The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 14, 1988 Page: 13 of 20
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THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1988 13
KAHN'S CORNER: Wiess Tabletop and the MFA
TONIGHT
•Tonight you can get a
preview of our men's basketball
team. Come on out to Autry
Court at 11:30 p.m. for "Mid-
night Madness" (only here in
Houston would they start
something called "Midnight
Madness" at 11:30); free food
available.
•Our Town opens tonight at
The Company Onstage (located
at 536 Westbury Square). The
show starts at 8 p.m.; call 726-
1219 for further information.
•The Killer Bees are playing
at Fitzgerald's tonight; call 862-
3838 for ticket information.
•Rusty Wier, apparently well-
known as the veteran of the
"cosmic cowboy" circuit, is
playing tonight at Rockefeller's.
Call 861-9365 for ticket infor-
mation.
•Tonight is the official
opening for I Saw it on the
Radio, the newest production by
Radio Music Theater. Admission
is $9 for the 8:30 p.m. show;
you can get ticket information at
522-7722.
TOMORROW
•Roomfull of Blues is playing
tonight at Rockefeller's.
•Otis Day and the Nights are
playing at Fitzgerald's (862-
3838).
UPCOMING
•October 16—There is a "Day
of the Dead Mask Workshop"
going on this afternoon at 2
p.m. at The Orange Show (2401
Munger). Admission is $1.
• October 16—This is the
final day to see the Glassell
School of Art's "Studio School
Faculty Exhibition" at the MFA.
•October 16—The MFA is
showing a film called Horror
Vacui tonight at 7 p.m. I have
no idea what this movie is
about, and since I didn't get a
free invitation I'm not writing
anything else about it.
•October 18—Ann Beattie,
who is one hell of a short story
writer, is giving a free reading
tonight at the Museum of Fine
Arts at 8 p.m. All of you literary
types out there (I am proud to
include myself in that group) will
really enjoy this one.
•October 18—Tommy Conwell
and the Young Rumblers are
playing tonight at Rockefeller's.
Call 861-9365 for ticket infor-
mation on what should be a
rocking show.
•October 18—Today is the
last day to see A Dance Against
Darkness, the winner of several
Helen Hays awards for its
portrayal of the effect that AIDS
has on its victims, at the The
Group (Theater Workshop). Call
524-6706 for ticket reserva-
tions.
•October 19—Ian Hunter/
Ground Zero
wastes potential
BY BILL TUCKER
F
I ilms
ilms which are based on
historical fact generally take one
of three approaches to tell the
story. The first is simply to
document the event. Another
tactic is to use history as a
backdrop for exploring fictional
characters, as in Gone With the
Wind. The filmmaker may also
choose to combine these and
use an account of a character's
experiences to teach the les-
sons of history. This last
approach can be very powerful,
but, unfortunately for Ground
Zero, the genre has the potent-
ial for trivializing the story it
intends to tell.
The facts are these: in the
50's, the British conducted
nuclear tests in the Australian
Outback, an area which, at the
time, was listed in the official
census as having a population
only of wildlife—but this "wild-
life" included, along with the
kangaroos and emus, an
unknown number of Aborigines.
Estimates of the Aboriginal dead
run into the thousands, and the
survivors, both soldiers and Abo-
rigines, have had abnormally
high cancer rates. In 1984,
however, a Royal Commission
concluded that there was insuffi-
cient evidence to show that the
Australian and British govern-
ments had been negligent in
conducting the tests. The
Aboriginal survivors could not
testify, as their customs forbid
them to speak of the dead.
Furthermore, the documentary
evidence which might have im-
plicated the governments had
been stolen from the Commis-
sion's headquarters.
This is good gripping stuff,
but it lacks the focus necessary
to make the story come alive on
film, and this is where the
scriptwriters trivialize the tale to
a mere suspense thriller.
