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Show Pige C6 THE DAILY HERALD, (www.Hark11jeHcrald.com), Provo, Utah, Friday, August 1 8, 2000 v wont think much about It. O'Onofrio's scenes as killer Cart and as the demonized overlord Carl are frightening and p Intense without being a tightrope walk that he and the dirr rtor navigate very well. I j whole thing's a tightrope walk, really, with much potential to be absolutely ridiculous, as well as the easy trap of becoming just another serial-kille- r movie. The fact that it comes off as credible is a tribute to the people who made it look and feel so fantastically real and unreal. B GODZILLA 2000 (1 nr., 33 min.; PQ for mild profanity and monster violence) Not screened for Utah critics, but those who have seen it agree: It's a typical classic Godzilla movie, in all Its Japanese splendor. Bad dialogue, worse dubbing, editing, weird plot, a guy in a rubber suit stomping in other words, around Tokyo exactly the sort of stuff we used to watch on TV on Saturday afternoons, no more, no less. you oblctktnabt9 content an jr Crtc & &. ter Tn DJy HeraM wttet otfranrtM noted. over-the-to- OPENING TODAY THE CELL (1 hr., 45 minj K for heavy profanity, abundant female nudity, abundant disturbing Imagery, some sexuality, plenty of violence and gore) From the first frame to the last, 'The Cell" is a Usually striking film, as gorgeous as It is grotesque, at times virtually unwatchable, yet impossible not to watch. From director Tarsem Singh's camera angles often and Paul Laufer's cinematography, to Tom Foden's imaginative production design, to Guy Dyas and Michael Manson's art direction and April Napier's costumes, to Robert Duffy and Paul Rubell's quick-cusnapshot-lik- e editing, this is the first film this year in which the crew deserves more applause than the actors. - The film opens with child psychologist Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) Inside the mind of a comatose child. Advanced, experimental technology allows this, as long as both parties are wearing t, rubber suits and are suspended from strange laboratory wires in a -- mind-blowin-g scene-stealin- g slap-das- t, skin-tigh- muscle-texture- CONTINUING Fast-pace- top-secr- d ' perhaps Catherine can be enough df a counselor inside his head to bring him out of the coma. ; Meanwhile, Los Angeles is plagued by a serial killer named Carl Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio), who kidnaps women, keeps them alive in a glass prison cell for a fw days, then drowns them and bleaches them to look like porcelain dolls. He's already got a victim (Catherine Sutherland) imprisoned vjfhen he collapses into a coma, moments before being captured by FBI agent Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn). No one except Carl e victim Ifnows where the it, and Carl's in a coma. How to get the information from him and save the woman's life? ;. Ah, thank goodness for that technology. It's "'Silence of the Lambs" gone futuristic as Catherine enters the mind of a serial killer, hopefully to gain r)is trust enough to learn where his secret hide-ou- t is. The scenes inside anyone's head are fascinating, but especially in Carl's. The editing, set designs and sound effects are every bit as eerie as you'd expect; the first sequence in there is truly frightening, as we realize that in this place, ANYTHING can happen. The fact that Catherine can get herself out of there by pressing a button on her hand is of little comfort as we confront the young, abused Carl and the adult, 'devilish monster he imagines himself to be. These scenes are remarkably rjreepy and often disturbing, like wandering through a Halloween naunted-hous- e run by lunatics. AUTUMN IN NEW YORK (1 hr., 45 min.; PQ-1-3 for some harsh profanity, one scene of sexuality with-ou- t nudity) Richard Gere and Winona Ryder Srei hindered by the fact that she's dying of a heart ailment. Beautifully shot in New York City, the film nonetheless suffers from a predictable script with extraordinarily sappy dialogue. The acting's fine, but one never gets a clue soon-to-b- what Gere and Ryder's characters see in each other, and the enormous age difference makes it seem even less realistic. D Drain-visitin- g BIG. MOMMA'S 45 min.; u Lopez and Vaughn are ade- quate in their roles, neither of which requires a lot. The film gives us cliches in revealing Peter's backstory, which is both unnecessary and unnecessarily gross. Fortunately, they stop just short of saying he, too, was abused as a child, leaving it as an. implication without going the stereotypical route of making this a "personal" case for him. In fact, the film does a pretty good job of avoiding cliches all