THURSDAY,APRIL24,2003
MOVIES AROUND TOWN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 13
All reviews and summaries were written by Jayplay film critic Stephen Shupe.
LIBERTYHALL
Bend It Like Beckham Reviewed on p.12
Contributed art
Shia LaBeouf stars in Holes, director Andrew Davis' adaptation of the book by Louis Sachar.
City of God
Grade: A
A modern masterpiece of epic scope and breathtaking energy, City of God is a violent plunge into a forgotten underworld the Brazilian slums that served as ground zero for drug trafficking through Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the '60s and '70s. Director Fernando Meirelles' astonishingly clear vision of this inescapable world is like an urbanized retelling of William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, where savage boys quench the bloodthirsty beast within. Dizzying visuals, heartbreaking truths and surreal rock-and-roll flourishes make for an exhilarating and unforgettable film experience.
SOUTH WIND 12
Anger Management
Grade: C
Adam Sandler goes face-to-face with a berserk Jack Nicholson in this half-assed comedy that wants to have it both ways. On one hand, it introduces a more mature Sandler to his aging fan base. On the other, it clings to the sketch-comedy tricks that made him a superstar in Billy Madison, earning a few points with the Eminem crowd. The result looks like a "HappyMadison" baby that's come sideways out of the womb. With such a promising casting coup, one might have hoped for a less rough-around-the-edge's script, which positions Sandler as a mental schnook to Nicholson's devil-may-care therapist.
Better Luck Tomorrow (Opens Friday)
Ben is the perfect Asian-American highschool kid, an extremely intelligent overachiever poised for acceptance at the Ivy League University of his choosing. But as Ben and his two best friends strive for social acceptance, a darker side emerges: a double life of mischief that alleviates the pressures of perfection. Their petty crimes escalate as the trio meets up with Daric, the senior valedictorian who's a ticking time bomb.
Forming an increasingly violent gang, these outsiders vie for the attention of a seductive classmate, Stephanie, who, as school rumor has it, once starred in a porno film. Better Luck Tomorrow draws inspiration from A Clockwork Orange as
the group's after-school activities spiral downward into a sociopathic abyss.
Bulletproof Monk Grade: B
Flying kung fu and an ancient artifact of great power figure heavily in this Chow Yun Fat action flick, but the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon comparisons end there.
Seann William Scott co-stars as a pick-pocket who befriends Fat's Monk with No Name, an immortal warrior who guards a powerful Tibetan scroll against infiltrating Nazis. Though its story turns overly serious in the final stretch, Bulletproof Monk wisely relies on Fat and Scott's richly comedic chemistry and Jamie King's above-the-equator sex appeal. Scott, who looks stoned out of his mind in his first scene (how's that for method acting?), replaces Keanu as Hollywood's blank-dude embodiment of irreverence. If he had played Neo in The Matrix, instead of saying "Whoa" he would have said "Huh?"
Confidence (Opens Friday)
Razor-sharp grifter Jake Vig (Edward Burns) has just swindled a huge load of
cash from Lionel Dolby, an accountant for eccentric crime boss Winston King (Dustin Hoffman).
When Dolby turns up dead, "the King" comes to collect, offering Vig one opportunity to avoid the same fate: pull off the con of a lifetime. Crime-drama stylist James Foley (At Close Range, Glengarry Glen Ross) directs, with comic-relief assists from Donal Logue and Luis Guzman as corrupt LAPD officers.
Holes
Grade: A-
Directed by Andrew Davis from the popular Louis Sachar book, Holes is the first major surprise of the movie year, a kid flick with enough heart and brains to satisfy an audience of any age. Sachar's refreshingly intricate story concerns Stanley Yelnats IV, an unlucky youth who's wrongfully sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile prison in the desert where The Warden (Sigourney Weaver) forces her young charges to dig holes for, as she explains it, "personal growth." Of course, the holes have a back story, which unfolds in magnificently filmed flashbacks that alone would make for a great western. The immensely likable cast of child actors performs slang dialogue more naturally than in any Disney movie
I've seen, and the plot comes full circle in a powerhouse way that's been compared to The Shawshank Redemption and can only be described as "artful." This is Davis' first great movie since 1993's The Fugitive.
It Runs in the Family (Opens Friday)
This multigenerational comedy focuses on the Grombergs, a highly successful, somewhat eccentric New York family. Patriarch Mitchell comes to grips with his own mortality; son Alex obsesses about not becoming his father; grandson Asher tries to "find himself" by partying away his college years. The film is notable because it features three generations of the superstar Douglas family: Kirk, Michael and Cameron.
Phone Booth Grade: F
Voiced by Kiefer Sutherland, the sniper is heard in stereo off-screen throughout this loud, cheaply "controversial" movie, creating a kind of Mystery Science Theater 3000 effect. At one point, Sutherland tricks Farrell into believing Sutherland is a Vietnam veteran. He then tells Farrell he's stupid by saying "I'd have to be 50 to be in that war!" Hey Kief: He can't tell how old you are, dumbass - you're talking to him on a phone.
Colin Farrell makes an 80-minute phone call in Phone Booth, the new godawful Joel Schumacher thriller that seems to cater to the interests of masochists. Farrell's character is a media publicist we know nothing about and like even less. Farrell must confess his sins to his mistress and wife before a sniper blows them all away.
In a nationwide college-campus search that unfortunately did not result in the casting of a University of Kansas student, filmmakers recruited 16 wild-and-crazy kids to indulge in the spring-break revelry of Cancun, Mexico.
The Real Cancun (Opens Friday)
The finished film includes planned group activities reminiscent of reality television and other after-dark activities too hot for prime time.
The Real Cancun was shot just a month ago with six camera crews. Let's see: Six crews, 24 hours a day, seven days a week ... that's about a thousand hours of footage to edit in less than five weeks, so it should be all ready to go by the time I finish this sentence.