6 THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FILM
THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2002
Popularity doesn't mean film isn't art
Is it me, or is anyone else sick of these humorless, self-important, reflexive films that pass off as critical darlings?
FILM SNOB
James Owen
jowen@kansan.com
Last year's Oscar season provided a good example. Did anyone other than coastal cinephile critics get anything out of watching the Marxist rant known as Robert Altman's Gosford Park? Or how about the "Skinimax" direct-to-video mind trip, David Lynch's Mulholland Dr.?
Because art, or Art, as some put it, is the prism for how we see our society, shouldn't it appeal to as many people in society as possible? That's not to say XXX is art simply because it's popular, but if people followed the logic of cinematic elitists, they would argue something popular can't be art. This summer gave us several examples of how the major studios may actually know what they are doing. Here's a top-five list of some of recent mainstream films worthy of a poster.
1. Sam Raimi's Spider-man: Letting Raimi direct the adaptation of the webshooting superhero comic kept the film from becoming as lifeless and overdone as a Batman film directed by Joel Schumacher. Raimi cast unlikely starlets as Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst in the
lead roles and brought an emotional edge and unique darkness to the large budget. So who cares if the Green Goblin's outfit made Willem Dafoe look like a drugged-out Mighty Morphin Power Ranger?
2. Al Pacino and Robin Williams going head-to-head: Christopher Nolan, already a master of manipulating perspective with 2001's Mamento, took a mediocre Norwegian film and turned the remake of Insomnia into a whole new type of thriller. Pacino as the guilt-ridden and sleep-deprived cop took on Williams' too-polite-not-to-be-a-serial-killer in a nightless Alaska.
3. Steven Spielberg, the ultimate Indie filmmaker: Spielberg has abandoned films involving lost boys and focused on the
darker themes and issues of our society. Witness Minority Report, a Tom Cruise action-thriller on the surface that acts as a philosophical diatribe on the U.S. legal system below the surface. And weren't those "spider teams" just flat out creepy?
4. The road to hell is paved with great cinematography: Has there been a more beautiful film released other than Road to Perdition in the past 10 years? The palate created by cinematographer Conrad L. Hall gave 1930s Illinois the lights and shadows that the film's deep story truly deserved. It was almost enough to upstage the acting duet of Tom Hanks and Paul Newman.
5. Matthew Lillard's award-deserving performance as Shaggy in Scooby-Doo: Laugh if you must, but this screwball supporting actor came into his own against a computer-generated dog. Lillard, for what it's worth, invested every bit of his acting ability to bringing this character to life. This is my guy when Oscar nominations are announced in February.
Check out other reviews by Owen at www.filmsnobs.com. Warning: that's a plural "filmsnobs."
Stephen Shupe
sshupe@kansan.com
'Simone is a virtual bombshell
By Stephen Shupe
Jayplay writer
Al Pacino, who looked about 70 years old on the front page of The Kansas City Star last week, downloads a movie star in Simone, an uneven but conceptually brilliant comedy.
After one too many pampering sessions with a superstar, Hollywood director Viktor Taransky (Pacino) quits the live-acting biz altogether, taking with him his somber movies with scores by Samuel Barber and
SEE SIMONE ON PAGE 7