Arts
Page 8 Daily Nebraskan Tuesday, January 16,2001
'13 Days'
a tense
retelling
BY SETH FELTON
Thirteen Days
■-.
“Thirteen Days” is a riveting
rendition of events during the
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, with
one flaw - it was made in
Hollywood.
Beginning on Oct. 16,1962,
when Kennedy first received
word that the U.S.S.R. was
installing ballistic nuclear mis
siles in Cuba, die film follows the
events of the next two weeks with
remarkable accuracy.
“Thirteen Days” is an amaz
ingly solid piece. The screenplay
has been skillfully crafted and
meticulously researched by
writer David Self. The perform
ances given by Bruce
Greenwood as John F. Kennedy,
Steven Culp as Robert Kennedy
and Kevin Costner as Kenny
O’Donnell are both believable
and compelling.
The film is told through the
perspective of O’Donnell, a top
political aide to JFK, but Costner,
who also produced the film,
wisely gives his character a sec
ondary role to the larger course
of events.
Some of the more fascinating
aspects of the film include the
Kennedy camp’s struggle with
some of the top military advi
sors, all of whom argued for both
air strike and ground invasion of
Cuba to eliminate the threat
posed by the Russian nukes
there.
The film does an excellent
job of communicating die gravi
ty of die Cuban threat, as well as
the consequences of going to
war with Russia over Cuba. This
event occurred at the height of
tensions between the United
States and the U.S.S.R.. - war
would have almost certainly
meant the use of nuclear
weapons by both sides, some
thing Kennedy, as this film illus
trates, worked to prevent
Even more gratifying, at
least, is the fact that the film was
n't another sycophantic, patriot
ic romp through American
History Oz, where every
American is a saint and all his
enemies the minions of Satan.
The film could have degener
ated into this, but Kennedy and
his team, as well as the Russians
to a certain degree (though they
are still portrayed as somewhat
sinister), are thoughtfully
humanized.
Aenneuy anu ms aiues maxe
mistakes, agonize over the con
sequences of their decisions and
make every effort to see their
Russian counterparts as more
than “the Reds.”
There is one component of
this film that keeps it from being
a great film, a quiet 4-star work of
unusual brilliance. Someone, I
don't know who, thought that the
, story couldn’t stand on its own.
So, they introduced the family,
the heart-warming and heart
wrenching scenes that stain
nearly every film that comes out
of Hollywood and leaves the
viewer desperately searching for
a pillow or a sick bag.
O'Donnell’s family plays a
minor role in this film, but they
appear often enough to delay the
resolution of key events, break
up and diffuse the tension and
rhythm of the film, and stretch
the running time to an exhaust
ing two and a half hours.
Towards the end of the film,
with my right buttock asleep and
my girlfriend pounding her head
on die armrest for lack of any
female characters, I was out of
patience. I was ready to yell
“Damn it! The Russkies just shot
down a U-2 spy plane, and you’re
wasting time in a uselessly awk
ward scene staring at your son
with flabby-lipped affection. Get
on with it!”
This is unfortunate, but if
you can get past this mess
(admittedly not really frustrating
until the end), the film is a great
rendition of an historical event,
free of melodrama and satisfy
ingly full of what actually hap
pened. And that makes
“Thirteen Days" worth seeing.
“Thirteen Days” Starring
Kevin Costner, Bruce
Greenwood, Steven Culp and
Dylan Baker. Directed by Roger
Donaldson. Written by David
Self. Rated R language. Playing
at the Plaza 4 and Edgewood 3
Theaters.
Jennifer Lund/DN
dark Potter will be performing Jan. 23, with Mark Clinton as part of the Kimball Recital Hall series. Potter plays the viola and has been a professor at UNL for the past five years.
Kimball slate promises variety
BY CHRIS JACOBS
With a number of artists from all sorts of musical
backgrounds scheduled to perform this semester, the
Kimball Recital Hall will supply an abundance of
entertainment at a small cost.
There is no universal theme among the artists,
said John Whiteman, marketing and promotions
coordinator for the School of Fine and Performing
Arts.
“Many of the performers are working in collabora
tion with other professors,” he said.
“They are working in a network of friends.”
Friends from far places, according to the Spring
2000 event guide, will come together from several
other universities. A performance was already given
last Friday by Peter Collins, representative of
Southwest Missouri State University. Other perform
ers will make the trip from Ohio University, Kansas
State University and die Omaha Symphony.
