Thursday, July 15,1993
The Battalion
Page 5
By JENNIFER SALCE
The Battalion
"Free Willy"
Starring jason James Richter, Lori Petty,
Michael Madsen and Jayne Atkinson
Directed by Simon Wincer
Rated
Starts playing Friday
"Free Willy" will move you emo
tionally in so many ways that you
will not want to leave your seat until
the music's over and the credits have
stopped rolling.
1 immediately fell in love with the
whales in this movie when I saw
them in the opening scene freely
swimming together in their natural
habitat. The underwater scenes of
the whales are dramatic. I almost
forgot I was in the theater and
thought I was back in my high school
marine biology class. But, this
serene settingis destroyed when a
group of men capture Willy to take
him back to an amusement park.
Willy becomes the victim of captivi
ty and dislikes the daily tricks he has
to perform. He becomes a mean whale
and will not let anyone near him.
Jessie (Jason James Richter), a 12-
year-old street kid, and some of his
friends decide to paint graffiti on
Willy's observation tank as a prank.
But Jessie is the only one that gets
caught.
After the authorities review a list
of Jessie's previous violations, they
decide to send Jessie to a foster home
and in addition make him clean up
the observation tank.
At first, Jessie makes it hard on his
foster parents Glenn (Michael Mad
sen) and Annie (Jayne Atkinson)
Greenwood. They struggle to get
Jessie to talk to them and abide by
the family rules. But nothing seems
to bring Jessie around.
When Jessie's duties of scrubbing
and painting are almost complete,
Jessie realizes he doesn't want to leave
his new friend Willy. So, Jessie gets a
job at the park and spends every day
and night playing with Willy.
Everything is going great until
Jessie discovers the owners of the
park are plotting to kill the whale. In
his efforts to save Willy, Jessie and
two other workers, Rae (Lori Petty)
and Randolph (August Schellen-
berg), take matters into their own
hands and race to free Willy.
This touching movie is one the
whole family would enjoy. The
amazing flips, rolls and dives Willy
performs for Jessie will take your
breath away. The mysterious bond
between Willy and Jessie will steal
your heart.
Disney witchery fizzles
‘Hocus Focus’ fails to entertain
By JOHN BAYLESS
Ihc Battalion
"Hocus Focus"
Starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessi
ca Parker and Kathy Najimy
Directed by Kenny Ortega
Rated PG
Starts playing Friday
"Hocus Focus" was the
worst Disney film I've ever
seen. It seems Bette Midler,
Hollywood's "Divine Lady M,"
has fallen on hard times.
The film is a madcap tale of
three witches from 1693 who
are brought back from the
grave accidentally by a teenag
er, Max (Omri Katz).
Executed three hundred
years before for witchcraft, the
witches arrive back hungry for
revenge against the town that
killed them.
Winifred (Bette Midler),
Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker) and
Mary (Kathy Najimy) are op
posed by Max, his little sister
Dani (Thora Birch), and his
friend Allison (Vinessa Shaw).
The kids have to keep the town
safe until daybreak, when the
evil trio will return to the grave.
Humor in "Hocus Pocus" is
limited to crude and often vio
lent slapstick comedy. In one
scene a zombie's fingers are
chopped off by a manhole cov
er; in another scene two witch
es munch on human toes. Fur
thermore, there is a good bit of
sexual innuendo in the film,
which seems strange consider
ing that "1-locus Pocus" is a
film for children.
The language is also cruder
than that of any Disney pro
ductions I've ever seen. Words
like "damn," "jerkoff," and
"whore" undouotedly are the
reason for its PG rating.
But the film did have its good
points. Bette Midler's voice
was excellent in a witchy rendi
tion of "1 Put a Spell on You,"
and there was quality acting by
Midler
all of the younger stars in the
show. Thora Birch was espe
cially good in her role as Dani.
"Hocus Pocus" doesn't have
the Disney feel to it. Instead it
has a more worldly, hard edged
view that clashes with what a
children's film should be. It
would be more appropriate for
FOX than the Disney Channel.
A ‘weekend’ in Hell. . .
Clint
continued from Page 4
album.
Wynonna's voice is simply
magical.
The sound created will take
you back into a world wTiere di
mensions of feeling are limitless.
