Martians, multi-star cast make movie magic
. ■ 1 1 — — 11 I I ' ——llllli III Him i i
By Cliff Hicks
Movie Critic
Director Tim Burton doesn’t be
lieve in doing anything halfway and
“Mars Attacks!” only proves it.
Burton’s talent for the surreal is leg
endary. He’s directed such films as
“Batman,” “Beetlejuice,” “Tim
Burton’s Nightmare Before Christ
mas,” “Edward Scissorhands” and “Ed
Wood.”
So, when Burton decided to make
a movie based on the Topps card se
ries “Mars Attacks!” everyone knew it
was going to be big.
The key in making a film as big as
Burton wanted was the cast. As it
turned out, Burton pretty much got
everyone he wanted to do “Mars At
tacks!,” from Hollywood legend Jack
Nicholson, who plays two parts, to
musical legend Tom Jones.
It’s a fairly simple storyline: Mar- i
tians cdme to Earth, talk about peace, <
try to annihilate everyone, do bizarre .
things with monuments and have a fun ]
time ruining the planet.
Burton doesn’t approach “Mars
Attacks!” as a serious film for a single i
moment. It shouldn’t be any other way. i
The cast is monumental and every- <
one has fun with their parts. Nicholson i
puts in dual appearances, one as the
president of the United States who
hasn’t got a clue and the other as a
shady Las Vegas real-estate dealer.
Glenn Close is the first lady and
Natalie Portman is their daughter. Rod
Steiger and Paul Winfield are the
President’s two top generals. Martin
Short is his press secretary. Pierce
PRESIDENT JAMES DALE (Jack Nicholson) finds himself under the gun after the alluring Martian
Girl (Lisa Marie) reveals her true identity.
Srosnan is the White House’s scien
ific adviser. Annette Bening is the real
estate dealer’s new-age wife. Sarah
(essica Parker and Michael J. Fox both
olay reporters. And Tom Jones is, well,
rom Jones.
All of the performances are out
itanding, but it’s Nicholson’s president
hat is the most comic, as we see one
of Hollywood’s finest do slapstick
xomedy at its best.
The cast travels the length from
Vlarx-Brothers witticisms to Three
Stooges schtick. The film lepns more
oward the less subtle, but there are still
»ly jokes that the younger audiences
ivon’t catch.
The best performers, however,
aren’t the live actors — the real stars
of this film are the Martians.
To breathe life into the Martians,
not one but two special effects studios
were used—Industrial Light & Magic
and Warner Digital Studios.
All of the Martians in “Mars At
tacks!” try to top each appearance with
the next one. They blow people up,
they do weird experiments/practical
jokes on abductces and they wear box
ers beneath their press-on suits.
For comedy, the Martians rank at
the top as masters of the art form.
They’re like 9-year-olds with an im
mense amount of power. The world is
their playground.
“Mars Attacks!” is about as B
filmesque movies can get. All the
colors ane bright, the dialogue is
campy, the storyline is farcical but still
vaguely/plausible.
Film: “Mars Attacks!”
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close,
Annette Benning, Pierce Brosnan,
Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Sarah
Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox, Rod
Steiger, Tom Jones, Lukas Haas,
Natalie Portman, Jim Brown, Lisa
Marie, Sylvia Sidney, Paul Winfield,
Pam Grier
Rating: PG-13 (cartoon-like violence,
language, Tom Jones)
Grade: A
Five Words: The Martians vs. every
one else
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New film plays at Ross Theater
From Staff Reports
Students searching for a way to
spend their weekend before finals
week can check out the new movie
now showing at the Mary Riepma
Ross Film Theater.
“Cold Comfort Farm,” a criti
cally acclaimed English comedy
based on a 1932 novel by Stella
Gibbons, began its run at the Ross
last night, and will continue through
Finals Week.
Also showing is the animated
short, “The Abductees,” which will
precede the film.
“Cold Comfort Farm” and “The
Abductees” are showing tonight
through Sunday, and again on
Thursday through Dec. 22. Screen
ings are at 7 and 9 p.m. Thursdays
and Fridays; at 1, 3, 7 and 9 p.m.
on Saturdays; and at 3, 5, 7 and 9
p.m. on Sundays.
Admission is $4.50 for students,
$3.50 for senior citizens and chil
dren and $5.50 for everyone else.
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#A Public Service of the USOA Forest BWI
Service and Your State ForesterVjQUKi
Pross"
1) V CINEMA TWIN
2) » DOUGLAS
3) *■ EAST PARK 3
4) » EDGEWOOD 3
5) » THE LINCOLN
« + PLAZA 4
7) #• STARSHIP
8) » STUART
1 _ ~ _
Ovitz resigns
as executive
for Disney
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hol
lywood power broker Michael
Ovitz is stepping down as Walt
Disney Co.’s No. 2 executive after
trying for a year to share power with
his boss, Michael Eisner, at the
world’s biggest entertainment com
pany, sources said Thursday.
Entertainment industry sources
inside and outside the company said
Disney was to announce Ovitz’s
departure after the close of the stock
markets.
It was not immediately clear
whether Ovitz quit or was fired, or
whether he had another position
lined up. Earlier in the day, a
spokesman for Sony Corp. had de
nied reports he was heading for that
company, which owns the troubled
Columbia and TriStar studios.
Before joining Disney, Ovitz
was considered Hollywood’s big
gest power broker as the head of
Creative Artists Agency. His rela
tionship with Eisner, an old friend,
has been watched closely since he
became Disney’s president in Au
gust 1995.
It had been unclear whether two
such forceful executives could work
out a power-sharing arrangement,
and some recent reports had Eisner
questioning Ovitz’s job perfor
mance.
uvitz, tisner, and fcisner
spokesman John Dreyer were in
New York and did not immediately
return calls seeking comment. Ovitz
and Eisner earlier in the day had
been scheduled to appear at a lun
cheon in New York honoring ABC
News President Roone Arledge, but
did not attend.
For all its considerable success,
Disney has had trouble keeping its
top management team in place since
its former president, Frank Wells,
died in a plane crash in 1994. Eisner
is notoriously control-minded, a
trait many believe has frustrated
other talented executives.
Several have since left, most
notably Jeffrey Katzenberg, who
had run Disney’s studio operations
and quit in 1994 after being denied
the president’s job at Disney.
Katzenberg later founded the
Dreamworks SKG studio with
Steven Spielberg and record mogul
David Geffen.
Another well-regarded execu
tive, Richard Frank, quit as chair
man of Disney’s television and tele
communications unit in 1995 fol
lowing reports that he was frustrated
by Eisner’s close supervision of his
work.
Ovitz has had talks with Sony
Corp., the Japanese electronics and
entertainment company, The New
York Times, The Wall Street Jour
nal, the New York Post and Daily
Variety reported Thursday.
But Sony spokesman Peter
Wilkes in Culver City flatly denied
Please see DISNEY on page 17
MCI abandons
music retail
MCI from page 15
When the service was launched, people
were able to listen for free to one of
some 20,000 15- to 20-second music
clips. Selections fell into 14 formats,
including rock, country, pop, gospel,
and children’s. _ ;
MCI sold CDs for between $11.99
and $16.99; older ones, for $7.99.
Those prices were not out of tine with
retailers, but stores often offered bet
ter deals. —
MCI also charged $2.69 to ship the
first CD or cassette plus 49 cents for
each additional product. Overnight^
shipping cost more.