Faculty artists Clark Potter, viola, and Mark
Clinton, piano, will perform pieces by Rubinstein,
Scharwenka, Hovhaness and Robert Kritz, who will be
making a trip from Chicago to attend die event
Potter said the Rubinstein and Scharwenka pieces
had distinct differences despite being composed
within a 50-year time span and a separating distance
of 100 miles in their native Poland.
“The Scharwenka piece is playful and romantic,
while the Rubinstein sonata is very big, loud and
crashing,” Potter said.
The performance will mark the first time Potter
has heard the pieces actually being played, he said.
“I’ve been working on this music for six months
without any recordings. I learned the music by trying
everything out,” he said.
• Potter said he aimed for a show where he played
new music that was more listener friendly.
"There weren’t many pieces written for the viola in
the 19th century,” he said.
Being a former violinist, Potter switched to viola 12
years ago because he liked the instrument’s “deeper,
more resonant sound, that isn't as brilliant as the vio
lin.”
The free performance will take place at 7:30 p.m.
on Jan. 23.
The UNL Orchestra, conducted by Tyler White,
will perform along with the fine and performing arts
2000-01 undergraduate and graduate solo competi
tion winners at 7:30 on Jan. 31.
The orchestra will preview the overture by Johann
Strauss, Die Fledermaus, that they will perform for an
opera on Feb. 16 and 18, White said.
The university has solo competitions every fall
whose winners are chosen by a panel from the School
of Fine and Performing Arts, he said.
Winners of the undergraduate competition are
Nick Phillips and Nathan Knutson, both pianists.
Graduate winners are Jeff Campbell, bassoon, and Ju
Hee Kim, piano.
Campbell will play the first movement of
Hummel’s “Grand Concerto in F Major,” and Phillips
will play the second movement Ju-Hee will play the
first movement of Schumann's "Piano Concerto” in A
Minor,” and Knutson will perform a piano concerto
written by Prokofiev.
General admission tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for
students and are available at the door one hour before
the performance.
A wide variety of instruments will be featured
throughout the semester including the piano, viola,
trumpet, trombone, bassoon,
flute, clarinet, violin and oth
ers.
Many university perform
ance groups will make appear
ances in the near future includ
ing Varsity Chorus and
University Singers (Feb. 20),
Wind Ensemble (Feb. 25),
Symphonic Band (March 1),
Jazz Ensemble I (March 7) and
University Orchestra & Wind
“I’ve been working
on this music for six
months without any
recordings. I
learned the music
by trying everything
out.”
Ensemble (March 8).
Whiteman said all the
shows should appeal to a large, _
diverse audience.
Other upcoming events
include:
■ Faculty artist Darryl White, trumpet, Feb. 1 at
7:30 p.m. White will play with guest artists Marie
Speziale, trumpet, former associate principal of the
Cincinnati Symphony and Anne Nagowsky, violin, of
the Omaha Symphony.
■ Ohio University faculty members Alison Brown,
flute, and Sylvia Henry, piano, Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m.
■ KSU professor of voice Jean Sloop with William
Wingfield on piano, Feb. 3 at 7:30 p.m.
Each of these shows is free.
Clark Potter
faculty artist
'Antitrust'an unlikely
script and boring end
■The movie, possibly inspired by the
case against Microsoft,is a far-fetched
version of'The Firm.'
BY BILLY SMUCK
The latest techno thriller "Antitrust”
features software coding that is more
impressive than the movie script itself.
The screenplay, despite having a good
premise in its favor, is over saturated with
laughably unrealistic plot twists that
unravel a potentially convincing and
entertaining film.
A picture obviously inspired by
Microsoft’s Bill Gates and the pending
cases against his company, “Antitrust”
adopts a story-line very similar the John
Grisham movie “The Firm.”
Tim Robbins plays Gary Winston, a
Gates lookalike who is the founder of
N.U.R.V. (Never Underestimate Radical
Vision), a monopolistic software con
glomerate on the verge of creating the first
satellite-delivered global communication
system.
Winston has widely publicized this
digital conversion project, known as
“Synapse,” announcing a completion
deadline he is determined to meet in
order to stay ahead of the competition.
“The software business is binary,”
spouts Winston. “It’s either one or zero.
You're either alive or you're dead.”
Pronouncements like these, along
with Winston's success and reputation,
are what lure highly sought after Stanford
computer science graduate Milo Hoffman
(Ryan Phillippe) to come and work for the
obsessive visionary.
