Pri,f,Pe 8 - CHnf';'( Ann . (lar, Januar). 15, 1998
Melvin Udall ( Jack Nicholson) is shocked by Carol Connelly's (Helen Hunt) public display
of affection in the TriStar Pictures Presentation of the Gracie Films Production "As Good As
It Gets"
Titanic proves to be an
astounding, spectacular epic
by Kristi McKim
features editor
In James Cameron's blockbuster
hit, Titanic, the actual history of the
- unsinkable" Titanic provides the
context for a rather poignant love
story. The directing and photography
of the film are entirely astounding, as
Cameron successfully captures the
immense tragedy of this ship that was
swallowed by the sea.
Kate Winslet is stunning as Rose
DeWitt Bukater, the American debu
tante who longs for a more
more thrilling and ham \ Jibe thin the
confinedness and rigid social re
straints of the upper class. Her wide
eyed, entirely charming character's
strength hes in her curious wonder
and sincere appreciation - -combined
with an absolute grace and fragile
beauty.
Winslet's acting conveys quite
nicely the internal struggles between
loyalty to One's family and one's own
independent needs. Her character
maintains a quite refreshing depiction
of an early twentieth-century woman,
as she possesses strength and
assertiveness, combined with delicate
Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Day
7:30 a.m
4:00 p
5:30 p.m
7 : 30 p.m
beauty and fervent energy
As Jack Dawson, Leonardo
DiCaprio plays yet another charming,
lovestruck young man, not unlike his
character Romeo in last year's mega
hit Romeo and Juliet. When an
actor's particular trademark role is
absolutely appropriate and thoroughly
effective, though, one should not nec
essarily he criticized for doing what
he/she does best.
Such is the case with DiCaprio's
depletion of the energetic, suave,
charismatic young artist with an ironic
appreciation for the unpredictability
of life—and the need to make every
moment count. DiCaprio's sleek
good looks provide for a convincing
portrayal of the spontaneous, wild,
Romantic hero Jack Dawson.
Beyond the quality acting, the film
is wonderfully directed and filmed
(maybe an Oscar nod for Best cinema
tography and/or directing'?). Camera
movement served to enhance the "mo
tion" of the film—the scenes (espe
cially the scenes on the upper deck)
were shot in such a way as to capture
the rolling fluidity of the sea. And
shots of the horizon, sunset and starry
night sky—and the ship and charac-
8:30 a.m
- 5:00 p.m
- 6:30 p.m
Fifth Annual Family Celebration - Dobbins Dining Hall
Please RSVP to the Office of Student Activities, 898-6171, by January 15.
All-College Celebration - Featured Speaker: Charles Johnson, "The King
We Left Behind" - Reed Union Building Commons
All classes and offices will relocate to the Reed Union Commons for the
celebration which will featureremarks by Dr. Charles Johnson, author of
"Middle Passage."
Roundtable Discussion with Charles Johnson - Multi-Cultural Resource
Center (First Floor Reed Union Building)
Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Dinner • Reed Union Building
Commons
Campus-wide celebration dinner. To reserve you seat please call the Office
of Student Actitvities by January 15. This dinner is free.
ters amidst these settings—are en
tirely breathtaking.
The full shots of dinner parties and
dancing also are artfully constructed
and filmed. The lavish sets, costumei
and special effects are testament to the
extensive cost (over $2OO million) of
the film. Differences among social
classes are nicely shown through the
cross-cutting between scenes of
wealth and poverty—in which char
acters, sets, and costuming contribute
to the film's contrasting of classes.
Just as this seemingly unsinkable
ship had its obvious flaws, so too does
this costly, carefully-produced film
have its weaknesses, the main one of
which is the poorly written script.
While there are some moments of
particularly good writing, these few
instances serve only to illuminate
even more the rather obvious, annoy
ingly melodramatic utterances of the
characters.
Scenes which undoubtedly are in
tended to be the crux of the film's
emotional impact seem rather shallow
and nearly parodical in the use of cli
ches and blatantly obvious observa
tions (i.e. DiCaprio's characters pro
nouncement, upon learning that the
Features
Quentin Tarantino's Jackie
Brown a disappointment
Quentin Tarantino's latest effort,
Jackie Brown, will unfortunately dis
appoint those who are expecting an
other Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fic
tion. Lacking the upbeat, quick
paced action and dialogue of his past
films, Jackie Brown is rather slow
and dragging.
Though the overall impression of
the film is thoroughly disappointing,
the quality acting, groovy music, and
final forty minutes save the movie
from being an entire disaster.
Pam Grier returns to the screen in
fine form, as she plays the film's title
role, Jackie Brown. She's wonder
ful as the no-nonsense, savvy airline
stewardess, whose confidence allows
her a certain courage against and re
sistance to "authority" figures
(whether that "authority" is the ATF
or underground bosses). Her wit and
guts grant her the ability to sweet
talk and out-smart significant threats
to her career and life.
Samuel L. Jackson brings a gritty
honesty to his low-down character,
Oniell Robbie—a conniving, ruthless
man who'll stop at nothing to main
tain his successful "career" of sell
ing illegal weapons. In some scenes,
ship is sinking: "This is not good.").
Titanic's weaknesses pale in com
parison to the consistent pace of ac
tion ; depth of character relationships,
iirikroierall quality of the film.
Though this movie about a gigantic
ship also encompasses an appropri
ately huge time span (over three
hours), the plot and action are inter
esting enough to keep the audience
awake, involved, and genuinely con
cerned with the characters' fate.
On the whole, this film is definitely
one to see in the theater. Since the
film's strengths lie in its sweeping
shots of the oceanic landscape; and
the photography is most effective in
showing the sentimental, heart
wrenching tragedy, if you want to see
this film, see it now, before it hits the
video stores.
The intensity and vastness of the
sea, combined with the echoing and
resonating sound effects and gorgeous
score, will be best appreciated in the
movie theater. On the small screen,
the sometimes-annoying, poorly-writ
ten dialogue will seem all the more
grating—and ultimately will detract
from your appreciation of this abso
lutely gorgeous film.*** 112
by Krisd McKim
features ecfita
he is quite intimidating, as his char
acter threatens both the characters
on-screen as well as the film's audi
ence. Jackson, in his second
Tarantino movie, proves his tremen
dous acting ability lies in his smooth
talking, raw-edged performance.
This film also marks the return of
Robert Forster to the big screen. As
Max Cherry, bail bondsman, Forster
lends a real innocence and charm to
his character. Whether boldly sing
ing to the Delfonic's or nervously
serving as Jackie Brown's conspira
tor, Forester's character is truly lik
able.
In supporting roles, Bridget Fonda
(who plays Ordell's "apartment
mate" Melanie Ralston) and Robert
DeNiro (in the role of ex-con Louis
Gara, Ordell's soon-to-he-partner)
provide humorous depictions of per
petually high, thoroughly-apathetic
characters. Unfortunately,
though, such small, easy roles do
nothing to maximize the talents of
both DeNiro and Fonda. While they
do a nice job in their portrayal of such
wasted characters, their acting does
not necessarily highlight their own
talents.
As always, Tarantino constructs a
carefully-thought, intricately-inter
twined narrative which makes smart
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use of time and point of view.
By shooting the same scene from
varying points of view, Tarantino al
lows the audience to understand to a
greater extent the story's sequence of
events; but this works to his advan
tage only in the final forty minutes
of the film. Until this point, the
movie drags relentlessly; Tarantino
takes far too long to establish the
context for the film's climax.
Thankfully, many familiar, groovy
songs of 70s soul accompany the oth
erwise dull action—thus helping to
maintain the audience's attention dur
ing moments of boredom.
For the most part, the film is rather
neatly-constructed. Typical of
Tarantino's films, the dialogue is en
tirely clever, fresh, and snappy (not
to mention, quite funny at times).
But, if you're in search of Tarantino's
best, you'd he better off renting Pulp
Fiction or Reservoir Dogs--Jackie
Brown just doesn't compare.
While there are moments of inter-
est and intriguing sequences of
events, the mise-en-scene is not such
that requires the acoustics and im
mensity of the theater to be effective.
So save your precious, well-earned
dollars—and if you're still curious,
rent the video in a few months.**