From: owner-movies-digest@lists.xmission.com (movies-digest) To: movies-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: movies-digest V2 #139 Reply-To: movies-digest Sender: owner-movies-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-movies-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk movies-digest Friday, December 4 1998 Volume 02 : Number 139 [MV] unsubscribe RE: [MV] unsubscribe RE: [MV] unsubscribe Re: [MV] unsubscribe and Fredy Vs Jason Re: [MV] unsubscribe and Freddy Vs Jason [MV] Screen It Newsletter (December 3, 1998) Re: [MV] unsubscribe and Freddy Vs Jason RE: [MV] unsubscribe and Freddy Vs Jason [MV] REVIEW: LITTLE VOICE RE: [MV] unsubscribe and Freddy Vs Jason [MV] REVIEW: LITTLE VOICE [MV] The Movie Report#169, 12/3/98 [MV] REVIEW: PSYCHO (1998) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 2 Dec 1998 23:31:16 EST From: AZThARA@aol.com Subject: [MV] unsubscribe unsubscribe [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1998 08:27:50 -0700 From: jkrudy Subject: RE: [MV] unsubscribe Please tell me we're not going to get on the topic of what is considered "Stupid." James K. Rudy - -----Original Message----- From: AZThARA@aol.com [mailto:AZThARA@aol.com] Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 1998 9:31 PM To: movies-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: [MV] unsubscribe unsubscribe [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 11:34:52 -0500 From: ryana@allensysgroup.com (Ryan Allen) Subject: RE: [MV] unsubscribe At 10:27 12/3/98 , you wrote: >Please tell me we're not going to get on the topic of what is considered >"Stupid." I don't think so... I hope not. Ryan Intranet Specialist Intranet Development Team (IDTeam) Allen Systems Group http://www.asg.com ## Hurricane Season (June 1-Nov. 30) is Here! ## ## Please visit my Personal Page ## ## http://www.gate.net/~airwolf ## [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Dec 98 14:02:04 PST From: "Rebecca Bezant" Subject: Re: [MV] unsubscribe and Fredy Vs Jason Don't blame him, he made a mistake doing a reply. It could of been anyon= e writing that, sometimes those [ ] get confusing to me as well. And = I am curious about The Freddy Vs. Jason movie that I have been getting = a lot of emails about. When is the movie due out and will Robert Englund = return as Freddy? - ---------- > Please tell me we're not going to get on the topic of what is considere= d > "Stupid." > > James K. Rudy > > > -----Original Message----- > From: AZThARA@aol.com [mailto:AZThARA@aol.com] > Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 1998 9:31 PM > To: movies-digest@lists.xmission.com > Subject: [MV] unsubscribe > > > unsubscribe > > [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] > [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] > > [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] > [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] > [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 13:17:54 -0500 From: ryana@allensysgroup.com (Ryan Allen) Subject: Re: [MV] unsubscribe and Freddy Vs Jason At 17:02 12/3/98 , you wrote: >Don't blame him, he made a mistake doing a reply. It could of been anyone >writing that, sometimes those [ ] get confusing to me as well. And I am >curious about The Freddy Vs. Jason movie that I have been getting a lot of >emails about. When is the movie due out and will Robert Englund return as >Freddy? Well, if you missed all the posts, it boils down to this. The movie script has been worked on and thrown out a dozen plus times over the past two or three years. New Line will eventually do a movie, and Wes Craven said (I believe) that he'd "rather Freddy be left dead, but since [he] doesn't own the characters [New Line does], then it's up to [New Line]." He also said that the FvJ movie would be Freddy's last movie. There is no complete script, so no idea when it'll start moving towards production. HTH. Ryan Intranet Specialist Intranet Development Team (IDTeam) Allen Systems Group http://www.asg.com ## Hurricane Season (June 1-Nov. 30) is Here! ## ## Please visit my Personal Page ## ## http://www.gate.net/~airwolf ## [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1998 13:22:44 -0500 (EST) From: reviews@screenit.com Subject: [MV] Screen It Newsletter (December 3, 1998) Welcome to the Screen It! Newsletter (December 3, 1998). This week at the movies, "Psycho" returns to the big screen, but it's not Hitchcock's version, while a less prominent film hits the high notes in limited release. On home video, a few more titles from this past summer hit the shelves, including a remake of "The Parent Trap," and the latest film from Harrison Ford, both of which are joined by two smaller films very few people saw while they played in the multiplexes. PLEASE NOTE: The new movie reviews WILL NOT be publicly posted until LATE Tuesday night (EST) to comply with the studios' wishes/demands. Next week, reviews of "Jack Frost" (Michael Keaton), "Star Trek: Insurrection" (Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes), and other new releases. ===========WE NEED YOUR HELP=========== While you've undoubtably seen many ads on the Screen It website, most are low paying and some are pay per lead (you fill out a form and we receive a small commission). As such, the income from such ads helps pay for some of Screen It's operating expenses, but no one here (meaning me, your faithful reviewer) has taken a salary in more than a year. Here's where you can help. Tell others to visit our site and for them to tell others as well. If we can attain a certain level of traffic (more than a million pages shown per month -- currently we're at 800,000) we can hopefully draw higher paying ad firms and advertisers. As such, this will not only help us (make back some money that we've sunk into this endeavor), but also you. That's because the more money we make, the more likely we'll be able