After hearing the album twice,
resisting to sing along to "Think
ing Again" and "No Time To Kill"
just wouldn't be natural.
The slow, meaningful words
capture the light in Black's voice
and lead the listener in.
Some of the more upbeat songs
like "Tuckered Out" and "I'll Take
Texas" still show his style, but
they don't reveal the elements of
emotion Black can bring like sec
ond nature.
Karaoke
continued from Page 4
people credit for having enough
guts to sing in front of a room full
of college students.
Sad but true, some of the per
formers took Karaoke more seri
ously than others.
One girl sang with such power
and enthusiasm, it was hard not to
laugh every time she purposely
closed her eyes and raised her
arms to the people sitting in the
restaurant. The poor girl must
have thought she really was on
It's the slow songs and Black's
poetic feel which make this album
what a country album should be.
Block
"Star Search."
One girl who sang Patsy
Cline's "Crazy" gave me the
chills. Thank goodness she held
off on the arm gestures.
And yet, there were those with
enough of a buzz and not much
talent to courageously get up and
sing a song. At least they had a
sense of humor.
Karaoke is a fun thing. It's hip
and it's crazy and great for the
young and old.
There's just one thing I wish
could improve where Karaoke is
concerned... those stupid Karaoke
videos.
The Battalion
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For Sale
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Gold stylish 70 s loveseat $45. Must sell SOON moving.
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1990' Toyota Tercel, easy $4500. 2dr. hatchback, well
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Bernie’s II’ stinks like a rotting corpse
By ANAS BEN-MUSA
The Battalion
"Weekend at Bernie's II"
Starring Jonathan Silverman, Andrew Mc
Carthy and Terry Kiser
Directed by Robert Klane
Rated PG
Playing at Cinema IU
What is worse than a story about a
corpse tossed around like a sack of
potatoes or being used as a baseball
bat. . . , the sequel — "Weekend at
Bernie's II."
The second part starts where the
first part left off. Bernie (Terry Kiser) is
finally put to rest at the New York City
Morgue, but a high priestess of voodoo
from the U.S. Virgin Islands puts a
spell on two tourists from New York
and orders them to bring Bemie back.
In order for her to find the $2 million
dollars Bernie had embezzled from his
insurance company, the voodoo witch
instructs her helpers to put a spell on
the corpse.
Unfortunately, the morons lose the
chicken that is the vital ingredient in
the spell and instead use one of the
more common birds that populate the
New York rooftops, a pigeon.
Of course, the spell is not perfect
and Bernie can only move when some
snappy Brazilian/Soutli American mu-
Andrew McCarthy, Terry Kiser and
Jonathon Silverman star in the mind
numbing "Weekend at Bernie's II."
sic is playing.
With all of this going on, the two-
bird brains from the first Bemie movie,
Richard (Jonathan Silverman) and Lar
ry (Andrew McCarthy) get fired from
the company and find out the $2 mil
lion dollars are still around. With such
a suspenseful and intriguing plot, it's
no wonder why I was more interested
in reading a dictionary.
The only question I had throughout
this hellish experience was what studio
president in his right mind would
think that a film so idiotic would actu
ally make money or be funny. All the
studios are jumping at the chance to
make more "family-oriented" films,
without realizing audiences are still
looking for quality entertainment.
Furthermore, many parents would
not subject their children to seeing a
film where the main funny point is a
corpse being dragged down a beach,
stuffed in a two-foot refrigerator and
used as a battering ram.
With such a "brilliant" plot and
"funny" scenes, the acting was an ab
solute "wonder."
McCarthy's performance can only be
described as a heat rash that won't go
away. As the sexist, egotistical Larry,
how can any woman not be flattered
and appreciative of such lines as "look
at the tits on that woman."
Silverman was only a tad better, if
you like sado masochism. Throughout
the film, it seemed stupid to think
Richard would follow or have a friend
such as Larry. A man whose only good
quality is his virginity.
"Weekend at Bernie's II" filled me
with such longing, such drive to com
mit suicide. It made comedy reach a
new low. .. the grave.
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Round trip ticket thru Amsterdam to Warsau Poland, $750
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Brass bed, queen-size, complete, with firm orthopedic
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SEX JOKES ARE IN Psyc 349. Sex jokes are at Notes-
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