Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 1997)
LEFT: HAM MO (Harrison Ford) has a never-befsre-seen ran-iawlth a compater-ieaerated Jabba the Hat hi ene ef the new scenes from “Star lifnra 99 BELOW: MOO MET. the space pert where the aadleace first meets Han Sale and his ce-pllet, Chewbacca, b new pepalated with a nnmber ef compatei^eaerated creatares ta the new release ef “Star Wars.” The apper phete shews the sceae before the effects were added, the lower phete shews the scene after. (Photos conrtesy of Lacasflhn Ltd.) - • -3"' :r- . •■ In a galaxy not faraway*. I 'Star Wars’ returns for big-screen re-release I By Gerry Beltz Senior Reporter The wait is over. “Star Wars” opens today, complete with new footage, revamped special effects and bigger, better sounds from its original release in May 1977. Doug Kinney, city manager of Douglas Theatre Co., said he has gone through a change of heart over the last few months concerning this re-release. “About three months ago, I would’ve said that it would do all right,” he said. “Now, it’s tracking off the charts.” UNL students have been overheard planning to skip all their Friday classes to sit in line to pick up their tickets for the First show. Some plan on showing up as early as 8 a.m. “I’m expecting it to be insane,” said Marilyn Hallinan, manager of the Stuart Theatre, 13th and P streets. “I thought we’d just have the fa natics calling up, asking about the movie,” Kinney said. “However, we’ve been getting people of all kinds ask ing about it. “Maybe the pre-release hype of ‘Ju rassic Park’ could compare. Maybe.” Still, Kinney said, he doesn’t think every show of “Star Wars” will he sold out during its three-week run at the Stuart. “It’s going to be huge for the first week,” he said, “but it won’t hold.” The run of “Star Wars” will close Feb. 20, and “The Empire Strikes Back” will open, the following day for L a two-week run, and “Return of the 1 Jcdi” will close out the trilogy of spe- I cial editions with a two-week run start- I ing March 7. For “Star Wars,” additional foot- I age will include Imperial I Stormtroopers riding around on Iiz- 1 ard-like‘ creatures (called I “dewbacks”), a much wilder group of | patrons at the cantina sequence and a I • Please see PREVIEW on 14 She's with the band Lane Hickenbottom/DN JON TAYLOR, fattartst far Mercy Rale mi aew father, partem with the rest of the baaA at Daffy* Item, 1412 0 St., last week. Mercy Rule celebrates baby’s birth By Bret Schulte Staff Reporter While you won’t see Mercy , Rule contributing to the soundtrack of an amicable purple dinosaur or even break into a searing “Rock-a Bye Baby” guitar riff on stage, the impact of their newest member, the 5-month-old baby girl Zoie, re mains to be seen. Although band members dis agree an the extent of the influence, guitarist and father Jon Taylor in sists it will be negligible. “I always wondered if the mu sic would sound different after the baby,” Taylor said. “I’m making a conscious effort not to write songs about babies—we’ll just talk about her during shows.” Please see MERCY on 14 Shakur, Roth shine in brutal, ironic film By Jeff Randall Film Critic Tupac Shakur was no angel. This oft-jailed rapper who met an untimely end a few short months ago not only had the words “Thug Life” tattooed across his stomach, he lived by those words; and his death by gun fire was perhaps a sort of payment for his life of crime, violence and misogy nistic rantings. So, no, Tupac Shakur was no an gel. But he was one hell of an actor, and “GRIDLOCK’d” may prove to be one of the greatest testimonies to what Shakur could have been — not only as a recording artist, but as one of the brightest acting talents of his genera tion. Shakur stars in the film — which was written and directed by Vondie Curtis Hall — with British-born ac tor Tim Roth as Spoon and Stretch, respectively. They are a pair of junkie musicians who, after seeing their friend and bandleader Cookie (played by Tbandie Newton) slip into a coma following a drug overdose, decide to kick their shared habit. The only problem is that every time they try to enter a rehabilitation pro gram, they are turned down or told to wait indefinitely by the extensive bu reaucratic mess that represents the American welfare and health care sys tems. So the entire film is spent with . Shakur and Roth wandering from of Film: “GRIDLOCK’d” Director: Vondie Curtis Hall Stars: Tupac Shakur, Tim Roth, Thandie Newton Rating: R (violence, nudity, drug use, language) Grade: B Five Words: Tupac, we miss you al ready fice to hospital to office to hospital in search of help, shooting up along the way so they can keep their endrgy lev els high enough to keep looking. And while the irony of this situa tion is not easily lost after one scene, the film manages to drill that message into its audience long after its point has been well taken and thoroughly understood. Granted, the nonstop meandering of Stretch and Spoon is the main reservoir of this film’s comic strength, but even the humor begins to wear thin after 90 minutes. This said, the film is nearly flaw less on most other points. It is beauti fully photographed by Bill Pope, who turns the dirty and dark cityscape of New York into a twisted jungle where doom seems to lurk around most—if not all — comers. Hall’s direction is equally master Please see GRIDLOCK on 13