Show ras A I y 'SHERMANS LMMON WV r' rf £ TheHeraW Journal Logan Utah Friday March 28 2003 — C5 ' - - - iy t a J j: ’f! fZ ' 'ii ’ ' '7 - sCrapes foottom of the barrel ' S FUMXtUtS'tOO IKU HfOfUJMKtON WKIMtomROKt Of HI CtUJRBtt nmoHCRauwtn "tf By Christy Lanrira AP Entertainment Writer It seemed John TVavoha couldii’t have fallen any farther than “Battlefield Earth” And it teemed director John McTieman couldn’t have fallen any farther than “RollerbalL” But both have And it’s called “Bask” “Basic” it basically your basic thriller only worse It’i a film that triet to disguise its lazy ——— Movie review plot and flimsy characters with twists that make no tense and with a seemingly endless series of false endings that reveal everyone and no one as a villain at die same time It’s hollow soulless and unabashedly pleased with itself without justification — just like the character TYavolta plays He dredges up that swaggering sadistic thing y he did in “Battlefield Earth” to play DEA agent Tbm Hardy (And “Battlefield Earth” is looking better all the time compared to die other recent Tkavolta disasters: “Lucky Numbers” “Swordfish” and “Domestic Disturbance”) We’re expected to believe he’s a bad boy because he swigs whiskey straight from the bottle while he’s showering and he scratches his crotch a lot Tom used to be an Army Ranger and is asked to help investigate the disappearance of his former superior Sgt Nathan West (Samuel L Jackson) and several of his trainees in the Panamanian jungle Tom is brought in by Col Bill Styles (Tim Daly) because one of die two Rangers who survived Dunbar (Brian Van Holt) won’t answer questions from Lt Julia Osborne (Connie Nielsen doing a shaky bad-bo- BEETLE BAILEY THM compute If DRIVING MICJCAZY HAGAR THE HORRIBLE Southern accent) The other survivor Kendall (Giovanni Ribisi) the gay son of one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is lying in a hospital bed and is equally uncooperative AP Photo John Travolta plays Tom Hardy an Ranger turned DEA agent in Columbia Pictures suspense thriller "Bask ex-Ar- West was universally feared and loathed by his trainees which gives everyone a motive to kill him So Tom and Julia hear wildly vaiying versions of what happened that day in the Panamanian jungle where we return in “Rashomon”-styl- e flashbacks They also manage to find time for forced witty banter most of which takes place in the rain Among the supposedly sexually charged exchanges from James Vanderbilt's script: Tom: “Thought you wanted me gone" Julia: “You grew on me” And did we mention that it rains constantly in “Basic?’’ Actually it doesn’t just rain It pours incessantly With thunder and lightning The trig deadly jungle showdown takes place during a hurricane seemingly to add chaos and confusion But the truth is rain looks good and it sounds good and it’s loud And that seems to be more important to the director of “Die Hard” and “Predator" — the latter of which looks like a masterpiece in action filmmaking in retrospect — than anything resembling substance Names in the news Kravitz releases pop singer Kadim A1 Sahir Palestinian musician Simon Shaheen and Jamey Hadded of Lebanon on percussion “I came to Rock the Vote because of its strong stance with young people as defenders of free expression” Kravitz 38 said Tuesday “This song for me is about peace song PEANUTS I DON'T MIND FEELING STUPID AS LONG AS I KNOW I LOOK STUPID! I FEEL STUPID 5TANPIN6 OUT HERE IN THE RAIN DO 1 LOOK STUPID? NEW YORK (AP) — Lenny Kravitz is the'latest singer to release a song in response to the war in Iraq “We Want Peace” available only on die Rock the Vote Web site also features Iraqi more than Iraq: It is about our role as people in the world and that we all should cherish freedom and peace" Rock the Vote founded in 1990 is a nonprofit group that encourages young people to vote and become involved in the political process Sens of Bear Labe A novel by Douglas D Alder MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM X W THE R0S6IM6 FAI NEVER CAU6KT CM FOX TROT side of the lake was nothing like the west where farms and trees filled the gradual foothills that rose from the lake bed Here the’ hills were abrupt and parched only cedar trees broke the grayness with some dark green They pedaled on and passed the “Welcome to Idaho” sign cheering to have reached that far They renewed their efforts so they would have time to spend at their main destination — Fish Haven —the resort on the Idaho west side Dancing roller skating bathing boating— they were all available at the lake’s major resort There one could find strangers from Wyoming from Cache Valley from as far away as Salt Lake City Those city folk were funny to see in that they swiihming suits so white-skinnlooked as though they had been bleached the farmer types were two-tonebrown on head and arms white on their spindly torsos The boys just had to make Fish Haven by They were nearing the north end where the cliff-lik- e hills would soon terminate and open on to the Montpelier plain A group of six houses cabins really caught their attention Not a soul was in sight The buildings stood there like a ghost town their windows and ' doors barred with wood panels a covering nature and of man of intruders both against ed wind-chapp- d: ed on REAL LIFE ADVENTURES rxcvi4taefcM TH KtDS rSSEESSESCES Ml HATM CLOSE TO HOME Win By Phillip Alder A small variation can make a major difference in bridge These are the hands in last Friday’s deal except that dummy’s hearts have been changed from How does this affect to one’s approach in a contract of six spades? ' North’s four-clu- b response is a splinter bid which promises game values with at least four-car- d spade support and a singleton (or void) in dubs With slam interest South'controLbids his diamond ace When North shows the heart ace South bids what he thinks he can make After winning with the dub ace and drawing trumps you have a potential loser in each North-Sou- th A-J- -9 A-Q- -2 Who sayi teenagers and paranta navar agrea on anything? castles” Peter was quiet thinking “Or maybe they are from Ogden” Jim continued “Dad says those railroad people make all the money and they come out of Ogden” Peter couldn't figure it out “Well I don't see why rich people would come to this spot with no trees It’s iots prettier in Round Valley and no travelers come there” “No wonder they don't come here very often” Jim added “It is so boring nothing to do’’ Peter imagined “It looks like a robber's hideout” he said ‘Gee do you think robbers break in and stay here?" Jim caught on to the idea “Hey that’s not a bad idea” Peter's eyes danced “Shall we try that next time? 1 bet we could stay here a week and no one would know" See tomorrow’s Herald Journal for the next ment of this story install- at bridge DO YOU THINK IT'S A PHASC THeYk? GOING THAOtiSH? Clearly the summer tourist invasion had not begun Peter was fascinated “Gosh Jim can you imagine people having two houses? And they " hardly ever use the one here “What a waste” Jim agreed “They probably live in one of those mansions down in Salt Lake that 1 seen last year when Dad took me to General Conference You know there is a street down there with three and four-stor- y tall houses on both sides of the street They look like red suit At first glance there are two lines of play If the missing diamonds are splitting 3 you can discard your heart loser on dummy’s last North A Q V 3-- diamond Alternatively you could take the heart finesse A 3 split happens just over one-thiof the time and a finesse is a 30-3- 0 proposition So the natural reaction is to take the heart finesse First play three rounds of diamonds Do they split If so claim If not fall back on the heart finesse Finally note that to the natural inclination to duck the first round of diamonds is misguided If you do that West may win the trick and shift to a heart making you commit yourself before yoti know die diamond division 02003 NEA 3-- rd 3-- 3? ' West 3 4 ? 976 J 7 h 4 A Q 2 K 5 4 2 ’ 7 44 4 Q 9 8 Q 1 K J 10 $ 2 South 4 A K 10 8 5 2 V to : J 4 A 7 A 4 Dealer South Vulnerable: Neither Opening lead: 4Q |