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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 2001)
Local bars offer music V variety BY SEAN MCCARTHY The spring music scene in Lincoln is typically like the dis count rack at TJ Maxx: Through a dense area of weak selections, there usually is a gem that makes it worth sorting through everything else. Last year, The Flaming Lips put on one of the best shows of the decade at Knickerbockers. This year, there may not be a huge, must-see-sell-plasma pawn-your-biology-books-to see:them type of concert, but there is a strong selection of shows that will fit almost any musical taste. Knickerbockers Bar & Grill - 9010 St. Always a good place to get a good dose of the local music scene, as well as to catch some of the best acts nationally, Knickerbockers has a solid line up for spring. On Jan 13, there will be two shows to take in. There will be an early show with Jank 1000 and 8th Wave and a later show with Lost Prc^duct and Mac & Don’s Supper Club. One of the funkiest acts in the nation, Pharcyde, will lay down their grooves with Ugly Duckling on Jan 24. The group Strange Pleasures will close out January with a show Jan 31. Those who cannot stand the nauseating, migraine-inducing hoopla over Valentine’s Day may want to check out Knickerbockers on Feb. 14. The legendary act Morbid Angel will play, and many-a-headbanger will want to check that show out. Zgo Bar -136 N14" Though the Larry Boehmer eraiof the Zoo Bar ended last year, the bar continues to be the premier showcase of blues, loul, rockabilly and roots rock in Lincoln. Local favorites, The Darlings, will play the Zoo on Jan. 11. In what may be the best concert of the spring, legendary blues guitarist Son Seals will bring his blistering blend of soul, rock and roll and blues to the bar on Jan. 20. The Zoo Bar is selling tickets in advance, and they will likely sell out way before his Saturday show. On Feb. 1., Grammy-win ning artists Brave Combo will perform their eclectic mix of music. Psychedelic rock, gen uine blues and yes, polka, are all parts of Brave Combo’s unique musical stew. These guys also shred live. Duffy’s Tavern-1412 O. St. Duffy’s offers a great way to end the first week of school: a CD release party. Drive-by Honky will celebrate the release of their new CD with fans and patrons. An added bonus to the fiscally-challenged: no cover charge. Later in January, Slobberbone is slated to pl^y. While there are a few uncon firmed bands slated to play in February, March has at least one can’t-miss show. Stew and his band, The Meat Girl Problem, will play their Pixies-meets Beach Boys style of hard-edged pop. The band has garnished a ton of critical acclaim, and it should be a great show. Royal Grove - 304 W Comhusker Hwy Though their strip night is becoming their biggest attrac tion, the Royal Grove is still a place that has music acts and good ones. Old-school metal Please see SHOWS on 6 BY SAMUEL MCKEWON It was, quite simply, the cen terpiece of the 2001 Mary Riempa Ross spring film spason. “Crouching Tiger, Hidden --Dragon,” the Ang Lee-directed, rmutial arts epic which has been calttd one of the best of its kind in filpjWstory, racking up movie fajns and awards alike, was a rare sccrreTorRoSs Director Dan Ladely- a flm that lived up to the Ross’ high standards, yet offered the prospect of strong box office gains for the Sheldon Art Gallery. And Ladely had it booked for March 15-April 1. He had even set aside more time for it to run dur ing the entire week instead of the normal Thursday-Sunday Ross schedule. After seeing its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, Ladely sensed the crossover success the film star ring Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh might have. And then, Douglas Theatre Co. stepped in and took “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" away from Ladely, opt ing to open the movie Feb. 2, which is the nationwide release date for the movie, said Frank Rhodes, buyer for Douglas. But the switch has left Ladely with a three-week hole in his schedule and an ax to grind. "Ripped off, stolen, robbed,” Ladely said Monday. “I'm pretty angry about all of this. I thought I had a good relationship with Douglas.” The film, which has the type of award hype unseen for a strict ly foreign language film since “The Last Emperor^ in 1987, had done so well