Unusual touches can’t save
‘She’s All That’ from cliches
By Diane Broderick
Staff writer
“She’s All That” could easily be
turned into a cinematic version of
“Saved By the Bell” ... God forbid.
The plot comes straight out of a
bad afternoon sitcom: the coolest
guy in school gets dumped by the
coolest girl in school. He has to prove
it was not because of his shortcom
ings, so he makes a bet that he can
make any girl into the upcoming
prom’s queen.
The cool guy in question is
named, fittingly, Zach (Freddie
Prinze Jr. “The House of Yes,” “I
Know What You Did Last Summer”).
His girlfriend comes back from
an MTV-style spring break at the
beach, where she meets faux “Real
World” celebrity Brock Hudson
(Matthew Lillard, “Scream”) and
starts dating him.
Zach has to save face, hence the
bet. And tortured, geeky, “scary and
inaccessible” artist Laney (Rachel
Leigh Cook, “The House of Yes”) is
chosen as the object of Zach’s false
affections.
The story line is so cliched and
basic that the ending is implied sim
ply by its setup.
Yeah, Zach made a horrible bet,
but underneath all that, he’s a nice
guy who even stands up for Laney’s
little brother (Kieran Culkin).
Yeah, Laney looks like an ugly,
geeky girl, but once she gets some
makeup, cuts her hair and puts in her
contacts, she becomes one of the
prettiest girls in school.
With only that, “All That” could
have been lost - one in a sea of pure
ly predictable movies. But unusual
touches help salvage some creativity.
The first of these is the aforemen
tioned Brock Hudson. Lillard plays
him with a perfect Puck touch - a bad
boy who delights in alienating every
one else.
Fake “Real World” scenes cap
ture the show’s ridiculous nature,
such as one where Brock disgusts his
fellow house members with his foul
bodily functions. He tries to spread
the odor because, he says, “it smells
WJ-.L1 ii. » HIJW . ■■ ■
like roses.”
Another situation, when Zach is
trying to win Laney’s trust, ends up
with him on the stage at a perfor
mance art theater. He stands there for
a few seconds, then improvises a dis
course on how keeping a Hacky Sack
in the air corresponds to keeping
everyone in his life pleased.
What he says is banal, but his dis
play of Hacky Sack skills is impres
sive, and background screens show
ing psychedelic, surreal imagery
give the scene a curious appeal.
Another performance art display
features midgets spouting odd phras
es, including “My soul is an island -
my car is a Ford.” Situations like this
show “She’s All That” has a little bit
more than just worthless cliches.
But as in so many teen movies,
“She’s All That” eventually ends up
at that apex of the high school exis
tence - the prom. This is where it
becomes nothing more than an amal
gamation of other movies.
A “Pretty in Pink,” widowed
father moment of wisdom is what
gets Laney there in the first place; a
“Can’t Buy Me Love”-style reconcil
iation follows.
But the prom is where the most
enjoyable and surprising scene
awaits - that happens to be its own
compound of other movies.
As Usher Raymond deejays, a
surreal dance extravaganza overtakes
the dance floor that is parts “Dirty
Dancing,” “West Side Story,”
“Grease” and “Can’t Buy Me Love.”
But after that, the movie settles
into tripe once more, its fate sealed -
with a kiss, of course.
—-,
Film Review
TIm Facts
Title: ’She's All That*
Stars: Freddie Prinze Jr., Rachel Leigh
Cook, Mathew Lillard
Director: Robert iscove
Rating: PG-13
Grade: C
Five Words: A patchwork quilt of cliches
N1FP holds first public exhibition
■ Educational shorts from
the ’50s and ’60s will be the
feature of tonight’s show.
By Liza Holtmeier
Senior staff writer
Share in the earth-shattering mis
adventures of a brother and sister
striving to improve their - posture?
It may not seem like the stuff of
which films are made, but tonight
topics such as posture habits will be
common fare at the first “Mad
Movie Night.”
