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10 FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 1994 THE RICE THRESHER ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT DENMARK ON THE ANDES Much lost in adaptation of Allende's 'House of the Spirits' B Y K R I S T I A N L I N "And he takes her to the wretched movies Where the heroes are horses or passionate princes." —Pablo Neruda One can only wonder what Neruda might have thought of Hollywood's treatment of a novel by Isabel Allende, one of his literary disciples. The House of the Spirits isn't bad in an overtly offensive way. That is, unless you remember Allende's splendid novel, on which this ill-conceived film is based. Allende's novel is a 50-year political history of Chile seen through the eyes of one Chilean family. Esteban Trueba Qeremy Irons) earns a fortune in gold mines and marries Clara del Valle (Meryl Streep). They live at Esteban's huge estate, called Tres Marias, with his spinster sister Ferula (Glenn Close). As the political predominance of Chile's Conservative Party comes to an end, revolution threatens the opulent Trueba lifestyle. Esteban and Clara's daughter, Blanca (Winona Ryder), becomes involved with a revolutionary peasant (Antonio Banderas). Danish writer/director Bille Au- gust seems to have had many problems adapting Allende's highly uncinematic noveL The film was shot on location in Portugal and in Danish film studios, so the film's ambience is colonial European rather than Chilean. A more serious flaw is that entire characters have been cut from the film or neglected. What emerges is The result is uniformly dull, and in view of what went into the making of this film, that's a huge disappointment. the barest skeleton of the book's plot August's concentration on the novel's melodrama has shortchanged the socioeconomic aspects of the rise and fall of Chilean Communism. In this context, Allende's touches of magical realism are wildly out of place. Clara's clairvoyance and ability to move objects with her mind don't add to your u nderstanding of her character. Another problem is that August, who isn't a native English speaker, is trying to adapt a Spanish-language novel into English. This explains lines of dialogue such as, "I curse you, Esteban," and "Papa, you stubborn old fool!" but doesn't make them any less hard on the ears. The hugely talented cast is badly misused; obviously none of the stars are remotely Chilean. Streep ages well during the course of the film, but filmmakers have long since learned that you don't getvery far by making Streep the emotional core of your film. The script has given her nothing, so she passes in and out of the film without making any impression. The character has none of the spiritual and intellectual force that Allende conveyed so powerfully in the noveL August makes a huge mistake in having Ryder do the voice-over narration. Dramatic pictures tend to drain the color from her voice, and this one's noexception. Her character also has a daughter, and if there's one thing Ryder definitely isn't, it's someone's mother. But August pulls most of his punches. He manages one genuine shock in the whole film an unobtrusive cut to Ryder, lying in the corner of a room, beaten and tortured almost beyond recognition by soldiers. But because her character is so poorly developed, you either pity her in an abstract way (people should not be treated this way) or you feel sorry for Ryder as an actress rather than as a Sampler FROM PAGE 8 MATTHEW SWEET PRINCI F L i: S of S O U N D R \i T I R li i\l K N T I N V K S T I N G UNFORTUNATELY THIS IS WHERE PEOPLE ARE PUTTING TOO MANY RETIREMENT DOLLARS. Everv year, a lot of people make a huge mistake on their taxes.They don't take advantage of tax deferral and wind up sending Uncle Sam money they could be saving for retirement. 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Call our SRA hotline 1800-842-2733, extf 8016. tfEE gjg| Ensuring the future for those who shape it s . M (7? F.Fcertificates ore by TIAA I KEF InAcylual anil Institutional Service.r. For more complete information, incluilintf charges anil expenses, call / K00- M2-27 f>, ext. HtHh for a prospectus. ReaJ the prospectus carefully he fore you incest or sent) money. / SON OF ALTERED BEAST Remix/live albums are annoying. If you want to heara songyou like live, go see the fucking band! If you want to hear the tunes played straight, get the studio album; if you want to hear it tossed around and rocked out, well, I doubt many live albums have ever captured the energy of a live show very well. Enough bitching; now I get to be hypocritical. I like thisalbum, butthat's partly because I never got around to getting Altered Beast myself, and so most of these tunes are new to me. No matter how I look at it, "Devil With The Green Eyes" is a master- character. Thefilmversion of The House of the Spirits sacrifices the novel's social history and whimsical touches in favor of trying to capture the book's epic sweep — and because it's so chopped-up, it fails even in that The result is uniformly dull, and in view of what went into the making of this film, that's a huge disappointment piece of pained brilliance. The other studio track on here, "Ultrasuede," is decent, too — it grooves. On the remaining five tracks, all live in-concert takes, there's one key: guitar. Whoa Richard Lloyd is a guitar genius; he throws off bluesy, screaming leads with an ease that doesn't take anything at all from their manic intensity. More grimy, gritty, blues-ridden guitar than a whole convention of R.E.M.S (however much that might be). "Superdeformed," a tune released, as far as I know, only on the No Alternative benefit album, does much better when free of all the studio gimmicks. The voice-synth stuff here is much less up-front — it comes out sounding like Sweet's singing harmony with DarthVader, which is kinda cool. "Don't Cry No Tears," on the other hand, is a treat—a rockin' Neil Young cover full of overdriven guitars so thick you can feel the dirt through the headphones. So—not all live albums suck. Just most live albums. Some, like this one, have the power to make you sit up and wonder why in the hell you didniljust go see the band the last time they came through. And there's something to be said for vicarious pleasure, I guess. Just don't get me started on remix albums. m .. 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' SPORTS THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY, APRIL 8. 1994 11 Rice baseball takes its share of lead in SWC race by John Fredland The Rice baseball team, ranked 17th in the nation, took two of three games from the 19th-ranked University of Texas last weekend in Austin. That enabled Rice to move into a four-way tie for first place in the Southwest Conference with a 6-3 mark. The Longhorns are also 6-3, with Texas Christian University and Texas Tech University both sporting 4-2 conference records. "Anytime you take two out of three on the road, it's successful," Head Coach Wayne Graham said. "Taking two out of three on the road against Texas is extremely successful." "Two wins is okay, but I really wanted the sweep," catcher Jeff Brannen said. Success against the Longhorns meant more than just the opportunity to move up in the standings, according to first baseman Paul Doyle. "This will show Texas what it will be like for them in the Big 8," he said. "There has been a lot of talk about what conference they are going to be in and what conference we are going to be in. Because of that, it's good to beat them like this." Pitching wildness denied Rice a series sweep, as the Longhorns salvaged the second game of the April 2 doubleheader, 84. Rice pitchers walked 13 Texas batters in the second game. Sue of those batters put on base by walks eventually crossed the plate. In the first and final games of the series, Owl pitchers did not pitch the Longhorn baiters aggressively, as they issued 24 walks in the two games. "We're trying to get them to do it, but some of our younger pitchers are still suffering control problems," Graham said. "Fortunately they've got good enough stuff so they can get by with it We're hoping the control will improve and the walks will go down." With the score tied 4-4 in the fifth inning in the finale, Stephen Larkin led off with one of the walks against Owl loser Jim Miller (1-2). Miller retired the next two Longhorns, but second baseman Matt Williamson dropped Jerry Taylor's pop-up in short right field, allowing Larkin to score for a 5-4 Longhorn lead that the Owls could not overcome. In the first game of the doubleheader, Rice snapped a tie with three runs in the sixth inning and used heartstopping relief work fromTim Byrdak to hold off the Longhorns, 8-6. With the score 4-4, Donald Aslaksen led off the sixth with a single to center against Longhorn loser Jay Vaught (6-3). Mark Quinn followed with another single. When Taylor bobbled the ball Aslaksen took third. He scored when David Brooks bounced into a force-out, putting the Owls in the lead. Then, Brooks scored on a Brannen squeeze bunt and Williamson doubled home Doyle for a 7-4 advantage. After that the show belonged to Byrdak, who turned in a relief performance worthy of Harry Houdini. Shutting down a Longhorn threat -when he came into the game in the sixth, Byrdak allowed two runs in the seventh but closed outTexas with the bases loaded. The day before, the Owls used a