Section A · Page 7
The University Daily Kansan
Friday, August 21, 1998
Too much blood sucks fun out of Blade
By Jeremy M. Doherty
Kansan movie critic
The vampires in Blade may look menacing here, but the head vampire, center, is about as menacing as a Tickle Me Elmo doll.
One should reasonably expect to find more than a little blood swishing about in a vampire movie.
But Blade, a comic book adaptation starring Wesley Snipes as a karate-kicking vampire hunter, takes its obsession with the red stuff to near nornographic levels.
In the opening scene, set in a nightclub stacked with dancing vampires, the sprinkler system suddenly spurs forth in a spray of gore that coats the room's inhabitants. The beasties gorge themselves and continue dancing in what's meant to be a kinky turn-on for both them and the audience.
Early on, director Stephen Norrington shows some indication that he'll give his viewers more than just a hyper-violent video game. There is a terrific scene in a morgue in which Snipes' hero, who is trying to finish off an especially persistent blood-sucker, suddenly is interrupted by a hail of police gunfire. Snipes turns, gives the cops an exasperated do-you-mind look and continues with the neck-snapping and impaling.
That's nearly all that Blade has going for it. Along with last year's Spawn, we can conclude only that the successful treatment of The Crow was a fluke.
Norrington can stage sword fights and shootouts with a master's precision, but he is unable to attach any emotional warmth to the movie. It becomes a matter of escalating body counts instead of escalating tension.
The film's plot, about an evil
vampire (Stephen Dorff) who wants to channel power from the Blood God, merely serves as the backdrop to the tedious oceans of carnage. Its target audience is probably those persons who found Saving Private Ryan too lighthearted.
snipes, who once acted in his movies, gives what is quickly becoming a typical performance for him. Blade has no emotional hangups about causing this much destruction, and the film's introduction of a female sidekick (N'bushe Wright) does not even
Blade
Kansan rating: *1/2 out of ****
Running time: 2 hours
Rated R for scattered profinity and buckets a' blood
come close to enlivening his character.
The producers clearly couldn't afford a Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman or Christopher Walken to play their villain. The audience is saddled with pretty-boy Dorff, whose Calvin Kleinish
looks and bony physique make him about as menacing as a Tickle Me Elmo doll.
Vampire-flick fans would do well to stick to the standbys on the video shelves. Blade does not contain the lurid eroticism of Interview with the Vampire or Bram Stoker's Dracula. Nor is it rowdy, sicko fun like the Quentin Tarantino scripted From Dusk Till Dawn. It is what it is — another excuse for special-effects nerds to break out the Karo syrup. Blade's bleak attitude is absolutely numbing.
Possum Dixon needs to freshen up its Sheets
Bv T.R. Miller
Kansan music fiend
People often talk of new beginnings. Poets, philosophers and recent divorces love to wax on the chance to start anew.
Me, I like to talk about good beginnings. Much like the opening paragraph of an essay, an attention-grabbing, smooth and snazzy song beginning is an art in itself. Possum Dixon's first track on New Sheets opens like an ominous factory machine — it's hard, it's heavy, but man, it's kind of cool. In fact, all of the tracks on New Sheets start off with such sparkly guitar riffs, even the most discriminate listener would lift his or her finger off the forward-track button for a moment.
"Pull these curtains back, let's get some light in here," he chirps, and then suddenly the song turns into guitar practice. Oh, but who
Unfortunately, the L.A. trio was gone the day Teacher talked about content. Take Holding, for example. Fifteen seconds after the smoke clears, vocalist Rob Zabrecky makes the mistake of turning a Pink Floyd-esque opener into just another alterna-pop song.
wants to be a seasoned musician anyway, right?
The title track even takes a turn for the worse. The riveting bass introduction dissipates into another choppy guitar-fest.
New Sheets
Possum Dixon New Sheets (Interscope Records): 2
1: really, really bad
But there are a few unpolished gems among the rocks. The sweet love song *Only In The Summertime* has a propelling beat and quirky bass line reminiscent of old Cure licks. With lyrics such as, "Something in your eyes said you'd die to see me," Possum Dixon shows their sweet side. *Faultlines* is another standout with its trippy violin harmony and space-rocket guitar slides.
Produced by Ric Ocasek, *New Sheets* does have some redeemable musical qualities and Possum Dixon does know how to play. Just program your CD player on a 15-second scan and you can see for yourself. All 195 seconds of it.
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