6
Thursday, November 8, 2001
dive
t
recommends
■ “Local Hero” This film com
pares modem, busy Houston, Texas, to
a simple, charming Scottish town on
the seaside. Its strengths lie in its unfor
gettable characters and in the way it
subtly criticizes the hectic lifestyle of
corporate America.
■ Talking Heads 77, Talking Heads
While some might remember David
Byrne and company for later songs such
as “Once in a Lifetime,” listeners also
should sample the band’s first album.
It’s chock-full of catchy new-wave pop
and engrossingly offbeat lyrics.
■ Odds and Sods , The Who Sure,
the guys made better albums. But this
collection of lesser-known songs spans
their history well, from the bluesy
beginning to the whimsical middle to
the hard-rocking end.
Elliott Dube can be reached at
dubee@email.unc.edu.
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Mark Salzman
Lying Awake
November 9
3:30 pm
at the
Bull’s Head
Bookshop
| Ma r k Salzman
I * 1 ’" “ * ‘ r '"' • * •• *
"A singularly rich and abundant work....
[Salzman has an] ability to convey spiritual states
with a lambent clarity."
-The New York Times Book Review
Bull’s Head Bookshop
UNC Student Stores • 962-5060
Excellent Cast, Able Voices
Add Color to Mozart Opera
By Jeremy Fisher
Staff Writer
You just can’t trust women.
Or at least Mozart thinks so.
And the talented cast of San
Francisco’s Western Opera Theater
tried to prove it in a spirited production
of the composer’s
comedic opera,
“Cosf fan tutte.”
Mozart’s tale
follows a pes
simistic old man
named Don
Alfonso who
"Cosi fan tutte"
Memorial Hall
Monday, Nov. 5
makes a wager with his friends Ferrando
and Gugliehno that their fiancees would
cheat on them given the chance.
To prove this, Alfonso concocts a
scheme in which the two young men dis
guise themselves and attempt to seduce
their own lovers, thus testing their faith
fulness. What follows is a comedy of
mistaken identity that drives towards an
amusing, if predictable, conclusion.
The Italian vocals were supertitled in
English, meaning the translations were
DIVERSIONS
conveniendy suspended on a screen
above the stage. And in the pit below
the stage was an impressive 33-piece
orchestra that drove the singing onstage.
As far as appearance, the mechanics
of the production were rather simple,
employing spartan set decorations and
only six cast members. But since the
cast was uniformly excellent in its roles,
this hardly proved a liability.
The two-act comedy found its
strengths in these terrific performances
and in a lively pace that certainly
helped expedite the show’s more than
three hour running time.
The cast was anchored by Matthew
Trevino’s strong bass and his striking
performance as Don Alfonso. One of
the show’s most consistently entertain
ing images was that of Trevino lurking
around the edges of the action, casting a
scheming eye on the proceedings.
Another clear standout was soprano
Saundra DeAthos as the manipulative
chambermaid Despina, who aids Don
Alfonso in his plan. DeAthos impressed
not only with her surprising vocal range
but also with terrific comic timing, and
her performance easily provided the
most laughs of the production.
Overall the interactions between the
cast was fun; the subject of infidelity is
handled with good humor.
And in the end, the production pokes
fun at the fickleness of women and takes
its share of deft jabs at men as well.
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
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'One' Suffers From Overused Effects
By Trafton Drew
Staff Writer
“The One” might be the worst movie
ever. It makes the acting in “Weekend At
Bemie’s 2” Oscar-worthy. The action in
Steven Seagal’s latest film seems exciting
by comparison.
And the music
makes one yearn
for “Hee-Haw.”
Integrating the
worst aspects of
,——at 7nowe>
Aev/ew/
"The One”
“Double Impact” and “Time Cop,” “The
One" is the story of a hero (jet Li) who
must battle an evil version of himself
(alsojet Li) from a parallel universe who
is on a mission to kill him. It’s confusing,
but don’t worry about the plot too much
- director James Wong certainly didn’t.
