Page 6 — LION’'SEYE — April 1,1993 Entertainm chil Video Review: Exploring the World of High Tech By Kaspar Stromme "Fascinating" is the word that comes to mind after watching Miramar’s latest video release, Beyond the Mind's Eye. This 45-minute odyssey, made up of eleven separate voyages, explores worlds strange and unfamiliar. “A Modern Fantasia” reads the cover. The comparison is to the point; but the technology is different. The animation is done by computers and the music by synthesizers. But even with these new tools, it is human creativity that is the driving force. The video opens up with some clips from last year’s The Lawnmover Man, a movie that showed how far computer animation has come since the days of Tron. But the fun has just started. In the next segment, appropriately named "Seeds of Life", we witness a pseudo-evolutionary process, with seeds blowing from planet to planet. Once settled on a barren planet, the seeds grow like crazy, and beforelong, wehavealiving world. The detail is extraordinary; the vegetation looks almost real, that is, until it starts dancing. ‘The third cut, "Afternoon Adventure", differs from the others; it is a furious chase with computer- animated insects on top of real footage from a forest. To the credit of the producer, it takes a while before the viewer realizes this. The illusion is almost perfect. Several follow, passages Music Review: exploring natural phenomena like cyclones and presenting them in ways you never imagined possible. But the magic of computers allow the impossible. Another cut,"Windows", presents classical art from a new perspective; how about under the table? Computers can easily render three-dimensional versions of your favorite painting, allowing you to view the painting from anywhere within that painting. As if this wasn’t enough, the music is by master instrumentalist Jan Hammer. His first release in years, Hammer's fast-paced scores, heard in showslike Miami Vice, follow theaction closely. The music, which is available separately, adds considerably to the overall product. Beyond the Mind's Eye, and its predecessor, The Mind's Eye, are both available in local video stores. So snuggle up, dim thelights, hit play, and experienceafeastyour senses will enjoy. It’s a trip, nineties-style. Video Review ‘Serpico’: A Pacino Showcase By Mike Jamison Y’know, when you can’t fly off to the Bahamas or jet over to Monte Carlo, spring break can get downright dull. To alleviate my boredom one spring break night, I searched through the newspapers, frantically looking for a Jagger Soars in ‘Wandering Spirit’ By Kim Bartles If you hear the song “Sweet Thing” from Mick Jagger's new CD on theradio, youmay wonder if the Rolling Stones are back together, but the song is actually from Jagger's latest solo release entitled “Wandering Spirit”. “Sweet Thing” is the only song on the _ entire recording that really sounds like ._ vintage Rolling Stones. I could hardly believe how good Mick's voice sounds after all these years. When the Stones first became famous, they were in their teens, and now some of the members are into their fifties. The Rolling Stones are broke up now since Bill Wyman, the bass player, left the band, but that’s not to say the Stones won’t get a new bass player and continue on. “Wandering Spirit” isn’t the first solo album Jagger has put out. He has had two previous solo releases entitled “Primitive Cool” and “She’s the Boss”. As some people know, Keith Richards, the Stones’ lead guitarist has had a few of this own solo records out too. Richardshasaband called the Xpensive Winos that is currently touring. The band Jagger got together to ‘record “Wandering Spirit” consists of quite a few more members than the five-piece Rolling Stones. There are up to twenty-two people contributing to the music on the new CD. There are also many instruments that the Stones rarely used, suchasthepiano,anorgan, a Moog synthesizer, a harpsichord, a saxophone, fiddle and four back up singers. I was surprised to see several recognizable names on the album's credits. Lenny Kravitz, Flea (from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers) and Billy Preston were among the top performers that hekped Jagger out. The album is a great example of Mick Jagger’s diversity as a vocalist. His voice takes on the sound of the music. Itchangescompletely fromsong tosong. Heis fromEngland, and when he sings “Evening Gown”, a song with a country feel, he sounds just like he is a cowboy from Texas. When Jagger sings “Handsome Molly”, a traditional folk song, he soundslike hejust stepped out of the back hills of West Virginia. When he sings “Outof Focus”, his voice takes on the sound of a gospel singer. Although die-hard Rolling Stones fans may be hoping that this recording will sound just like the old Rolling Stones, it is a very good thing to hear Mick Jagger's wide range of musical talents. Itis a side of him which he was notable to express in the Rolling Stones. BE A - A Remember your : favorite secretary : f on april eli. ‘ it's secretary's day! : good movie to view. Unfortunately, all I found was Hollywood repetition, the same old junk recycled over and over again. If you've seen one chase seen you've seen them all. In the midst of my dilemma, my mind clicked on my one possible salvation: the video store. It was there, amongst Hollywood trash past and present, that I found my sav- ior, a movie called “Serpico”. I had heard about the movie “Serpico” from my father and figured that a film made in 1973 might some- how be more interesting than, say, “Home Alone 2”. What I had unwit- tingly discovered was a film that was not only interesting, but entertaining and thought provoking as well. Since I am a veteran of such movies as “Candyman” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, this came as both a shock and suprise. “Serpico”, starring Al Pacino, is the heroic and tragic saga of New York cop Frank Serpico, an honest man who fought the system. Spanning eleven years, from the police academy to his tragic fall, the film chronicles Serpico’s one man battle to end corruption in the police department, a lonely crusade which rewarded Serpico with a bullet in the face and partial paralysis. The fact that this story is true, not to mention Al Pacino’s superb acting, helps to add to the power and rel- evancy of this film. Police corruption is asubject thatis much debated, asmuch now as it was twenty years ago, and chis movie pulls no punches in its un- flinching look at the underbelly of the police force. The fine line between “clean” and “dirty” money becomes increasingly blurry as the film progresses, and we are expertly trans- ported along as this transition takes place. The subject of chronology could have been a major problem in this film, but the filmmakers handle it with ease, providing Serpico’s transition from clean cut rookie to Greenwich Village rebel, with consistency and style. Inrecent years, Al Pacino’s talent has been wasted in such movies as “Sea of Love” and “Dick Tracy”, but in this, one of his earliest features, Pacino ex- udes a power and belief long missing from the silver screen. Pacino not only becomes the character, he IS the charac- ter, in that he persuades us, the audi- ence, to fear for his life, to take pity in his plight, to feel sorrow in his loss. Pacino brings Frank Serpico tolife, takes him off the TV screen and gets him inside of you, makes you, the viewer, a part of the story, a part of the action. In a role that could have been notoriously underplayed or comedically over- blown, Pacino maintains the perfect balance, and is therefore brilliant. As the closing credits rolled and the tape was stopped, I felt physically drained, like I had just stepped off an emotional Tilt-a-Whirl. In an escape from the norm I found a standout, a film which manages to provoke thought and feeling, whilealso entertaining. This is what movies were made to do. “Serpico”, starring Al Pacino. Look for it at your local video store. It'll be the best $2.50 you've ever invested. *Extra Income '93* ‘Earn $200-$500 weekly mailing 1993 UWTI travel brochures. For more information send a self-adressed, stamped envelope to Travel INC., P.O. Box 2530, Miami, FL 33161 Cruise Ship Employment Now Hiring Students. $300/$900 wkly. Summer/Full Time. Tour Guides, Gift Shop Sales, Deck - Hands, Bartenders, Casino Dealers, Etc. World Travel - Caribbean, Alaska, Europe, Hawaii. No Experience Necessary. 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