PAGE 6. THE OTHER PRESS ‘FEBRUARY 9, 1983. Spotlight On Vancouver's Originals _ by Sean Valentini Spotlight Special # 5, Fri- day at the Commodore was an impressive showcase of ‘some of Vancouvers most ex- citing acts. Aptly entitled ‘‘Modern Music,’’ this European style electro-pop festival featured four of the most interesting and progressive groups in the city, most notable of which were 54/40 and Moev. Both have been nominated for various categories in this years West Coast Music A- wards. 54/40’s atypical stage pre- sentation was an excellent a- ccompaniment to their heavy The Trials of ‘Moonlighting’ by Vic Cromarty *‘Moonlighting’’ chron- icles the problems of four Polish tradesmen trying to renovate a flat.in London. Sent there by ‘The Boss’ to spruce things up and to pre- pare the place for his even- _ tual arrival, they find them- - selves in a rapidly deterior- ating situation. as The irony of the situation is that only the foreman, No- wak, is aware of how bad things are becoming. Sent to England on a phony visa just prior to the. declaration of martial law under General Jaruselski, they find them- selves cut off from all com- munication with their home when the crackdown on Soli- darity finally occurs. They can’t go to the au- thorities if the problem con- tinues for long because they are illegally working on the apartment. The Boss decided to send them instead of em- ploying local workers be- cause it would cost him only a quarter of the price of unionized British. Only Nowak, played by Jeremy Irons, can speak any English, so he must act as the buffer between the local scene and his workers. Working 12 hour plus days under his command, the other three are revealed to be a stolid lot. In fact, Nowak eventually reveals to the audience that they were cho- sen primarily for their stupi- dity, in hopes that they would be easier to handle. When martial law is even- tually declared, Nowak de- cides to keep his compatriots beat sound. 54/40 was the least electronicaly oriented, but arguably the most inter- esting act of the evening. 54/40’s release selection is’ nominated for album of the year. Moev has created a vi- brant, personal musical style which when combined with the permiating vocals of lead singer, Madeline Morris, is best described as exhiler- ating. Moev was in top form on Friday, and showed that they have earned their nom- ination as most promising new act on an independant ‘lable. Morris who is nomin- ated for best female vocalist against the likes of Darby in the dark. He must tinish the job at any cost, and he is scared that if the truth were revealed he will lose their. cooperation. Despite a rather sympa- thetic performance by Irons, we quickly realize that for these four men’s situation is | being used as a metaphor of the situation in Poland. Nowak becomes increasingly despotic in his attempts to ‘protect’ his three charges from the truth. He confines them to the house, tears down Solidarity posters, does all the shopping for food and building materials himself. Unfortunately, the money soon begins to get a little thin and he is forced to_take things into his own hands to feed them, all while he tries to continue the act that everything is going smooth- ly. Despite this rather gloomy synopsis, Moonlighting is a film filled with frequent and Mills, of The Headpins, roved the fundamental dif- erence between Mills and herself is that underlying her tremendous vocal power is a voice. Images In Vogue and 3D were the last two acts on the bill. Images material is inter- esting and probably the most mature, but their live pre- sentation, although evoking the greatest response from the audience, didn’t fulfill the expectations put forth by their album, Educated Man. This was attributable, per- haps, to their lack of exper- ience on stage. Images In Vogue is nominated for the often imcongruous humour. On Christmas Eve they find themselves confronted with a _ gaggle of off key kids singing . Carols at their Bar “What is this strange thing’ their faces seem to say, ‘‘and what are we supposed to do?** What do they do? I’m go- ing to let you go see the show to find out. This scene is just too good to give away. On the marquee outside the Fine Arts Theatre where Moonlighting is showing is the phrase ‘‘The Year’s Best Move-Gene Siskel’. This sets the anti-hype gears to. turning, and you begin to - wonder just how bad this show is really going to be. Luckily Mr. Siskel, late of . Sneak Previews on P.B.S., is not far off the mark. Moon- lighting is well acted, nicely shot and, considering the truncated schedule it’s pro- duction saw, a very well con- ceived and executed venture. It’s definitely worth seeing. most promising new act on an independant label. 3D was the most commer- cially oriented act. Their set included cover as well as or- iginal material. This seper- ated 3D from the others but made the evening for some of the less adventerous mem- bers of the audience. 3D will be preforming at Rockin To- nite this week. Spotlight Special # 5 gave some of this cities more av- ant guarde artists the expos- ure they deserve and it was a tremendous success, Improved Fantasia Rises Above Usual Disney Fare by Vic Cromarty It is ironic that the phrase “‘Walt Disney Movie’’. im- mediately brings to mind the idea of a film suitable only for youngsters. It’s not an entirely undeserved reputa- tion though, considering how homogenized most of their offerings have been in the -last decade or so. It is ironic though because so many of Disney’s classic animated features continue ‘to return every few years and pick up another generation of viewers. Recent re-releases _ like Peter Pan and Cinderella » have done well despite it be- ing their umpteenth re-re- lease since their unveiling. Most of these shows could fairly be called juvenile in their story lines, if not in their actual appeal. They really appeal to the child that is a part of everyone. But there is one show that goes a whole lot farther than any its peers both in scope and in sheer inventiveness. This film is Fantasia. Ori- ginally released in 1939, it sadly did not do as well as the studio had hoped. No wonder, considering it’s avante-garde approach and the grim reality of a world on the brink of war. It was, and in many ways still is, far ahead of it’s time. In outline, Fantasia is an animated movie that uses various forms of imagery to express the artist’s interpre- tations of various pieces of classical music. These pieces run the gamut from Bee- thoven’s Fifth Symphony, to works by Tchaikovsky and Musgorsky. The sequences are of such yariety and imagination that you'd be hard pressed to find a comparable movie any- where. Allegro Non Tropo comes to mind, but is reall just an imitation of the eari- ier concept of Fantasia. 4 Dancing mushrooms, Mickey Mouse and his en- chanted brooms, winged horses and centaurs all dance on the screen in tune to the finely executed score. With the exception of a short sequence in which the orch- estra gives a short live per- formance of apparently spon- taneous jazz, the soundtrack music is uniformly classical. The soundtrack is also noteworthy as this release ' marks first presentation of an enitrely re-recorded score. Using the latest in dig- tal recording techniques, the studio has redone the music note by note. The result was not all that different, at least not at the Stanley Theatre where it’s playing. The main advantage of the digital _ technique is that the noise and distortion present in all recordings is reduced. A second innovation was the new voice for Mickey Mouse. Every so often the studio likes to promote itself for some milestone in it’s career. This was the case for Mickey, although his voice sounds much the same. The thrust of this review should be obvious, Fantasia is a treat to watch and listen to. Before 2001: A Space Odyssey, it had the reputa- tion of being the best ‘“‘head’’ movie ever made. It’s easy to see why. Where else can you see the grace and dexterity of massed hip- popotami in tutus perform- ing a tongue in cheek ballet with ostriches, elephants and horny crocodiles? greatly.