Films like this should allow audiences
to shut their brains off and enjoy watch
ingjet Li kick stuff. Instead, the audi-
'Monsters' Delights With Laughs, Originality
By Kristen Williams
Staff Writer
Have you ever pictured John
Goodman as a burly green and purple
fur-covered monster? What about Billy
Crystal as a short, Kermit-esque monster
with one huge eye?
“Monsters,
Inc.” has placed
the voices of these ,
comedic actors
into monster form
and follows their
■cey/ew/
“Monsters, Inc.”
★ ★★★☆
madcap adventure of returning a lost
child back into her home.
The movie tells the story of Sulley
and Mike, two monsters working for
“Monsters, Inc.,” the biggest scream
production factory in Monsteropolis.
FfeEE Up! •SjftS*
with the purchase of two beverages and one
lunch at the regular price, receive a second fii|/
lunch of equal or lesser value I p
FREE! V
(Dine-in only. One coupon per table. j| 9 I
Valid Monday - Friday. Expires 11/22/01)
159 ’A E. Franklin St. Downtown Chapel Hill ♦ 919-967-5048 |
ence is treated to Li hitting people with
motorcycles, which is not nearly as
entertaining as it sounds.
What makes this film offensively bor
ing crap is that the action is less believ
able than an episode of “WWF Raw.”
Logical plots and competent acting are
not prerequisites for an entertaining
martial ruts flick. But good action is.
It’s impressive to see Jackie Chan
jump up and kick two people at once for
the same reason that it’s unimpressive to
see Li pummel eight people in one
jump. It doesn’t take skill to do what Li
does in this film; it takes an army of pim
ply nerds hunched over computers.
“The One” is a perfect example of
how “The Matrix” has adversely affect
ed American cinema. Rather than use
Li’s talents, exhibited so well in “Romeo
Must Die,” Wong is overly reliant on
unnecessary special effects that make the
film feel like a bad cartoon.
Screams are the power source for this
world. James P. Sullivan, aka Sulley
(Goodman), is the lead scarer of the fac
tory. Mike (Crystal) is Sulley’s best
friend and assistant
Amusingly, monsters fear children just
as much as children fear monsters. When
Sulley finds a child in the factory, his
fright is not contained as he runs scream
ing with the child clinging to his tail.
The child, who Sulley affectionately
calls “Boo,” is another comedic source
in the movie. She squeals, laughs and
says incoherent phrases, but it’s defi
nitely clear that she calls Sulley “Kitty,”
which elicits laughter every time.
Mike is a monster whose fear of chil
dren is apparent. He even wields
makeshift armor and weapons to protect
himself from 800.
Slip Saily ®ar MM
Though weak on intentional humor,
this film does have its share of uninten
tionally funny moments. Aside from an
unexplained, exploding mouse-bomb
(don’t ask), Jason Statham’s accent takes
the cake as the most ludicrously amusing
part of the film. Statham plays some sort
of parallel-universe cop who chases the
bad version of Li throughout the film.
Apparendy in the universe he’s from,
people’s accents randomly oscillate
between British and what sounded like
a bad Long Island accent. Some films,
such as “Starship Troopers," are able to
entertain solely based on unintentional
comedy. This is not one of them.
What makes “The One” rank among
the worst films ever is that it’s in the
unique position of a film that’s a joke,
but not funny.
The Arts 8 Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
The film’s dialogue is sometimes too
complex for children, but they will most
likely enjoy the same things 800 finds
funny in the film. But like most Disney
films of late, there is an equal balance of
adult-related and child-related humor
that makes it enjoyable for all.
In addition to the humor, the vivid
animation shows that the monster world
is a sight to see.
Monsters slither and stalk across the
make-believe world and eventually race
through the cavernous factory. Both
scenes make good use of Disney and
Pixar’s bag of animated tricks.
With a well-executed, fresh concept,
“Monsters, Inc.” is a fun and original
departure from Disney’s usual fare.
There’s not an embarrassing song within
earshot, and it doesn’t retell the fairy tales
we’ve been hearing for years (yawn). It’s
a breath of fresh air.
The Arts 8 Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
CfiT£-£jPgDl€
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11/16 LUCINDA WILLIAMS w/ Matthew Ryan"
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