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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1999)
The Battalion GGIELIFE Pag^^^ednesda^Decembei^K^Q^ madness veragl ►scar hopefuls prepare to do battle for Acadamy accolades LOS ANGELES (AP) — Last year’s Academy Awards were an ode to costume pageantry and ..patriotism as two Elizabethan-period pieces and es in the Cml ^ L L ' World War II sagas dominated the Oscars. 3 Lightning-fastjBThis year is shaping up as a free-for-all with bright colors hi an assemblage as motley as the cast of The from falling intcB <; ^ Warrior. jch of thetracl'B As last-minute entries prepare to hit theaters otic appeal. ^1 studios pump up the volume on their Oscar mately, thetra !jp zz machines, here is a sampling of eccentric te elements th; r °l es among the worthy wannabes: g game into an B * A behemoth, childlike Death Row inmate ; a mes like magical powers, and a nice-guy Death Row smo challenge 8 uarc l with a nasty urinary infection, how experienctB * ether-toking doctor who runs a combi- osJi Team Rue nation orphanage-abortion mill, and a fired to- ?ven the mostt baeco executive who smokes out the cigarette in- hallenges. dustry on national TV. ne also hasatfB * A teen-ager in a nut house whose neu- slow, nomatti roses include fear that her bones will flee her ating players, body, and her new best friend, the asylum’s Players arene resident sociopath. t hairpin turnm • A suburban chump with designs on his coming a mile daughter’s cheerleading friend, and a couple of ms traveled la'Bky moms with hearts of gold, iculty settings• A tyke who becomes therapist for the de- Id have much! ilased, and a mute waif with a smile to die for. jotential. P * A woman whose masquerade as a man ends me play and yr in violence, and a drag queen who gives singing c design hams: ftsons to a gay-bashing stroke victim, with a great (few Sounds like a party. ile the game isB And we have not even mentioned the old man multiplayer nu who takes a 300-mile road trip on a lawn mower, a serious dial™ For a year that was front-loaded with a lot of f many gamers high-tech special effects films and raunchy com- ■y, it has wound up producing a far-flung field ■ dreamers for the March 26 awards show . Nom- — Sfep'Bations will be announced Feb. 15. Last year, Life Is Beautiful, a comic drama set amid the Holocaust, was the odd film out among a best-picture field of two war epics. Saving Pri vate Ryan and The Thin Red Line, and Elizabeth and Shakespeare in Love, the winner. This year’s potential nominees are a murkier lot, dealing with suburban madness {American Beauty), the tobacco industry {The Insider), the supernatural {TheSixth Sense), dead comic Andy Kaufman {Man on the Moon), life in the mental ward {Girl, Interrupted), Irish poverty {Angela’s Ashes) and sexual-identity crises {Boys Don’t Cry). The best-picture prospects include a possible battle of prison dramas {The Hurricane and The Green Mile). The acting categories are so wide open the Academy might consider handing out an award to everyone who shows up. There is plenty of the usual suspects, past winners and nominees including Susan Sarandon, Tom Hanks, Emily Watson, Denzel Washington and Winona Ryder. Some of the most captivating performances, though, are among the new and notables: • Hilary Swank for her compelling take on a teen-age woman posing as a man in Boys Don’t Cry, based on the true life-and-death story of Teena Brandon. • Haley Joel Osment, who steals the show in The Sixth Sense as a boy who talks with the dead. • Michael Clarke Duncan, best known to au diences as the massive Bear from Armageddon, who gives a surprisingly cherubic performance as a simple-minded, mysterious convict await ing execution in The Green Mile. • Samantha Morton as Sean Penn’s mute, guileless girlfriend in Woody Allen’s Sweet and Lowdown, highlighted by her wallflowerish mo tions and dazzling facial expressions. • Philip Seymour Hoffman as an endear ingly messed-up drag queen giving singing lessons to Robert De Niro, who plays a raging stroke victim. • Angelina Jolie, co-starring opposite Ryder, for her vampiric turn as problem girl No. 1 at a mental institution in Girl, Interrupted. The year’s two most anticipated movies can sit this one out. Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace can expect visual-effects and technical nominations and little more. Stanley Kubrick’s finale, Eyes Wide Shut, left too many people baffled, though Nicole Kidman may have an outside shot at an acting nomination. ‘Ultimate Trek’: Badly going where no viewer has gone before NEW YORK (AP) — “Star Trek” made a franchise out of go ing where no man has gone be fore. There are some places no one should go. Sadly, UPN went there anyway. It is hard to summon the words to convey dismay over “Ultimate Trek,” UPN’s latest in a series of in creasingly desperate attempts to drum up interest in its floundering network. This one enlists “Sein feld” star Jason Alexander to sus tain an hour of bad one-liners and the thinnest of plots. Is it a parody? Is it a clip reel? It is almost impossible to tell. “Ulti mate Tfek” does not know what it is. It bills itself as a funny, senti mental “tribute to all things “Star TVek,” yet it ends up being an un funny, occasionally offensive hodgepodge that does nothing even to explain the attraction of Star TTek, much less examine its op timism and thoughtfulness. The premise (and that is a gen erous word) is centered around an old standard — an anomaly in the space-time continuum. Seems that some hooey about the Y2K bug, coupled with a computer failure somewhere in the “Star Trek” studios, is threatening to disrupt the future — and the very fabric of the universe. The only man who can fix this rupture is Capt. James T. Kirk (Alexander, in a toupee even more obtrusive than Shatner’s during the “T.J.. Hooker” years). He must beam back to Earth 1999 (some thing even “Star TYek” technology does not allow) with Spock and Dr. McCoy (Jay Johnston and Dana Gould) to set things right. And somewhere along the way, we are expected to go online and vote for our favorite “Star Trek” episode. “Without our intervention, “Star Ti'ek” will cease to exist,” Kirk/George Costanza/Alexander says in Shatnerian bursts. “We. Will. Cease. To. Exist.” What ensues resembles some thing a “Star Trek” geek with a camcorder, a laptop and no signif icant other might produce. Off they go gallivanting across Los An geles, talking into their communi cators to a computer that sounds like a NASCAR announcer and making Shemp Howard jokes. Which, actually, is sort of appro priate; this is the way Moe, Larry and Shemp might have played Kirk, Spock and Bones. The acting is horrendous — even if you assume it is being played for comedy. The entire thing is shot on video, lending a “Saved by the Bell” sheen to the whole af fair. And Alexander et al. are sweat ing visibly through their Starfleet- issue velour tunics, which hide paunch no better in 1999 than Shatner’s did in 1968. The worst part of all, sadly, is the way the clips are presented. It is difficult to simply “quote” clips without their context in the first place, but this is absurd. Un less you are a “Trek” obsessive, many of the choices will mean nothing to you. And even those who can cite each clip by episode might well be disappointed at their presentation. RICE UNIVERSITY WIESS SCHOOL OF NATURAL SCIENCES 3nain ime shows,, II soon become I evival of '‘Tlvenrl t few months, ar[ works. CBS smtl ies,” a qwzshoif Millionaire," J OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADUATE STUDY t as a game r” d down toot: onder wall towftig Wiess School of Natural Sciences at Rice University provides excellent opportunities for graduate study in a wide range of outstanding research programs with prominent faculty mentors. The departmental programs include Biochemistry & Cell Biology, amed thatii Chemistry, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Geology & Geophysics, Mathematics, Physics, and Space Physics & Astronomy. In addition, interdisciplinary programs are available in several areas (e.g.. Applied Physics). Competitive stipends, outstanding faculty and programs, state-of-the art facilities, and a pleasant campus in a cosmopolitan city ombine to create an atmosphere of stimulation and engagement for raduate study. For additional information, visit our Web page at ttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~nsci/ (with links to information on each epartment and interdisciplinary graduate programs) or send e-mail to gradinfo@rice.edu. t be putting'll ' it wasn’t for me who isn'Ud ir.’ w /-produced gai he business:!* g to spend i) comedies and! nino effect aff You’ve got the EDUCATION... But Do You Know How to Build a SUCCESSFUL CAREER? Get insights from successful women in Information Technology in an informal workshop specifically designed for female INFO seniors Plan NOW to attend the Women in Information Technology Career Building Workshop Tuesday afternoon, February 15, 2000 George Bush Presidential Conference Center for more information: cmis.tamu.edu 10GRAM ire ation, irles White f Architects - 7 8S9 >@archofl e ' 13 nts.»» ut Performed by Moscow City Ballet Escape to a one-of-a-kind dream world with MSC OPAS and the magic of the Moscow City Ballet's The Nutcracker. Filled with breathtaking dance and unforgettable melodies, this holiday favorite will dance in your dreams throughout the holiday season! ente. Bc %. 7999-1" & Friday, December 3 at 7:30 PM Saturday, December 4 at 2:00 PM & 7:30 PM Performances in Rudder Auditorium For tickets, call the MSC Box Office at 845-1234. Or order tickets on-line at opas.tamu.edu. Season Media Partners: NNTIAHf KBTX
