tl20010329-010 "From 'Istanbul' to Baltimore, Giants step up Giants Linnell and Flansburgh find fame on tour and on TV's 'Malcolm' Melissa Flanzraich The Towerlight Two guys in glasses playing accordions and singing about Istanbul make for unlikely pop icons, but then again, They Might Be Giants have never been accustomed to doing any-thing the normal way. With a career that spans two decades and six original albums, the band made success out of not knowing what to expect. ""I think there is something very unpredictable about our situation,"" said John Linnell, half of the original duo compris-ing They Might Be Giants. The group formed in the early 1980s and consisted of Linnell and John Flansburgh. The two wrote and recorded songs with the help of synthesizers and tapes. In the early 90s, Linnell and Flansburgh decided to create a backing band for the Giants. At first the musicians changed on an almost yearly basis, as people joined and left the group. Recently, though, they compiled a steady stable of musicians, all arts Henry/The Tasterfight Singer and guitarist John Flansburgh, along with partner John Linnell, performed at the Becher Theatre March 16 as part of an East Coast tour with their quirky accordion-driven band They Might Be Giants. of whom are named Dan, to form the group that has main-tained a huge following across the country, and graced the Recher Theatre March 16. According to Linnell, the road to success has been interesting for the band, which saw heavy airtime during the unpre-dictable early days of MTV. A single from the band's debut album found its way to the sta-tion before the record was released. ""I feel like on some spiritual level it's true [that we gained popularity without the help of mainstream media],"" Linnell said, ""but the practical truth is we got a video on MTV almost right away."" Although Linnell isn't so 'sure their music would be played on the network today, he says it was just one of the odd things they were fortunate to have fall-en into. ""It was kind of a strange lucky thing for us ... we were being played along side these bands that were so completely differ-ent from us that it worked to our advantage. There were like Whitney Houston videos and White Snake and us in the mid- See GIANTS, page 12 Coming to a theater near you: Commercials Jessica Rinne The Towerlight Just a few years ago, millions of moviegoers went to the movies each weekend to escape the outside world for a couple of hours. Sure, every film was delayed by previews for every proposed blockbuster to hit the big screen, but for most, the previews were a source of entertainment them-selves. However, as movie previews have grown in number and length, pre-movie commercials have become more and more popular among theaters and dis-tributors. They have become a Miry BarnhaWThe Towerlight To the dismay of many moviegoers, theaters now show commercials for refreshments, cars and TV shows before the feature presentation. means of boosting income, forc-ing many movie patrons to kiss the days of advertisement-free cinema goodbye. The types of commercials shown before movies vary widely from theater to theater and film to film. In many local theaters, a filler is shown before the movie starts. This filler con-sists of things like movie trivia, quotes and advertisements, and continually repeats until the film starts rolling. These advertise-ments are usually spots for local businesses like car dealerships and restaurants, and because they're mixed with movie trailers and pre-show entertain-ment, many consumers don't seem to mind them. ""I like it personally,"" said freshman music major Cassie Hitchcock. ""It's nice to have something to watch before the movie starts."" When the lights go down and the film starts to roll, however, the real commercials take over. Many people expect to see corn-mercials for the theater itself, encouraging audiences to reach for that famous movie theater popcorn, and they usually don't mind. ""You expect to see commer-cials for the snack bar and stuff like that when you go to see a movie,"" said sophomore busi-ness and music major Dan Ovenshire. ""They've always shown those."" ""Previews are one thing, but commercials are just a waste of time. I don't want to see them."" Cassie Hitchcock freshman, music major But the clas-sically charm-ing commer-cials featuring singing and dancing refreshments are no longer the only ads theater compa-nies are run-ning before their films. Many of the same ads seen on TV are now finding 'a second home in movie theaters. Commercials for everything from shows on ABC to Coca- Cola have become common-place in the theater over the past several years, despite a growing base of complaints from movie-goers. See MOVIES, page 12 (calendar arts March 29: The TU department of theatre presents ""The Vagina Monologues,"" directed by Genevieve Grant. The play features monologues from over 200 interviews of real women. The play begins at 8 p.m. on March 29, 30 and 31 in the Center for the Arts Studio Theatre. Information: (410) 830-2787. March 29: TU's Women's Studies Colloquium Series presents an international film festival in honor of Women's History Month. The event begins at 7:30 p.m. on March 29-31 and 2 p.m. on April 1 in Van Bookelen Hall, room 204. Information: (410) 704-2660. March 29: Warner Theatre presents ""Barrage,"" a combination of tradi-tional, alternative and worldbeat music. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Information: (202) 626-8271. March 30: The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra presents ""Mozart's Requiem."" The concert begins at 8 p.m. on March 30 and 31 and 3 p.m. on April 1. Information: (410) 783- 8024. March 31: TU Chorale and the Smith College glee club present ""A Chorale Bill,"" featuring works by Felix Mendelssohn and Halsey Stevens. The concert begins at 8:15 p.m. in the Center for the Arts Concert Hall. Information: (410, 830-2787. April 1: TU Faculty presents ""An April Fool's Concert,"" featuring a rendi-tion of Prokoviev's ""Peter and the Wolf."" The concert begins at 7: 30 p.m. in the Center for the Arts Concert Hall. Information: (410) 830-2787. April 2: The EMF department presents ""The American Cinema Editors Visiting Editor Program."" The dis-cussion includes film. and TV edit-ing and working in Hollywood. The program begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Van Bokkelen Hall Auditorium. Information: (410) 830-2787. April 3: TU department of music presents ""Harbor Brass Quintet,"" featuring standard, classic and modern favorites. The concert begins at 8:15 p.m. in the Center for the Arts Concert Hall. Information: (410) 830-2787. "