The film opens with a se-
quence which is reminiscent of
the unearthing of the monolith
on the moon in 2001: A Space
Odyssey. A plane, which had
been buried because of its high
radioactivity, is unearthed. What
comes as a total surprise to
those digging it up is the corpse
inside which has been shot
through the head. This turns out
to be an army photographer,
who had been believed to have
drowned and been lost at sea.
He was also the father of Harvey
Denton (Colin Friels), who, from
his Mel Gibson good looks and
swagger, we know will save the
Western world.
There are some attempts at
character development by way
of showing his ex-but-not-
estranged-wife and son, but
basically the film is a Robert
Ludlum-type special, involving
lots of government agents who
may or may not be good guys,
murders, chases, etc. (Talk
about willful suspension of
disbelief: we are asked to
believe that two men in a
vintage station wagon, one of
whom is massively crippled and
is taking potshots with a small-
caliber rifle at a sinister black
helicopter which is armed with a
machine fun, somehow manage
to defeat the bad guys.)
The film has some amusing
moments, and is peppered with
scenes which derive from other
films, which made it somewhat
more enjoyable. If you're looking
for mindless entertainment,
you'll probably enjoy it. Other-
wise, you'll find yourself wishing
that this story had found some-
one better to tell it.
Mick Ronson Band are playing
tonight's gig (that's show-biz hip
talk) at Rockefeller's. These two
have played with everyone from
Dylan to Queen; 861-9365 is
the number to call for informa-
tion.
•October 19—Wiess College
opens its production of Love,
Sex and the I.R.S. tonight at 8
p.m. Directed by David Nathan,
the show runs through Saturday,
October 22. Call 630-8797 for
ticket information.
• The Road to Mecca, a new
play written by Athol Fugard (a
South African best known in this
country for his searing Master
Harold...and the boys), opens
tonight at the Alley Theater. Call
228-8421 for more information.
•October 20—-The Rice
Design Alliance is presenting a
lecture on "The Works of
Howard Barnstone from 1949-
1987" tonight at 8 p.m. at the
Brown Auditorium in the MFA.
The lecturer will be Stephen Fox,
who was my next door neighbor
last year (this year he's living
next to Po, Mo and Co).
•October 20—Christine
Mather, author of Santa Fe
Style, will be at the University of
St Thomas bookstore on
Montrose at noon today.
•October 20Johnny Winter (of
Winter of '88 fame) is tonight's
rocker at Rockefeller's.
ONGOING
•If the titles of events are any
indication at all of their worth,
than The Comedy Workshop is
the place to be. The Bimbo
Ballet: or We Owe it All to Donna
Rice is showing on Thursdays,
Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:30
p. m., with an additional
showing at 11 p.m on Satur-
days. Call 524-7333 for reserva-
tions to the show that promises
to tell you where George Bush
has been these last eight years.
•The Museum of Fine Arts
opens up his exhibit entitled
Expressions of Belief: Master-
pieces of African, Oceanic and
Indonesian Art from the Mu-
seum Voor Volkenkunde,
Rotterdam. The material that
has been brought in from
Rotterdam is mostly material
gathered before 1914; the
exhibit will be on display until
November 27.
•Portraits in the Time of AIDS
is an exhibit of portraits by New
York photographer Rosalind
Solomon that is being put on by
the Coalition for Visual Arts and
The Orange Show. For informa-
tion, call 552-1767.
•The Museum of Fine Arts
opens up an exhibit today of the
fabrics and dresses of Mario
Fortuny y Madrazo. The exhibit
will be around until January, so
you don't have to rush to see it.
BARRY'S
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Rice University
Students of all majors are
invited to a presentation on
Opportunities in Investment Banking
Thursday, October 20, 1988
Miner Lounge and Meyer Conference
7:00 p.m.
Representatives of Morgan Stanley
will be present to discuss
The Investment Banking Industry
&
The Financial Analyst Program
Refreshments
will be sewed
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McGarrity, Patrick & Sendek, Joel. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 14, 1988, newspaper, October 14, 1988; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245703/m1/13/: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.