The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 93

Giants take their humor seriously to disco to vaudeville. "At the moment we're preoccupied with pre-rock song ideas," Linnell says. "We've got this amateurish side, being people who try certain styles out of love and not being experts. For example, we've just done a Latin-type song for the new album. Whether or not it will make us a laughingstock in the Latino community remains to be seen." 111 1 1 i T1 L1 Mm 1 Globe staff photoJanet Knott Penn ponders a question as Teller holds his breath.

Elvira makes her Big Scream Debut in her Hot New Cornedjt eLvmA Mistress of the Dark' PG-13 life NEW WORLD PICTURES The expedient Penn and Teller But the New York people got it, or pretended they did New Yorkers pride themselves on getting anything." Their new album is also called "Lincoln," though Flansburgh says that isn't a tribute to their hometown. "It's just one of those universal-sounding words." Onstage the duo play guitars and accordion, dress like nerdy mad scientists, lead singalongs, and sneak serious ideas between the lines. At the Paradise last spring, their closing number put a spin on a famous line from the Who's "My Generation" "I hope I die before I get old" and turned it into the existential polka, "I Hope That I Get Old Before I Die." "That seemed the more correct point of view," says Linnell. "A lot of our songs are really pretty negative, but they're put in a friendly-sounding way. In that case, I was thinking about how our society doesn't look up to its elderly, and feeling like the old man I'll eventually become." The band's recent radio hit, "Don't Let's Start," was one of their few straight-ahead pop songs; they're more inclined to borrow everything from bluegrass 'r 71 lit BARGAIN MATINEE RUST PASSPORT TICKETS NOT ACCEPTED AT COPlY COPLEY 100 HUNTINGTON AVE.

NO 10 AM HEARTBREAK HOTELw.s SOME 1 0: 1 5-1 SHOW By Patti Hartigan Special to the Globe It was billed as the World's Most Expedient Press Conference, or WMEPC, and as promised, Penn and Teller splashed through yesterday's publicity event at the Colonial Theater in just 10 US C.nsmitl USA Cmrmil CINEMA 57 NATICK huii 5' sin mi to in ono 482-1222 JtS3 SOPS 337-5840 SHOWCASE CINEMAS SHOWCASE: CINEMAS USA CINEMAS WOBURN REVERE uKyucu it ci iMumn. DAN VERS 933-5330 386-1660 777-1111 iW-1133 Penn Jillette and his partner Teller (he uses no first name) were in town to promote their upcoming metatheatrical magic show, which plays the Colonial Oct. 18 through Nov. 13. The dynamic duo, whose Broadway show dazzled audiences with irreverent black comedy and mystical magic.

KINTIK NORIHShORE SHOP. OR. 599-1330 CROSSING DELANCEY 1:00 3:00 5:00 7:15 9:15 P6 DEAD RINGERS 1:30 4:00 7:00 9:25 SWEET HEARTS DANCE 1:00 3:10 5:20 7:30 9:45 128 EXIT 326 272-4410 li HEARTBREAK HOTEL 5:157:40 9:45 PG13 RINGERS BARGAIN MATINEES EVERY DAY FIRST MATINEE SHOW ONLY 4:00 7:15 9:45 HEARTS DANCE 3:15 5:15 7:40 9:50 OVER PARADOR 5:15 7:30 9:50 PGI3 GIRLS SHOWCASE cinemas' iUSTOK CINEMA; USA CINEMAS SOMERVILLE alAISIMILT 10 ITI IJ 628-7000 SHOWCASE CINEMAS DEDHAM i ONLY AT STARRED FEATURES PLACT, NKXEL0DEON, HARVARD SQ. OR THE JANUS PLACE 266-1300JS SHOWS ON FEATURES PRINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA BOYFRIENDS GIRLFRIENDS ik COMING TO AMERICA im tarar cheri OPP PU C7W 26TB181 TON Sr QPP SMf HATQfV 80S RUNNING ON EMPTY ifciji CROSSING DELANCEY im THtMONT 723 8110 I SOUTH SWORE PLAZA 648-10701 RUNNING ON EMPTY 1:15 4:00 7:15 9:30 PGI3 SWEET HEARTS DANCE 1 :00 3:10 5:15 7:15 9:25 ROGER RABBIT 1:003:00 5:15 7:35 9:40 PG BIG 3:15 5:15 9:35 P6 WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT IK9 KANSAS id STEREO SOUHP DOIBT 9 ol HAMMOND SI 277-2500 I HIE. GORILLAS in the MIST 1:30 4:15 7:15 P0I3 CROSSING DELANCEY 1:00 3:15 5:25 7:40 9.50 PC SWEET HEARTS DANCE 1:00 3:10 5:25 7:40 10:00 A FISH CALLED WANDA 4:307:45 10:00 1RH 9 ot SHOPPERS WORLD 235-60201 GORILLAS In the MIST 1:30 4:15 7:15 9:50 PGI3 HEARTBREAK HOTEL 1:15 3:20 5:20 7:75 RUNNING ON EMPTY 1:30 4:15 7:15 9:35 PGI3 SWEET HEARTS DANCE 1:00 3:05 5:10 7:30 9:45 DIE HARD 1:00 4:00 7:05 9:40 ROGER RABBIT 1:30 4:20 7:25 9:35 PG 1:00 3:15 DEAD 1:15 SWEET 1:15 MOON 1:003:10 I WESTGATE CROSSING 1:15 ELVIRA 1:00 3:10 GORILLAS 1:30 1 :30 3:30 SWEET 1:00 1:15 1:30 MALI 963-8833 8UU.

