ftp.xmission.com

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ ftp.xmission.com / 2014.06.ftp.xmission.com.tar / ftp.xmission.com / pub / lists / movies / archive / v02.n110 < prev next >

Wrap

Internet Message Format | 1998-10-07 | 34KB

From: owner-movies-digest@lists.xmission.com (movies-digest) To: movies-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: movies-digest V2 #110 Reply-To: movies-digest Sender: owner-movies-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-movies-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk movies-digest Thursday, October 8 1998 Volume 02 : Number 110 [MV] Movie News - 10/08/98 Re: [MV] is it possible Re: [MV] Mercury Rising, ANTZ, Wild Things Re: [MV] is it possible Re: [MV] Mercury Rising Also Wild Things, and a comment on the Rating system. [MV] Screen It Newsletter (October 8, 1998) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 14:59:43 -0600 (MDT) From: The Reporter <gregorys@xmission.com> Subject: [MV] Movie News - 10/08/98 DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) - American director Steven Spielberg's anti-war film "Saving Private Ryan" left a German sneak preview audience in stunned silence Wednesday ahead of its nationwide release Thursday. A crowd of 400 German business and cultural leaders watching an advance screening with U.S. Ambassador John Kornblum was left momentarily speechless by the film with its graphic scenes of Germans fighting Americans in World War II. "It's a horrible and exhausting film for me because it has brought back so many memories of bombs and screams of pain," said Thomas Sturzena, 59. a toothpaste company executive who sat motionless for minutes after the film ended. [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 08 Oct 1998 15:17:43 -0400 From: Mel Eperthener <bcassidy@usaor.net> Subject: Re: [MV] is it possible At 11.37 AM 08/10/98 -0700, Romero, Leticia wrote: >That we've seen everything already? Nope. And even if we did, there is always more on the horizon. And some of it actually looks promising. Saw ANTZ yesterday. Had its moments. I will write it up (as well as some I've seen on video) as soon as I get some time. Regards, - --Mel - --Mel Eperthener president, Gowanna Multi-media Pty email: bcassidy@usaor.net gowanna@australiamail.com http://www.webz.com/gowanna 419 Butler Street PO Box 95184 Pittsburgh, PA 15223-0184 (412) 781-6140 (412) 781-6380 1-888-45-GOWANNA -- TOLL FREE (1-888-454-6926) ____________________________________________ "Mulder, if you had to do without a cell phone for two minutes, you'd lapse into catatonic schizophrenia" - --Dana Scully ______________________________________________ [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 08 Oct 1998 15:48:09 -0400 From: Mel Eperthener <bcassidy@usaor.net> Subject: Re: [MV] Mercury Rising, ANTZ, Wild Things At 12.41 PM 08/10/98 -0600, jkrudy wrote: >Where is everybody today? > >I saw Mercury Rising the other day on video. I loved it, but I had never >heard of it before until just the other day so obviously a lot of people >hated it. I'd like to hear any opinions you may have on it. > I thought it was servicable. Been done before, but I didn't feel my time watching it was wasted (like it was with, say, Speed 2). Had some good scenes, and the actors performed as they were expected to (in other words, we got what we normally get from Baldwin and Willis. Which is not really a bad thing). However, it reminded me of just about every other movie out there right now, government conspiracy, rogue hero, FBI showdown, etc, etc. I personally had no problem with the content, and perhaps ten years ago, it would have been groundbreaking. But now it is just the same old same old. Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing, but does affect the perception of the movie. Rent it, don't buy it. Or spend $7 to see it in the theatre. On that note, yesterday we went to see ANTZ. I was against going, as we had free passes to go last Thrusday, but I had to work. We weren't even able to give these passes away. I am strictly against paying for something today that was free yesterday. So I was holding out for something else. Perhaps Rush Hour. However, I was outvoted 1 to 1 (the beauty of being married:-). No, actually, it was a group excursion, and this was the concesus choice. And I do admit that I was curious. The best part, IMHO, was that the CGI characters looked exactly like the actors voicing them. You knew which one was Stallone even before he opened his mouth. And a lot of inside jokes