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Friday, February 4, 2000
8A
Once more, with screaming
Director Was Craven makes his third horror-satire flick. Courtney Cox-Axarette and David Arquette star alongside Neve Campbell in Scream 3. Contributed art.
Craven delivers mediocre finale to Scream trilogy
By Todd Halstead
Kansan movie critic
I would venture to say that director Wes Craven's last movie, Music of the Heart, the story of a teacher who brings hope to inner-city schoolchildren, was scarier than Scream 3. This may result from the fact that Miramax wunderkind Kevin Williamson didn't write the script, as he did for the first two movies.
Scream 3 occurs during the filming of the fictitious Stab 3, the third film about poor Sidney Prescott's life. Meanwhile, Sidney (Neve Campbell) is doing her best to avoid civilization by hiding out in Northern California, but she comes out of the woods when people start getting disemboweled on the movie set. In fact, the killings bring back all of the walking dead from the previous two movies, including roving reporter Gale Weathers (Courtreney Cox Arquette) and Dewey Riley (David Arquette), who is now a technical adviser on the movie set. While investigating the machete mayhem, the three encounter their cinematic counterparts.
The film's highlight is Parker Posey (House of Yes), who plays method-actress Jennifer Jolie. As Jolie, Parker delivers a dead-on, if satirical, impression of Cox as Stab 3's caricature of Gale Weathers.
The low point of the movie is Cox's haircut. With her hair shorn in the front and
Scream 3
Script: B-
Sound: A
Cinematography: B
Acting: C
Overall: B-
Now showing at Southwind 12,3433
Iowa St.
her apathetic acting, she more closely resembles a post-operative lobotomy patient than a reporter.
Cameos litter the movie, ranging from Heather Matarazzo (Welcome to the Doll House) as a sister to one of the victims in a previous movie, to a less-than-humorous appearance by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith as Jay and Silent Bob.
Jenny McCarthy, meanwhile, gives a decent performance as an aging starlet who is frustrated with her role.
Like the other movies, Scream 3 peaks at the beginning, which provides the most suspenseful action and induces the most fear in the audience. This film, however, resembles Scream 2 when the suspense suffers a lull in the middle. But like the first installment in the trilogy, it regains its edge with a marathon action sequence at the end, which reveals rousing revelations that rival those of another trilogy Star Wars.
Fans of the previous two Scream movies no doubt will enjoy this movie, while others will find it entertaining but nothing special. In any case, everyone should rewatch the first two films because this is a continuation with references from its predecessors.
Q&A: Jenny McCarthy
G: How does it feel to be a part of a trilogy with such a cult following?
A: It's totally cool. I remember when the first Scream came out; I wondered, "Why the hell wasn't in that?!" It's for sure that this is the last one, so I'm glad I caught it before it was finished. It'll be the best... Everything was so confidential that no actor had a copy of the full script. I honestly don't know yet what the movie is about, but I guess I'll find out when it opens. That makes it even more fun.
Q: The first two Scream installations certainly had their moments of terror, but they had quite a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor, too. Does this remain true with No. 3?
A: Heck yeah. It definitely does have a cheekiness to it, which is why I loved the role. I know my particular character and my scenes have a cheekiness to them and a lot of scary stuff, too. I like that.
G: What was it like to work with Wes Craven?
A: Wes blew my mind, as far as what I thought before I came to the set and what I think now. He was the sweetest, the shyest man I've ever met. He was by far my favorite to work with.
Weird Beholder disappointing
By Brian Bartelt
If I were a film professor, I'd make my students watch this movie. But, as a film reviewer, I advise you to stay away.
Eye of the Beholder centers on a detective (Ewan McGregor), known only as The Eye. His specialty is high-tech surveillance. While on an assignment, he photographs a woman (Joanna, played by Ashley Judd), with whom he becomes intensely obsessed.
Kansan movie critic
Stephan Elliott directed Eye of the Beholder, and also directed the 1994 film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. But you couldn't tell by comparing the two movies. While Priscilla is bright and garish, Beholder is very subdued and subtle. The only thing that connects the two films is their weirdness.
This film is difficult to pin down — it is a love story, but the lovers are rarely seen together. It is also a psychological drama — both of the main characters are deeply disturbed individuals. And, it's an exercise in surrealistic art — 21st century technology blends seamlessly with 1940s images.
He begins to sacrifice everything — his life, his job,
even his past — to follow and watch her. Along the way,
he learns that she harbors some dark secrets.
The film's acting is solid. Both McGregor and Judd give outstanding performances in difficult roles. It was certainly a weighty task to give these strange
characters legitimacy.
