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Barney probably tells a better story
By STEVE PERSALL
© St. Petersburg Times,
published December 13, 2001
New releases
Jurassic Park III (PG-13)
[Photo: Universal Studio]
Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) is the focus of some enraptured raptors during his ill-advised return to Dinosaur Island in Jurassic Park III. |
An ill-advised sequel to a pair of the highest-grossing films of all time. Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) gets roped in to returning to an island populated by dinosaurs after skipping part 2. William H. Macy and Tea Leoni co-star as a wealthy, estranged couple searching for their lost son. The special effects are still amazing, but decent stories in any film's second sequel are nearly extinct.
First impressions: "Jurassic Park III is leaner -- only 86 minutes of action -- and meaner than its predecessors, but that doesn't make it as impressive. Steven Spielberg skipped directing this chapter, and the movie misses his gee-whiz sensibilities as much as A.I. was hindered by them. His replacement, Joe Johnston, cuts all but the chases. There's more of everything in Jurassic Park III, and less than we expect."
Second thoughts: Remember when dinosaurs ruled the box office? Not anymore.
Rental audience: Thrill seekers with low expectations.
Rent it if you enjoy: Stale leftovers.
The Score (R)
[Photo: Paramount Pictures]
Robert De Niro, left, Edward Norton and Marlon Brando could be viewed as three fine actors in search of a suitable script but stuck with The Score.
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Frank Oz's crime thriller is a summit meeting of three generations of Method actors: Robert De Niro, Edward Norton and Marlon Brando, with a little Angela Bassett on the side. De Niro plays a career criminal who, like so many movie crooks, wants to get out of the business. Brando is the fixer with one more heist in mind, and Norton plays the eager young turk getting in the way.
First impressions: "De Niro turns in a typically solid, gritty, studied performance as Nick, an expert safecracker who owns a Montreal jazz club. He's world-weary and eager to leave the underworld for a life of quiet domesticity with his beautiful flight attendant girlfriend, Diane (an underused Bassett). Norton (American History X) is all edgy energy . . . (Brando), sporting heavy makeup and silk robes, doesn't exactly go the distance for the $3-million he received for three weeks' work."
Second thoughts: Casting is great, but a script suiting their talents would be a good idea.
Rental audience: Fans of any of the principal actors.
Rent it if you enjoy: Those thespian seminars on Bravo's Inside the Actors Studio.
Rush Hour 2 (PG-13)
Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker reunite after the surprising 1998 success of Rush Hour, continuing their buddy banter as cops on a vague mission. This time, it's a terrorist bombing in China involving street gangs, counterfeiters and massage parlors. Same old routine from two performers whose routine is getting stale.
First impressions: "Most jokes in Rush Hour 2 are sexist cheap shots and racial slurs about Asians and African-Americans that would be roundly condemned coming from most other actors . . . anything Tucker says is offensive, if only for his shrill, minstrel-show delivery.
"One fight scene contains that old Chan ingenuity, a rumble on bamboo scaffolding that looks as acrobatic as ever . . . Only one scene uses Tucker's annoying demeanor to good effect: a show-stopping Michael Jackson impersonation in a karaoke club. Otherwise, his irritating presence gets tiresome. Fast."
Second thoughts: That didn't matter to moviegoers who spent $225-million for tickets to this lame comedy.
Rental audience: If you paid once, you'll probably fall for it again.
Rent it if you enjoy: Drive-through Chinese fast food.
DVD
New and noteworthy for digital players
This 'Inch' turns into smiles
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
[Photo: New Line Cinema]
John Cameron Mitchell plays Hedwig Schmidt in a rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
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The most compelling feminine character seen on movie screens this year wasn't exactly a woman and was played by a man. A botched sex change operation left Hedwig Schmidt with an inch of manhood and a chip on his/her padded shoulder. Hedwig resorts to rock 'n' roll to express feelings of love and loss, surpassing any conventional woman on screen in 2001.
Hedwig is the creation of John Cameron Mitchell, who directs this adaptation of the off-Broadway play and plays the role to the hilt. This is a dynamic performance, dripping with bittersweet venom and exploding in some of the most rambunctiously revealing musical numbers in years. Hedwig is influenced by Plato as much as Ziggy Stardust, exploring love with pansexual panache, a glam rocker leading a distinctly unglamorous life.
