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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 20, 1998)
onday • April 20, 1998 The Battalion I I I I I ■ pii The Ob ject of My Affection Starring Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd Directed by Nicholas Hytner Rated R Playing at Post Oak Mall Critique: B- Aaron Meier Night news editor 11 the good men in the world are either taken or gay.” This modern-day adage could be the battle cry of Jennifer Anis- ton’s character in the romantic comedy, The Ob ject of My Affection. While the comedy in the movie is smart and tinged with wit, the real strength of the movie lies in its serious subject matter. Aniston plays Nina Borowski, a social worker who falls for her gay roommate George, played by Paul Rudd. Affection brings an interesting scenario to the screen that puts a twist on the Chasing Amy genre of films. The “girl-meets-boy-who-is-in- love-with-another-boy” thing — an American love story for the ’90s. Working against Affection is the fact that it is a film that will be placed on the list of movies starring cast members of “Friends.” A list that is short and not too distinguished. Aniston does not venture far from her “Rachel” character — even the story takes place in New York — but she does produce some scenes with real dramatic weight, a task that none of the other resi dents of Central Park can say. Rudd gives a somewhat wooden performance as George, but af ter having to play Alicia Silverstone’s boyfriend in Clueless, he de serves some recovery time. The movie’s screenplay is a real gem though. Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner Wendy Wasserman pens some brilliant scenes using the supporting characters. Unfortunately, the supporting characters oc casionally make for more interesting fare than the leads. Paul Rudd (George Hanson) consoles Jennifer Aniston (Nina Borowski) in The Object of My Affection. Dixie Chicks take stage at Shadow Canyon By Robert Smith City editor I n today’s Nashville country music, count less artists use good looks and posture in an at tempt to hide the fact that their music is not strong or even remotely country. With that in mind, one glance at Dallas’ Dixie Chicks could fulfill that stereotype. However, the Dixie Chicks are the exception rather than the rule. Yes, the Dixie Chicks are gorgeous, but the band’s musicianship and authenticity was apparent at their Shadow Canyon performance on Friday. The band performed songs mainly from its ma jor label debut Wide Open Spaces, while sprinkling in material from its previous three albums. Led by 23-year-old Natal ie Maines’ up front vocals and spunky presence, the Chicks tore through various styles of country, ranging from the honky-tonk shuffle of “Tonight, the Heartache's on Me,” to the all-out rock ing “Let Her Rip” to the country-pop of “There’s Your Trouble.” Perhaps the most re markable part of the per formance, besides dupli cating the album’s near perfect three-part har monies, were the musical capabilities shown by sis ters Martie Seidel and Emily Erwin. Seidel’s excellent fiddle and mandolin work distin guished each song, while Erwin made picking the banjo and dobro look easy. The band pleased the near-capacity crowd by sav ing the hit single “I Can Love You Better Than That” for last, before returning for an encore to play “Stand By Your Man,” in tribute to the late Tammy Wynette. few musk from alternative iroups take fi-B-C ratings The High Llamas n Cold and Bouncy V2/Alpaca Critique: B- Tien Hawaii finally hit the shores of America last ' year, the world felt the collective gasp of every bedroom 4-track Brian Wilson wannabe. The vas finally pulled from die stone. Sean O’Ha- Jigh Llamas picked up right where Wilson and jke Parks’ ill-fated Smile sessions left off with the Ion of a laser-guided Tomahawk missile. ®tagan even found himself summoned to the ”ybaie feet of Wilson, to assist in the rotund e’scomeback. O’Hagan bailed, and apparendy fperience scared him into making Cold aitd y.The vibes, banjo, honky-tonk piano and strings 1 there, but this time textured with the hum and ffsynth and drum machine. Different enough to be a new im, similar enough to be the High Llamas. r % Tuscadero My Way or the Highway Teen Beat/Elektra Critique: C- L ike the band’s namesake from “Happy Days,” Tuscadero puts on a rough-and-tumble face to hide its soft-cuddly nature. (That’s a nice way of saying they fail to rock). The band’s sophomore major label album never strays from its unified focus. (That's a nice way of saying every song sounds the same). My Way or the High way finds a place between the bite of Sin- cola and the pop of Heavenly. (That’s a nice way of saying they’re de