to add more reviewers and thus provide you, dear readers, with more reviews of older videos and possibly music releases once again. Thanks in advance if you choose to do this, and now on with this week's newsletter... __________________________________________________ NEW MOVIE REVIEWS FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4TH: "LITTLE VOICE" (1998) (Jane Horrocks, Brenda Blethyn) (R) Drama: A young, but near mute recluse's (Horrocks) amazing ability to imitate legendary female vocalists draws the attention of a sleazy local talent agent (Michael Caine) who hopes to make it to the big time with her. Not perfect, but funny, touching, and entertaining, "Little Voice" is a very good film and features good performances from its talented cast. The film is rated R for profanity and brief nudity. (Limited Release) http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/little_voice.html __________________________________________________ "PSYCHO" (1998) (Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche) (R) Horror: A petty thief's (Heche) random encounter with a psychopathic motel clerk (Vaughn) and his mother unveils disturbing facts as others come looking for the missing woman. This release has plenty of talent in and behind it ("Good Will Hunting's" Gus Van Sant directs), but it's drawing plenty of fire for reportedly being a near exact remake of the original 1960 Hitchcock film (but in color and with updated references). Universal did not screen this film in advance, so we can't tell you anything about it until we see it. If it follows the original, however, the R rating should come from knife wielding violence and possibly some nudity. (National Release) (COMING SOON) http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/psycho.html __________________________________________________ NEW VIDEO REVIEWS FOR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8TH: "LAWN DOGS" (1998) (Sam Rockwell, Mischa Barton) (Not Rated) Drama: An unlikely friendship develops between a ten-year-old girl (Barton) and the twenty-one-year-old working class guy (Rockwell) who mows lawns in her affluent neighborhood. While the film is wildly uneven, some fun moments and the performances by Barton and Rockwell support it just enough to make it a film worth considering. Although it wasn't submitted to the MPAA for a rating, it should be considered as an R for profanity, nudity, sexual material and violence. Barely released in the U.S., the film only managed a box office gross of around $100,000. (http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/lawn_dogs.html) __________________________________________________ "THE PARENT TRAP" (1998) (Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Quaid) (PG) Drama/Comedy: Two eleven-year-old twins (both played by Lohan), separated at birth, accidentally meet and decide to get their divorced parents (including Quaid) back together again. Not a great film by any means -- and at least half an hour too long -- it still manages to be an enjoyable, although lightweight diversion that should at least partially please nearly everyone who sees it. Rated PG for "some mild mischief" (the MPAA's wording), the film managed to domestically gross around $66 million. (http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/the_parent_trap.html) __________________________________________________ "SIX DAYS, SEVEN NIGHTS" (1998) (Harrison Ford, Anne Heche) (PG-13) Drama/Adventure: A gruff cargo pilot (Ford) and a high-strung magazine editor (Heche) find themselves stranded on a remote, tropical island after their plane is forced down in a storm. Originally released in the summer, this film is the equivalent of consuming a Slurpee during those hot months. It's colorful, looks good and is fun to ingest, but it doesn't fully satiate one's appetite and it melts rather quickly if you inspect it for too long. Rated PG-13 for profanity, violence and some sensuality, the film grossed around $74 million domestically, with another $70 million or some coming in from overseas markets. (http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/six_days_seven_nights.html) __________________________________________________ "SOUR GRAPES" (1998) (Steven Weber, Craig Bierko) (R) Comedy: Two cousins (Weber & Bierko) come to comic blows after one hits a near half million-dollar jackpot after borrowing the winning quarters from the other. Highly reminiscent of TV's "Seinfeld" (due to its co-creator writing and directing it), this film shows potential and elicits a few laughs, but its meanspirited and below the belt attempts at humor make this one indeed a bit too sour for most moviegoers. Rated R for profanity and sexually related humor, this film only grossed a bit more than $200,000 domestically. (http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/sour_grapes.html) __________________________________________________ Do you find the Screen It Website useful? If so, contact your local newspaper, TV or radio station, or favorite magazine and ask that they do a story about our site so that others in your community or country may benefit from this information. Contact information can be found at the following address: http://www.screenit.com/press.html __________________________________________________ Remember, before you and/or your kids see it, buy it , or rent it, make sure that first you Screen It! Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents http://www.screenit.com __________________________________________________ Since we respect your privacy and time, we'll always keep these messages brief and we'll never sell or give your e-mail address to anyone. If at any time you no longer wish to receive these updates, simply let us know at reviews@screenit.com and we'll remove you from our list. [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Dec 98 13:20:18 PST From: Wade Snider Subject: Re: [MV] unsubscribe and Freddy Vs Jason I saw a posting on a movie news site that supposedly Englund and the guy who plays Jason (as if that is a hard acting job) have seen a final-near final draft of the script and they supposedly like it. That means doodley in terms of when the movie would get done, but maybe it is at least a good way through the development stage. - --- On Thu, 03 Dec 1998 13:17:54 -0500 Ryan Allen wrote: >Well, if you missed all the posts, it boils down to this. The movie script >has been worked on and thrown out a dozen plus times over the past two or >three years. New Line will eventually do a movie, and Wes Craven said (I >believe) that he'd "rather Freddy be left dead, but since [he] doesn't own >the characters [New Line does], then it's up to [New Line]." He also said >that the FvJ movie would be Freddy's last movie. There is no complete >script, so no idea when it'll start moving towards production. HTH. Ryan - -------------------------------------------------------- W. Snider If man evolved from apes, why do we still have apes? - -------------------------------------------------------- [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1998 13:37:19 -0700 From: jkrudy Subject: RE: [MV] unsubscribe and Freddy Vs Jason I was led to believe that Jason was played by a different actor in each movie. Also I have to laugh when it's mentioned that Wes Craven says that this will definitely be Freddy's last movie. Wasn't "Freddy's Dead" suppose to be his last, yet there he was again (maybe in a slightly different form) in "A New Nightmare" and apparently here he comes again. I think my grandchildren will be seeing new Freddy movies 20 - 30 years from now. James K. Rudy - -----Original Message----- From: Wade Snider [mailto:wsnider@brazoselectric.com] Sent: Thursday, December 03, 1998 2:20 PM To: movies@lists.xmission.com Subject: Re: [MV] unsubscribe and Freddy Vs Jason I saw a posting on a movie news site that supposedly Englund and the guy who plays Jason (as if that is a hard acting job) have seen a final-near final draft of the script and they supposedly like it. That means doodley in terms of when the movie would get done, but maybe it is at least a good way through the development stage. - --- On Thu, 03 Dec 1998 13:17:54 -0500 Ryan Allen wrote: >Well, if you missed all the posts, it boils down to this. The movie script >has been worked on and thrown out a dozen plus times over the past two or >three years. New Line will eventually do a movie, and Wes Craven said (I >believe) that he'd "rather Freddy be left dead, but since [he] doesn't own >the characters [New Line does], then it's up to [New Line]." He also said >that the FvJ movie would be Freddy's last movie. There is no complete >script, so no idea when it'll start moving towards production. HTH. Ryan - -------------------------------------------------------- W. Snider If man evolved from apes, why do we still have apes? - -------------------------------------------------------- [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1998 14:22:33 -0700 (MST) From: Scott Renshaw Subject: [MV] REVIEW: LITTLE VOICE LITTLE VOICE (Miramax) Starring: Brenda Blethyn, Michael Caine, Jane Horrocks, Jim Broadbent, Ewan McGregor. Screenplay: Mark Herman, based on the play by Jim Cartwright. Producer: Elizabeth Karlsen. Director: Mark Herman. MPAA Rating: R (profanity, adult themes, brief nudity) Running Time: 96 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw. Jane Horrocks delivers a show-stopping stage performance in LITTLE VOICE, the kind worthy of the divas she honors. In this adaptation of Jim Cartwright's play "The Rise and Fall of Little Voice," Horrocks reprises her stage role as L. V. (for Little Voice) Hoff, a timid young woman living in a small seaside town in the north of England. Still living with her brash, bawdy mother Mari (Brenda Blethyn), L. V. rarely speaks a word and even more rarely leaves the house. But when she sings, tearing into the classic Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey and Edith Piaf tunes beloved by her late father, she is transformed, taking on the pipes and the personality of whichever chanteuse she happens to be channeling at the moment. The most astonishing element of Horrocks' performance is that she gets no assistance from the original vocalists. The actress truly can do frighteningly dead-on recreations of Garland, Dietrich, Holliday, Monroe and half a dozen others, and its a wonder to behold. The showcase for both Horrocks and her character is a performance at a run-down cabaret, set up by Mari's current flame, small-time talent scout Ray Say (Michael Caine). Recognizing L. V. as his ticket to the Big Time, Ray sinks everything he has into a one-night performance he finally coaxes out of the reluctant girl. And once she spots the visage of her dad in the crowd, encouraging her, away she goes. In a live theater setting, you can imagine Horrocks' musical numbers being positively electrifying. Even on-screen her transformation from Minnie Mouse to mighty mouth is grand theater at its finest, and the renditions of standards like "Get Happy" and "I Wanna Be Loved By You" are extremely appealing. It doesn't take long, however, to realize that LITTLE VOICE is built entirely around Horrocks' admittedly impressive party trick. Once her centerpiece performance ends, the film starts working desperately to tie up loose ends -- L. V.'s infatuation with her father's memory, her relationships with her mother and an equally shy telephone technician (Ewan McGregor), the frustrations of Ray as his one shot at success seems about to pass him by. As flawed as Ray and Mari are, they deserve better than to vanish after receiving a comeuppance. It's frustrating watching them reduced to impediments to L. V.'s ability finally to spread her wings (and it's not as though the bird metaphor isn't beaten to an ugly death). It's all the