DURHAM in BIG IK) EST NICKELODEON a 006 COWM. MVt. ntMMKENUORE SO. 424 1 500 $41 BOYLSTQN ST BIG TIME ifo LAST TEMPTATION DELANCEY 3:20 5:20 7:309:45 PS Mistress of the Dark 5:20 7:30 9:40 PGI3 in the MIST 4:15 7:15 9:50 PGI3 HEARTBREAK HOTEL 5:30 7:40 9:40 PG13 HEARTS DANCE 3:05 5:10 7:35 9:50 COCKTAIL 3:25 5:35 7:45 9:55 DIE HARD 4:00 7:00 9:35 PG OF CHRIST no NOPASACS DEAD RINGERS EJ BEACON HILL JEt BETRAYED in EIGHT MEN OUT ira i BEACON AT THE THIN BLUE LINE MARRIED TO THE MOB i 1 V.f 'i! It fit ill' I. DIEHARD PATTY 2:00 4:00 lZ3f HARVARD SQ.JD 10 CMUMCM 5' CAMBRIDGE K4-4iK RUNNING ON EMPTY mm UHt A I PLAIN A FISH CALLED WANDA in 1 15-3: PS7 CHARLES XS5T HEARST in 6:00 1:00.10:00 CAMB ST NEAR GOVT C'R ill 1J3C SWEETHEARTS DANCE HIGHLAND AVt 444 61 GORILLAS IN THE MIST NOPAtHI 70MM DOLBY tTKRIO TO AMERICA 7:30 945 MOON OVER PARADOR mug pSSTNEEDHANlAXSi 8TE 3-EXIT RTE 53 337-53531 ELVIRA Mistress of the Dark 1:15 3:15 5:15 7:35 9:45 PG13 HEARTBREAK HOTEL 1:30 3:30 5:30 7:30 9:30 PG13 DEAD RINGERS 1:30 4:15 7:25 9:45 YOUNG GUNS 1:30 4:20 7:25 9:35 ROLL FANTASY Tnuctistone Pictures 1988 Bueni Vitti ftelmli Distribution.

13 EIGHT MEN OUT TCI COMING MARRIED TO THE MOB HI MIDNIGHT RUN TUCKER (pa) A FISH CALLED WANDA in A WORLD APART ira fSBF LEXINGTON 53 By Brett Milano Special to the Globe Sometimes it seems that there are no untouched subjects left in rock 'n' roll, that there are no off- beat song angles loft Thpn alnntf PIC such as They Might Be Giants, whose repertoire includes "Youth Culture Killed My Dog." "Stand On Your Own Head for a Change" and "Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes," not to mention rock's first song about a shoehorn with teeth (Chorus: "He wants a shoehorn, the kind with teeth Because he knows there is no such They Might Be Giants, who play the Paradise tonight, are a humorous band, sort of; and a serious band, sort of. "I'd like people not to think of that as two different things," says co-leader John Linnell. "People feel that humor reduces a piece of work, makes it smaller or less illuminating. That's not the way we think. There's humor in a lot of 20th-century music, even if it's dark or tragic humor.

