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Tuesday, April 26, 1994
The Battalion
Page 5
Brainscan' - no signs of life
By Jennifer Gressett
The Battalion
“Brainscan”
Starring Edward Furlong,
Frank Langella, Amy
Hargreaves and T. Ryder
Smith
Directed by John Flynn
Rated R
Playing at Hollywood USA
The classic elements of horror
meet virtual reality in a sad at
tempt to create a modern murder
mystery called “Brainscan.”
"Terminator 2” star Edward
Furlong returns to the screen in
yet another high-tech suspense
thriller with a shallow plot.
Michael Briar (Furlong) is a
high school teen-ager. Known to
most students as ‘weird,’ ‘differ
ent’ and ‘frightening,’ he is the
leader of the Horror Club. But af
ter presenting “Death, Death,
Death, Part II” to his club, the high
school principal decides to have
the club banned from campus.
In search of new forms of fear,
Michael is then introduced to
Brainscan, an interactive CD-ROM
experience that promises to “satis
fy even the sickest fantasies.”
After he slips the disc into his
computer, a voice invites him to
enter a game that is “more real
than reality.” It isn’t until the day
after he plays the game that he re
alizes that the murder he commit
ted in virtual reality may in fact,
have become reality.
As the nightmare comes to life,
Michael has to continue the game.
The police are looking for a mur
derer and there are witnesses that
need to die. The hypnotic spell
he has fallen victim to has made
him the local killer in his quiet
hometown. Is it just a fantasy or
has it become reality?
Advanced film and video tech
nology bring this computer-aged
film to life. Created at Hollywood-
based Sidley Wright MotionWorks,
the film includes both computer
generated images and prosthetic
effects. Highlights include melt
ing characters formed through
computer-generated morphing
techniques.
“We tried to put together a
team that would teach us, in fact,
how to do those advanced special
effects,” producer Michel Roy said.
“And we are very happy with the
results.”
Roy kept the special effect
theme in mind when he cast Fur
long as Michael.
He said he knew he was the
teen-ager for the part the first time
he heard him read. It was Fur
long’s “kid-next-door” quality and
vulnerability that helped him to
develop the role of Michael, Roy
said.
Another welhcast character was
T. Ryder Smith, who plays the
“Trickster.” The guide and master
mind behind Brainscan, the Trick
ster is what Smith said he envi
sioned as a type of “psychic
Frankenstein.”
With make-up that could win
the scariest Halloween contest, the
Trickster is another example of the
creative additions to the movie.
Without computers and creativ
ity, though, it’s just another horror
flick. All of the elements of horror
are there: a shallow plot, a few
shady characters and a lot of
blood. Whether this will go down
in history as a real horror flick, I
don’t know. But I’ll bet it returns
with an even cheesier sequel soon.
Dr. Bryant
Continued from Page 3
A mong the things found in co-
prolites, Bryant said there are
plant crystals, bones, feather
hair, eggshells and pollen.
Pollen has been called “nature’s
fingerprints” Bryant said, and with
good reason. In an article Bryant co
wrote, he explained that these tiny
plant parts, both modern and fos-
silizea, are helping law enforcement
officials to solve some crimes. The
technique is called forensic palynolo-
U-
Pollen and spores (palymorphs)
extracted from case evidence can be
used to reveal geographic origins.
This sometimes enables law officers to
link an object or person to the scene
of a crime. Bryant has been working
on and off in forensic palynology for
10 j/ears.
‘The field is not flooded,” he said.
“Unfortunately, most law enforcers
only use palynology as a last resort.”
But Bryant said he thinks it should
be used to solve cases more often.
“It doesn’t always work,” he said.
“But when it does, it’s on the money.
It’s a great way to discover where
drugs come from. With drugs like
heroin or others we can find out the
source.”
Bryant said he got involved in
forensic palynology purely by acci
dent.
The government was doing their
honey subsidizing program which
was basically paying people to grow
bees to keep crops pollinated, he said.
During this time, the price of
American honey was much more ex-
E ensive than that of imported honey,
e said.
“But certain unscrupulous people,
to get big bucks, began selling honey
from Mexico,” Bryant said, “and call
ing it honey from Texas.”
Bryant said he received a call from
Washington explaining the problem
and asking him if there was anything
he could do.