more disappointing because, for most of its running time, LITTLE VOICE doesn't seem headed that way at all. Its eccentric characters, while stagey, all have their goofy appeal, particularly Jim Broadbent as the nightclub's cheesy owner/emcee. Director Mark Herman develops his small-town atmosphere nicely, and his adapted screenplay keeps the humor fairly consistent. It's actually nearly half an hour into the film before L. V. breaks into song for the first time, allowing ample time to build the significance of the characters and their relationships. Then comes L. V.'s big debut, and it starts to seem that everyone else was just part of the warm-up act. L. V. emerges from her shell, she sings and she changes, and about as abruptly as you can imagine, the credits begin to roll. LITTLE VOICE is largely diverting in its way, and Horrocks is truly wonderful, but eventually it's somewhat disappointing. I didn't expect to leave the theater feeling that an ensemble story had been turned into a one-woman show of Judymania. On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 Christmas Garlands: 6. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit Scott Renshaw's MoviePage http://www.inconnect.com/~renshaw/ *** Subscribe to receive new reviews directly by email! See the MoviePage for details, or reply to this message with subject line "Subscribe". - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Dec 98 15:12:18 PST From: Wade Snider Subject: RE: [MV] unsubscribe and Freddy Vs Jason I think the last 3 or 4 jason movies (out of NINE, geesh) had Jason played by the same guy, a real big dude who does stunts and stnunt coordination for a bunch of b-type flicks.... I have no idea about the earlier ones.... I checked, and supposedly the movie will begun shooting in January and is due to be out by September of next year. I saw two different possible plots mentioned. One is that Freddy and Jason are mere pawns from Satan to cause trouble, and the other involves a cult around each one of them that are trying to rule the world at the new millenium. Hahahahahahaha!!! Forget all of the '99 hopeful OScar contenders...HERE'S THE WINNER!!!!!! yah, and if a frog had wings it wouldn't bump its ass when it hopped. But, it is supposed to be directed by Rob Bottin.. who is a special effects MASTER. He did the stuff in Carpenter's The Thing, the effects in Total Recall, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, se7en, Mimic, and a bunch of other stuff. I NEVER thought that we would have had a Friday the Thirteenth PART NINE! Does anyone remember hearing about the suicides before the 5th movie came out? the "If Jason Dies, I die" suicides... I was in high school then. Weird stuff. Last movie my butt. They said that with Jason, too. Wes Craven is raking in some dough from all his "Last" Nightmare on Elm Street movies. I'm sure we'll be seeing "Nightmare on Elm Street 57 - Freddy's final sponge bath!" Did anyone see the episode of Saturday Night Live a couple of weeks ago hosted by Robert Englund? They had this running gag where he played himself in a skit, such as a talk show or game show, and the other characters kept coming up to him and saying, "Hey, You were that guy on V!" Hahaha. For those of you who may have been in kindergarten back then, V was an American mini-series about an alien invasion; it came out FIFTEEN years ago, in 1983 or 1984. It spurred a very short-lived regular TV series, but it was a popular enough mini-series. But, that was all the people on SNL would remember him for. After the fourth or fifth time, he eventually blew up, "I was Freddy Krueger in ALL seven Nightmare movies! one of the most popular horror creeps ever! I've been in almost 60 movies, and that's all you people remember me for!?!?" Okay, okay, that's a paraphrase, but it still makes a funny self-reflexive spoof of the guy. That was very funny. Wade - --- On Thu, 3 Dec 1998 13:37:19 -0700 jkrudy wrote: I was led to believe that Jason was played by a different actor in each movie. Also I have to laugh when it's mentioned that Wes Craven says that this will definitely be Freddy's last movie. Wasn't "Freddy's Dead" suppose to be his last, yet there he was again (maybe in a slightly different form) in "A New Nightmare" and apparently here he comes again. I think my grandchildren will be seeing new Freddy movies 20 - 30 years from now. James K. Rudy - -------------------------------------------------------- W. Snider "Give me ambiguity or give me something else." - -------------------------------------------------------- [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1998 14:22:33 -0700 (MST) From: Scott Renshaw Subject: [MV] REVIEW: LITTLE VOICE LITTLE VOICE (Miramax) Starring: Brenda Blethyn, Michael Caine, Jane Horrocks, Jim Broadbent, Ewan McGregor. Screenplay: Mark Herman, based on the play by Jim Cartwright. Producer: Elizabeth Karlsen. Director: Mark Herman. MPAA Rating: R (profanity, adult themes, brief nudity) Running Time: 96 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw. Jane Horrocks delivers a show-stopping stage performance in LITTLE VOICE, the kind worthy of the divas she honors. In this adaptation of Jim Cartwright's play "The Rise and Fall of Little Voice," Horrocks reprises her stage role as L. V. (for Little Voice) Hoff, a timid young woman living in a small seaside town in the north of England. Still living with her brash, bawdy mother Mari (Brenda Blethyn), L. V. rarely speaks a word and even more rarely leaves the house. But when she sings, tearing into the classic Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey and Edith Piaf tunes beloved by her late father, she is transformed, taking on the pipes and the personality of whichever chanteuse she happens to be channeling at the moment. The most astonishing element of Horrocks' performance is that she gets no assistance from the original vocalists. The actress truly can do frighteningly dead-on recreations of Garland, Dietrich, Holliday, Monroe and half a dozen others, and its a wonder to behold. The showcase for both Horrocks and her character is a performance at a run-down cabaret, set up by Mari's current flame, small-time talent scout Ray Say (Michael Caine). Recognizing L. V. as his ticket to the Big Time, Ray sinks everything he has into a one-night performance he finally coaxes out of the reluctant girl. And once she spots the visage of her dad in the crowd, encouraging her, away she goes. In a live theater setting, you can imagine Horrocks' musical numbers being positively electrifying. Even on-screen her transformation from Minnie Mouse to mighty mouth is grand theater at its finest, and the renditions of standards like "Get Happy" and "I Wanna Be Loved By You" are extremely appealing. It doesn't take long, however, to realize that LITTLE VOICE is built entirely around Horrocks' admittedly impressive party trick. Once her centerpiece performance ends, the film starts working desperately to tie up loose ends -- L. V.'s infatuation with her father's memory, her relationships with her mother and an equally shy telephone technician (Ewan McGregor), the frustrations of Ray as his one shot at success seems about to pass him by. As flawed as Ray and Mari are, they deserve better than to vanish after receiving a comeuppance. It's frustrating watching them reduced to impediments to L. V.'s ability finally to spread her wings (and it's not as though the bird metaphor isn't beaten to an ugly death). It's all the more disappointing because, for most of its running time, LITTLE VOICE doesn't seem headed that way at all. Its eccentric characters, while stagey, all have their goofy appeal, particularly Jim Broadbent as the nightclub's cheesy owner/emcee. Director Mark Herman develops his small-town atmosphere nicely, and his adapted screenplay keeps the humor fairly consistent. It's actually nearly half an hour into the film before L. V. breaks into song for the first time, allowing ample time to build the significance of the characters and their relationships. Then comes L. V.'s big debut, and it starts to seem that everyone else was just part of the warm-up act. L. V. emerges from her shell, she sings and she changes, and about as abruptly as you can imagine, the credits begin to roll. LITTLE VOICE is largely diverting in its way, and Horrocks is truly wonderful, but eventually it's somewhat disappointing. I didn't expect to leave the theater feeling that an ensemble story had been turned into a one-woman show of Judymania. On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 Christmas Garlands: 6. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit Scott Renshaw's MoviePage http://www.inconnect.com/~renshaw/ *** Subscribe to receive new reviews directly by email! See the MoviePage for details, or reply to this message with subject line "Subscribe". - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 15:09:53 -0800 From: Michael Dequina Subject: [MV] The Movie Report#169, 12/3/98 T H E M O V I E R E P O R T #169 DECEMBER 3, 1998 PLEASE HELP... ...keep the MR and Mr. Brown's Movie Site alive. I am undergoing a serious funding and resource crisis. Please send any donations (every little bit does help) to: Michael Dequina 3650 Denver Avenue Long Beach, CA 90810-2205 You can also help by renting or purchasing videos and DVDs from Reel.com! Get a jumpstart on your holiday gift shopping by visiting: http://www.reel.com/cgi-bin/nph-reel.exe?COBRAND=MRBR&OBJECT=welcome.html Thank you very much. =>T H I S W E E K<= M O V I E S - -_Babe:_Pig_in_the_City_ - -_Ringmaster_ - -_Still_Crazy_ - -_Celebrity_ V I D E O - -_Almost_Heroes_ - -_Go_Now_ - -_The_Mask_of_Zorro_ For links to the official websites of all the current films, past reviews, exclusive Hollywood event photos, movie discussion board, movie theme MIDI files, a comprehensive link section, and more, visit Mr. Brown's Movie Site at: http://welcome.to/mrbrown or http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown Please don't forget to sign the guestbook... If you are reading this on Usenet, you can subscribe to the MR at: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/moviereport.html Select reviews are available at CompuServe Hollywood Hotline: http://www.HollywoodHotline.com ...and the Eyepiece Network at: http://www.eyepiece.com ...and Albany Online at: http://www.AlbanyOnline.com ...and Film Frenzy at: http://www.filmfrenzy.com all movies graded out of four stars (****) ~~~ =>M O V I E S<= N E W R E L E A S E S IN BRIEF _Babe:_Pig_in_the_City_ (G) ** 1/2 I can understand Universal's desire to make a sequel to its 1996 surprise box office and Oscar sensation. I can understand director George Miller's (who served as producer on the original) desire to have the titular perky porker to grow up a bit. But there's something about this film I cannot understand: did this follow-up to a beloved family film really need to be this dark? (And how the hell did it snag a G rating?) _Pig_in_the_City_, as its title suggests, brings the sheepherding pig to an unnamed metropolis (inventively designed as an amalgam of New York, Sydney, Paris, San Francisco, among many others) to save the farm after inadvertently causing his beloved master, Arthur Hoggett (James Cromwell) to suffer a crippling accident. As upsetting as the sight of some heavy machinery falling on the gentle farmer is, it's not quite as upsetting as a ridiculously drawn-out scene of a dog's near-drowning, not to mention an already-crippled dog being thrown from a speeding car, his spirit then briefly seen frolicking in a canine heaven. The children in the audience with which I saw the film were audibly upset, as were some parents, and I cannot blame them. What nearly redeems the film is the enduring charm of the pig, this time voiced by E.G. Daily (taking over for Christine