that referred back to previous movies, esp ones that these guys starred in. And Woody Allen was the perfect paranoid, nebbish, uncoordinated ant. All he was missing was the glasses. I was happy spending $14 to see this. Two notes, somewhat related: First of all was that this movie was trailered by A Bug's Life, the follow up (as it were) to Toy Story (no, not a sequel, but the next big project from Pixar). Too similar. Another case of two production companies making practically the same movie. And secondly, A Bug's Life looks way too violent for a children's/family movie. (It actually reminded me of Starship Troopers) This is a trend that I am noticing. Even the PG rated ANTZ seemed more dark and foreboding that I expected. I have heard from friends who were able to see a sneak peek at Lion King 2 that it is very dark and scary. And I watched Matilda (written by the same bloke who wrore Willy Wanka, or more precisly, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), and was shocked to see some of the subjects broached by this movie. I don't know, maybe I'm just getting old.:-) >I also saw Wild Things. This might be a slight spoiler, but my wife thinks >that Kevin Bacon was the executive producer just so he could have his penis >revealed on the big screen. Personally I think well why not, they've been >showing female full frontal nudity for years. Oh, how did I ever miss that?? And this was just what I wanted to see, too:-) Actually, this is another trend I have noticed, all started with the shocking Crying Game. (I was shocked that someone that good looking could... well, never mind. I'd rather not talk about it, actually:-). Boogie Nights, Something About Mary, Fall, they're letting it all hang out anymore, so to speak. Actually most women I know seem to prefer male nudity from the back. Anyone willing to comment?? As for the movie, Wild Things, itself, another case of been there, done that. Especially coming on the heels of Palmetto (yet another film noir). Still, some interesting twists. And I took the admonishment made on this list to *watch the closing credits*, and it made a big difference to my understanding of what was going on. Regards, - --Mel - --Mel Eperthener president, Gowanna Multi-media Pty email: bcassidy@usaor.net gowanna@australiamail.com http://www.webz.com/gowanna 419 Butler Street PO Box 95184 Pittsburgh, PA 15223-0184 (412) 781-6140 (412) 781-6380 1-888-45-GOWANNA -- TOLL FREE (1-888-454-6926) ____________________________________________ "Mulder, if you had to do without a cell phone for two minutes, you'd lapse into catatonic schizophrenia" - --Dana Scully ______________________________________________ [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 22:35:18 +0100 From: "Gerry Taylor" <geeg@vossnet.co.uk> Subject: Re: [MV] is it possible This is a multi-part message in MIME format. - ------=_NextPart_000_003A_01BDF30B.ED580380 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable What! What!What! Seen everything! We have hardly touched on European = and Asian cinema......why must we stick to only recent U.S films? By = the way Leticia....I have purchased "Cinema" and it should hopefully be = en route at the beginning of next week.~ Gerry T ~~~~~ I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self = contained, I stand and look at them long and long. They do not sweat and whine about their condition, They do not lie awake and weep for their sins, they do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, not one is dissatisfied, not one demented with the mania of owning = things, Not one kneels to another nor to his own kind that lived thousands of = years ago, not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth. Walt = Whitman. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - -----Original Message----- From: Romero, Leticia <lromero@saonet.ucla.edu> To: 'movie' <movies@lists.xmission.com> Date: 08 October 1998 19:47 Subject: [MV] is it possible >That we've seen everything already? > >[ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] >[ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] >=20 - ------=_NextPart_000_003A_01BDF30B.ED580380 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META content=3Dtext/html;charset=3Diso-8859-1 = http-equiv=3DContent-Type><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 = HTML//EN"> <META content=3D'"MSHTML 4.72.2106.6"' name=3DGENERATOR> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV>What! What!What! Seen=20 everything! We have hardly touched on European and Asian = cinema......why=20 must we stick to only recent U.S films? By the way Leticia....I = have=20 purchased "Cinema" and it should hopefully be en route at the=20 beginning of next week.~ Gerry T ~~~~~ I think I could turn and = live=20 with animals, they are so placid and self contained, I stand and look = at them=20 long and long. They do not sweat and whine about their = condition, They do=20 not lie awake and weep for their sins, they do not make me sick = discussing=20 their duty to God, not one is dissatisfied, not one demented with the = mania=20 of owning things, Not one kneels to another nor to his own kind that = lived=20 thousands of years ago, not one is respectable or unhappy over the = whole=20 earth. &nb= sp; &nbs= p; = ; = &= nbsp; =20 Walt = Whitman. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</DIV>= <DIV>-----Original Message----- From: = Romero, Leticia=20 <<A=20 href=3D"mailto:lromero@saonet.ucla.edu">lromero@saonet.ucla.edu</A>><B= R>To:=20 'movie' <<A=20 href=3D"mailto:movies@lists.xmission.com">movies@lists.xmission.com</A>&g= t; Date:=20 08 October 1998 19:47 Subject: [MV] is it=20 possible </DIV>>That we've seen everything=20 already? > >[ To leave the movies mailing list, send the = message=20 "unsubscribe ] >[ movies (without the quotes) to <A=20 href=3D"mailto:majordomo@xmission.com">majordomo@xmission.com</A> &n= bsp; =20 ] > </BODY></HTML> - ------=_NextPart_000_003A_01BDF30B.ED580380-- [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 22:35:22 +0100 From: "Gerry Taylor" <geeg@vossnet.co.uk> Subject: Re: [MV] Mercury Rising Also Wild Things, and a comment on the Rating system. This is a multi-part message in MIME format. - ------=_NextPart_000_0046_01BDF30B.EFAB1B40 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I watched a documentary on "The excorcist" recently and they talked = about the excluded scenes......there was absolutely no mention of a "Pee = drinking" scene, so I presume this is a rumour. As for the lax in = morals, what the hell.........the 1931 version of Dracula was the = equivalent of an "X"......are you trying to say we should not have moved = on from that? - -----Original Message----- From: jkrudy <jkrudy@micron.com> To: 'movies@lists.xmission.com' <movies@lists.xmission.com> Date: 08 October 1998 20:25 Subject: RE: [MV] Mercury Rising Also Wild Things, and a comment on the = Rating system. >Also with Wild Things, I would have thought the 3-way sex scene would = have >merited a NC-17 rating. What is this world coming too? I mean I'm not >saying I didn't enjoy it. In fact I enjoyed it all 4 times I watched = that >particular scene (LOL), I'm just commenting on the rapid decline of = sexual >morality in films, and how something that is rated R today would have = been >rated X tens years ago. Another example is I read where they are >re-releasing "The Exorcist" in theaters with originally edited out = scenes >that made the movie rated X at first but which once removed they rated = it R, >now years later the scenes are put back in and it's still R. One of = the >scenes apparently has Linda Blair peeing in her own face and drinking = it. >That still sounds X to me, how 'bout you? > >JAMES K. RUDY > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Wade Snider [SMTP:wsnider@brazoselectric.com] >Sent: Thursday, October 08, 1998 3:08 PM >To: movies@lists.xmission.com >Subject: Re: [MV] Mercury Rising=20 > > >--- On Thu, 8 Oct 1998 12:41:57 -0600 jkrudy <jkrudy@micron.com> = wrote: > >>I saw Mercury Rising the other day on video. I loved it, but I had = never >>heard of it before until just the other day so obviously a lot of = people >>hated it. I'd like to hear any opinions you may have on it. > >I saw this in the theater. i liked it allright, but I was not all that >impressed by it. I couldn't tell if it was an action film or a suspense >drama. How many times to we get to see Bruce Willis with that strained >constipation face as he jumps of something speeding or exploding. I = also >expected to see more of Alec baldwin... you gotta love him in a role = like >this. >And, I tended to feel that a lot of the personal aspects=20 >of his relationship with the boy were just emotional manipulation much = to >reminiscent (sp?) of Rain Man. > >Those things said, I did relatively like it.. not too bored with it. = Good >rental choice. > > >>I also saw Wild Things. This might be a slight spoiler, but my wife = thinks >>that Kevin Bacon was the executive producer just so he could have his = penis >>revealed on the big screen. Personally