And that gives it a certain warmth, something people can connect with. Performance artist Laurie Anderson once said that dead seriousness is a disguise for mediocrity, and I'd tend to agree. I never liked the idea that something is important only if it bums you out." Based in New York, the two Giants Linnell and John Flans-burgh, with a tape machine for a backup band actually grew up In Lincoln, Mass. "By an odd chain of events, we both wound up in the same Brooklyn ghetto by the late 70s," said Flansburgh from Cape Cod this week. "Punk rock started happening, and that inspired us.

People tend to forget that punk had a sense of humor; it wasn't always super-grim. We used to play in performance-art spaces, and our show used to be more bizarre than it is now, less audience-friendly. FRED )WRD-KEANU REEVES-BONNE BEDEUA and AMY MAM ilk A A A I Manholl Fint, Gannett Ntwspaptri "A CHARMING OFF-BEAT COMEDY" Richard Frdmon, Ncwheutt Ntwtpoptrt "AN EXCEPTIONAL CAST" Kathltan Carroll, Ntw York Daily Newt "KEANU REEVES IS EXPLOSIVE!" Marcia Pally, Pt nthoui NEW LINE CINEMA HO. CM UCUlHIVHINMlmCmtffWCwt ltWt EXCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENT COPLEY PLACE "A sweetheart of a -David SHtehan, NBC-TV. LOS ANGELES Sweet Hearts Dance IHLp tMniSTUlrnwitr I) II I.

I I HilimKWh tHOWCASI CINEMAS REVERE ITI. CI A SQUIK SO- 286-1660 USA Cinm SOMERVILLE ai A11IMILT ITI 9J 628-7000 GENERAL CINEMA PEABODY GENERAL CINEMA BURLINGTON MALI AOUTI 131 IX IT 331 272-4410 HOIIHtMOII IN0MIH0 tlNIII 599-1310 -GtM SlulK. THE TODAY SHOWNBC Fossey NO PASSF.S AT USA CINEMAS GENERAL CINEMA CHESTNUTHILL ITI. 9 at HAMMOND IT 277-2500 SHOWCAfii CINEMAS DEDHAM BTl, 1 111 IXIT I1A 326-4955 A fir 4. If- par CINEMA 57ZT.

ELVIRA, MISTRESS optw DARKmJ Of DESIRE 7:10 9:30 NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4 TUCKER modeled the WMEPC after a stunt from the show. In a display that suggests an alternative to the second presidential debate, Penn fielded questions as Teller held his breath while submerged in a tank of water. Press releases for the WMEPC challenged reporters to ask their questions "quickly and interestingly." So in a search for killer questions, this reporter contacted Jillette's mother in his home town of Greenfield, the former Greenfield High School principal and a former high school teacher. All three said they couldn't think of a question that could beat Jillette at his own game. "No matter what question anyone suggests, Penn will thwart the effort," said Edward Jones, who was principal of Greenfield High when Jillette was a student there.

While Teller held his breath for about six minutes, reporters asked such questions as "Have you ever contacted Houdini in the tank?" and "Would you discuss the effect of irony in English literature of the early 18th century and contrast that if you will to the symbolism in Hemingway's 'Old Man and the Jillette refused to answer the former question. But when Jillette released his partner, who had been struggling for breath and splashing water about, it was Teller who had the last laugh. "Hemingway was cruder," he said as several assistants carried the tank away. And with that, the WMEPC was over. Eric Bogosian's devastating insight Continued from preceding page for the effect of eccentricity or for the ease of sweetness.

He plays it harsh and straight. But there is some predictability. The episode with the executive on the phone is like bad Mamet. There aren't enough fresh cruelties to make It seem other than the usual story of a philanderer. Similarly, a scene with a satiated old Italian don remembering his sex life and finding contentment in marriage Is surprisingly soft-hearted.