rivative — and in a bad way). The song “Paper Dolls,” a stinging re fute of supermodel culture, contains the soon-to-be teen-angst mantra “carbon copy cutter phony littie paper dolls.” (That’s a nice way of saying Itiscadero doesn’t realize the irony of their own lyrics). Beth Orton Best Bit EP Dedicated Critique: A- e the songs of the Beth Orton, in order to form a more perfect artist development, establish good vibes, in sure acoustic tranqudity, provide for the common im provement of women songwriters and secure the blessings of Joni Mitchell introspective musing and London blues to our- and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Best Bit EP Please see Reviews on Page 4. > Travis Irby staff writer illy Crystal gives his latest movie a huge amount of senti ment, but audiences may give it a giant groan. My Giant is the story of Sammy (Billy Crystal), a talent agent, who learns valuable life lessons from a freakishly huge man named Max (Gheorghe Muresan). The business- minded Sammy is neglect ful of his wife Serena (Kathleen Quinlan) and son Nick (Zane Carney). Sammy finds Max, by accident, when his job takes him into Romania. Max is the care taker at a monastery, where he spends most of his days pining for his long lost love Lilliana (Joanna Pacula). Sammy takes one look at the massive Max, and sees box office gold. (Too bad the same can’t be said for this movie.) Sammy convinces Max America is the place to go to become a big movie star. Max agrees, only because he wants to be reunited with Lil liana, who is living in New Mexico. This truly odd couple makes their way across the United States learning about life and each other. Crystal came up with and produced My Giant, after his experience with pro wrestler Andre the Giant. The movie’s heart is in the My Giant Starring BiUy Ctystal and Gheorghe Muresan Directed by Michael Lehman Rated PG Playing at Hollywood 16 Critique: C right place, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. bn ■ * uqo t)0.1J c The film seems to go from one stock senti mental situation to another. For example, Sammy doesn’t pay attention to his family, but eventually learns of their importance. Max is a physically imposing character, but in reality he is as gentle as Jesus. These are not original plot lines, but the film doesn’t even try to freshen them up. Crystal is his usual wisecracking self. He stops being a smart ass long enough to learn about the important things in life. The prob lem here is Crystal is the same as he is in every one of his other movies, without the benefit of a strong story to fall back on. NBA big man Muresan gives his role a shot, but ends up hitting a brick. His English is the movie’s biggest setback. Max is supposed the be a highly articulate fellow who quotes Shake speare. Unfortunately, Muresan’s impenetra ble accent is so thick, he might as well be speaking his native Romanian. If a film could be carried on the strength of a pleasant smile, then Muresan would be fine, but it isn’t enough. The screenplay, by David Selzter, is fairly bland as it tries to balance safe comedy with safe sensitivity. The end result of My Giant is a film that is not bad, just boring. Audiences are going to have to be desperate to be won over for this one to work. Have you ever wanted to know what the Silver Spurs of Aggieland are all about? If so, attend our informational meeting. Monday, April 20 MSC Rm 026 8:30 p.m. Tryouts: Sunday, April 26 GRW 255 at 7:30 p.m. If you have any questions, leave a message for Amy at 776-4036. More, More, More ... English Classes & Sections this Summer The College of Liberal Arts and the Department of English will offer these additional classes & sections: • English 212 Shakespeare • English 228 American Literature: Civil War to Present • English 231 Survey of English Literature I • English 301 Technical Writing • English 334 Science Fiction Present and Past Don’t Get the Summertime Blues! Earn Literature and Writing credits. Meet residency requirements for graduation Complete core Humanities requirements In a recent national survey of med school students 1 , 78% of Kaplan MCAT students got into their first-choice med school. Translation...nearly six times more Kaplan MCAT students got into their first-choice med school than did their classmates who took The Princeton Review. With results like this, it’s no wonder Kaplan’s the #1 choice for MCAT prep. Get started today. Call now! KAPLAN 1 -800-KAP-TEST www.kaplan.com ‘MCAT is a registered trademark of the Association of American Medical Colleges. f1998 Survey of medical students by Bruskin-Goldring Research. For more details of the findings, see our website at www.faplan.com/mcat. There is no second opinion.