The event, which includes two
screenings of a variety of shorts, is
sponsored
by the
Nebraska
Independent
Film Project
and held at
the down
town mock
Parisian
cafe, Club
1427 at 1427
OSt.
“This is
funny, odd,
nontraditional stuffs,” said NIFP
member Erik Anderson, who con
tributed a few films for tonight’s
screenings. “The people who come
don’t have to learn anything. The
films are just for fun.”
Tonight’s films include wacky,
off-beat shorts such as “The Wizard
(6
You can’t possibly imagine
kids going to the lengths
these kids do just
for good posture
Paul Eisloeffel
Nebraska State Historical Society archivist
of Speed and Time,” a 1970s film
about a kid who has the ability to
move freely through the space-time
continuum.
“It shows what special effects
were like before computer anima
tion,” said NIFP member Dorothy
Booraem.
NIFP will also screen a variety
of social-training films made in the
1950s and ’60s. Just like “Posture
Habits,” these films were made to
teach adolescents better manners
and personal hygiene.
One film, “How Quiet Helps at
School,” illustrates the connection
between academic success and the
decibel level in the classroom. Shots
of a rowdy, free-for-all class are con
trasted with
shots of chil
dren sitting
at attention
in an eerily
silent class
room.
N I F P
borrowed the
films from
Paul
Eisloeffel,
the moving
image
archivist at the Nebraska State
Historical Society.
“They show how motion pictures
were being used to indoctrinate us to
behave a certain way,” Eisloeffel
said.
Though the films were not meant
to be humorous, Eisloeffel said, they
are when their message is viewed
today.
“You can’t possibly imagine kids
going to the lengths these kids do just
for good posture,” he said.
Booraem said the films were
interesting because the were used as
an educational medium.
“It’s just really interesting how
different the youth culture was and
how adults tried to talk to them
through film,” she said.
This is the first NIFP event open
to the general public. NIFP holds
annual workshops for Nebraskans in
the film industry on topics such as
lighting for film.
But this year, NIFP decided to
hold an event to get more people
involved.
Members expect the NIFP regu
lars to attend and hope the event’s
location at Club 1427 will draw more
college students.
Said Anderson: “Olher than that,
we have no idea who or what will
show up.”
Him Preview M
lla Facts V
Title: *Mad Movie Night*
Where: Club 1427,14270 St.
When: Tonight at 7 and 9 p.m.
Coat: No Charge
The Skinny: The Nebraska Independent
Film Project presents an evening of zany
film shorts.
Haydon exhibit to feature
photos of jazz greats
Duke Ellington. Ella Fitzgerald.
Frank Sinatra. Billie Holiday.
They are the icons of jazz.
And this month, the Haydon
Gallery displays some of their most
intimate performance moments.
Friday night, the Haydon Gallery,
335 N. Eighth St., opens “The Art of
Jazz Photography,” featuring pho
tographs of some of jazz’s greatest
stars.
“In these photos, you can feel the
movement. You can almost hear the
music,” said Anne Pagel, the
gallery’s director. “(The artists) do
know how to capture the personali
ties and the sound in their imagery.”
To complement the jazzy heat
created by the photographs, the
gallery will have live jazz performed
by Lincoln pianist John Carlini dur
ing the opening reception.
“We wanted people to hear the
sound while seeing the images, as if
they were there,” Pagel said.
The exhibit features about 40
works by 11 different photographers.
Highlights include Bill Gottlieb’s
“Billie Holiday,” which is now on a
U.S. postage stamp.
Friday’s opening reception lasts
from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and is free to
the public. The exhibition continues
until Feb. 27.
Dropped Notes """"
The Facts
What: “Art of Jazz Photograph/1 reception
Where: Haydon Gallery, 335 N Eighth
When: Friday, 7 to 9 p.m.
Cost: No charge
The Skkmy: Jazz band provides soundtrack
for photo exhibition
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