Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 8, 1999)
Aggielife Battalion ^PageSj^ThuKda^Jul^^^l^W Summer of Sam Starring John Leguizamo and Mira Sorvino Now Playing at Hollywood 16 I Few films ever come close to capturing the face of ■uman nature and the evolution of mind. Few can lortray the raw energy that comes about in the leanest of times. Summer of Sam, directed by Spike Lee, truly does. I It is the summer of 1977. Disco is at its peak. Punk has begun to startle the masses. Sex and drugs are as widespread as ever, and the age of careless 1 ving just seems to go on forever. I One of the “hottest” summers in the history of llew York City gets even hotter as a record heatwave 1 blankets the city and a madman, David Berkowitz, a.k.a. The Son of Sam, is on the loose. The film should be viewed and interpreted as a whole. It is a story of chaos and pure craziness. It is of a neighborhood and its struggle against a mad man. More importantly, though, it is an undertaking of the changing times, the clash of culture and the fall of the careless ’70’s. The dramatic aspect of this film is a selling point. Sorvino (Dionna) and Leguizamo (Vinny) both do a swell job of portraying a strained marriage caught up in the heat of the summer. Sorvino is an innocent soul trapped within the mayhem, and Leguizamo is a wild-hearted sex fiend right in the middle of it. Adrien Brody (Ritchie) also does well in his depic tion of an Italian street kid turned punk rocker and his internal struggle during the turbulent times of the summer. It should be noted that Summer of Sam does paint a rather violent and explicit picture. As for the killings, though; the film does little to glorify them. In fact, it really does no more than other such docu mentary-style films throughout history. As for the nature of it, it is reality and should be viewed that way. This could possibly be one of Lee’s best yet. It does an incredible job of portraying a story and cre ating an energy that takes the audience on a wild ride through human emotion and experience. Sum mer of Sam is a true spectacle of great filmmaking. (Grade: A +) — Brian Fleming Wild Wild West Starring Will Smith and Kevin Kline Now Playing at Hollywood 16 It isn’t a coincidence that one of the nation’s worst presidents, Ulysses S. Grant, is the comman der in chief during the time frame of Wild Wild West. The movie brings new meaning to the word dull. Smith plays Jim West, the hero who is forced to join forces with Kline’s Artemis Gordon to pursue Dr. Loveless, played by Kenneth Branagh. The original series relied on the chemistry of the original stars and the campy nature of the predica ments they were forced to solve. Neither survives in the film adaptation. The chemistry between Kline and Smith is slight ly better than oil to water — the scenes of witty ban ter between the two come off as genuinely hateful. Salma Hayek plays the Old West equivalent of a Bond girl — window dressing with minimal acting ability. Her stilted delivery and attempts to seem over the top play off as just hokey. This movie has to be the worst offering yet from director Barry Sonnenfeld, a Hollywood director who is normally known for his ability to bring cre ativity to the normally lukewarm waters of block buster filmmaking. It appears as though Sonnenfeld got fed up with the pathetic progress of the film and simply gave up after the opening minutes. Some of the scenes with the stars riding around the desert make Jar Jar look realistic. While Will may be the King of the Fourth of July weekend, his latest submission is nothing more than a dud. (Grade: D-) — Aaron Meier South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut Featuring the voices of Trey Parker and Matt Stone Now Playing at Hollywood 16 How South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut avoid ed an NC-17 rating is beyond iihagination. That be ing said, this movie proves there is more to Stan, Cartman, Kyle and Kenny than just their pretty con struction-paper animated faces. The movie has the boys sneaking into the Ter rance and Phillip movie. Asses of Fire, and emerging from the theater with an arsenal of new profanities that enrage their parents and eventually have the country declaring war on Canada. By the way, Satan is having a homosexual rela tionship with Saddam Hussein — how’s that for an original plot twist? Parker and Stone have created a tongue-in-cheek preemptive attack on all the parents who will cry foul at this film and have done it with their tradition al irreverence and raunchy humor. The genius of the film is that it is built in re sponse to parental criticism while still keeping the audience’s interest in the shocking humor. While South Park stays true to its roots, director Parker has lifted the series out of television banality and given a breath of fresh air to the quartet of foul- mouthed kids. Parker also penned most of the movie’s musical numbers (which are surprisingly outstanding), uti lizing traditional musical techniques such as inter ludes, reprises and the fixed idea of showtunes that everyone learned about in high school. However, the movie abuses the musical numbers and, after a while, viewers just want to see the film over and finished. After the first hour. South Park’s raunch lacks its original humor. After all, how many times can one person hear the word f—k in a movie? (Grade: B +) — Aaron Meier PHOTO COURTESY OF TOUCHSTONE PICTURES Leguizamo, Sorvino and Nacarella star in Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam. NEED A JOB? THE KIDS KLUB IS SEEKING STAFF FOR THE 1999 FALL SEMESTER -CH< AOS urn College Station • Are you a fun person? • Do you enjoy working with kids? • Looking for valuable work experience? • Are you available Mon.-Fri., 2:45 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.? • If you answered yes to any of these questions, we may have a job for you. Applications are now being accepted for the Kids Klub After School Program at Central Park Office thru July 12th at 5 p.m. Employment to begin August 1 Oth College Station ISD is an Equal Opportunity Employer For more information call: AFK At>s Male & Female KAte 764-3486 Staff needed! Start Your Future now Work Part-Time Now... Apply for a full-time opportunity when you graduate! Our new facility in the College Station Business Center is spectacular! We are currently hiring for part-time positions in these departments: • Hardware Repair & Support • Inventory Control • PC Support UCS Offers: Competitive salary and flexible shifts Excellent work experience Career opportunitites after graduation Paid weekly Opportunity to work with other A&M students and alumni! To apply, call (409) 595-2609 Or stop by our hospitality room in the MSC room 145 from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., July 7th and 8th to pick up an application. mmm.uniUERsnLCOinpuTERSVS.com