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From: owner-movies-digest@lists.xmission.com (movies-digest) To: movies-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: movies-digest V2 #101 Reply-To: movies-digest Sender: owner-movies-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-movies-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk movies-digest Friday, September 25 1998 Volume 02 : Number 101 [MV] RE: What about funny movies? RE: [MV] What about funny <hard to find> movies? Re: [MV] What about funny movies? [MV] The Movie Report#159, 9/25/98 Re: [MV] What about funny <hard to find> movies? -Reply ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 26 Sep 98 03:35:55 JST From: P-000132@plato-net.or.jp Subject: [MV] RE: What about funny movies? My choices are: (1) Twins (2) The Blues Brothers (3) Big # I sometimes watch them even now and all of them always make me laugh. # They are very heart-warming, too!! Taro // from Kyoto, Japan [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 11:50:16 -0700 (PDT) From: Christina Stanley <cristina@blarg.net> Subject: RE: [MV] What about funny <hard to find> movies? On Fri, 25 Sep 1998, Romero, Leticia wrote: > Is Schizopolis on video?!! I LOVED that movie!! It was the most hysterical > movie I've ever seen! (even funnier than Hudson Hawk -- Ha!) I got to meet > Steve Soderberg, and he's as quirky as is filmaking! It is. I'd like to find a previously viewed copy of it somewhere for purchase. My boyfriend and I scour the many video stores of this city looking for good deals. Most video stores are stupid, and buy 80 copies of say, Air Force One because they have these policies where they guarantee that you can walk in and rent it. Frankly, very few movies merit this, although there are movies that had a shitty run in the theaters and then find their legs on video. So the video stores have to turn around and sell 70 copies of Air Force One a month or so after release. A movie like Schizopolis is more difficult to find as a previously viewed tape because the video stores only buy one copy, and after it's considered past new release status, it goes to the Siberia of video store shelves ... everyone just wants the big new action thrillers. It's pathetic. I could buy a new copy, but last time I checked, it wasn't priced at a sell through price -- $75. christina ______________________________________________________________ cristina@blarg.net The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing..if you can fake that, you've got it made. Groucho Marx [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 14:46:48 -0500 From: Diane Christy <dchristy10@earthlink.net> Subject: Re: [MV] What about funny movies? On 9/25/98, 12:40 PM -0500, Garrett Winters said so nicely: >proves my point that I would forget some, probably as Groundhog day was >hilarious but I have only seen it the once straight through that I forgot >it. "Groundhog Day" was very funny, but it is also extremely profound. I think it's one of the most brilliant philosophical movies I've ever seen. ~~~~~ Diane Christy (Samantha and Joshua's Mom) Jefferson, LA http://www.geocities.com/~dchristy10/ mailto:dchristy10@earthlink.net mailto:DChristy1@aol.com ICQ #12904700 ~~~~~ [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 11:58:20 -0700 From: Michael Dequina <michael_jordan@geocities.com> Subject: [MV] The Movie Report#159, 9/25/98 ATTENTION! If you have me listed in your e-mail address books under the address: mrbrown@ucla.edu please update to: mrbrown@iname.com Thank you. T H E M O V I E R E P O R T #159 SEPTEMBER 25, 1998 PLEASE HELP... ...keep the MR and Mr. Brown's Movie Site alive. I am undergoing a serious funding and resource crisis (_I_don't_even_own_a_computer_). You can help by renting or purchasing videos from Reel.com! Please visit: http://www.reel.com/cgi-bin/nph-reel.exe?COBRAND=MRBR&OBJECT=welcome.html You can also help in other ways. Please visit: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/support.html Thank you very much. =>T H I S W E E K<= M O V I E S - -_Antz_ - -_Urban_Legend_ - -_Clay_Pigeons_ - -_Rush_Hour_ - -_Cube_ - -_Pi_ V I D E O - -_Dangerous_Beauty_ - -_Fallen_Angels_ - -_Happy_Together_ - -_Mercury_Rising_ - -_Nightwatch_ - -_The_Players_Club_ For links to the official websites of all the current films, past reviews, exclusive Hollywood event photos, movie discussion board, movie theme MIDI files, and more, visit Mr. Brown's Movie Site at: http://welcome.to/mrbrown or http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown Please don't forget to sign the guestbook... Select reviews are available at CompuServe Hollywood Hotline: http://www.HollywoodHotline.com ...and the Eyepiece Network at: http://www.eyepiece.com ...and Albany Online at: http://www.AlbanyOnline.com all movies graded out of four stars (****) ~~~ =>M O V I E S<= N E W R E L E A S E S _Antz_ (PG) *** 1/2 It's still another two months before DreamWorks launches its assault on the current state of feature animation with the much-ballyhooed (and equally as anticipated) _The_Prince_of_Egypt_, but in the meantime, the crew at SKG has found another way to hit Disney where it hurts--in the field of computer animation. With the witty and wise _Antz_, DreamWorks and PDI has given the Mouse and Pixar's upcoming _A_Bug's_Life_ a tough act to follow. The "z" in _Antz_ stands for Z (voice of Woody Allen), a lowly worker ant who for once wants to do something for his individual needs rather than those of the colony. He gets a taste of something different when Princess Bala (Sharon Stone), reluctantly betrothed to megalomaniacal General Mandible (Gene Hackman) and bored with her sheltered life in general, sneaks out and joins the commoners for one night, meeting Z at a bar (where "aphid beers" are served). Bala's ruse is soon discovered, but not before Z has fallen head over heels in love. Determined to break from his class and win Bala's love in return, Z comes up with a scheme that, if anything, will win Bala's attention. Alas, he gets a lot more than he bargained for. Like Disney's trailblazing _Toy_Story_, _Antz_ has a smart script that will keep adults equally as entertained, if not more, as the young 'uns. The screenplay by Todd Alcott, Chris Weitz, and Paul Weitz is a most unlikely--and often hilarious--Communist allegory, with the oppressed workers encouraged to "work for the good of the colony" and even forced to dance the same way at the same time each day; Z's scheme inspires the masses to revolt. But beyond the social satire, a lot of the script's creativity lies in its placing the audience in the ants' shoes, seeing familiar things from the insects' eyes. For example, simple trash can brimming with litter is "Insectopia," a paradise of food and other delights for all insects; and a single water droplet can spell a horrible death by drowning. The material really comes to life in the hands of the actors and the animators at PDI. The character of Z would be unthinkable without the voice of Allen; freed from his physical form, his tired neurotic New Yorker schtick is given a freshness. The rest of the actors are also well-cast: Sylvester Stallone is perfect fit for Z's musclehead soldier friend, Weaver; Stone lends Princess Bala sexiness and spunk, as does Jennifer Lopez to Z's worker friend Azteca; Hackman makes Mandible a hissable villain; and Christopher Walken is an ideal foil as his right-hand ant, Colonel Cutter. Though the actors give the ants most of personality, the animators fill in the blanks, coming up with a look for the ants that is at once humanized (their faces are wonderfully expressive) yet distinctly insect-like. The artwork is consistently first rate, if a bit limited in the big picture; most of the action takes place in the ant colony, which means repeated use the same dingy dirt tunnel backgrounds. However, some visually dazzling scenes, such as a rather harrowing combat sequence involving some menacing termites, more than compensate. In recent months, many studios have tried to take a bite out of Disney's stranglehold on the feature animation market--and failed. If the delightful _Antz_ is any indication of what is in the pipeline of DreamWorks' traditional animation division, it may not be such a small world after all. (opens October 2) Hollywood Hotline Featured Review _Urban_Legend_ (R) * What hath Kevin Williamson wrought? While the horror movie revival spurred