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Show Your Life MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2005 PAGE B2 PriA/a£& L Lv Great Sign Up Seals Now! Call or come in! 374-2 Contracts Carriage Clove 6(16 West 1720 N. Available for: Spring/Summer Fall/Winter Annual Contracts Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox Ewan McGregor, Robin Williams and Greg Kinnear star in "Robots," now playing in theaters everywhere. Robots delivers action-packed laughs Patrick Svensson Life Writer /%f"t WAI' Students, Families Retirees, Singles & Couples $ Earn great money $ Travel the globe! 5-day International TESOL certification course Free seminar - 7:00 PM 1st & 3rd Mondays 1739 S. Redwood Road, SLC 2nd & 4th Mondays 384 West Center, Provo l-888-TESOLUT(837-6588) www.globaltesolusa.com Your "Local" Insurance Office Student Discount • Motorcycle Insurance "Robots" is a neatfilm:its humanlike robot characters and the setting in which the story takes place are grand achievements in animation design. Sadly, the story is somewhat bland and ironically, considering its subject, uninventive. Hopeful young inventor Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor) travels to Robot City to pitch his new dishwashing invention to the Bigweld Corporation, headed by the mysteriously absent Bigweld (Mel Brooks). In Bigweld's place, the smarmy and relentlessly evil Ratchet (Greg Kinnear) is eliminating the production of replacement robot parts and exclusively producing expensive, full-body upgrades so costly that poor robots cannot afford them, rendering them obsolete and expendable. Rodney catches wind of this and decides that he can't let Ratchet do that to the poor robots. After all, Rodney knows what it's like to be poor. He uses his inventing talents to become a sort of Robin Hood by fixing the robots himself Meanwhile, he tries to locate the missing Bigweld with the help of the zany Fender (the ever-frantic Robin Williams) and the obligatory love interest Cappy (Halle Berry), in order to stop Ratchet's evil ways. If that sounds like a lot, that's because it is. The film is preoccupied with its extraordinary visuals, energetic set-pieces (including an awesome trip through Robot City powered by slides, catapults, and gravity), and enormous voice cast full of famous names (many of whom have nothing to do but say a couple of pointless lines). It's quite tiring, actually. Unfortunately, its focus on the "experience" takes away from intelligent storytelling, and the "follow your dreams" message is pretty flat. That being the case, I liked "Robots" more than I feel I should've. Sometimes I feel like my "maturity" should override the simple (and sometimes juvenile) pleasures of watching people fall down or get bonked on the head. However, looking around the theater, seeing all the kids laughing, not concerning themselves with grand thematic brilliance, but with Fender's Britney Spears impersonation, I couldn't help but join in. It was a great time. Spike Lee's latest "joint" is sure to ignite some controversy Photo courtesy of 40 Acres & a Mule Filmworks Kerry Washington and Anthony Mackie star in "She Hate Me," playing now in theaters. GEICO. A 15 minute call could save you 15% on car insurance Patrick Svensson Life Writer FREE No obligation Rate Quotes • Money Saving Discounts • Monthly Payment Plan Contact our "Local" Office 801-226-2404 1513 North Hill Field Road, Suite #3 DISCOVER the possibilities Free tutonng Personal attention Cutting-edge technology Make more money Fully accredited classes Several degrees avaflable "She Hate Me" is the new "joint" by Spike Lee, afilmso audacious, ambitious, reckless, and therefore brilliant that it has already become his least accessible work to date. After blowing the whistle on some malfeasance in his company, Jack Armstrong (Anthony Mackie) is fired, his bank accounts frozen, and no one will hire him. Serendipitously, his former loverturned-lesbian Fatima (Kerry Washington) shows up at his door with a proposition: she will pay him ten thousand dollars to impregnate her and her partner ("We're feeling maternal"). Fatima and her lover's insemination is a success, so much in fact that Fatima tells her friends about him. Jack ends up moonlighting as an impregnator of child-wanting lesbian couples (including a mafia boss's daughter Simona, played by the stunning Monica Bellucci). Meanwhile, his corporate life begins to close in on him as his former company figureheads fight to stay on top. This is a Spike Lee film, so a "She Hate Me" is an ambi- racially charged focus is only tious tale of men and women, to be expected ("Malcolm African-American and White, X," "Do the Right Thing"). gay and straight, who are Te 11 ingiy, the late great marginalized by the systems equal-rights activist Ossie they live in and the choices Davis (who passed away this they make. It is sprawling, month) appears in many of encompassing four or five Spike's films, including this different stories with vary- one. Many shrug off Lee's ing success. It is an offensive works as racist diatribes, but if film that purposefully flaunts they just looked a little closer, stereotypes of race, gender, they'd see some of the most and sexual orientation. Its brilliant films about equality stereotyping, however, is and acceptance ever made, necessary for its presentation "She Hate Me" included. of mistreated people in systems they can't control. Light a fire in her Come visit our scenic campus and meet the facul J E W E L E R S ^•••'-;-.H;,.^y "Utah County's Largest Jewelry Showroom" 120 North University Avenue • Provo • 801*375-5220 |