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German U-boa! in the mid-Atlantic.
Starring Matthew McConaughey, Bill
Paxton, Jake Weber, Harvey Keitel and
Jon Bon Jovi. (Mall)
VIRGIN SUICIDES (R) Francis Ford
Coppola's daughter Sofia's directorial
debut is a drama/comedy set in mid-
‘70s Michigan about live luminous
teens who conlront their sexuality and
mortality. Based on the novel by Jeffrey
Eugenide. Showing Wednesday, 7/19.
(Georgia Theatre)
THE X-MEN (PG-13) The live-action,
big-screen adaptation of the popular
comic book series tollows a pack of
super heroes who have been outcasts
since birth due to unique genetic muta
tions They all have extraordinary
powers that they learn to harness for the
greater good Starring Patrick Stewart,
Hugh Jackman. Ian McKellen. Halle
Berry. Famke Janssen, James Marsden.
Bruce Davison, Rebecca Romi|n-
Stamos, Ray Park, and Anna Paquin
Opens Friday. (Beechwood. Carmike)
SCARED STIFF
SCARY MOVIE (R) See Movie Pick.
(Beechwood, Carmike. Commerce
Drive-In)
SHAFT (R) Samuel L. Jackson is a
tough, smart mouthed New York detec
tive in director John Singleton's stylish
update on the 1971 "blaxploitation*
classic. The film maintains a cool, gritty
style similar to the original and touches
on serious social issues. However, it
loses its balance somewhat along the
way and almost stumbles over its
numerous implausibilities and over-
the-top violence The story mostly lol-
lows the wide-eyed, goateed detective
as he investigates a brutal, racially-
motivated murder, keeps labs on the
kilier and contronts the unfairness
entrenchea in the justice system.
Jackson delivers a surprisingly smooth
performance, even if his bug-eyed ‘bad
mutha* delivery is starting to look a bit
stale. With Christian Bale, Jeffrey
Wright, Toni Collette. Busta Rhymes.
Vanessa Williams, Dan Hedaya and Lee
Tergesen. Featuring music from Isaac
Hayes. (Beechwood, Carmike.
Commerce Drive-In)
STUART LITTLE (PG) A silly and
peculiar fairy tale’ about a flapper
white mouse (voiced by Michael J. Fox)
who gets adopted by i strangely naive
family. Showing Tuesday, 7/18.
(Beechwood)
28 DAYS (PG-13) Sandra Bullock
plays a hard-drinking party girl who
gets sentenced to 28 days al a drug and
alcohol rehab center in this lightweight
drama. The film tries to examine spe
cific peculiarities of addiction, denial
and dependency while maintaining an
exaggerated ‘cute’ vibe. Ends
Thursday. (Mall)
U-571 (PG-13) Well-photographed,
but overly bombastic. Jonathan
Mostow's (Breakdown) submarine
‘suspense drama" follows a WWII Navy
crew as it carries out a dangerous, top-
secret mission to seize a secret Enigma
deciphering machine from a disabled
SCARY MOVIE (R) Wacky funnyman Keenen
Ivory Wayans (TV's "In Living Color") and his
zany cohorts have assembled an enjoyable and
disgusting "bad" movie while simultaneously
launching a satirical attack on some of the catch
phrases and cliches of recent American cinema.
Scary Movie spoofs slasher and teen horror films
as well as and box office smashdom.
Directing from a weird script written by his
brothers Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans and sev
eral others, Keenen Ivory Wayans all but aban
dons any semblance of a plot line and keeps the
action bumping along with a relentless string of
gags. At the onset of every setup, mildly atten
tive viewers will easily predict the forthcoming
punchlines at every turn. True moviegoers—
those who try to catch everything in the multi
plexes every weekend—will get every joke and
one liner. Loyal fans of Kevin Williamson, the
screenwriter of Scream and co-inventor oi the
self-aware slasher subgenre, will be appalled.
Most of the comedy is raucous and nasty, but
unfortunately not every gag works. It's a hit-or-
miss affair throughout. The so-called "gross-out
humor" surpasses that of American Pie, There's
Something About Mary and the recent Me, Myself
& Irene. Genitalia, reefer, prison sex, pubic hair,
flatulence, fellatio and snot: hall hah, right? No?
Then stay home.
The characters are mostly designed to encom
pass the lowest common denominator of Scream
and I Know What You Did Last Summer episodes
("In the movie we'd be played by actors in thpir
late 20's and early 30's," a character announces
in one of the clever "self aware" scenes.) The vil
lain is a robed, masked, knife-wielding madman.
"Baywatch" babe Carmen Electra trots around in
her skivvies as the film's first victim. Drew.
Newcomer Anna Faris leads the cast as the snow-
white Neve Campbell/Jennifer Love Hewitt char
acter Cindy Campbell. Jon Abrahams (Outside
Pro'.ndence) plays the frustrated
boyfriend/murder suspect. Dave Sheridan (of
MTVs "Buzzkill") annihilates David Arquette's
boneheaded character in the role of Officer
Doofy. The horribly sexy Shannon Elizabeth (the
"Czech" bombshell out of American Pie) is the
arrogant, self-involved Buffy. "Saturday Night
Live" star Cheri Oteri sends up the Courteney
Cox Arquette character as the ambitious TV
reporter Gail Hailstorm.
Three Wayans brothers join in onscreen, too:
Shawn Wayans is a closeted quarterback with a
rear end fetish who makes his girlfriend (Regina
King) wear football gear while they fool around;
Marlon Wayans is a toothy, goofy stoner who
knows all the words to that ridiculous
"Whassssup?!" Budweiser commercial; and
Keenen Ivory appears briefly in a terrific phony
trailer for Amistad II.
Scary Movie works as a low-brow comedy for
college lads and dropouts. There are some big
laughs and more than a few groans and moans.
The pace is quick. The cameos come and go. The
sex and violence a re cartoonish. The movie sends
up films that already looked like spoofs of '80s
slasher and honor flicks. And it's so yucky!
While it's great to see creative young filmmakers
continuing the tradition of pop-culture satire,
one wonders why the race for the ‘Most
Nausealing" award has become so intense.
Ballard Lesemann
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