financially in major cities that its distributor, Sony Pictures Classics, pulled the film out of arthouses across America and plugged them into major movie chains. “They wanted to move the release date up to take advantage of the likely Academy Awards nomination,” said Rhodes, who added the movie will be in two Lincoln theaters. “They asked about Lincoln and Omaha.” Ladely said he thought his friendship with Sony Pictures Classics, a mostly indie-driven company whom he had done business with for “at least 25 years,” would help him in keep ing the film booked. Douglas, on the other hand, rarely came in contact with the distributor. Yet Ladely got the call last week that the gem in a strong spring lineup was being taken from him and that he’d better scramble for backups. “Stolen is the word I’d empha size because I really feel Please see DRAGON on 6 Another spring swoon awaits moviegoers ■"Hannibal"highlights an otherwise so-so spring movie slate of teen and romantic comedies. / BY SAMUEL MCKEWON The usual suspects of the spring movie season are all here - the light as air teen comedies, the throwaway holdovers from 2000, the February doldrums, the spring drama trying to sneak one in on us. Only one movie, easily the biggest movie of the first quarter, sticks out like a sore thumb. “Hannibal.” The much-awaited sequel to “Silence of the Lambs” opens 10 years (Feb. 9) after the first did, before it went on to win four Academy Awards add introduce the world to Anthony Hopkjns as one of our preeminent actors. The movie was so impressive, the Thomas Harris' sequel was named for the character Hannibal Lecter. Hopkins performance is often called one of the finest in recent decades, far be it from me to disagree. The sequel does not bring along two major parts, however, as director Jonathan Demme and female lead Jodie Foster, who played FBI agent Clarice Strafing, decided to forgo their participa tion in it to pursue more personal proj ects. In their place is director Ridley Scott - fresh off a reintroduction to the main stream with “Gladiator,” and Julianne Moore, who has used her versatility and visibility to put herself in major star posi tion with this film. Critics of the Harris’ sequel, which has Ciarifce and Hannibal walk into the proverbial psychopathic sunset at the end, will be pleased to hear the movie’s ending has changed greatly, though the main storyline of a former Lecter victim Mason Verger (played by an unbilled major character actor) wanting to exact revenge on his tormentor has stayed intact. I wasn’t encouraged much by the trail er, which seemed to lack the thriller nature of the original picture. Reports say “Hannibal" will be a wittier take on the original film; wit wasn’t exactly an impor tant ingredient of “Silence of the Lambs." The highlights of the spring schedule, starting with Jan. 19: Jan. 19 “Snatch” - The sophomore effort of Guy Ritchie - the new husband of Madonna - has a bigger budget, more complicated tale and better release y schedule than his first cult hit “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.” “Snatch” has a giant ensemble cast, including Brad Pitt as a nearly incompre hensible boxer, all after the same dia mond loot. Ritchie’s penchant for lucid violence ought to heat up the winter frost. “The Gift” Sam Raimi’s newest work has Cate Blanchett as a psychic needed to help solve a crime. Jan. 26 “The Wedding Planner” Jennifer Lopez tests her star meddle in her first romantic comedy, where only the film world could sell up J-Lo as a frumpish wedding planner with no beau of her own. But she finds one in Matthew Courtesy Photo CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Julia Roberts and James Gandolfini spar on opposite sides of the mob in "The Mexican,*" Brad Pitt plays a nearly incomprehensible boxer in the new Guy Ritchie movie "Snatch;" Ashley Judd finds out what men want with Greg Kinnear in "Animal Husbandry" McConaughey, who just happens to be getting... Feb. 2 “Valentine” - Slasher time with serial killer on the prowl for victims near the day of true love. “Say It Isn’t So” - Geeky Chris Klein finds a soulmate in Heather Graham only to discover that she may be his sister. I could think of worse people to kiss. Feb. 9 “Hannibal” “Along Came A Spider” - Another police procedural on the same day, this starring Morgan Freeman in his recurring role as Dr. Alex Cross, now