The Capital Times REVIEWS Monday, December 7,1998 9 ...J?. ' '*[..' .t.' * ." ‘ ' :;-:sfl-»::>i:.r:;:ft::>;';«-i.:'.:-i-i:W-:-:-:s>>'i>-: •■■ ■■■ ' .. . : •'. .' ■ ; Butcher Boy takes audiences on whirlwind adventure By Nicole Burkholder For the Cap Times Neil Jordan’s "The Butcher Boy" is a horrifying delight. Jordan cap tures a spectacular range of emo tions that are brewing in a small Irish town in the 1960’5. Based on the novel by Patrick McCabe, the movie takes a look at the disturb ing adolescence of young Francie Brady, played by newcomer Eamonn Owens. Francie (Owens) and his best friend Joe (Alan Boyle II) seem like average young lads. Their esca pades get them into trouble, but as the movie progresses, trouble is a minor term. Francie is the product of a drunken father (Stephen Rea) disgusted with the world and him self, and a manic depressive mother (Aisling O’Sullivan). Between the two, Francie should obtain a crooked, bitter view of the world. Instead, Francie sees his family as happiness. The real anger erupts with the prissy Mrs. Nugent, an Irish woman who speaks with a proper British accent and holds herself above the rest of her fellow townspeople. The Pepsi's new soft drink certainly isn't the one Soda pushed for money, not taste By Stephanie Weyant For The Cap Times Was Pepsi One created by the same genius that created Crystal Pepsi in 1992? Pepsi One advertise ments say, “Great Cola Taste Only One Calorie.” Maybe Pepsi should rethink the slogan. As I took my first sip of Pepsi One, I expected it to taste like Pepsi, but I was terri bly mistaken. “Great Diet Cola Taste Only One Calorie” would be closer to the truth. In a Pepsi press release on June 30, just before the product was to come out, Phil Marineau, the Presi dent and CEO of Pepsi-Cola North America, said, “Pepsi One will re define the image of diet colas and revolutionize the entire soft drink market.” Now let’s be realistic for a mo ment. This is coming from the same company that thought Crystal Pepsi would be a huge success. This is evil Mrs. Nugent spreads nasty ru mors of the Brady family that they are nothing but degenerate pigs, a central theme in Francie’s brain. To add to her wickedness, she is the mother of Phillip (Andrew Fuller ton), the only boy to create a rift between blood brothers, Francie and Joe. Th j movie departs on a whirlwind adventure of Francie’s life narrated by the adult Francie (also played by Stephen Rea). Francie begins by running away to Dublin, only to discover how much he misses his mother. Upon return, he literally walks into her funeral procession only to receive criticism for caus ing her suicide. Defeated with heartache, Francie acts out on Mrs. Nugent by breaking into her house, smashing anything in sight, venge fully decorating the walls with the word pig, and finally dropping his own excrement in the living room. This gets him sent to a Catholic boarding school where he contin ues his obnoxious, yet charming behavior. In school, he decides that he wants to achieve the “Francie Not-A-Bad-Bastard Anymore Brady” award. With his new re- Pepsi One also coming from a company that plans to spend millions on an ad vertising campaign to sell this prod Also according to the press re lease, Pepsi One was, “Created spe cifically for the U.S. market, it de livers the ideal offering for consum ers who want it all great cola taste with only one calorie.” Pepsi forgot to mention that the key ingredient in Pepsi One, Sunett, cuts their costs by as much as 40 percent because it is 200 times sweeter than sugar. The United States is a country based on busi ness and advertising; even our soft drinks represent this. Pepsi is a busi ness, just like any other. They are trying to make money. Pepsi’s cam paign might work if you are watch ing your weight. If not stay clear, and I don’t mean crystal clear. Pepsi One is the first U.S. cola to use Sunett mixed with aspartame. Sunett was approved for soft drinks vival, Francie begins to see appari tions of the Virgin Mary (Sinead O’Connor) based solely on his own fantasies. These visions are a cata lyst for a chain of events that get him sent home as a “reformed” boy. But home is not exactly what he remembered it as. While he was gone, Phillip and Joe became good friends, and worst of all, Joe no longer sees Francie’s horrid behav ior as amusing as before. This infu riates him even more. On top of this, his father dies, sending him far over the edge. The authorities send Francie to an asylum or garage (be cause that’s where you go when you have a breakdown), but this stint does not last long before he escapes. Completely disillusioned with the world, Francie returns home, wick edly angered and fiercely ready to take revenge on his enemies. The movie culminates in a hideous scene of murderous gore on his ri vals, of which he is again locked up. The end shows Francie all grown up (Rea) now expected to face the world....recovered, and leaves the audience wondering if it really worked this time. Jordan captures the poverty- Sunett cuts their costs by as much as 40 percent. Pepsi is a business, just like any other. They are trying to make money. Pepsi’s campaign might work if you are watching your weight. If not stay dear, and I don’t mean crystal dear. on July 6, 1998, by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Sunett was created by Hoechst AG, so what took so long for the FDA to approve it? In 1996 a consumer advocacy group urged the FDA to ban Sunett because of the results of early studies involving lab rats. The FDA now allows Sunett in over 4,000 products such as sugarless gum and instant pudding. The FDA has concluded that it is safe and does not promote tooth decay. Mixing Sunett with aspartame makes drinks taste sweeter without the aftertaste that most diet drinks have. I must admit that Pepsi One tastes better than Diet Pepsi, but if you are not counting calories go for the real thing: plain old Classic Coca-Cola. stricken, abused child with a mag nificent flavor made up of witty language and a red-faced child. Eamonn Owens is a true gem giv ing one of the most powerful per formances ever seen by a child ac tor. "The Butcher Boy" mirrors the story of Frank McCourt’s "Angela’s Ashes", only twisted and perverse. Rea, a Jordan regular (The Cry ing Game, Micheal Collins), gives another exemplary performance even though he rarely speaks. He brings full imagery to the movie with his excellent portrayal of the poor, wronged, musician (Francie’s father is a failed trumpeter). Fiona Shaw is equally commend able for her wonderful snobbery evident in her speech, her walk, and her nose stuck up in the air. Her performance is convincing enough to almost justify Francie’s tortuous behavior towards her. Poverty is not the only excuse for the psychotic Francie Brady. Jordan and co-screenwriter Patrick McCabe, give a riveting look at the effects of the communist scares of the time on an impressionable ado lescent. Fantasies of A-bombs and Armageddon litter Francie’s mind R.E.M. Up 'Up' doesn't go there By Jeremiah Sensenig For The Cap Times "Up" does not seem to be an ap propriate name for this album. Af ter digging out old R.E.M. albums and listening to them carefully I no ticed a gradual decline in quality. While "Document" and "Out of Time" seem to be works of art, the last few albums are lackluster. The album is not all bad. The highlight comes on track 11, “Daysleeper”, the first single re lease from Up. “Daysleeper” man ages to capture some of the old R.E.M. style. A band should not try to do the same thing on every al bum, but at the same time if it isn’t broke don’t try to fix it; just ask the Rolling Stones about that philoso phy. Many of the songs are slow and melancholy. While listening to a majority of the album one feels hopelessly trapped in an atmo sphere of a candle lit room. Up does seem to be an album crafted for the lonely and depressed, which seems to be in R.E.M. fashion. This album tends to carry on where "Adventures in Hi-Fi" (the along with the universal 1960’s fear of alien takeovers and the idolatry of gangsters like A 1 Capone. He constantly speaks with inanimate objects such as religious statues, and they always speak back. Hoky, upbeat music combined with surreal imagery symbolize the erasure of the boundary between fantasy and reality in young Francie’s mind. All of these components push Francie farther and farther toward an abyss of hate, fear, and violence. His hate turns into a wicked fury with the realization that everyone he loved has left him. Ultimately, he ties Mrs. Nugent to the root of all of his problems, including his parents death, their failed marriage, the end of he and Joe as blood brothers, the communist scare, and the poverty he lives with and among. "The Butcher Boy" is a master piece of humor and the grotesque wrapped into a 109 minute pack age. Vastly different from Jordan’s previous historical docu-dramas (Michael Collins, In the Name of the Father), "The Butcher Boy" tri umphs on its own. band’s last album) left off. The slow dreary songs leave me wondering what direction the band is heading. An interview with R.E.M. in the early 1990 s revealed the band’s idea to play a huge farewell concert on New Year's Eve 1999, and then break up. At that point the band was on fire and the idea of them break ing up would not have been ac cepted by the fans. Lately it seems that they should have gotten out while they were ahead, like Seinfeld. No one will deny that the band has musical and lyrical talent. In fact Peter Buck’s side project, Tua tara, made a very experimental and enjoyable jazz album. It seems though that when R.E.M. gets to gether their egos get in the way and whatever they do will automatically be good for the people. Unfortu nately this is not the case. To say the least, R.E.M.’s latest effort is disappointing. The album has some interesting tracks, but af ter listening to the whole thing through I felt sleepy and a little sui cidal. Some energetic tunes would help awaken whatever it was that made R.E.M. great.
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