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The Battalion
Monday
January 22, 1 996
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By Amber Clark
The Battalion
Two men. Black suits. Loud
music. Quentin Tarantino strikes
again; only this time, more bodies
explode than ever before.
Tarantino’s latest screenplay,
From Dusk Till Dawn, directed
by up-and-coming Texan director
Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi),
is perhaps his most disturbing
film yet.
With a flood of weaponry,
bizarre characters and dark
comedy, the film ushers in a new
generation of vampire movies.
The misadventures begin
with the explosive jail break of
Seth and Ritchie Gecko, brothers
who share a knack for crime.
Leaving behind a trail of may
hem and dead Texas Rangers,
the considerate, yet violent thief
Seth (Clooney) and sexually de
praved Ritchie (Tarantino) head
for Mexico with a hostage in tow.
Upon reaching El Paso, the
fugitives’ plans must change
when Ritchie “accidentally” kills
the hostage.
Needing new cover, the
brothers kidnap Jacob Fuller
(Keitel) and his two children, a
disillusioned minister
who left Oklahoma.
After forcing the
Fullers to smuggle
them across the bor
der, the Geckos and
their hostages stop at
the Titty Twister, a
strip bar advertised
as “open from dusk
till dawn.” The bar is
a rendezvous point
for the Geckos and their co-con
spirator Carlos (Cheech Marin).
While waiting for Carlos,
Ritchie enjoys a table dance from
the seductive Satantica Pande
monium, who is one of the hun
dred or so local vampires. When
the dance ends, all hell breaks
loose and the undead begin a
feeding frenzy.
Teaming up with a biker
named Sex Machine, who wears
a gun contraption strapped to
his crotch, and an incredibly an
gry Vietnam veteran, the Geckos
and Fullers Fight to stay alive
until sunrise.
The remainder of the plot is
somewhat predictable, but the
comedic value of the dialogue of
fers reprieve. Clooney’s charac
ter is perhaps the best-developed
of the cast.
He is convincing as a profes
sional thief with a sense of
morality and compassion, but
who also has the determination
and arrogance of a murderer.
Clooney’s wit and dry humor
save the film from slipping into
the cliched mass of typical vam
pire flicks. And, oh yeah, he has
a cool tattoo.
Tarantino’s Ritchie is terri-
George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino star in From Dusk Till Dawn.
bly disturbing as a slow-witted
rapist teetering on the brink of
insanity.
However, Tarantino plays
the part a bit too neatly.
As if his screenplay isn’t
creepy enough, he has to play
the character too well.
Keitel again presents a solid
performance, as he has done in
past films such as The Piano
and Reservoir Dogs. Keitel has
perfected a character that has
lost his down-home faith and
must fight to rediscover his God
in the face of evil.
Although Juliette Lewis, star
ring as one of the Fuller children,
is not as annoying as in her past
work (Cape Fear), her exaggerat
ed Oklahoma drawl is enough to
offend most Midwesterners.
The film’s only major setback
is the violence and gore, which in
cludes heads and limbs flying
across the bar room and a mari
achi band using mutilated corpses
as instruments.
Though he’s no Bela Lugosi,
Tarantino has undoubtedly
opened a new can of vampires.
This bunch is just a little
more contemporary.
A mediocre tribute to a country music legend
By Wes Swift
The Battalion
If there has ever been a country star
that towed the line between country mu
sic and rock ’n’ roll, it is Willie Nelson.
The red headed stranger was one of
country music’s original outlaws,
singing about fast women, strong liquor
and smoking enough grass to be mistak
en for an entire reggae band.
It is not surprising, then, that the
man with one foot in country and the
other in rock ’n’ roll should be the sub
ject of a genre-crossing album.
Twisted Willie , a collection of 16 Nel
son covers by such alternative main
stays as The Breeders’ Kelley Deal and
The Reverend Horton Heat, and country
legends Way Ion Jennings and Johnny
Cash, is like eating at a cafeteria: over
all, everything’s pretty average, but
here and there, there are some pretty
tasty morsels.
(from left) Eddie Spaghetti, of Supersuckers, and Willie Nelson.
Most of the 16 songs are average,
sounding like nothing more than alter
native bands going through the motions
of Willie Nelson songs.
But amid these oysters, there are
some pearls.
Cash turns in an amazing perfor
mance in “Time of the Preacher,” backed
by former Nirvana bassist Krist
Novoselic. Cash’s folksy voice and
acoustic guitar are highlighted by
Novoselic’s grinding bass and Kim
Thayil’s guitar riffs.
L7 turns in an eccentric performance
of “Three Days.” Vocalist Donita Sparks’
howling turns the song on end and
sounds like Patsy Cline on acid. A wail
ing guitar solo enhances the effect.
Jerry Cantrell takes a break from his
Alice In Chains work to sing “I’ve Seen
All of This World I Care To See.”
The soft, gentle song provides a nice
change of pace from Alice In Chains’
overwhelming gloom, even if the lyrics
still come from the same vein.
Horton Heat and The Presidents of
the United States of America also lend
their talents to the album, but all of the
bands play it pretty close to the vest,
taking few chances with the legendary
Nelson’s music.
