Sensational sequels spice up
summer
■ Here’s some help in
separating the good summer
sequel releases from the bad
By Bevin Caffery
Oregon Daily Emerald
The concept of a “sequel” tends
to bring about skeptical looks and
rolling eyes. Every now and then,
a good continuation of a hit movie
can actually compare to the origi
nal, but these are rare occurrences.
“Indiana Jones,” “Star Wars,”
“Lethal Weapon” and “The Godfa
ther” are arguably some of the few
movies to produce good sequels.
Their reputations, however, are
darkened by countless others, such
as “Grease,” “Jaws,” “Rocky” and
“Scream.” Well, we have a whole
new batch out of the oven for you,
and the rating scale shows how ex
cited you should get. Try ’em out:
‘Dr. Dolittle 2’
Release date June 22
★★★☆☆
Eddie Murphy has made it as
the liaison between the animal
kingdom and the human world.
But he faces a new conflict: The
animals are on strike. (Hmm. Did
this happen in Eugene?) Murphy
has to struggle through a show
down between the animals and the
people, and keep them from shoot
ing — or eating — each other.
‘Scary Movie II*
Release date July 4
★★★☆☆
Rumors surrounding this kooky
sequel are that it will be different
from the original. Well, different in
that it mocks different movies, but
the same in its ridiculously exagger
ated parodies of horror films. In
cluding many of the original cast
members (a few of whom were
killed in the first film), “Scarier
Movie” is looking to ex-or-CISE the
demons. Various “satanic horror
movies” will make appearances this
time, such as “The Exorcist,” “Bless
the Child” and “Stigmata.” After de
meaning harmless serial killers in
the first movie, the Wayans brothers
are now aiming their laughter at su
pernatural evil forces. It should
prove to be a nice, mindless come
dy
‘Jurassic Park III*
Release date July 18
★☆☆☆☆
Yet another way to film di
nosaurs running amok and eating
people. But this one will have a
completely new and interesting
plot: This time a greedy corpora
tion brings a Tyrannosaurus Rex
to California to open a theme
park. (The private island just did
n’t have enough people to eat.) It
doesn’t take too much imagina
tion to figure out what might hap
pen, but who knows? Maybe the
dinosaur will turn out to be a
gentle-hearted.creature that saves
a baby from a burning building or
something.
‘Rush Hour 2’
Release date August 3
★★★★★
It looks like the corny action of
Jackie Chan and the hilarious com
edy of Chris Tucker will team up
again to give us some expert mar
tial arts moves and more of Tuck
er’s high-pitched squeals.
Animation
continued from page 7
for their efforts. Falbo aims to
please with his piece, “Firewood,”
where a computer-animated figure
moves over a filmed set. For those
who can’t visualize it, he explains,
“It’s like the Disney movie ‘Di
nosaur.’”
Shelly Macdonald also produced
a piece in the Motion Graphics
class called “Adelaide.” The ani
mation shows a girl in a snowy city
who imagines a jazz poster coming
to life and playing for her. Macdon
ald says the idea is like a memory
of her childhood in Chicago where
her father played jazz trumpet. Her
father played the score for her
piece, adding to its autobiographi
cal feel. The short was made by
filming painted, cut-out pieces of
canvas, giving it a classic, foreign
feel.
In addition to the animated stu
dent works, two student-made doc
umentaries will be shown. Profes
sor Ken O’Connell joked that the
title may be outdated. “Maybe next
year we’ll call it the ‘Motion Media
Meltdown,”’ he said.
Memory in motion
This joke points out a deception
caused by titles. Though Animation
Explosion is in its fourth year, the
University has held showings of stu
dent work since 1957. The tradition
of motion media was started at the
University by retired professor David
Foster, one of O’Connell’s former
teachers. To remember the legacy be
hind the art department’s achieve
ments, the Animation Explosion fea
tures one historical work each year.
This year, O’Connell takes the stage
with his 1984 computer animation
“Chips in Space.”
This is in homage to O’Connell’s
legacy. He is retiring this year after 23
years at the University. During his
time as a student, he learned from
Foster arid was shaped by that man’s
artistic vision and dedication.
When first trying to incorporate
film and photography into the art
department in 1951, the conflicting
sentiment of the faculty was that
they were commercial media.
“I spent a lot of time convincing
the faculty that this is not commer
cial.” Foster said. “Communication
is not commercial.”
Because of the reluctance to
change, Foster built up the program
largely by himself. O’Connell remem
bers a time in the ’70s when Foster
took a secopd jnortgage on his house
Adam Amato Emerald
Senior Desi Ramsey builds a family of worms for her film, which is not yet titled, about
the life of a worm. It can be viewed at the Animation Explosion on June 7 and 8.
to buy equipment for the students.
This dedication comes from Fos
ter’s fundamental love of learning
and communication. Foster gradu
ated from a Bauhaus art school in
Chicago, where he was taught that
form follows function. In teaching
University students new technolo
gies and processes, the focus was
always on using media as tools to
express a message.
The art of organizing
the material and
conveying the thought is
more important than the
physical presentation.
David Foster
retired professor
“The art of organizing the mate
rial and conveying the thought is
more important than the physical
presentation,” Foster said.
But Foster knows that it is easy to
shift the focus away from communi
cation when the goal becomes to cre
ate a product. This is why he comes
back to see the Animation Explo
sion. “I want to see what they’re do
ing,” he said. “But I look at it not to
be entertained — I look at it to see
how my friend Ken is doing.”
Maintaining the message
As a returning student, Terry pro
vides perspective on the two pro
fessors, having received instruction
from both of them. He studied un
der Foster in 1978 for a year and re
turned last fall under O’Connell.
But despite the gap in time, he feels
that the vision is intact.
“There is no question that com
munication is what it is all about,”
he said. “At the U of O, the empha
sis will always be on the message
and the theory.”
But though students may think
they are communicating effective
ly, unbiased outsiders may dis
agree. O’Connell said that learning
how audiences respond to the work
is another primary function of the
Animation Explosion.
Falbo remembers the response to
last year’s event. “We had more
people than we should have,” he
said. “It was standing room only. I
couldn’t get back in after the inter
mission.”
Learning from the experience,
Falbo spread the event over two
nights. Each two-hour program will
begin at 7 p.m. and feature different
works. This not only allows more
student work to be shown, but also
allows more people to see it.
And the more people who see
the work, the more the students’ art
will be appreciated.
“Art is not a gift,” Falbo said.
“You make it a gift by the energy
and effort you put into it.”
Judging by Terry’s example, the
students learned this fact from the
time they labored over their proj
ects. And while the impressive
pieces represent the best work from
what O’Connell claims is the best
animation program in the North
west, the goal is still the communi
cation of ideas.
‘American Pie 2’
Release date August 10
★★★★☆
The original cast of the old gang
is back, and the scene is the sum
mer after their first year of college.
They’re back to share stories of
crazy sexual endeavors and to start
some new ones, no doubt. If this
summer was anything like their
senior year, there will be quite a
few new experiences in the never
ending quest for sex. But since
they all lost their virginity in the
first movie, what will their next
quest be? More sex? Bisexual expe
riences? Banana cream pie?
(Yikes.)
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