Section A·Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Friday, February 13, 1998
'Borrow' the book; skip the film
Adaptation not worth going into debt to see
By Jeremy M. Doherty jdoherty@kansan.com Kansan movie critic
Contributed photo
The Borrowers is the latest movie to start out with an imaginative concept and bungle it splendidly in its execution.
The concept is that within the walls and under the floorboards of our homes lives a race of 4-inch-high creatures called Borrowers.
In adapting Mary Norton's popular line of children's books, director Peter Hewitt, who directed Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, only recycles ideas seen before in better movies such as Toy Story and E. T.
The Lenders are a happy family and live in a brownstone somewhere in merry old England. They're American, but no effort is made to explain that bit of data to us.
They've been under the impression their house was left to them by their dearly departed auntie. The fact is, they can't even find the will, much to the delight of lawer Ocious P. Potter (John Goodman).
Potter wears pin-striped suits, sports a half-dozen gold rings and revels in his lack of scruples. He'd like to evict the
disgustingly pleasant Lender clan from their homestead so he can put in an apartment complex, making himself even more rich.
While the Lenders accept defeat, the little tykes behind the walls decide to put up a fight. Somehow, Potter finds the will, and the Borrowers spend a decent amount of time trying to get it
away from him.
Director Hewitt serves up a lame Home Alone retreat in which Potter suffers a series of ordeals at the hands of his tiny opposition. I won't go into specifics except to say that much of it involves feces, flatulence and fat jokes.
They call themselves Borrowers, but I didn't see them give one thing back. Nice message to send out to the kids, hub?
'Sphere' flounders from lack of character
By Jeremy M. Doherty jdoherty@kansan.com Kansan movie critic
Like many movies based on Michael Crichton novels, Sphere offers potent warnings about the recklessness of man and the unbridled power of Mother Nature.
And like its predecessors, including both Jurassic Park movies and Congo, Sphere can't deliver a plot or characters compelling enough to make the warnings stick.
On the other hand, this thriller is almost cerebral. No dinosaurs or killer gorillas torment the protagonists of Sphere. This underwater adventure, directed by Oscar-winner Barry Levinson (Rain Man), dares to suggest that true villains are found within the soul.
Dustin Hoffman is Norman Goodman, a psychologist called to investigate a
crash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Thinking a plane must have gone down, Goodman instead learns a spaceship the size of a football field has been found resting on the ocean floor.
Goodman and his team, which includes cranky mathematician Harry Adams (Samuel L. Jackson) and moody biochemist Beth Halperin (Sharon Stone), submerge and explore the sunken craft. Inside, they find human corpses, candy wrappers and computers sewing read-outs in English.
They also come across what looks like an oversized, floating disco ball which pulsates with an odd zen-like power.
A storm severs the crew's connections with the civilized world. Giant squids attack their underwater lab. Members of the crew die horrific deaths at the hands of jellyfish and sea snakes.
Stephen Hauser and Paul Attanasio, stick to the flow of Crichton's novel, but that may be the problem. In 1989, James Cameron made a better underwater potboiler with actual character development called The Abyss.
Levinson and his screenwriters.
It doesn't help matters when we can't tell if Levinson wanted us to take this seriously. Throughout the movie, he places ominous title cards before the action sequences, each with a humorous name like THE ANALYSIS, THE DEEP and (no joke) THE MONSTER. Stanley Kubrick did much the same thing in 1980's The Shining, but Levinson doesn't offer that level of grandeur.
He also doesn't help his lead actors to develop any personality. When one crew member is savaged by a school of jellyfish, the camera pulls close on Hoffman's face. He looks like he's listening to financial reports on CNBC.
AIDS project plans Valentine's Day dance
Money from ticket sales to benefit group's clients
By Lisa Stevens John
jlohn@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Massachusetts Street will rock to the Kelley Hunt Band tomorrow night when the Douglas County AIDS Project plays host to its annual Valentine's Day party at Liberty Hall.
Proceeds from the party, which will begin at 7 p.m., will benefit 45 area HIV/AIDS clients, including several who attend the University of Kansas, said Sara Collas, coordinator of the Valentine's party.
