The Beacon’s Arts & Entertainment
A look bock ot the highs ond lows in movies
'Minority Report' tops,'RollerbalVflops
by Daniel J. Stasiewski
staff writer
Twenty years ago, Steven Spielberg’s “E.T. the
Extra-Terrestrial” warmed hearts, “Ghandi’s”
victory was at the Oscars, “Star Trek” suffered
“The Wrath of Kahn,” and Richard Gere was
both “An Officer and a Gentleman.” Of course,
it was also the year Rambo spilt “First Blood”
and “Grease 2” made a stain out of a classic.
Even though 2002 isn’t quite in the books,
the year already has its own memorable movies
with classic potential. Will any of them actu
ally be remembered 20 years from now? I guess
only time will tell. Still, a better may be ques
tion whether they will be compared to “Tootsie”
or “Rocky III?”
THE COOD
There are still a number of upcoming releases
with a ton of potential, but I doubt any of them
will be able to top “Minority Report.” Steven
"Minority Report’,’
Spielberg’s sci-fi thriller was not only his big
gest adventure film since “Raiders of the Lost
Ark,” but it was also a timely socio-political
piece. In a year where President Bush and At
torney General John Ashcroft seem all too pre
pared to throw judicial procedures out the win
dow, it’s awful fitting for judge, jury, and execu-
Unforgettable
Performances
Williams created a maniac com
parable to Norman Bates or
Hannibal Lecter with his
perfomance as a one-hour photo
clerk who lives his life through
his customers* pictures. His
haunting performance will
make you a little nervous every time you finish off
a roll of film.
Heaven"
As the closeted suburban pro
fessional, Quaid’s struggle
with his desires is heartbreak-
as the bad guy, Quaid just
won’t allow hatred for Frank Whitaker to overtake
compassion,
The Emmy-winner turned in her
glamour girl image to play a dis
count store clerk. Her dramatic
turn was not only surprising, but
also impressive, as Aniston
made it clear her career won’t
evaporate, post-“ Friends”.
Branagh steals every scene as
the arrogant, but entirely
phony Defense of the Dark
Arts teacher. Sure, Gilderoy
is no Henry V, but Branagh
showed his passion for acting
goes far beyond the realm of Shakespeare.
ing. Even when he comes off
PHOTOS FROM ZAP2IT.COM
tioner John Anderton (played by Tom Cruise) to
do the same thing on film.
Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron's “Y Tu
PHOTO FROM ROTTENTOMATOES.COM
The three amigos of “Y Tu Mama.”
Mama Tambien” was an art house fave. The un
inhibited drama takes sexuality to the limits.
However, the frankness is hardly the film’s only
claim to fame. A critical look at Mexico’s class
culture and wandering focus to the nonspecific
pictures make “Y Tu Mama Tambien” one of the
most important films in the current revolution in
Mexican film.
In “Far From Heaven” Director Todd Haynes
creates a stylish throwback to the 1950 s melo
drama that is so perfect only the color distin-
Quaid and Moore in a heavenly scene from
“Far From Heaven."
Wes Bentley falls flat, like 'The Four Feathers’.’
THE BAD
Every year there is a film so caught up in win
ning an Oscar it turns into nothing more than a lack
luster piece of pretentious garbage. In 2002, that
film was “The Four Feathers.” Its obvious attempts
at equaling recent epics like “The English Patient”
are marred by its even more obvious lack of confi
dence from cast and crew, alike. Even the meticu
lous eye of director Shekhar Kaphur is blinded by
the pressure to duplicate the success of his period
drama, “Elizabeth."
After “The Fast and the Furious” made him a star,
Vin Diesel needed a film that would allow him to
flex his action star muscle again. The laughable
Vin Diesel flexs his action muscle too hard in “XXX”
action spectacle “XXX” was thrown together for
guishcs it from the real period. Julianne Moore
gives the performance of her career as she tries
to maintain her family’s perfect suburban
image (dubbed Mr. and Mrs. Magnatech).
While the film occasionally borders on
parody, the emotionally riveting charac
ters and powerful story prove this is a film
not to be taken lightly.
