movie reviews, Volume 3 number 5, May/June 2000, © by Thela Clayton Video Dreamland May has arrived, folks (and almost gone). The dream of winning all that money in the Nenana Ice Classic has disintegrated. By now your summer project daydreams should be taking form. I was once the owner of a summer business and I would like to remind you, there are now about 105 warm working days, or, phrased another way, 15 weekends left. Shore up your plans so you can get that extra room built and take a leisurely weekend camping trip. All will be accomplished with just a little thought. Make sure you save a little time for those Ester porch parties, to be a participant in the making of "those good ole days." Watching movies is always a hit or miss situation. One of these days, I’m gonna just make a list of movie titles I think are zero and beg for your mercy not to have to think or write about them. This month, you get the mixture. Gossip, R Remember when you played gossip as a child? Seated in a circle, someone whispers in your ear. You pass on to the next person what you thought you heard. OK, now flash to a college campus and a rich, cocky wiseguy who uses this premise for his college term project. He and his friends think it’s funny to start the rumor that a certain guy had sex with a certain drunk girl. Oh, yes, Hollywood tries to make this a morality movie, but it doesn’t click. There is not one character in this move that elicited any sympathy from me, including the girl who was the focal point of the rumor. James Marsdew, Lena Heady, and Kate Hudson portray the ruthless, heartless, and haughty punks in this bubblegum venture. This movie is like Muzak: shallow and worthless. Little Nicky, PG13 The worth of this movie depends on whether you think Adam Sandler is is funny or not. His style and character development stem from the ’90s Saturday Night Live episodes. I believe his appeal is more appetizing to the under thirty-five crowd than old geezers like myself. Nicky is one of the devil’s three sons. One day his two brothers escape to Earth, closing the fire of Hell behind them, causing the devil, Harvey Keitel, to disintegrate one body part at a time. To save his father, Nicky must find his brothers and bring them together back to Hell. This is a campy comedy. It is full of gross humor. It is also full of sex jokes, and parents are now forewarned. I give this movie an "R" rating. Sorry, Mr. Sandler. Kids may love you but this movie really isn’t young teen material. Loser, PG13 This is a sweet movie. I was left with so much sugar in my mouth, I had to head to the Ester bar for a beer to wash it down. It will be great for the babysitter while you are gone. The midwestern nerd, Jason Biggs, wins a scholarship to a NYC university. Despite all the exposure to the various new attitudes and values, our young man is like the mighty oak tree, firmly grounded through the tornadoes, dust storms, and floods. We feel a gentleness for him when he falls for the big city girl, Mena Suvari, that will remind the adults of their own first love naïveté. Greg Kinner plays the college professor who she is in love with. This is another example of Hollywood’s morality movies. Here it works, and the lesson is learned because the movie has heart. What I really disliked was Hollywood’s assumption that rural people are dumb because they lack urban sophistication. You know, I’ll bet lots of those Hollywood writers use Gateway computers, whose logo is the Holstein cowhide. It should serve as a reminder that those old rural cows provide us substance with which to live. Almost Famous, R This film got such good reviews Mardy and I went to the theatre to see it. We were not disappointed. Cameron Crowe tells us a fictionalized story based on his own beginnings as a magazine writer. His character is William Miller, portrayed by Patrick Fugit. Set in the late ’60s, William’s interest is the rock ‘n’ roll bands. His backstage passes allow him to come face to face with the rock star’s true persona. I love it when the musicians tell him any and every thing, thinking, " He’s just a kid." Well…little pictures have big ears. Frances McDormand plays his confident mother who allows him to take a bus tour. Kate Hudson, her role nominated for the Oscars, is Penny Lane, who sees herself not as a groupie but as a "band-aide." You’ll enjoy all the little stories in the film. You’ll like the music. It’s fun. This coming-of-age film captures a moment of time when rock ‘n’ roll was simple. Before rock musicians became video stars, and to make it big your life was spent in a tour bus. Put the kids to bed, grab a beer, and spread a fringe shawl across you and your love. It’s sweet kisses from a bygone era. For Love or Country (HBO—PG13?) It seems films about jazz music are blossoming all around me. This tropical flower fills you with the spicy fragrance of a cuban jazz musician name Arturo Sandoval. Some red beans and rice with a glass of Jamaican rum and coke is the menu fare to have with this movie tonight. Every type of music that exists is available to the American citizen. It’s hard to imagine living in a country where the innovative musician can only play the "state’s music." This movie takes you on Mr. Sandoval’s journey to make his dream into reality. We meet him in adulthood where he is already an accomplished trumpet player. We are given a peek into his soul as he struggles between supressing his music or becoming a defector to the U.S. We are offered the opportunity to view the anguish the Cubans feel as their friends and neighbors become boat people. (Not unlike the turmoil over the dissenters to Canada during Viet Nam.) Andy Garci and Mia Maestro portray the leads in this film. These two talented actors convey this story without resorting to any melodramatic tactics to sway our political feelings concerning Cuba. It’s just a good story with a happy ending. If anyone out there can recommend a CD of his music—let me know. Billy Elliot, R My favorite pick of the videos this month is a noble, robust film set in the English Durham countryside. (Ask Barbara Stone if it really is or not.) Eleven-year-old Billy comes from a boxing coal miner lineage, only he’s not very good at boxing. He is good at dancing, and one day he sits in on the local ballet class…. His passion and ambition must be kept hidden from his father, and he might have succeeded, except he has too much talent. Please, please don’t pass on this film thinking it’s a girl’s movie. This is excellent drama set against the backdrop of a coal miners’ strike. We witness the father’s tumult of emotions over his stalled livelihood and a son who wants to dance instead of following in his father’s footsteps to be a boxer. There’s an excellent scene where Billy’s frustration manifests itself into a street dance sequence that reminds you of Gene Kelly’s "Singin’ in the Rain" dance. The old adage, "Where there’s a will, there’s a way," best describes this young man’s life. It stars Jamie Bell as Billy and Julie Walters as his teacher. | ||
 | | |