Tickets are $10 per person and are available at the Liberty Hall box office. The AIDS project hopes to raise $3,500 from the party.
The Kelley Hunt Band will begin performing at 9 p.m. A local disc jockey, DJ-Z, will
provide music before the show and between sets.
"Kelley Hunt is one of the best musicians, not only in Kansas, but in all of the Midwest," Collas said. "She plays a bit of blues, a bit of jazz and a bit of soul. Anyone can dance to her music."
This year's event marks the eighth year that Kelley Hunt has donated her time to the party, Collas said.
"We are welcoming everybody, young and old, gay and straight, couples and singles," Collas said. "We would like to see a diverse representation of the Lawrence community, as well as the University of Kansas."
Jackie Davis, chairwoman of the project, said the project provides medicine, food and housing to HIV/AIDS clients.
"This is an opportunity to have a fun evening and to help an important cause," Davis said. "The money goes toward helping people who really need help."
Lawrence band to bring garage rock back to town
By Chris Horton
By Chris Horton chortion@kansan.com
chorton@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The Replay Lounge will sound more like a garage tonight when The Hefners take the floor.
The Hefners, a local band, consists of Larry Brinkman (L.J. Hefner), guitar and vocals; Billy Lamboley (Billy Dee Hefner), bass; and Bob Deck (Bobby Hefner), drums.
When they play at 11 tonight, the band will be promoting its new album, Aw Honey, the Hefens Weren't Expecting a Crowd!
Deck said the Hefners had been playing together for about a year, and they slowly had been building a following.
He said the band was formed out of what he and Brinkman considered a hole in the local music scene.
"Larry and I got to talking and we both thought that with the majority of Lawrence's bands playing indie rock-style music, there weren't any rock and roll bands just doing it to have fun," Deck said.
Brinkman said most of the band's songs were about girls.
"Although we do have a song about stumbling home drunk from a night of boozing and arguing with your girlfriend," he said.
The Hefners' music focuses on the sexual tension of males in their late teens and early 20s, Brinkman said.
Deck said he thought the band's songs were easy for an audience to enjoy.
"It's simple pop in the garage-rock vein," he said, "Anyone can get into it."
Tom Humphrey, Lawrence senior and host of KJHK's local music show "Plow the Fields," said the Hefners' album was in regular rotation at the station.
"They fit a genre locally that no one else does." Humphrey said.
The band's infatuation with Hugh Hefner and the playboy lifestyle give it a supreme goal for the future.
"We're enamored with the man," Deck said, "We want to send him a copy of our record and see if we can play at the mansion."
RECYCLE THE UNIVERSITY DAILY Kansan
Saturday, Feb. 14th RESERVE YOUR APARTMENT FOR FALL '98! SUNDANCE 841-5255 7th and Florida
ORCHARD CORNERS 749-4226 15th and Kasold
HANOVER PLACE 841-1212 14th and Mass.
TANGLEWOOD 749-2415 10th and Arkansas
CAMPUS PLACE 841-1429 12th and Louisiana
REGENTS COURT 749-0445 19th and Mass.
842-4455
Mon-Fri 9a.m.-5p.m. Sat 10a.m.-4p.m
21st Annual Big XII Conference on Black Student Government February 19-22, 1998
Hosted by Afrikan People's Union
"Black Love: Restoring the Essence of the Black Family"
What is the Big XII Conference on Black Student Government?
A forum for addressing problems, concerns,and ideas of Black students attending predominantly white colleges and universities.
What is the purpose of the conference?
To build leadership and communication skills, promote academic success and political awareness,and to reinforce the eductional and cultural development of young aspiring students.
Vendors needed.
Step Show entries still being accepted, $1500 prize.
For more information please call (402)472-5397 or e-mail us at big12@unlinfo.unl.edu
- Everyone is welcome to attend!*
BIG XII CONFERENCE
XN BLACK STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Cornhusker Hotel & Conference Center 333 South 13th Street Lincoln NE,68508