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Show 8 WEDNESDAY, THE SUMMER UTAH CHRONICLE JUNE 27, 2001 4 . - JfT'j BRENT SALLAY Chronicle Feature Writer JEREMY MATHEWS Chronicle Feature Writer Confield Autechre Warp "A.I." Directed by Steven Speilberg Produced by Bonnie Curtis, Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Speilberg Screenplay by Steven Speilberg Warner Brothers Pictures Starring Haley Joel Osment, Judc Law, Frances O'Connor, Sam Robards and Williajn Hurt Rated: ' "fclkk What are these strange sounds that batter my senses? Who is responsible for this madness? The aliens have landed in my mind and 5 k ' are dividing up the land. If I've lost you by this point, I suggest you try deciphering the song titles on Autechre's Confield. Try assigning meaning to words like 'cfern' and 'eidetic casein.' Try iden- PG-1- 3 (out of four) Speiiberg's "A.I." is an movie full of great sequences. But it's also disappointing. That's because it could have been made great by fixing a few inconsistencies and cutting out the final part of the film. The late Stanley Kubrick developed "A.I." for many years before passing the project on to Speilberg, and the legendary director received a production credit and a dedication. Speilberg is a different kind of director than Kubrick and was not expected to make "A.I." as it was Kubrick's envisioned. originally films were cold, emotionless and looked at human nature with merciless honesty. Speilberg at his best and worst has always been interested in provoking tears. This film's subject matter favors Kubrick's icy approach. Surprisingly, Speilberg pulls it off for a large part of the film. The story is set in the future when the world's coasts arc flooded because of melting icecaps. Pregnancies require a permit. Robots, called mechas, replaced many human tasks and require fewer resources to maintain. A professor at a mccha factory (William Hurt) isn't happy with the robots that simply imitate human behavior. He wants them to feel actual emotions. His goal is to make children that will love the couples that aren't allowed to have children. So David (Haley Joel Osment) is created, as "God created Adam so that he would love Him." He is the (out of four) Steven excellent fir' tifying a single time signature amidst this sonic mess. Autechre's Rob Brown and Sean Booth are either severely retarded or some kind of geniuses. I think I would side more with the latter. While some have criticized Confield for being less accessible than, say, Tri Repetae, this comparison is unfounded. After all, why should Autechre be forced to repeat itself? The duo is definitely headed somewhere else, and Confield is a blurred freeze frame of them from the most outer reaches of space. It hasn't quite congealed into a defining moment, and it hints at the past as much as it teases from where it is tr headed. But to pass Confield off as cerebral and unlistenable based on pre- David's love. "He" is actually "it" and can clearly never be real, but he wants to transform like Pinocchio. Osment plays the part with a spooky element of calculation. Then it all goes wrong. The film starts going for the emotional elements and has too much of a heart to make a strong point After completing what could have first mccha capable of love and is given to a company employee (Sam Robards) and his wife, Monica (Frances O'Conner). Their son is in a coma and will not likely recover, so they test David. The ad campaign refreshingly avoided revealing too many plot details, and this review will do the same. The film contains seyeral dazzling sequences involving the treatment of robots in various aspects of been the most haunting ending of the year, the film decides to keep going. And going. Suddenly "A.I." brings to mind the frame Speilberg unnecessarily tacked on to "Saving Private Ryan" to make sure people life. David ends up on a quest where he meets a gigolo robot played by the talented Jude Law, visits some amazing-lookin- g cities and does desperate things for the sake of love. The driving force of "A.I." is cried. While not as bad structurally, "A.I" is worse when the subject matter and length are taken into account. "A.I." contains many breathtaking moments and should probably be seen in the theater. It will surely be remembered for its many inspired moments from the cast, designers & and directors. It will never be considered an artistic masterpiece on par with Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey," but "A.I.'s" ending will probably bring more people to the box office. Chronicle and a guest jmathewschronicle.utah.edu to a special screening on Thursday, June 2Sth 7:00 Cineplej 1 continued from page 7 turn pro in their early 20s. It took another five years of riding in the pro ranks for Jemison to reach the Tour de France. For Howat, the road to the Tour Feminin was shorter and filled with less tribulation. Bicycle racing was still mostly an amateur endeavor for American women when she started racing in '81. Preparing for the Tour required two to three hours of training each day, which allowed her to go to school and e later maintain a job. "Women can have a life because they don't have to train as much as the men," said HowaL A native of Williamsville, N.Y., Howat moved out west for skiing. After spending a year in Boulder, Colo., she moved to Salt Lake City to be closer to the ski resorts. Her inclination for the outdoors led her to cycling, and soon she entered her first race, the Snowbird Hillclimb. She finished second and was hooked immedifull-tim- ately. "You know, something just grabs you," she explained. TASTE THE GREAT TASTE OF OUR 1 9 CKteon CENM 300 South State Pick up your 3 complimentary passes at: Daily Utah Chronicle Office (2001CitrriCs)NiDr.f240) M Writ fl n puis vm , WMm pmvtm. I tojto VMB fmm wdmrnt m. we dm it hot tuuukvru MV1 HAJHT. CiapnmlT tmm mt to mUm nta m Wo n IHi rm. mum i dot mwqnsnu roo MnoMIWMiFnMalillMk 17 pare N mm Chicken Salad ing. "Vi Scose Poise" sounds like a meteor raindrop rolling off the circumference of a satellite dish. "Cfern" is a children's toy gone terribly wrong. "Lentic Catachresis" is a robot p in the bathtub with singing hip-ho- a toaster. "Parhelic Triangle" features the cello from hell washed in a ly's entrails. Trent Reznor would give up moping to sound like this. This is what it sounds like inside of things. This is what we would hear all the time if our ears were turned in on themselves. Confield may either be the soundtrack for insanity or the impetus. You be the judge. bsallaychronicle.utah.edu Howat started racing seriously after graduation, and though she worked her focus was on cycling. Her results at regional races made her realize that she could ride at the national level. Having heard about an East Coast club that was invited to the Tour Feminin annually, Howat joined and was later selected for the Tour in '88. After that experience at the Tour, Howat began having doubts about continuing racing. She noticed that her talented contemporaries in the sport were left with very little at the end of their careers. "I didn't want that to be me," Howat recalled. With the realization that she wasn't going to improve much more, Howat quit racing. "It was like a relationship that was not going to work out," she reflected. "It took a lot of to walk full-tim- e, Pffl BROADWAY 'fell! i TOUR DE FRANCE liminary Hubble readings is an easy out There's something else going on here. Something worth investigat- E once-in-a-lifeti- will-pow- er away." For the next eight years, Howat did not race or read anything about the sport. She went back to school, earned her master's degree in tax accounting and had two children. Howat now works as the manager of the University's Tax Department and races recreationally, which is a testimony to her love of the sport. At the Rocky Mountain Raceway, where there is a bicycle race every Tuesday night, Howat races with the top local male racers. Most of them don't even know Howat rode in the Tour Feminin because she rarely talks about it. "It's ancient history," she said. "It's like talking about being a cheerleader in high school." After seven yearsas a professional, Jemison retired at the end of last season. He resides in a Park City home he built, and he recently became a father. Jemison wants to remain connected to the sport and stay in Salt Lake City. "Maybe I will serve on the board of a sport committee in an advisor capacity," he said. "It's been a great career," Jemison reminisces. "I was happy to do it. It consumed my entire life, but I enjoyed that. I liked being in an arena that took a focus of 365 days a year. I don't think there's another sport that requires that much commitment." aleechronicle.utah.edu |
