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Page 3 • Thursday, July 22, 1999
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Pop for the people
Pritchett brings Beatles-fueledpop to Fitzwilly’s
PHOTO COURTESY OF PHIL PRITCHETT
Phil Pritchett will bring his rock sounds to Fitzwilly’s tonight.
BY SCOTT HARRIS
The Battalion
I t is rare when a musician ex
plodes onto the music scene
and is an instant success,
which is why most artists start out
small and work their way up.
On that same note, most popu
lar musicians loath and despise
their days playing small clubs for
little money.
Then there is Phil Pritchett, not
yet an artist who has hit the big
time, but one who enjoys playing
the small gigs and staying true to
his fans.
The fact that he enjoys playing
as an independent musician with
out the support of a major label
makes it hard to find large venues
to play in, which is why Pritchett
seems right at home at a venue
like Fitzwilly’s.
Pritchett said he is independent
by choice and not default.
“I’ve had some offers, some
songwriting deals. We get paid to
write songs in Nashville,” Pritch
ett said. “A lot of bands wear in
dependence like a badge and then
sign the first deal that comes in
front of them.”
But any venue is better than no
venue for a musician who started
his career in the eighth grade.
Pritchett said in a press release he
sang a Beatles’ song for one of his
eighth grade classes.
“My friend Wes (Cunningham)
and I were both obsessed with the
Beatles,” Pritchett said. “We had
to sing something to try out for
this play, so we did ‘Love Me Do.’
We had two part harmony, har
monica, tambourine, the works!
The judges loved it and insisted
we spend the rest of the school
day touring the classrooms and
doing our act. The kids loved it,
too. It was better than listening to
a teacher’s lecture I guess.”
On top of being a full-time mu
sician, Pritchett must also juggle a
business career. He owns and
manages his own record label
company, Spitune Records.
“It is hard, it is really hard,”
Pritchett said. “But in October, I
am hiring a manager. It will be a
big step up. I will be able to con
centrate on my music and not deal
with the business side of things.
We are doing exponentially better
with each passing year. That is
how I like to look at it — I just
want to keep growing and, hope
fully, it will lead to something
big.”
Pritchett has been playing for
several years in College Station
and he says this is his favorite
place to perform. He said he has a
really devoted fan base here which
consists of several hundred peo
ple.
Phil Pritchett will perform
tonight at 9 at Fitzwilly’s.
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MSC’s
Eyes Wide Shut
Starring Tom Cruise and
Nicole Kidman
Now Playing at Hollywood 16
It is no surprise that with such titles to
lisname as A Clockwork Orange, The
\hining and Lolita, director Stanley
fubrick has once again bestowed audi-
nces with a dark portrayal of human ex-
tence. Eyes Wide Shat takes the viewer
nto the minds of Dr. William Harford
ruise) as he learns the truth behind his
ife’s flirtatious behavior and conse-
uently falls deep into the lure of tempta-
lon, desire and fear.
re placedinttiei Models, prostitutes and mass orgy all
SC BrowsingL ; tempt the well-to-do Manhattan doctor,
best
rthy said.
Jut in the scope of things, these tempta
tions do nothing but evoke his own fear
Jnd resistance. This is what makes the
film, on the whole, a true drama of the
|mind, but being three hours long, it real-
pi means that nothing seems to really
o relay anysif« a pp en {3 as i ca ]iy ) £y es wide Shut is hard
i to parents, p wa t c i 1 _ t 0 f u ]|y experience what really
ipresentatives jL a bnUmrit: portrayal of emotion would
u College |, e t0 v j ew t ] ie fji m three or four times,
) co-sponsorst : an( j that would be about as agonizing as
s put on byHfc Chinese water torture,
vices. Courtnt Regardless, this film is a master work
live chair lot if cinematography. If anything, the dra-
ind a senior aa tic redundancy can be avoided by sim-
or, said theirc ^ absorbing the film’s brilliant use of
ler lesourceJ 0 [ or> motion and light. All play a large
ndents with iart j n t h e infamous orgy scene, for in-
stions and (l |tance, which is compelling in Kubrick’s
i education, amazing use of nudity and sex fallen to
■te backdrop of darkness, desire and fear.
M Cruise does a fabulous job but is not
too well accompanied by Kidman, who
PHOTO COURTESY OF JIM HENSON PICTURES
unfortunately gives a poor and shallow
performance. Eyes also has an outstand
ing cast of supporting actors and actress
es, all of whom mesh well into the script.
Eyes Wide Shat is difficult to charac
terize. It is long and redundant but at the
same time deep, symbolic and truly char
acteristic of Stanley Kubrick and his artis
tic brilliance. (Grade: B +)
—Brian Fleming
Muppets from Space
Starring Kermit the Frog and
Gonzo the Great
Now Playing at Hollywood 16
There is not a moviegoer alive who
has not at sometime felt a twinge of sym
pathy for Gonzo — one of the stock char
acters in the Muppets troupe. Gonzo long
has been saddled with a most lamentable
identity crisis — his official classification
in the animal kingdom is “whatever.”
Alas, however, there is justice in Mup-
petdom. In Gonzo the Great’s latest cine
matic vehicle, Muppets from Space, he fi
nally finds himself.
After receiving cosmic messages chan
neled through his cereal, a sandwich and
two talking fish, Gonzo is contacted by
his long-lost family. They are extraterres
trials.
The zany plot centers around Gonzo’s
quest to make contact with his alien
brothers.
After learning that Gonzo is from out
er space, the government’s cronies cap
ture him, intending to extract his brain
for research. But Kermit and company
manage to release Gonzo just in time for
him to meet up with his relatives’ space
ship, where everyone parties down and
Gonzo gets shot from a cannon — his
signature trick.
Along the way, there is much hilarity.
There are the standard slapstick jokes for
the kids, but there is plenty of sophisti
cated, random humor for the Muppets’
older fans.
The soundtrack is literally funkadelic,
packed with old Jackson-Five-era tunes.
The music is a definite complement to
the Muppets’ modern style. In another
life, Gonzo would have been a Com
modore.
The human appearances in the film
are mediocre compared to cameos by the
likes of Steve Martin in earlier films.
Except for a funny cameo by Hulk
Hogan, most of the actors turn in lacklus
ter performances.
But the actors are not who audiences
came to see. And if viewers come to see
the Muppets doing what they do best —
making people laugh — they will be
mightily rewarded. (Grade: A)
— Caleb McDaniel
Blair Witch Project
Starring Heather Donahue,
Joshua Leonard
and Michael Williams
Coming soon to Hollywood 16
“In October of 1994, three student
filmmakers disappeared in the woods
near Burkittsville, Maryland while shoot
ing a documentary.
A year later their footage was found...”
This brief statement found on the
poster of The Blair Witch Project de
scribes the creation of what is now one
of the biggest urban legends of the 90s.
The three students took a Hi8 cam
corder to shoot the making of the docu
mentary for themselves and a 16mm
camera for the actual documentary.
The footage from these cameras,
found a year later, was pieced together
from these two sources to find out what
happened to the three students during
the time they were lost in the woods.
What The Blair Witch Project became
was a documentary of terror.
The film follows these three students
as they get lost in the woods and are
stalked each night by something unseen
that leaves arcane symbols and ritual
mounds throughout the forest. The
haunting becomes more and more in
tense each night.
The fear turns to paranoia and dread
and the documentary becomes terrifying.
Each night the students hear sounds of
screaming out in the woods and try to
find proof with the cameras and sound
recording equipment.
Some of the scariest moments are a
black screen with only the sound of the
scared students in the tent and the noises
outside.
The Blair Witch Project is probably the
most innovative horror film since Jaws.
It doesn’t rely on serial killers or hideous
monsters to scare up terror. The frighten
ing elements are psychological, and they
work. If planning to see this film, just
cancel any camping plans for awhile.
(Grade: A)
— Kyle Whitacre
DIVERSITY
Photo E«i»*elch marries Palmer
Radio ProtL in California Saturday
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Raquel
'elch has remarried, exchanging vows
ith restaurant owner Richard Palmer.
They were wed Saturday at her Bever
ly Hills home. The couple had dated for
jpbout two years and became engaged
ast September.
“It was a small, private ceremony with
—.nly close family and friends,” Jackie
3echer, the actress’ publicist, said yes-
:erday.
There was no word on a honeymoon,
don’t know that they’ve made plans,”
Becher said, adding that Ms. Welch wil
iisha Parekii in Vancouver, British Columbia, for sev-
rano, City Ed
i, Campus B
liel, Opinion
[, Sports
s, Web
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
eral weeks working on a movie called
Bats.
Palmer owns the Mulberry Street Ital
ian restaurant in Beverly Hills and
Richie’s Neighborhood Pizza stores.
It is Ms. Welch’s fourth marriage and
Palmer’s second.
She has two children — Damon and
Tahnee — from husban-d No. 1, James
Westley Welch.
Cyrus dropped by label,
plans to pursue acting
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — With sales
of his records down sharply from his de
but eight years ago, Billy Ray Cyrus has
been dropped by Mercury Records.
His manager insists the split isn’t rea
son fof Cyrus to sing a new refrain of
“Achy Breaky Heart.”
“There is interest in Los Angeles as far
as film and TV, but that will never take
over Billy’s career,” Al Schiltz said. “His
first priority is music.”
The 37-year-old country star earned
sudden fame in 1992 with “Achy Breaky
Heart,” a single that crossed over to the
pop charts and helped sell 9 million
copies of his first album,Some Gave All.
His sales have slipped to about 136,000
with his latest effort, Shot Full of Love.
The split was friendly, Mercury
Nashville president Luke Lewis said Tues
day.
“It is with a great deal of respect for
an artist who brought a lot of success to
this label that I make this announcement,
allowing Billy Ray to pursue other career
options,” Lewis said.
Anderson writes Mbeki
to free elephants
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Former
“Baywatch” star Pamela Anderson Lee
wants President Thabo Mbeki to save ele
phants that were beaten by an animal trad
er, an animal rights organization said yes
terday.
Ms. Anderson, a member of People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA),
wrote a letter to Mbeki calling animal
traders “heartless, money-hungry men rav
aging Africa for its animals.”
A copy of her letter to Mbeki was dis
tributed by PETA.
The trader, Riccardo Ghiazza, captured
30 baby elephants in
Botswana last year..
He brought them to
South Africa for training
by Indonesians whose
training methods include
the use of sharp prods
and water and food depri
vation.
Last year, the National
Association of Societies
to Prevent Cruelty to Ani
mals won custody of the elephants in a
court battle.
However, an appeals court ordered the
organization to allow the elephants to re
main in Ghiazza’s possession.
Ion, Paul Breauh
rnandez, Jasonfo
gan Youree.
of Student PeblnfoK 1 ''
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