investigating the kidnapping of a rich schoolgirl. From the James Patterson novel. Feb. 16 “Down To Earth” - A rap remake of “Heaven Can Wait,” as Chris Rock dies too soon and inhabits the body of a rich white man. “Sweet November” - Charlize Theron is a one-month love girl for hire who’s just walked into Keanu Reeves’ structured live. Feb. 23 “3,000 Miles to Graceland" - Caper heist starring Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner as Elvis impersonators knocking over a Las Vegas bank. Costner is the vil lain here. “Original Sin” - Angelina Jolie plays, finally, a bad girl who weasels her way into prince Antonio Banderas’ life and wants a piece of the crown March 2 “The Mexican” - Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts team up, with James Gandolfini as a side player, in a movie that finds Pitt on the opposite side of a mafia that does n’t want him to quit as a hitman. “Eye See You” - Sly Stallone is a recov ering alcoholic whose detox center is haunted by a killer. Please see MOVIES on 6 ■ The Art Gallery will use one exhibit to compliment contemporary art class , BY MAUREEN GALLAGHER An eclectic mix of art will grace the Sheldon Art Gallery this semester. Photographs of urban streets in New York, a collection of quilts from Alabama, and avant-garde art by Latin American artists are among the exhibits being dis played. An exhibit of African American quilts will open the spring season on Friday and will be viewable until April 1. The 30 quilts displayed come from the collection of 156 quilts recently donated to UNL by Robert and Helen Cargo and Robert and Ardis James. Robert Cargo, a professor at the University of Alabama, began his quilt collection after inheriting several from his great-grandmother in the 1950s. The majority of the quilts in the exhibit come from Alabama and all come from the Deep South. Urban Wilderness: Chaos Transformed The Photographs of Irving Greines will be on display from Jan. 19 March 18. Greines’ works reflect an attempt to locate beauty in unlikely places, and this exhibit features 30 photos taken since 1992 in San Francisco’s Chinatown and lower Manhattan in New York. The third exhibit is a collection of contemporary prints and photography from the permanent collection. The exhibit was curated by Sheldon Curator Dan Siedell and^University of Nebraska Lincoln art history professor Christin Mamiya and will be on display from Jan. 26-April 29. The exhibit is designed to complement Mamiya’s contemporary art course offered during the spring semes ter. On March 23, an exhibit of avant garde art by Latin American artists will open and will remain until May 27. The exhibit, titled Latin American Realities, was curated by Estera Milman, Director of University Library’s Alternative Traditions in the Contemporary Arts at the University of Iowa. An exhibit from the permanent col lection, titled Surrealism in Photography, will open on April 10 and be displayed until July 8. The exhibit explores the role that surrealism has played in the history and development of photography. Opening on the same day is another exhibit taken from the Sheldon’s perma nent collection. This exhibit is a codec tion of the work of Alfred Maurer, an early American modernist. Maurer’s work is set apart by heavy French influence, which stems from the years he spent in Paris prior to World War II. The exhibit will close on July 8. f The final exhibit of the Sheldon’s spring season is titled Georges Rouault: The Intersection of Art and Faith. Running from May 2 until June 24, the exhibit showcases the work of Georges Rouault, a modern expressionist. Rouault’s work explores the relationship between spirituality and art, the link between the history of visual arts and the history of religion and spirituality. The Sheldon Art Gallery is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Thursday through Saturday evenings from 7:00-9:00 p.m. and Sunday from 2:00-9:00 p.m. Astro-Man ...or Man? in town BYNEALOBERMEYER My favorite is Coco the Electronic Monkey Wizard. Who’s yours? They’re from the future, or they’re from space, or maybe they’re from space in the future, but it really doesn’t mat ter too much because, how does the saying go, a psycho instrumental surf rock band from any other point in the space-time continuum is just as fun to watch? Something like that. They’re Man ... or Astro PleaseseeMAN on 6