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Show ? mri SalSunMonTyes, July 3-6, 2004 The Park Record C-9 'Be-Lovely not 'un-lovely enough (AP) What a horrible irony that "De-Lovely," the story of Cole Porter, should be so off-key. off-key. All the components are there: a versatile star, Kevin Kline, playing the composer with wit, style and wonderful panache; the music of Porter, performed by such eclectic singers as Elvis Costello, Alanis Morissette and Sheryl Crow; lavish, evocative settings; and a mind-boggling array of dapper and to-die-for clothing. Unfortunately, "De-Lovely" : isn't nearly as delightful or delicious deli-cious as it looks. Director Irwin Winkler and screenwriter Jay Cocks (who co-wrote co-wrote "Gangs of New York") don't shy away from Porter's homosexuality, unlike some safer depictions of the composer, who died in 1964 after decades of defining American pop music. The filmmakers have said "De-Lovely" was made in the spirit of Porter's life and tunes, and not a pure biography. But the structure they've chosen to tell his story is clunky and self-conscious. Winkler, who previously directed Kline in the weepy 2001 melodrama "Life As a House," alternates awkwardly between the dying Porter, sitting in an empty theater watching his life unfold before him on stage, and flashbacks to the events themselves. them-selves. Guiding him through this retrospective ret-rospective is a mystery man named Gabe an all-too literal reference to the archangel Gabriel played by Jonathan Pryce, who's relegated to sitting next to Porter and repeatedly saying something along the lines of, "It's your life. Cole," as if we couldn't ascertain that for ourselves. our-selves. Porter, meanwhile, sits and marvels at the portrayal of his loyal and long-suffering wife, Linda (Ashley Judd), who knew of his dalliances with beautiful, younger men, but stood by him and served as his platonic muse. - "God, she was beautiful," Porter proclaims more than once. And she was, as played by Judd, whose classic looks are a perfect fit for the pin curls and elegant styles of the Jazz Age. (Costume designer Janty Yates is one of the film's real stars.) Despite its attempts at innovation, inno-vation, "De-Lovely" falls into some of the same traps as most biopics: In trying to hit all the highlights of a famous person's life, the result often feels too cursory. We never really understand what drove Porter to write (fame? money? the satisfaction of self-expression?) or what kept him and Linda together for all those years. We are merely told that she loved his music and who doesn't? Purists will probably recoil at the very idea of having contemporary contem-porary pop stars sing classic Porter tunes. The tactic might seem like a transparent ploy to pull young people in to see a film about someone who was an influential musical force far prior to the advent of "TRL." But this is actually one of the film's few successful risks. Seeing Morissette belt out "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love," Costello jerk and bop his way through "Let's Misbehave" and Crow croon "Begin the Arizona Indian art museum has been educating for 75 years PHOENIX (AP) Education is the focus at the Heard Museum, which boasts a world-renowned collection of American Indian art and draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. "Education is everything," said Frank H. Goodyear Jr., director of the museum. "We use those objects to tell the stories of people. We tell the history, the traditions, the manners, the beliefs. ... We make people realize that Indian culture is alive, not something in the past." The melding of past and present pres-ent is reflected in the museum's more than 32,000 works of art and ethnographic objects, including 3.600 paintings, prints, sculptures and other fine art. Among the nine exhibits is the "We Are! Arizona's First People" interactive gallery that explores the history of Arizona's 21 federally recognized tribes. Along with the baskets and pottery pot-tery unique to each tribe, the exhibit also includes photographs that give a glimpse into what life on the. reservations looks like today. Another exhibit called "Remembering Our Indian School Days: The Boarding School Experience" examines a federal policy that shipped Indian children to boarding schools beginning in 1879 to assimilate them into mainstream society. Clarissa Kagenreama of Mesa recently took her 10-year-old sister sis-ter and 9-year-old niece to the exhibit. "Since I've brought them here, they learned a lot things my grandmother told me before she passed away," said Kagenreama, who is Hopi and Acoma and whose uncle had attended one of the boarding schools. "It was nice of them (the museum) to do this for us." The Heard, which is celebrating celebrat-ing its 75th anniversary this year, began with the same spirit of edu cation. Founders Dwight and Maie Heard opened the museum in 1929 next to their home to show visitors the Indian artifacts they had collected over the years. After Maie Heard died in 1951, a board of trustees governed gov-erned the museum. National figures fig-ures would also help distinguish the museum, such as the late Sen. Barry Goldwater, who donated 437 katsina dolls from his own collection in 1964. The Heard remains on the original site, though it has undergone under-gone several expansions. It draws about 225.000 visitors annually. 60 percent of them from outside Arizona. "The Heard Museum has one of the premier collections in Southwest traditional and contemporary con-temporary arts," said Nancy Parezo, a professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona. "It's a good general introduction to the Native people and the arts in the Southwest." THREE CHEERS FOR THE ite -AND- (gfaff 0 G 0DG(KKyvg) (oldewr&iu$ckJmb DEER VALLEY In the mood for some real excitement this Fourth of July? Join us at our award-winning Goldener Hirsch Inn Restaurant for 2 for 1 entrees Chef Montecot's creative and delicious offerings like Asian Seafood Noodles, Grilled Lobster Tail, Veal Osso Bucco, Crispy Roasted Duck, and a Hirsch favorite, Wienerschnitzel, will make you feel like celebrating! Please present this ad for 2 for 1 Entries. A 20 gratuity will be added to the bill based on the. original balance. Offer good through 7 7 04. Please call for reservations. cauSux P.O. Box 8S9, Park City, UT 84060 (800)252-3573 (435)649-7770 www.GoldeneTHirschInn.com Unwind in Luxurious . Equestrian Estate Elegantly iraded ccndo IK with spacious great room, loft;, huge (deck vlch hot tub, views, t garage. Golf course area. MctieuU condition. OK for nightly rertd t $575,000 . !, 1 -"! 1 V-rmt:4M ' orr.e 4.8 Acres with Views - In Town BcszS'd tustom hoc: with cpen floor plan, Psncrbuc vices c? druns. Chefs kitchca, r-r r; h fcrr. s bsth, huge . ... .. V' i . .1! iv,, ji "I. Beguine." all decked out in period peri-od garb, is an unusual and surreal surre-al experience. Using these performances per-formances to punctuate a documentary docu-mentary might have been preferable. prefer-able. Judd, however, apparently did not atquire the musical talent of her mother, Naomi, and sister, Wynonna. While this is one of the better performances of her wildly inconsistent career, she cannot sing and should not. This might have been purposeful, but it's especially glaring compared to the people blessed with musical musi-cal prowess with whom she shares the screen. Speaking of glaring, one of li the few truly painful musical numbers consists of Porter and Louis B. Mayer (Peter Polycarpou) frantically hamming ham-ming it up with a cast of thousands thou-sands to "Be a Clown" on the MGM lot. Again, this may have been intentionally bad, but that doesn't does-n't make it any easier to sit through. "De-Lovely," an MGM Pictures release, is rated PG-13 for sexual content. Running time: 126 minutes. One and a half stars out of four. This Kitty's All Grown Up! MHE llli 304 MAIN ST. PARK CITY A PRIVATE CLUB FOR MEMBERS $10 COVER SATURDAY JULY 3 LIVE 10:30 PM ...No Bitchin'U HAVE WE GOT A SPACE FOR YOU! NOW AVAILABLE IN THE rem &a niri n m in Join Park City's thriving business neighborhood, including: Storage Depot Silver Cricket Christian Center of Park City Sundance Institute Resorts West People's Health Clinic Park City Sign Right Angle Picture Framing Windy Ridge Bakery & Care Spa Source R & R Properties Dr. Edgar Goldston Fairweather Natural Foods Kwal Howell Paint Right At Home Freestyle Health & Fitness Summit Boxing Club Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Lost Sock Laundry Mercer Automotive Stein Eriksen, Inc. 1800 SF WarehouseShowroom $13SF 2000 SF Office space $16SF 3500 SF OfficeService space $12SF CAMS $37SF . THE IRONHORSE DISTRICT IS LOCATED SOUTH OF NoMa -THAT MAKES US SoNoMa!!! PLEASE CALL: 649-2741 o O l! M5 J If lit II 7 U f ') a '" - i r-ryn mJKJLM w |