FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2001
Red Carpet Romp
Oscar shines
the good f the
and the ugly
The 73rd Academy Awards tossed honors at a variety
ol stars...and a couple actors, too. In this year of the
uncertain race, nothing came as a surprise as all the films
nominated tor Best Picture merited at least some recogni
tion. The Best Director category was weighted with the
same equally-talented visionaries. Even the Best Acting
categories featured deserving nominees.
Julia Roberts' (3) win in the Best Actress category for
Erin Brockovich will certainly be placed in the hallowed halls
ot Best Oscar Moments, right next to the Sally Field, Cuba
Gooding. Jr., and Roberto Betiigni acceptance speeches. She may
have been the closest thing to a shoo-in, though her competitors—
Joan Allen ( 7 lie Contender). Juliette Binoche (Chocolal), Laura
Linney ( You Can Count on Me) and Ellen Burstyn (Requiem for
a Dream (--turned in notable performances, as well. Erin
Brockovich. however, managed to achieve the mainstream status
that other films like You Can Count on Me could not, and box
ottice success is usually a good predictor of a film’s, or actor’s,
chances with the Academv.
A world away from Roberts' charisma and sheer likability is the
ice prince, Russell (’roue, who nary cracked a smile during host
Steve Martin's playful opening ribs. The Aussie actor picked up the
Best Actor aw aril for his work in Gladiator.
McMahon acquires
by Jason Snyder
editor-in-chief
A battered, bruised and bankrupt
World Championship Wrestling
(WCW) was (breed out of existence
this past week after a span of three
years that found the company running
out of storylines, falling behind in
ratings and, most importantly, running
out of money.
It was WCW which just a few years
back decided it was time to compete
with wrestling's premier organization,
Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling
Federation. The two engaged in
Monday night wars. It got intense,
exciting, and personal. The biggest
names in the sport jumped ship from
Vince's sinking company to Ted
Turner’s emerging wrestling
Movies
Spy Kids
Tomcats
Someone
Like You
ease Date: 4/3
bad
business. It was WCW which owned
the ratings war and the fans’ interest.
Today, just four years later, it’s the
WWF which owns WCW.
The announcement was made last
Friday that Vince McMahon’s WWF
put the finishing move on WCW; not
just closing the company down, but
buying the company out.
“This is a dream combination for
fans of sports entertainment,” said
Linda McMahon, Chief Executive
Officer of World Wrestling
Federation Entertainment. And it’s
come at a perfect time for the WWF.
After years of rebuilding his
company after the short ratings
plummet just a few years ago,
McMahon has come to a point where
the two biggest names in wrestling
history are beginning to decline. Both
Video *
102 Dalmatians
Big Momma’s House
Frequency
Lawrence of Arabia
The Patriot
The Replacements
Scary Movie
The Whole Nine Yards
By Deanna Symoski
photos by TMS
Ang Lee’s (1) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
picked up the award for Best Foreign Language Film,
not much of a surprise since it was also nominated for
Best Picture. Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, however, took
home the Best Picture award.
Doubling his chances for Best Director, or cancelling
himself out as some critics feared, Steven Soderbergh
(4) walked away with the award for his work on Traffic
Soderbergh was also nominated for Erin Brockovich.
Both films were also nominated for Best Picture,
making Soderbergh the only director ever to be nomi
nated for two films in the same year that were also
nominated for Best Picture
Best supporting awards went to the Brad Pitt-ish
Benicio Del Toro for Traffic, and Marcia Gay Harden (2)
for Pollock, a film directed by Ed Harris about the artist
Jackson Pollock.
Fashion mishaps were abundant, as they are each year,
as class is increasingly traded in for notoriety. From sheer,
see-through tops to swan feather dresses, the looks were as
unique as the personalities who fashioned them. Some
celebrities did manage to recapture the elegance of old
Hollywood, such as Catherine Zeta-Jones, while others like
Angelina Jolie cleaned up and toned down to make a less
obvious statement.
y* A* '"A
( '
Stone Cold Steve Austin and The
Rock, two men the WWF marketed
itself upon during its climb back to
ratings domination, are approaching
the end of a reign unmatched in sports
entertainment history.
The two will face off at
Wrestle Mania XVII, bringing to an
end one era of professional wrestling,
while opening up a new one.
“Theincendiary mix of WWF talent
and WCW personalities potentially
creates intriguing storylines that will
attract a larger fan base,” claimed
Linda McMahon.
