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Some Money' stand out) With Paul Schaeler, Bruno Kirby, Fran Drescher. Ed Begley, Jr and Howard Hesseman among many others Highly recom mended Showing Friday. 8/18 (Tate) THOMAS AND THE MAGIC RAIL ROAD (G) Mara Wilson Alec Baldwin, and Peter Fonda star in the big screen debut ot the incredibly popular chil dren's television series. "Thomas The Tank Engine And Friends' and “Shining Time Station." Ends Thursday (Beechwood. Carmike) WHAT LIES BENEATH (R) Is it ghost story or a murder caper? Who knows 7 This weak thriller starts out like a creepy love letter to Hitchcock, but sut lers Irom too many preposterous con- tr. /ances and eventually ends up like a Friday The 13th sequel. Michelle Pteitter and Harrison Ford are appar ently a wealthy, happily married Vermont couple, but trouble comes alter their daughter's exit to college The tilm ettectively builds up to some very frightening moments but unfortu nately relies loo heavily on the new trick ot startling audience with a loud, sudden blast of orchestral accen tuation. Directed by Robert Zemekis (Contact. Forrest Gump). (Beechwood. Carmike) X-MEN (PG-13) Based on the popular Marvel Comics comic book series, director Bryan Singer's (The Usual Suspects) latest is an entertaining but slightly unbalanced lirsl entry in what is certain to become a sci-ti superhero franchise At the center ot the story are Rogue (Anna Paquin), a contused young woman atraid ol her power to absorb the memories of others by touch and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), a gruff tough guy with a complicated past, keen senses and a skeleton enhanced by unbreakable metal. The good guys, led by Professor X (Patrick Stewart), include Jean Grey (Famke Janssen). Cyclops (James Marsden). and Storm (Halle Berry). The villains are led by Protessor X's old Iriend- turned-fiend Magneto (Ian McKellar). and include Toad (Ray Park). Sabretooth (Tyler Mane) and Mystique (Rebecca Romiin-Stamos). Fans will love this. Others may trown in confu sion (Beechwood. Carmike) § v 1 1 Lf ss.j D H* m ^\ fv> ' IB r PICKING SCABS THE REPLACEMENTS (PG-13) Director Howard Deutch's (Pretty In Pink, Grumpier Old Men) big, dumb comedy is a standard sports flick goosed up with a few naughty surprises and a lot of on field action. The comedy takes a blurry look at pro foot ball as it follows a gang of "never-been" misfits on their way to gridiron glory. The result is little more than a clumsy pile of macho nonsense... but that's all it aims for. The film refrains from taking itself too seriously and, thankfully, main tains a lively tone and quick pace. We get some very funny moments—a rare phenomenon on screen this movie season. The Replacements opens with a mid-season NFL players strike (very loosely based on the actual players strike of 1987). The floundering Washington Sentinels organization has lost its star players, and the crusty old team owner Edward O'Neil (Jack Warden) is scrambling to find a solution. He courts retired head coach Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hackman) to coach the team. The coach's first choice is a scruffy kid named Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves), a well- known "failed" quarterback who bowed out of football after a dismal showing at the Sugar Bowl a few years prior. When he's not scraping barnacles off of wealthy people's yachts, he's guzzling Budweiser (nice product placement) and playing fantasy football underwater. McGinty rounds out the team with a wild assortment of exaggerations: there's Clifford, the slick-talking sprinter who can't hold on to the ball (Orlando Jones); the rowdy, the over-zealous L.A. cop Bateman (Jon Favreau); the chain smoking, ale-pickled Welsh soccer star Nigel "The Leg" (Rhys Ifans); the enormous Japanese sumo wrestler Jumho Fumikc (Ace Yonamine); two huge, loose-tongued bouncers from the R8.B/Pop world (Michael Taliferro and Faizon Love); a deaf wide receivei (David Denman) and many others. The movie never quite digs its cleats into the "scab vs. players union" story, but it definitely paints the pro players as overpaid, selfish, greedy bastards who've lost the heart to play the game. As in any good "underdog" sports or war flick, the heroes are scraggly lowlifes-turned- good who face seemingly insurmountable odds. In this case, it's a gang of male stereotypes who bicker, drink, fight, high-five and... sing and dance in unison to Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive." Yeah, whatever: it's that kind of movie. Deutch adds an obligatory love interest for some unexplained reason, too. A romance between Shane Falco and a sweet, grossly-under paid cheerleader named Annabels (Brooke Langton). On the sidelines during games, she leads a pack of strippers-turned- cheerleaders (when quizzed, one buxom pom-pom girls asks, "uh, is lap dancing a style?") whose lascivious choreography on the sidelines distracts both tne opposing team and the officials on key plays. Most of the jokes and gags either involve the rivalry between scab players, their inadequacies and fears, or the foul behavior of the striking players. Amid all the talk and swagger, two key performances stand out: Hackman bounds through each of his scenes with genuine warmth and emotion, making the best out of what he has to work with clinching his fists and teeth at just the right moments; and the wiry Rhys Ifans, who was so funny in Notting Hill and Twin Town, is iiilarious as the half-inebriated, garrulous place kicker who doesn't mind puffing away on his rig whilst on the field. Reeves, as expected, looks and sounds as dim as ever. There's nothing surprising or inventive about The Replacements, but it's amusing and easy to watch—which is more than most can say for the rest of the crud in the multiplexes at the moment Bailard Lesemann COME DOWNSMBS, OUT OF TIE HEAT •Magazines , •Newspapers •Snacks •Cold Drinks •Local Art •T-Shirts •And Morel LOCATED downtown klo* ESPRESSO ROYALE CAFFE plus: 1 ~ LOTSA CHEAP SMOKES!! LOCATED DOWNTOWN BELOW ESPRESSO ROYALE CAFFE ATHENS GEORGIA 16 oz. 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C^I"l e Snutt or.J ot*r<rr fjjnt£J5tic 'CCol p^rj-ermon 0*t mor» infc online ot WWW.WUg3.org "Tickets, S IO, available: • at WWW wuga.org (foJ-t Cft-J) • ^oom 158, C* or-gia CLntwr (9 an,-I f.m M • Ucni*pL»co G.ft« (c4Kk zkwet, onlfcf) • N*t.v. A. m # r, C0 onl^) • 9 S pknw 706-W2-964? ( crnJit cord) AUGUST 16, 2000 FLAGPOLE ED