The tenderness plays a little too calcula-tedly against Bogosian's own self-revelations. Generally, however, the insight in "Sex. Drugs, Rock Roll" is precise and devastating. Sometimes Eric Bogosian brings us so close to people that he creates an oxymoronlc claustrophobia: a kind of exhilarating debilitation which pitilessly shows us who we are, then suggests where we're going. GENIRAL CINIMA CHESTNUTHILL III, at HAMMOND St 277-2500 GENERAL CINEMA FRAMINGHAM Itl WOILD 11S-S030 873-4400 Jiff i' USA ClNIMAt CHARLES CAMI NUI OOV ICTI I 837.1330 I GiNCRAL cinema 1 BRAINTREE SOUTH IHORI PLAZA 848-1070 HOTEL JANUS WINGS 4,45 'JfK ST NEAR HARVARD SO 3727 GORILLAS IN THEMISTifiuii NOPAMII NATICK A ROCK AND PG-13 RTE 93 AT ASSEMBLY tQQQ CROSSING DELANCEY 12.45-2.45-5:00-7:10-9.20 CROSSING DELANCEY mi DOLBY 1TKMO ELVIRA, MISTRESS of ncDARKiN-ui HEARTBREAK HOTEL wiji KINTEK STEREO USA Cmemis 1 USA CINEMAS USA Cmmai If QtntrilcTTmi C0PIEY PLACE S0MERV1LIE DANVERS FRAMINGHAM 00 xuS'sb'OMVI IWOS olAiltMllTJQ Ifl 93 I3.Xi4 IT 9 si WOllD 2660 300 628-7000 1 1777 7555 3 100J S'I01C GENERAL CINEMA 1 fSHOWCASi CtNfM All SHOWCASE CINfMAsI SHOWCASE CINCMAt BURLINGTON MALL CIRCLE DEDHAM REVERE OuU HI HIT ClIVILAND CIICll III III.

CI IQUitl D. 272-0410 566-4040 326-4955 786-1660 DEAD RINGERS ELVIRA, MISTRESS 1K 3i15 EIGHT MEN OUT EIGHT MEN 1 5:30 OUT im 1 5 SWEETHEARTS DANCE MARRIED TO THE MOB DEAD RINGERS A FISH CALLED WANDA in 12i25.2i404i55-7i3S.9i50 KANSAS in 12.33-3,05-5,25-7i33-10,l5 pSSWBROCKTONiSdL BETRAYED in 1.104,10-7,00-9:55 DEAD RINGERS MARRIED TO THE MOB in 12.3O-2i5O-5.00-7i30-9.4O KANSAS 12.45-2.50-5i00-7.10-9.20 EST DANVERS JEST, I2 EXIT 24 777-2555593-2100 RUNNING ON EMPTY nun 1.10-3120-5,30-7:45-9:55 HEARTBREAK HOTEL WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT im or DARKipu 10i20 EIGHT MEN OUT ira A FISH CALLED WANDA MARRIED TO THE MOB tZZf DANVERS Line i intr mil ill Jijj ELVIRA, MISTRESS or DARKim.ii, J.OO-7.30-9.40 GORILLAS IN THE MIST iku KANSAS 5.30-7.30-9.30 ROGER RABBIT IPOI BETRAYED 5.00-9:10 DIEHARD in ENGAGEMENT A FISH CALLED WANDA EIGHT MEN OUT 1, WHO FRAMED A FISH CALLED WANDA in 12.35-2:35-5.05-7:30-9:40 DIEHARD in li2O4.20-7i0S-10.0O NINON tril 955 TBS 1215 725 955 EB35. THE MIST HEARTBREAK HOTEL 1000 EER 100 735 1005 531 1000 EIGHT MEN OUT HOTEL. 1200 720 950 WS. 940 iEfi.ll DEAD RINGERS 130 730 1000 720 iff UST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST OUT 4L iSi CROSSING DELANCEY 4 100 935 iff 100 720 940 TEB HEARTBREAK HOTEL 935 118 730 940 EB3I WANDA GORILLAS IN THE MIST 850 130 730 1000 Egg imULlT" Bi tLVIBA 100 720 945ipSTf DEAD BINOERS 1230 720 950jg lirffftrT, EIOHT MEN OUT 1230 710 945 DELANCEY SWEET HEARTS DANCE 940 ET 1245 730 950 lS EMPTY MARRIED TO THE MOB 950 IPG-iT 1245 720 945 93fllfeEfl A FISH CALLED WANDA THE MIST 1245 730 955 iff 1000 EES DIE HARD 130 710 950 iff: 1000 Bl rWFfSlPfWff' 1 out Int'tnini wRr WnJ 945 PS! IffiriiUiliflifBnllfiilL- THE MOB KANSAS 100 72-0j30E iff ROGER RABBIT 100 720 WANDA ELM STREET 4 940 1015 Iff LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST.