the way around, up until the finale, which has too much going on at once and doesn't add up to rhuch, and which has Vaughn's oharacter getting involved WAY too easily. But even when the film foreshadows, it does it in a fairly innocuous, natural way. Savvy might pick up on what's being hinted at, but chances are film-goe- HOUSE (1 hr., PG-1- 3 fist-fig- ht One-jok- ' Bland, lifeless, meandering horror about college students (Freddie Prinze Jr. and Claire Forlani) spend years resisting the fact that they're in love. It's nothing but dialogue, Prinze delivered by cement-faceand Forlani, with the film's only two laughs (yes, only two) provided by Jason Biggs as Prinze's roommate. Devastatingly, punishingfy bad film, utterly devoid of insight, humor, characterization or plot. F CENTER STAGE (1 hr., 52 min.; PG-1for scattered profanity, mild sexuality) "Fame" as a poorly acted soap opera. Melodrama abounds as students at a prestigious ballet academy vie for a chance at the big time. The dialogue is terrible, reminiscent of an episode of "Beverly Hills 90210," or a t-written skit, and most of the actors are actually dancers being forced to act. The dancing is fantastic; everything else' is hokey, trite and unoriginal. C- - BLESS THE CHILD (1 hr., 45 min.; R for fairly heavy profanity, a few scenes of violence and scarl-nes- s, and lots of Satanism; Bleak, moody film about a young girl with God-give- n powers whom a Satanic organization seeks to either convert to the dark side, or else destroy. Occasionally interesting and mildly thrilling, it's really just a melodrama, with Kim Basinger stuck in the flatly written Generic Heroine role, and Jimmy Smits serving as Bland Cop. There's also very little suspense, since you know Good will defeat Evil In the end. Dark and unsatisfying. C- - 3 GOD'S ARMY (1 hr., I studen- min.; Whimsical, clever Claymation film about chickens trying to escape their captors, who plan to make them into pies. Understated British wit and a respect for the intelligence of the audience gives the film one fantastic scene after funny another, often and always witty and engaging. If a more better, funnier, smarter, endearing film comes along this year, I will eat a live chicken. A COYOTE UGLY (1 hr., 34 min.; 3 for a few mild profanities, e one scene of but titillating sexuality, lots of scantily clad, provocative women, some mild violence) Gloriously, unabashedly stupid film about a small-towsongwriter wannabe who makes it in the Big Apple and overcomes her stage fright by becoming a bartender at a slick, sleazy bar in which the hoochy-mam- a employees shimmy on the counter and spray beer all over the clientele. Bad acting all around complements the lame plot and dialogue. Unfortunately, when it's not hilariously mediocre, it's rather boring, which means it's not fun even as a "bad movie." D DINOSAUR (1 fir., 22 min,; PG for some intense dinosaur-attacscenes) Disappointing offering from the Disney animation people, though the visual effects scenery mixed with ated are dinosaurs Unfortunately, the movie itself about an orphaned iguanadon who befriends a group of lemurs and then seeks to rejoin his own kind has a tiny plot and unmemorable characters. It's an insignificant, forgettable film, and an unfortunate waste of technology. B- FREQUENCY (1 hr., 58 min.; for occasional profanity, brief gory images, some fistfight violence) Uplifting, dramatic and thrilling yes, all three, and with equal deftis this story about a man ness (James Caviezel) who, by cosmic fluke, is able to talk to his dad ' (Dennis Quaid) on a ham radio, 30 years in the past. They accidentally change history, though, which they must rectify. Old sci-f- i ideas are dealt with in extraordinarily new and clever ways, but the human drama of a man "reunited" with his laugh-out-lou- d I Idrmi P.M. Hon. PQ-1- non-nud- fist-fig- n "Everyman"), no clever dialogue, no new situations, and nothing more than some spectacular special effects to make it even watch-able- . AduKs IS CMUran $3 ClOSB) SUNDAY C THE IN CROWD (1 hr., 45 min.; 3 for scattered profanity, PG-1- including one harsh one; brief nongraphic sexuality; brief same-seviolence) kissing; Lame, cliched and ridiculous teen thriller about a girl drawn into the "in crowd" at a country club by an obsessive girl with ulterior motives. characters, incredible plot conveniences and yet it's general overall badness marvelously entertaining as a e Place'-styl"Melrose guilty pleasure. It deserves a D for failing to be the exciting drama it wants to be, but for its pure stupid entertainment value, it gets a B x semi-graphi- c n computer-anim- ground-breakin- POT TIJT PG-1- 3 : ! "AUTUMN W NEW YORK" POKEMON: THE MOVIE