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Show Reviews Ecclectic Athletes Add Laughs To "Necessary Roughness" by Christopher Thomas Forum staff writer Necessary Roughness is the funniest non-plcomedy since Major League. Starring Scott Bakula (Quantum Leap), the movie pokes fun at college football in 20th century America. The Texas State University Armadillos win three consecutive national championships and are favored to win a fourth when recruiting violations, steroid use and illegal booster payoffs disqualify the team under the NCAA death penalty. The universitys administration expels all of the players and fires the coaching staff in order to regain eligibility. ESPNs Chris Berman makes a cameo appearance on his own Sports Center in the movie. He interviews Ed Gennero (Hector Elizondo), a retired football coach who has a very conservative reputation. Gennero exemplifies the strong man with great convictions and concentrations ... a man like Joe Patcmo or Vince Lombardi, said director Stan Dragoti. After the appearance on the show, Texas State contacts Gennero, offering him the head coaching job, and the wild recruiting fiasco commences. ot on-camp- us Guns N by Bill Kilpack Forum editor es Prior to the first game a number of players becomeacademicallyineligibleand the team is forced to operate as an iron-ma- n squad (where players play both offense and defense). The Armadillos get off to a rocky start losing 65-- 0 in their first game. After the game, the frivolous administration set up a game against the Texas State Penitentiary, a squad played by present and former NFL players including Jerry Rice, Herschel Walker, Ed Too Tall Jones, Dick Butkus and heavy- - weight 34-year-- man-handl- on-aga- in off-aga- in comedy. Sinbad plays Andre Krimm, an astronomy professor who is coerced by Blake to play out his final year of football eligibility. Krimm had given up on football after his junior year to pursue a science degree. An unlikely role for the comedian turned boxing champion EvanderHolyfield. The Armadillos are severely when a fight erupts during the first play from scrimmage. Texas State loses their next seven games miserably, suffering difficulties in almost every facet of the game. The coaches recruitLucy Draper (Kathy Ireland of Sports Illustrated swimsuit fame), to improve the teams kicking game. In her first game. Draper kicks a field goal in the falling rain as time expires to give the Armadillos a tie. It was one of several over dramatized parts in the movie that were so bad they seemed almost funny. The plot thickens when a bar-roobrawl between State Texas and erupts . ed , m top-rank- ed Texas University in and the Armadillos get beat up again. They avenge the matter in the final game of the season against Texas in the movie climax. Directed by Stan Dragotti whose notable films include Mr. Mom and Love at First Bite, the production is well put together. He does an excellent job of handling an intricate cast made up of professional actors, professional athletes and 33 former Texas high school and college athletes. The production and shooting add a real football game atmosphere with NFL cameramen catching the action. Unlike a feature film camerarnansperspcctive,NFL films cameramen block the movement of the football very tightly and shoot those close- - up and personal angles weve all seen when watching coverage of pro football games, said Allan Graf movie coordinator. ' Necessary Roughness has faster, moving yet similar plot to Major League and is well worth seeing. Dont expect the complexity of Robin Hood or Dances With Wolves, this movie doesnt leave you questioning. Necessary Roughness is a fun entertaining escape good for several laughs. Rated PG-1- 3 (language). Roses Challenge Society's Rules With "Illusion'' Releases Underneath the warning stickers for explicit lyrics. Guns N Roses (Gn R) concurrent Geffen releases, Use Your Illusion and Use Your Illusion II, are the finest compilation of works by the band to date. The variety of styles on the albums is considerable. Illusion includes songs like Dust N Bones, a bluesy tune, contrasted by a respectable rendition of Paul McCartneys 'Live and Let Die (you might remember it from the James Bond film of the same name). Two versions of the ballad Dont Cry are recorded on the two albums, the second with altered lyrics, a practice consistent with the bands release of Its So Easy on their first LP, Appetite For Destruction in its electric guitar version, and rereleased on Gn R Lies in its original acoustic version. Maintaining their image and reputation as rule breakers, Gn R step across the line on song length. The typical single aimed at radio play averages three to three and one-ha-lf minutes. Illusion and Illusion II song (RI) range from 1:22 to 4:46 and even to 9:20. One of Gn Rs greatest successes came from their second album, with Patience, which took a path off the main track for rock ballads, using four acoustic guitars, no other instruments, and whistling to start the song off. (Notice how many bands whistle in songs today.) They have maintained the acoustic work, mixed with a healthy allotment of electric guitar screaming for the Illusion LPs. Bad Obsession, a song about getting over drug addiction and getting away from the old bad crowd, is a great rockn roll romp, maintaining an upbeat cadence with Page 6Forum run-tim- actor. Along with his side kick, Wally Rissen-do- rf (Robert Loggia) a Bob Uecker-typ- e character, the two attempt to make football players out of primarily old washed-u- p athletes. The team consists of such wackos as a cowboy, samurai and a wide receiver who thinks helmets are for sissies. Bakula plays Paul Blake, a rancher who gave up on football to run the family business after the death of his father. A star high school quarterbxk, he was the hottest recruit out of Texas in his prime. His character exemplifies the middle-age- d male fantasy of still having athletic ability. After a visit from Gennero, Blake is convinced and enrolls as a freshmen at Texas State. He struggles with classes and college life, and also with his journalism professor, played by Harley Jane Kozak. She first mistakes him for another faculty member and they end up having an romance throughout the extras like a cow bell, piano and harmonica. Axl Rose, lead vocalist, has one of the better vocal ranges in rock music today, mixing together a bansheerlike soprano wail and a second-teno- r singing voice. Bad Obsession is all of the above, orchestrated into pure Gn R magic. November Rain (RT 8:53), credited and solely to Rose, is a well-writtballad about couples needing occasional time apart. For todays teens, music is a method of identification, just like how you dress or how you talk. November Rain is a good example of the musical talent the band possesses, bridging the musical barrier erected between social cliques. Illusion II carries the prereleased singles and MTV hits. Included are Civil War, (ending with the question, Whats so civil about war, anyway?), the remake of Bob Dylans Knockin On Heavens Door and You Could Be Mine from the Terminator II movie soundtrack. (The single has already sold over 2 million copies.) There is some brilliant song writing on Illusion II full of intense personal observations and critical social comment This, again, is a trademark of Gn R, giving often scalding criticism on hot issues. You could learn something from these thinking bad boys if youre not too squeamish when it comes to heaping helpings of four-lettwords and phallic references. All through both albums, the lifeblood of Gn R sound is maintained Roses voice and the guitar work by Slash. The latters skills have sharpened considerably since Appetite For Destruction, and the second LP gave hints of his true abilities. One point about his style is the speed of his chord-change- s. A lot of guitarists maintain crisp transitions between chords, especially in the harder rock bands. well-conceiv- ed en er Slash slides from fret to fret, giving the sound an almost lazy quality. Guest players on the albums include vocals by Alice Cooperand Shannon Hoon, pianoorgankeyboards by Dizzy Reed, backing vocals by the Waters and Howard Teman on piano. Rose also puts in some time behind the piano in these. Tried and true Gn R fans will be more than pleased by the overdose of new material, and the bands audience will grow with these albums as well. The normal challenge-the-rule- s flavor in their lyrics and speeches is still present. Theyre making a point, and make it with the strength of a Mike Tyson punch theyll do what they want, how and when . they want to. Theres.no mistaking that, and its to their credit, that they stick so staunchly by that ideal. Rolling Stone gave each album four stars, and David Fricke summed it up per--. fectly saying: Its not enough to simply be indignant about Illusions verbal rancor. Y ou ought to be scared for the future ... you hear a declaration of insolence fueled by anger and fearful confusion. Gn Rs act ... is emblematic of a greater adolescent cancer: an almost total loss of hope compounded by blind, impotent rage and thepervertedReagan-Bus- h morality in which the actual cloth of the Stars and Stripes is deemed more holy than the freedom and humanity for which it stands. self-righteo- us Women Still Don't Make Enough Bread TALAH AS S EE Fla. (CPS) Future businesswomen in college today dont expect to make as much money as men, and both sexes look to their fathers when seeking career advice and approval, a recent study shows. Researchers at Florida State University surveyed 159 male and 109 female seniors and graduate students, asking questions about their career expectations. What they found was that women studyfields expected to earn ing business-relate- d to $10,000 $20,000 a year less than men when they reach the ages of their parents. We were really surprised, said Professor Elizabeth Goldsmith, one of the researchers and a professor of family, child and consumer sciences at Florida State. Womens expectations could be realistic, though, because of the gender gap and because they have other concerns, such as getting married, she said. Women said they expected to earn between $70,000 and $80,000 while men said they thought they would earn between , $80,000 and $90,000. U.S. Departmentof Labor mirrored those on average, women earn expectations $616 a week, comapred to $902 a week in marketing, management, advertising and public relations jobs. The study also found that both women and men turn to their fathers for encouragement with their careers. We found that mothers gave warmth ... fathers came across as role models for both sexes, Goldsmith said. gaal (Ut utbm-m-' 'I' iji M lilt |
