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Homosex By David Baker p Gamecock Film Critic ^ As far as advance publicity goes, s; I? rinrllrin 'c P r i i o i m rt ic in n tv tillc?ill i i i^uimii o v^r uioiri^ 10 111 v/ the same league with Francis Ford d Coppola's Apocalypse Now. Last S summer, the Cruising set repeatedly had to be shut down because gangs of militant New York gays, apparently inspired by tl the writings of Village Voice c columnist Arthur Bell, whiled fi away their afternoons by b screaming insults and throwing b things (bricks, bottles, etc.) at p mnvipmakprs whom thev thoueht tl to be hard at work making a b violent anti-gay movie, certain to o1 bring harassment to e^ch and P every homosexual in the known O world the minute it reached the. nation's theatre screens. C q Columns began to pop up in w Hn?onc r\f nnhlinntiAnc T UV/CV.UO vi puunvatiuuo, u uiu 1 York Magazine to Variety to Time, h either supporting the demon- C strations against the film or s supporting Friedkin's right to make it. Thankfully, the vast fi majority of the articles concerning I Cruising fell into the latter r category, with only a few, mostly tl underground, publications having the courage (or should I say h ignorance) to go against the rights w guaranteed by the First Amend- v ment. b SUPPOSEDLY, MANY scenes r in Cruising had to be looped ? that lO, "OVt LI It UldlU^Ut- ItXUlUCU 111 the studio ? because of the ravings t of the protestors. But even this did r not keep Friedkin & Co. from i bringing the film in on schedule 1 and, if memory serves, under c budget. Now that Friedkin has i completed the film, however, the t gays who protested its being made s are protesting its being shown. t Most of them, one must assume, c are protesting the film without \ having seen it, for Cruising in no t u/av ripalR with thp mainstream of I g&ylife. Friedkin, in fact, has included a title card saying that the ! The talented Glenn Phillips o Wednesday night. sto., i : Pacinos utility out icture deals almost exclusively 'ith the fringe world of adomasochistic gays who hang ut in leather bars, looking for' angerous thrills (as the Paul orvino character says in the film, It's a world unto itself"). WITH SUCH a statement staring lem in the eyes, one must conlude that the people who1 want the Jm removed from theatres ecause 01 a possiuie ami-guy acklash are every bit as pomous, recalcitrant and fanatical as le legion of misguided Bibleeaters who raised such a ruckus ver the showing of Monty ython's Life of Brian this past ctober. Yes, friends, if you want to see ruising, you'd better do it uickly, before some crackpot 'rites a letter to good ole Strom hurmond and he, in turn, picks up is illustrious telephone and has 'ruising banned forever from the creensof S.C., God save us all! Now that today's sermon about reedom of speech is outofthe way, can get down to the business of eviewing the film that's causing 11 nt; uunauunuo. j Cruising is, to say the least, a ard film to sit through. It's filled /ith more than enough sex and iolence to qualify for an X rating, t ut, miraculously, it has been t [raded merely an R (after a 2'^-4 i ninute sex scene was deleted). j THERE ARE numerous shots in ho nnnninrt half.hmir nr ca nf lilfro. 4 iiv/ vp^uiki5 nan uv/ui vi ov/ ui uiiio- | nacho men kissing one another as J f their only sustenance was < urking somewhere past each | )ther's tonsils. In more than one < nstance, the same type of muscle- < )ound leathermen can be glimpsed < Emulating fellatio and anal in- ; ercourse. One sequence of shots ;ven shows a man greasing his fist vhile another man writhes in anicipation of his inserting it Godtnows-where. The first time one sees Cruising, hese images are so strong that one ^I n JHH Bqrry Newman - GAMECOCK >/? lead guitar at the Spur itars in Friedkin's of the clo! Al Pacino, as Steve Bun William Fried kin's controvei las a hard time concentrating on he truly excellent murder nystery that makes up a full 90 percent of the film. AL PACINO, in a role not unlike the one essayed by him in Serpico, leads the cast as rookie policeman Steve Burns. A wave of ghastly lomophobic killings ? including several decapitations and similar iismemberments ? has been sweeping over New York's rugged S-and-M gay scene and Steve is recruited to act as a decoy because his build, hair and eye color are similar to those of the victims. If he's successful in trapping the killer, Capt. Edelson (Sorvino) tells him, he'll be awarded the gold badge of a detective, something Glenn Ph butfaik By Michael Gooding Gamocock Staff Writer The Glenn Phillips band provided the Golden Spur with some very talented instrumental