Summer big screen borrows from books, television
Cartoons, comics
end up in theaters
As wc leave this fine institution for the next
three months, we should remind ourselves of
one of the best things to do during the summer.
No, it’s going to movies, you silly goose!
This summer will be full ofbig-budgct flicks
with big-budget names, and there will be more
movies than can be packed inloone single story.
This summer’s films bring books, cartoons
and com ics to the big screen. Of course, a couple
of sequels will make their way in as well.
All release dates are tentative, especially in
Nebraska.
The Crow (May 11) — Brandon Lee’s last
film; he died on the set just days before his
scenes were completed. Lee’s death was one of
several bizarre — and violent—incidents that
occurred on the set of “The Crow.”
Based on the ultra-violent comic book series,
Lee portrays a punk rock singer who is mur
dered by a gang ofhoods, who then rape and kill
his girlfriend. Lee’s character comes back to
life to kick some butt. “The Crow” was origi
nally set to be released on May 13 th (Friday the
13th),but was moved up two days (just in case).
Maverick (May 20)—One of several tele
vision series brought to the movies, with al
ways-bankablc Mel Gibson in the title role.
This western adventure also stars Jodie Foster
and James Garner, who played Maverick in the
original TV series.
Beverly Hills Cop III (May 25) — After a
seven-year absence from the theaters. Axel
Foley (Eddie Murphy) comes back to Beverly
Hills. Rumorhasitthat if Murphy doesn’t score
with this one, he’s in deep doo-doo.
The Flintstones(lVfay 30)-—The long-time
favorite cartoon comes to the big screen as John
Goodman walks a mile in Fred Flintslone’s ...
outfit. Other co-stars include Rick Moranis,
Rosie O’Donnell and Elizabeth Perkins. Even
Dino will be showing up!
City Slickers II (June 10) — Billy Crystal
is back in the saddle again, and so is Jack
Palance (yes, he died in the first one, but he’ll
be back). Everybody is looking for gold this
time around. /
Wolf (June 17) — Jack Nicholson and
Michelle Pfeiffer together again (last time was
“The Witches of Easlwick”, and that made
oodles of money). In “Wolf,” Nicholson slowly
turns into a wolf, and Pfeiffer lays around in a
slinky nightgown.
Wyatt Earp (June 24)—The second movie
in the last year telling of the life of Wyatt Earp
(the first was “Tombstone”), it stars Kevin
Costner in the title role. “Wyatt Earp” will be
about three hours long and also stars Dennis
Quaid and Oscar-winncr Gene Hackman.
The Shadow (July 15) — The old-time
radio serial and subject of several comic incar
nations, both good and bad. Alec Baldwin plays
Lamont Cranston, who combats crime as “The
Shadow” using his masterful powers of hypno
tism and deduction. Penelope Ann Miller co
stars.
The Client (July 22)—John Grisham, after
successes in “The Firm” and “The Pelican
Brief.” brings forth his third book-to-movie. It
stars Susan Sarandon, who plays a lawyer who
gels involved in something way over her head.
At least he’s never written about this type of
thing before.
The Mask (July 29)—Based on the comic
book, “The Mask” stars Jim Carrey (“Ace
Ventura: Pet Detective”) as Stanley Ipkiss, a
meek bank teller that finds a mysterious mask.
When worn, the mask not only renders its
wearer totally invulncrablc.but also completely
insane. It looks to be very interesting, quite
hilarious, and also to have some top-of-the-line
■' I J
James Mehsling/DN
special effects.
Clear and Present Danger (August 12)—
It appears to be a three-peat for Tom Clancy,
who brought his writings to the screen with
great success in “The Hunt for Red October”
and “Patriot Games.” Harrison Ford is back
again as Jack Ryan, and he’s in the middle of a
drug war.
— Gerry Beltz
Movie pokes fun at political
correctness, its followers
rUU
★★★
“PCU,”an “Animal House”-esquc
film of the ’90s, will definitely appeal
to the majority of today’s college
crowd.
The directorial debut of Hart
Bochner (remember the cocaine-snort
ing guy in “Die Hard’7), PCU is a fil m
that speaks to every person who still
calls “non-human companions” pels
or has been chastised for calling a
“residence hall” a dorm.'
Bochner slams political correct
ness and its invasion of universities.
He also slams people who think a
cause is a way of life and people who
change causes as easily as others
change diet colas.
