Groovy Movie Selector
January 6th, 2000
by Max Power
The Man in the Moon -
Maybe I’m too young and jaded, but
when I look back at old Andy Kaufman clips, I don’t exactly see where
the genius is. Yes he had talent and was funny, but more than anything
he was a sad almost pathetic individual. Entertaining, yes. Absolute
comedy god/genius? In my opinion, no. That is beside the point here,
though. What we do have here is an amazing portrait of this man by Jim
Carrey. Showing us more and more that he can do more than talk out of
his rear end, Carrey is becoming a great actor. Slipping into Andy’s
being (reportedly off the set as well), Carrey manages to completely
transform himself. Director Milos (One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest)
Forman does a good job at maintaining a certain distance and letting
Carrey go. Forman is continuing his winning streak of pseudo-biopics (Amadeus,
The People Vs. Larry Flynt) and though he has a certain reverence
towards his subjects, he isn’t afraid of showing us the warts-and-all
look at their lives. The screenplay is by Scott Alexander and Larry
Karaszewski, who both wrote Larry Flynt.
The Talented Mr. Ripley -
Director Anthony Minghella returns
to the screen after 1995’s The English Patient with this
disturbing and entertaining thriller. Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) is an
American who is paid to go to Europe to bring back rich kid Dickie (Jude
Law, eXistenZ, Gattaca). Upon seeing Dickie’s lifestyle,
our Mr. Ripley decides that he wants to become Dickie and take over his
life. This film (set in the ’50s) is an exciting study of our
fascination with success and the ways in which we will sometimes do
almost anything to achieve it. Good performances by Gwyneth Paltrow,
Cate Blanchett and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Galaxy Quest -
Not as bad as it might seem. This is
actually a pretty enjoyable time-waster about a group of actors on a
canceled sci-fi space show who are thought to be real galaxy warriors by
a bunch of aliens. Everyone seems to be having fun overacting and
hamming up the scenery, and who doesn’t want to see Sigourney Weaver
fight aliens again? Also starring Tim Allen, Tony Shaloub, and Alan
Rickman. MMMM for pure holiday fun.
Any Given Sunday -
Oliver Stone’s overcooked football
opus has its merits, but at around three hours long, takes too much time
getting to them. Stone has still not learned how to restrain the frantic
quick-cut and multiple angle style he gave us with Natural Born
Killers. In this film, while you need to keep the screen moving with
all the action, he is letting the camera speak too much and the action
and dialogue on the screen speak too little. Still, it’s always good
to see Al Pacino, especially when he gets to yell (isn’t that in all
of his films?) With Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, LL Cool J
and James Woods.
Sweet and Lowdown
-
Woody Allen creates another one of
his lighter "filler" movies that he often makes in between his
larger and more prominent features. Sean Penn does a wonderful job at
playing Emmet Ray, a fictional jazz singer in the 1930s who is one of
the best in the business but not the best. Done with some
documentary-style elements (including experts talking about Ray and his
talents), Allen has made a strong character study of a man always in
search of perfection and betterment. Mute laundry girl Hattie (nicely
played by Samantha Morton) begins to fall in love with the cantankerous
musician and becomes a sort of inspiration to him in his creations.
Sweet and without the aggravating Woody impressions (as with Kenneth
Branagh in Celebrity), the film is one of the better Allen movies
of recent years.
Bicentennial Man -
It’s official. With this film
Robin Williams has crossed over to the dark side of schmaltz. With Patch
Adams, What Dreams May Come, Jack, and Jakob
the Liar just to name a few, Williams has become a soft and
moist-eyed touchy guy that isn’t that funny anymore. Enough with
messages and feelings Robin, time to get edgy! How about Bisexual man?
Just a thought. It sure would be more entertaining then watching you
learn the meaning of life, love, humor and friendship between you, a
very old robot, and humans.
Green Mile, The -
Director Frank Darabont, working
again with a Stephen King story, follows up his brilliant Shawshank
Redemption with another winner. While not as good and powerful as Redemption
(and slower), it stands on its own as great cinema. Tom Hanks is a
prison guard on death-row in the 1930s. John Coffey (Michael Clarke
Duncan), a death-row inmate living on the green mile (the tile-floor is
green) seems to exhibit strange and mystical healing powers. Hanks
befriends this gentle giant and now comes the struggle for Coffey to
stay alive and sane in a place filled with death. The film, manageable
at three hours, has fine performances by all (including Gary Sinise,
Jeffrey DeMunn and David Morse). Darabont takes his time putting it all
up there on the screen (including one funny mouse). It isn’t the best
film of the year, but it is up there.
|
147x50.gif)