“They made a contract for me to
analyze a number of samples looking
for pollen not present in the U.S.,” he
said. “Six percent of the samples
turned out to be bogus or non-do
mestic.”
Later on, Bryant said he received a
phone call from a policeman who had
heard a lecture on palynology.
“This sheriff from a West Texas
county called,” Bryant said. “He had
a strange case of a dead Latin man that
had been found on a highway. The
man had his hands and feet cut off
and had been stabbed 21 times. After
6 months they still couldn’t identify
him or even find out where he came
from, but they were looking at Mexi
co.”
After Bryant tested the dirt and
E ollen from the dead man’s clothes,
e determined that the pollen on the
man probably did not come from any
place further south than Lubbock.
Thus, Mexico was ruled out.
So, he said, the tests narrowed
their search to an area between Lub
bock and Kansas City.
Bryant has been involved in several
other cases and said he enjoys helping
to unravel unsolved crimes.
“The best part is that you get to
play Sherlock Holmes,” he said, eat
ing a peanut — shell and all. “It’s the
satisfaction of using your own knowl
edge and the idea of solving the un-
solvable.”
Bike-to-Work (and School)
Day on Friday
Ride your bicycle to Freebirds World
Burrito for a free burrito
By Kevin Cochran
Why did over D000 people in
Austin get recognized for peddling
their bikes to work recently? They
participated in Austin's annual
Bike-to-Work Day.
Bicycle commuters in Austin
and elsewhere realize the benefits
associated with bicycle riding.
Commuting to work by bicycle
relaxes the central nervous system,
improves mood and sharpens
mental activity, while commuting
by car raises blood pressure, low
ers frustration tolerance and fos
ters negative moods, a University
of California study found.
An estimated 50% of all auto
mobile travel in the U.S. is for trips
of less than five miles, which is
also the most polluting distance for
cars because the engine is cold
during short trips. According to
the Environmental Protection
Agency, every 1% reduction in
short car trips results in a 2%
reduction in carbon monoxide pol
lution. A national study by the
Netherlands also estimates, that
each motorist who uses a bike
instead of a car for trips of three
miles or less will save at least $500
per year-and save society road
maintenance and other costs.
"Current trends such as global
warming, traffic congestion and
dependence on imported oil neces
sitate focusing on the bicycle as
part of the transportation solu
tion," says the U.S. Transportation
Study Board. By commuting by
bicycle more often, you can help
Texas A&M be part of that solu
tion.
This Friday the Brazos Valley
Cyclists (BVC) chapter of the Texas
Bicycle Coalition will host Bryan-
College Station's first annual Bike-
to-Work (and School) Day.
Participating restaurants will be
serving free breakfasts to encour
age you to commute by bicycle. In
addition, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Freebirds will serve you a free reg
ular burrito when you ride your
bike to the restaurant on your way
to or from school or work.
Be sure to register for prizes and
sign up for the Bike Day's rider-
ship count. For more information
on Bike-to-Work (and School) Day,
call the BVC Hotline at 690-0570.
When at Freebirds, look for the
Bicycle Update Board which high
lights progress in our mission for a
bicycle-friendly Bryan-College
Station.
FREEBIRDS
SBgBHIlBUBRITO
319 UNIVERSITY DRIVE, NORTHGATE
Paid advertisement by Freebirds
If You Have Something To Sell
Remember:
Classifieds Can Do It
Call 845-0569
The Battalion
★ to rvi i cs ht ★
Wed X\p>ril 27
OPEN MIKE
$0.25 draft
Thur April 28
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With HOTHOUSE FLOWERS
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DEAD HORSE
ALL TICKETS AT
MAROONED 846-0017
Go to a free screening of
Mystery Science Theater 3000, the cable T.V. show that cuts cheesy
i/
movies to pieces. Stranded in space, a guy and two robots sit through really o
and make wisecracks. It's two solid hours of cheese. Without the nasty constipation.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27 AT 7:00 AND 9:30 PM
RUDDER AUDITORIUM
bad movies
THE FIRST EIGHTY PEOPLE TO ARRIVE ALSO GET FREE T-SHIRTS
COCA-COLA AND LEVI'S HAVE FREE STUFF, TOO.
(These guys paid for it)
The only all-comedy
cable channelsM
neon