four-home run attack to rally past the Longhorns, 12-9. Just as in the final game of the series, walks hurt the Owls. Seven Longhorns puton base by walks would eventually score. Texas was cruising with a 4-0 lead behind their ace Kj'os, who had given up only one home run in 59.1 innings on the season, when Rice turned on the power in the top of the fifth. Brooks started the onslaught with a liner over the fence in left, cutting the deficit to 4-1. That opened the floodgates. Doyle beat out an infield single. Brannen walked on four pitches. Kjos struck out Williamson for the second out, but Boni drew another walk to load the bases. Cruz lined his fourth career grand slam and 10th homer of the season to the opposite field in left center, giving the Owls a 5-4 advantage. Texas responded with a run in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game, but Quinn put the Owls ahead to stay in the top of the sixth, lin ing a so lo homer to left field for a 6-5 lead. Quinn, who finished eight-for-11 in the series with six runs and four RBIs, was named SWC Player of the Week. The Owls added insurance runs to take a 9-5 lead into the bottom of the eighth and held off twoTexas rallies in the late innings. Byrdak pitched in and out of jams in both innings to notch the save. Aslaksen added insurance with Rice's fourth homer of the night, a two-run shot in the ninth. This weekend, Rice hosts Baylor University in a 7 p.m. game tonight, and a 2 p.m. doubleheader tomorrow. The Owls are happy with their position in the conference race, as they are perched in first at the halfway point of the schedule. "I want a ring, a conference championship," Brannen said. "1 don't th in k Rice has ever won first place, and 1 want that I think we've really got a good shot to win the conferencc, and I think that's what the team wants." "It's a good position, because we have two out of our last three series at home, which is a definite advantage," Graham said."We played the two teams that were supposed to be the best, Texas and A&M." "We've still got to do our business. We've still got a long way to go." Jose Cruz: Rice's Centerfield Messiah sets sights on promised land by John Fredland Three days in the life of Rice centerfielder Jose Cruz, Jr.: On Thursday afternoon, the Owls are hosting Oklahoma State University. The Cowboys come into the game ranked seventh in the nation, but the Owls have pulled ahead 5-1 in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded, the Cowboys go to their bullpen. This provides some relief, as the new pitcher strikes out Chris Boni. Cruz follows Boni to the plate. Junior pulls the ball over the left field fence, putting the game away with the grand slam. Friday night, Oral Roberts University comes into town. The Golden Eagles jump out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first, but Junior, now batting left-handed, hits a three-run homer to left center. The Golden Eagles take an 8-5 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but the Owls put two men on base with one out for Cruz. Junior crushes the pitch into the night and over the right field fence to tie the game. In the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, Oral Roberts again scores two runs in the top of the first The Owls have the perfect counterpoint in the-bottom of the inning. Junior blasts another home run, this one going to almost the same spot as his game-tying shot the night before. For his three-day display of power, Cruz was named national co-player of the week by Collegiate Baseball. This honor continues the collection of accolades and accomplishments that the sophomore has achieved in his Rice career, the most significant coming last season when he was named cofreshman of the year by Collegiate Baseball. Baseball excellence has not been the domain of just one man named Jose Cruz, however. Cruz's father Jose Cruz, Sr., preceded his son with a 19year major league career with the St Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros and New York Yankees. Cruz, Sr. graced left field in the Astrodome during the eighties with his rainbow-clothed, line-drive hitting presence. While his father performed down on the field, Junior was always with him or around him. "He came out a lot of times to the clubhouse, but when the game started he would play double-headers in the batting cages," Cruz, Sr. said. "He did^ like to watch as many games. Hea get Nolan Ryan's kid and Phil Garner's kid and they used to play a lot of games in the indoor batting cages that we used to have over there." The fact that he spent his formative years around a major league clubhouse and had a celebrated father did
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