Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 3, 1990)
The Battalion LIFESTYLES 4 Tuef Tuesday, July 3,1990 Lifestyles Editor Todd Stone 845-; st Disappointing summer film season looks to improve with release of 4 Die Hard IF ‘Days Of Thunder 9 work as ‘Top Gun 9 rehash By TC Of Th< By TODD STONE Of The Battalion Staff I believe there is an entertaining, hit-film out there in the movie cos mos. I just haven’t discovered it yet. The Hubble telescope probably couldn’t find a recent quality film ei ther. As the summer season approaches the half-way mark, would-be block busters have failed to earn more than average grades. Certainly, summer movies have still made money. “Total Recall” had a fine opening weekend at $25 mil lion, and “Dick Tracy” appears to have enough momentum to be given “hit” status. Still, neither film has offered the quality that a blockbusting film is suppose to have. “Recall” had an un forgivably dense ending, and while “Dick Tracy” amuses, it’s not the God’s-gift-to-the-world film it claims to be. For my entertainment dollar. I’ll take last summer’s “Lethal Weapon 2,” “Batman” and “When Harry Met Sally” over “Total Recall,’’“Dick Tra cy” and “Bird On A Wire” any day. “Another 48 Hours” is a pitiful se quel that never should have been made. Yet, it was labeled by pre-re- lease hype as a classic Eddie Murphy hit. You could do a lot of fertilizing with that one. With the exception of a few hu morous moments, Alan Alda’s “Bet sy’s Wedding” failed to be the quality yuppy film of the summer. But Alda has a strong following who will see any movie he does, so “Betsy” should make money. Films that should at least be given the “held their own” label goes to “Gremlins 2” and “Robo Cop 2.” While not being great films, they at least entertained without hyping themselves as the greatest movies ever made. By DON ATKINSON JR. Of The Battalion Staff Battalion File Photo Bruce Willis returns as detective John McClane for more explosive action in “Die Hard 2.” However, the summer season is not over, and a new hope, “Die Hard 2” opens this Wednesday. If any film has a chance to be the quality block buster of the summer, it’s the “Die Hard” sequel. Bruce Willis returns, as does the supporting cast of the original film. This time, Willis’ indestructable al ter-ego, John McClane, must stop terrorists who have taken over the international airport in Washington D.C.. Sounds like fun. Further, there hasn’t been a qual ity comedy release this summer. Summer films earn poor grades Total Recall — B- Another 48 Hours — F Fire Birds — D Bird On A Wire — D Back To The Future III B- Dick Tracy — C- Robo Cop 2 — C + Betsy’s Wedding — D Days of Thunder — C ^ Gremlins 2 — C + However, Bill Murray may change that with his new film, “Quick Change,” appearing July 12. With Oscar winner Geena Davis, Randy Quaid and Jason Robards as the supporting cast, “Quick Change” may be the first comedy-hit of the summer. For you cartoon fans, Disney is re- releasing “The Jungle Book,” an an imated classic. “Jetsons: The movie" will also be arriving soon, so kids and kids-at-heart should have something fun to see. At best it’s been an average start for movies but don’t lose hope. The summer movie season can still make a comeback, and entertaining mov ies may once again return to the big screen. Comparing Tom Cruise’s latest film, “Days Of Thunder,” with his 1986 hit, “Top Gun,” is not hard to do. Both films feature Cruise as a hotshot young talent who needs guidance from an older mentor. In “Top Gun,” the mentor was played byTom Skerritt; in “Days Of Thun der,” it is Robert Duvall. In both “Top Gun” and “Days Of Thunder,” Cruise’s character is on a winning streak until a near-fatal ac cident saps his courage. Both films end with Cruise struggling to over come his doubts. Because of the similarities, many people have jokingly referred to “Days Of Thunder” as “Top Car” — meaning that the new film is nothing more than a re-hash of “Top Gun” except with race cars. However, just because the two films are alike is no reason to dismiss “Days Of Thunder.” In many regards, the film is quite different from “Top Gun,” most no tably in the quality of the script. The “Top Gun” script, written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., featured a lot of wham-bam-thank-you- ma’am action and little else in the way of well-rounded characters. For “Days Of Thunder,” co-cre ator Cruise went through seven screenplay drafts before hiring Rob ert Towne (“Chinatown” and “Te quila Sunrise”) to write the final script. Cruise said that he was looking for someone who could get inside the world of racing and translate it onto the screen. Fortunately, Towne succeeded. “Days Of Thunder” features char acters that have a ring of truth about them. Cruise’s character. Cole Trickle, is a moody person with good and bad sides. He can be arro gant and aloof one moment, then warm and vulnerable the next. His racing adversary, Rowdy Days of Thunder Starring Tom Cruise and Robert Duvall Directed By Tony Scott Rated PG-13 Burns, played by Michael Rooks mean-spirited and dedicated tot ning, but he also has a very huis side. Eventually, Trickle and Bin develop a grudging respect fora other. Duvall, playing the racing tea: senior crew chief, has one of most important roles in the film character is the voice of reason experience that counterbalance raw but misdirected talem