on by his _Scream_ has yielded a few decent entries in the genre--_I_Know_What_You_Did_Last_Summer_, _Halloween:_H20_, and _Scream_2_ - --it must be noted that Williamson himself had a hand in the writing of those films. Those Williamson-less post-_Scream_ efforts, among them _Wishmaster_ and the recent _Disturbing_Behavior_, have been frightening all right--frighteningly, insultingly _bad_. Add to that list _Urban_Legend_, which takes a promising premise and runs it through a predictable meat grinder of idiocy. The influence of Williamson on screenwriter Silvio Horta is clear in two key areas. First, the opening sequence, like that of _Scream_, is an extended set piece detailing the singular murder that gets the proverbial ball rolling. This sequence, in which Pendleton College coed Michelle Mancini (Natasha Gregson Wagner) is decapitated while driving, also reveals the other obviously Williamson-esque touch: the killer's look. Dressed in a large hooded parka, wielding an axe, the killer bears more than a passing resemblance to the _I_Know..._fisherman, sans the hook. One thing Horta does not borrow from Williamson, however, is the intriguing premise. Students at Pendleton are being killed by way of urban legends--those contemporary bits of "mythology" passed from person to person, group to group, year to year that become so embedded in the social consciousness. It hardly matters if they are true or not, such as the tall tale that Mikey from the Life cereal commercials died from a fatal combination of Pop Rocks and Pepsi (he didn't). Michelle, slain by the "killer lurking in the backseat" of lore, is but the first to fall prey to an urban legend come true; as the body count rises, fellow Pendleton student Natalie (Alicia Witt) suspects not only a link between the murders, but a personal link to her past as well. The setup shows promise, but the story never takes off, due in large part to Horta and the director, the aptly named Jamie Blanks, who fires round afer round of his namesake in terms of suspense and scares. Too many of the would-be shocks are fakeouts reliant on bombastic music cues, and the film's chase scenes are riddled with the cliches that _Scream_ tried to subvert, like screaming damsels knowingly running themselves into dead ends when they should--and could--run out the front door. But that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to cliches; there's also the climactic villain confession, in which a contrived and way-too-convenient motive is revealed, not to mention the credit card opening up the locked door trick, which is a cliche in any film genre. Banks and Horta's (intentional) attempts at humor are also lame; the fact that the best gags are lazy, in-jokey references to the other credits of co-stars Joshua Jackson and Rebecca Gayheart says a lot about the imagination of their humor. Some laughs are also had when the rather predictable identity of the killer is revealed, but I'm not so sure if some of the more hilarious things about it were meant to be so. The filmmakers don't get much help from their onscreen talent. I was far from a fan of bland _I_Know..._ starlet Jennifer Love Hewitt, but I'd talke her any day ove the dreadfully stiff and uncharismatic Witt, whose inept attempts at emoting were often met with laughter; Witt has a pefect foil in her equally pesence-challenged leading man, Jared Leto. _Dawson's_Creek_ star Jackson mugs his way thorugh a glorified cameo; Gayheart displays all the depth and range of, well, a Noxzema spokeswoman; and Robert Englund lends the film little more than his Freddy Krueger pedigree as a folklore professor. Granted, the cast is hampered by their material. Loretta Devine, who has done some fine work in films such as _Waiting_to_Exhale_, is saddled with the ridiculous role of a Pam Grier-worshiping campus security guard. The recently resuscitated horror genre cannot rely on the efforts one man--namely, Kevin Williamson--to stay alive. If other filmmakers continue to make such shoddy product as _Urban_Legend_, the genre looks to once again go the way of screen slashers' many victims. IN BRIEF _Clay_Pigeons_ (R) ** 1/2 It's hard to put a finger on what exactly this film is, and, for a while, it