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Stars, sequels line up
for holiday movie rele
By Gerry Beltz
Film Critic
Ahh, the holidays. How joyous they can be for students.
Family members you don’t recognize arguing over what way the turkey
should be facing. Parents telling you how your life should be running at this
point in time. Uncle Chauncey describing the insertion of suppositories the
size of tennis balls, and Aunt Petunia mixing drinks the way Porky Pig mixes
dangerous chemicals.
Oh what fun. How about a movie?
Surprisingly, the brunt of holiday movies already have hit the screens, but
also are preparing to leave. “Flubber” is flubbing, “Alien Resurrection” is
dying quickly and “The Jackal” is starting to howl.
Obviously, this is only a rough list of what is coming out, and there are
others to be added. However, keep the titles in mind as the umpteenth discus
sion arises of how Osborne’s retirement will affect the phases of the moon.
Dec. 12:
■ “Scream 2” - Last year’s surprise hit “Scream” jumps on the
sequel train, once again mixing horror movie trivia, gore and black humor.
The movie within a movie brings back most of the surviving cast from the
first movie. This time it’s all the same college campus while a movie about
-- the orig c—ning and Jada Pinkett also show
up.
*■; B “Home Alone more dumb burglars. More cute kids with silly
traps. More of the same. The kids will like it. Maybe Macaulay will play a
cameo as the puberty-stricken kid working as a donut shop clerk.
r B ^For Richer For Poorer” Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley play a feuding
New York couple on the lam irom tr dice, hiding in Amish country. A
comedic turn on“Witness,” they rediscover their love while leading the sim
pie life. The real question: How many “Home Improvement” grunts will
# Allen do in this flick?
JACK DAWSON and Fabrizio De Rossi (from left, Leonardo DiCaprio and
Danny Nucci) unknowingly are thrilled to be on board the most luxuri
ous liner of their era in “Titant'ic.”
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The production
has been sad
dled with prob
lem after prob
lem, ranging
from an ever
increasing bud
get to poor
ad vancC press ^
to PC£,-laden
clam chowder.
“Titanic" is
a period piece
int^l^^sed
with present
day footage of
the sunken ship,
and the multi
faceted cast
includes
Leonardo
DeCaprio, Kate
Winslet, Kathy
nates ana Bill Paxton.
■ “Tomorrow Never Dies” - The 18^ Bond flick, and once again Pierce
Brosnanis wearing the tuxedo and making the impossible possible. It is cen
tered around the world press setting off World War HI, and Teri Hatcher (TV’s
“Lois and Clark”) and “Supercop” star Michelle Yeoh show up as the Bond
women for this flick.
Dec. 25:
H “An American Werewolf In Paris” — Another film that was pushed back
from Halloween to holiday release. Julie Delpy leads the pack in this film of
a hairy beast terrorizing residents in die city of love.
■ “Jackie Brown” - Quentin Tarantino once again steps behind the cam
era to follow Pam Grier as a stewardess who, in an effort to stay out of jail,
must work in a sting operation involving money laundering. As usual, the cast
list is way over in talent and size, including the likes of Samuel L. Jackson,
Kevin Costner directing. (Whoops, the “post-apocalyptic” thing should have
implied that.) Anyway, Costner directs and stars as a manwho comes forward
to help bring the world together in peace.
Yeah, right, but can he dance?
■ “Mr. Magoo” - The old cartoon series hits the big screen in a big way,
with Leslie Nielsen taking a break from mediocre spoof films to star in this
flick, directed by Stanley Tong (“Rumble In The Bronx). •
To come in 1998:
H “Blues Brothers 2000” with Dan Aykroyd being chased by the Russian
Mafia; a big-screen version of the old TV series “Lost In Space”; “The
Animated Adventures of Hercules and Xena”; and the argument of whether
or not size matters is set to rest with “Godzilla.”
_._.. ... . Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures
BRAD AND CAROLINE SEXTON (Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley), two Manhattan socialites on the lam from
the Internal Revenue Service, hide out in Amish country in “For Richer or Poorer."
I-- —--;-—---—--—--;---.
Deparments join forces
to produce‘Oklahoma’
■ The collaboration between
departments was fun for cast and
crew, who said the pieces of the
play fit together perfectly.
By Liza Holtmeier
Senior Reporter
Petticoats and cowboy hats fly in the
Rodgers and Hammerstein musical
“Oklahoma!”
The sold-out play opens this weekend at
Kimball Recital Hall and is a collaboration
between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Department of Theatre Arts and Dance and the
School of Music. It is a rebirth of the Kosmet
Klub Musical that was a campuswide event
from 1912 to its demise in the early 1970s.
“A musical demands strength in all three
areas: dramatics, music and dance, where as
one unit on its own would have certain defi
ciencies, by merging all three we were really
able to pick the strongest cast,” director
Shomos said.
hoose the strongest cast, each depart
ment contacted its own students about the pro
duction. Campuswide auditions were held
Aug. 27.
The resulting cast consists of 51 students
representing 12 dilferent majors.
Kate Eisenhour, who plays the character
Aunt Eller, said she enjoyed meeting people
from other departments.
“You learn so much from each other,”
Eisenhour said. “Each person brings his or her
own expertise to the show.”
Becky Key, who plays Ado Annie, added
that the result of all the disciplines coming
together was like “a beautiful song.
“There are so many different pieces that fit
together to make a wonderful harmony,” Key
said.
Amy Ballou, a dance major in the women’s
chorus, said she enjoyed the chance to dance
with non-dance majors.
“We don’t have a lot of guys in the dance
department,” Ballou said. “I really enjoyed
dancing and working with the guys in the
show. They have been so adaptable and ready
to learn.”
While cast and crew have enjoyed collabo
rating, the effort presented some unique chal
lenges.
Shomos said planning rehearsals around
students’ schedules had been “a daunting
task.”
“You basically have three different areas of
students who are all used to their own sched
ules,” Shomos said. “Getting 30 to 45 students
together on one night could sometimes be a
struggle.” • • *
Shomos said the production also was chal
lenging because he primarily directed opera in
the past. He said he had approached this show
in similar ways, though.
“The genres are different, but the need to
communicate is the same,” Shomos said. "We
focus on the motivation and intent of the char
acters in the same way,”
The departments plan to continue collabo
rating on a musical every other year, altemat
. Please see OKLAHOMA on 10