945 1 100 B00 B. EXCLUSIVE USP.Cincmas COPLEY PLACE 266 1300 Ifi Em AS BARGAIN MATINEE POLICY FIRST AFTERNOON SHOW ONLY SUN. THRU FRI.4 HOLIDAYS SATURDAY UNTIL 6 M. MARRIED TO THE MOB 1245 720 940 EIVIRA 100 730 955 tB HEARTBREAK HOTEL 145 735 935 Egg RUNNING ON EMPTY 105 720 940 ELVIRA 110 710 925 CROSSING DELANCEY 120 715 920 IK 771 GORILLAS IN THE MIST 021 130 725 950 lEEl KANSAS 135 745 1000 IE EIGHT MEN OUT 100 730 950 EE DEAD RINGERS 120 740 955 SWEET HEARTS DANCE 110 750 955 El NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, 4 120 800 1005 Iff MARRIED TO THE MCB. 125 715 930 8 a cku rAiitn wAunA 140 745 1000 iff DIE HARD 100 705 935 BIG 115 700 915 IPCT "TWO THUMBS UE THE BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR." -RcKcr Krxrt, SISKRL EBERT Powerful a masterpiece." -Richard prcedman, NKWHOUSF.

NEWSPAPERS running on empty PG 13 o'sml'itl 1245 720 GORILLAS IN 130 725 ELVIRA 100 740 HEARTBREAK 1245 730 KANSAS DEADRmGERS EIGHT MEN llilll ELM STREET A FISH CALLED 115 730 DIE iffl wSwillM iMTnp'l CROSSING 1245 725 RUNNING ON 1200 720 ELVIRA 1245 715 GORILLAS IN 130 730 KANSAS eight men 1200 715 MARRIED TO 1230 745 A FISH CALLED 1215 745 BIG 1230 730 "A FEELGOOD MOVIE THAT EMERGES AS THE 'MOONSTRUCK' OF THE CURRENT SEASON." -Joy Boyum, GLAMOUR "REMARKABLE. A MOVIE UNLIKE ANY I HAVE SEEN. Sigourney Weaver gives an outstanding A joy of a romantic comedy. It's got brains, warmth, heart and humor." Jav Carr, BOvSTON GLOBE SIGOURNEY'WEAVER Gorillas in THE MIST ONE OF 1 -( All RKu ButnJ JRAIMTRII AGHAM WOBURN i 0 rfMl Amy Irving Crossing Delancey A funny mow about paint mtioui. The Adventure of Dian PG-13 iMWWArWMMtAOl INC AMUMVIWAlClTVtTUDlOl PNC TDMMDOLaVtTtRVO USA CINEMAS CHARLES (AMI ST.

Ml I GOV'T CTI 227-1330 USA CINEMAS I JANUS NOW PLAYING NOW PLAYING XHIRl CHtWNU'JILl SOMERVIUi HftRVfiROSQ.il MIVWIM i. iwi ViV ii jT SHOWCAK CINIMAS i.WOBURN Ilk HI IXII ll 1 lit 11 933-5330 OENkRAL CINEMA FRAMINGHAM Tl H0Mll WOUO 2IM010' 171-4400 SHOWCASE CINEMAS REVERE T. CI A lOUtll RD. 3B6-1660 WOBURN 933 I'jlO CIRCLi 166 4040 DANVERS ih'i im 11 do iJl i ton II .000.