seems as if director David Dobkin and screenwriter Matt Healy aren't sure what they're after, either. The Montana-set _Clay_Pigeons_ begins as darkly comic riff on _Fatal_Attraction_, with young mechanic Clay (Joaquin Phoenix) being more or less stalked by an out-of-her-mind ex-lover (Georgina Cates) that just won't take no for an answer. About a half hour in, the film suddenly switches gears--and the filmmakers find their footing--when dead bodies start piling up and Clay becomes the chief suspect; also added to the mix are a slick, amiable cowboy (Vince Vaughn, hilarious) who isn't what he appears to be, and an acerbic FBI agent (Janeane Garofalo, in dry form). What ensues is a quirky, pitch black comedy-thriller that settles into an amusingly mean-spirited groove--that is, until the underwhelming finale, which all too neatly cleans up the mess that preceded it. _Rush_Hour_ (PG-13) ** 1/2 After 13 years, Jackie Chan has returned to American film production, and while the result doesn't approach the disasters his two previous stateside efforts (_The_Big_Brawl_ and _The_Protector_) were, it is still somewhat of a disappointment. In this formulaic buddy action comedy, Chan's Hong Kong cop is teamed with a motormouthed L.A. cop (Chris Tucker) to recover the kidnapped daughter (Julia Hsu) of the Chinese consul (Tzi Ma). With such a mismatched pair, many laughs are had along the way, most coming from the quick-tongued Tucker, who is mercifully held somewhat in check by director Brett Ratner; he isn't nearly as shrill as he has been in other films (such as his last collaboration with Ratner, _Money_Talks_). However, Ratner has a tougher time with the action and stunt scenes, which are not on a par with those in Chan's HK efforts. One fight scene, set in a pool hall, is completely gratuitous; and Chan's major stunt (sliding down a long banner) is kids' stuff compared to the more outrageous feats he's done in the past. Only one set piece, in which Chan fends off two baddies while trying to protect a priceless vase, is in the vein of his trademark blend of mayhem and silent comedy. Hopefully the success of the just-OK _Rush_Hour_ will allow Chan to make more inventive vehicles on this side of the Pacific. IN CURRENT RELEASE _Cube_ (R) ** _Pi_ (R) *** 1/2 Wanna make a science fiction thriller, but don't have the money for big-budget effects? Then turn to math, as have neophyte feature filmmakers Vincenzo Natali and Darren Aronofsky for their films _Cube_ and _Pi_, respectively. _Cube_'s story is fairly thin: six strangers (Nicole deBoer, Nicky Guadagni, David Hewlett, Andrew Miller, Wayne Robson, and Maurice Dean Wint) wake up to find themselves trapped in a 14' by 14' cube, with doors on each wall, the ceiling, and the floor. This cube, as it turns out, is simply one of many in a much larger structure, and the six try to find their way out of the labyrinthian prison--that is, if they can crack the mathematical code that will lead them to the exit. With a piddly budget of only $365,000 (in Canadian dollars), _Cube_ is more visually inventive than films that cost twenty times more. Natali shot _Cube_ on a single 14'x14' set, made to look like many different cubes through the use of different-colored lighting; the effect is entirely convincing. But for all his creative ingenuity, Natali and co-writers Andre Bijelic and Graeme Manson could have come up with a stronger script. As claustrophobic as the setting is, the film is remarkably unscary. The queasy promise of the chilling opening scene (in which an unfortunate prisoner is sliced and diced into cube steak by a booby trap) soon dissipates with the introduction of the flat, uninvolving characters, who predictably come at odds because of personality conflicts, anxiety, insanity, or any combination of the three. Too much time is spent on these interpersonal conflicts and too little on the mechanical ones, i.e. evading traps like those in the prologue. Adding to the narrative tedium are the often laughably amateurish turns by the justly unknown cast. Aronofsky had even less--only $60,000--to work with on _Pi_, but he achieves the overpowering atmosphere of fear and paranoia that Natali and company obviously strived for in _Cube_. Aronofsky, Sean Gullette, and Eric Watson's story is sometimes confounding; it details an math genius's (Gullette) rapid descent into madness when he finally discovers a long-obsessed-over mathematical pattern to the stock market, Jewish mysticism, and, it appears, the universe itself. But story seems to be a moot point in Aronofsky's frenzied vision; the intent is to create a living nightmare of psychological horror, and he succeeds most unsettlingly through his use of stark, sometimes grainy, black and white photography; frenetic editing; and a pulsating electronic score. Many films purport to be something "unlike you've ever seen"; few films actually deliver. The stylish and scary _Pi_ is one of those few. (full reviews of the following in past MRs and at the listed URLs) - -_Blade_ (R) *** <MR#156, 8/28/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt38.html#blade - -_Dance_with_Me_ (PG) ** <MR#154, 8/13/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt38.html#dance - -_Dead_Man_on_Campus_ (R) * <MR#155, 8/20/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt38.html#deadman - -_Ever_After_ (PG-13) *** <MR#152, 7/30/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt37.html#everafter - -_54_ (R) * 1/2 <MR#156, 8/28/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt38.html#54 - -_Halloween:_H20--20_Years_Later_ (R) *** <MR#152, 7/30/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt37.html#h20 - -_How_Stella_Got_Her_Groove_Back_ (R) *** <MR#155, 8/20/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt38.html#stella - -_Knock_Off_ (R) * <MR#158, 9/6/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt39.html#knockoff - -_Let's_Talk_About_Sex_ (R) no stars <MR#156, 8/28/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt38.html#sex - -_The_Negotiator_ (R) *** <MR#151, 7/24/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt37.html#negotiator - -_Next_Stop_Wonderland_ (R) ** 1/2 <MR#157, 9/6/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt39.html#wonderland - -_One_True_Thing_ (R) *** <MR#158, 9/17/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt39.html#1truething - -_Permanent_Midnight_ (R) ** <MR#158, 9/17/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt39.html#midnight - -_Rounders_ (R) *** <MR#157, 9/6/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt39.html#rounders - -_Saving_Private_Ryan_ (R) **** <MR#151, 7/24/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt37.html#ryan - -_Simon_Birch_ (PG) ** 1/2 <MR#157, 9/17/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt39.html#simon - -_Six-String_Samurai_ (PG-13) *** <MR#158, 9/17/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt39.html#6string - -_Slums_of_Beverly_Hills_ (R) ** 1/2 <MR#155, 8/20/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt38.html#slums - -_There's_Something_About_Mary_ (R) *** 1/2 <MR#150, 7/10/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt36.html#mary - -_Why_Do_Fools_Fall_in_Love_ (R) *** <MR#156, 8/28/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt38.html#fools - -_Without_Limits_ (PG-13) *** <MR#156, 8/28/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt38.html#limits - -_The_Young_Girls_of_Rochefort_(Les_Demoiselles_de_Rochefort)_ (G) *** <MR#158, 9/17/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt39.html#demoiselles - -_Your_Friends_&_Neighbors_ (R) *** 1/2 <MR#154, 8/13/98> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt38.html#friends O N T H E H O R I Z O N FRIDAY _Clay_Pigeons_ (R) ** 1/2 <see above review> Uneven black comedy-thriller about serial murders in a small Montana town and the young mechanic (Joaquin Phoenix) caught in the middle. Vince Vaughn and Janeane Garofalo lend strong support for director David Dobkin. _Dirty_Laundry_ Jay Thomas and Tess Harper star as unhappily marrieds who take to adultery in this comedy. _Just_Write_ (PG-13) The bad-pun-of-the-week award goes to the title of this romantic comedy in which a Hollywood tour bus driver (Jeremy Piven) wins the attention of a beautiful starlet (the underemployed Sherilyn Fenn) by pretending to be a screenwriter. _Lolita_ (R) ** 1/2 Full review in MR#151, 7/24/98; and