Solid acting,
inventive story
elevate ‘Sense’
By Cliff Hicks
Film Critic
Whoever was responsible for the
ad campaign behind “The Sixth
Sense” should be shot.
Instead of pitching the film for
what it is - an uncomfortable little
spook show drama - people who see
the commercials are left with the
impression that there will be a lot
more action than “The Sixth Sense”
actually offers.
Of course, action wojuld have
been the one thing that would have
killed this film faster than a sharp tent
peg could put a vampire down.
“The Sixth Sense” tells the story
of a boy named Cole (Osment) who
sees ghosts. The ghosts are slowly
driving him mad. Child psychologist
Dr. Malcom Crowe (Willis) sets out
to try and help him.
Bruce Willis rarely gets credit for
being a solid actor, but his perfor
mance in this film is both subtle and
elegant - in short, all the things we’ve
forgotten he can be.
The film really belongs to
Osment, however, who not only
brings Cole to life as a character, but
causes the audience to invest a bit of
themselves into him. It’s rare to see a
child actor with this much talent, and
“The Sixth Sense” would not have
worked without Osment’s fantastic
performance.
Writer/director M. Night
Shyamalan weaves an intricate tale
that deals with both the supernatural
and the emotional, both personal and
religious. Much of the camerawork
matches the pacing of the film, with
lingering pauses and only brief flash
es of the ghosts themselves.
No matter what the trailers imply,
this is not a film with quick jolts of
fear and terror (well, okay, there is
one) but the story of a troubled youth
who’s ostracized because of his prob
lems coping with his special ability.
Many people exiting the theater at
the same time as me seemed com
pletely in shock of the ending, but I
found it a logical conclusion to the
film.
Either cinema goers becoming
pawi
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Courtesy Photo
HALEY JOEL OSMENT is a child with a knack for otherworldly communica
tion and Bruce Willis is his understandably concerned psychologist in the
chill-providing film “The Sixth Sense.”
more naive or less attentive, because
a watchful eye won’t found the end
ing awkward in the sightest.
“The Sixth Sense” isn’t a scary
film so much as it is a chilling film.
It’s not a film that is frightening so
much as it is eerie. To be blunt, you
won’t wake up in the middle of the
night with nightmares from this film.
(Or at least, you shouldn’t, and if you
do, you’re a wimp.)
It is, however, an excellent piece
of cinema and a good sign that stories
are starting to become important to
movie makers again. Expand your
senses.
The Facts
Title: "The Sixth Sense"
Stars: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel
Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Wiliams
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: R (violence, language)
Grade: A
Five Words: A chilling little ghost
story
L7
“Slap-happy”
Wax Tadpole Records
Grade: B
Since they sprung from the seedy
underbelly of Los Angeles’ dirty
glam-slut punk scene in 1985, the
members of L7 have continued to
prove that they are not the type of
girls to bring home to ma and pa.
They are, however, the type of
girls to bring home if ma and pa hap
pen to have a hankering for sonic
fuzz infested crunchy guitar riffs,
steady and grinding tempos and
nasally yet hypnotic vocal cadences -
like my parents.
It s characteristics like the ones
listed above that have kept L7 in the
guts of many fans for much of the
1990s. You just can’t shake ‘em,
they’re simple and lovable like the
Ramones but naiighty like
Motorhead. Add to that a pissed fem
inine toughness like Joan Jett and
you’ve got enough spit and gravel to
pave the road to rock and roll hell and
back, complete with a stop at the
local liquor store.
Of course L7’s road is one seldom
traveled by mainstream America, and
aside from the 1992 alternative hit
“Pretend We’re Dead” and their 1994
slot on the Lollapalooza tour, the
group has remained in relative obscu
rity, despite being on a major record
label for much of the time.
But that doesn’t mean these girls
haven’t been busy.
Since their self-titled 1990 debut
release on the independent punk label
Epitaph, L7 has released 5 albums,
including 1998’s “Live: Omaha to
Osaka.” Their most commercially
successful album was their major
label debut “Bricks are Heavy,” on
Slash records.
Recently L7 has gone full circle
after a messy split from Reprise
records and have released their latest
album, “Slap-happy,” on their newly
founded label - Wax Tadpole
Records.
The title of the first track on
“Slap-happy” is enough to let every
one know that L7 is as gritty as ever.
“Crackpot Baby” feels as heavy and
infectious as an 18-pack of Bud
heavy longnecks, but not any old 18
pack, the kind you can only get in
Texas because each bottle has a pic
ture of the state on it.
Oh no, it gets worse.
The second track, “On My
Rockin Machine,” has a quick down
stroke tempo with L7’s signature
chunky and muted guitar riffs that
adds up to about a two and a hall
minute-long kick in the nuts. Ah,
such sweet destruction.
Much of the album flows at about
the tempo of a Camero cruisin’ in sec
ond gear, with an occasional shift intc
third for a quick corner. It’s a good
speed because you’re sitting in a
Camero, but sometimes it becomes a
bit tedious and at times even mopeds
have the balls to pass you. Lyrically,
the group has left vocabulary on the
curb and generally sticks with easy
rhymes and basic word usage.
While many of the tracks show
little departure from L7’s tried and*
true recipe for post-punk aggressive
rock, some tracks introduce a side of
L7 most probably didn’t know exist
ed. A groovy side. Yes, I said it. A
groovy side.
On “Livin’ Large,” the name itself
shows a change from past titles like
“Wargasm” and “Hungry for Stink,”
they use no fuzz on the guitar and
sing in a pretty voice that sounds like
it could just as easily be Luscious
Jackson as it could be L7.
tjui me navor aoesn i stop mere.
On “Freeway” it sounds like they
used a Wal-mart keyboard for the
drum beat and there’s even a sampled
girl voice that says “check, check,
check it out” and a deep guy voice
that interjects things like “peace!”
and “do it! do it!” followed by zany
robo sounds. The song is weird yet
catchy and if they didn’t say “fuck” so
many times in it I’d say it could be a
radio hit. Maybe it still can, rap songs
are, I guess.
By the album’s swan song,
“Mantra Down,” it’s obvious that
despite the style changes, label
changes and stints of stardom one
thing remains the same - L7 is still
one tough-ass rock and roll band in
every sense of the word.
- Jason Hardy