Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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This Week in USC History October 31, 1986 - Students appeal for a seat on USC’s board of trustees. Wednesday, November 1, 2000 Cameron brings sci-fi to, television with ‘Dark Angel’ by Lynn Elber Associated Press LOS ANGELES — “Dark Angel” has the dubious distinction of being the only major network series to compete not just once but twice with the Bush-Gore presidential debates. If viewers expected sheer escapism from Fox’s new science-fiction drama, however, they misjudged James Cameron. The film director’s TV venture is serving up philosophy and a dab of politics along with the special effects. Sci-fi shows tend to dwell on big themes, especially when they have a big thinker like Cameron (“The Terminator,” “Titanic”) at the helm. He co-cre ated and produces “Dark Angel” (9 p.fli. EST Tuesday) with Charles “Chick” Eglee (“Murder One”). The hero of “Dark Angel,” a genetically engineered, smart-mouthed su perbabe (Jessica Alba), has escaped her military handlers and is on the lam in 21st-century America. The series delivers action, but also paints a society in which computer data has been wiped out by a weapon that left humans untouched. It also left them scrambling to make their way without their now-vaporized stock portfolios. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, Cameron said. “I think people are way tooTocused on money and what I think of as the new national lottery, tech stocks,” he said in a recent interview. “And every body is thinking it’s OK for our culture to just be a service culture and not cre ate anything and just make money as sort of gatekeepers. “I think that’s problematic. I think we lose touch with creativity. I think we lose touch with the work ethic. That’s going to be in (the show); that’s my per sonal philosophy,” Cameron said. He’s not trying to be a complete downer. The title might be “Dark An gel,” and the look of the show might be dark, but there’s light in its soul, Cameron insists. “The show tends to be hopeful. It asks, ‘What if you took the most pros perous nation in the world and put it back in a depression? What would people be like?’And the answer is, ‘They’dget by.’They’d work with each other, learn to adapt.” Not without rough times. Alba’s character, Max, and allies she meets along the way have to cope with relentless government scrutiny and corruption. The chief villain is Lydecker (John Savage), the military man hunting Max and other test-tube prototypes who also managed to escape a top-secret com pound. Cameron and Eglee, who became friends while learning the low-budget film making ropes with director Roger Corman, cooked up “Dark Angel” to play to Cameron’s strengths as a sci-fi master (besides “Terminator” and its sequel, Dark Anoel see rage a Director James Cameron’s first TV series, “Dark Angel,” budgeted $10 million for its first episode. ‘Exorcist’ possesses good mix of art, fright Chris Wright The Gamecock ft ft ft OUT OF ft ft ft ft William Friedkin’s adaptation of “The Exorcist” still chills audiences just as much now as it did when it first was released in 1973. Arguably one of the most classic of thrillers, it captures an element of fear while still allowing viewers to re member it is also a work of art. Simply put, the movie is a terri fying look at the events which tran spire when a gir! is inexplicably strick • en with what seems to be a strange disease. Battling the opinions of psychia trists and clergy alike, Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), mother of the afflicted Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), must de cide how to seek help for her daugh ter. The new re-cut version of the film contains extra footage. While these scenes do not necessarily make or break the film, they do add a bit more fla vor. The public standards of the time in 1973 would not have approved, which led to their eventual deletion from the original movie. Far surpassing the boundaries of traditional horror, the film opens a window to a collective unknown: how would we react if the impossible be came possible? Friedkin contrasts light and dark throughout the film, making the bat tle between Good and Evil work even on a symbolic level. Whether you believe in God (or the Devil, in this case), this movie def initely merits a viewing. The spotlight desk can be reached at gamecockspottight@hotmaiLcom. • nwiwd *#r LVint iw i ML unmLWLM Starring a sweet transvestite and other memorable characters, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” a musical tribute to decadence, has gone from critical zero to cult hero in 25 years. HAPfY PHWVAY. v*a* wwr. HAPPY WATWAY TV YVtt BY AL BRUMLEY College Press Exchange It seems a perfect fit: The creator of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” settling down to read Evelyn Waugh’s “Vile Bodies.” Both works deal in misguided — one is tempted to say miscreant — behavior, questionable morals and misspent youth. But Richard O’Brien can’t con nect with Waugh’s world. “Like a lot of those books in the ‘30s, you read them, and of course they’ve gone down in history as kind of major works in literature, and then you wonder what it was all about, quite frankly,” he says during a re cent telephone interview from Eng land. “I re-read Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby,’ and it’s a nothing story, re ally. I suppose you had to be living in that period to see it as some kind of literary breakthrough; we’re so used to people writing about all sorts of things and investigating the psycho c—_Ami Tim Curry, left, plays Dr. Frank N. Furter in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon are at right. logical journeys of us these days.” Of course, thousands of people have wandered out of