It doesn’t take the audience long to
Antitrust
1 (★■&"&■&■)
realize Winston is up to no good. However,
whiz kid Hoffman is a little slow catching
on to the criminal behavior Winston uses
to carry out his plan. Once he does,
Hoffman doesn’t know who he can trust,
as he discovers no one is quite who they
seem to be. From there on it’s a far
fetched cat and mouse chase as Hoffman
attempts to sabotage Winston’s mischie
vous plan.
The film plummets because of clumsy
structuring and implausible action in the
second half of the film creating a similar
effect to a fever chart of Microsoft’s falling
stock last year.
One thing the movie accomplishes,
however, is the Pringles and Pepsi product
placements we see Winston consuming
throughout the movie, which subliminal
ly gave me a feeling of inadequacy as I
looked down at my small popcorn and
Coke.
“Antitrust” also preaches a sentimen
tal message of free information through
an open source approach to sharing code
with the public. Isn't that sweet? Well,
don’t expect “Antitrust” marketing repre
sentatives to follow suit with the picture’s
theme, offering it free of charge to audi
ences any time soon.
Besides, it’s only fitting that there be a
parallel between a movie that depicts the
inevitable loss of profits with “Antitrust’s”
probable real life scenario.
“Antitrust” Starring Ryan Phillippe,
Tim Robbins. Directed by Peter Howitt.
Written by Howard Franklin. Rated PG
13 (for language and violence). Playing at
Edgewood 3 and Douglas 3.
JL
'Double Take'too twisty
BY SEAN MCCARTHY
With some movies, you can instantly
tell they will become staples on TBS, TNT
or in the case of “Double Take," Comedy
Central. Though the movie provides a few
decent laughs, you can’t help but be
relieved that the station won’t have to air
“Mannequin 2: On The Move" as much.
The plot is simple: Daryl Chase,
played by Orlando Jones, is a mover-and
shaker investment banker who is framed
for double murder. Meanwhile, Freddy
Tiffany (Eddie Griffin), an obnoxious
hustler who seems to bump into Chase
and annoy the hell out of him, is brought
along for the ride to Mexico and possible
freedom. The CIA and FBI become
involved.
In order to shake the cops, Chase
insists that he and Tiffany “switch” roles.
Tiffany adopts an Ivy-league accent;
Chase struts and yells out “jive turkey.’’
There are enough plot twists to inter
est, to a point. But once the characters
start triple and quadruple-crossing each
other, the movie swerves into a car-wreck
of a mess.
The most annoying part of “Double
Take” is its schizophrenic tendency to go
from slapstick to suspense. One scene,
Griffin and Jones are having a dance com
petition straight out of “Breakin 2:
Electric Boogaloo.” In the scene before,
they are running for their lives from the
CIA, FBI and, hell, throw in a boarder
patrol guard for good measure.
At least there’s chemistry between
Jones and Griffin - it keeps the movie
going.
Jones, known more for his perform
ance on “Mad TV” and as the “7-Up”
adman, puts as much depth as he can
into his two-dimensional yuppified role.
Griffin, of “Malcolm and Eddie" fame,
tries to milk out any laugh he can from his
Wu-ified version of a James Brown char
Double Ta ke
1
acter.
In the subtle moments, “Double Take”
is funny. Coy references to the movie “Car
Wash” and old school RUN-DMC tunes
are dropped so quickly, they barely regis
ter with the audience. The quiet scenes
involving each of the main characters try
ing to figure out the true motives of the
other one also are decent.
However, it seems director George
Gallo felt that for every few moments of
genuine dialogue, he had to mix in an
uninteresting car chase. Dust flying up,
windows get shattered and a hubcaps fly
like Frisbees at a NORML rally; nope,
haven’t seen that before.
The real crime of “Double Take” is the
waste of talent, including the director.
Gallo, who wrote the classic mismatch
crime movie, “Midnight Run,” but also
directed the abysmal “Trapped in
Paradise,” shows his flair for lyrical bril
liance only to throw it down the crapper
with a bunch of weak action sequences
and huge plot holes.
The tired “act black” tirade that Chase
and Tiffany get into is just as unsettling as
tequila jokes during any scene involving a
Hispanic character.
Gallo has more class than that. He
should know better as a director.
It seemed that “Double Take” wanted
to be something more than a typical
buddy-action movie. And for about half
of the movie, the chemistry of the two
characters and the plot saves it. For the
other half of the movie, it serves as an
eerie example of what Spike Lee is decry
ing in his movie, “Bamboozled.”
“Double Take” Starring Orlando
Brown and Eddie Griffin. Directed by
George Gallo. Written by George Gallo.
Rated R for language and violence.
Playing at The Lincoln.