OCR Text |
Show WASATCH COUNTY COURIER “Tt’s a really easy trail,” Richardson added, suggesting that experience is not a factor. _ WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY JOHN HERZFELD. STARRING ROBERT DE NIRO, EDWARD BURNS, KELSEY GRAMMER, KAREL RODEN, OLEG TAKTAROV, MELINA — KANAKAREDES AND DAPHNE HANDLOVA. eaten the country whole. — _ What's frightening about these two is how fascinating Herzfeld makes so many recent screen history. This is partly because they’re well played by competent actors with fresh faces, and partly because they convincingly represent _the cultural refuse we’ve broadcast for profit upon the world’s airwaves—now washed back to pollute our shores. _ The brutal, angular and agitated Emil, fixates on revenge on an old friend who fled with more than his , plunges headlong into t day’s entertain-_ insatiable public) to create a breathless, kinetic cinema that participates | share of robbery loot. He becomes an inadvertent star in a homemade snuff film when the pair’s visit to~an East in the very excesses it criticizes. Judging by the film’s sheer visual and visceral impact, writer-director © becoming a force to be reckoned with. I find myself ambivalent about his work—is it possible to like a movie crimes with a TV Camcorder, stolen and distrust it at the from time? episode of Roseanne’s talk show on TV is cut out for me. Give Herzfeld credit for powerful mis-en-scene. His decision to hire French cinematographer Jean Yves Escoffer pays off handsomely in the way his camera captures Manhattan’s beautiful, brooding presence—both in which she lets a garden-variety incest perpetrator off the hook when elements and contradictory characters that Herzfeld juggles to nerve-jangling effect. Fleeting fame and its inevitable fallout are the subjects of Herzfeld’s — canny screenplay. Among the characters he fleshes out are celebrity cop Eddie Flemming (Robert De Niro), who uses the media to hype his raffish reputation; Jordy Warsaw (Edward Burns), a straight-arrow arson investigator, whose whiff of the system’s crashing injustice threatens drips journalistic hubris and hypocrisy as he reaches lower and lower for ratings. (While critics make easy com- | parisons to Geraldo, think instead of someone like CBS morning man Bryant Gumbel, once a reasonable facsimile of a newsman who now interviews “Survivor” castoffs.) Spring Camping — Camping in Utah is a magical experience. Bryce, Zion, Arches, the Uintas— the options are endless. While snow still rests on many of the ranges surround- ing Heber Valley, and temperatures make camping a hardy experience, southern Utah is an apt destination. During the summer months, temperatures in near Moab, Bryce and Zion National Parks can soar into the triple digits. But spring’s months are moderate and comfortable for the prepared camper, ranging from about 40 degrees at night to an enjoyable 80 during the day. Zion’s 229 square miles is filled with soaring sandstone cliffs, hanging gardens and narrow canyons. Snow pack melts to reveal lush greenery and blooming wildflowers (and autumn’s fiery splendor is nice, too). embodied Hawkins limited to fourteen days. Call 1-800for reservations. ‘northeast of Zion and is the smallest of Utah’s national parks. Bryce’s variety of forests, such as the dwarf’s with Utah juniper and pinyon pine on the lower slopes as well as grand ponderosas, spruce, quaking aspen and fir. The elevation climbs 1,000 feet from the park entrance to Rainbow Point. Flowers are abundant, too, including lilies, penstemons, asters, primrose and wild iris. Tent and trailer camping is available on a first come, first serve basis. Sites have . tables, fireplaces, nearby restrooms and water. No hookups are provided, but a sanitary dump station exists in the summer. No wood gather- ing is allowed, so be prepared! Some sites are available year round. Cabins can be rented from May to mid- October. Call the Bryce Canyon Lodge at 303-297-2757 for details. 1 a by, ble “ride-along” arrangement with his cop-opposite in an attempt to get it. There are holes in the screenplay large enough to thoroughly ventilate the film’s insubstantial structure, wit| ness the absurd events leading to a three-alarm fire (followed by a courageous rescue), and a three-ring media. circus that ends the movie. Herzfeld appears to run out of ideas during the finale. He can’t decide whether Burns’ Warsaw (who is at the center of these sequences) is truly heroic or just another slippery anti-hero eventually corrupted by the system. Ses _ As for Herzfeld himself, the jury is still out. We'll have to wait until he has at least one more film under his belt to see if he’s truly brilliant or just a flash in the pan. 3 and details. | Bryce