 |
|
|
Dr. Daniel's Fall Preview And, now, we got a whole 'nother truckload of flicks chasing us down the cinematic offramp. I hear you saying to yourself, "Doc, help us! Lead us through the desert and on to the Promised Land! The land where good films are shown all the time, the land of Cherry Coke and buttered popcorn." Gather 'round, kiddies. Your Uncle Doctor's gonna lead the way. Cream of the CropThe first slam-bangers out of the box are gonna be L.A. Confidential and In and Out. L.A. is a hardcore crime thriller set in '50's Hollywood, with Kevin Spacey and Russell Crowe, and early word says it's the best thing since Chinatown in every category. In and Out is a comedy starring Kevin Kline, in which an easygoing college teacher is "outed" as a homosexual on worldwide TV by a former student.  The previews alone are right funny, and you can usually bet on Kevin Kline, in a comedy, that is. Kiss the Girls has promise, with Morgan Freeman returning to the creepy side of Seven, trying to retrieve his niece from a serial kidnapper who's "collecting" young ladies. Starship Troopers harkens back to the summer extravaganzas, but the trailers make it look like a can't-miss prospect. The sci-fi world will come unglued again, like it did when MIB proved to be such a kick-butt rocker. This time, it's a more traditional approach, and that just might be what everyone's waiting for. And, lo and behold, we FINALLY get a new film from the Lord of the Rants, Quentin Tarantino. Jackie Brown gives Pam Grier hope for a Travolta-esque revival, and alongside flamethrower thesps like Raging Bob, "Beetlejuice", and Samuel L., it's bound to be worth the wait. I fear it dang sure better be, 'cause the Egomaniacal Mister Q has made a few enemies during his place-in-the-sun run. And, I sense that certain power brokers in H'wood would just love to see him take it on that big chin of his.
The Sophomore ClassThe Game, with Michael Douglas and Sean Penn, has a hype spigot opened wide right now, as does Oliver Stone's U-Turn. The Game is a grubby little story about a jillionaire who gets himself locked into some freaky assassination game using real bullets. U-Turn is Stone's attempt at grunge filmmaking, about a hitman stuck in a small desert town where everybody's about two wings shy of a bucket. Of the two, I'd bet on Ollie to deliver the masses, but you can never tell. Mad City, starring Travolta and Hoffman, has the pedigree to be a big pay off, but word has it that John-Boy plays this part dark...black hole dark. His character's holding hostages in a museum, while Hoffman's Geraldo-wannabe reporter tries to stoke the situation for ratings. Is the world ready for a troubled Travolta? Devil's Advocate stars Al Pacino as, quite literally, the lawyer from Hell. Al gets to rant and rave, but can he carry this premise? Or, better yet, can he carry his costar, Keanu the Marionette? The cash hog of the century, Titanic, will finally root its way up out of the mud, alongside the new Bond, James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies. I'm sure this was just what James Cameron's folks wanted to hear, that the day they can finally get their monster to walk, it has to race James Bond. The competition could kill either of these entrants, or both.
The Question MarksI know the horror world is waiting for Scream 2 to hit, but, for some reason, I've got a bad feeling about it. Everything in the first one was "too right." I just can't believe they had the power to recreate the originality and oomph of the first one, and we'll be left holding the bag on another Freddy Krueger, boring us to sleep as the series stretches out. The only security is knowing that the original team of director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson are back in the saddle. Ewan McGregor and Nick Nolte in Nightwatch held a lot of promise, but its publicity train left the station a long time ago and ain't hit its regular stops in a while. Not a good sign. The Gingerbread Man is a John Grisham film without the benefit of a John Grisham book, so it won't have the built-in audience. A good marketing campaign could overcome that, but the moons will have to line up just right to guarantee a big hit. Lord only knows what will happen with Jim Carrey's The Truman Show, the Plastic Man's latest fandango in the "serious actor" arena. The premise is interesting -- Carrey's character grows up and grows weary of being the 24-hour subject of of a television verite documentary show, a la "The Real World". The Peacemaker, the debut effort from DreamWorks, may get a push from the fact that Spielberg's studio made it, but too many people may blame George Clooney for the disastrous Batman & Robin, and that won't help things. And I just can't figure out why anyone wanted to put Alec Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins and Elle MacPherson in the woods to make The Edge. Usually, this kind of movie has a cute dog in it that saves everybody, right?  Where's the dog? Is the world ready for a retro look at the '70s porno industry? New Line thinks so with its upcoming Boogie Nights, starring Marky Wahlberg and Burt Reynolds. I'm not so sure. Recent flops Striptease and Showgirls indicate that bigscreen titillation may have gone the way of Farrah posters and the phrase "Dyn-o-mite". The public loves nudity and sex, they just don't wanna be seen in line waiting for it. Oh, let's not forget Costner's return to post-apocalypse life in The Postman. Uh, Kevin? Did Waterworld completely slip your mind? Post-apocalyptic expression ain't exactly tops on your list of skills. I hope you can pull this off, 'cause Tin Cup was a downhill start, and your engine's just about to turn over again. A flop from The Postman and it's gonna be a long cold winter in the garage for you.