rock & roll Wednesday night, but lacked good audience response, partiaHy due to the fact that there were no vocals. The band, whose home is in Atlanta, is made up of four members: Glenn Phillips, guitar;, Dana Nelson, keyboards; Bill Grea, bass; and Doug Landsberg on the drums, all of whom demonstrated masterful control over their respective instruments. PHILLIPS IS an excitingguitarist, and is as adept at power rock 'n* roll as he is at slow blues, as are the other musicians in the band, but the overall combined affect was somewhat mediocre. The band 1C tiaht tolan(a/1 on/1 ?u vi^uv, VU1V1HVU, CIIIVI CApUI lUlltUU , but their music seems to have no real meaning or direction. Nelson said they are rarely concerned with direction. Phillips and Grea write the songs, and in practice, each member combines their different instruments to fit the mood of the song, thus creating a natural direction, she said. "Our direction changes ail the time," Phillips added. * 'Cruising^ sets, into tl is, and Richard Cox, as Stuart / rsiat'Cruising.' that usually takes years of hard work to earn. To get in the position where he can be most effective, Steve changes his name and moves into a predominantly homosexual apartment building in Greenwich Village. He begins to hang out in leather bars and, eventually, starts picking up men whom he suspects might be the killer. SUCH A RAPID and deep involvement in homosexual' life causes Steve to question his own sexual identity. Pacino's emoting in the scenes involving Steve's sexual confusion make this performance his best work since 1 rv?-?r- tn _ _ nv i ^ T *4 s uog uay /\jicrnoon. i can i think of another actor who can illips displa i to capture THE BAND members are not particularly worried about the missing vocals either. "We're never satisfied with the band, but we have not wanted to add vocals," Phillips said. "If we stop and think about vocals, then it will be contrived," Grea added, which is not the type of image they want to display, he said. Their performance in the Spur was met with limited enthusiasm and mixed reaction by the small crowd. Phillips' guitar work was easilv the hieh rioint nf thp r*?r formance, and he managed to work some of the crowd into a frenzy as the show climaxed near the end of their second set. There was just enough demand to bring them back for two encores, in the second Phillips and Grea provided tho Koat h\/ nlatiind o L'hn\ml vaav WVUV MJ M QIIWWI. The most notable song of the evening came midway through the first set. The song was named "Phoebe," after a girl who sang with Phillips and Landsbere on their first album together, Swim in the Wind. The song began with a slow, pacey, introduction from the keyboard section, with Grea providing some very smooth leadwork on the bass guitar. Phillips then took the lead and built the tie theatre SSHSflUHHHIB ; '.. .^j'^^SgfrQ;?j ^ . - ZrZ~ j Richards, in a scene from \ I convey so much feeling in a single expression or who can maintain such a sense of confusion for the length of time Pacino does here. If the movie itself was a bit more palatable, he'd certainly receive an Oscar nomination in 1981. The driving pace Friedkin keeps throughout the film (it's only 106 minutes long) also contributes heavily to its strong visceral impact, though Friedkin's script, based on Gerald Walker's 1970 novel, is a bit too reminiscent of John Carpenter's Halloween in its Puritanism. The only people who are murdered are those who "ask for it" by leading a life of promiscuity. The film's only other liability is See 'Cruisingpage 9 ys talent, crowd song into an exciting example of rock & roll. Phillips originally played in the Hampton Grease Band, a group who made their name in the late sixties-early seventies era. A double album called Music to Eat was recorded Dy tne urease Band on the Columbia Records label. This band broke up in 1973, when Phillips then recorded a homemade solo album with Grea. Virgin records in England bought the rights to the album and, after this, Landberg joined the band and they recorded the aforementioned Swim into the Wind album, also on Virgin records. Nelson joined about a year and a half ago, and they began touring on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Phillips said they hope to tour on the West Coast soon, and are attempting to record a new album but, "record companies are a lot ugnier tnan tney used to be" he said. The Glenn Phillips Band, brought to USC by Contemporary Sounds, is not for everybody, but if one is interested in talentpH in strumentation and are not overly concerned with meaning and lyrics, then they should provide adequate entertainment for the evening.