner bros.
Jim Carrey returns as pet detective Ace Ventura, who has confined himself to an ashram in Tibet in “Ace Ventura: When Nature
Calls.”
Carrey’s comedy out of control in ‘Ace’
By Gerry Beltz
Film Critic
Like many other critics across the nation, I
gave “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” a low rating,
and I subsequently went into shock — like many
-other film critics-—when the
Movie j movie met with mega-success.
D . This brought up two possi
K6V1BW j biliiics: either the critics were
j ail wrong or the moviegoing
public consisted ofa bunch of
spamheads loyal to the
rubber faced Jim Carrey.
I’m not makingany guesses
this time; I’mjust callingthem
-— Carrey’s first sequel has
some of the same gags and the same level of
humor, but it still ean get almost anyone to eraek
a smile.
Ace (Carrey) hascon lined himselftoan ashram
in Tibet after failing to save the life of a raccoon
trapped on a mountain ledge, but he leaves to help
find and return Shikaka, a rare white bat (the one j
animal he cannot stand to be around).
If Ace fails in his mission, the Wachati and
Wachooloo tribes will fall into a bloody war.
Granted, some of the same toilet humor from
the first movie shows up again, but Ace’s antics
around the prim and proper British consulate
members really bring out the comedic moments
in this film.
Carrey is —again —out of control. Ace has
the same silly walk, enunciation and animai de
votion that made him such a hit last time.
What holds this film back are the repeats; the
same tired lines and gags pulled in the last “Ace
Ventura” Hick. They’ve become catch phrases,
and having them used in the sequel make them
Film: “Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls”
Stars: Jim Carrey, Simon Callow,
Tommy Davidson
Director: Steve Oodekerk
Rating: PG-J3 (brief nudity, suggestive
situations)
Grade: C
Five Words: Ace enthusiasts will have
fun
tound even more tired.
Ace fans will love the movie, but those seek
ng intellect-based comedy should look else
where.
Funky dunky [
Connick’s unique sound j
stops in Lincoln Tuesday j
By Brian Sharp
Senior Editor
By definition, Harry Connick Jr.
is anything but safe.
From his first major break onto
-the scene with
Concert “20”andhiscon
DrmviniM tributions on the
*ZeVieW j^hcn Harfy
soundtrack to his
most recent al
bum “She,”
Connick has
swung from a
I_ g | _| VV/IKIWl VUliV^/
— band style to a
rambunctious flash of fusion.
Tuesday night, that rhapsodic
rendition of jazz, funk, ballad and
rock ‘n’ roll will take the stage at the
Lied Center for Performing Arts as
Connick and his funk band hit the
UNL campus stop of their “She
College Tour.”
The 7:30 p.m. show is sold out.
It has been a little over a year
since Connick played before a Ne
braska audience. The original “She”
tour stopped at Ak-Sar-Ben in
Omaha during summer 1994. That
night, Connick had the crowd break
ing through barricades and dancing
under the stars as he invited fans to
leave their seals and surround the
stage.
The detachment from the crowd
set up by fences was not the arena
Connick wanted to play.
For those surprised by “She,”
Connick says the style is simply
getting back to his roots.
“This is the music I’ve played my
whole life,” he says. “Everything I
have done revolves around the New
Orleans experience.”
Connick was born in that steamy
See CONNICK on 10
Courtesy of Columbia
Harry Connick Jr. will perform a sold-out show Tuesday
night at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.