Ain't Gonna HappensI just can't see the masses turning out to see two movies about Tibet within two months of each other. So, do you queue up for Brad Pitt on a voyage of self-discovery in Seven Years In Tibet, or do you wait for Scorsese's Kundun? (Are there gangsters in Tibet?) I've got a wonderful idea. Let both of these play like an itty-bitty kidney stone and pass quickly and painlessly. I need more Oscar-begging epics like I need a third foot. Nor do I need an animated cartoon musical about a little girl who was s'posed to have been slaughtered with the rest of her family in the Russian Revolution. Fox is reportedly pouring record sums of publicity bucks into Anastasia, but this Disney wannabe will disappear quickly, if we're lucky. How about another Jim Belushi movie? Gang Related brings Jimbo back from the wee-hour HBO circuit, and teams him with the late Tupac Shakur as two rogue cops. Whee-haw, what fun. What freakazoid decided we needed an Amish comedy starring Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley? I'm not kidding. It's called For Richer or Poorer. Do I smell something? Orson, is that you or Tim Allen? And the weirdest thing yet, a comedy about incest, called The House of Yes. If this piece of drek makes more than $50 at the box office, I think group therapy sessions should be offered in theater lobbies.
The Secret AgentsThe biggest surprise of the fall will be Bean. Rowan Atkinson's hilarious character, only seen on PBS until now, is already busting records in the UK and Australia. For anyone who has not seen Mr. Bean, allow me to say only this: you will laugh so hard you will injure yourself. I'm praying to the Movie Gods that the Coen Brothers follow-up to Fargo, The Big Lebowski, will lock them down as pure winners. Anyone that has seen Wings of Desire knows that German director Wim Wenders makes films that are pure art, so he gets the benefit of the doubt for The End Of Violence, starring Bill Pullman. And, I go way out on the high dive for this one: a movie called I Know What You Did Last Summer, a film about a group of teenagers trying to hide the fact that they accidentally killed someone in a hit-and-run accident. They think their secret is safe, but one person finds out. I have no reason to think this film will be anything special, just call it a hunch.
Gifts for the KiddiesDisney's bringing out the proven winner when they rerelease The Little Mermaid. This movie was the rebirth of Disney animation, and they want everyone to remember that. Mermaid, along with Robin Williams' remake of The Absent-Minded Professor, now known as Flubber, ought to be the big enchiladas here. Those two Disney entries will easily beat out the silly-looking Rocket Man and the even sillier Mouse Hunt, a remake of Home Alone with a rat playing Culkin's part. What the...? And, National Federation for the Blind reps, I'm sorry, but I'm looking forward to Leslie Neilsen as Mr. Magoo. And by the way, it's a cartoon, folks. Relax, have a decaf and sit under a tree.
Now, go bravely into those theaters and spread the word. The fall movie scene is gonna be like hunting for gold. The big nuggets are out there, you just gotta know where to dig.
Get "reel" soon,
Summer Preview '01 | Academy Awards 2001 | The 5th Annual Loscars | Oscar Noms: Reaction 2001 | Excused from School | Matthau Remembered | Summer Preview 2000 | Academy Awards 2000 | The 4th Annual Loscars | Oscar Noms: Reaction 2000 | 2000 Predictions | Universal Soldiers | Happy Birthday, Hitch | Goodbye, MST3K | Try to Remember | Summer Preview '99 | Curse of the TV Movies |
Academy A-snores | The 3rd Annual Loscars | Waiting and Waiting | Gene Siskel Tribute | Now I'm Mad (Oscar Nominations '99) | 1998 Flashback | Remembering Roddy McDowall | Repeating History | The Movie Manifesto | Fall Preview '98 | The Day Eli P. Kingsley Came to Town | Field of Dreams | Lizard Season | Grey April, Dark Hearts | Oscar Reactions '98 | The Greatest Actor You've Never Heard Of | The 2nd Annual Loscars |
Oscar Noms | Unsportsmanlike Conduct |
1997: Gone But Not Forgotten |
A Note to Nick |
The Quaid Curse | Love, Law & Lake Tahoe | Talking Movies |
Black & White World
| Alternative Medicine: Waiting for Guffman | In Memoriam, Burgess Meredith |
Fall Preview '97 | Jimmy Stewart, R.I.P. |
The Cowboy Way | A Sporting Chance | In Praise of the VCR
| Summer Preview '97 | Alternative Medicine: That Thing You Do! |
The Rise and Fall...of Dan Aykroyd |
Post-Oscar Traumatic Syndrome | The Loscars | Lost Minds?! |
It's Academic! | Remembering Vincent Price | Movie Going Rules | Doctor's Orders |
