FILM

Rip It Up, Issue 250, 1 June 1998, Page 34

FILM

Reviews by WILLIAM DART

WAG THE DOG Director: Barry Levinson Political satires seem to be the flavour of the moment over the ; Pacific. Last month it was Mike j Nichols’ rambling, goodhumoured Primary Colours: now Barry Levinson pursues the same theme, but with somewhat darker intent. Wag the Dog is a pretty vicious expose of corruption and, even more than; Primary Colours, the manipulation that goes onH behind the public face of politics. The President is accused of an indiscretion with a young woman during a White House tour (could anyone be so desperately horny?), spin doctor j Robert De Niro is called in and, with the assistance of a wacko Hollywood producer (a deliriously funny Dustin Hoffman), the US of A is distracted by a fake war with Albania. David Mamet’s hand brings the requisite splash of acid to the script and the insane logic with which the political machinations unfold, is hilarious. The marvelj lous actors at the core of the film (De Niro, Hoffman, Anne Heche and William H. Macy) are a neat ensemble, with De Niro particularly suave and restrained (was this man really the tattooed sicko in Cape Fear?). Other highlights: Woody Harrelson as the would-be war hero, with a performance pitched just this side of drooling psychotic; a truly creepy faking of the plight of an Albanian refugee and, best of all, a beautifully staged ‘patriotic anthem’, sung by Willie Nelson i and all the stars of the country I firmament. i THE PHILADELPHIA STORY ] Director: George cukor ? / . - ? ’ ■ ~ I When Gavin Lambert interi viewed George Cukor about this 1940 classic, the director i was at his most playful. Yes, ! Cukor loved the rich and privileged, and yes, they were I invariably charming. j Following on from 1996’s successful revival of Howard

Hawks’ The Big Sleep, Fresh Films are bringing The Philadelphia Story to the big screen, in a beautiful, translucent print that makes you want to see more of these movies rescued from the video graveyard. Better known, perhaps, in its musical version as High Society, this is a 1 bantering delight as bored heiress Katherine Hepburn gets amiably entertained by the suave Gary Grant and the wholesome] 7 (and rather handsome) James Stewart on the eve of her wedding. They just don’t make films like this anymore well, I suppose The Wedding Singer is as close as they dare get — movies with such, style, graciousness and brittle wit. More please! THE WEDDING SINGER Director: prank coraci It’s difficult not to feel some affection for this rather oldfashioned film, especially with Drew Barrymore working her butt off to keep the charm flowing. And it’s a slog when the hero’s as charmless as Adam Sandler, playing a frustrated, out-of-work wedding singer. It’s 1986, something the film rather stresses, with Allen Covert in all manner of outrageous costumes as Sandler s brother, and the soundtrack offering some of the funkiest treats since Boogie Nights. Indeed, music provides the best scenes, whether it’s Sandler doing his schtick at various weddings or teaching some sweet old matron to croon ‘Till There Was You’, only to have her offer an impromptu rap performance at the function. The characters are hardly subtle (Matthew Glave’s scuzzball boyfriend has macho sleaze down to a fine art, and Christine Taylor as Sandler’s ex looks as if she’s just walked in off a Jerry Springer panel). The most memorable, apart i from Barry more, who projects : enough warmth to keep Alaska ■ in summer all year round, is

Steve Buscemi in a cameo as an alcoholically distressed best man in the opening wedding scene. This man has style. HARD RAIN Director: Mikael Salomon Seen from la distance Sthe small | town of Huntingburg is just the sort of 1 image you might see on a chocolate box lid... apart from the rain which is pelting down.from the,first scenes of the movie. You’ve guessed, doom and disaster are imminent, there’s a dam up river just burstin’ to break and those waters are risin’... But there are those who won’t take heed — Christian Slater, driving a payroll truck out of town, Minnie Driver intent on restoring an old church, and Betty White and her henpecked husband frightened to leave their home in case looters >1 ■■■i' 1 -"——i 1 move in. Scripted by Graham Yost who terrified more than a busload or two in Speed, this is a neat little »» J?, lbwOTir,~'lfawi< puMW . UllMliq '' ifi thriller. Clocking in at a crisp 90 minutes or so, there’s no slack, more twists than a mountain road and no shortage of edge-of-the-seaters — my favourite r. ■■rrwhix , ji/ti wiplMF—■■■■ i w i .'n,.aiMs is when Slater coming to the help of Driver when she’s been handcuffed to a banister in a house that is rapidly filling with water... Does he get there in time? See the movie! CITY OF ANGELS Director: Brad sllberllng ■ ■ Watching City of Angels, and remembering Face/Off, I’ve come to the conclusion that f7'7'.-wr,"Wr l mihmm Nicholas Cage should only play villains and comics. As a celestial being, tormented by his love for the very mortal Meg Ryan, he does very little in City of Angels except mope, which : makes Nick a rather dull boy, i and his already long face longer still. One of the problems with City of Angels is that it is too centred around Ryan and Cage. I There’s far too little humour i (apart from a cynical wee operation early on in the film, and one of Ryan’s colleagues quip-