at: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt37.html#lolita After tons of controversy, a run on Showtime, and a week-long Academy-qualifying engagement in July, Adrian Lyne's finely acted but glacial adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's novel begins its regular theatrical engagement. Dominique Swain is terrific as the 14-year-old nymphet who becomes a middle-aged professor's (Jeremy Irons) object of obsession. _Monument_Ave._ Denis Leary, Famke Janssen, Billy Crudup, and Martin Sheen star in director Ted Demme's crime drama set in a Boston Irish working-class neighborhood. _Pecker_ (R) ** 1/2 Full review in MR#153, 8/7/98; and at: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt37.html#pecker The king of cinematic bad taste, John Waters, returns to the screen with this hit-and-miss affair about a young Baltimore photographer (Edward Furlong) who becomes an overnight sensation in the New York art world. Christina Ricci, Brendan Sexton III, and Lili Taylor also star. _Ronin_ (R) ** Full review in MR#158, 9/17/98; and at: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt39.html#ronin Spectacular chase sequences highlight this confusing thriller about a group of covert operatives (led by Robert DeNiro) hired to retrieve a mysterious case. John Frankenheimer directs. _Shadrach_ (PG-13) A young boy (Scott Terra) befriends a 99-year-old former slave (John Franklin Sawyer) in 1935 Virginia in this screen version of William Styron's short story. Harvey Keitel and Andie MacDowell also star. _Urban_Legend_ (R) ** <see above review> Lame horror flick about a slasher whose murders are based on urban legends. Alicia Witt, Jared Leto, Rebecca Gayheart, and Joshua Jackson star. ~~~ =>V I D E O<= N E W T H I S W E E K _Dangerous_Beauty_ (R) ** Full review in MR#120, 12/5/97; and at: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt26.html#dangerous Rent or buy at Reel.com: http://www.reel.com/cgi-bin/nph-session.exe?COBRAND=MRBR&OBJECT=moviepage.as p?MMID=40932 The ravishing Catherine McCormack delivers a spirited performance as a Venetian courtesan pining for a wealthy gentleman (Rufus Sewell) in this overwrought bodice ripper based on Margaret Rosenthal's _The_Honest_Courtesan_. (Warner Home Video) _Fallen_Angels_ **** Full review in MR#144, 5/29/98; and at: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt34.html#angels Rent or buy at Reel.com: http://www.reel.com/cgi-bin/nph-session.exe?COBRAND=MRBR&OBJECT=moviepage.as p?MMID=40446 _Happy_Together_ ** 1/2 Full review in MR#117, 11/14/97; and at: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt25.html#happy Rent or buy at Reel.com: http://www.reel.com/cgi-bin/nph-session.exe?COBRAND=MRBR&OBJECT=moviepage.as p?MMID=40708 Brush up on the cinema of idiosyncratic Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai with the simultaneous video release of his two most recent films. _Fallen_Angels_ is Wong's terrific 1995 follow-up to cop-centered _Chungking_Express_, once again following two largely unrelated stories dealing with love, loss, and possible redemption, but this time on the criminal end. In one story, a hitman (Leon Lai) is pined over by his agent (Michele Reis); in the other, a mute ex-con (Takeshi Kaneshiro) falls for bitter, recently jilted woman. These two stories intertwine and are eventually tied together in a conclusion as poignant as it is clever. Less involving is _Happy_Together_, a mood-drenched but ice cold portrait of the tortured romance between two gay Hong Kong men (Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung) in Buenos Aires. Wong won the Best Director award at the 1997 Cannes Festival for this film, and rightfully so; his ability to create and sustain a rich atmosphere (here, romantic longing) throughout a film's duration is unmatched. Too bad he failed to write two emotionally involving lead characters. (Kino Video) _Mercury_Rising_ (R) * 1/2 Full review in MR#137, 4/10/98; and at: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt31.html#mercury Rent or buy at Reel.com: http://www.reel.com/cgi-bin/nph-session.exe?COBRAND=MRBR&OBJECT=moviepage.as p?MMID=41010 Boring, formulaic thriller in which FBI agent Bruce Willis protects an autistic boy (Miko