Cruise’s character. Nichole Kidman, an Austalian tress (“Dead Calm”), handle.' role of Cruise’s love interest i well. Aside from being very aitr t live, her character demands resjt from Trickle, something he see® t have trouble with. Although not as fiesty as Kt McGillis f rom “Top Gun," Kid works well in this film. Her role quiet, professional doctor contra nicely against the gung-ho, mad | drivers. Director Tony Scott wisely p his actors plenty of breathingroti to develop their characters onscret By blending heart-stopping rae 1 sequences with a credible storylin Scott has created an entertak film. The only real drawback to “Da Of Thunder” is the way in whid wars filmed. As in his previousftltt Scott shows an affinity towar | filming everything through a smoky haze. The effect is intrigu: at first, but eventually it makes' wish somebody would turn ont lights. Although not one of Cruise's It films, “Days Of Thunder” is enjon 1 ble to watch. At the risk of sounding cute, ll movie will definitely get yourengi revving. Underdeveloped characters weaken Alda’s efforts with ‘Betsy’s Wedding’ By DON ATKINSON JR. Of The Battalion Staff Riddle: How are Alan Alda and Woody Allen alike? Answer: They’re not. Unfortunately, Alda seems to be trying hard with his latest film, “Bet sy’s Wedding,” to imitate the famous filmmaker’s quirky style. Alda was part of the cast of Allen’s 1989 film, “Crimes And Misdemea nors,” playing the part of an arro gant filmmaker. Perhaps working close to Allen rubbed off on him. The sad part is that Alda has al ready established a style of his own with previous films such as “The Four Seasons” and “Sweet Liberty.” His attempt to imitate Allen’s style is simply a waste of talent. “Betsy’s Wedding,” written and directed by Alda, is an upbeat film about the lives of the people affected by an impending wedding. The father, played by Alda, is struggling hard to provide an im pressive wedding for his daughter Betsy, played by Molly Ringwald. Alda wanders through the film talking to the ghost of his dead fa ther, playing against imaginary bas ketball teams and trying to deal with strange dreams. His character is sim ply a cardboard cut-out of Alda him self with little depth added. Ringwald essentially plays the Betsy’s Wedding Starring Alan Alda and Molly Ringwald Directed By Alan Alda Rated R same character she did in “Pretty In Pink,” only older. Once again, her wardrobe is in a clash by itself with strange colors, bows and ribbons all thrown together. No insight into her character is given, so she comes across as a bad- tempered flake. That’s too bad since Ringwald is a talented actress who could have done better with a more complete character. The only highlight of “Betsy’s Wedding” comes in the form of a ro mance between Stevie Dee (Anthony LaPaglia) and Connie Hopper (Ally Sheedy). Connie is the other daughter of Alda’s character and works as a po lice officer. Stevie, the son of a Mafia boss, falls head over heels in love with her after one glance. Stevie is an endearing character, played to perfection by LaPaglia. His gentlemanly attempts to win Con nie’s heart are full of warm emotion. Standing on her doorstep, Stevie asks first if he can kiss Connie good night. She consents and then invites him in following the kiss. Stevie poli tely declines, saying that it isn’t proper on a first date. He treats Connie like a lady, something she is not used to. Sheedy does a good job of showing how hard it is for her character to be treated as anything other than one of the boys. Sadly enough, Stevie and Connie are the only two well-developed characters in “Betsy’s Wedding.” Alda should have concentrated more on getting inside his characters and letting us see what makes them tick. Instead, he seems content to prop up a lot of stereotypes, some even offensive, and hope they are funny. Take my advice: “Betsy’s Wed ding” is a wedding bouquet you don’t want to catch. CBS pushes hope, new ideas LOS ANGELES (AP) — There is something slightly strange about sitting in a darkened ball room for three days watching television with about 1,000 CBS representatives. For one thing, the hype is over whelming. The sound level is loud. The speeches are a curious mixture of cheerleading and de fensiveness. Welcome to the annual con vention for the eye network's af filiated stations, held last week at the Century Plaza Hotel. Like many conventions, the CBS gathering was long on glad handing and short on substance. ABC had its convention in the same spot two weeks before. NBC held its convention in Washing ton earlier last month. The CBS function was differ ent, mostly because the network is in last place and has been there for a while. Phis point is not forgotten by CBS executives, or the stations across the country that carry its programming. Acknowledging this, while at the same time putting on a brave, optimistic face, makes for a schi zophrenic three days. It also shows a side of television never seen on the screen in your home. This is the business of TV, where demographics are talked about ad nauseam, where words like “breakout characters” and “commercial concepts” are stan dard phrases. For hours on end, CBS exec utives use a giant monitor to trot out their new shows, would-be stars and advertising strategies. It’s no fun being the bottom rated network, but CBS’s ac knowledgement of that fact was funny at times. Take the entire