ing. D ME, MYSELF A IRENE (1 hr., 56 min.; R for abundant harsh profanity, brief male nudity, sexual vulgarity, other crassness, some violence) Hilariously offensive gem from the infamous Farrelly Brothers ("There's Something About Mary"), made funny by Jim Carrey's incredibly agile physical shtick. Carrey plays a cop with two personalities, one gentle and one pyschotic, both of whom fall in love with Renee Zellweger. Certainly vulgar and crude, and slow in some parts, but when it hits its stride, it's hilarious thanks to Carrey. B NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS (1 hr, 50 min.; PG-1- 3 for fairly frequent profanity, abundant sexual references, abundant crude-nes- s and vulgarity) Eddie Murphy again plays all the adult members of the Klump family, and his per-- ' formanees are fantastic character studies. Unfortunately, the film has a convoluted plot and resorts to which can be humor gross-ou- t funny In the right context,' but which here seems like a since there's so much potential with the great cast of characters Murphy has created. Wildly uneven: funny one moment, awful the next. C THE PATRIOT (2 firs., 37 min.; R for abundant graphic war violence, including beheadings, dismemberments, etc.) It's "Braveheart Lite," with all the blood and war, but lacking the high cop-ou- t, 7:3010:00 Daily 12:15 2:30 5:00 "THE REPLACEMENTS" Daily 12:30 2:45 5:15 d See MOVIES, C7 (PG-1- 7:4510:15 Skateboards 6 Presents SnouiBOflRos i- -i . . aaa-eunurriuee wa aw MP Mon-Th- ySQqs ISP 4? ttrllfvMlf For Advance Tkkcts Phone: 798-97J4.00 KifcSemn, $3 JO Sham More Daily 12 Hour 18:30 3:00 10:15 18:30 3:00 7:00 9:15 t pm IMurr taffasl 9wwtimc ' SHPWTIMES "The Cell in "Autumn MAN" (R) Dolby Stereo Daily 2:15 4:45 7:15 9:45 i ho i isi(i ii New Ifork i ui 2 The Replacements s i:404 20 Matinee m us 7:iot:so SHOW TIME ISDlCS 9:00 1:30 I Coyote Ugly iM3)i?4i J:iosK74otJ5 mo Space Cowboys imsi wo sjo Hollow Man ni t u no W',I.MM:M.Hi.Mi Nuttv Professor II: The IK.I3IIJ04H0 What lies Beneath irtui insi SHOWTIMES 13525 (rtuiuotis Chicken U Run ynvtnn j mDSli igihoms EiXQlrjS No OtKOwtt Posse Kt m me ft Man nti oHfPrkMaitMiBStararii Mon-Th- 3:45 3:45 7:15 Matinees $3.50 Adults $6.00 Children Senkxs $4.00 naa i 633 South 950 West Payton UT M651 4654500 1 Ma 4:25 7A5 9:20 THE Cm. d mm 1:254:157:00 9:40 9:35 i:304.-057;1- 2:15 4:356:55 9:10 T64-000- n 200 Town 2E Wdndoy m-tm- f M.M AduMa mwM4(5j Centre (801 ) 1:454.206:50 9:15 Tdt-T- ) l"j!J!l'J!"j.?H "Com DWoount Night 14. M OMU ft tonMt Tt InTHX MakM- Haw DHfrnc www.stadlumcliwmas.com HOLLOW (XI ' ill' collision of action and laughs! A -- ha ahDnhck, CWaflrDITUREI MTWO A gridiron dirty duzon -- hill d . body slams arid belly laughs. Funny! A comedy that should appeal to everyono whoso dreams never rite came trne. WHAT LIES BENEATH :sil lii'H'IiWifiK-Hii!- lam ' Irwwr, IS! STKHmtTI (PG-1- X-M- VST EN -- 8200 LV.) ;rv- - ttV 1 L ( .a. - - - 2000 (1 hr., 39 min., Including the short; G with tots of cartoon violence, but nothing too graphic) Shameless attempt to cash in on the Pokemon craze, with the filmmakers putting no effort into the movie whatsoever. Weird, incomprehensible, poorly but animated, badly dubbed probably entertaining for young kids (just don't get stuck having to sit through it with them). Still, do we want to support "art" that is calculated solely to make money It doesn't deserve? F THE REPLACEMENTS (1 hr., 54 for frequent profanity, min.; PG-1-3 some vulgarity, some fistfighttng, brief partial nudity, scantily clad cheerleaders) A puppy dog movie: It's not worth much, but sometimes it's quite amusing, and it always tries its hardest to please you. Keanu Reeves plays a washed-u- p football star who gets a second chance when the pros go on strike and he and a bunch of wannabes get to play in the NFL. Made entirely of cliches from other movies, but some of the characters are good and there are some genuinely funny moments scattered throughout it. C RETURN TO ME (1 hr., 53 min.; PG for scattered profanities, brief hospital-relategore) An excellent date movie, this romantic comedy is marred only by David Duchovny's ' inscrutability. He plays Bob, a man whose wife dies tragically, but whose heart is donated to Grace whom Bob later (Minnie Driver) falls in love with, both of them """"" CM Han Office Open (PG-1- "HOLLOW UGLY SPACE COWBOYS 3 Adults $5.50 COYOTE MAN ple's coming together is so contrived, it elicits no emotion. And the comedy? There ain't any. Likable Jason Biggs keeps it from being downright annoying, but it sure isn't interesting or entertain--' crowd-pleaser- .jj-jg- "GOOOLUtOOr (PG) Daily 12:00 2:00 4:20 7:00 9:20 J - profanity, Including one very harsh