ping, ‘Never date a man who knows more about your vagina than you do’) and far too much slow motion (Meg Ryan’s postorgasmic bicycle ride being the worst offender). There are serious themes underlying City of Angels — free will, the whole issue of love and mortality — themes which Wagner would easily write a whole music drama around. City of Angels doesn’t quite come to terms with it all, although as Silberling’s camera prowls and zooms around Los [Angeles, the conceit of LA as the new Valhalla has a strange appeal... '-■-■ ' A '■■■ T-‘ - ■■■ TREAT TIME In moments of despair, when it seems as if the whole art of film is just a subsidiary of 90s marketing, a shaft of light appears, unencumbered by angels or any other celestial [BejngsMlftH Kanohi kite Kanohi/Face to ?.x£ rJ ‘ '■ s r4--rs w* Face offers four programmes of videos, both'local and international, exploring, “the retelling and reframing of history, and tourism and the experiences of t indigenous r and immigrant cultures.” They’ve been put l together to complement the show Facing It, Art Now Looks Back, which those over-privileged Wellingtonians can pop into Te Papa and see any old time they want. The films range from the short-er-than-short (Veronica Vaevae’s two-minute Mix That Scratch, first seen as part of M the Bottled Ocean show a few years back, and various videos featuring Emma Paki, Moana, OMC, and Chris 1 Knox) to some powerful documentaries. Amongst the longer programmes, Chris Williams and Chris Todd’s Song of the South Seas has you hooked on the racontage of master muso Bill Sevesi. Cross a few oceans and you can learn all about Bhangra and Bangla music in Gurinder Chadha’s I’m British But... a spirited and uncompromising look at a H*WBy<HW7~is. ’ handful of young Asians MMMMrTi-TTiiNF Luhmil:, caught between two cultures. Documentary or Mockumentary? Denis Villeneuve’s Rewind Fast Forward starts with a photographer’s car breaking down in Trenchtown and ends with revelations about reggae and rastas. And most startling of all is Stuart Clark’s Subway Cops and Mole Kings, about the folks who live, not on the hill, but in the subways and tunnels of New York — and, no „ Virginia, this has nothing to do with Sly Stallone s Daylight. Listening to the elegant Bernard, seated in his squat, herb tea in hand, talking of olde world courtesies, is just the sort of tweak that reality needs sometimes. Kanohi kite Kanohi plays in Auckland’s Kodak Theatre for four days in mid-June. It’s just completed a Wellington season and let’s hope that there are some more lined up before too 10ng...

REEL HEWS ►►►►►►►► When Godzilla opened in 3,310 North American cinemas May 20, the film grossed $8.4 million which was 65% of the day’s movie theatre takings ... Leonardo Di Capriowill play the lead role in the movie of Bret Easton Ellis’ serial killer novel American Psycho ... Di Caprio is also lined up to star in Woody Alien’s next movie Celebrity along with Kenneth Branagh, Winona Ryder, Melanie Griffiths and Joe Mantegna ...Phil Joanou (Rattle & Hum) is directing Enthropy a movie about a young director played by Stephen Dorff filming a doco of U 2’s Pop Mart tour. Other cast members are Kelly MacDonald (Trainspotting), Lauren Holly (Dumber And Dumber) and U2 ... Goodwill Hunting writers Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have signed a deal to develop films for indie giant Miramax Films ... Gus Van Santwill remake Psycho ...Oliver Stone is producing a Martin Luther King biopic ...John Lydon is developing a movie with Rhino Films based on his 1995 autobiography Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs. Lydon will have creative control but will not act in the movie. Rhino produced the new movie Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas starring Johnny Depp. Lydon recently made a cameo in The Independent starring Janeane Garofalo ... threatening to make acting debuts are M a r i a h Ca rey in spy spoof movie 00-Soul and Snoop Doggy Dogg in Bones ... Madonna and Rupert Everett will star in The Next Best Thing a film about a single woman who asks a friend to father her child ... the Oliver Stone football movie On Any Given Sunday will star Al Pacino, Sean Puffy Combs and Cameron Diaz...Sean Puffy Combs has started Bad Boy Films and first flick is thriller King Suckerman ... Martin Scorcese is developing a biopic based on the life of ItalianAmerican crooner Dean Martin... Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski who wrote The People Vs Larry Flynt and Ed Wood are writing a Groucho Marx biopic ...20th Century Fox will distribute the three new George Lucas directed Star Wars prequel movies. Episode I is in post-production now for May 1999 release. The movie was shot in England in 1997 and stars Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman. FUTURE RELEASES ►►►►►►►►