session de voted to rolling out the fall adver tising campaign. The official slo gan and song is the Motown classic “Get Ready.” Promotion executives said other Motor City hits also had been considered. Among them: “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” and “Keep Holding On.” Grant Tinker, the driving force behind - television classics such as “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” introduced his new pro duction for CBS titled “WIOU,” an irreverent but realistic look at a local television news station. The network’s solicitousness toward its affiliates was evident by Tinker’s remarks to the news managers seated in the dele gation. “I want to offer all of you reas surance if you’re worried that we will ridicule or trivialize what (you) do,” Tinker said. “I promise you that we will not embarrass you.” The mea culpas and apologetic tones were balanced by rah-rah pledges of CBS being “on the move," having “innovative” fall shows and going where the net- wor k has not consistently been la tely — namely, out of last place. CBS’ ambitious plans includes i complete overhaul of its late night schedule to compete with Johnny Carson on NBC and Ted KoppeTs “Nightline” on ABC. Its Tuesday-night strateg) against ABC’s powerhouse "Rose- anne” is a movie package of box Matht office hits such as “Field ol| “Fam Dreams,” “Fatal Attraction” and “Moonstruck.” Specials, a r atings-booster sta ple for CBS, will feature Cher, the Muppets, the Gramm) awards, an “I Love Lucy] Christmas” and the People's Choice awards. “If we’re going to make this work,” said entertainment presi dent Jeff Sagansky, “we real need your support.” Or, as CBS Broadcast Group president Howard Stringer put it,] quoting Shakespeare’s Henry V, “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.” Mediocre 'Live It Up’ fails as latest CSN release without Young Crosby Stills and Nash Live It Up Atlantic By TODD STONE Of The Battalion Staff Where’s Neil Young when you need him? After listening to Live It Up, the latest release by Crosby, Stills and Nash, I couldn’t believe this legend ary trio could make such a boring collection of music. What a difference a few years can make. Neil Young and CSN re-united in 1988 to make American Dream, a solid pop-rock album. Although Young was the strongest song writer on that album, I never suspected such a drop-off in song quality when CSN returned to the studio. The root of CSN’s problem seems to be a lack of studio interest. Nei ther Crosby, Stills nor Nash played instruments on three tracks of the 10 track release. Further, two other songs would have been performed only by studio musicians if not for Stills knocking off a few guitar solos. CSN either wrote or co-wrote seven songs, but it would have been better if they had left the writing as well as the playing to the studio stand-bys — the stand-bys couldn’t have done much worse. Live It Up begins with the title song, written by long-time CSN band member Joe Vitale. Aside from a slick guitar solo by Stills, Vitale played every instrument on the track. The song i^ a promising pop- synth tune, and Nash’s lead vocals were fine. However, the trouble begins with “If Anybody Had A Heart” by J.D. Suther and Danny Kortchmar. This is a weak cover-version of a terribly sappy tune. It’s never a good sign when the second song is a lame cover. “Tomboy,” the only song Stills wrote on his own, is a borderline- catchy tune, but it needs more of a hook in the melody. “Haven’t We Lost Enough” is a Stills song written with Kevin Cronin that returns to Stills’ classic acoustic sound. 6i r track. J never would have suspected such a drop-off in song quality when CSN returned to the studio. ” Even this song disappoints. It has a sultry feel to it, but the lack of clas sic CSN harmonies leaves a hollow feeling. As a matter of fact, there is little harmony throughout this release. Either Crosby, Stills or Nash sings lead, but they seldom sing together for that classic CSN harmony — the group’s greatest strength. Of course, most of the songs have weak melodies, so the incentive to harmonize is diminished. However, there is one diamond in the ruff. “(Got To Keep) Open,” written by Nash and Stills, is a solid up-beat tune. The vocals are above- average (Stills sings lead), and the melody is memorable and fun. It’s the type of foot-stomping, good time song this album desperately needed. Bruce Hornsby indistinctly played piano and accordion on the After “Open,” the album finishes with a whimper. “House of Broken Dreams,” “Arrows” and “After The Dolphin” have the same sound — moderate to slow tempos with for gettable chorus’s and melodies. Ho- hum. Sax virtuoso Branford Marsalis plays some slick sax on otherwise simple sap songs “Yours and Mine” and “Arrows.” Marsalis makes the worthless songs worth listening to. Peter Frampton appears on “S- traight Line,” another weak-sister song. His guitar solo was mediocre compared to Stills on “Live It Up.” However, Stills deserves no acco lades for his efforts. He is by far the best song writer and musician in CSN, and he did nothing to raise this album above mediocrity. The man can still play a mean guitar, but he needs to get off his butt and do something in the studio. If CSN wants to be considered creatively viable, then they better do a whole lot better with their next ef fort. If not, they could always give Neil Young a call.