Cavanaugh); the imaginative production design; and the impressive effects work. As in the original, it is impossible to distinguish the real animals from the animatronic ones to the computer animated ones. And as in the original, everything _does_ work out nicely for the pig, who learns a lesson or two about life. But walking out of this _Babe_, I--and I am sure many others--feel that Universal should have left well enough alone, heeding the immortal closing words of Farmer Hoggett in the original (repeated in this film): "That'll do, Pig." _Ringmaster_ (R) no stars The overexposure of talk show host/referee Jerry Springer continues--and hopefully ends--with this insipid bottom-brow comedy which, according to a closing disclaimer, is _not_ "intended to depict any actual participant in, or aspect of, _The_Jerry_Springer_Show_, which is broadcast on television." Funny, because the centerpiece of this film is a salacious, fight- and profanity-filled talk show called _Jerry_, hosted by a guy referred to in the film simply as, yes, "Jerry" (played by Springer, natch). Mercifully, although he is given above-the-title billing, Springer is made a mere supporting player by writer Jon Bernstein and director Neil Abramson; anyone who's seen the "Final Thought" segment of Springer's show knows how well he _doesn't_ hold the screen. Not so mercifully, though, Abramson allots some of Springer's limited screen time for a painful country-western musical number and--yikes--a fleeting but no less ghastly Springer sex scene. Instead, Abramson and Bernstein cast their focus (using that term very loosely) on two separate groups of people who are tapped to appear on _Jerry_ for different topics, only to end up intertwining. Receiving the most screen time are a mother-daughter pair of trailer park trollops. The daughter (Jaime Pressly), who indiscriminately has (to use the President's euphemism) "inappropriate relationships" with random guests at the hotel she works at, is sleeping with her stepfather (Michael Dudikoff of _American_Ninja_, er, fame). In retaliation, the mother (Molly Hagan) starts having her daughter's fiance (Ashley Holbrook). Slightly more amusing is the other group, a trio of ghetto stereotype girls (Wendy Raquel Robinson, Tangie Ambrose, and Nicki Micheaux) who have all, at one point or another, fallen into the bed of musclebound studmuffin Demond (charismatic _Spawn_ and _Tyson_ star Michael Jai White, who can certainly find better work than this). What ensues is tons of "too hot for TV" tawdriness that, ironically, enough, is not compulsively watchable as Springer's two _Too_Hot_for_TV!_ videos--nor nowhere nearly as funny. Part of the reason is that we are acutely aware that all the outrageousness is staged; regardless of whether or not any of Springer's TV guests' tussles are rehearsed, those fights do feature nonprofessionals inflicting real harm on each other--which is part of the show's sadistic guilty pleasure factor. But the main reason is the amateurish sloppiness of the entire movie, from the acting to the countless glitches in logic and continuity. (For example, Springer's character's last name, according to the credits, is "Farrelly," but in one autograph-signing scene, he signs his last name as "Springer.") Stay home and watch the genuine article instead. _Still_Crazy_ (R) ** Every year, at least one studio stages a one-week Academy qualifying engagement for a film that clearly has no prayer at snagging any nominations, let alone any awards. This year's most blatant example is this British comedy, which is certainly pleasant enough to watch but completely forgettable. After the misfire of _The_Juror_, _The_Josephine_Baker_Story_ and _What's_Love_Got_to_Do_with_It_ director Brian Gibson returns to his musical roots--with considerably less success--for this formulaic tale about the reunion of (fictional) '70s rockers Strange Fruit (played by Stephen Rea, Jimmy Nail, Bill Nighy, and Timothy Spall). Naturally, the personality conflicts that led to the band's first breakup, namely that between Nail's soulful guitarist/backup singer and Nighy's vain lead singer, endanger the reunion's success and long-term prospects, but, as is the case of the recent crop of _Full_Monty_-ish feel-good Brit comedies, everything gets nicely tied up in the end. There are a few nice turns, especially by Nail and Juliet Aubrey (as the band's assistant), but most of the humor provided by scripters Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais is less funny than plain silly, such as Nighy's stuck-in-the-glam-era stage antics and a running gag that has Spall constantly evading debt collectors. In short, _Still_Crazy_ is simply an average timekiller. (opens December 11) I N C U R R E N T R E L E A S E _Celebrity_ (R) ** This fall's entry into the Woody Allen filmography is this scattershot episodic black-and-white comedy, more or less following the opposing life trajectories of a divorced New York couple: downwardly mobile philandering celebrity journalist/aspiring screenwriter Lee Simon (Kenneth Branagh) and his fast-rising ex, Robin (Judy Davis). In theory, the point of the entire film is to provide insight into the nature of fame and fortune, mostly through Lee's encounters with luminaries such as a supermodel (Charlize Theron), a ditzy starlet (Melanie Griffith), and a wild young movie heartthrob (Leonardo DiCaprio). However, I didn't see or hear anything particularly insightful except for the line of dialogue, "You can learn a lot about a society by who it chooses to celebrate." And what exactly do we learn about _our_ society from _Celebrity_? That it is one where just about every celebrity is willing to appear in a Woody Allen film--hence another star-studded ensemble, which also includes Joe Mantegna, Famke Janssen, Bebe Neuwirth, and Winona Ryder, who displays nice chemistry with Branagh (whose dead-on Allen impression _didn't_ annoy me). Without