Review: What Dreams May Come By Jon Stubbs features editor Robin Williams is dead in the lat est Polygram release, What Dreams May Come. That is to say he plays the deceased pediatrician Chris Nielsen who is survived by his soul mate and wife, Annie. When Chris dies, Annie is left with nobody, being that her two children were killed four years prior in a automobile accident. Once Chris is dead, and in the af terlife, he is taught the workings of heaven by his guide, played by Cuba Gooding Jr. Even though he is in the most blissful of all places, Chris still yearns for the company of his wife. What Dreams has surrealistic land scape created by an Academy Award winning team of visual effects artists. When he first enters heaven, Chris finds himself inside one of Annie’s paintings. Flowers made of pigment and oil melt to his touch, and as he imagines things, they become reality. "I'm fascinated by the idea of using computer technology to create some SPRING BREAK 99! Cancun * Nassau * Jamaica * Mazatlan * Acapulco * Bahamas Cruise * Florida * South Padre Travel Free and make lots of Cash ! Top reps are offered full-time staff jobs. Lowest price Guaranteed. Call now for details! www.classtravel.com 800/838-6411 The Beacon needs writers Call 898-6488 thing other than an explosion or a rap tor,” remarks Williams. The art cre ated by the effects team is truly origi nal and is visually stimulating. Production for the film began on late June 1997 in Glacier Lake National Park. “The first thing we did was to try to figure out where we could construct these huge majes tic vistas,” says co-producer Alan Blomquist. Later, the production crew moved the set to the San Francisco Baj Area where they constructed huge sets in vacant hangars. There, the pro duction crew designed a 300,000 gal lon pool, which was used for various scenes. Other props such as a 1,200- foot long aircraft carrier were also used. While searching for a particu lar art style to act as a theme for the film, director Vincent Ward found his inspiration in the works of Monet, Van Gogh and the 19th century German romanticists, including Casper David Friedrich. “The German romantics were fascinat ing because they believed that nature Features was more powerful than man,” Ward says. “They created a sense of para dise that’s not a tame place. It’s a place of roaring winds and twisted trees and steep mountains and mist... incredibly beautiful but at the same time quite alone.” This description of German romantics closely re sembles the spectacle one sees in What Dreams. Critics have called What Dreams “sappy” and “tear-jerking.” If they feel that they can make a film con cerning itself entirely with Heaven without an ounce of sap, they are in vited to do so. Another big complaint is that the movie does not follow the original Matheson novel. However, What Dreams is an original sappy tear-jerker, at the least. The film is not in any way a cliche or stolen idea. It’s an imaginative work that not only appeals to the viewer’s romantic side, but also to their visual sense. There is only one obvious flaw in the film; the ending is a bit of a letdown. ACROSS 1 Paddle 4 Crushes to mush 9 Dazzling effect 14 Expected 15 Word with soap or horse 16 Cork people 17 Psychic's gift 18 Thickset 19 Colorful fish 20 Some relatives by marriage 22 “ Loves You” 23 Burned some 24 Sunk intentionally 29 Opposing position 30 Birds’ room 32 Poetic piece 33 Study of light 35 Nation near Fiji 37 Trudeau and Curie 40 More of a light-brown color 42 Unstructured 43 Having a cavity 45 Possess 46 Two-seater 48 Environs 52 Tongue element 54 Cooks’ garb 56 Slice of a circle 57 Spinoza or Arnold 59 Excuse 62 “ Delicate Condition" 63 Old card game 64 Distributed hands 65 Vote in 66 Slip up 67 Wines' partner? 68 Sharon of "Cagney & Lacey” 69 Some; Fr. DOWN 1 Black Sea port 2 “Emma" author 3 Second showing 4 Gang of good guys Thursday,October 8, 1998 - The Behrend College Beacon - Page 9 All rights reserved 5 Abreast of the times 6 Writer Uris 7 acid (hydrogen cyanide) 8 Fri. follower 9 Four score and a couple 10 Vinegar bottle 11 Back talk 12 African snake 13 Love neighbor 21 Arrest record 22 Big CA 25 Elsinore or Balmoral, e.g. 26 Actress Anderson 27 Border 28 Cherished 31 Hindu deity 34 Past tense verbs 36 Forth 37 Scheme 38 Hawkeye state 39 Millennia 41 Reference books 44 Eccentric 47 Easy as 49 Muddied 50 Additional performance 51 John Jacob and Mary 53 Data display 55 Nuisances 58 Edgeless sword 59 Tack on 60 Island garland 61 Writer Fleming 62 Tent stake Read the Beacon every Thursday
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