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Show mm v.- by Jeremy Mathews both physically and temporally to see every film at the St's Film Festival It's also impossible to predict which must-seat the films will still be must-seunder-hypeand of what end the festival, gems will materialize. There are, however, several ways for festival goers to enjoy themselves, even (gasp1) without seeing any celebrities or "buzz" films. The festival has been steadily growing for two decades, and is currently the biggest film festival in the United States, second only to Toronto in North America. Film distribution reps rabidly attend the festival in search of films to buy and market to mainstream or arthouse audiences. Many have called this growth a problem, claiming that the festival has lost its roots and that all the auxiliary festivals like SlamDance and its parasite wannabes like NoDance and DigiDance are necessary. have Some of these their places, but its unfair to say Sundance's growth has damaged it when the growth is in new categories for things like international documentaries. Plus. Variety reports that "Acquisition executives and agents are calling this year's festival 'solidly independent'" and there is worry that the films will be too artsy to buy. e e d mini-festival- s -i The 2003 festival opens tonight with a big premiere, but the core of the festival will always be the Documentary and Dramatic Competition categories, which feature 16 films each from more than V :a) H tr : h- - Warren, Christopher Walken, Dyan Cannon, Michael Shannon, Marton Csokas and David Ngoombujarra Rated PG zero reels (out of four) y 'I.,.- - Jt U i) : if-- ' ? J e ''' selected aren't debuts, but efforts from experienced filmmakers who still haven't broken into financial success. premise of the skinny white man teaming with a fat black man continues. The film opens with a voiceover of Charlie talking about Australia, and the titular kangaroo, who is smarter and more cunning than the average kangaroo, an animal known for its smarts and cunning. "But my story doesn't begin here," he says. Then why did the movie start there? (1) Because the plot presents barely enough material for a short, let alone a feature, and needs lots of padding, and (2) because the filmmakers have absolutely no respect for the audience's intelligence and want to show their schnazzy kangaroo. Charlie's friend Louis (Anthony Anderson) is a slacker who always gets Charlie into trouble, but Charlie has to be his pal because of the whole thing. Charlie operates a hair salon, but has to pay most of his earnings to his stepfather, a Mafia leader (Christopher Walken, who can also be seen in C v. ... ; : :'" 't . : ''' .i! ..... ' , "Balsercs, tival. This year, many of the films Charlie Carbone (Jerry O'Connell), and the astounding Warner Bros. Directed by David McNally Written by Steve Bing, Barry O'Brien and Scott Rosenberg Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Starring Jerry O'Connell, Anthony Anderson, Estella it 1 - 1 2,000 applicants. The documentaries are often the highlight of the festival, the first and sometimes only chance to see the results of the several years of dedication that went into following andor researching personal and historical subjects. Some of the documentaries are history lessons that attempt to inform and entertain, like "The Murder of Emmett Till," while others attempt to capture the way people live, like "My Flesh and Blood," about special-need- s children. "A Decade Under the Influence," by the late Ted Demme and LaGravenese, examines the film industry revolution of the 1970s While the documentaries are heavily attended, the Dramatic Competition category hogs most of the hype. Films like "You Can Count on Me" and "In the Bedroom" have premiered in the category and landed Oscar nominations a year later and neither of those films had a lot of hype around them before the fesPBS-styl- v " which tells the story of Cuban emigrants, is in the new World Documentary category at Sundance. David Gordon Green, effort "All the Real Girls," starring Paul Schneider and Zooey Deschanel. Other films include "The Cooler," starring William H. Macy as a man whose job is to rub his bad the writerdirector of the poetic and contemplative "George Washington," one of the best films of 2000, will show his sophomore FT5 "Kangaroo lack" Castle Rock Entertainment I mm SiuLGTidLcsriee IftemriKDiiiirDS UncAGe f luck onto Casino patrons, 'Tarty Monster," a true story of a New York disco club murder, and "American see sundance, page ru fl If l 7 ft i te by Jeremy Mathews angaroo Jack" is every bit as stupid as its 1 premise a kangaroo steals $50,000 from two morons and actually does its gimmick one worse. The filmmakers could have aspired to make an obnoxious movie about an annoying kangaroo, but merely made an insipid, cliche-fillebuddy movie. Except for the camel flatulence jokes, those are d clever. there is a computer-generatekangaroo, and he even raps in an Australian accent, but most of the movie consists of the kind of throwaway gags and unfunny action scenes you'd find in any horrible movie. For example, in the opening scenes a fat black boy combing the beach with a metal detector saves a skinny white boy from drowning. The hero has a red cape on, and John Williams' "Superman" score plays on the soundtrack. If, dear reader, you read this description and wondered what else happens to make the scene funny, I'm afraid the answer is nothing. In the present day, the skinny Joy is a skinny man named Yes, RjO I d January 16, 2003 RED I good films). When Charlie helps Louis make some TV deliveries, the pair ends up in a police chase because the TVs and delivery truck are stolen. After one of the most chase sequences in movie history we're talking tipped trucks, sidewalk driving and barely avoided barricades the two lead the s police to Charlie's warehouse. To make it up to the gangsters, Charlie and Louis go to scenic Australia to deliver a package that they aren't supposed to open, but they do and find father-in-law'- $50,000. After an unfunny and obvious Magazine When Anthony Anderson asked for motivation airplane bathroom scene, they're in Australia and hit a kangaroo with their Jeep. Thinking the animal is dead and seeing a photo-op- , they put Louis' jacket and Charlie's sunglasses on it. The animal wakes up, kicks Charlie and leaves, then Louis screams like a baby and says the money is in the jacket pocket. This clunky setup takes 25 minutes, and the est of the story could have been a good short film never mind, it would suck at any length. But it wouldn't take as long to sit through. Miscellaneous supporting characters pad the story, including a drunken pilot and, surprise, a love interest. Estella Warren 1 five-minu- te to scream, the director said "Pretend you're with a kangaroo.' plays an American (apparently a romance would be too controversial) wildlife worker who looks like a sexy Hollywood actress. We're in sad times when even a buddy movie about kangaroo chasers throws in a sentimental love story. The sappy ending turns out to be just as sentimental and completely out of place. The screenplay is incapable of referring to anything that doesn't directly effect the script or an upcoming "comedic" sequence, making scenes involving things like tranquilizer darts and Louis' "lucky jacket" painfully obvious. Jack isn't all he's cracked up to be, either. He looks like a version of the "Scooby multi-nation- less-emoti- Doo" dog, and does little besides hop away ("like a rabbit") and eat licorice from the jacket pocket. A dream sequence shows the regrettable alternative, a chipper kangaroo who dances, raps and says "G'day mate." With both the boring and the obnoxious kangaroos, we get the worst of both worlds. It soon becomes clear that this kangaroo isn't as cunning as the voiceover would have us believe (such a kangaroo would be difficult to write), and that the heroes are more stupid than the average kangaroo. And the audience who pays to see the film ends up feeling even more stupid. jeremyred-mag.co- m |