any clear ideas or a strong story, _Celebrity_ ends up as a showcase of fine character work by stars--a celebration of celebrity that I don't think Allen intended. (full reviews of the following in past MRs and at the listed URLs) - -_American_History_X_ (R) *** http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt40.html#historyx - -_Antz_ (PG) *** 1/2 http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt39.html#antz - -_Belly_ (R) ** http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt41.html#belly - -_Beloved_ (R) *** http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt40.html#beloved - -_A_Bug's_Life_ (G) *** 1/2 http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt42.html#bugs - -_The_Cruise_ (PG-13) *** http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt41.html#cruise - -_Elizabeth_ (R) *** 1/2 http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt40.html#elizabeth - -_Enemy_of_the_State_ (R) *** 1/2 http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt42.html#enemy - -_Happiness_ **** http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt40.html#happiness - -_Home_Fries_ (PG-13) ** http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt42.html#home - -_I_Still_Know_What_You_Did_Last_Summer_ (R) * http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt41.html#istillknow - -_I'll_Be_Home_for_Christmas_ (PG) * 1/2 http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt42.html#xmas - -_The_Last_Emperor_ Director's Cut **** - -_Life_Is_Beautiful_(La_Vita_E_Bella)_ (PG-13) **** http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt40.html#vitabella - -_Living_Out_Loud_ (R) *** http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt41.html#living - -_Meet_Joe_Black_ (PG-13) *** http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt42.html#joe - -_Pleasantville_ (PG-13) *** 1/2 http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt40.html#pleasantville - -_The_Rugrats_Movie_ (G) *** http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt42.html#rugrats - -_The_Siege_ (R) ** 1/2 http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt41.html#siege - -_Velvet_Goldmine_ (R) ** 1/2 http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt41.html#velvet - -_Very_Bad_Things_ (R) **** http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt42.html#bad - -_Waking_Ned_Devine_ (PG) *** http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt41.html#ned - -_The_Waterboy_ (PG-13) ** http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt41.html#waterboy - -_The_Wizard_of_Oz_ (G) **** F U T U R E F I L M S - -_A_Simple_Plan_ (R) **** http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt42.html#plan (December 11) O N T H E H O R I Z O N FRIDAY _Bulworth_ (R) *** Full review in MR#144, 5/29/98; and at: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt34.html#bulworth Returning to theatres to bolster its Oscar chances is Warren Beatty's original, provocative, but underachieving political satire in which a suicidal senator (Beatty) becomes a rapping spokesman for the disenfranchised. _Little_Voice_ (R) *** Full review in MR#164, 10/29/98; and at: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt41.html#lv Superb performances by Brenda Blethyn and Jane Horrocks add some meat to this light British crowdpleaser about a soft-spoken young woman (the amazing Horrocks) with a larger-than-life singing voice. Michael Caine and Ewan McGregor also star. _Psycho_ (R) The year's biggest cinematic curio--Gus Van Sant's shot-by-shot "re-creation" of the seminal 1960 Alfred Hitchcock chiller--and perhaps most talked-about film arrives in theatres with no lavish Hollywood premiere _nor_ advance press screenings. Universal's excuse? The original film had neither, so neither will this one. Hmm... _Shattered_Image_ (R) Thriller in which a young woman's (Anne Parillaud) life unfolds in two different realities: one where she's an assassin, another where she is a married woman recovering from a rape. William Baldwin co-stars for director Raul Ruiz. ~~~ =>V I D E O<= N E W T H I S W E E K _Almost_Heroes_ (PG-13) no stars Full review in MR#145, 6/4/98; and at: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt35.html#heroes Rent or buy at Reel.com: http://www.reel.com/cgi-bin/nph-session.exe?COBRAND=MRBR&OBJECT=moviepage.as p?MMID=41421 Chris Farley delivered his final screen performance in this awful, alleged comedy about two inept explorers (Farley and Matthew Perry) attempting to beat Lewis and Clark to the Pacific Coast. A dreary, virtually laugh-free affair. (Warner Home Video) _Go_Now_ *** Full review in MR#141, 5/7/98; and at: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt33.html#gonow Rent or buy at Reel.com: http://www.reel.com/cgi-bin/nph-session.exe?COBRAND=MRBR&OBJECT=moviepage.as p?MMID=44114 Poignant, well-acted 1995 BBC production in which a Scottish soccer player/construction worker (Robert Carlyle) develops multiple sclerosis, turning his life and his relationship with his live-in love (Juliet Aubrey) upside down. (PolyGram Video) _The_Mask_of_Zorro_ (PG-13) *** Full review in MR#150, 7/10/98; and at: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt36.html#zorro Rent or buy at Reel.com: http://www.reel.com/cgi-bin/nph-session.exe?COBRAND=MRBR&OBJECT=moviepage.as p?MMID=42058 Martin Campbell's rousing revival of the classic swashbuckling hero, in which the original defender of the oppressed (Anthony Hopkins) passing his mask onto a younger, wilder successor (Antonio Banderas). Stunning Catherine Zeta-Jones smolders as Hopkins's daughter/Banderas's love interest. (Columbia TriStar Home Video) ~~~ =>N E X T W E E K<= More reviews, including: - -_Jack_Frost_ - -_Psycho_ - -_Stepmom_ 'til then... __________________________________________________________ Michael Dequina Chat Forum Host, The Official Michael Jordan Web Site http://jordan.sportsline.com