midnight screenings of “The Rocky Horror Pic ture Show” scratching their heads and wondering what it was all about. Still, since 1975, the tale of Brad, Janet and the genius transvestite Dr. Frank N. Furter has played nonstop in one venue or another, making it the longest-running film in motion picture history. O’Brien, who plays Riff Raff in Rocky Horror see page 9 Hollywood’s ‘Blair Witch 2’ can’t live up to indie original by Jonathan Dunagin The Gamecock OUT OF What happens when you take a low budget indie blockbuster with an inno vative concept and a revolutionary mar keting plan and add Hollywood to the mix? The result is the disappointing, yet superficially entertaining, “Book of Shad ows: Blair Witch 2” — but that’s Hol lywood for you. After “The Blair Witch Project” came out, it was heralded as being a genre-breaker, a movie that was truly original. Regardless of whether you liked it, it was definitely different and revived the entire genre of mockumentaries. However, its sequel leaves much to be desired. If you found the original en tertaining, this movie proves that sequels are rarely as good as the originals (“God father II” exempted). At least the di rectors were able to eliminate the jerky camera shots. The movie begins with a rehashing of events that unfolded as a result of the original movie. In explaining, footage is shown which resembles that shown on the Sci-fi Channel special about “Blair Witch.” This concept for the sequel is the most inventive aspect of the movie. As a result of the first movie, tourists have besieged the town of Burk itsville, Maryland and caused the local community to set up businesses to prof it from their newfound popularity. Among these is a tour company, The Blair Witch Hunt, of which the film’s protagonist is the proprietor. But to call him a star is misleading. As with the first movie, “Blair Witch 2” uses a group of no-name actors. How ever, in the first movie, the actors were given a camera and told to go out and have fun. In this movie, they were ex pected to act, which they struggled through miserably. After assembling this motley crew of characters, which includes the star (a former mental patient), a psychic, a witch and a couple writing a novel on the Blair Witch, the movie proceeds to stumble through a tiresome sequence of events. In hindsight, much of what oc curs in the beginning seems strangely similar to the drivel found in movies like “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” Finally, viewers are dragged into a camp ing experience that turns out to be more than anyone expected. It is here that the movie takes a surprising twist, and from which the meat of the story evolves. After setting up camp, along with nu merous video cameras, the group pro ceeds to drink and smoke themselves in BWP2 SEE PAGE 9 What’s Happening WEDNESDAY, NOV. 1 ELBOW ROOM, Death Across Ameri ca, 18+, Show starts at 10 p.m., $10 cov er. NEW BROOKLAND TAVERN, The Rock *A* Teens, 18+, Show starts at 10 p.m. JAMMIN’ JAVA, Robert Gardiner Quar tet, All Ages, Show starts at 9 p.m., $2 cover. MAC’S ON MAIN, Blues and Jazz Showcase with Skipp Pearson, 18+, Show starts at 8 p.m., no cover. RAFTERS, Kenny Floyd unplugged, Ladies 18+/Gentlemen21+. DECISIONS EAR & GRILLE, Muddy Quarters, 21+, Show starts at 9:30 p.m., no cover. MONTERREY JACK’S, Lee Barbour Quintet DELANEY’S, Breck Allen, 21+, Show starts at 10 p.m., no cover. THURSDAY, NOV. 2 JAMMIN’ JAVA, Byron Keith, All Ages, Show starts at 9 p.m., $2 cover. DELANEY’S, Harry O’Donoghue, 21+, Show starts at 10 p.m., no cover. GROUP THERAPY, DJ Fotzio, 21+, Show starts at 11 p.m., no cover. ART BAR, The Motion Rotation with WUSC’s Jean, 21+, Show starts at 8 p.m., No Cover. MAC’S ON MAIN, Blues Jam Session Bring your own instruments, 18+, Show starts at 8 p.m., no cover. SANDRA’S CORNER POCKET, Jay Ed wards (jazz), All Ages, Show starts at 9 p.m., no cover. SUNDANCE GRILL, Stone’s Throw, 21+, Show starts at 9 p.m., no cover. BILLY G’S, Soup, 21+, Show starts at 9:30 p.m., no cover. ROADRUNNER’S, Mike Collins & Rick Stevens Open Jam, All Ages, Show starts at 9 p.m., no cover. FRIDAY, NOV. 3 HUNTER-GATHERER, Science Knows No Sin, 21+, Show Starts at 11:30 p.m., $2 cover. JAMMIN’ JAVA, Roddy Dinsmore and Ruth Gado, All Ages, Show Starts at 8 p.m., $2 cover. DELANEY’S, Harry O’Donoghue, 21+, Show starts at 10 p.m., no cover. DECISIONS EAR & GRILLE, No Stage Fright Karaoke, 21+, Starts at 9 p.m., no cover. HEMINGWAY’S, Edgewise, 21+, Show starts at 9:30 p.m., no cover. MAC’S ON MAIN, Vanessa Taylor Trio, 18+, Show starts at 9 p.m., no cover. CROCODILE ROCK’S, Dueling Pianos, 18+, $5 cover. SUNDANCE GRILL, Weekend Excur sion, 21+, Show starts at 9 p.m., no cov er. BILLYG’S, Drifting Through, 21+, Show starts at 10 p.m., no cover. RCADRUNNER’S, Muddy Quarters, All Ages, Show starts at 10 p.m., $4 cover. SATURDAY, NOV. 4 ELBOW ROOM, Fling, All Ages, Show starts at 11 p.m., CD release party. FUBAR, Pretty Vacant (A Sex Pistols Tribute Show), 18+ SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MUSE UM, Featuring ten Blues and Jazz per formers including Skipp Pearson and Fat Back & the Groove Band, All Ages, Show starts at 8 p.m., $20 Tickets ($17.50 for members) in advance, $25 at the door. JAMMIN’ JAVA, Danielle Howie, All Ages, Show Starts at 9 p.m., $4 cover. DELANEY’S, Harry O’Donoghue, 21+, Show starts at 10 p.m., no cover. GROUP THERAPY, Cravin’ Melon and Ellijah Project featured for the 14th An nual Chili Cookoff, From noon-7p.m„ no cover. DECISIONS BAR & GRILLE, Rick Stevens, 21+, Show starts at 9 p.m., no cover. HEMINGWAY’S, 3-D Monday, 21+, Show starts at 9:30 p.m., no cover. MAC’S ON MAIN, Page Two, 18+, Show starts at 9 p.m., no cover. BILLY G’S, Nickel Slots, 21+, Show starts at 10 p.m., no cover. CROCODILE ROCKS, Dueling Pianos, 18+, $5 cover.