There’s already indication that new
storylines involving the two
companies are in the works. Storyline
#1 took off this past Monday as Vince
McMahon announced to the world
through a simulcast with TNT’s final
Music* «
Cappadonna
Ginuwine
Logic Trance 5”
Rammstein
Run DMC
Bruce Springsteen
Now 6
mnews.com
wcw
Nitro show and his own Monday
Night Raw program that he will buy
WCW at Wrestle Mania.
In a shocking move to fans
everywhere, McMahon’s son Shane
McMahon appeared at TNT’s
Monday Nitro and announced that the
contract has been signed with his own
signature. It’s the beginning of a
Vince vs. Shane rivalry which will
also kick off at Wrestle Mania on
Sunday.
The storyline will keep the WWF
and WCW separate, while keeping
open the opportunity for crossed
storylines between the companies.
It’s just another act of genius by
McMahon, whose only true
competition anymore will be himself.
DVD*
102 Dalmatians
Cleopatra
Five Star Collection
Lawrence of Arabia
Legend of
Baggar Vance
Nurse Betty
J C
R ’Eri
To Go
by Erin McCarty
ROUND 2
Sequels and remakes abound in
an unimaginative Hollywood
I have noticed an interesting trend when it comes to movies these days. I
don’t know if filmmakers are running out of ideas or if they simply want to
ride the wave of past success, but there have been an abundance of movies
and videos lately that are either sequels or remakes.
In the past year, Disney has given us The Little Mermaid 11, Lady and the
Tramp 11, and 102 Dalmatians. Not to be outdone, Nickelodeon came out
with Rugrats in Paris, Don Bluth released yet another Land Before Time
sequel, and the kid-magnet Pokemon is about to bring its third movie to the
theaters. Adults, meanwhile, have been given the opportunity to view such
films as Blair Witch 11, The Nutty Professor 11, and Hannibal, not to
mention the upcoming Jurassic Park 111 and The Matrix 11. Recent remakes
include How the Grinch Stole Christmas, South Pacific, Jesus Christ
Superstar, and Anna and the King.
This is, of course, not really a new phenomenon. It seems we have been
bombarded with such movies lately, but they've always been around.
Disney has always been especially adept at doing a movie to death. Think
The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor (which it also remade a
couple years ago as Flubber), The Parent Trap (also remade recently), The
Love Bug, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Beethoven., the list goes on. We’ve
seen sequels to Alien, The Blues Brothers, Carrie, Ghostbusters, I Know
What You Did Last Summer, Rocky, Rambo, Scream, Terminator, and a
myriad of other movies. Hollywood is also constantly cranking out high
tech versions of classics such as The Nutty Professor, Titanic, and Godzilla.
I find it hard to believe that scriptwriters are running out of steam when it
comes to thinking up new movie plots. The more likely excuse for these
movies is that producers are working with familiar characters because
audiences have grown to love them and will rush to see a film which
features them, even if it pales in comparison to the original.
At least with remakes, the movie generally puts a new slant on a film
intended for audiences in a different generation, modernizing it and
presenting it with a slate of actors who are currently in high demand. The
trouble is, those original movies were usually extremely well done and have
no need to be improved upon. Why mess with perfection?
Inherit the Wind and Miracle on 34th Street are two films which have
been remade twice, yet in neither case did the subsequent versions improve
upon the original. Sequels are usually worse, though. Too often, they either
are largely devoid of a plot or they essentially mirror the original film.
Remember Home Alone II I Instead of having to fend for himself and deal
with a pair of burglars at home, the kid has to do it in New York. The entire
film follows the incidents of the first with only slight variations. Airplane 11
repeated most of the jokes and sight gags from the original but placed it in
the context of outer space.
Another major complaint about sequels is that recurring characters are
often played by different actors. In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series,
April was played by a different actress each time. Robin Williams, whose
manic performance as Genie in Aladdin was a major factor in the film’s
success, was noticeably absent from the sequel (though they managed to get
him back for the third installment). Jodie Foster did not return to her famed
role as Clarisse for the highly anticipated Hannibal. When an audience
comes to identify a character with a particular actor, the portrayal of that
character by someone else is enough to ruin the chance of enjoying the
movie
That’s not to say that all sequels are bad. Some even manage to outdo the
original. But far too many are only made to capitalize on the success of a
prior film. Even if the audience figures the movie’s not going to be that
great and declines to see it in the theater, it still has to deal with dozens of
products which the movie spawned, not to mention the frequent presence of
a television spin-off series.
The only thing we, as consumers, can do is to think carefully before we
rush out to see the sequel to a beloved movie. Is it going to uphold the
integrity of the original film, or was it just slapped together to make
money? I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to shell out eight
bucks to go see a broken record.