I think well why not, they've = been >>showing female full frontal nudity for years. >>JKRUDY > >I had heard that they had shot the scene many times, and it just = happened >that in the best take, he turned a little faster than anticipated. They = SAY >they didn't plan that....... >At some point, it became known just how much had been shown when in = post >production, and he himself said that they would have taken that out for = him, > >but he said he had nothing in his contract about full frontal nudity or = some > >such thing, and he seemed to me to get a hoot out of having that in = there; >so he >told them to leave it... > >Wade >-------------------------------------------------------- >W. Snider > >Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.=20 >-Kierkegaard > >-------------------------------------------------------- > > >[ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] >[ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] > >[ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] >[ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] >=20 - ------=_NextPart_000_0046_01BDF30B.EFAB1B40 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META content=3Dtext/html;charset=3Diso-8859-1 = http-equiv=3DContent-Type><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 = HTML//EN"> <META content=3D'"MSHTML 4.72.2106.6"' name=3DGENERATOR> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV>I watched a documentary on = "The=20 excorcist" recently and they talked about the excluded = scenes......there=20 was absolutely no mention of a "Pee drinking" scene, so I = presume this=20 is a rumour. As for the lax in morals, what the hell.........the = 1931=20 version of Dracula was the equivalent of an "X"......are you = trying to=20 say we should not have moved on from that?</DIV> <DIV>-----Original Message----- From: = jkrudy <<A=20 href=3D"mailto:jkrudy@micron.com">jkrudy@micron.com</A>> To: <A=20 href=3D"mailto:'movies@lists.xmission.com'">'movies@lists.xmission.com'</= A> <<A=20 href=3D"mailto:movies@lists.xmission.com">movies@lists.xmission.com</A>&g= t; Date:=20 08 October 1998 20:25 Subject: RE: [MV] Mercury Rising Also Wild = Things, and=20 a comment on the Rating system. </DIV>>Also with Wild = Things, I=20 would have thought the 3-way sex scene would have >merited a NC-17 = rating. What is this world coming too? I mean I'm = not >saying=20 I didn't enjoy it. In fact I enjoyed it all 4 times I watched=20 that >particular scene (LOL), I'm just commenting on the rapid = decline of=20 sexual >morality in films, and how something that is rated R today = would=20 have been >rated X tens years ago. Another example is I read = where=20 they are >re-releasing "The Exorcist" in theaters with=20 originally edited out scenes >that made the movie rated X at first = but=20 which once removed they rated it R, >now years later the scenes = are put=20 back in and it's still R. One of the >scenes apparently has = Linda=20 Blair peeing in her own face and drinking it. >That still sounds X = to me,=20 how 'bout you? > >JAMES K. = RUDY > > >-----Original=20 Message----- >From: Wade Snider [<A=20 href=3D"mailto:SMTP:wsnider@brazoselectric.com">SMTP:wsnider@brazoselectr= ic.com</A>] >Sent:=20 Thursday, October 08, 1998 3:08 PM >To: <A=20 href=3D"mailto:movies@lists.xmission.com">movies@lists.xmission.com</A><B= R>>Subject:=20 Re: [MV] Mercury Rising > > >--- On Thu, 8 Oct 1998 = 12:41:57=20 - -0600 jkrudy <<A=20 href=3D"mailto:jkrudy@micron.com">jkrudy@micron.com</A>>=20 wrote: > >>I saw Mercury Rising the other day on = video. I=20 loved it, but I had never >>heard of it before until just the = other day=20 so obviously a lot of people >>hated it. I'd like to hear = any=20 opinions you may have on it. > >I saw this in the theater. i = liked=20 it allright, but I was not all that >impressed by it. I couldn't = tell if=20 it was an action film or a suspense >drama. How many times to we = get to=20 see Bruce Willis with that strained >constipation face as he jumps = of=20 something speeding or exploding. I also >expected to see more of = Alec=20 baldwin... you gotta love him in a role like >this. >And, I = tended=20 to feel that a lot of the personal aspects >of his relationship = with the=20 boy were just emotional manipulation much to >reminiscent (sp?) of = Rain=20 Man. > >Those things said, I did relatively like it.. not = too bored=20 with it. Good >rental choice. > > >>I also = saw Wild=20 Things. This might be a slight spoiler, but my wife = thinks >>that=20 Kevin Bacon was the executive producer just so he could have his=20 penis >>revealed on the big screen. Personally I think = well why=20 not, they've been >>showing female full frontal nudity for=20 years. >>JKRUDY > >I had heard that they had shot = the scene=20 many times, and it just happened >that in the best take, he turned = a=20 little faster than anticipated. They SAY >they didn't plan=20 that....... >At some point, it became known just how much had been = shown=20 when in post >production, and he himself said that they would have = taken=20 that out for him, > >but he said he had nothing in his = contract=20 about full frontal nudity or some > >such thing, and he = seemed to me=20 to get a hoot out of having that in there; >so he >told them = to=20 leave=20 it... > >Wade >----------------------------------------= - ---------------- >W.=20 Snider > >Life can only be understood backwards, but it must = be=20 lived forwards.=20 >-Kierkegaard > >-------------------------------------= - ------------------- > > >[=20 To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe = ] >[=20 movies (without the quotes) to <A=20 href=3D"mailto:majordomo@xmission.com">majordomo@xmission.com</A> &n= bsp; =20 ] > >[ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message=20 "unsubscribe ] >[ movies (without the quotes) to <A=20 href=3D"mailto:majordomo@xmission.com">majordomo@xmission.com</A> &n= bsp; =20 ] > </BODY></HTML> - ------=_NextPart_000_0046_01BDF30B.EFAB1B40-- [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 17:58:45 -0400 (EDT) From: reviews@screenit.com Subject: [MV] Screen It Newsletter (October 8, 1998) Welcome to the Screen It! Newsletter (October 8, 1998). If you live in the Washington, D.C. area, and would like to sign up for the opportunity to receive free passes to Sneak Previews of Upcoming Movies, please visit the following page for more information: http://www.screenit.com/sneak_previews.html __________________________________________________ This week at the movies, Eddie Murphy hopes to continue his recent string of box office hits, while two other smaller films open in limited release. On home video, a plethora of titles to choose from, including a wide range of genres, hit the video shelves this Tuesday. PLEASE NOTE: The new movie reviews WILL NOT be publicly posted until LATE Thursday night (EDT) to comply with the studios' wishes/demands. Next week, reviews of "Beloved" (Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover), "Bride of Chucky" (Jennifer Tilly, Brad Dourif), "Practical Magic" (Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman) and other new releases. __________________________________________________ NEW MOVIE REVIEWS FOR FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9TH: "HOLY MAN" (1998) (Eddie Murphy, Jeff Goldblum) (PG) Comedy: A frazzled TV executive (Goldblum) at a shopping network hopes for increased sales when he recruits an itinerant "holy man" (Murphy) as his new on-air sales pitchman. A lightweight, but enjoyable enough diversion, "Holy Man" offers some decent laughs and occasional touching moments, but isn't the laugh-fest most are probably expecting after seeing the film's promotional commercials. The film's PG rating comes from mild profanity. (National Release) http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/holy_man.html __________________________________________________ "THE MIGHTY" (1998) (Kieran Culkin, Elden Henson) (PG-13) Drama: A presumably dimwitted giant of a seventh-grader (Henson) and an intelligent, but diminutive boy (Culkin) suffering from a degenerative disease combine their best assets to forge a friendship that allows them to cope with the world in which they live. While the film seemed to please many in our audience, I found that it never felt completely fresh nor ever really managed to take the material and make it something special. The PG-13 rating comes from "elements of violence and peril" that relate to middle school gangs and a father who abducts his son. (Limited Release) http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/the_mighty.html __________________________________________________ "ONE TOUGH COP" (1998) (Stephen Baldwin, Chris Penn) (R) Drama: An undercover New York City cop (Baldwin) must deal with his troubled partner (Penn) and an investigation into his ties with the mob while investigating the rape and beating of a nun. A decently constructed cop drama that has all of the elements to qualify for inclusion in that genre, "One Tough Cop" is an okay, but mostly