mj23@michaeljordanfan.com | jordan_host@sportsmail.com michael_jordan@geocities.com | mrbrown@iname.com >My personal WWW sites< Mr. Brown's Movie Site: http://welcome.to/mrbrown Michael Jordan Beyond the Court: http://fly.to/michaeljordan A Michael Jordan Fan's Heartbreak: http://fly.to/mj23 Personal Page: http://welcome.to/w3md >Other WWW sites I work on< CompuServe Hollywood Hotline: http://www.HollywoodHotline.com Albany Online: http://www.AlbanyOnline.com Eyepiece Network: http://www.eyepiece.com Film Frenzy: http://www.filmfrenzy.com "Life is knowing the toughest competition you ever face is yourself." - --Michael Jordan __________________________________________________________ [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 4 Dec 1998 16:14:27 -0700 (MST) From: Scott Renshaw Subject: [MV] REVIEW: PSYCHO (1998) PSYCHO (1998) (Universal) Starring: Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortensen, William H. Macy. Screenplay: Joseph Stefano, based on the novel by Robert Bloch. Producers: Brian Grazer and Gus Van Sant. Director: Gus Van Sant. MPAA Rating: R (violence, adult themes) Running Time: 104 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw. I'll admit that I didn't rent the original PSYCHO last night so I could make my shot-by-shot comparison with a fresh memory. I'm fairly certain Hitchcock didn't make it explicit that Master Bates was masturbating while watching Marion Crane disrobe, the opening helicopter shot was definitely new, and I can't recall near-subliminal shots of gathering storm clouds edited into the legendary "shower scene." Otherwise, everything appeared pretty consistent with my recollection. Director Gus Van Sant -- for reasons he has given anywhere from "why not remake a good film instead of a bad film?" to just plain "why not?" -- had indeed taken one of American cinema's most iconic horror films, dipped it in color, and served it up whole to a new generation of movie-goers. The metronomic repetition of "why" is a bit futile at this point, but I'm willing to hazard my own guess as to the answer: Van Sant wanted to remind viewers what a brilliant director Alfred Hitchcock was, and what a brilliant example of direction PSYCHO was in particular. I hope viewers (and critics) don't fold their arms in indignation so tightly against their chests that they fail to recognize how incredibly suspenseful and tautly paced the first hour of this PSYCHO is. Beginning with the most famous red herring in film history -- the theft of $400,000 from a real estate office -- the story follows Marion Crane (Anne Heche) from Phoenix to California, where she makes an ill-fated stop at the Bates Motel. There she meets manager Norman Bates (Vince Vaughn), whose heart belongs to Mommy and whose cutlery has a way of finding itself imbedded in flesh. Heretical though it may seem to say so, the first half of this PSYCHO is better than the original, because Heche's interpretation of Marion is better than Janet Leigh's. Her steadily mounting guilt and fear of discovery as she tries to bring the loot to her bankrupt boyfriend Sam (Viggo Mortensen) are palpable. The staging -- Hitch's ominous angles, Bernard Herrmann's chilling score -- masterfully builds the tension, but it also allows us watch Heche's mind work, and she's as fiercely intelligent an actress as we have today. While the narrative is focused on Marion's flight, it really flies. Eventually, of course, Marion exits the film wrapped in a shower curtain, which leaves us with Norman and the snooping of Sam, Marion's concerned sister Lila (Julianne Moore) and private detective Arbogast (William H. Macy). It also leaves us with the PSYCHO's one huge problem: Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates. There's nothing exactly wrong with Vaughn's performance, which is edgy and scary. Vaughn simply can't help the fact that physically, he is completely wrong for the role. Towering over every other actor in the piece, his good looks untamed by a bad haircut, Vaughn is far too physically intimidating to play the meek, sexually repressed basket case. He throws the entire second half of the film out of whack, leaving the audience with nothing to do but watch Van Sant and his cast play out the rest of the film. There are any number of reasons why a PSYCHO nearly 40 years removed from the well-known original can't work quite as well. The shower scene is now a film-school standby as minutely dissected as the Zapruder film, not a viscerally shocking surprise; familiarity with the true nature of Norman's "mother" makes some of his dialogue unintentionally humorous. But there's no question that it does still work as an example of building terror through film-making skill. It also shows that the success of particular choices may be built around the casting. The best choice with Anthony Perkins as Norman does not equal the best choice with Vince Vaughn as Norman -- it's chaos theory at its finest applied to the art of directing. Gus Van Sant has honored the master (closing the film with a dedication to Hitchcock), but he hasn't duplicated him. This incarnation of PSYCHO isn't a forgery of a great work of art. It's more like a photo of a great work in an art history textbook -- a bit flat, but intriguing enough to make you want to get a better look at the real thing. On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 shower caps: 6. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit Scott Renshaw's MoviePage http://www.inconnect.com/~renshaw/ *** Subscribe to receive new reviews directly by email! See the MoviePage for details, or reply to this message with subject line "Subscribe". - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ End of movies-digest V2 #139 **************************** [ To quit the movies-digest mailing list (big mistake), send the message ] [ "unsubscribe movies-digest" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ]