CREEMEDIA

CREEMEDIA

AIEEEEE!

ARNOLD by Kevin McCormick (News America Syndicate)

John Kordosh

"I’ve never thought of him as being willingly obnoxious. He’s not vicious; he’s just offbase a little bit.” That’s how 33-year-old Kevin McCormick describes his creation, Arnold, the enfant terrible of the daily comics. And just how off-base is he?

•During a debate, Arnold’s erstwhile pal Tomworld's problems can only be solved through love and understanding, Arnold, on the other hand, advocates “the immediate destruction of life

ARNOLD

BY KEVIN MC CORMICK

as we know it on this But before) continue in this snotty, though not necessarily unjust tion the one or two good things I can bring myself to a say about this flick. First of alt, you gotta give Prince credit for taking risks—a few times I found myself chuckling at the sheer audacity of the project. Even though it amounts to a risk that doesn’t pay off , this whole black and white musical/screwbal/film noir/tragi-comedy/fantasy is a bold idea. Secondly, Prince makes his directorial debut in an admirably unexpectedly, coming from a man Who hasn’t exactly built this career on restraint) unobtrusive manner. Not that there aren't exceptions, like the showy cross-cutting during the opening seduction sequence, or the totally gratuitous use at one point of an "iris-out," art anachronism offered, l suppose, to get film buffs hot. Still, while keeping

•For a spell, Arnold’s lifeis to become a “coot.” He takes to chewing "tobaecy." •When Tommy and Arnold go fishing, Arnold gleefully sings: “We’re gonna handle bait and then we’re gonna eat our sandwiches/We’re gonna hook a fish and then we’re gonna deprive it of moisture.”

Yeah, he’s out there a little bit. The whole point of Arnold often seems to be nothing more than the creation of unpleasantness— usually conjured by d word or phrase. On that level, it never misses. And, facing some stiff competition from other relatively-new syndicated comics (Bloom County, The Leash, Calvin & Hobbes sistently the funniest strip going, The others hit you from some weird angles, but Arnold comes from Dimension

That the creator of Kile1 cracko masterpiece is a softspoken, born-again Christianf seems flat-out unbelievable —yet he is. McCormick lives in Rochester, New York fiflltiere no paper carries ArIs married with two kids ami drives a truck at a local makes sense. He says it took seven years to get Arnold into syndication.

“The original strip was an animal strip," McCormick explains. "And the Arnold character was a worm. Animal strips are hard to sell," he adds, somewhat pensively, I

Taking the advice of the News America bigwigs, McCormick came up with the idea of human characters in a junior high setting. “The strip was a lot more outrageous when it started," he recalls. “And Arnold was a lot more vicious. He looked different he had a mohawk haircut." (Obviously, it was bom perfect.) Eventually, the thing came together and—to this day*-'Arnold, Tommy and their teacher, Mr. Lester, are hue only characters actually seen in the strip, (Although offstage characters

do play prominent roles, particularly Bertha, the cafeteria shaved armpits “Aieeeee!" aplenty from Arnod. And a superb Father’s Day strip found Tommy’s dad humiliating his son far giving him cuff links, pointing out they’d set off among other disadvantages. iThe final thinking "I am the bad seed" —is an outright classic.)

Of course, ail this comes from the same mind that oort-l ceived theexcitement of "hair poker."

"hair poker." McCormick laughs, remembering the concept. I “Usually a word will catch my fancy. People shaving their heads has alaways seemed funny to me, and it just built from there. Picturing Tommy with bits of hair shaved off his head and them playing poker for hair just seemed to fit.” He correctly points Out, though, mat "the heir poker thing is different from most of the strips because they’re doing something. Usuaiiy it’s just a dialogue—Arnold has 1 always just been a vehicle to deliver the punchline’."

True. Tommy is essentially the protagonist of Arnold, existentially suffering a logicless world. McCormick himself says: “I think I like Tommy the better of the two. 1 have more fun writing strips for him, and I probably relate to Tommy more than I would ter an Arnold charact."

And it seems that not at all at many can relate to the strip is being carried by only 23 newspapers, McCormick sees it as “goofy if humor," but concedes:"It's limited audience—it's one those strips you either

On the other hand, how anyone couid think Arnold chanting “Eat the bait! Eat the bait!” isn’t funny is way beyond me.

CHERRY BOMB

IjNDER THE CHERRY MOON (Warner Bros.)

Richard C. Walls

I was one of those who wasnilimiiMliiiaiMiith Purple Rain. The performance sequences amte good, but the lame and barely coherent story the jams were hung on was an embarrassment. Under The Cherry Moon is different. There’s fewer performance quences, and they’re not as

novice directors depend on editors and cinematographers and set directors and how wellserved Prince these deserves credit for the fact that #sone look§aiS0 plays rhors movielike than Purple Rain did; and why not give ttal Me royal bad self.

’Cause he sure can't act. And when it comesfo picking Jjfcripts, the guy's a maniac: First things first: in Purple Rain, nobody could act, a I situation which forced a lot of critics to overpraise Morris

Day and Jerome Benton's corny ’cause at least they had it down so Well you didn't feel like squir ming while you watched them. But mairill Refit-gave us Prince as a cipher surrounded by ciphers, in Moon, I he's a cipher surrounded by overactors—people who insist on chewing the scenery as though, through sheer force of will, they could make sense of the script. An. impossible goal, since this is a script which has Prince playing a down-and-out musician (can’t pay the rent, but he's

a million dollar wardrobe, right), who romances a ridS girl for her money that part I believed) but then actually fails in love with her (apparently for no other reason than Prince

character at least a tittle sympathetic) which could lead to a happy ending, only the girl's rich and psychotic father hates Prince because,

well, because sure—the fact that he comes on like a smug little twerp hast nothing to do with it).

It’s all a fistful of poorly usad cliches, presentee with minimal linking material, so save your money and see it or the curto factor where it somes tp TV. Definitely don't you likedParade& #x2014; even show, only I as ’ background Me and then isn't even played all the way through What a gyp.