M3AOD
The Sure Thing’: not the usual teen flick
By MARCY BASILE
Movie Reviewer
As most everybody knows,
one goal of incoming college
freshmen males is finding the
“college woman” of their
dreams.
Observations over the past
three and a half years have pro
ven to me that, while the guys
try, few succeed. These guys
diitifullv attend mixers but
something gets lost in the
translation — they usually lean
against an obscure wall con
suming mass quantities of beer
with the buddies.
“The Sure Thing,” the new
est offering by Rob “Meathead”
Reiner, deals with the pain of
finding the right girl only to
discover she hate your guts.
Gib (John Cusack) and Alison
(Daphne Zuniga) are two New
England college freshmen who
meet in a creative writing class
taught by a professor any
freshman would love. This
lady, Professor Taub (Viveca
Lindfors) operates on the same
wavelengths as Dr. Ruth — she
tells everything as it is.
Gib, who resembles a young
Julian Lennon, is the sort of guy
who thrives on cold pizza
breakfasts and procrastinated
English papers (sound famil
iar?). True to form, he falls
into immediate infatuation the
instant he sees Alison. Not be
ing too obvious, Gib motions to
John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga star in “The Sure Thing.”
the seat next to him when she
walks into the classroom. Al
ison, being the hot-blooded
woman she is, cooly igornes
him. Undaunted, Gib persists
in his quest to win Alison’s
heart.
Until they end up in the
same car bound for UCLA.
You see, Gib’s best friend has
invited Gib to visit over
Christmas Break with the
promise of conjuring up a
“sure thing.” What guy could
pass up the prospects of a no
strings, no-guilt relationship
with one of the most gorgeous
bottle-blonds in California? On
the flip side, Alison’s yuppie
boyfriend, Jay-son, is in the
process of becoming a lawyer
(and a darn good one, too)
when Alison decides to pack up
and visit him in sunny Califor
nia.
Along the way, Gib and Al
ison begin to enjoy each other’s
company, although it takes a
while for them to realize it. Gib
teaches Alison how to be im
pulsive (and how to properly
shotgun beer while eating fried
pork rinds). Alison, on the
other hand, teaches Gib the
meaning of friendship (i.e. it’s
OK to have girls for friends not
just for thrills).
John Cusack (“Sixteen Cand
les,” “Grandview U.SA.”) does
a good job portraying Gib, con
sidering Cusack just graduated
from high school himself. Al
though Gib starts out as a guv
hot on the trail of the perfect
female, he matures enough to
realize that the words “I love
you” mean more than just a
key to “it.” (Judging from
crowd reaction and personal
opinion, Cusack is a definite
asset to the male species, too.)
Although Cusack plays a be
lievable college freshman, Zu
niga lacks something. Most
freshmen girls aren’t as well
planned out as Alison. Maybe it
isn’t Zuniga’s portrayal (bad
writing could be a possible cul
prit) but something definitely
is wrong. I must admit though,
watching her shotgun beer is
pretty humorous.
All in all, the movie is taste
fully executed. For once, there
is no nudity and little profanity
to speak of. Actually, if you
want to take someone of the
opposite sex with you to this
one — go right ahead. All
you’ll do is laugh. \
Music
From brain games to inane games
By WALTER SMITH
Music Reviewer
Tim Rice is at it again. In the
past, he’s delivered the lyrics to
such Broadway hits as “Evita”
and “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
Now he’s teamed up with
Abba members Benny Anders-
son and Bjorn Ulvaeus for the
recording of “Chess.” Although
still in progress, this work
promises to get even better.
This show differs greatly
from most theatrical produc
tions because it has two songs,
“One Night in Bangkok” and “I
Know Him So Well,” playing on
Top-40 radio.
A 20-page booklet included
in the two-record set has a fo-
ward by an international chess
master that outlines a brief,
but insightful, historical look
at the world of international
chess plaving. This, as well as
the synopsis of the two-act
show, should be read prior to
“Chess” Soundtrack
Andersson, Rice & Ulvaeus
RCA Records
listening in order to better un
derstand the lyrics, which
sometimes are confusing.
The show opens with the
American (Murray Head) and
his second, Florence Vassy
(Elaine Page), defending his
world title against the Russian
(Tommy Korberg) in northern
Italy. Florence inevitably falls
for the Russian because he’s the
enemy and because she’s tired
of the mother-child
relationship that she shares
with the American. One obsta
cle, however, is the Russian’s
wife, Svetlana (Barbara Dick
son).
The strategy and pomposity
of the players in the
championship represent a spe
cific situation, although much
of their behavior and actions
might be paralleled to some
current Cold War tactics.
“Friction” is the aptly named
new release from the Canadian
metal heads,Coney Hatch. The
stream of sparks on the album
cover greatly resembles the
shards of vinyl that spewed
from my turntable as my
freshly disintegrated stylus dug
deep into the record’s surface.
Fortunately (unfortunately), I
Friction
Coney Hatch
Polygram Records
had a spare industrial-strength
stylus so I could (had to) listen
to the rest of the album.
Where’s the unwritten law
that says heavy metal band
members have to look like a
bunch of leather-clad drag
queens? Needlessly butchering
all those innocent cows for the
sake of their egotistic aesthet
ics. I mean, do their mothers
know they’re doing this?
These guys have about as
much charisma and creativity
as lime Jell-O. Well, they are
somewhat inventive; they’ve
managed to devise many new
ways of making monotonous
music (i.e. dynamic range of
almost two decibels, use of
three chords, etc).
The Ivrical content of this LP
reads like a seedy adult novel.
“Girl from Last Night’s Dream”
divulges more about the sing
er’s nocturnal sexcapades than
even Dr. Ruth Westheimer
could handle.
Because I am a music re
viewer, I might not be truly
qualified to review this stuff. I
do know, however, that this vi
nyl could have been used for a
better purpose, like upholster
ing the back seat of a Pinto A-
-3-