Canyon, eroded by years of falling rain, snow and ice, lies 90 miles who Brighten up your gre y, March days... : g has sprung at The Homestead Gift Shop! A Breath of Paris with Pink Roses will sweeten the air, beautiful Spring clothing you'll love to wear, a new line of white china to brighten your meals and bunnies and chicks loose at your heels! Friends from the valley, “documentary” and a big time lawyer Hawkins. of America’s wildly successful recruiting propaganda. “Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to...kill guilt- free” might be the fuzzy mistranslation of lofty principles etched into the heads of Czech mobster Emil Slovak (Karel Roden) and his Russian cohort, Oleg Razgi (Oleg Taktarov). They have already smarmy to get them off on temporary insanity. Arson investigator Warsaw, meanwhile, the movie’s only moral voice, wants justice and finagles an implausi- match the exposure guaranteed by— they are the rotten and aberrant fruit For more information on horseback riding at the Homestead call 654-1102. Herzfeld’s conceit is to bring the to Herzfeld introduces us to minutes into the movie, just as they are clearing customs at JFK Airport. He suggests ; 365-CAMP cops, the criminals and the media into intimate conjunction so-that each is manipulating the others for advantage. De Niro’s Flemming wants a live collar of the celebrity killers; Hawkins wants the snuff tape for a sensational story; Emil and Oleg want cash for their stiffed on the street like any other Speaking of raw material, consid- mill of trash TV, Grammer’s material; TV reporter Nicolette Karas (Melina Kanakaredes), who shares Flemming’s bedroom, but gets er the two East European thugs that outlets. Emil and Oleg are perfect grist for the unable damage caused by the. horses, but Richardson said it is dry enough to ride by May. Wasatch County also boasts a plethora of horseback training from Red Tail Ranch and Midway Watchman — and South Equestrian Center to the Graceland - Campgrounds have water, fire grates, Equestrian Park. Over the hill in Park picnic tables, restrooms and sanitary City, guided horseback riding is also disposal for trailers. There are no utiliavailable at a number of established ty hookups or showers and camping is his remorse, Emil enthuses, “I love America! No one is responsible for what they do.” the big picture and devastating detail. The city becomes one of the volatile or sheep, reintroduced in the park in the. 1970s. Two million people visit the park annually, and last year Zion took measures to protect the delicate ecosystem by banning automobiles. Shuttles transport hikers and tourists. he embraces his victim and confesses Flemming for raw and graphic new e electronics work (ustification—or rationalization) to transform him into a-raging vigi- ARR ORR D I SIS Square As the two watch a Springeresque lante; Robert Hawkins (Kelsey ' Grammer), whose tabloid TV show, “Top Story,” exploits his mutually advantageous’ relationship with ENTE act-ece PRD ASIEN I RPHORERDIETNCR a Times. store. Having already impulsively awarded 15 Minutes three stars, however, my “oN Village apartment results in a double homicide. The lensman is the animat_ ed and ostentatious Oleg, whose delusions of grandeur (he introduces himself as “Frank Capra”) include the compulsion to document the pair’s John Herzfeld (who made the flashy but shallow 2 Days in the Valley) is LI NIRCONEE in their snakes in a box—are among the most disturbing and diverting criminals in | ment and media (and its appeal'toan eRNEY movies them to watch. Emil and Oleg—two _ ike it or hate it, 15 Minutes ERT Hollywood you're lucky, you might spota bighorn pie ie homelands that they believe they’ve varieties. Spring wildflowers are abundant, including sand buttercup and Indian paintbrush among beavertail cactus, willow, box elder and conifers. 75 species of mammals and 271 species of birds live in the beautiful land. If : *& *&*& STARS Review by Paul Swenson Aa eg frowns on riding this early due to trail -consumed so much American TV and unwilling | ing on the terrain. The Forest Service 15 Minutes reporter | Currently, the trails are still wet and muddy, or covered with snow depend- Raw Material same of native plants with more than 800 CONTINUED FROM A1 UCAYA TANG unholy alliance’ of crime, Zion holds Utah’s richest selection SPRINGTIME MOVIE : B3 a n te) MARCH 21, 2001 present this ad and receive an 4. additional 10% discount on your purchase... |i when combined with your 10% Locals Discount, | you'll save 20% and not have to travel! This offer will only appear twice... take advantage of it now! | We hope to see you soon} 700 N Homestead Drive / Midway, Ulah 84049 435.654, 1102 / www.homesteadresert.com |