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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 8, 1991)
18, ure fS I Thursday, August 8,1991 Lifestyl The Battalion WJ ’Hot Shots’ spoofs ’Top Gun,’ others j0 v. Atir *y opened ial session uld alien million jj; a McDon- int. on are be- ie airaaf: ce Airpon gton Field 'eaker Git ■ atroduced bonds asi ackageto IcDonne; nufachnt | 5-passen- - It would; •s, 14 ( 0(» I 250 con ag to the' By Julia E.S. Spencer "Hot Shots" is a relentlessly silly, rapid-fire send-up of flyboy films, which considering its scattershot humor, has an amaz ingly high hit-to-miss ratio. This reviewer tallied at least 155 differ ent sight gags, which averages out to about 1.7 per minute, not count ing the many additional sound gags. While not all are laugh-out- loud funny, there are enough truly inspired jokes to send you away with a grin. 'etin ■ ani iget 1 i Kansa; ingly re- perty tail re helped f McDon at city foil as 26,2> t in favoi : r the de continue ie plant ity to h > V f f First and foremost a take-off on 'Top Gun," "Hot Shots" also aims its big guns at a number of other recent films ripe for lampoon ing, such as "Dances With Wolves," "The Fabulous Baker Boys," "9 1/ 2 Weeks," and 'The Hunt for Red October." The excuse for all these jokes, i.e. the plot, concerns one Lt. Sean "Topper" Harley, a motorcycle riding maverick pilot who hasbeen kicked out of the Navy for a $30 million mistake. He must also live with the ig nominy of his father's disastrous last flight, which ended in the navi gator, "Milkman,'"s being mis taken for a deer and shot. He has attempted to appease his con science by taking a Native Ameri can name and going to live in a tipi with an aged brave. However, when Lt. Cmdr. Block (Kevin Dunn) comes to re cruit "Topper" for an elite corps of flyers he's getting together for an important misssion, code-named L" , Jim "Wash Out’ Pfaffenbach (Jon Cryer) and Admiral "Tug" Benson (Lloyd Bridges) help guide the Navy’s best pilots through their mission in "Hot Shots". "Sleepy Weasel," the young pilot jumps at the chance to wipe the blot off his family's escutcheon. At the base, he encounters the liam O'Leary), and wall-eyed Jim "Wash Out" Pffaffenbach (Jon Cryer). He also meets beautiful, multi-talented Ramada (Valeria This reviewer tallied at least 155 different sight gags, which aver ages out to about 1*7 per minute. unfortunate "Milkman'"s son, ar- Golino), the base psychiatrist who rogant pretty boy Kent Gregory moonlights as a slinky nightclub (Cary Elwes), sincere, clean-cut chanteuse. Their fearless leader, Pete "DeadMeat" Thompson (Wil- Adm. "Tug" Benson (Lloyd Bridges), is a crusty old coot who has been shot down and shot at so many times that most of his body consists of replacement parts. The whole cast, especially the brooding Sheen, somehow man ages to keep a straight face through out the proceedings, although the script, concocted by "Naked Gun" collaborators Pat Proft and Jim Abrahams, certainly makes it dif ficult. The presence of "Top Gun" executive producer Bill Badalato See HOT SHOTS/Page 6 Bargains, Barbecue > Bed & Breakfast Inns Calvert opens doors for annual antique celebration By Yvonne Salce In 1868, Calvert towns people never would have imag ined that their cotton-booming town would one day become the antique center of Texas. In fact, what once was the fourth largest town in the state is now the fourth smallest town. Visiting Calvert is like step ping back into time. With its quaint Victorian homes and unique antique and specialty shops, Calvert has become a na tional historic district. Addie Lowe, a resident of Calvert, says there are more than 70 historical homes and build ings in Calvert, which has a population of 1,100. On Saturday and Sunday, antique collectors, artisans and folks just looking for a way to relax can experience an old fash ioned, lazy summer day at the 8th annua 1 Summer Antique Sale and Celebration. Sponsored by the Calvert Antique Guild, the celebration features bargain an tiques, barbecue booths and live music on historic Main Street. "This is our biggest thing that we have all year," says Lowe. Art Galleries and museums will be open for visitors. Or, take a quiet and relaxing stroll through the small town's tree- shaded streets and tour the re stored historic homes. Several delightful bed and breakfast inns are open in Calvert. Overnight guests are greeted with wine and cheese upon arrival and treated to a gourmet breakfast. But bed and breakfast res ervations for this weekend will not be too promising. Lowe expects several thou sand people to visit Calvert on this big weekend. "Last year, during this sale and celebration, large crowds came from all over the United Sta tes and a n even grea ter crowd is expected this year," she says. Calvert is located on High way 6, between Waco and Bryan. For more information, call (409) 364-2933. re would: town as! iol is not rt," said idelphia !,000 oi 1 school erleger, ff in the he set- fexas louse tup," ■ns, 1 been ?ased i writ >olice ninal ither roup deal- J of the :havez Patrol- con- -> had be the esptf' , Q u f ie ofh' ; theh to as- Vi CKj: Stage Center performs 'Seven Keys to Baldpate' ELO should RIP, Moody Blues slips up again By Julia E.S. Spencer Stage Center's latest pro duction, "Seven Keys to Bald- pate," is an intricately plotted mustery drama with as many twists and turns as there are keys. Although “Baldpate” pretends to be quasi- serious, there is a lot of comedy in the various awkward situations the characters find themselves in. The Baldpate of the title is a secluded hilltop inn, a popu lar resort during the summer, but deserted and locked tight during the wintertime. Enter William Magee (Tim Newkirk), best-selling writer of potboilers and assorted pulp novels, who has come to the isolated spot to write. He has made a $5,000 bet with t h e owner of the place that he can write a novel in t h e space of ~ 24 hours. Magee is assured he won't be disturbed, since he has been given the