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The Battalion
Page 7
4 little more serious, but just as spicy:
Red Hot Chili Peppers on the rebound
Of The Battalion Staff
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Mother’s Milk
EMI
“The freakiest show I know/ Is the
show of my own/ Living my life in
is S | r j ( . out of the twilight zone/ Nobody
" weird like me.”
nut nis;
Intent
Uowaii
im the
. Mart:
Juthis
t sound
Over the last four years the Red
ot Chili Peppers have proven, if
nothing else, that few are as weird as
these four funk thrashers notorious
for good times, tube socks and penis
fixations.
At times, vocalist Anthony Kiedis,
guitarist John Frusciante, drummer
Chad Smith and bassist Flea (fresh
from his role in “Back To The Fu
ture Part II”) live up to their “No
body Weird Like Me” proclamation
on their fourth release, Mother’s
Milk. But they also project a notice
able seriousness evident despite
their album cover, which features a
naked woman strategically covered
by the four Red Hot members.
It’s not too hard to figure out why
a slight departure from the weird
has surfaced on the group’s most
successful release yet.
Aside from an attempt to live up
to the critical accolades showered on
the band since its inception, the
group also was forced to weather the
death of guitarist Hillel Slovak dur
ing the middle of their last tour.
Slovak suffered from the Sid Vi
cious syndrome, and his fatal heroin
overdose seems, in hindsight, to
have shaken the group out of its
mode of unaccountability.
I won’t go so far as to say that
Mother’s Milk is a serious album, but
it definitely has a tempered feel, and
on songs like “Knock Me Down” and
“Johnny, Kick A Hole In The Sky”
its mood is downright somber.
“Knock Me Down,” a tribute to Slo
vak and the band’s realization of its
“crash/burn” lifestyle, is especially
tough.
Even Chase’s antics can’t salvage weak script,
lame humor in predictable ‘Christmas Vacation’
By Todd Stone
Of The Battalion Staff
National Lampoon’s “Christ
mas Vacation” is the type of com
edy that makes you laugh a few
times, but when it’s over, you
can’t remember why. The only
thing memorable about this film
is the overpriced ticket.
“Christmas” is a victim of two
common comedy flaws: a story
line filled with too many boring
time lapses, and has-been jokes
that take too much time to set up.
In retrospect to the other “Va
cation” films, this effort is not the
worst of the forgettable trilogy
(“Vacation” and “European Vaca
tion” preceded “Christmas”). No
film could be worse than “Euro
pean Vacation,” but with Chevy
Chase and Randy Quaid starring
in a film written by John Hughes,
“Christmas Vacation” should
have been much better.
The Filmmakers must have
made the assumption, “We have
Chevy Chase; we don’t need a
good script to have a good come
dy.” Unfortunately, even Chase
needs a good script to make an
audience laugh.
In “Christmas,” Chase is forced
to stumble and trip across the
screen, hoping one of his silly
looks will earn a laugh. However,
Chase can’t pull ofjjhe “we have
a boring script but rfiF film is still
funny” charade. His best films,
“Foul Play,” “Seems Like Old
Times” and “Fletch,” were a re
sult of a quality script as much as
Chase’s comedic talents.
Chase does not have that rare
ability to make a film better based
on his expressions and film pres
ence. Tom Hanks is one actor
who can make a good film great
(“Big”), and a below average film
(“Turner and Hooch”) entertain
ing. Chase is only as good as the
script.
In “Christmas,” Hughes
belches out a story that seems like
a collection of afterthoughts. It is
hard to believe this is the same
person who wrote “The Breakfast
Club” and “Planes, Trains, and
Automobiles.”
At best, “Christmas” looks like
it was Hughes’ first draft on the
screen. The story is dreadfully
simple, and has too few amusing
scenes to make the audience ig
nore the lack of a clever plot.
Clark Griswold (Chase) decides
not to travel for the holiday and
spends Christmas with his family
at home instead. Predictable
problems arise: the outdoor lights
don’t work, Clark gets locked in
the attic, and none of the relatives
get along.
One small surprise was the ef
fort to be sincere about Christmas
spirit in a few scenes. However.,
the characters were too underde
veloped for the sincere approach
to succeed.
When the lewd and crude
cousin Ed (Quaid), arrives, a few
funny moments spark hope that
the film still could turn out to be
entertaining. But Quaid quickly
loses himself in the weak script,
and the film is doomed for medi
ocrity.
Director Jeremiah Chechik did
not do anything special with “Ch
ristmas,” which only enhances the
flaws in the predictable script.
Overall, the film was clumsy and
often boring, but not to worry —
the filmmakers are going to make
plenty money from the suckers
who made Chevy Chase’s name
more important than entertain
ment.
But not everyone was disap
pointed with the movie. Most of
the audience laughed more than
I did.
I did laugh about five times,
but I paid $5 to see this movie.
One dollar per laugh just doesn’t
seem like a good deal to me. I
could stay at home and squeeze
five laughs out of a “Late Night
With David Letterman” episode
for no money at all.
If you are a Chevy Chase fan,
and he can do no wrong in your
eyes, then go see this film. Other
wise, “Christmas Vacation” is a
mediocre comedy that isn’t worth
the time, much less the money, to
watch.
Throughout the song’s chorus,
Kiedis croons, “If you see me getting
mighty/ If you see me getting high/
Knock Me Down/ I’m not bigger
than life.” He finishes the plea with,
“It’s so lonely when you don’t even
know yourself.”
Let’s face it: drug czars, first ladies
and top sport jocks pale in their per
sonal experience with the horrors of
drugs in comparison with a band like
the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Hearing a anti-drug plea by a for
mer addict and byproduct of a drug-
related death is much more relevant
and believable than seeing squeaky-
clean Michael J. Fox tell us drues
aren’t cool.
The real tragedy of Slovak’s death
is that it took the loss of his life (al
though those close to the group say
Slovak had been dead for quite a
while before then) to sway the band
from their obsession with pain and
pleasure.
Mother’s Milk is an album about
the group’s realization that “Hope I
die before I get old” is more than
just a catchy anthem.
I like to compare the Red Hots to
the Replacements because both
bands built their popularity as much
through their incredible on- and
offstage exploits (the Red Hots like
to perform wearing only strategi
cally-placed tube socks) as through
their music.
Fortunately, like the Replace
ments, the Red Hols seem to be tam
ing down and trying to pursue the
experience of their music and not
the experiences that come with the
musician lifestyle.
But that’s not to say that the Red
Hot Chili Peppers have gone fuddy-
duddy.
“Good Time Boys” is a hard-
rockin’ foot-stomper. “Taste The
Pain” is a funky groover with a sadis
tic beat, and the “Fire” and “Higher
Ground” (Stevie Wonder) covers are
excellent.
Musically, Mother’s Milk is the
Red Hot’s strongest and most di
verse work yet. The band is ex
tremely talented, running the gamut
of modern music with hardcore,
punk, blues, rap, funk and even a
little jazz (“Pretty Little Ditty”).
I’m sorry the band had to lose its
left leg to realize it had a handicap,
but tragedies set aside, the new Pep-
E ers appear to be on the right foot to
ecoming one of the hottest and tan-
giest acts of the ’90s.
m
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