Jason Priestly fits the bill in his bit role as a sleaze k.d. lang also appears but doesn't detract from the film, even if her acting efforts are too overdone.
Eye of the Beholder
Writing: C
Acting: A
Sound: B-
Cinematography: A+
Overall: C
Now showing at South wind 12, 3433 Iowa St
Visually, this film is attractive and cool. Every transition and effect is tasteful and interesting. The surrealism of the sets and costumes and the overall atmosphere work well.
So if you combine good acting, fabulous film work and an engaging story, you've got a great movie... right? You sure do—for about fifty minutes. Halfway through the film, I was desperately trying to figure out how I was going to write about the movie's greatness.
But by the end of the film, I just wanted to go home. Everything that's great about the beginning of this movie fades long before the end.
It doesn't climax; it gets tired — which is why film students should see this movie. It's a great example of both what to do and what not to do, how to start a great movie and then kill it.
But for people just looking for some good cinema, this film ends up dead.
Any Given Sunday: Various artists
Contributed art.
buy it used
The song-based soundtrack from the football drama Any Given Sunday contains a lot of rap and hard metal heavy-hitters that come close to matching the macho bravado of the film itself. Even though some artists such as Moby and Paul Kelly III were included in the film but not on the album, the soundtrack is well packaged, showcasing a lot of talent. Established rap artists such as Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliot, LL Cool J and DMX make strong cases musically for why this album should not have included the hard-rocking artists that it did. This brings us to the lack of talent shown by P.O.D., Kid Rock, Godsmack and Overseer. Granted, their songs do deal with the issues of the movie (i.e. survival of the fittest, doing what it takes to win, wearing tight pants and running into people), but the songs are simply too annoying. The vocals all prove to be rancid, and instrumentation is overproduced to make up for their lack of knowing exactly how to play their instruments. It is definitely the first half of the Any Given Sunday soundtrack that wins the game.
-Melineh Kurdian
Mighty Mo Rodgers
Blues is My Wailin' Wall
buy it
On his debut album, *Blues is My Wailin' Wall*, Mighty Mo Rodgers puts a modern, soulful spin on traditional blues progressions. The East Chicago, Ind. native has a versatile style, allowing him to touch upon both serious and light-hearted issues. You won't find too many lusty, high-powered guitar solos on this album, but what you will find is that Rodgers reveals a very eloquent side with his lyrics. "Took Away the Drum" lets that side shine through. The kalimba, an African instrument, and an array of percussions accompany Mighty Mo's vocals as he ponders the relationship between the blues and the heritage of slavery. In "Tuskegee Blues," Rodgers is accompanied by a slide guitar as he sings about the terrifying experiments performed on African-American men in Tuskegee, Ala. Alongside these very blue tunes are songs that have a gospel or soul side to them such as "(Bring Back) Sweet Soul Music," in which he asks: "Do you remember not too long ago/ Sweet soul music on the radio?" This blues man also has a great sense of humor, which really helps to diversify the album. With his style — which he refers to as "nu bleuz" — Rodgers reminds us that music genres such as soul, gospel and the blues are not mutually exclusive. Instead, they feed off of each other and blend to make music that just feels good.
—Melineh Kurdian
Billboard Hot 100 Singles: Top 10
1. "I Knew I Loved You," Savage Garden.
Columbia.
2. "Thank God I Found You," Mariah Carey (foot, Joe & 90 Degrees) Columbia
3. "What A Girl Wants," Christina Aguilera.
RCA.
4. "Get It On Tonite," Montell Jordan. Def Soul.
5. "Smooth," Santana (feat. Rob Thomas) Arista.
6. "Back At One." Brian McKnight. Motown.
7. All the Small things, Bink-183, MCA
8. "Brilliant Is It To Me," Playlist 183
8. "Bring It All To Me," Blague, Track Masters.
9. "Blue Do You Deal?" Fifth & Republic.
9. "Blue (Da Ba Dee)," Eiffel 65. Republic.
10. "That'S The Way It Is," Celine Dion. 550 Music.
Billboard 200 Top albums: Top 10
1. Voodoo, D'Angelo. Virgin.
2. Supernatural, Santana, Arista
3. Dr. Dre -- 2001, Dr. Dre. Aftermath.
4. All The Way... A Decade Of Song, Celine Dion. 550 Music.
5. We Are The Streets,The Lox.Ruff Ryders.
5. We Are the Streets, The Lax, Run Ryders.
6. Christina Aguilera, Christina Aguilera.
RCA.
7. ..And Then There Was X, DMX. Ruff Ryders.
8. Europop, Eiffel 65. Republic
9. Now 3. Various Artists, UTV
10. Millennium, Backstreet Boys. Jive.
Source: BPI Communications