Actors’ performances
save tough storyline
DEVIL from page 12__
in Belfast, he escapes to America and
hides in Tom O’Meara’s basement.
The only thing the two men have
in common is their heritage — Tom
doesn’t believe killing solves prob
lems; Rory doesn’t believe in anything
else. Nonetheless, the two become
friends.
The sappiness factor in the male
bonding between Tom and Rory is
relatively low—the two share a pool
game and drink some beer together—
but it’s just potent enough to tug at
the heart strings. Tom’s three young
daughters fall in love with Rory, and
he’s the perfect brother-figure.
Of course, O’Meara isn’t blind. He
discovers what Ray’s been up to, and
he’s tom between his duty as a cop
and his gut-level understanding of
what the young Irish man is doing —
if he were in Rory’s shoes, he’d do the
same thing. So it comes down to a con
frontation between the unlikely duo
who share nothing but a common an
cestry and a strong friendship.
Rim: The Devil’s Own
Director: Alan J. Pakula
Cast: Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt
Grade: B
Rating: R (language, violence)
Five Words: Good acting but tough
The movie, has sufficient acting,
and Pitt’s Northern Irish accent isn’t
half-bad. Throw in some traditional
Irish music along with the mandatory
Cranberries song, and the score is
complete.
The only problem with the movie
is that there’s never any historical con
text given. Most everyone knows the
Irish are fighting, but a word on ex
actly why would’ve been helpful. It’s
just close to impossible to cram hun
dreds of years of warfare into a two
hour movie and expect it to have a
convincing plot. The issues involved
are too complex for a scope this nar
row.
Pavement carves its way
through solid pop career
PAVEMENT from page 12
music available to them. And as a re
sult, they have become one of
America’s most important bands while
selling a relatively small number of
records.
And they probably wouldn’t have
it any other way. Pavement’s creativ
ity and musicianship are matched only
by their decidedly anti-industry ap
proach to both their recordings and the
promotion of them.
In 1995, Pavement’s “Wowee
Zowee” was widely ignored as a re
sult of its anti-industry posturing and
series of rock snippets that usually
lasted no longer than 90 seconds. That
album was — in the eyes of many
hard-core Pavement fans — a sorely
misunderstood work that stands
among their best. Unfortunately, in the
eyes of most critics and music fans,
“Wowee Zowee” was a slump period
that required a strong and spirited
comeback album.
Enter “Brighten the Comers.”
But Pavement’s latest release is
anything but, pushing the limitations
of their listeners as far as anything
they’ve released. As they wear their
influences and distastes proudly on
their sleeves, the members of Pave
ment are as snotty and oft-indecipher
able as ever.
Frontman Stephen Malkmus still
throws his vocals over the songs in
either a tired moan or a high-pitched
falsetto, and the rest of the band still
plods along behind him with a steady
but-intricate mess of guitar-driven
melody and noise.
The lyrics are as twisted as ever.
In the opening track alone, Malkmus
throws a sing-song attitude into words
such as “Pigs they tend to wiggle when
they walk” and “the Kaiser has a cyst,”
and pokes indie fun at such sacred
rock institutions as Rush frontman
Geddy Lee.
But despite Malkmus’ penchant
for nonsensical lyrics, he occasionally
drifts into a real nugget of truth or
honesty that makes all of the manic
wordplay worthwhile. And content
isn’t really what rock should be about
anyway. The words sound good where
they are, even if they don’t make sense
when they’re read aloud.
Musically, Pavement is still a won
der to hear. Their snail-paced arrange
ments are the epitome of all that
sounds easy but plays harder than
nearly anything out there. Guitar lines
are woven into bass lines, and rhythms
are skewed, stopped and started again
with a delicate sense of aesthetic tim
ing.
And by the time the occasional
twisted pop song is thrown into the
mix, it sounds so beautiful it hurts.
The result is an album that bends
the ear like nothing else that has been
released so far this year. And the truly
strange part is that for Pavement it’s
just another record.
— Jeff Raatfall
SOME THINGS ARE MEANT
TO BE CLOSED
For decades, MDA has
YOUR MIND ISN’T p^H^Z
ONE OF THEM. . ltare J°,sofe,?(,We
believe talent, ability
and desire are more
lJ important than
strength of a person’s
muscles. The one
barrier these people
can’t overcome is a
closed mind. Keep
yours open.
1-800-S7S-1717
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___
-------
April 19
8 p.m.
Centennial Room
Nebraska Union
Bobcat has starred in films
such as "Police Academy II"
and "Scrooged" and has
appeared on HBO and Comic
Relief. His voice has been
featured on "Beavis and
Butthead” and he is
currently the man behind
the voice of "Moxie" on
The Cartoon Network and
"Mr. Floppy" on the WB's
series "Unhappily Ever After."
. *T
Advance ticket sales ONLY
beginning April 1 vNOI
Available only at .
Nebraska Union Information Booth
Davis,
a Minneapolis
singer and
nqwriter, has
on favorable
mparisons to
ob Dylan and
is idol Loudon
ainwriqht ill.
Free_
Event
SUMMER SESSION 1997
This summer, attend Colorado State University and
earn credits during our 4-, 8-, or 12-week terms.
Courses begin May 19, June 16, and July 14.
No formal admission requirements.
Call 1-800-854-6456 for a free
Summer Class Schedule