uneventful yarn. The R rating comes from violence and profanity. (Limited Release) http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/one_tough_cop.html __________________________________________________ NEW VIDEO REVIEWS FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13TH: (Notice: Release dates subject to change) (Not all video stores will carry all titles) "THE BIG ONE" (1998) (Michael Moore) (PG-13) Documentary/Comedy: One a cross country tour, a disgruntled author (Moore) tries to find any CEO who can explain why corporations are downsizing staff while experiencing record profits. Part investigative reporter, social commentator, and definitely a frustrated standup comedian, Moore delivers a film that will make you laugh (a lot) and think (hopefully more) about the current state of downsizing in corporate America. Grossing less than $1 million domestically, the film's PG-13 rating comes from profanity. (http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/the_big_one.html) __________________________________________________ "BLACK DOG" (1998) (Patrick Swayze, Randy Travis) (PG-13) Action/Adventure: A professional truck driver (Swayze), who lost his license and went to prison after a fatal accident, is forced back behind the wheel to deliver an illegal shipment of guns to the man who's holding his family hostage. If the notion of seeing lots of trucks getting mangled in spectacular ways sounds enticing to you, go for it. Otherwise, you'd be best to skip this less than thrilling picture. Grossing nearly $13 million domestically, the film's PG-13 rating comes from profanity and violence. (http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/black_dog.html) __________________________________________________ "I GOT THE HOOK UP" (1998) (Master P, A.J. Johnson) (R) Comedy: Two con artists (Master P & Johnson) plan to become rich by selling "hot" cell phones, but their scheme backfires when the phones' signals get crossed and their angry customers come looking for the two men. Why music video directors think they can shift to feature films is beyond me, but this film is a testament as to why that practice should be stopped. Poorly constructed, unevenly paced, and featuring a wide array of bad acting, this wannabe urban caper spoof is about as bad they come. Getting an R rating for massive amounts of profanity (nearly 200 "f" words), nudity, sexually related humor, drug content and violence, the film grossed around $10 million domestically. (http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/i_got_the_hook_up.html) __________________________________________________ "THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO" (1998) (Chloe Sevigny, Kate Beckinsale) (R) Drama: A group of upper-middle class graduates and professionals (including Sevigny & Beckinsale) examine their lives and relationships while spending time in an early 80's disco. Certainly not for everyone's tastes and not as funny as the better episodes of "Seinfeld" that similarly focused on nothing, this film should please those looking for a decidedly cerebral and talky look at the end of a musical era that most claimed to hate, but secretly loved. Grossing around $3 million domestically, the film gets its R rating from sexually related material and the presence of drugs. (http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/the_last_days_of_disco.html) __________________________________________________ "MAJOR LEAGUE: BACK TO THE MINORS" (1998) (Scott Bakula, Corbin Bernsen) (PG-13) Comedy: An over-the-hill baseball player (Bakula) takes a job managing a lousy Triple-A baseball team. The third film in the "Major League" series, this one feels and plays out more like a cable TV movie or a straight-to-video flick rather than a major theatrical release and, not surprisingly, strikes out rather quickly. Grossing less than $4 million domestically, the PG-13 rating comes from profanity. (http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/major_league_back_to_the_minors.html) __________________________________________________ "THE ODD COUPLE II" (1998) (Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon) (PG-13) Comedy: Two old friends and former roommates (Matthau & Lemmon), irritate each other with their contrasting behaviors as they try to get to their kids' marriage. Reprising their original film roles (that later went to Tony Randall and Jack Klugman on the better known TV series), the two stars make their tenth picture together with this release, a film that isn't that funny and