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 THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS. Screenwriter William Goldman,
who wrote Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the
President's Men and The Stepford Wives, among others,
proves once again that the nineties will never be as good as the
seventies, movie-wise. This "true" tale about great
white hunters protecting the natives from a couple of man-eating
lions endorses the standard myopic myths about colonialism, manhood,
hunting, etc. Val Kilmer plays John Patterson, an engineer who
has been sent to the African savanna to build a bridge that will
expand the ivory trade. He speaks of Africa as if it were a town,
rather than a continent ("I love Africa!"), and sets
about proving his manhood and protecting his men (various racial
stereotypes, mitigated somewhat by one or two heroic black characters)
against a pair of man-eating lions. A great hunter, Charles Remington
(Michael Douglas) comes to show him how it's done. The two men
bond, hunt, kill etc. Remington remarks with revulsion that the
pair of unnatural lions "are doing it for pleasure,"
i.e., killing, but the movie doesn't have the intelligence to
draw the connection between the lion's pleasure in killing and
man's pleasure in hunting, colonization and dominance. After a
while, it's hard to not root for the lions. At least they're resisting
the conquest of their domain.
INFINITY. Matthew Broderick directs and stars in this rambling
film based on the life and loves of Nobel prize-winning physicist
Richard Feynman. The film, written by the director's mother, Patricia
Broderick, follows the courtship and marriage of Feynman to Arline
Greenbaum (Patricia Arquette), through their days as high school
sweethearts to their life as a couple in New Mexico, where Feynman
worked at Los Alamos developing the bomb. Though this movie has
many rewarding moments and a sweet, old-fashioned sensibility
that makes it seem like the perfect flick to take your silver-haired
grandma to, it nonetheless lacks cohesion and depth. Feynman gets
to run around explaining nuclear physics to folks, while his wife
Arline fawns over pretty dresses in shop windows. Is this a match
made in heaven? Hard to say, but it's worthy to note the love
story is a short, autobiographical chapter in the life of one
of the most interesting scientific minds of the 20th century.
The ending is a long time coming, and you may begin to suspect
that the title refers to the length of the film; but if Infinity
piques your curiosity, ferret out a paperback copy of the infinitely
more rewarding memoir, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman.
PAPERBACK ROMANCE. A loopy, endearing little romantic comedy
from down under, Paperback Romance has, um, interesting
production values and not a familiar face in the cast. There's
nothing very weighty here, but the story of a pretty, handicapped
romance writer (she conveniently composes her smutty stories aloud)
who pretends to have been injured in a skiing accident in order
to nab Prince Charming has a ridiculous but undeniable charm.
Like While You Were Sleeping or even Funny Face,
Paperback Romance does a fine job of conflating absurdity with
romance. Bring a date.
THAT THING YOU DO. Tom Hanks wrote and directed this one
(yes, he's in it too), and it seems like just the kind of thing
Hanks would produce: It's cute, endearing, and utterly without
tension or meaning. The core idea for this movie though, is great.
It traces the rise and fall of a little rock and roll band from
Pennsylvania during the mid-sixties; a "one-hit wonder"
group that rocked the charts for a few weeks, then disappeared
from view. The young cast is adorable, the music is infectious
(we get to hear that one hit, the eponymous "That Thing You
Do," something like 11 times), and the sixties sets, costumes
and cars are a pleasure to look at. There's not much conflict,
though, and the character Hanks plays, the record company representative,
never really sorts himself out as being for the band or against
it. This fuzziness makes That Thing You Do a little boring
at times, and the speech Liv Tyler gives about wasted kisses is
absolutely humiliating, but this movie is so good-natured that
it's hard not to like it at least a little.
TWO DAYS IN THE VALLEY. A sprawling, non-linear series
of interweaving stories that's as fun as is it vapid, Two Days
in the Valley follows the lives of a dozen loser-grade characters
through the seamy blandness of California's San Fernando Valley.
Unexpected though curiously convenient connections tie this movie
together, as a nice hit man and a psychotic hit man set rolling
a series of events that affect a surprising number of closely
connected people. Good acting and fast pacing make this movie
enjoyable entertainment, though its yearnings to follow in the
footsteps of Altman's Nashville or, at least, Tarantino's
Pulp Fiction, aren't fully realized.
Special Screenings
KUNG FU THEATER. The cult classic Enter the Dragon,
one of the last films of kung fu superstar Bruce Lee, will play
this weekend at The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St. A goofy
tale of good and evil, the 1973 Enter the Dragon, and Lee
himself, are probably responsible for the original cross-over
appeal of kung fu and martial arts movies. The immensely likable
Lee is a blast to watch: He makes funny noises when he fights,
and who can forget the famous maze-of-mirrors scene? Also playing
at The Screening Room this weekend is the 1943 tragic love story
Maria Candelaria, a seminal film in the history of Mexican
cinema which won the Golden Palm at Cannes in 1946. Call 622-2262
for ticket and show information.
LESBIAN AND GAY FILM FEST. Tucson's second annual Gay and
Lesbian Film Festival, organized by Wingspan, opens Wednesday,
October 23, with a 7:30 p.m. screening of Stonewall at
the UA Gallagher Theater, on campus. Screenings continue through
Sunday, October 27, at The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St.
The festival includes both feature-length and short films. Upcoming
screenings include Raising Heroes and Change the
Frame on Thursday and Friday, October 24 and 25. Tickets are
$5 for individual screenings, $4 for Wingspan members with valid
ID. Call 624-1779 or 622-2262 for information and show times.
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