Photo courtesy of Rysher Entertainment
HOWARD STERN (right) stare as himself and Mary McCormack (left) stare as Alison,
Stern'S girlfriend and fotare wife, in the pseudo-documentary about Stem’s personal
and pnbllc life, "Private Parts.”
‘Private Parts’ shows
all of Howard Stem
By Bret Schulte
Film Critic
What could be more loveable than a tall,
gangling, sex-obsessed guy with an arena-rock
haircut, delusions of grandeur and a tendency
to loudly proclaim the disadvantages of his
small penis?
After seeing “Private Parts,” Stem’s new
est and funniest contribution to his self-pro
pelled ego/media machine, it’s difficult to come
up with an answer.
Stern has been a longtime staple of
America’s ever-growing shock radio tradition,
relying heavily on sex^and groin-oriented top
ics, near-naked superinodels, rock stars and
even the occasional rigid, and understandably
frightened, conservative to supply a source of
amusement for himself and his audience.
In a motion to bring his popularity to the
big screen and capitalize on the purported suc
cess of his autobiography, which easily can be
found in a bargain bin, Stem has provided his
public with a candid, hilarious and typically
grandiose vision of none other but himself.
“Private Parts” opens and closes with the
appearance of America’s No. 1 hero,
“Fartman.” In between, Stem reflects on his
life, narrating his rise in American radio with
out leaving out a single misfortune or incident
of deviant behavior.
He speaks to the more-than-attractive Carol
Stars: Howard Stem, Robin Quivers, - ^
Mary McCormack, Fred Norris, Carol
Alt ‘
Director: Betty Thomas
Rating: R (language, nudity — including a
particularly horrifying vision of Stem’s butt)
Grade: B+
Five Words: Better than the real thing
Alt, who reluctantly takes her seat next to him
on a plane. Through the story Stem occupies
himself with convincing her, as well as the au
dience, of his genuinely good intentions —
despite his general image as a no-good, trashy
and offensive embodiment of everything that’s
wrong in America today.
He begins with his mildly tortured child
hood, during which Stem was turned on to ra
dio by his father, who worked as an engineer at
a local station. Bent on his ambition, he glided
through high school in a haze of pot smoke
and unfulfilled sexual desire. After graduation,
Stem attended Boston University where he met
Alison, who proved to be the love of his life.'
The film goes to great lengths to illustrate
the many dimensions of Stem — well, two,
Please see PRIVATE on 10
;
Shakespeare comedy “Night?
combines mix-up with mayhem
By Ann Stack
Film Critic
Soap operas of today have nothing on Wil
liam Shakespeare.
Even 500 years ago, the man was writing
plays that read like a script from “Melrose
Place.” Take “Twelfth Night,” for example. It’s
a romantic comedy based on the hilarity that
ensues from miscommunication and game play
ing.
Released to the big screen by Fine Line Fea
tures Productions, “Twelfth Night” is showing
at the Mary Riempa Ross Film Theater this
weekend. *"
This is one of Shakespeare’s best comedies,
and the amazing scenery and brilliant costume
design act as a foil to offset this. The scenery
helps the rather farfetched plot manifest itself
on-screen.
Viola (Imogen Stubbs) and her twin brother,
Sebastian (Stephen Mackintosh) are vaudeville
actors performing on a ship at sea. They’re
separated during a violent storm, and each be
lieves the other is dead.
Viola finds herself on the foreign shores of
Illyria and decides she’d survive better if she
were a man. She whacks her hair, binds her
boobs, stuffs her drawers and pastes on a mous
tache that’s about as convincing as Ellen
DeGeneres’ heterosexuality. Thus enter
Cesario, who gets a job as the gentleman of
Duke Orsino (Toby Stephens).
Orsino’s raison d’etre is the beautiful Count
ess Olivia (Helena Bonham Carter), who is still
in mourning after the death of her brother. He
sends Cesario to court her in his place, and
Olivia ends up falling head-over-heels for the
androgynous Cesario/Viola.
