Page 10 New NC-17 rating not explicit enough Robb Frederick The Collegian The Birmingham News has banned advertising copy for Henry & June, the first film distributed with the new NC-17 rating. The paper, which has a circulation of 180,000, announced that it would not run the ad or any ads for future films carrying the NC-17 (No Children Under 17 Admitted) rating. In a recent editorial, the paper said that "smut is still smut," and expressed a fear that the new rating would open doors for more erotic and violent movies. The Motion Picture Association of America(MPAA) quickly condemned the action, criticizing the paper's narrow-minded censorship approach. But perhaps the MPAA is the one to blame. The new rating is designed to allow "serious" filmmakers to market more controversial works without attracting the pornographic stigma that accompanies an X rating. The intention is by all means honorable, but the MPAA failed to clearly distinguish between the NC-17 and X ratings. "Serious" filmmakers may get more leeway, but porn producers can also reap the benefits. Pornographic films can maintain their control over the X market, but what is going to stop a producer from trying to market a pornographic film under the NC-17 rating? Certainly not the MPAA. • Cries of racism continued to shadow the 2 Live Crew obscenity trial last week when prosecutors asked for the dissmissal of a black jurist who admitted a preference for rap music. Judge June Johnson also has to rule on whether an audio tape of the fateful June concert can be used in the courtroom. She has already decided that prosecutors could Liner Notes use four tracks from the band's LP • Marlon Brando has finally made an offer someone could refuse. Prosecutors have nixed the idea of a plea bargain in the trial against Brando's son Christian, who is accused of killing his half-sister's lover. The trial begins Nov. 5. • Look out Danielle Steele! Marilyn Quayle, who refuses to sit around and do nothing while her husband sits around and does nothing, has decided to enter the fiction market. Quayle is working on The Rage of the Lamb, a futuristic novel that documents the quest for control of post- Fidel Castro Cuba. • The Travelling Wilburys' second release, tentatively titled Volume 3, contains eleven new tracks, including a Wilbury dance number (with illistrated directions). The disc will be dedicated to the late Lefty Wilbury, commonly known as Roy Orbison. • Bob Dylan, whose anti-war anthems like "Blowin' in the Wind" inspired a generation, recently played for 4,000 cadets at the West Point military academy. The times they are definitely a'changin'. • Dustin Hoffman will move to the small screen early next year when he provides the voice for an undesignated character on The Simpsons. • Vanna White has agreed to portray herself on two episodes of L. A. Law, which will be aired early next year. • Talk about subtle advertising: During a September episode of Knots Landing, one of the show's male characters snuck a copy of the skin mag High Society into a scene filmed in an elevator. The magazine's editor, former porn star Gloria Leonard, told Entertainment Weekly she was pleased by the exposure. "It just goes to show that Knots Landing has exceptional taste in periodicals," she said. • Hey, Mom If you're still reading this, remember Christmas is coming fast, and I really would like one of those neat New Kids rid -the Block dolls that Hills is advertising. And they're on sate for only $17.97 etch! The Colle tan The Collegian Neil Young rocks the garage "Ragged Glory" revives feedback-drenched guitars b Gar L. Nolan The Collegian Neil Young, rebounding wildly off the rave reviews from his previous album Freedom, has struck again. His latest release, Ragged Glory, is an exploration of what Young describes as garage rock. Young, a sixties hero with both Crosby, Stills and Nash and Buffalo Springfield, returns to his sixties roots. Echoes of Hendrix fill the release, as Young uses guitar feedback to enhance his lyrical mood. The Canadian born singer reunites with his back-up band Crazy Horse after a ten year hiatus. In his reunion, Young captures the sound that brought acclaim to his solo work in the early seventies. The release begins with "Country Home," a well produced track that brings the listener a taste of "Hey, Hey, My, My," a Neil Young anthem. In an effort to address the controversy over 2 Live Crew and music labeling, Young offers the song "F*ltlin' Up." Always active in his fight for Written and performed by Elizabeth Hissner Original music and keyboard by Hugh Peters A group discussion will follow the performance. FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Wednesday, October 24th at 8:00 p.m. Reed Lecture Hall musician rights, the singer offers his obscenities in an obvious effort to fight for freedom of expression. He also accentuates this by ending the piece with a guitar sustain that lasts for fifty-two seconds. The single released from the album, "Mansion On the Hill," has an addicting harmony and lively beat that brings back memories of Young's glory days with Crosby, Stills and Nash. Review Songs on the album feature the freedom of youth and the sanctuary of home. Young also expresses the need for enduring love and time's effect on its destiny. In the highlight of the release, "Days That Used to Be," the singer expresses feelings of loneliness after friends diverge and values change. He explores the danger of compromising a dream and selling out to security. ELiz This one-woman play offers hope and insight into the confusion and insanity of drug and alcohol addiction and the hope and joy of recovery. Written and performed by Elizabeth Hissner, Elizabeth at 33 is a one-hour autobiographical monodrama. Directed by Donald L. Alsedek Designed by Jett Walker Thursday, October 18, 1990 Ragged Glory explores yet another of Neil Young's successful styles, while combining those of the past. It is possible not only to hear his sixties influence, but the country and electronic direction of his past. The release is completed with "Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)," a tribute to Jimi Hendrix and his milestone performance of the "Star- Spangled Banner" that closed the Woodstock Festival. It proves a fitting finale to the release. Production of the album is deliberately sloppy in order to achieve the "garage" sound of a beginning rock and roll band. Young makes an effort to revert back to the days when production was minimal, and the rock and roll, not a computer enhanced techno-rock sound, was the root of the sound. Young gives hope in this release that the rock and roll legends of the sixties can indeed compete in the nineties. His unwillingness to compromise to commercial music proves to make his sound as classic today as at its inception. - AT 33
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers