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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 1996)
l Thanksgiving spirit depicted inFutzplay By Patrick Miner Theater Critic Those who are looking for a play with some excitement, tremendous acting, and a fantastic script should ' look no further. The Futz Theatre, 124 S. Ninth St., is showing a pre sentation that will certainly satisfy anyone’s appetite for drama and wit. “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me,” a play written by Frank McGuinness and directed by Paul Pearson, opened last Thursday. Tire play is a depiction of three men trapped in a Lebanese prison. The three political prisoners are an American doctor (Ward Lewis), an Irish hothead and writer, (Brad Boesen) and an English literature professor (Kent Krueger). The men come from three very different backgrounds and lifestyles, consid ering their native countries, and aren’t accustomed to getting along in a situation in which they must. Set upon a stage that is almost totally bare, the three-member cast is left to create the tone of the play on their own. The players are given two holy books, some water and pmows, ana mey laxe me action from there. The actors use the set ting and take full advantage of it, giving three &cred$ly believable as changes between highs and lows within the men’s psyches occur fre quently. The tension of the play is great, sprinkled with rudimentary bits of comic relief. The performances by Boesen and Krueger are amazing. A friend ship by mutual respect endures, and the two actors portray it to its fin est. Lewis’ role is also spectacular, providing a tremendous supporting role for Boesen and Krueger. The presentation is a perfect By showing three men who are than humbling, the play encom passes a meaning of Thanksgiving that cannot be put into words. This is a definite must-see play for everyone. Even those who rarely attend plays will enjoy the wit and charisma displayed by Pearson’s masterpiece. The play will continue from Thursday through Sunday. All shows begin at 8 p.m., except for the Nov. 24 show, which begins at 7:30 pjn. Tickets are $10. Reser vations can be made by calling the Futz box office at 435-6307. irotesters riot to uphold Indianvalues BANGALORE, India (AP) — Police wearing riot gear blocked protesters from marching to a hotel where Miss World contestants are staying and arrested 800 of them. The protesters, mostly women, were detained for about two hours and released after receiving a warn ing. The women argue the beauty pageant is demeaning and contrary to Indian values and culture. Police stopped the marchers 1A miles from the hotel where 88 con testants are staying, said Police Commissioner Sharat Chandra Bur Please see PROTEST on 14 Animation mixes weH with reality By Cuff Hicks , Film Critic Combine a sports legend and an Academy Award-winning cartoon character and you get “Space Jam.” Michael Jordan stars as himself with Bugs Bunny in “Space Jam ” the first animated/live-action film since the less than successful “Cool World.” The plot? An alien theme park (run by Swackhammer, who is voiced per Of course, the aliens are little tiny things, so die Tunes challenge them to a game of basketball. This would've been a sharp idea, except that the aliens steal talent from five NBA players and change into big monsters, er, Mon Stars. Jordan is, of course, a baseball player at this time, so he’s spared from the talent abduction, and Bugs, being the sharp-eyed, long-eared fellow that he is, abducts Jordan during a golf game with Larry Bird and Bill Murray. Sound silly? 'Vfep, it is, but what else can you expect from a cartoon movie? It always seems that when a film stu dio tries to blend cartoon animation with live-action, there’s too much of (me or the other. “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” was a great film, but the live-action strongly dominated the scene. “Cool World” was not so great, but took place mostly in the animated world as opposed to the real world. “Space Jam” tries to Wend the two and does so fairly well. Until Jordan gets abducted, the film moves a little slowly, plodding through the setup for Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. BILL MURRAY Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan talk basketball strategy in Warner Bros.’ live-action/ animated comedy “Space Jam.” the story that could’ve been a bit shorter. When they yank him off the golf course, however (and best of all, Murray and Bird don’t overly flip out), things start to get going. Sure, Jordan can hoop it up, but can he act? The answer is—well enough. First off, he’s playing himself, so the acting stretch is limited. Secondly, his major co-stars are all animated. This cuts hima little more slack. And finally, it’s not like this is Shakespeare a* any thing. There are some severe changes from the cartoons of old, however. BUgs and company lode more realis tic, more fleshed out. Animation has come a long way since Bugs’ debut 56 years ago (or since his Oscar win in 1958 for “Knighty-Knight Bugs”) and “Space Jam” reflects what artists to day can do. > r And finally, there is a lady in Bugs’ life—Lola Bunny. Lola is the newest of the l\mes and probably one of the most interesting. Even though she’s a Time for the ’90s, she fits in perfectly with the old gang. Do not, however, think this is only a film for kids. Kids will not get the “Pulp Fiction” reference, nor many of the other jokes which are aimed at a slightly older audience. One thing Disney taught the com petitors: Get all of the audiences, not just the kids. You can indeed teach a rabbit new tricks. A couple of subtle things appear in the film that kids won’t catch either, beyond the obvious references. If you listen to the alien who stole Muggsey Bogues’ talent, you’ll hear traces of Bogues’speech style. Bugs and Daffy also have this great conversation that almost gets lost in the background about never having seen any share of the money from all the stuff sokiwith their images on it. You’d almost think they woe human. Film: “Space Jam” Stars: Michael Jordan, Bugs Bunny, Wayne Knight, Bill Murray Director: Joe Pytka Rating: PG (animated violence, “Pulp Fiction” reference) Grade: B+ Five words: Starts somewhat slow, fin ishes strong Also, there are a lot of cameos — Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Muggsey Bogues, Larry Johnson and Shawn Bradley are the five basketball stars who have their skills stolen. Bird and Murray appear at the golf game, and in fact, Murray plays on the court with Jordan and Bugs near the end. “Space Jam” is just a fun film. It’s not high art, it’s not a masterpiece for all time, but it’s the first real Looney Tune in years. That alone makes it worth the price of admission. N.I.L.8 thrashes with fragile porcelain mice By Ann Stack Music Critic Musically speaking, Illinois was well-represented at Knickerbocker’s Friday night. Fragile porcelain mice and NXL.8, two hard-core bands from Belleville and Springfield, 111. respectively, rede fined live energy with their hour-long sets. N.I.L.8, especially, put on an amaz ingly intense show. Although Friday’s gloomy weather put a damper on at tendance figures, there was still a de cent-sized mosh pit, complete with thrown punches and angry bouncers. This is a band that’s been around for 10 years, still with the original lineup, and it was easy to spot some late ’80s, early ’90s influences in their punk-thrash format. If you take the sounu oi an unpousnea Aninrax, ana throw in the energy and goofiness of Scatterbrain, that conies close to hint ing at N.I.L.8’s brand of punkadelic. “This is a song about a guy from our hometown of Springfield named Jeff Stryker,” lead singer Jevf said. “He’sa porno star now.” Mixed with the zaniness of songs about pom stars and ’70s early-morn ing TV icons (the Sid and Marty Croft inspired “Land ofthe Lost”) were many with political messages, including “Po litical Suicide” and “Old MacDonald’s Straight-Edged Dilemma,” about a . “farmer who had good focus and a capitalist society screwed him over,” Jevf said. NJJL8's set became tighter as they progressed through material from their four albums, including their forthcom ing CD set for release in early 1997, “Doug.” ^^ ■ - ■ ■ N.I.L.8 is an innovative, aggressive [Kind definitely worth checking out the lext time they breeze through town. Fragile porcelain mice came on • ./. / * --- , shortly afterwards, with singer Scott Randall in a checked spandex jumpsuit Please see BANDS on 13