A visually stunning work of Japanese
animation, “Spirited Away” is nothing
short of a masterpiece. Hayao Miyazaki’s
mystical world of gods and monsters
shows more heart and more creativity than
any other film this year. In the tradition
of “The Wizard of Oz” and “Star Wars,”
“Spirited Away” takes the audience to a
mesmerizing world where the impossible
Chihiro gets “Spirted Away”
is possible and imagination is boundless
Dizzying and bizarre are two words that are
not usually associated with a romantic comedy,
but simply classifying P.T. Anderson’s “Punch-
Drunk Love” as romantic comedy is a horrible
injustice. Anderson’s always eclectic casting
brought Adam Sandler out of his immature shell,
while his unconventional mesh of a modem story
and classic styles produced his best directorial
work to date.
just that reason. With its B-movie action, crude
script, and brainless characters, “XXX” was the
movie equivalent of prostitution (and that is not a
critique of the awkward sex scenes). Even worse,
“XXX” has condemned Vin Diesel to forever face
comparisons with Sylvester Stallone and Arnold
Schwarzenegger when his performances in “Sav
ing Private Ryan” and “Boiler Room” prove he’s
more than a set of pecs.
Even the Jedi couldn’t save “Attack of the Clones"
“Star Wars: Episode 2: Attack of the Clones” will
go down in history as the first studio release
| to be shot completely digitally. Now, if only
I George Lucas would have been able to make
the love story a little less awkward, the dia
logue a little less contrived, the action a little
I less silly, the story a little....
The film might have been magnificent,
but Disney’s handling of “Spirited Away” was
far from remarkable. The industry leader in
film animation fumbled the distribution of the
Japanese animated film, never allowing the
film to make a wide release. The highest
grossing film in Japan’s history went com
pletely unnoticed in America. If it wasn’t for
my previous mention of the film, you wouldn’t
have a clue of what I’m talking about.
This year by the
numbers
$431 Million - The total domes
tic gross of “Spider-Man.” The web
crawler broke record after record on its
way to becoming the fifth highest gross
ing film of all-time.
$213 “My Big Fat
Greek Wedding” became the highest gross
ing independent film of all time with its
current domestic gross reaching $213 mil
lion.
$4 Million -The production bud
get of the $213 Million dollar grossing
“My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
25,000 - The number of cricket fans
that provided screams and war chants for
the Helm’s Deep battle sequence in “Lord
of the Rings: the Two Towers.”
151 - The most theatres “Spirited
Away” ever played in thanks, to Disney's
distribution.
40 - The James Bond franchise cel-
ebrated its 40 th anniversary with the release
of “Die Another Day”
17 - The number of theatres with sta
dium seating in Erie, PA
15 - Sequels dominated the box office
15 weekends of the year. Who says Hol
lywood doesn’t have an original idea?
4 - The number of weeks “Black Hawk
Down” came in No. 1 at the weekend box
office, the longest streak of the year.
\*f''
THE UGLY
LL Cool J takes one (or the “Rollerball" team
After moving the release date back nearly six
months, MGM finally released the sci-fi remake
“Rollerball.” The film was butchered (quite obvi
ously, I might add) to get a PG-1.1 rating, making
it the worst film of the year.
The Erie film experience seems to be getting
worse every year. It took months for the $2OO
million indie hit “My Big Fat Greek Wedding" to
finally make its Erie debut. The Robin Williams
thriller “One Hour Photo” and Jennifer Aniston's
dramedy “The Good Girl” only showed at
Tinsletown on a weekend with small Hollywood
releases.
Never making it to Erie were star- powered indies
like “Punch-Drunk Love” with Adam Sandler and
“Moonlight Mile” with Susan Sarandon and Dustin
Hoffman. Even the Tom Hanks mob drama “Road
to Perdition” didn’t make it to Tinsletown. We did.
however, have “XXX” on two screens.
And to top off the Erie film slump, the Great
Lakes Film Association may abandon Erie for the
town of Blackburg, Virginia. Short of a govern
mentally funded miracle, Erie will once again have
to rely on the belated indie releases at Mercyhurst
College for a well-rounded film experience.