one; drug use; sexual references) Nerdy Midwesterner (Jason Biggs) goes to New York City college and falls In love with local girl (Mina Suvari), who's having a creepy affair with their professor (Greg Kinnear). Bland story, and the circumstances of the cou- Ip a sue iagianvi ' scattered IDT i 1:404:106:45 9:30 op f PG-1- 3 for ideals and stirring patriotism. Mel Gibson, charismatic as always, is a man forced by personal tragedy into the Revolutionary War. For every one element of intelligence and thematic depth, there are 10 things thrown in as as if to remind us that history can be dumbed down to our level. B-THE PERFECT STORM (2 firs., for frequent profanit16 min.'; PG-1y, some sexual innuendo, weather-relate- d intensity and violence) Though it tries to look more sophisticated, "The Perfect Storm" is another summer popcorn film, more like "Armageddon" and "Twister" than anything else. Storm special effects are spectacularly thrilling; unfortunately, the' fishermen caught in the storm speak trite dialogue and do little to endear themselves to us, leading up to an ending. B-- state-of-the-a- I Sat min.; "fi HOLLOW MAN (1 hr., 39 min.; R for abundant profanity, male and female nudity, graphic violence and blood, sexuality) Great concept what if an invisible man used his powers for evil, not good? ruined by a slasher-filscript and directing (by Paul Verhoeven). There's no insight, into human nature (the title character is an anomaly, Tiot an 1 'SPACE COWBOYS". 47 and "d words) Director writer star Richard Dutcher emerges triumphant in the race to see who, if anyone, can make a feature film about Mormons that's actually GOOD. "God's Army" tells the story of several fictional missionaries' in Los Angeles, focusing on them rather than on their converts, and showing us their weaknesses, strengths, and humanity. Uplifting without being preachy, and enter- taining without being worldly, the film staggers here and there in its storytelling, and resorts to emotional manipulation near the end. Yet it remains a very solid, highly watchable film, especially for Mormons. B PQfora couple 491-92- 48 PiftOB himself (Spencer Breslin) and must recapture the idealism of his youth. Despite the way It's promoted. It's not for kids, who will find It boring. Adults won't be thrilled with it, either, but it is harmless and often funny. C LOSER (1 nr., 39 min.; g career-makin- IT 96 W. Utah Avt THE KID (1 hi., 44 min.; PQ for mild vulgarity) Emotionally manipulative but overall entertaining film about a selfish (a smirking, likable Bruce Willis) who meets the version of hand-to-nan- d 25 f father is wr.ere the heart is. A fine film, with outstanding performano-- ' es, marred only by an overly sentiA- mental wrap-u, GLADIATOR (2 firs., 34 min.; R for abundant violence mostly d combat brief but creepy sexuality, and very mild profanity) The most respectable action film in years. At 2 12 hours, not a single minute seems like excess or padding, so tightly written and directed is this story of a Roman general who becomes a slave, then a gladiator, then a hero again. Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix give performances as the hero and the cowardly villain, and the entire thing is visually arresting, emotionally enthralling not and downright .entertaining to mention very human and real. A k for occasional profanity, mild sexual innuendo, e violence) comedy with Martin Lawrence as an FBI agent going undercover as an enormous old woman. The film's humor relies almost entirely on the premise that the mere sight of Lawrence in all that get-udoing things like playing basketball or delivering a baby, is automatically which it often isn't. It's funny "The Nutty Professor" meets "Mrs. Doubtfire," but without the humor of the former or the heart of the latter. D I BOYS AND GIRLS (1 hr., 36 tor scattered profanity, min.; PG-1-3 some sexual discussion, brief homosexual kissing, some vulgarity) CHICKEN RUN (1 hr., toon violence) mostly amusing tale in which the '60s cartoon stars are brought into the real world to stop their old foes, who have become bad guys. Marred by terrible acting by Piper Perabo, who plays the FBI agent accompanying Rocky and Bullwinkle, but the winking, attitude of the old cartoons and their attention to detail comes through and provides laughs. B facility. T G) THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE (1 nr., 28 min.; PG for the mildest of profanity, car- d The idea is that, while the boy cannot communicate in real life, h a Lul Tow Cantm (SOI) 852-2- Wt' j 9HHlllilllllllll91119fc9r MCOOH4STminflAMNITMOM i 4 ) ITS Pros on strike. Everyday guys gat j 33 Ell aO Town CeriiriittJ1i toHM T to play. UWKimGtnJtHMl . |