Hughes, terrible) who breaks a top secret government code. Alec Baldwin fleetingly appears as the main bad guy. (Universal Studios Home Video) _Nightwatch_ (R) ** Full review in MR#137, 4/10/98; and at: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt31.html#nightwatch Rent or buy at Reel.com: http://www.reel.com/cgi-bin/nph-session.exe?COBRAND=MRBR&OBJECT=moviepage.as p?MMID=12594 Predictable thriller in which a morgue nightwatchman (Ewan McGregor) is suspected of a rash of gruesome murders. (Dimension Home Video) _The_Players_Club_ (R) ** 1/2 Full review in MR#137, 4/10/98; and at: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt31.html#players Rent or buy at Reel.com: http://www.reel.com/cgi-bin/nph-session.exe?COBRAND=MRBR&OBJECT=moviepage.as p?MMID=41020 Ice Cube wrote, directed, and co-stars in this uneven but surprisingly competent mix of _Showgirls_, _Striptease_, and '70s blaxploitation. Commanding newcomer LisaRaye is a remarkable find as the lead, a college student who strips to pay her tuition and support her child. (New Line Home Video) A L S O N E W T H I S W E E K _My_Giant_ (PG) Rent or buy at Reel.com: http://www.reel.com/cgi-bin/nph-session.exe?COBRAND=MRBR&OBJECT=moviepage.as p?MMID=41024 Talent agent Billy Crystal tries to make a star out of a 7-foot-7 Romanian (Washington Wizards center Gheorghe Muresan) in this flop comedy. (Warner Home Video) _Ride_ (R) Rent or buy at Reel.com: http://www.reel.com/cgi-bin/nph-session.exe?COBRAND=MRBR&OBJECT=moviepage.as p?MMID=40995 Road comedy in which kids from Harlem travel by bus to Miami for a music video shoot. Malik Yoba stars. (Dimension Home Video) ~~~ =>N E X T W E E K<= More reviews, including: - -_The_Mighty_ (postponed from this week) - -_A_Night_at_the_Roxbury_ - -_Slam_ (postponed from this week) - -_What_Dreams_May_Come_ 'til then... __________________________________________________________ Michael Dequina Chat Forum Host, The Official Michael Jordan Web Site http://jordan.sportsline.com mj23@michaeljordanfan.com | jordan_host@sportsmail.com michael_jordan@geocities.com | mrbrown@iname.com >My personal WWW sites< Mr. Brown's Movie Site: http://welcome.to/mrbrown Michael Jordan Beyond the Court: http://fly.to/michaeljordan A Michael Jordan Fan's Heartbreak: http://fly.to/mj23 Personal Page: http://welcome.to/w3md >Other WWW sites I work on< CompuServe Hollywood Hotline: http://www.HollywoodHotline.com Albany Online: http://www.AlbanyOnline.com Eyepiece Network: http://www.eyepiece.com "Life is knowing the toughest competition you ever face is yourself." - --Michael Jordan __________________________________________________________ [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 13:29:08 -0700 (PDT) From: Christina Stanley <cristina@blarg.net> Subject: Re: [MV] What about funny <hard to find> movies? -Reply On Fri, 25 Sep 1998, Bruce Bridges wrote: > One of the Funniest movies I've ever seen that is not too well known > (although I would expect many of you to know) is a movie from the > mid-seventies called "Real Life" I believe. Anyway it is about a > film crew that attempts to document the life of a typical family by > moving in and filming every waking moment. It is by Albert Brooks > and he is also the star. Charles Grodin is the father of the family. > I would suggest this to everybody. Albert Brooks is a goddamn genius. His other movies are Lost in America, Mother, Defending your Life, and Modern Romance. He shows up as an actor only in movies like Broadcast News, but his best stuff is the stuff he writes and directs. He often reminds me of Woody Allen, only not so nebbish. It's that same self-absorbtion/self-deprecation/self-loathing thing. He has a new movie coming out next year I think; it's called The Muse. christina ______________________________________________________________ cristina@blarg.net The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing..if you can fake that, you've got it made. Groucho Marx [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ End of movies-digest V2 #101 **************************** [ To quit the movies-digest mailing list (big mistake), send the message ] [ "unsubscribe movies-digest" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ]