AGGIELIFE
ridtu January21,2000 THE BATTALION Page5
Stuart Little
Starring Geena Davis and
viichael J. Fox (Voice Only)
directed by Rob Minkoff
mimari Little is a hilarious and enter-
ainiug adventure for people of all ages.
Vfte: being adopted by the Little fanii-
y, Stuart, a mouse (voiced by Fox),
ind^ that not everyone in his new
tonu: welcomes him with open arms.
: oned to compete with a brother who
■esents his smallness and a family cat
Afhl resents his species, Stuart must
jrole to his family that he belongs,
gr illed with great action scenes —
tnciiding a miniature car chase— and
*vitt> dialogue, this film is a clever,
funllilled romp. (Grade: B)
— Matt McCormick
Snow Falling on Cedars
Starring Ethan Hawke and
Max von Sydow
Directed by Scott Hicks
Snow Falling on Cedars is a beautiful
film. Ishmael (Hawke) is a small-town
reporter covering a murder trial in the
Pacific Northwest in the '50s who must
deal with issues from his past, while wit
nessing the accused man's fight for life.
Depicting the racism Japanese-Ameri
cans experienced during World War II,
Snow Falling on Cedars is a love story,
murder mystery and courtroom drama
rolled into one. Exquisitely directed,
this movie is poignant yet uplifting —
despite dragging for 15 minutes in the
middle. (Grade: B+)
— Matt McCormick
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Starring Matt Damon and
Gwyneth Paltrow
Directed by Anthony Minghella
A surprisingly unsettling, exceeding
ly well-crafted thriller. The Talented Mr.
Ripley' is a film about a man who would
rather be “a fake somebody than be a real
nobody.” Tom Ripley (Damon) is sent to
Italy to bring Dickie Greenleaf (Jude
Law), the son of a rich shipbuilder, back
to America. Ripley becomes obsessed
with Dickie’s life and his love, Marge
(Paltrow). Minghella turns the most in
nocent of actions into something more
sinister mid does something few have
done since 1 litchcock — create an intel
ligent and compassionate film about the
dark side of human nature. (Grade: A)
— Matt McCormick
Princess Mononoke
Starring Claire Danes and
Minnie Driver (Voices only)
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Princess Mononoke is a visually stun
ning mid dynanic film that mixes Eastern
mid Western animation and literary styles
to make mi original and imaginative film.
Princess Mononoke is a young
woman raised by mi ancient species of
intelligent wolves and now fights along
side them to defend a sacred forest from
mi industrial mining colony. In the mid
dle of this war is Ashitaka, a young
prince searching for a cure for a dark
plague that will eventually kill him.
The film is worth seeing for the
visual imagery alone.(Grade: A)
— Kyle Whitacre
Magnolia
Starring Tom Cruise and
Julianne Moore
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
I ike a TV broadcast that is randomly changing
channels, Magnolia tunes you in to such “program
ming” as a TV game show, an infomercial, a soap
opera, and a cop show. Though radically different in
theii setup, each story' is filled with intended parallels
and complements, occasionally interacting with each
other to create a creative web of drama and humor.
Magnolia weaves three stories together: in one, Ja
son Robards plays a dying TV producer who has an
estranged son (Cruise) he would like to make amends
with. In another, Philip Baker Hall plays a dying quiz
show host who would like to make peace with his es
tranged and cocaine addicted daughter, played by
Melora Walters. Jeremy Blackburn plays a child ge
nius with a father w'ho isn’t dying, but is manipulat
ing his son’s gift for personal gain, and William H.
Macy plays a former child genius, a washed-up one
time celebrity robbed of his intellect by a bolt of light
ning and of his money by his parents.
Magnolia centers on regret and redemption.
There’s hardly a character in the entire cast that isn’t
in some way trying to escape a tainted past, and most
of the angst is focused on family matters.
Parental neglect, spousal infidelity, child abuse —
it’s all there. And more than one person is heard say
ing something along the lines of, “You may try to for
get the past, but the past ain’t gonna forget about you.”
The film does get carried away with the parallels
at time; in fact the entire point behind Macy’s story
seems only to mirror that of Blackburn’s. And the two
best performances of the movie, John C. Reilly as the
gentle and good-natured cop who falls in love with
Walter’s fallen character, and Moore as Robard’s
grieving trophy wife (or soon to be trophy widow),
may shine above the rest only because they are al
lowed to stand alone, without another actor essen
tially playing the same role.
The brilliant script by director Anderson takes the
best of Martin Scorcese, J.D. Salinger, and Ricky Jay
and melds them into a film that is both familiar and
PHOTO COURTESEY OF NEW LINE CINEMA
Jason Robards (left) and director Anderson (right)
behind the scenes of Magnolia.
screamingly original. Each character has been given
a lifetime of depth and story that could not possibly
be put into one movie, even one that clocks in at over
three hours, a three hours well worth experiencing.
(Grade: A-)
—;Juan Loya
Buyers hunt for next Blair Witch
at Utah’s Sundance Film Festival
The Hurricane
Starring Denzel Washing
ton and Liev Schreiber
Directed by Nonnan Jewison
; The Hurricane is a rousing cele
bration of the human spirit and a tri
umph in moviemaking.
Following the true-life story of
Rubin “Hurricane” Carter (Washing
ton), a black prize fighter during the
’60s, this movie tells the story of his
wrongful imprisonment and his sub
sequent fight for justice. After being
framed by a vengeful cop for several
murders he didn’t commit, Carter
writes his autobiography while incar
cerated.
fv Eventually a copy makes its way
into the hands of a young African
American student in Canada. After
reading the book, the student contacts
Carter and begins a friendship which
leads him to start an all-out fight for
the Hurricane’s freedom with the help
of his teachers.
Director Norman Jewison takes
the opportunity to make a strong so-
. cial message concerning race rela-
15/ tions. Focusing on the wrongs Carter
suffered as a result of racial prejudice,
he crafts a story that demonstrates the
power of hate, mainly by making the
audience hate the powers who impris
oned Carter. Entertainingly shot and
edited, Jewison also uses actual
footage from many of the early
protests to free the Hurricane, lending
the movie a greater sense of realism.
The acting in this film is superb.
Washington delivers one of the most
furiously impassioned perfonuances
of his career — every action and every
word from Washington are captivating
as his character journeys from a life of
hatred to a life of hope and love. In
fact, this performance should be the
frontrunner for the best actor category
in this year’s Oscar race.
The only problem with the film is
that it should have placed more focus
on the man at the center of the storm
than the racism that surrounded him.
However, with Washington dominat
ing all his on-screen seconds, the film
is elevated through the sheer strength
of his amazing talent.
This film is definitely Washing
ton’s and he certainly delivers. Sure to
be one of the top contenders of the
year in the major Oscar categories,
The Hurricane is a knockout of a
movie. (Grade: B+)
— Matt McCormick
PARK CITY. Utah (A?) Movie
buyers trolling the Sundance Film Fes
tival that started Fhursday might wish
thc\ could ask that witch in the woods
whether there arc an\ more at home
like her.
The Blau- Witch Project^ acquired
for $1 million at Sundance last year,
went on to gross SI40 million, the first
bona fide blockbuster to come out of
the nation's premier independent
movie showcase.
While the movie's success prompt
ed predictions that festivals like this
would become crowded with films
copying the shaky, home-video look
and improvised approach of Blair
Witch, there’s little evidence of that in
this year’s 113 features at Sundance.
“It’s not an easy film to emulate, die
way it mixes genres," Sundance co-di-
rector Geoffrey Gilmore said. “It has a
very sophisticated sense of documen
tary and horror films and also imagery,
so it’s hard to anticipate a lot of differ
ent kinds of imitators.”
So buyers remain as cautious as
ever about opening their checkbooks at
Sundance. Some distributors said there
is even more caution tins year because
of recent box-office underachievers
such as Happy, Texas or Next Stop.
Wonderland, which were multimillion
dollar Sundance acquisitions.
“People arc ahvays looking for
lightning to strike twice,” Gerry Rich,
president of worldwide marketing for
MGM-United Artists, said. “That can
be dangerous if you go to Sundance
looking to repeat a phenomenon that
happened die year before.
“We don’t go there with a mandate
to come hack with a film under our
arms. Maybe we're geniuses if we
come back empty-handed."
Founded in 1978 and taken over by
Robert Bedford’s Sundance Institute in
1985, the festival runs through Jan. 30.
Though the festival began as a creative
showcase, the success of Blair Witch
emphasizes that it has become as much
a movie marketplace where frenzied
See SUNDANCE on Page 6.
ree
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