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Other Arts & Review
Mann Scalps ‘The Last of

  

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“A little lower, Danny ... now to the left.

uf aaaaaahhhhhhhhh. That's it.”

the Other Press

 

 

King's X: A Worthwhile Musical Enigma

 

by Byrun Stedmann

King’s Xisin the odd position of
not sounding like any band that has
preceded them. They areanentity all
tothemselves. This position formany
musicians today is as desirable as
nirvana is to a Buddhist. King’s X
music is very much theirown music;
they are one the most original bands
outthere (along with Living Colour
and Fishbone).

Originality,
however,does notensure
air play or promotion.
AOR ( Album Oriented
Rock)and College Radio
are both reticent to give
King’s Xample air play,
if any at all.

AOR stations have
stuck to using safe
formulas that they
believe will increase and
maintain their ratings,
creating in the process
sterile, repetitive
listening. AOR stations
go with music that has
been proven to be a
success, thus the birth of
the” classicrockstation.”

I figured that AOR
would snatch up a band
like King’s X; after
all,their songs are very
diverse ranging from
ballads (I loathe this
term ), to hard driving songs (“The
World Around Me” or “ Moanjam”
),and tosongs witha classic rock feel,
like”Over My Head” from thealbum
Gretchen Goes to Nebraska.

But, King’s X isn’t easily
classified which means that AOR
would be taking a chance by playing
them, so they are relegated to late
nightair playand specialty programs

 

       

(e.g. heavy metal hours, etc.). King’s
X is growing in popularity and has
had some fairly successful singles in
the states, but some station
programmers seem to be remaining
steadfastly conservativeinhow much
air play they cangive to King’s Xand
true modern bands like them.
lalsoexpectedcollegeradioand
alternative or modern rock radio to
pe up on King’s X, but to my
owledge they seem to be avoiding

 

them as well (except for CJSF, SFU’s
station). The band is apparently not
alternative enough, they are too
conventional.

Idisagree. King’s Xis expanding
the vocabulary of rock music,
reforming old clichés intosomething
new and innovative, they treat their
music like art ,which is more than I
can say for many alternative bands

It’s the Dead Air Space
that Insulates.

that do getair play. Itismy hope that
radiostationscanovercome their fear
of taking risks and take a risk on
King’s X.

At this point I’d like to
recommend their albums to you .
First up isOut of the Silent Planet,
from 1988. This is the weaker of the
four albums, but it is still very good.

The songs are simpler but
definitely not simplistic. Check out
these tracks in particular: ‘Visions,
‘Far Far Away ,’ and
‘Power of Love.’ Next up
isGretchen Goes to
Nebraska. Gretchen... has
been critically acclaimed
as King’s X finestalbum,
and is the album I
recommend to get first.

My favorite tracks
are: ‘Pleadeis,’ ‘Fall On
Me,’Out of the Silent
Planet,’... basically I like
every song. The third
album , Faith Hope Love,
which produced, to my
knowledge, the bands
first radio single ( which
C-FOX did play ),/It’s
Love.’

Irecommend you
get this album after
Gretchen. Tracks toreceive
my praise are as follows:
‘Mr. Wilson’, ‘Moanjam’,
‘We Were Born to be
Loved’, and the title track.

Thelatestalbum whichis simply
called King’s X,is an odd one for me.
I really like the individual songs, but
] think the album as a whole is just
above average. Check out, ‘Silent
Wind,’ ‘The Big Picture,’ and ‘WhatI
Know About Love.’

I hope you will give this band a
listen and enjoy them as much as |
do.

  

The Last of the Mohicansisabig
movie. A very big movie. Infacta big
movie of epic proportions. A very
big movie with a big budget . Big
actors... many actors—andalsoa big
flop.

The Last of the Mohicans

directed by Michael Mann
Cinplex-Odeon

reveiwed by Angela Chiotakos

 

 

I am incredibly disappointed
with this movie for big, big reasons.
Where to begin...well, lets start with
the biggest reason—Michael Mann.

Michael Mann produced and
directed thismovie, andalsoco-wrote
the screen play with Christopher
Crowe. Now, what do you expect to
get when you throw wads o’ cash at
the man who brought you Miami
Vice?

Mannseems tobesuffering from
an extreme case of over control—he
spreads himself far too thin where he

esperately needs the talents ofothers
by his side (or more appropriately,
holding his hand).

The screenplay, based on the
novel by James Fenimore Cooper, is
a sad attempt at historical drama.
The dialogue is corny, the scenes are
disjointed, and the movie in general
is difficult to follow. At times I found
myself exclaiming, “oh, puke,” under
my breath;evenmoresurprising was
the woman beside me nodding in
agreement. Mann should definitely
not be allowed to write anything to
be made for human consumption.
Ever.... NEVER.

The cinematography is
beautiful, unfortunately Mann’s
direction kills it. There are too many
cliché shots of man cradling woman
in the shadow of the setting sun.

The shots are wide and
expansive, filmed with a wide lens
for much, if not all, of the movie.
Mann, in trying to recreate the feel of
the vast, open environment, left me
feeling alienated. The shots are so
wide I feel like I’m lost.

Daniel Day-Lewis
ey plays a white man,
Hawkeye, adopted as a child by a
Mohicans family. The two main
(white) women in this movie are the
best things going for this movie.
Madeleine Stow and Johdi May, who
portray Cora and Alice Munro, the
daughters of a British Colonel, are
magnificent. These women took
mediocre roles in a bad script, and
yet they still created interesting and
realistic people.

Mostinsulting is that this movie
isn’tevenabout Mohicans! It’sabout
a bunch of white people, a bunch of
white people using natives, a bunch
of white people...etc. It portrays

the Mohicans’

  
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
  
 
 

September 30, 199

natives in a stereotypical fashion.

Ihave yet to see a historic mo
which does not portray first natio
peoples in a war mongering a
aggressive light. There are at lea
twenty people scalped by India
butI wonder how many peoplekno
that scalping was first started by
Europeans.

The bad guy, a native calle
Magua, portrayed by Cherokeeactd
Wes Studi, is the typical bloodthirs,
“savage”. He is out to avenge
murder of his family by the Bri
the attack apparently led by Col
Munro, played by Maurice Ro
Not only does he seek out Mug
but his daughters as we
paraphrase, Magua_ sn
“I want you to know I will elim
your seed from the earth”.

Studi, in fact, makes excuses §
the character he plays. In the pre
release heis quoted assaying, ,”eve
Indian on the North America
continent can in some way identi
with this man because of the loss }
has suffered. Better men, lesser me
would have done the same things i
does....So he isn’t really a bad ma
He’s a man clouded by passion a
maybe temporarily insane.”

The
operative
word is BIG.

Whata bunch of shit! If you a
someone who respects the Fi
Nations People and shuns racism
Hollywood, don’t go see this mo

Therearesomespectacularba
scenes. They are, howevq

unnecessarily violent. One battle ¢
particular mentionis that of the sieg
on the British at Fort William Heng
bythe French. Thisis splendidly dor
with lots of fire power; this is o
scene where the wide shots added
the film. It is a realistic a
unromantic view of war.

lenjoyed the last fifteen minut
of the movie quite thoroughly, but
still didn’t make up for the rest of
l enjoyed the fact that there wasn’t
happy ending (many people did
My greatest relief is that Magua w
allowed to become human, butthis
far too little too late.

Perhaps Hollywood is realizi
that audiences actually have brai
and don’t need fairy tale endings
makemoney. Unfortunately, itloo
like this big flop is going to be a bi
undeserving box office hit.

 

by Deanne Vanessen

 

Ok, so the Vancouver Sun said
it sucked. The Strait said it shone. I
say that if you’re in the mood for a
light-hearted thriller that’s typically
“HOLLYWOOD,” but can offer a
lot of laughs, see SNEAKERS. But,
don’t expect the familiar from the
incredible lineup; Ben Kingsley,
Robert Redford, River Pheonix,
Sidney Portier, Dan Ackroid, Mary
McDonnelland Donald Crease.Each
actor brings his or her own
personality into the movie. The
combined effect is phenomenal! It
serves to bring the plot to a climax,
ina subtle sort-of way.

“Sneakers” isa company made
up of ex-convicts, retroactive
hippies, blind hackers and ex-CIlA
agents who work at breaking into
buildings testing their security
systems. The group is “hired” by
the “U.S. Government” to locate a
mysterious black box. Once they
have it they find out what it can do.
The U.S., the U.S.S.R. and several

 

Walk, Don't Run to See Sneakers

 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

organized crimeringsareall willin;
togotoany length togetit.Therac
is on!

I was very impressed with th
message of group achieveme
through working together.

I liked the way the movi
flowed. I don’t think any other cas
could have pulled this off a
successfully with half of the styl
this group of actors did.

My onlycriticism is thatI foun
Sneakers too “perfect an
predictable.” The action scene
seemed too staged for the rest of th
movie.

I also felt that Robert Redfor
and Sidney Poitier hogged thi
spotlight, even if their acting we
impeccable. I was happy to se
Mary McDonnell playing the pa
ofan intelligent woman as oppose
to that of a bimbo. Still, her pa
could have been written into th
script a little more cleverly.

All in all, this is a ver
entertaining movie. Definitel
worth the charge on Tuesdays!