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Show Page 23 Monday, Aug. 25, 2008 'Death Race' goes nowhere fast Before execrating "Death Race" as a culP. Kennicott tural abomination with no Washington Post redeeming value, let's take note of several of its significant technical accomplishments. It may not be possible to make a film with less plot and more action. And the testosterone satu- Grade Dration level has also been pushed to the very limits "Death Race' of earthly possibility. If a women who don't know movie could drag its knuck- their place in a man's world. les on the ground, "Death It isn't so much a movie as Race" would leave eight a superheated, highly conlittle tracks in the sand. ductive miracle substance "Death Race" is suppos- for the pure transmission of edly based on the 1975 cult masculine aggression and favorite "Death Race 2000," misogyny. which involved a savage Death Race. cross-country road rally in Death Race. heavily armored cars. While The very title of the movie some critics detected ele- — and the whole film is in ments of satire and political that title — makes you want commentary in the origi- to say it over and over again, nal (which starred David in a low, ominous voice. Carradine), all that has been There is no question eliminated from the current about "Death Race" to model. The new "Death which "death race"isn't the Race" fuses demolition answer. derbies, NASCAR, rockets, The plot? A series of guns, napalm, sadistic prison contrivances that create the guards and nasty, careerist preconditions necessary for Reel Reviews ... a death race. The characters? The usual stock figures who meet their deserved fate in ... a death race. The denouement? That would be ... a death race. (Actually, the whole film is a death race; it is fatuous to speak of a denouement.) Maybe there's one question the answer to which isn't obvious from the title: What the hell is Joan Allen doing here? Alien has a Tony Award, a Broadway career and three Academy Award nominations. She plays Hennessey, a prison warden who also produces a popular pay-per-view gladiatorial combat known as "Death Race." It is 2012, the U.S. economy is in shambles, the country is run by thugs and prison is just a burned-out taillight away. In the grim gray world of Allen's prison, the only hope of escape is to win ... the death race. Of course, Jensen Ames (Jason Statham), the hero of "There's nothing erotic about corporate fascism." Avoid it! Cl See RACE, page 24 UHRI Hamlet: Tells funny story of schools [J continued from page 22 The thug (Joseph Julian Soria) has trouble at home, which perhaps explains his toughguy exterior. Or maybe not. Shue, in a characteristically weird meta-twist, plays herself, an actress who has given up the blood sport of Hollywood to be a nurse. Director Andrew Fleming has paced his film with the manic energy of a screwball comedy, and he hits enough of the sacred cows of political correctness that no one cow can feel particularly slighted. But he isn't firing in all directions in hope of landing a few good shots. Follow the trail initiated by Noah, and you realize that Fleming has a coherent and powerful target in his sights. "Hamlet 2" may be one of the better films (and certainly one of the funniest) about the whole sorry business of arts education made in recent memory. Noah is just one of several characters from what might be called the support staff of the arts: critics, educators, administrators, promoters, funders and passionate patrons. This ancillary world is filled with admirable figures, Noah among them. It's also home to a lot Home of LOTOJA of nobodies and, worse, to people who are so inept and lacking in taste that they are a menace to art everywhere. Poehler's ACLU lawyer is one of Fleming's characteristic adult interlopers — whose engagement with the arts comes from the outside, motivated by ulterior purposes and, very likely, serious personality flaws. Dana is also from this world, and by making him the hero of "Hamlet 2," Fleming underscores just how badly served kids really are. It's not just a lack of support for theater programs that is impoverishing kids' lives, it's all too much support from the wrong people, teachers like Dana who have no business teaching drama. Dana's ridiculous musical is a lot of self-indulgent piffle, and that's the point: Something is rotten in the Denmark of high school arts education, and it may well be bad art. www.sunrisecyclery.net 138 N. 100 E Mon.-Sat. 10-7 I I I I "Hamlet 2" (92 minutes) is rated R for language including sexual references, brief nudity and some drug content -•«>• * & • ' • * v | banking for students WE HAVENiT FORGOTTEN w Primary ilgntr mutt ba a itudenl. 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