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Bloody and boring
By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 10, 2002
New release
Jeepers Creepers (R)
[Photo: United Artists Films]
A cannibalistic creature and horror cliches terrorize a pair of teens in Jeepers Creepers.
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Bickering, road-tripping college students (Justin Long, Gina Phillips) stumble upon a mysterious, cannibalistic creature hoarding human snacks in a farm silo. There's a warning psychic (Patricia Belcher), a weird cat lover (Eileen Brennan) and assorted law enforcers who, according to dumb horror convention, don't believe anything until it's too late.
First impressions: "Jeepers Creepers forfeits any pretense to suggestive horror; it turns into a grab-bag freak show as desperate as it is arbitrary. The ominous atmosphere of redneck Americana gives way to yet another hyperbolic slasher cartoon, featuring a flesh-eating killer who looks like a rather sorry cross between Alien, Leprechaun, Freddy Krueger, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. He's about as scary as a rubber action toy." (Owen Glieberman, Entertainment Weekly)
Second thoughts: Filmed in Ocala, but that community doesn't seem proud of it.
Rental audience: Gorehounds and doting parents of those young actors involved who'll never work again.
Rent it if you enjoy: Vivisections, decapitations and mutilations.
DVD
New and noteworthy for digital players
The funniest war movie of all time
M*A*S*H (Five Star Collection)
Director Robert Altman created a masterpiece in M*A*S*H, a $3-million comedy about the Korean conflict.
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America was knee-deep in Vietnam in 1970, but Hollywood was still living out World War II. Twentieth Century Fox was concentrating on two big-budget, by-the-book military tales -- Patton and Tora, Tora, Tora -- and barely paid attention to a $3-million comedy about the Korean conflict that was puttering around on the back lot.
That's the way director Robert Altman liked it. M*A*S*H was set in Korea during the 1950s, but its outlook about the horrors and follies of war marched in step with growing antimilitary sentiments. Altman kept looking over his shoulder, wondering if Fox executives might take notice and halt the production. Luckily for moviegoers, nobody caught on until it was obvious that Altman had created a masterpiece.
M*A*S*H became a cinematic sensation, earning five Academy Award nominations only a year after that celebrated hawk John Wayne won a sentimental Oscar for True Grit. Now the funniest war movie of all time is showcased in a two-disc DVD set supervised by Altman and packed with historical perspective.
For starters, the movie looks better than ever, digitally remastered from master prints that had deteriorated over the years. Colors are brighter, and Altman's knack for overlapping dialogue and aural gags is clearer. One of the bonuses on disc 2 is a featurette explaining the painstaking process employed to salvage Altman's classic.
 The second disc also features a new one-hour documentary, Enlisted: The Story of M*A*S*H, detailing the production from producer Ingo Preminger's discovery of Richard Hooker's novel to the movie's opening raves from critics.
Then there's a fascinating documentary titled M*A*S*H: History Through the Lens, comparing Altman's movie characters with the real-life physicians and nurses who were drafted for the war effort. Rounding out the disc is coverage of a 30th anniversary reunion of Altman and his cast during a retrospective of the artist's work in 2000.
Disc 1 includes the spruced-up movie and an episode of American Movie Classics' fine series Backstory focused on M*A*S*H. Photographs from the production and the original theatrical trailer are common extras.
Altman's impressions of the film can be better culled from those bonuses than from the filmmaker's audio commentary track. Altman is prone to silence for long stretches, possibly because he doesn't want to interrupt himself enjoying his movie. Few of his observations aren't available elsewhere in the set, so listening to the alternate track isn't as vital as fans may wish it would be.
Rewind
Videos worth another look
Here's what Ava saw in Mickey
Milton Berle once quipped that Mickey Rooney's greatest talent was marrying beautiful women. Rooney has been married eight times, with his latest lasting the longest: 23 years and counting, to Jan Chamberlin. On this date in 1942, Rooney took his first, most glamorous matrimonial plunge.
Ava Gardner is still considered one of the most alluring women ever on screen, although she was usually an uncredited bit player when she married Rooney. The ensuing publicity helped make her a star. Her later husbands included bandleader Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra. But Rooney won her heart first, and his comments in interviews and autobiographies suggest he still carries a bit of a torch, long after their 1943 divorce.
Gardner died in 1990 of pneumonia. Rooney is still a trouper today at 81, doing voiceovers for animated films and occasionally acting in straight-to-video productions. Check out these video selections from the late 1930s and early 1940s to get an idea of what Gardner saw in Rooney:
Babes in Arms -- No other kids could put on a show in 1939 like Rooney and Judy Garland. The prospect of Rooney's character being sent to a work farm for vaudeville children brought out the best in their singing and dancing skills. Rooney's first of four Academy Award nominations.
Life Begins for Andy Hardy -- Part of Rooney's popular series, but darker in tone than it predecessors. Andy is ready for college but gains employment in New York City first.
Girl Crazy -- Amorous young man (Rooney) gets sent to a private school to curb his lust. Mom and Dad didn't know Garland would be there, so love and a George Gershwin score bloom.
Young Tom Edison -- Rooney plays the famous inventor during his youth when his father (George Bancroft) believed his contraptions were recklessly worthless. Good thing his mother (Fay Bainter) thought otherwise.
The Human Comedy -- Another Oscar nomination for Rooney, playing a considerate son caring for his sister and widowed mother while an older brother fights in World War II.
Men of Boys Town -- Sequel to an earlier Rooney hit. Spencer Tracy returns as a tough-loving priest exposing poor conditions at a reform school.
Strike Up the Band -- A high school band contest gives Rooney and Garland another reason to sing and dance. Money borrowed to fund the competition is used instead to help a sick friend. You know that good deed will be rewarded before the fadeout.
Andy Hardy's Double Life -- Andy escapes New York and makes it to college, where Esther Williams replaces Garland as Rooney's object of affection.
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