Wednesday, March 10, 1993
Videos 'Less
Than Zero '
and 'Do The
Right Thing',
refreshing
by Robert A. Hibberd
Co-Editor-in-Chief
I rented a couple of videos
this weekend. I hâve to admit, I
find renting videos mostly as cheap
entertainment. But this weekend
was different. I rented Less Than
Zero and Do The Right Thing.
I wanted to rent Less Than
Zero because it’s based on a novel
by BretEaston Ellis. Ellis caused
massive controversy in the liter­
ary community a couple of years
ago when his book American
Psycho was released. I read
American Psycho and I liked it
so I wanted to see how Less Than
Zero was and I finally got around
to renting it. '
The main character Julian
[Robert Downey Jr.), has grown
up in Beverly Hills with the ideal
that wealth produces self esteem.
Julian lands himself in trouble
when his record company col­
lapses. Julian feels like a failure,
ittempts several times to keep
the company afloat and ends up
strung out on cocaine and $50,000
in debt to a dealer.
Julian’s friends Blair (Jami
3ertz) and Clay (Andrew Mc-
Video Reviews
Carthy) come to his rescue just as
he is about at his lowest point.
Julian is turning tricks and devas­
tatingly addicted to crack. Clay
finds Julian in a hotel room per­
forming sexual favors to a strange
man in order to pay off his debt to
the cocaine dealer.
In a valiant attempt to rescue
his boyhood friend and his then
and now girlfriend, Clay heads
back to his college community
with Blair and Julian. But Julian
won’t make it, he’s way too strung
out on coke and dies in the back
of Clay’s old red convertible
Corvette.
This movie was fascinating.
Why didn’t Julian just run away
from all the bullshit of Beverly
Hills? It was because his soul
was embroidered into the belief
that wealth is life, and life is
wealth. It was ironic that Julian
died just aS they left the outskirts
of town. Less Than Zero is a
fascinating look into addiction,
self-loathing and money.
Do The Right Thing was
everything done by Spike Lee.
Lee has been in the public eye
big-time lately. Lee received
much media attention with his
latest release Malcolm X. Hike
the Malcolm X stuff, but I prefer
Lee’s earlier stuff like She’s Gotta
Have It. I rented Do The Right
Thing because I wanted to be
refreshed by Lee’s earlier art.
Do The Right Thing takes
place in the Bedford-Stuyvesant
area of Brooklyn. Within the
parameters of this residential area,
Lee explores the interpersonal
relationships between Italians,
blacks, Hispanics and Koreans.
It’s the hottest day of the
year in this town, tension starts to
emerge as Buggin' Out (Cancarlo
Espisito)attempts to organize a
boycott against Sal (Danny Aiello)
and his famous pizzeria because
he refuses to “put some brothers
on the wall.”
Sal has owned and managed
his small pizzeria in this pre­
dominantly black town. Although
not really a racist, Sal prefers
only honoring his heritage (Ital­
ian). Sal tells Buggin' Out “If
you want brothers on the wall
then get yourself your own pizze­
ria and put brothers on the wall.”
Buggin' Out’s boycott seemed
only mild at first. Most residents
of the community refused to help
Buggin' Out and told him he was
crazy. Then he sought the ad­
vice of Radio Raheem (Bill
Milner).
Radio Raheem was a char­
acter filled with the ideal that
brotherhood, respect and honor
are the name of the game. Radio
Raheem finds his self-defining
elements in his radio. Radio Ra­
heem’s oversized boom box is
known throughout the commu­
nity and is respected as a force to.
be reckoned with.
Buggin* Out convinces Ra­
dio Raheem to come with him to
the pizzeria and protest the fact
that there are no black people
hanging on Sal’s wall of fame.
He and Raheem burst into Sal’s.
Raheem has his stereo fully
cranked and Buggin’ Out is shout­
ing at Sal to “put some brothers
on the wall.”
, Sal reacts by smashing Ra­
dioRaheem’s portable stereo. A
major fight ensues between Ra­
dio Raheem and Sal. The fight
bursts out onto the street, causing
the police to arrive. While being
restrained by white police offi­
cers,RadioRaheem getschoked
to death with a club. The com­
munity is stunned at first, then
erupts into a fury when Mookie
(Spike Lee) throws a garbage
can through his employer’s (Sal)
window. The action causes the
community to trash Sal’s estab­
lishment.
The ending of the film leaves
the viewer with a morbid sense
of justice. I was glad Sal’s
Famous Pizzeria got trashed
because I felt that it was equal
redemption for the loss of Radio
Raheem’s radio. However, the
destruction of the restaurant does
in no way, make up for the loss
of Radio Raheem. But Lee teased
me with the idea that I might
accept a burned building for the
loss of a life. Lee portrays soci­
ety as having a sick and twisted
sense of justice.
If you are headed to a video
store anytime in the near future,
I would like to recommend that
you rent Less Than Zero and
Do The Right Thing. I believe
that you will enjoy these mov­
ies. They are tragedies, to say
the least. But they contain humor
and unrestricted insight into
people which you will find re­
freshing. These are movies with
cinematography and direction
that will take the edge off the
powerful messages.
'Medicine Man ' can
cure the doldrums
by Brandy Swan
Contributing Writer
This powerful drama stars
Sean Connery and Lorraine Bracco
as two scientists trying to recover
the cure for cancer. Connery is a
isolated scientist who discovered
I the cure for cancer, and then lost
,
it Actually, he didn’t know how
he did it in the first place and
can’t reproduce one element. He
sends away for some more mod­
ernized equipment from his spon­
sor, and gets Bracco.
Both actors do extremely well
in this film. Connery gives his
usual commanding performance
as Cambell, while Bracco gets a
leg up in her career as “Bronx."
Some people have called this
film boring. It is true that it is a
little slow in the beginning, but it
gets extremely interesting toward
the end.
If you like "The National
Geographic," you’re sure to love
this film. There are plenty of
beautiful background shots of the
Brazilian rainforests, not to men­
tion the natives and how they
live.
This movie is one of my
favorites and I recommend it
highly to all viewers.
'Buffy'
slays
them in the aisles
CCC student Maria Ramirez fives it up at Ski Ball Z Students from universities and
colleges in Oregon spent the night skiing and dancing to top-40 and hip-hop at
Mount Hood Meadows on Friday.
;
,
by Brandy Swan
Contributing Writer
Yes, it’s yet another valley
tale. Kristy Swanson is Buffy, a
cheerleader with no thought ex­
cept what she’s going to wear the
next day. That is, until Donald
Sutherland shows up inher life to
tell her that she is “The Vampire
Slayer” that is going to save the
WOTld.
Buffy, a typical blonde air­
head, listens to Sutherland and
when he talks about dreams she
had, she believes him. Like a
fool, she agrees to go to the grave­
yard with a strange man.
At the cemetery, Sutherland
tells her to sit at the foot of a
grave and watch the one in front
of her, as it is the grave of a man
who should rise from the dead
that night. Sure enough, an un­
dead creature rises, but little does
Buffy know, the grave she’s sit­
ting by holds another. A woman
rises from behind her, and things
get pretty hairy until Sutherland
tosses her a stake.
Thus begins Buffy’s train­
ing. She works out like crazy and
even goes on little forays to hone
her skill. It is on one such outing
that she saves Luke Perry from
Paul Reubens. Pike (Perry) joins
forces with Buffy.
All comes to head at the
school dance and Buffy must face
the head vampire, Rutger Hauer.
The cast gives wonderful per-
formances, even Paul Reubens.
Although, if I knew Pee-Wee
Herman was going to be stalking
me, it would be just too weird.
This movie may sound dumb,
or even look dumb from the pre­
views, but it’s not. I recom­
mended it as a movie where you
don’t have to think to understand
it. It's a must see.