The bands seem to take an “if it ain’t
broke, don’t fix it” attitude.
But that changes with The Breeders’
Kelly Deal, who teams with Kris
Kristofferson on “Angel Flying Too Close
To the Ground.”
Deal’s warbling, almost grating voice
blankets a throbbing rhythm that sounds
nothing like a Willie Nelson song. The
track has a gloomy, eerie pulse like a ban
shee’s song.
And performances like Deal’s, while
unconventional, are what this album
Jessie Dayton performs "Sad Songs and
Waltzes"on Twisted Willie.
needs. Too many of the bands just
picked a song and played it. They should
have picked a song and made it theirs.
That’s what made Nelson a legend in
music, his willingness to take chances
and thwart the traditional boundaries
of music.
Perhaps if these artists had done the
same, this album might have been a fit
ting honor to him.
entertainment
GLANCE
Thompson
Gibson, Thompson
win at Golden Globe
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) —
Mel Gibson won best director
honors for his Scottish indepen
dence epic Braveheart and John
Travolta and Nicole Kidman won
the best-acting prizes at Sunday
night's Golden Globe awards.
"At the risk of sounding cliched,
'Look at me.'
I'm the one
telling you that
I won the
Golden
Globe," Tra
volta said,
reprising his
buzz phrase
from Get
Shorty, the
comedy about
gangsters in
Hollywood.
T ravolta,
who ended a
long career drought last year with
Pulp Fiction, commented, "I don't
know what I've done to deserve
this," and he acknowledged L. Ron
Hubbard, the founder of Scientology.
Kidman won best actress honors
in comedy or musical for her role in
the dark farce To Die For about being
famous and murderous.
Kidman said she wanted to thank
"everyone who has ever been nice to
me" and paid tribute to her husband
Tom Cruise "for such tenderness,
love and happiness, and this would
be nothing without him."
Emma Thompson won a
screenwriting Golden Globe for
her adaptation of Jane Austen's
Sense and Sensibility.
She framed her speech as it might
have been written by Austen herself,
and the results were hilarious.
She noted the 19th-century au
thor would have understood that she
was owed a lot of money.
Mira Sorvino, the ditzy hooker in
Mighty
Aphrodite, and
Brad Pitt, the
insane asylum
inmate of 12
Monkeys, won
the best sup
porting per
former awards.
"Wow, I
didn't expect
this!" Sorvino
said as her tear
ful father, actor
Paul Sorvino,
proudly looked
on from the
black-tie audience.
"First and foremost, I want to
thank the amazing Woody Allen for
giving me this role."
Pitt was also a surprise — and
surprised — winner, too.
"Oh no!" he exclaimed. In the
stress of what he called "this moment
of absolute terror," he added: "I'd
like to thank the members of— actu
ally, the makers of Kaopectate.
They've done a great service for their
fellow man."
In his acceptance speech, Gibson
said: "I didn't expect to get this."
Many in the audience were also
surprised because of an expected
swell of support for Ron Howard of
Apollo 13 and Ang Lee of Sense
and Sensibility, who were consid
ered favorites.
The Hollywood Foreign Press As
sociation began its award spree, nam
ing Cybill Shepherd of Cybill and
Kelsey Crammer of Frasier as the best
actress and actor, respectively, in a
musical or television comedy series.
Shepherd's CBS sitcom Cybill
was also selected as best musical or
comedy TV series at the 53rd annu
al presentation.
Shepherd, the faded actress of Cy
bill commended her writers, while
Crammer, who plays the radio call-
in shrink who moved his practice to
his own show after years on Cheers,
called his Frasier experience "the
most extraordinary couple of years of
my life."
Shepherd
The Texas A&M Business Student Council presents the 17th Annual Spring
BUSINESS CAREER FAIR
January 29, 30, 31, February 1,1996
“STAND OUT AMONG THE CROWD”
Prepare for the Career Fair by attending the Life Work presentation of “How to
Use a Career Fair.” Fred and Serena Edwards will speak about Resume writing,
Interviewing techniques, and How to talk one on one with recruiters. Don’t miss
this informative meeting on January 24th in Room 159 of the Wehner building at
7:30 p.m., brought to you by the BSC and Business Administration Society.
SCHEDULED EVENTS:
January 29 -
7:00
p.m.
January 30 -
9:00
a.m.
-4:00
p.m.
7:00
p.m.
January 31 -
9:00
a.m.
-4:00
p.m.
7:00
p.m.
February 1 -
9:00
a.m.
-4:00
p.m.
7:00
p.m.
Reception at Hilton
Recruiting Booths in Wehner building
Banquet at Hilton
Recruiting Booths in Wehner building
Banquet at Hilton
Recruiting Booths in Wehner building
“Take a Student to Dinner”
free Breakfast]!! In fxchange for pm opinions on University services!!! free Breakfast!!!
WHEN: Wednesday, January 24
Beginning at 7:30 a.m.
til 9:30
is,'
Texas A&M University
\ WHERE: Kyle Field Commuter
Parking Lot or in case
of bad weather, the Front
Foyer of the MSC.
Hosted by TAMU Athletic Department
Sponsored by the Department of Student Life
!! In
ur opinions