Entertainmentpage 17 Technique • Friday, March 2, 2001 • 17
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ENTERTAINMENTpage 17 Technique • Friday, March 2, 2001 • 17 Indigo Girl Amy Ray goes solo with ‘Stag’ ENTERTAINMENT You may not know Amy Ray’s name, but you know her voice and her music—she’s half of Atlanta’s own Indigo Girls. Ray’s solo album, Technique • Friday, March 2, 2001 appropriately titled Stag, will be released on Tuesday. Page 19 Pitt, Roberts missing chemistry, good luck in ‘Mexican’ By Carter Green and return with it. The action pledges, Pitt and Roberts dem- 64 days till graduation quickly turns into slapstick from onstrate zero chemistry on screen. there. Murphy’s Law presides as Their time together in the story MPAA Rating: R Pitt “Forrest Gumps” his way is limited, and the only thing Starring: Brad Pitt, Julia through this final job. keeping them together seems to Roberts, James Gandolfini For audience members hop- be their rotten luck. Director:␣ Gore Verbinski ing this will be a great romance, The only true romance comes Studio: DreamWorks think again. The relationship from a softhearted kidnapper. Running Time: 123 minutes James Gandolfini plays Leroy, a Rating: yyy supposedly menacing hit man The bickering of Pitt working to ensure Jerry comes It is clear from the previews through. To ensure there are no that this is an action packed thrill- and Roberts is quite problems, Leroy holds Saman- er. Well, more likely, this movie funny at times, as tha hostage. He offers the only is a clever, witty romance, right? romantic sentiments in the mov- On the other hand, perhaps the are Pitt’s classic ie, though his character is used drama and romance are over- idiosyncrasies, but as a comic punching bag. shadowed by ridiculous come- As a comedy, The Mexican is dy. The problem with The this is not enough to mediocre at best. Jerry’s futile Mexican is it doesn’t excell at carry the movie. attempts at being a bad guy are any particular genre. funny at times, but slightly an- The action is limited. Brad noying otherwise. The unusual Pitt plays Jerry Welbach, a bum- relationship between Samantha bling fellow mixed up with the between Jerry and Samantha and captor Leroy begins comi- wrong crowd. All he has to do is (Julia Roberts) is built on bick- cally, but quickly becomes stale. complete one successful job, and ering and counseling group-isms. The bickering of Pitt and Rob- he will be able to walk away. His At no time is their relationship erts is actually quite funny at success rate is not high, howev- convincing in any romantic way. times, as are Pitt’s classic idio- er, and his “last job” quickly turns It would be more believable if syncrasies, but this is not enough into yet another job. He must they were sister and brother. De- to carry the movie. By Merrick Morton / DREAMWORKS go to Mexico, find a fabled pis- spite making an effort with a The pairing of superstars Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts may bring audiences in droves tol known as “The Mexican,” few trite Jerry Maguire type love See Mexican, page 18 to screenings of The Mexican; the plot unfortunately leaves something to be desired. DMB’s ‘Everyday’ maps out a new, very different course By Alan Back tracks, and Boyd Tinsley (violin) and jangle together to create their Is my car still there? and LeRoi Moore (woodwinds) own little block party. break out a few new tricks of their At the other end are cuts like Artist: Dave Matthews Band own and even sing backup vocals “When the World Ends,” for which Title: Everyday on occasion. Matthews revives his habit of leav- Label: RCA If you need proof that they’ve ing lines incomplete and making Genre: Rock/Pop shifted gears, start at the top of the listeners scratch their heads: just what Tracks: 12 order with the first single, “I Did did he mean by that? “Dreams of Rating: yyyy It.” This cut cranks along, tight and Our Fathers” gets a bit lost in itself focused, as Matthews asks ironical- and has a hard time finding its way The Dave Matthews Band’s last ly, “Do you think I’ve gone too out again as well—old habits die studio offering, 1998’s Before These far?” He could very well be com- hard, apparently. Crowded Streets, had 11 tracks and But whatever faults the disc has, ran nearly 70 minutes—numbers “Mother Father” redeems them ad- that raised the hackles of some critics Everyday goes light mirably. Even without looking at even before they gave the disc a the liner notes, you can guess who’s spin. on jams and solos in turning in a guest performance— Now we have Everyday, whose favor of a tighter, Carlos Santana. He’s got some good 12 cuts weigh in a considerably help in the form of drummer Cart- slimmer 51 minutes. The question structured approach. er Beauford and bassist Stefan naturally raises itself: could this Lessard, who nail the groove squarely possibly be the same DMB that made into place under him. If this cut had the jam group fashionable all over menting on that earlier loose vibe, come out two years ago, Matthews again in the mid-’90s? which gets dialed back even more and Santana probably would have Answer: no, not by a longshot. so than it was on Streets. ended up facing off against each The group has gone through some A rough, unfinished edge runs other at the Grammy Awards. serious changes, both in the way throughout most of Everyday, pos- Everyday is not your father’s they play and in terms of who covers sibly because the DMB changed DMB, or even your older brother’s. what. Absent is longtime guest producers partway through the re- They’re still overhauling themselves guitarist Tim Reynolds; Matthews cording process and decided to start and finding a new road to travel, takes over part of the job, switching from scratch. It works to their ad- and they’ve managed to correct most Courtesy of Andy Adelewitz / LITTLE BIG MAN between electric and acoustic for vantage at times, especially on the of the problems that came up with With the release of Everyday, Dave Matthews (center) and company the first time. Producer Glen Ballard funky “So Right.” Moore’s baritone Streets. Get ready for a carefully craft- have come a long way from their early days of jamming on evey song. contributes keyboards on several sax and the electric guitar thump ed surprise. Improv comedy, anyone? Arriving in theaters over break Tech’s very own Let's Try This! Players improvi- Whether you’re heading out of ed by John Herzfeld. A famous sational comedy troupe presents two nights of hilari- town or sticking to Atlanta, there’s homicide detective and a fire mar- ty in one place with LTT! Presents: Incidental Madness. always a new movie or two to see. shall team up to solve a case. If you need a break from last-minute pre-break • See Spot Run, starring David Ar- (March 9) studying, or are just looking for a way to get in a good quette, directed by John Whitesell. • Joe Dirt, starring comedian laugh, head over to the DramaTech Theatre tonight A mailman takes care of a dog that’s David Spade (pictured at left), or tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Admission is a mere $2.00. actually an FBI drug-sniffing su- directed by Dennie Gordon. Joe ␣ Let's Try This! holds many workshops for stu- perdog and the target of a planned is an oil well idiot searching for dents interested in improv comedy. For more infor- assassination. (Opens today) the parents who abandoned him mation, check the group’s website, located at http:// • Fifteen Minutes, starring Robert when he was a baby at the Grand cyberbuzz.gatech.edu/improv. By Jon Farmer / COLUMBIA PICTURES De Niro and Edward Burns, direct- Canyon. (March 9) 18 • Friday, March 2, 2001 • Technique ENTERTAINMENT Onward and Crossword 59. Not in the wind Close Clues 60. Understood Mexican from page 17 1234 5678 91011 DOWN 1. Peter’s foe This movie seems a poor choice ter’s wardrobes. Roberts spends most 12 13 14 2. Famous Herscheiser for Julia Roberts. Excepting the of her time in California and Neva- 3. Kingly prefix chance to play opposite Brad Pitt, da wearing brightly colored outfits, 15 16 17 4. Ultimate downfall there is little role here for her. Rob- but upon arriving in Mexico, blends 18 19 20 5. Belt, perhaps erts is the heroine of a subplot that in with the brown tones Pitt has 6. Flower part is never understood, developed, or been sporting during his entire trip. 21 22 23 7. “_____ the cows come…” useful in the overall plot, and she Such attention to detail should 8. South Carolina and Student Cen- was wasted in this role. She does have been applied to the overall di- 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 ter, for two fine with what is there, but that just rection. It is important to tie up all 31 32 33 34 9. Part of HOMES isn’t much. loose ends, even in a campy come- 10. Any of the parts of HOMES On the positive side, the cine- dy. Problems are raised that are never 35 36 37 11. Thing matography is interesting through- solved. Characters relationships are 13. “______ was I, ere I…” out the film. Perhaps the most supposedly heartfelt, though they 38 39 19. To partner consistent thing in The Mexican is are created and erased whenever 40 41 42 20.