Roll-M |
Jeepers Creepers (starring Gina Phillips,
Justin Long, Jonathan Breck, Eileen Brennan; written and directed by Victor
Salva; rated R)
Jeepers, creepers, where’d they get the idea for Jeepers,
Creepers? Mainly from those old scary teen movies of the ’70s
and ’80s in which foolish young people are terrorized by “something” and usually
end up dead. While the plot is as recycled as yesterday’s newspaper, the
filmmakers
bring some interesting touches to this story about a brother and sister who
make a horrific discovery in the basement of an old abandoned church on their
trip home from college. All the usual chills are in place - the anonymous
ugly truck stalking them (homage to early Spielberg’s Duel), hovering birds
(Hitchcock’s The Birds), a Blair
Witch-y ending and a few genuine “gotcha” moments. But all in all, I didn’t
find this as scary as it might have been, the special FX are anything but,
and the ending is definitely unsatisfying. Fans of the genre might enjoy
it, but overall it’s hardly worth your 85 minutes.
Ghost
World (starring Thora Birch, Steve Buscemi, Scarlett Johansson Illeana
Douglas, Brad Renfro, Bob Balaban, Teri Garr; written by Terry Zwigoff &
Daniel Clowes; directed by Terry Zwigoff; rated R)
I had never read nor heard of the comic book on which Ghost
World is based, but it turns out that’s not necessary. This little
sleeper is the best find of the summer. A bittersweet coming of age comedy,
Ghost World is entirely character driven, a synthesis of excellent performances
and great writing. Enid and her friend Rebecca, having just graduated
from high school, begin to explore their newfound freedom. In a monocultural
world, the two young ladies are determined to create their own parallel universe,
a “ghost world” of sorts. They answer an ad in the personals and set up some
poor schlub; but what begins as a joke turns into a friendship - and more
- for Enid.
The characters we meet are unique, well thought-out and perfectly cast.
Thora Birch (who played Kevin Spacey’s troubled daughter in American Beauty)
is an incredible talent, and Steve Buscemi as Seymour is so perfect in his
role as a geeky record collector, it’s hard to believe this is an actor, not
a real person. The remaining cast are all equally up to the task.
This poignant film is a delight from start to finish – thoughtful and very
funny, it should please even the most discriminating Mensans.
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (starring Nicolas Cage, Penelope Cruz, John Hurt; written by Shawn Slovo, from the novel by Louis de Bernieres; directed by John Madden; rated R)
Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz star as unlikely lovers in this
pleasant romance about a reluctant Italian occupation of the Greek Island
of Cephallonia during World War II. As invaders go, they don’t get much nicer
than this; Cage and company sing and fraternize, and he plays his mandolin.
It’s a happy war as he woos Cruz, who is engaged to a fisherman. Unfortunately,
this idyll is all to soon interrupted by that pesky war when Italy falls to
the Allies and the Nazis become the island’s new occupying army. At this
point, the emphasis shifts from romance to drama, as the island’s occupants
get a taste of what a real war is all about.
All this plays better than it sounds, especially if you can get past the fact that everybody on this Greek isle is speaking English with fake accents (although Cruz sounds more authentic, since she speaks English with a Spanish accent anyway). There is definite chemistry between the two leads, the scenery is gorgeous, and it’s a nice change of pace from the season’s action and horror genre.