The digital audio provided by DVD technology makes Hedwig and the Angry Inch a must-hear proposition. Mitchell and composer Stephen Trask devised a pulsating musical blueprint for Hedwig's flashbacks and fantasies. Listen to them in the film's context, or use a select-a-song feature to choose your favorites.
Mitchell and director of photography Frank DeMarco provide a running commentary that doesn't match the movie's vitality. Mitchell, in particular, has the detached monotone of someone who has been talking about the same subject too long. Their observations are too casually literal at times and always drowsy. Hedwig would slap them.
Both are livelier during an 85-minute documentary, Whether You Like It Or Not: The Story of Hedwig, tracing the project's history from the first meeting between Mitchell and Trask. Video recordings of Hedwig's first stage appearance at a drag nightclub in 1994 reveal how much of this character Mitchell understood from the start.
Audiences weren't as quick to embrace Hedwig, uncertain if the role was intended as a parody of transgender life. Some weren't comfortable with Mitchell using their nocturnal playgrounds as a workshop of sorts for a future stage show. Drag queens accustomed to being adored for lip-synched cover tunes felt threatened by Hedwig's original songs and absurdly detailed biography.
How such an abrasive character became a multimedia cult sensation is a tough question to answer, but this documentary offers some clues. Hedwig and the Angry Inch is an extraordinary kind of pansexual movie musical, Rocky Horror on the surface and Cabaret underneath.
Rewind
Videos worth another look
Expect the unexpected from Steve Buscemi
[Photo: Gramercy Picture]
Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) reacts with rage when a simple “job” turns violent in Fargo.
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The patron saint of independent-minded cinema turns 44 today. Casting Steve Buscemi in a movie has become a sign of risk-taking filmmakers who get what they want, or mainstream hacks trying to add a measure of cool to a project in need of it.
Buscemi is one of those actors whose name in the credits practically guarantees something to enjoy. His singularly seedy appearance and a voice that hones sarcasm into something lethal make Buscemi one of the most watchable performers today.
He was the "funny-looking guy" in Fargo and one of the nastiest Reservoir Dogs. But some of Buscemi's finest moments occur in what should be minor roles: a Buddy Holly look-alike in Pulp Fiction, a suicidal crooner in The Imposters and a futuristic huckster in Escape from L.A. But it's what Buscemi recently did off-screen that makes his birthday something to celebrate.
Buscemi was a New York City firefighter from 1980-1984 while moonlighting as an actor. On Sept. 11, he joined his old unit, Engine Company 55, looking for missing firefighters in the World Trade Center rubble. Buscemi worked 12-hour shifts for a week and was admirably modest about it during a recent Today show interview with Katie Couric.
Here's a video toast to one of the good guys, even if he seldom seems that way on screen:
Reservoir Dogs -- Buscemi was Mr. Pink and wanted a cooler pseudonym in Quentin Tarantino's gritty crime drama. A bad tipper with a worse temper.
Fargo -- The guy in the wood chipper was Buscemi, the end result of a kidnapping plot gone awry. One measure of Buscemi's appeal: the rock band Blessid Union of Souls immortalized him in their song Hey, Leonardo as "that guy from Fargo, I think his name was Steve."
Parting Glances -- An auspicious breakthrough for Buscemi in 1986, playing an AIDS-infected pal to gay lovers breaking up. Hard to locate on video but worth the effort.
Twenty Bucks -- A $20 bill pops out of an ATM and passes through the hands of several eccentric characters, including Buscemi's thief.
Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead -- Buscemi gets another great character name: Mr. Shhh, a hit man silencing his victims. Fine ensemble cast (Andy Garcia, Christopher Lloyd, Treat Williams, etc.) in one of the better Tarantino rip-offs.
Trees Lounge -- Buscemi is also becoming known as a first-class director, with Emmy and Directors Guild nominations for television projects. His feature film debut behind the camera was a gin-soaked slice of life among barflies.
Con Air -- A perfect example of how Buscemi adds style to a studio mess. He played Garland Greene, "the Marietta Mangler," a child killer on a hijacked prison transport flight. Classic Buscemi line, while hearing Lynyrd Skynyrd: "Define irony: a bunch of idiots dancing around on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash."
The Imposters -- The creators of Big Night fashioned a 1930s comedy in the Marx brothers vein aboard a luxury liner. Buscemi was the inappropriately named Happy Franks, a singer with a death wish.
The Big Lebowski -- Buscemi didn't say much because John Goodman's crazed character wouldn't let him. When he did, it was pure, absurd gold. One of Joel and Ethan Coen's funniest films.
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