simply retreads their "Grumpy Old Men" material into this old set up. Rated PG-13 for profanity (several "f" words), the film nearly grossed $20 million at the domestic box office. (http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/the_odd_couple_2.html) __________________________________________________ "QUEST FOR CAMELOT" (1998) (voices of Jessalyn Gilsig, Cary Elwes) (G) Children's Animated: The teenage daughter (Gilsig) of a Knight of the Round Table, accompanied by a young, blind hermit (Elwes), attempts to retrieve Excalibur and return it to Camelot while avoiding a fallen Knight who wants the sword for his own evil purposes. Both parents and their kids seemed to moderately enjoy this film and overall it's a decent, escapist bit of entertainment. However, in light of, and compared with, other recent animated releases, it has to be seen as something of a disappointment. Rated G, the film grossed around $23 million domestically in its theatrical run. (http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/quest_for_camelot.html) __________________________________________________ "SUICIDE KINGS" (1998) (Christopher Walken, Jay Mohr) (R) Drama: A group of young, but affluent men (including Mohr) kidnap a former Mafia capo (Walken) hoping that he'll convince his associates to discover who kidnaped the sister of one of the men. Wasting an interesting premise that had potential, as well as a decent cast, this wannabe movie falls way short and lands hard due to its obvious self-belief that it's going to be good. Instead, it slowly becomes nothing more than a monotonous retreading of other similar films. Grossing about $1.6 million domestically, the film's R rating comes from massive profanity (more than 200 "f" words), violence, nudity, and drug use. (http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/suicide_kings.html) __________________________________________________ "TARZAN AND THE LOST CITY" (1998) (Casper Van Dien, Jane March) (PG) Action/Adventure: Tarzan (Van Dien) returns to the jungles of Africa to prevent a band of mercenaries from discovering and then plundering a lost city. An uneventful and certainly uninspired addition to the Tarzan series, this is one of those low budget, soon to be forgotten releases that surprisingly made it to the big screen -- but didn't last very long. Grossing just a bit more than $2 million, the film's PG rating comes from non-gratuitous violence and some scenes that may be suspenseful to very young viewers. (http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/tarzan_and_the_lost_city.html) __________________________________________________ "THE X-FILES" (1998) (David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson) (PG-13) Sci-fi: Two FBI agents (Duchovny & Anderson), who specialize in paranormal activity, investigate a bombing that leads to the discovery of a government coverup of global proportions. Based on the popular Fox TV show of the same name, this is essentially a two-hour, big budget and big screen version of the show that isn't spectacular by any means, but is still quite enjoyable. Grossing around $83 million domestically with another $37 million overseas, the film's PG-13 rating comes from violence, gore, and sci-fi goo. (http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/the_x-files.html) __________________________________________________ Do you find the Screen It Website useful? If so, contact your local newspaper, TV or radio station, or favorite magazine and ask that they do a story about our site so that others in your community or country may benefit from this information. Contact information can be found at the following address: http://www.screenit.com/press.html __________________________________________________ Remember, before you and/or your kids see it, buy it , or rent it, make sure that first you Screen It! Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents http://www.screenit.com __________________________________________________ Since we respect your privacy and time, we'll always keep these messages brief and we'll never sell or give your e-mail address to anyone. If at any time you no longer wish to receive these updates, simply let us know at reviews@screenit.com and we'll remove you from our list. [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ End of movies-digest V2 #110 **************************** [ To quit the movies-digest mailing list (big mistake), send the message ] [ "unsubscribe movies-digest" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ]