About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (May 31, 2000)
Aiexieand based on his book The Lone Ranger 2nd Tonto Fistlight in Heaven. Directed by Chris Eyre. {Alhens-CMe Library) SNOW DAY (PG) A cluttered and extremely silty family comedy over loaded with uninteresting stories about teen romance, sibling relations, boss/ worker conflicts and the joys of youthful mischief recycled from dozens of better movies. With Mark Webber, Schuyler Fisk, Chris Elliot and Chevy Chase. {Mall Inside) TIME CODE (R) Four LA stories unfold simultaneously in this experi mental black comedy/murder mys tery. Writer and director Mike Figgis [LeavingLas Vegas) utilizes hand held video cameras and four-quad- rant split-screens to keep tabs on the four groups of characters in sort of a goosed-up Short Cuts-Magnolia approach. Starring Saffron Burrows, Salma Hayek, Stelian Skarsgfcd. Jeanne Tripplehorn, Xander Berkeley, Hotly Hunter and Kyle MacLachlan. (Beechwood) U-571 (PG-13) Filmmaker Jonathan Mostow’s (Breakdown) submarine ‘suspense drama’' is mostly a loud, bloody, sweaty, lumbering jumble of cliches and implausibilities. It works as an action ffick and manages to portray the grim, cramped life on a leaky submarine and work up some intensity and claustrophobic discom fort as well. We St-photographed, but overly bombastic, the film follows a Navy crew as it carries out a dan gerous, top-secret mission to seize a secret Enigma deciphering machine from a disabled German U-boat in the mid-Atlantic. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Jake Weber, Harvey Keitel and Jon Bon Jovi. (Carmike, Commerce Prrve-ln) WHERE THE HEART IS (PG-13) Natalie Portman is stuck in a terrible role here as a pregnant, lower-class teen who finds herself stranded by her hick boyfriend at a Wal-Mart in a small Oklahoma town. This sickly melodrama from rookie director Matt Williams, Hi Is based on the best- seflmg novel by Billie Letts. This dreck loads up on the syrupy ‘feel good” BibIMhumpin’ hooey as if lumbers clumsily from one jaw-drop- pingly bad scene to another. With Ashley Judd, Stockard Channing, Joan Cusack, James Frain and Keith David. (Beechwood, Commerce Drive-In) WHAM, BAM, THANK YOU MA'AM MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 (PG-13) Hong Kong action master John Woo's sequel to Brian De Palma's massive 1996 hit is, well, impossible. There's enough fancy gadgetry, choreographed violence and romantic sop in this thing to fill an entire summer's worth of action flicks, but there's certainly nothing inspired or ground breaking about any of it. After a confusing setup involving a Russian scientist {Rade Sherbedgia) arid an evil science experiment involving a deadly virus, agent Ethan Hunt {Tom Cruise)—hanging by his fin gertips on the edge of a cliff—receives word via a pair of talking eyeglasses from his stony boss (Sir Anthony Hopkins) of the terms and condi tions of his next mission. Ethan must locate sexy jewel thief Nyah Hall (Thandie Newton of Beloved) and persuade her to join him on a dan gerous mission in Australia. "If you want me you have to catch me," she meow; upon leaving a brief but steamy encounter at a posh cocktail party in Seville. In a loopy action scene resembling an Austin Power's installment rather than, say, Ronin. Ethan nearly runs Nyah's sports car off yet another high cliff, but falls in love with her instead. Really. As soon as the couple embrace in a kiss. M:F2 strangles. Ethan and Nyah take off to Sydney with sup port from computer expert Luther Stkkell (Ving Rhames) and fast-taiking British agent Billy Baird (John Poison) to confront the diabolical former agent Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott— the Scottish actor from The Proposal and Deep Impact), who aho happens to be Hyatts ex- boyfriend. There's a bit of Hong Kong in many of Woo's impressively shot fight scene;. He employs lib eral usage of slow-motion and step frames and photographic wrap-arounds to capture the action and celebrate the glory of each actor's flowing hair. As in Face/Off, though, Woo tends to rely too heavily on production. There's a lot of rap- metal, Spanish guitar and Irish New Age music in the soundtrack, and most of it sounds out of place. The gadgets, computers, surveillance gear and disguises are fun, but they alt seem bor rowed from the James Bond-prop room. Even some of the fight scenes look weird: the choppy editing makes the brawlers took like they're simply standing there like dummies waiting for the next punch to the gut or kick to the jaw. Script writer Robert Towne {Jhe Firm. C/imafown) dims his dialogue to campy levels here as well. Ethan utters flatly-announced zingers throughout the him. "Serious trouble is always something I can arrange." "We just rolled a snowball and tossed it into hell," "Just stay alive: I'm not going to lose you!" "Don't worry, this will all be over soon." (By then we hope he means it.) Although tire heroes and villains all look slightly bered or high the whole time, the sup porting players are more convincing. Richard Roxburgh (Children Of The Revolution) plays a sinister South African named Hugh Stamp who may or may not be loyal to his boss, Sean. As Dr. McCloy, talented, portly Irish actor Brendan GUeson (The Van, Lake Placid) finally gets to play a character (albeit corrupted) with some intelligence. Sherbedgia and Hopkins are always effectively creepy in roles like these. Mission: Impossible 2 delivers plenty of shoot-outs in expensive laboratories, loads of broken glass, several vehicular explosions seme syrupy romance and heroism and little else. But. what else did we expect? Ballard Utcmattft THU., JUNE X TWO FISTED COOL HAPPY HOUR 4-8pm ON THE PATIO FRIDAYS 260 E. WASHINGTON ST. • 369-3040 ^12 STEPS FROM THE CORNER OF JACKSOH 4 WASHINGTON} Are You In A Creative Stamp? 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