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Show The Salt Lake Tribune ENTERTAINMENT Saturday, April 10, 1999 Fight Flick Succumbs To Silliness ee Merchantin a Class of Her | ial Own at Kingsbury Concert 3 REVIEW BY MATT SARTWELL THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE _Inan extension of her U.S. tour. Natalie Merchant came to Kings- w* Twin Dragons bury Hall at the University of Utah Thursday night to serenade a sold-out audience. Merchant, with her six-member Jackie Chandoes double dutyin a particular. ly silly Hong Kong action flick backup bandandsignature sing- BY SEAN P. ME SALT LAKE TRIBU ing style, put forth a beautiful performance — gaining energy and ‘Twin Dragons” is old wine ina as the show three standing ovations. Jackie Chan’s best moves sporadically at best. Chan plays dual role: momentum moved through wo encores and new bottle, a recycled 1992 Hong Kong action comedy that shows The singer/songwriter is best known for her seven albums as one-time lead singer with the sepa- rated-at-birth twins — Boomer,a 10,000 Maniacs, although her two. solo efforts garnished her success street-savvy Hong Kong mechanic, and John Ma, a pampered New York concert pianist. When John comes to Hong Kong on his concert tour, wacky mistaken-identity mishaps abound. Mobsters force John to drive the getaway car in a prison break, and praise. Her most recent al bum, “Ophelia,” went platinum DimensionFilms Jackie Chan and Maggie Cheungstarin “Twin Dragons.” the endof last year. arting the show withthetitle track from “Ophelia,” Merchant showedabit of the performance than the Hong Kongcut. All the while Boomer must conduct a American audiences are missing is some lowbrow sex humor. There are still enough bad jokes to make you groan. symphony concert. John’s Hong Kongescort, the spoiled Tammy (Nina Li Chi), is bowled over by Worstoff is the talented Mag- Dammein “Maximum Risk”). The rougher Hark took on Boomer’s scenes, like his opening fight against 30-plus thugs in a room of glass-topped tables, while Lam concentrated on the gentler scenes with the John Ma character. This storytelling schizophrenia — plus the fact that a different fight choreographer did the Boomer's animal magnetism — while the tough-talking cabaret singer (Maggie Cheung) Boomer meets is touched by John’s tender piano playing Irma Vep”), who doesa big favor for her pal Chan(she played his girlfriend in the “Police Force” thanks to laughably cheap splitscreen effects, and join forces for trilogy, including ‘‘Supercop’’) but ends up being seriously underused. (Also missing is the usu- doesn’t make a lick of sense. credits, in which Chan shows how “Twin Dragons” (rated PG-13 for some shootings, nonstop mar- gie Cheung (‘Chinese Box,’ Boomerand Johnfinally meet, thebig finale —a frenetic 15-min- al blooper reel over the closing ute fight inside a car-testing facil- close he cameto gettingkilled.) ity, which provides plenty of fun objects for Chanto playwith, and Jean-Claude Van Damme/ Dennis Rodman epic ‘Double Team’) and Ringo Lam (whodirected Van Bae) Poe ns several big-name Hong Kongdirectors — including Hark, Lam, John Woo (‘Face/Off”) and Kirk Wong(‘The Big Hit”) — appear in small roles. Of course, if watching directors act made for a great movie, John Landis (who gi cameos to directorsinall his mo’ ies, from “Animal House” to “The Stupids”) would be in the pantheon alongside Hitchcock and Welles. This songset the pace Merchant's voice undulated in a haunting whisper and then poured onthe steam to her full explosive potential. The lights mimicked the musicians’ notes — cool blues with the band’s soft (PG-43) 3:00 5:00 7:00 making fun of Utah’s polygamy practices andlime jello, and she did a bit of Cheap Trick’s “Sur render.” It appeared she wouldn't ventureinto anyof the 10,000 Maniacs songs that made her(and her them) famous. But to the audience’s delight, she started her fi These droppedthe Dall by forgetting the lyrics of the song and losing her momentum. Merchant maynotbethebi gest persona in the '90s women’s movement of popular music, but she is unarguablyin a class of her own “Drew Barrymore is hack in this spring’s ‘The Wedding Singer’.” SPENCER AAR te ete ELBEEN KIcED FORCES OF IAIVES 026 6 8.986 677 S 200 W Must Be 21 *INFO 355°5500° Liaiss + pidL} ha LLLES se TROLLEY CORNERS: oa aes VALLEY FAIR 9 Pram ae 3601$2700 271 iear ifEOS www.outoftowners.com Pe mma corment © * Bs05:25 7:50 od & NEVER BEEN KISSED PG-13 {435 225 500725 1008 ‘out 4:25 3:30 5:40 7:45 9:55 Out PG 4245 2:35 4:50 7:45 9:35 £ wos CHECK THEATRE DIRECTORY FOR SHOW TIMES! in eT (rtrans ox 5625760 nn. [aepwoop 969-6266, (wie be 2731669) | THIS IS ONE M aelsaitastce ooo)’ Clnwplan Oeaon 385 Theat 730.038 MATRIX Vas kat 738 10% PG-43 M20 208 455 7.40 1025 43 4:30 4:45 7:00 10:00 ANAL) 44:40 4:50 4:20 7:40 9:45 100 REASONS TOS Merchant then proceded roamthetracks fromher solo al bums, letting her voice and en semble bandlay theaudienceinto thebackofits chairs like masons troughing plaster into form Merchant, who played a baby grand adornedwith a vaseof lil ies. hada fewfalse starts, starting over with a apologyto the audi ence Her set never really drove the crowdinto a foaming, wriggling mass. Merchant received a jazz bandreception with the crowdap plauding and hooting songs like Carnival” and “Jealousy Quirks of the show included Merchant busting someone mak ing a bootleg tapein the audience "BERT EAT UATE MOVE OFTHE YEAR" “YOU'VE GOT MAIL” ED TV (PG-43) 1:55 435 7.00 9.20 FOR TODAY ONLY! Tigerlily.” for the rest her pre-encore set sounds, slowly turning to hot reds ONIN IbY aC 4 NEVER BEEN KISSED (PG-13) £45 320 5:25 7:95 9:40 + MATRIX (&) £50 425 7:00 9:35, + OUT OF TOWNERS (PC-13) 130 3.25 5:20 745 940 Ce art that inspired the album. She kept the bandlacedin darkness at the back of the stage while she endedher song behindacandle. adorned podium Merchant followed with “San Andreas Faul rom the album as theband increased its intensity 3608 AT Siate$0 OPEN NTN codes 2:45 torn Hanks/Meg Ryan other gets the bloodynose. The movie clocks in at 88 minutes, about 12 minutes shorter was a fund-raising effort for the HongKong Director's Guild, and helps explain why the movie Time in China” series and the which one twin gets hit and the tial-arts violence and sensuality) moves for each action scene — “Twin Dragons” was co-directed by two of Hong Kong's best, Tsui Hark(Jet Li's “Once Upon a gives free advertising to Mitsubishi (the car company Chan endorses). 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