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