page four
II Alan Alda at best in 'Joe Tynan
By Douglas Hasty
Below is my personal rating
chart for films. Remember,
movie reviews are only opinions
by that person; try and find a
reviewer with whom you share
equal views. Code: 1-forgeta
ble, 2-silly, 3-feel asleep, 4-
likeable, and 5-object d'art.
THE SEDUCTION OF JOE
TYNAN (4 + ) - The United
States Senate has never been in
finer form. And neither has
vty.
Record review
Lou Reed knows; do you?
By Bryan Smith
The advertisement read,
"It's 1979, do you know where
you are? Lou Reed does." I'm
not sure if one can know
anything about the world Lou
Reed sings about. His new
album, The Bells bears this out.
The Bells contains bitter,
paradoxical lyrics that have
characterized Reed's career for
the better part of a decade.
However, in the past years
Reed's musical trademark was
an intense sound of reality,
bordering on fatalism, brought
forth by searing guitar solos.
Themes of sexual depravation,
drug addiction, and restricting
social mores remain. The music
is quite different. Reed has
tightened his sound, thus gain
ing greater control of the im
pression one gets fro listenig to
the music. Desperate feelings
unwrap like an exotic wound
before the listener's ears. With
morbid fascination one listens
to The Bells.
Paradoxically, Reed does not
want to create this mordant
sound. The fact that an
audience views his music with
such a distinction propagates
Reed's impression that the
world makes the music what it
is. Reed views his music simply
as a statement: his musical
audience and critics fashion it
into an artistic interpretation.
This illusinary quality has made
Reed not only a musical genius,
Alan Alda. For all you people
out there who think of him
strictly as "Hawkeye" of the
television show, watch out! This
is definitely his best role aside
from M*A*S*H. "Joe Tynan"
is not specifically about sexual
seduction; it is also about
political and emotional seduc
tion. Any politician or person
who has had higher aspirations
in their field, could identify with
the almost blatant political pro
posals.
but a person who views life's
scenes as one who's been there
and is now on the outside
looking in.
Ten years ago Reed was one
of the founders of New Yortr's
"art rock" scene. Playing then
with The Velvet Underground
(which was produced for a
period of time by Andy Warhol)
Reed and his compatriots al
most overstated their themes of
sexual violence, drugs, and
mechanization to stress their
feelings. The world is not
always a rose.
Through the years Reed's
music matured. The decadent
themes grew more subtle. The
putrefaction of the human con
dition was only as bad as the
listener made it. Reed always
sung what he saw; the impli
cations of evil were digested to
such a great extent by his
audience that Reed came to
believe that what was being
viewed as base, was wanted to
be accepted as such. That
turned his music into a state
ment.
The adoption of this impres
sion justified, in Reed's mind,
that what he was saying was not
bad, but not necessarily good
either. However, Reed seems to
feel that it is right, and therein
lies the key to attempting to
understand Lou Reed.
The Bells is an ambivalent
piece of work for Lou Reed. I
would like to say a characteris
Guilfordian
THE MAIN EVENT (3) - This
one is strictly for avid Streisand
fans only. Even then, the most
devoted fan could become per
turbed with this basically bor
ing, "comical" reuniting of
Streisand and O'Neal. There
are several comical scenes in
the film, but the comradery
between the two stars is mis
sing here. If it is re
released, take my advice: miss
it!
ALLEN (4) - Although the
tic work, but when one believes
he has Reed categorized, Reed
turns a new face and utterly
surprises you. If the facade
changes, the energy and fore
sight always remain. The Bells
rocks hard at times; listen to
"Looking for Love" or "With
You."
The latter was co-written by
Nils Lofgren. Lofgren adds to
Reed's intense sound the har
monious tightness of a rock
band influenced by the potenti
alities of improvisation. For
years Lofgren himself has skir
ted the edge of the "art rock"
scene. He is no newcomer to
Reed's world of the absurd, and
his musical sense adds a more
melodious quality to some of
Reed's compositions. "All
through the Night" and "I
Want to Boogie With You"
contain the same sexual conno
tations the tunes written by
Lofgren have within them.
"The Bells," the title cut of
the album, most adeptly sums
up where Lou Reed is at. Reed
is not punk or new wave; he is
an artist who is an extremely
credible rocker. Reed never has
been concerned with the com
mercial appeal of his music. He
lets it speak for itself or it does
not communicate. If Lou Reed is
accepted as having accom
plished nothing at all, he has
succeeded tremendously.
plot of this picture is the basic
people-versus-monster idea,
"Alien" gives it new meaning.
The special effects, however
intense at times, are superb.
This sci-fi horror flick is remi
niscent of the well-known sus
pense exemplified in "Psyco."
Although there are no popular
actors in this film, all players do
well; the monster is the best of
the bunch simply because it is
rarely seen. It is the element of
surprise and constant suspense
that makes "Alien" one of the
summer's best.
MOONRAKER (2) - Basi
cally, this James Bond, effort is
silly. In fact, I really felt at first
that this movie did not even
deserve a review. However, the
opportunity to tear it apart was
too great. I am just as great of a
fan of Bond flicks as the next
person is; unfortunately, even
Sean Connery could not have
saved this bomb. It was as if the
boys in the editing room spliced
together several sub-plots of
Art Series to open
with the play 'Families'
The 1979-80 Guilford College
Arts Series will open Sept. 19
with a new dual focus -- ser
vice to the community as well as
excellence in the arts.
Many of the scheduled events
include public workshops, dis
cussion groups and daytime
appearances in addition to the
evening performances. Special
interest groups in the Greens
boro area are encouraged to
participate in these, along with
the general public, according to
Ed Lowe, series chairman.
Lowe announced the follow
ing attractions:
Academy Theatre from Atlan
ta, "Families" on Wednesday,
Sept. 19, in Sternberger Audi
torium and "The Caretaker" on
Thursday, Sept. 20, in Dana
Auditorium.
Toad the Mime, otherwise
known as Antionette Attell,
Monday, Oct. 8, in Sternberger.
Bottom of the Bucket, But. . .
Br raiL '
Tom Hammond and Chris Curran in a scene from "The
Caretaker."
September 11, 1979
past 007 films and added a few
new scenes, special effects, and
sat around until somebody
thought about naming it after
one of Fleming's novels. Fair is
fair, though; these guys were
not the real vidians. The script
writers are to be balmed for the
silliness. The cable car "mur
der" scene was not funny
enough for the writers. They
went beyond the giggling scene
in the ambulance all the way to
rolling-in-the-aisles over the
hand-to-hand combat scene in
space. As usual, the girls were
seductive, and 007 got more
than his fair share. But this was
probably the only reason that
most of the audience, whom
never seemed to quit laughing
in the "serious" scenes, stayed
for the entire flop.
COMING SOON:
Star Trek - The Movie. . .
hopefully by early December
The Empire Strikes Back (Star
Wars, part two). . . by Christ
mas.
a young dance troupe that
combines contemporary black
issues with the excitement of
modern dance, Tuesday, Nov. 6
in Dana.
Fresk Quartet from Sweden,
Tuesday, Jan. 29, 1980 in Stern
berger.
Jean Ritchie, traditional folk
singer, and David Holt, North
Carolina singer and instrumen
talist, Saturday, March 29,
1980, in Dana.
All performances except
"Families" will begin at 8:15
p.m.
Season memberships for the
five events are sl2 each for
adults and $lO each for non-
Guilford students and senior
citizens.
"As another way of reaching
out into the community, the
series will give each member
one extra ticket which can be
used to bring a friend to either
of the individual events de
sired," Lowe said.