Film: Twelfth Night
Director: TVevor Nunn
Stars: Helena Bonham Carter,
Imogen Stubbs, Mel Smith
Rating: PG
Grade: B
Five Words: Movie translates well to 1990s
Add to the mix-up Olivia’s pretentious but
ler Malvolio (Nigel Hawthorne) mistakenly
believing Olivia is in love with him, Viola fall
ing in love with Orsino, Orsino Questioning his
own sexuality when he finds himself attracted
to his servant boy, a suitor of Oliyia’s unex
pectedly challenging poor Cesario to a battle
and a couple of drunks wreaking havoc for good
measure, and you’ve got yourself a grand mess.
Eventually, Sebastion finds his way to
Illyria, and quite a bit of mistaken identity/deja
vu abounds before he finally hooks up with his
long-lost twin. In the meantime, he marries
Olivia — with her thinking she’s marrying
Cesario and him not knowing what is going
on.
The best performance of the flick was turned
in by Mel Smith, who played Sir Toby Belch,
Olivia’s cousin. He’s nothing but a drunk, but
adds quite a bit of humor to the film when he
plays ofFFeste the Fool (Ben Kingsley) and Sir
Andrew Aguecheek (Richard E. Grant).
“Twelfth Night” is a presentation of the
University Program Council’s International
Film Series, and it is showing this weekend at
the Ross Theater.
Show times are 1,3:15,7 and 9:15 p.m. on
Saturday, and 2:30, 4:45, 7 and 9:15 p.m. on
Sunday. Admission is $5 with a student ID.
ouuuay. /A.U1U1MJ
_ CD _
Review
He may be white, he may be a guy, but
Jimmy Pop Ali is anything but dumb. As the
lead singer, lyricist, writer and producer for the
Bloodhound Gang, he has broken new ground
in the arena of rap/rock/altemative ... kind of
“One Fierce Beer Coaster,” the Bloodhound
Gang’s sophomore effort, doesn’t do anything
/
artists haven’t tried before, except succeed at
it. The culmination of irresistibly catchy beats
and inanely satirical lyrics actually produce
something other than “Weird A1 novelties” and
redundant trip-hop — it’s actually music.
This Pennsylvania band composed of Jimmy
Pop, Spanky G, Evil Jared, DJ Q-Ball and Lu
pus pulled out all the stops for “Beer Coaster”
by sampling and replaying elements from “The
Roof is on Fire,” “Spooky” and “Hungry Like
a Wolf.” The group even pays homage to rap
pioneers Run DMC by covering “It’s THcky.”
From knocking Mr. Rogers in “Your Only
Friends Are Make Believe,” to numerous
Chewbacca references in “Why’s Everybody
Always Picking On Me,” Bloodhound proves
that no one is safe from artistic derision. Even
little Webster (Emmanuel Lewis) is declared
the Antichrist during “Fire Water Bum,” the
first single that, despite some off-color lyrics,
received heavy airplay and video rotation on
MTV.
Jimmy Pop’s quick wit and sarcasm make
for an instant laugh but the infectious grooves
and “elementary music,” as he called it, keep
you coming back for more.
The Bloodhound Gang will perform with
Nerf Herder at Omaha’s Ranch Bowl tonight
at 7:30. Tickets are $9 and doors open at 7.
— Chris Thames
Midwestern blues, punk-rock bands
come to town for weekend shows
From Staff Reports
If midterms have you mired in books and
papers, you might want to step out and take a
break with some live music; if you do, you’re
in luck this weekend.
Fresh from the presidential inauguration,
the young blues outfit Indigenous will be play
ing the Zoo Bar, 136 N. 14th St., tonight and
Saturday.
Four American Indian siblings from Marty,
S.D., Indigenous is a hot blues guitar-based
band burning up the charts and turning critics’
heads everywhere. Besides playing at the inau
guration, the band recently did a photo shoot
for People magazine.
Indigenous will play a 21-and-over show.
There’s a $4 cover charge.
Hangar 18, 1118 O St., will also feature
some musical entertainment this weekend, al
though it may be a little less presidentially
sound.
N.I.L.8, a four-piece punk-rock outfit from
Springfield, 111., will play at Hangar 18 Sun
day night. The band is currently touring in sup
port of its latest album, “...doug,” which was
named in semi-tribute to its biggest fan. ^ I
Sunday night’s show starts at 9.