Holiday season movies too long, tedious
By Samuel McKewon
Senior editor
This holiday movie season didn’t
quite set the important records, both
in terms of box office standards or in
quality of film.
But it probably set a record for
number of tired butts.
If nothing else, the holiday
movies were long, some so long a
couple of bathroom breaks were die
standard, not the marie of some guy
with a weak bladder. Often, it hurt die
overall enjoyment of the movie expe
rience. But there were still some high
points, including Oscar-worthy per
formances.
Here are capsuled reviews ol the
main winter break fare:
“The Talented Mr. Ripley” -
Matt Damon’s best work, and some of
the best acting of the year, came in the
stylish, very dark drama of a man
who greatly wished to be someone
else.
Jude Law played that someone
else, Dickie Greenleaf, with just
enough boyish charm and 50s whim
sy to build smoldering chemistry
with Damon’s Tom Ripley.
The visuals of old Italy were rich,
the supporting performances fine.
The brilliant first half of the film gave
way to a more tiring second half. Stiff,
“Ripley” succeeds in making you
want what Damon wants, though it
goes against our better nature. An
intricate, quiet little stunner of a film.
-A
“Galaxy Quest” - More fun than
most holiday movies, this spoof of
“Star Trek” stars and their fans works
well for an hour before devolving into
dummy cliches. Tim Allen plays the
Commander who is summoned by
real-life aliens - who have copied
their spaceship after the canceled title
show - to save them from total
destruction.
Sigourney Weaver dons a blonde
wig and works well as the bimbo
whose only job is to repeat exactly
what the onboard computer just said.
Tony Shaloub gets the biggest laughs
as a very glib science director. Not
too long, it’s an easy watch. - B
“The Green Mile” - Long, soul
ful and occasionally brutal, the latest
Courtesy Photo
ABOVE: TOM HANKS plays a prison guard who develops a
remarkable relationship with a death row inmate in “The
Oatton iflila ”
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AT LEFT TIM ALLEN and Sigourney Weaver play former tele
vision stars hired to save the universe in “Galaxy Quest.”
from Tom Hanks and “The
Shawshank Redemption” director
Frank Darabont leaves too many dead
spots in between the film’s more
poignant moments. Hanks plays a
death row prison guard whose latest
inmate, childlike John Coffey
(Michael Clarke Duncan, a bit too
simple, but good), is capable of mira
cles none of the guards have ever seen
"before.
The execution scenes are tough to
swallow, especially when a sadistic
guard (Doug Hutchinson) botches
one intentionally.
But “The Green Mile” provides
some high points, specifically perfor
mances from Hutchinson and Hanks,
who finds the right note for his char
acter when he realizes he might be
killing an innocent man in Coffey.
But it would have been better if
Hanks, like the rest of the audience,
had realized it more quickly than the
three-hour and seven-minute running
time. - B
“Man on the Moon” - Not par
ticularly nsky, which was a shame.
The bio-pic about deceased (and very
strange) comic Andy Kaufman
(played by Jim Carrey) plays more
like documentary, running over
Andy’s trials and travails throughout
his career, all the way to his comic
funeral after death from cancer.
Carrey mimics more than he does
act, but nothing more is required by
director Milos Forman. The movie is
a more frustrating experience for
those who know nothing about Andy
Kaufman compared to those who do,
and the largely teen audience laughed
very little at this film. A disappoint
ment. - C
“Any Given Sunday” - A movie
injected with equal parts truth serum
and Hollywood pomposity, director
Oliver Stone’s take on professional
football scores direct hits and wild
misses, sometimes simultaneously.
A1 Pacino is the perfect coach for
the Miami Sharks - in movie terms -
but pretty ridiculous in reality. Closer
to home is breakout star quarterback
Willie Beamon, played by Jamie
Foxx. (Who knew he could act?)
Beamon wants to get all the fame he
can before he’s inevitably sent back to
the sidelines.
The games are long and so is the
movie - football plays poorly at two
hours and 45 minutes. %
There is so much editing in the
film, it gets hard to comprehend
what’s going on. It’s as if Stone forgot
that every once in a while a scene just
needs to play out with a still camera. -
C
“Anna and the King” - A whol
ly unnecessary remake of “The King
and I.” Jodie Foster, in one of her less
inspired performances as a English
The Week in Preview
The following is a brief list of
events this week. For more infor
mation, call the venue.
CONCERTS:
Duffy s Tavern, 1412 O St.
(402) 474-3543
Wednesday: Ouija Radio,
Industrial Lounge > '
Sunday: Jumpin’ Rate,
Sunjack
Duggans’s Pub, 440 S. 11th
St.
(402)477-3513
Thursday: The Right Mix
Friday: F.A.C. with The
Wheeze Tones; The Right
Mix
Saturday: Face Value
Kimball Hall, 11th and R
streets
(402) 472-4747
Thursday: Donna Harler
Smith and Michael Cotton
Knickerbocker's, 901 OSt.
(402) 476-6865
Wednesday: Jumpin’ Kate,
Square
Friday: Project Wet, Digital
Bitch Shifter
Saturday: Black Dahlias,
Floating Opera
Royal Grove, 34QM
Comhusker Highway
(402) 474-2352
Friday and Saturday: On the
Fritz
Seventh Street Loft, 504
S. 7th St.
(402) 477-8311
Saturday: Songwriters
Sweatshop
Sheldon Memorial Art
Gallery,
12th and R streets
(402) 472-2461
Friday: Amici
The Zoo Bar, 136 N. 14th St.
(402) 435-8754
Monday: Debbie Davies
Tuesday: Sticky Fingers
Wednesday: Sleepy LaBeef
Thursday: John Walker and
the Loop River, Night
Crawlers with Dan Newton
Friday: F.A.C. with the
Mezcal Brothers, Fab-tones
DANCE:
McDonald Theatre, 51st and
Huntington streets
(402)465-2384
Thursday: “In Praise of
Home”
THEATER:
Lincoln Community
Playhouse, 2500 S. 56th Sf
(402)489-7529
All weekend: “The Grapes
ofWrath”
Star City Dinner Theatre, 8th
and Q streets
(402) 477-8277
All weekend: “Songs and
Scenes from Stage and
Screen”
GALLERIES:
Burkholder Project, 719 P
St.
' (402) 477+3305
All week: 12th Annual
Artists Choosing Artists
~ Exhibit
Gallery 9,124 S. Ninth St.
(402) 477-2822
All week: Contemporary
Quilts
Haydon Gallery, 335 N.
Eighth St.
(402) 475-5421
All week: John Spence
Robert Hillestad Textiles
Gallery, Home Economics •
Building Rm. 231 East
Campus
(402) 472-2911
All week:: “East Meets
West,” an apparel collection
by Hong-Youn Kim
Rotunda Art Gallery,
Nebraska Union, 14th and R
streets
(402) 472-6371
Monday through Saturday :
“Beneath the Surface:
‘Dimensions of TCD’”
Sheldon Memorial Art
Gallery, 12th and R streets
(402) 472-2461
All weekend: “Judy Burton:
Visual Nuances,” “Eugene
Atget’s View of Paris”
, • ‘ . ".r I >■
schoolmarm, r
warms to the King o^Sham (Chow
Yun-Fat) despite hi? gaggle of wives.
It’s a big sprawling epic, probably a
favorite of those hard-core romantics
out there, but not for anyone who
doesn’t equate a slow waltz with heat
ed sex. - C
“Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo”
- Funny for one minute out of 10,
offending and stupid for the rest. If
you really feel the need to see a movie
that makes such blatant and harsh fun
of people with Tourette’s syndrome
(and somehow makes us believe a
gigolo like Rob Schneider is our only
avenue to happiness), check your
brain at the door. - D
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THE YEAR
TIME MAGAZINE
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