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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 6, 1996)
Wednesday, March 6,1996 Page 9 the glassy eye Brian Priesman ‘Days’ plot beautifully unrealistic “Just like sands flow through the hourglass, so are the days of our 1 i ves.. Ahh ... the soap opera. That often ridiculed but ever-watched creation. Where else can you see people defy death and fall in love with their ex brother-in-law’s sister’s mother’s cousin’s best friend? Soap operas have been around for years. They originally started on radio and got their name because soap com panies were their main sponsors. Now the soap opera is a strange beast. Actors come and go, characters die and return years later, and time doesn’t always flow at a normal pace. In my humble and biased opinion, “Days of Our Lives” is the best soap opera on television. It’s the only one that has thrown reality completely out the window. On “General Hospital” a character dies from AIDS in a touching, realistic scene. In “Days,” a character dies in a huge explosion where the body is lost, only to return years later with a differ ent face, voice and»-history. On “Another World,” religion is dealt with subtly, quietly and realisti cally. But on “Days,” it deals with religion by having people possessed by the devil, and a former cop/priest/ jewel-thief performs an exorcism as the helpless woman floats 3 feet above the bed with green eyes glaring. Don’t you see why “Days” is so much better? Anyone who watches soaps will tell you that they are completely unrealis tic and implausible. But “Days of Our Lives” is the only soap opera that seems to have admitted it to themselves. On “Days,” one of the heroes, John Black, has no idea of his true identity. He knows he was bom Forrest Alarnain and was once a priest and a jewel thief, but he also was brainwashed into be lieving he was a former hero, Roman Brady. But then the real Roman es caped from the jail, where he was being held in by the evil Stefano DiMera, and returned home to reclaim his life. So now John/Forrcst/ex-Ro man is trying to find out the truth about his life, but probably never will. Wasn’t that confusing? That’s what’s so fun about “Days.” Nothing makes sense, the writers keep forgetting character history and actors keep leaving only to return 10 years later. That’s what happened with Hope. In the ’80s, Hope and her husband, Bo, were the “hot” couple on daytime tele vision. But Hope was kidnapped by one of those evil villain types and held captive in a cage above a lava pit. But the cage exploded, and Hope’s body never was recovered. Now, Hope has returned. But Bo moved on with his life and had a new wife. But Hope’s return meant his marriage tohisnew wife, Billie, wasn’t legal, because he had never officially ended his marriage with Hope. Gash, “Days” is fun! You see, daytime soaps are cheesy, they’re unrealistic and they’re implau sible. But at least “Days of Our Lives” is willing to admit to that. Priesmaa Is a freshman news-editorial and theater major and a Dally Nebraskan staff reporter. Bushwhacked Travis Heying/DN Gavin Rossdale, lead singer for the band Bush, sings in front of a sold out crowd Tuesday night at Pershing Auditorium. No Doubt and the Goo Goo Dolls opened the show. Band mixes polka, rock for brave sound By Brian Priesman Staff Reporter Perhaps one of the most unusual _bands to play Lin Concert “>ln; .®ravc Combo, willcon Preview elude a two-day stint here tonight at the Zoo Bar, 136 N. 14th. The Grammy nominated polka band has been described as “the wedding band from hell” (New York Magazine), “an alternative to all alternatives” (Contra Costa Times) and “one of the world’s ultimate party bands” (St. Louis Post and Dispatch). But docs it live up to that image? According to Larry Boehmer, owner of the Zoo Bar, the band does. Brave Combo was formed 16 years ago by Carl Finch with the goal of becoming the hardest-rock ing polka band on the planet. With its latest album, “Polka for a Gloomy World,” the band has proved again that it is just that! “They’ve been playing here for about 10 years,” Boehmer said. Brave Combo’s style is more than typical polka. It includes rock ‘n’ roll, cha-cha, tango, ska, limbos, bubblegum pop ...just about every thing possible. But accordingto Boehmer, “They play polkas as well as anybody in the world. “They’re polkas and more.” Brave Combo’s success came from what Finch cal led “a barrage of incongruous elements.” “If Brave Combo can do one thing,” Finch said, “we’d like to destroy people’s misconceptions about what’s cool to like in music.” With covers of popular classics like “Stairway to Heaven,” “Sixteen Tons,” “People arc Strange,” “Fly Me to the Moon” and “Satisfac tion,” Brave Combo is breaking down the barriers of music and prov ing that polkas aren’t just for your grandparents. As Boehmer said, “They’re real unique.” Tonight’s concert starts at 9 at the Zoo Bar. There is a $7 cover charge. ‘Heavy Metal’ back in theaters Abstract art to be on display Fear not, math haters, the new exhibit at the Haydon Gallery, 335 N. Eighth St., requires no algebraic skills whatsoever. But “Geometric Begin nings,” which opened March 1 and will run through March 23, covers a number of artistic styles and mediums, all linked by the artists’ abstract geo metric approach to their work. The exhibit features work by Carol Thompson, Marjorie Mikasen, Kale Leonard and Frank Barham. Still-lifes, landscapes and abstract pieces will be just a few of the forms on exhibit. A brown-bag gallery talk will be given this Friday at 11:30 a.m. Because seating is limited, reservations are rec ommended. —Jeff Randall By Gerry Beltz Senior Reporter “ After 15 years, “Heavy Metal” is coming back to the big screens na tionwide. One of the most popular mid night movies of all time, “Heavy Metal” will return with new prints Friday night in 39 U.S. and Cana dian cities, this time around with Sony Dynamic Digital Sound. “It’s always been the most popu lar rental title from our library,” said Fritz Friedman, vice president of worldwide publicity for Columbia Tristar Pictures. In the past, prints of “Heavy Metal” have come back in shreds, said Brian O’Neal, publicist for Co lumbia-Tristar Pictures. “It would play at midnight mov ies until the prints would literally be falling apart,” he said. All existing prints were removed from midnight screenings for revi talization over the past six months or so, O’Neal said. “They were pulled so fresh prints and new sound could be added to make it louder and nastier than ever,” he said. “Heavy Metal” is based on a va riety of talcs taken from the maga zine of the same name. With vivid animation of such intensity, it al ready has made the Fdm a classic, Friedman said. “It iscxciting, thrilling and imagi native” he said, “and certainly the extraordinary visuals coupled with an outstanding soundtrack have made it into a classic.” Rochelle Dvorak, manager of Comic World, 233 N. 48lh St., said she wasn’t surprised by the re-re lease and sustained popularity of the film. “It was one of the first full-length animated pictures for adults,” she said. “It’s an adult tale with a good story line.” The style and uniqueness of the animation also have helped the film achieve its classic status, Dvorak said. “The colors are richer,” she said, “and the background detail is some thing not seen on Saturday morn ings.” Although released in 1981, “Heavy Metal” never has been offi cially released on video, though the film has been heavily bootlegged in the past, O’Neal said. “Hopefully, it will be officially released before the end of the year,” he said. Obtainingall the rights to “Heavy Metal” has been the most difficult part of renewing the film, O’Neal said. “It wasjusta longarduoustaskto get all the rights cleared from all the components of talent in the film,” O’Neal said. “The music was the final hurdle, the same hurdle faced by the compact disc.” Although the closest location to see “Heavy Metal” for the Lincoln Omaha area is Kansas City, Mo., plans are already in the works for wider release of the film, O’Neal said. “There will be prints circulated to other cities eventually,” he said, “but as to where, it is too early to tell.” Friedman said the future circula tion of “Heavy Metal” would de pend on the audiences that see the restored film in the next few weeks. “We’ll just have to see what the response is,” he said.