only key to the inn. Once the caretakers leave, he settles in to write. But before you can say "Raymond Chandler," he is in terrupted by a whole parade of crazy characters, who all act as if they had stepped out of one of his dime novels. The first uninvited guest is John Bland (David Campbell), one of the mayor's henenmen, there to deposit a packet of payola money for later retrieval. There is an elaborate scheme afoot to pay off mayor Jim Cargan (George Wier) $500,000 to give a cov eted street-car franchise to rail road president Thomas Hayden (Charles Pitman). At first Magee is enter tained by this motley crew,but as the endless flow of intrigue begins to jeopardize his chance of winning the bet, he becomes increasingly exasperated. The only bright spot is the arrival of Mary Norton (Kathy Strom), an attractive reporter lured to the inn by the rumor that a payoff may be going down there that night. Magee takes to Mary instantly, claim ing that although he has often chronicled love at first sight in his books, he has never experi enced it first hand. Their tete-a-tete is inter rupted by Mrs. Rhodes (De Anne Moore), the mayor's fiancee, Peters (John Cairney), prim a misan thropic hermit, and an- other wave of conspira tors, in cluding Myra Thornhill (Stacey Noessel), a gold digging doublecrosser who claims to be Hayden's wife, and Lou Max (Ronald Turner), Bland's flunky. All this melodrama is ex citing for the mild-mannered Magee, who has previously only imagined such goings-on, but takes to the situation like Bogie took to Bacall. Truth is proving much stranger than fiction...or is it? Although "Baldpate" pre tends to be quasi-serious, there is a lot of comedy in the vari ous awkward situations the characters find themselves in. As Peters, the ghostly hermit with his own mysterious See SEVEN KEYS/Page 6 By Timm Doolen This summer I've seen more old bands get together and put out a new album than I can remember in recent history. We have had Yes. Queen, the Rolling Stones, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Joe Walsh, the Doobie Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Paul McCartney and on and on. Recently two more veterans of rock, the Moody Blues and ELO, have thrown their respective hats in the ring (see below). Now I must say that a few of these oldies are still putting out some real goodies (Queen, Petty, Walsh), but others have really gone downhill as they reach the over- the- hill age. will not of fe n d fans of any of these groups (all of which were at the top of their form and good artists at one time) by naming which of these groups have gone south. But I will say that a few select bands either need to branch out in new di rection or call it quits. Light Orchestra was getting back together. I thought Jeff Lynne was happy doing solo stuff and the Wilbury thing." Well I was right—they weren't getting back together. This group, coyly named ELO Part Two, is re ally a bunch of the old ELO band members (sans Jeff Lynne, ELO's creative force) who got together and decided to put out an album. Despite thealmostblatantmis- representation (after all, can ELO be called ELO without Jeff Lynne?), I decided to give the group a chance and not be biased by this almost false advertising. Honestly, it's not as good as old ELO, but then again it's not much worse than ELO's last few albums. The group tries for the feel of the old stuff, using classical in struments and orchestrations, but it isn't as cohesive as in the old stuff. it were added as an afterthought. In the old ELO songs, the orches trations and the rock music comple mented each other. On ELO Part II, they coexist with each other. There are bright spots. The brief opener "Hello" sounds like it's an unknown cut from an old album; "Honest Man" and "For the Love of a Woman" (which sounds a lot like a Roy Orbison song) are both musically appeal ing. But remember, I make these statements with the understand ing that this is '70s-style music. If you're expecting something from this decade, forget it. On the downside, "Every Night" has some of the worst lyr ics: I see what you do every night, every night/ And I want you to do it to me. And "Heartbreaker" and "Thousand Eyes" are some of the most generic rock songs I've heard in awhile. Moody Blues Keys of the King Polydor Records The Moody Blues have been progressively slipping ever since Long Distance Voyager, and their latest album, while not completely worthless, doesn't do much to per suade that they have reversed the trend. In the late '60s and early '70s this group of five Englishmen broke musical ground with such "revolutionary" albums as "Days of Future Past," "In Search of the Lost Chord" and "Seventh So journ." One of the songs on Keys has already hit the airwaves, "Say It with Love," and it is fairly repre sentative of the whole album. The thing about the Moody Blues' last few albums is that they have the sound of the old MB, but the qual ity of the music is much worse. On both The Other Side of Life and Sur La Mt?r, the band has moved away from the guitar and to a syn thesizer- based music, which has really been to the its detri ment. The The Moody Blues Electric Light Orchestra Part Two Electric Light Orchestra Part Two Scotti Brothers When I first saw this album in the stores, I thought to myself, "Hey, I didn't know the Electric In fact, the album reeks of '70s rock, which many will find dis tasteful. But judged against the pretense of a '70s rock album, it's not too bad. But again, some of the orches tration sounds forced, almost as if I must admit that the album is somewhat enjoyable, mainly be cause it has a nostalgic feel to it, but I wouldn't recommend buying it. Wait until it hits the bargain bins which, considering I've heard al most no publicity for this album, may be only a few weeks away. Keys aren't bad, but in my mind they blend in with the unheard cuts off the previous two albums. And if a band can't do some thing new and unique with their music, why even bother putting out new albums?