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 AFFLICTION. Writer/director Paul Schrader became a legend
for his extremely quotable script for Taxi Driver. His
work since then has been uneven, and, when left to his own devices,
he tends to create overly ponderous and pretentious films like
Cat People and Light Sleeper. It's not that those
were bad films, it's just that they should have been better. Affliction
is in this same category. It has a half-dozen plots, none of which
is deeply explored or well-resolved. On the other hand, Nick Nolte,
James Coburn, Sissy Spacek and Willem Dafoe all turn in compelling
performances. It's a claustrophobic, human film about the emotional
breakdown of a small-town, New Hampshire police officer, but it's
deeply unsatisfying on the level of story and script. While it's
nice to see that more films without aliens or dinosaurs are being
made, it's also nice that there are better choices in that realm
than this slightly-above-average effort. --DiGiovanna
BLAST FROM THE PAST. It's October 1962, and the Webbers
(Christopher Walken and Sissy Spacek) think a nuclear war has
started. Just as they enter their bomb shelter, Mrs. Webber gives
birth to a boy. Oddly enough, 35 years later that boy has become
Brendan Fraser, who really doesn't even look old enough to be
Brendan Fraser's age (30). So he rises to the surface world where
he is mistaken for the son of God. Now, Fraser is cute, really
cute, but not quite Jesus cute, so at this point the movie starts
to strain its credibility. Nonetheless, he bumbles about with
the help of Alicia Silverstone (remember her from those Aerosmith
videos?), learning about all the zany stuff that's happened since
the Kennedy administration, like cheap sex and Internet porn.
Then more craziness ensues. Because it's a comedy. --DiGiovanna
HILARY AND JACKIE. The true story (well, this is widely
disputed, but at least the putatively true story) of Hilary and
Jackie Du Pré, two sisters whose lives seem like a PBS
docudrama. Both were promising musicians, but Hilary decided to
settle down and raise a family while Jackie went off on a globe-hopping
tour of classical music superstardom. Of course, the family-oriented
sister has a quiet, happy and fulfilling life, while the famous
sister is incessantly unsatisfied and must come to a tragic end.
Still, a very original directorial style saves this from being
a simple cautionary tale, and makes for some aesthetically appealing,
if downbeat, cinema. --DiGiovanna
JAWBREAKER. An 87-minute rock video, replete with teenage
girls in skin-tight clothes, hot cars, cute boys and a prom scene.
Or maybe it's a parable for the image-over-substance, ends-justify-the-means,
murder-with-a-smile Reagan administration and the society of shallowness
and hypocrisy that it fed upon and encouraged. Or maybe it's just
a collection of scenes from Heathers and Carrie
strung together over a throbbing rock soundtrack. Or maybe not.
--DiGiovanna
MY FAVORITE MARTIAN. A creepy, sexist comedy that portrays
women as either pathetic or evil, but always in favor of unsolicited
sexual advances. Christopher Lloyd (Reverend Jim from the TV series
Taxi) plays a Martian who comes to Earth, beats up TV reporter
Jeff Daniels, then becomes his best friend and helps him sort
out his romantic confusion. The half-dozen companies that paid
for some of the most obvious product placement I've ever seen
in this comedy-without-laughs should ask for their money back.
--DiGiovanna
OCTOBER SKY. Here's a film about teens that doesn't have
aliens, a serial killer, or even a prom queen election. (I know,
I found it hard to relate to, too.) It tells the true story of
Homer Hickam (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his high-school friends who
strive to avert their coal-mining destinies. By experimenting
with rocketry, they hope to win a science fair and solicit college
scholarships. Most of the adults don't understand their struggle
to leave the small town, especially Homer's black-lunged father
(Chris Cooper). The maudlin music is obtrusive and the pacing
uneven, but the story is generally engaging. It's set in the late
1950s, which in the film and television industries means an excuse
to offer the female characters little development beyond cheerleader
status. For some balance, follow October Sky with the tasty
girl-centered Jawbreaker. --Higgins
OFFICE SPACE. Mike Judge's first non-animated feature makes
an ideal, male-populated companion piece to the female-centered
Clockwatchers. Like its prececessor, many of Office
Space's laughs come from the thrill of seeing the banal frustrations
of work life amplified larger than life--there's a hearty sense
of release. Our hero, Ron Livingston (a cool young actor we'll
likely be seeing a lot more of), is yet another desk drone workin'
for the man at a cubicled company called Initech, which has an
environment just real enough to believe and just cartoony enough
to be hilarious. "The man" turns out to be Gary Cole
(last seen as Mike Brady in The Brady Bunch Movie), easily
the most hideous incarnation of a "polite" boss ever
conceived. Office Space has a story similar to that episode
of Seinfeld in which George Costanza decides to do everything
the opposite of how he would normally do it--a darned funny episode,
so we can forgive Mike Judge his easy plot. Not to mention that
the smaller characters, like the computer programmer with a perpetual
paper jam, generate enough interest to keep the movie alive even
without a plot. Surprisingly, after twisted office logic has been
successfully manipulated and anarchy satisfyingly reigns, Judge
gets a pang of conscience and horseshoes the story back onto itself.
Because it avoids condescending to its characters (something Clockwatchers
could have learned from), Office Space's extra dose of
reality works, leaving it far better than anyone could have expected
from the creator of Beavis and Butthead. --Woodruff
THE OTHER SISTER. A mentally retarded woman (Juliette Lewis)
tries to liberate herself from her emotionally retarded, overprotective
WASP of a rich mother (Diane Keaton). Well, that's what it's supposed
to be about; but in spite of having legitimate concerns, Keaton's
character is just too bitchy to be sympathetic. Casting Tom Skerritt
as her nobly whipped husband, and giving Keaton a lesbian daughter
whom she refuses to accept, pretty well stacks the deck against
her. The Other Sister is really only about laughing and
"awww"-ing at the sweet, childlike antics of the mentally
retarded. Lewis plays the cutest, most well-adjusted and capable
retarded person in the world, and she falls in wuv with Giovanni
Ribisi, who is apparently the only other 'tard in San Francisco,
and also a cutie. The movie turns surreal as these two fit, attractive,
intelligent actors take turns grunting at each other for two hours.
(As a reviewer on NPR said, The Other Sister makes retarded
people seem like really fun pets.) Technically, Lewis' performance
is amazing, but you can only take so much accomplished fakery
before the twinkly eyes and bad enunciation send your senses into
space. This may be the role Lewis was born to play, but that's
not necessarily a compliment. After inhabiting semi-retarded characters
in previous films (Cape Fear, Kalifornia), the arc
of her career suggests that a Broadway production called Retard!
The Musical is just around the corner. --Woodruff
RUSHMORE. A very sophisticated comedy with the trappings
of a teen film, Rushmore is the strange story of a love
triangle involving Max, a 15-year-old boy (newcomer Jason Schwartzman),
Rosemary, a 30-year-old woman (Olivia Williams) and Herman, a
50-year-old man (Bill Murray). Murray is fabulous as the sleazy,
irritable and pathetic millionaire Herman Blume, but Schwartzman's
performance as Max is every bit as good, producing the best comic
pairing since Meryl Streep and Al Pacino teamed up in the remake
of Breakfast at Tiffany's. Max is editor of the school
newspaper and yearbook; president of the French club, German club,
chess club, and astronomy club; captain of the fencing and debate
teams; founder of the Double-Team Dodgeball Society; and director
of the Max Fischer Players, and Schwartzman gives him the compelling
air of an immature underachiever. Rushmore is easily the
best comedy of the last year, so show your disdain for the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (who failed to give Rushmore
even a single Oscar nomination) by going to see it three or four
times, and then write them a letter reminding them that they've
given the best picture Oscar to Platoon, Forrest Gump, Braveheart
and Titanic, so where do they get off? --DiGiovanna
VELVET GOLDMINE. Most teenagers, whether they recognize
it or not, are sexually empowered by the rock stars they're into.
Todd Haynes (Superstar, Poison, Safe) offers an
incredibly fun and thought-provoking look at the seemingly superficial
era of glitter rock from just such a personal perspective by examining
the careers of the Iggy Pop-ish Curt Wild (Ewan McGregor) and
David Bowie-like Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) via gay-curious
Arthur (Christian Bale). As usual, the director uses a number
of stylistic devices, such as voice-overs, fantasy sequences and
amazing costumes, to create an otherworldly realm that is nonetheless
incredibly tangible. Haynes calls this film a "valentine"
to glam rock, and it certainly looks tenderly at a time when androgyny,
high heels and all things pretty led to questions about sexual
identity and a lot of great music. Put on your platforms and vinyl
and go see Velvet Goldmine before you lose the chance to
see it on a big screen; it's definitely one of the year's best.
--Higgins
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