Show The Herald Journal Logan Utah Friday April 30 2004 — C5 SHERMANS LAGOON mrwuwum roue fvwum ) BROWN6 too peep I our amp ‘Mean Girls’ sharp but runs out of steam By Christy Lemlrw AP Entertainment Writer “Mean Girls” means to be an updated version of the best teen comedies of the 1980s like “Heathers” and “Sixteen Candles" CATHY ' XNSIERD wmw M CXFEMME cm swe money OF INSTEAD Of SPENOIN& A DIME W CAN 3UST CURL UP AT HOME AND TURN ON THE TV INSTEAD Of A MINE he can saw money fey RENlWfrA MO! By fiOM&tDnmouiE! Movie review N While it definitely captures elements of those movies and features a sparkling performance from rising star Lindsay Lohan it never quite reaches die same level of instant cult classic There’s the darkly subversive humor and a terrifying trio of queen bees who buzz through the high school halls like “Heathers" There’s the acutely observant depictions of various cliques and their labels particularly in that minefield known as the cafeteria that made audiences relate so well to “Sixteen Candles" But when you look closely there’s another pop culture phenomenon that “Mean Girls" resembles even more: “Saturday Night Live" which makes sense since it springs from the mind of “SNL” head writer Tina Fey The same tilings that are right and wrong with most of the comedy show’s sluts are right and wrong with “Mean Girls" It comes on strong with sharp biting wit and great energy then runs out of steam and doesn't know when to call it quits As directed by Mark Waters (who also directed Lohan in last year’s charming remake of “Freaky Friday’) the movie’s structure also feels like a series of sketches Lohan’s character — the new girl in school Cady who’d been raised in Africa by her zoologist parents — alternates between the outcasts who initially befriended her and the popular group which she infiltrates Each scene offers and a few memorable some great physical jokes but there’s little narrative momentum to tie the film together and drive it along This is Fey’s first screenplay though based nonfiction on Rosalind Wiseman’s book “Queen Bees & Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques Gossip Boyfriends & Other Realities of Adolescence ” (It’s also Fey’s first trig film role: The dryly funny “Weekend Update” anchor plays a dryly funny rhatii teacher and the movie’s voice of reason) And for a while she has a good thing going Cady arrives at a suburban Chicago high school and becomes friends with punk rock girl Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan) and chubby Damien BEETLE BAILEY AP Photo Lindsay Lohan as Cady Amanda Seyfried as Karen Rachel McAdams as Regina and Lacey Chabert as Gretchen star in “Mean Girls” (Daniel Franzese) who’s “too gay to func- tion” late-nig- ht HAGARTHE HORRIBLE VMnmW TUAT pIAY 'fOUCM TAKZ FRI&Y OfVMV HAVB A Nice Ui& One day during lunch she ends up getting trapped in the web of The Plastics as they’re known Fabulous blond Regina (Rachel McAdams) is their cruel leader and her minions are the insecure sycophantic Gretchen (Lacey Chabert) and this airheaded Karen (Amanda Seyfried) When Cady lets it slip that she has a crush on Aaron (Jonathan Bennett) a cute guy in her calculus class who happens to be Regina’s exboyfriend Regina befriends her with the intention of destroying her Janis and Damien have their own plans for destroying the Plastic pack and figure Cady’s access is the best way to achieve them Cady is caught between both worlds but — because mean girls can be so intimidating and persuasive — she ends up becoming just like them There are lessons to be learned here and in the book that serves as the movie’s inspiration Fey makes them entirely too facile and literal banging us over the head a couple of different times with platitudes about the need for girls to be kind to themselves and each other If she’d only had a lighter touch the message would have been much more powerful “Mean Girls" is rated PG-1- 3 Two stars out one-line-rs ms&NpjJ! best-selli- ng PEANUTS SOI i ASK MM5ELF WHAT C00LP BE SAME QUESTION MORE 5TUPIP THAN OVER ANP OVER WHAT COUIP BE MORE STANPM60UTHEREIN RI6HT THEN fielpintwerain? the keep Asking myself I A5K ed : of four: Touching The Void’ exhilarates STUPIP? MYSELF AfiAIN By Sheila Norman-Cul- p Associated Press Writer Movie review Say the word “docudrama" and most movie--1 goers run screaming for the exits desperate to avoid a technique so abused by low-reTV crime shows Yet in the right hands a docudrama can deliver all the excitement emotion and story- telling of the very best feature films — and director Kevin Macdonald has done that with startling clarity in the mountaineering adventure 'Touching the Void” So many facets of this project were promising even before it all came together Macdonald had already won both an Emmy and an Academy Award for his documentary ‘‘One Day in September” about the 1972 kidnapping of tire Israeli Oljhpic team in Munich Arid the setting of ‘Touching the Void"— the craggy forbidding vistas of the Peruvian Andes— could not be more awe' j inspiring Plus tire true story of Joe Simpson’s and Simon Yates’ fateful 1985 ascent of the 21000-foSiula Grande — based on Simpson’s book of the same name — was so compelling that no novelist could have improved iL g In an era before satellite phones before Himalayan pilots stretched the limits of helicopter rescues Simpson and Yates thought they had found the secret to conquering some of the world's most difficult mountains Instead of setting up a series of base camps they used a technique called “alpine style" that relied on speed good weather minimal supplies and maximum fit1 nt MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM IPm jfvoReeNtewEj His UOUPOR&N1 thwkswjrc wjl MeMCNEgffiRN IWMTACHER Nifl (M ATTACHE? Qutre Iffl ATTACHE? FOXTROT super-talent- ' X KNOW S ToLD LET YOU OFF AFTER ONL rvfiDEOOCD KEEP THAT'S YOU " WHAT XSEBEEM M1HENOUSC THAT L0N6 iSTOO SAYING X MEANT FOR THE REST OF X FIGURED OUT HOW To RuRP THE ESMWCME WANNA HEAR? A CRUEL : : dar-in- high-altitu- de REAL LIFE ADVENTURES By Phillip Alder ’ dia-moo- : O ! : Executives tromllordoff Industries smbarfc retreat on fhoJr onmial Primal ? ' ‘ nfl ‘‘‘ Now West can see four poten-titricks: one spade two diamonds and a club ruff So at trick two he shifts to the club ' two If declarer iriunediately plays a trump West carr win with the ace underlead in to put East on lead and receive a club ruff: one down However South has a riposte: At trick three he should call for dummy 's heart king arid when East plays low discard his remaining V diamond It is a classic Scis- - -sore Coup East never gets on lead so West never receives a v niff South loses only one diaone heart and one spade al Here is your fifth chance to win money from the owners ' of die Alder Bridge Casino: South is in four spades Would you bet on the declarer or die defenders?’' ' An opening four-bi- d usually suit shows a good eight-car- d high-car-d and some points That South hand is a textbook example : West’s double of four the thinks be that spades says contract will fail Probably East should bid five dubs but it would be a disaster here First let’s assume West leads the diamond ace East should signal encouragement withthe diamond 10 Since East’s having a doubleton is very unlikely West should conclude that his partner has the diamond queen 6-I- ' one-ha- Win of bridge CLOSE TO HOME Tsam-BuUdl- ed ot ot you you mere Wounded For TWO WEEKS PETES BUT X THS XM 6dN6 To ness Their brash optimism had one flaw however the plan left no margin for error In a story known to all mountaineers the duo roared ahead to Siula Grande’s summit accomplishing a feat the filmmakers say no one has still ever matched On the way down however Simpson shattered his leg in a fall Yates tried to lower his partner down the mountain with a rope but 300-focliffs and massive ice crevasses thwarted his best efforts Simpson was left dazed with pain and hanging helplessly on the end of a rope: Facing the prospect of one death or two Yates made a decision that has been hotly debated for nearly 20 years We won’t spoil the movie by revealing what he did but the fact that Yates and Simpson both survived is a tes-tament to human will and determination Working in both Peru and the Alps Macdon- aid overcame enormous technical challenges as he filmed actorclimbers Brendan Mackey (playing Simpson) and Nicholas Aaron (Yates) recreating the climbing scenes' Stuntmen Drive Cuthbertson and Rory Gregory handled the most dangerous falls: The fact that ‘Touching the Void" & a true story gives it more of a gut impact than even the best fictional films The climbing scenes are interspersed with interviews of Yates and Simpson who describe their emotions at each step of the way ‘Touching the Void” is not rated Three and lf stars out of four dia-mo- nd " underloads again and gets a second niff for two down South must execute the Scis-sops Coup to escape for one "down ' CNEA2004 North So the declarer wins? No ' way ! West leads his singletori dub at trick one: If South immediately plays a trump West wins underleads in diamonds receives a club ruff V 84 a kq "East' West ¥ A A 7 4 A 8 5 3 2 A K 7 4 2 — ¥ Q 10 9 ' Q 10 9 2 10 8 7 8 South ¥ : mond 04- - 8 2 V K J:7 ‘J 6 3 ds : K Q J - : JO 5 10 9 6 5 Deaien South " Vulnerable: East West ' South 4 'West North DM AUpass Opening lead: ?? East : |