Bright-eyed, bushy-tailed Tom
(Chris Young) has come to Port
Chester University to check out the
campus. His host for the weekend is
Droz (Jeremy Pi ven), a party-guy with
his fingeron the heartbeat of the cam
pus.
PCU is home to high-and-mighty
morals and political correctness. A
protest has occurred literally every
day on the campus.
Droz and his crew, however, arc
trying to give the university’s politi
cal correctness a nudge. Unlike the
mindless antics in “Animal House,”
their stunts are designed to wake stu
dents up and make them smell the
coffee.
In the past, they have made their
stabs with pranks (speed bumpson the
wheelchair ramps, free cigarettes for
Earth Day, etc.), but the coup-dc
resistancc is the engagement of an
ancient tradition that used to be per
formed every weekend by the ances
tors before them, someth i ng that would
throw the moral-minded students of
PCU into an uproar.
A party.
The funniest moments of the film
are when Droz gives the naive Tom
sage advice on surviving at PCU.
Piven’s fast-talking sarcastic solilo
quies arc not unlike the humor we
have heard from Denis Leary in the
past, before he decided to appear in
half of the films made in the United
States.
Also hilarious are the sarcastic
depictions of the various groups on
the PCU campus (“causehcads,”
“womynists,” etc.), and their respec
tive antics.
Unfortunately, “PCU” is a very
hit-and-miss film, with more misses
than hits. Mostofthe funny and inter
esting moments come courtesy of
Pivcn, who doesn’t appear nearly
enough in the film.
Go catch “PCU” after finals or as a
study break. It’s a good fl ick to catch
after your brain has gone bye-bye.
— Gerry Beltz
it—_— — ——i
Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
campus ^ shows Tom (Chris Young) around
11
Courtesy of Savoy Pictures
Ray Liotta, right, stars with Kevin Dillon in Martin
Campbell’s futuristic action movie “No Escape."
Prison movie breaks sci-fi mold
“No Escape”
★★★
“No Escape” provides a wel
come escape from t he shoddily made
sci-fi/adventure films of late.
Director Martin Campbell (“De
fenseless”) and producer Gale Anne
Hurd (“Aliens” and “T2”) combine
to create a chilling future of incar
ceration.
It is the year 2022 and prisons
are privately owned and operated.
MarindCaptain John Robbins(Ray
Liotta, “Goodfellas”) is sent to
Absolom, a jungle island inhabited
only by hardened criminals.
Robbins first encounters the
Outsiders, violent groups of ani
mal istic men led by the sadistic and
humorous Marek (Stuart Wilson,
“Lethal Weapon III”).
Barely escaping with his life,
Robbins manages to stumble across
the camp of the Insiders, a civilized
colony ol misfits trying to recap
ture the lives they knew before.
The Insiders arc aggressively
loyal to a former surgeon known
only as the Father (Lance
Henriksen. “Aliens”). Robbins re
luctant ly joi ns t he I ns iders and, he Ips
them defend against the Outsiders
and search for a way to escape.
The special effects involved in
the film ing of the man-made prison
where Robbins is moved from arc
fantastic. The scene where a prison
car streaks upon a monorail across
a desert background is exceptional.
The effects contrast well with
the primitivism of Absolom. The
convicts must make weapons and
supplies from whatever is avail
able. Almost all of the props made
for the movie were similarly con
structed to add to the realism. The
village of the Insiders was also as
sembled in entirely, complete with
functional water wheel and black
smith shop.
The acting was well-delivered
on all counts. Liotta was great as
the bad-ass Robbins, a man who
has turned his back on society and
must come to terms with the hor
rors of his past.
Kevin Dillon gave a solid per
formance asCasey, a young convict
who, although guilty, retained his
innocent character. As the stan
dard youngster who yearns to be
more like the hero, he follows
Robbins around like a sick puppy.
But the real show-stealers are
the heads of the rival camps,
Hcnrikscn and Wilson. Hcnrikscn’s
stoic manner clashes well with
Wilson’s ruthless banter.
The film’s fights, some of them
involving dozens of participants,
arc well-choreographed. Usually
the chcesicst part of sci-fi films,
these stand out as very near to real.
“No Escape” is not completely
devoid of unrealistic inconsisten
cies, but it provides a solid two
hours of adventurous entertain
ment.
—Joel Strauch
