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 The Cable Guy. Editor's note: Our regular reviewer would
like to state that she is not a Jim Carrey fan; and in fact believes
he's a sort of brain-damaged version of all that is sinister and
annoying about Jerry Lewis. In deference to her professional integrity,
we'd like to make clear the opinions contained here belong to
another reviewer. Jim Carrey plunges into the dark side in
this purely cynical comedy about psychopaths and free cable. Matthew
Broderick co-stars as the victimized straight man, reeling and
lonely after his girlfriend kicks him out. The silliness of Carrey's
trademark antics are offset by his black humor about a lonely
boy (nation?) that grew up with TV as his only friend. The attention
to detail and sheer volume of TV-show references make this a downright
eerie journey through latchkey America and a burgeoning psychosis
lurking behind so many strangers in anonymous coveralls. Under
Ben Stiller's direction, The Cable Guy is a perfect example
of Freud's theory that laughter is a latent expression of fear.
Cemetery Man. A computer search for this movie turned it
up under the keywords horror/death/zombie, and that just
about says it all. Part spoof on B-movies and part homage, Michele
Soavi's Cemetery Man (or Dellamorte Dellamore) follows
the adventures of a graveyard caretaker who must deal with some
sort of virus which has bitten the dead and turned his yard into
a lot full of aquamarine zombies. The nature of love, death and
killing are all amply explored as Rupert Everett casually blows
away the undead and tries to understand. A highly-tuned sense
of satire, not only of B horror movies but of previous satires
of B horror movies (Coffin Joe comes to mind), gives this
flick an edgy sense of gory fun. Dubbed into English.
The Rock. If you're looking for an entertaining action
movie to fritter away a summer afternoon, this should be your
first stop. Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage star as mismatched partners
battling pure evil in the form of a chemical weapon that resembles
a giant tube of fluorescent-green bath beads. The weapons are
controlled by a whacked-out Vietnam vet (Ed Harris) on The Rock,
a.k.a. Alcatraz, and the guys have to break in to the impenetrable
fortress in order to save San Francisco, and possibly Oakland.
Okay, so the situation is contrived, but the little twists of
fate in this movie combined with genuinely funny dialogue make
it a stellar piece of vapid entertainment. Extra bonus: Both Cage
and Connery look surprisingly hunky in wet clothing.
Stealing Beauty. Bernardo Bertolucci splashes around with
both the MTV and the Masterpiece Theater generations in this coming-of-age
movie set in the Italian countryside. Beautiful shots, sets, and
actors, hallmarks of any Bertolucci film, make Stealing Beauty
easy on the eyes--and Liv Tyler, the gorgeous 17-year-old star,
doesn't hurt either. Tyler handles herself with ease and dignity
as she plays the role of an American virgin aiming to get herself
deflowered while a bored group of cosmopolitan grown-ups egg her
on. Sometimes though, it seems like the camera lingers a little
too obsessively on the upper region of the inner seam of her tight
jeans, and it's hard to escape the sensation that perhaps this
is just a classy way for Bertolucci to act like a dirty old man.
The screenplay, by author Susan Minot, is disappointingly flat;
but Tyler is so entrancing it hardly matters.
Striptease. Demi Moore peels it off in this plodding, predictable
comedy about a mother who takes up stripping in the hopes of earning
enough money to finance a custody battle for her daughter. Moore's
routines seem forced and overstaged, and in fact she keeps most
of her clothing on most of the time even as the supporting cast
frolics about topless in the background. Burt Reynolds plays to
the balcony in his role as a lecherous senator with a "thing"
for tittie bars; in fact, everyone seems to be trying just a little
too hard in this movie for it to ever seem engaging or believable.
This is a poor bet for comedy; and if it's naked ladies you want,
try going down the street to Curves Cabaret and stuffing your
seven-fifty into the g-strings of some real single mothers, instead
of giving it to filthy rich Moore.
Welcome To The Dollhouse. This startling, original movie
about the misadventures of a school loser manages to be very funny
and very disturbing at the same time. The details and nuances
of nerd-life--the ugly glasses, the awkward gait, the sugary snacks--are
intimately and lovingly chronicled in this independent film, which
won the Grand Jury award at the Sundance Film Festival. Dawn Wiener
(Heather Matarazzo), a homely, unfashionable outcast with an unfortunate
last name, is the scapegoat of her school, her family, and perhaps
the world. When she falls in love with a popular high school boy
it seems possible for a moment that anything can happen; but,
as always, things for Dawn end in humiliation. Anyone who has
ever been betrayed by the promises of beauty, femininity, belonging
and romantic love will appreciate the relentless dissection of
these myths here.
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