Wes Craven’s Scream 2 (B-) tries to one-up its tongue-in-cheek predecessor by satirizing sequels, often with great success. But the film-within-a-film and the story-within-a-story conceits may sometimes make this a little too meta for its own good. Still it is twisty, thrilling and united the original cast with enough surprises that it stands on its own with more of the brand of fun fans of the franchise will come to expect.
“Starship Troopers” Campy, Exciting
Paul Verhoeven’s sci-fi outer space creature feature send-up Starship Troopers (B) is both an exciting tale of fresh-faced young people fighting galactic aliens and a parody of such films. It works best if you simply succumb to the silliness. There are no acting standouts in this one, just wall-to-wall action. It’s well-filmed pulp and exactly what a B-movie should be.
“Fifth Element” a Tedious Space Opera
This is the way the universe ends. It’s a far-fetched frontier where the tenets of good filmmaking hyperwarp into an otherworld of haywire folly. Transcending earth, wind, fire, ice and more, Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element (F) exists in a sphere of stupidity reserved only for the rarest of films. Bruce Willis and Gary Oldman are poorly used, and Chris Tucker is so thoroughly grating that I wish in space no one could hear him act. Not just a bad sci-fi flick, it’s also a bad absurdist comedy. In general, for a bad time, take the Fifth.
“Buddy” (1997) is Bananas
Caroline Thompson’s family drama Buddy (C-) chronicles the tale of an ecentric woman (Rene Russo) and her live-in animal companions. There may be a gorilla in her midst, but the story has a few missing links, to say the least. The telling of this true tale seems more like a chore than an opportunity for entertainment. Elaborate animatronics from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop can’t seem to animate the belle of the ball of the wild at the film’s hollow center.
We Find “Trial and Error” Guilty of Not Being Funny
In a season when Meg Ryan went grunge, Madonna struck a family-friendly pose and everyone on Friends tried to branch into movie stardom, it’s a bit refreshing to watch Seinfeld star Michael Richards playing to his strengths as a man who has to pose as an attorney to defend a buddy. Jonathan Lynn’s Trial & Error (B-) provides a vehicle for TV’s “Kramer” to showcase screwball courtroom comedy opposite Jeff Daniels and Charlize Theron. Lynn directed My Cousin Vinny, so it’s standard fare in that vein.
“Breaking the Waves” a Force of Nature
In Breaking the Waves (A-), director Lars von Trier crafts an elegant, heart-wrenching epic about a woman guided to the edge of sanity by a moral quest that leaves her physically, mentally and emotionally vulnerable. Emily Watson shines in the central role of this chilling film that deftly blends pathos and transcendence.
“The Pillow Book” an Exotic, Erotic Story of Romance, Revenge
An exotic ode to love, art and revenge, Peter Greenaway’s The Pillow Book (A) stars Vivian Wu as a Japanese model in search of lovers who will paint on her body as part of their mating ritual with her. One of these men is a British translator played by Ewan McGregor, and a romantic entanglement that soon erupts due to betrayal and blackmail leads the plot down a variety of unexpected passageways. Greenaway’s innovative uses of popular music, multimedia effects, calligraphy and chapter settings, sensory illusions and uncensored erotic imagery makes this one of the most resonant and resplendent films to blossom on screen in years. This is one for the dreamers.
“Secrets and Lies” a Dry, Droll British Drama
Mike Leigh’s Secrets and Lies (B+) pairs Brenda Blethyn and Marianne Jean-Baptiste as long-lost mother and daughter reuniting. Because Leigh uses an impromptu screenwriting technique with his actors, the focus is on the character revelations, especially since mom is white and daughter is black, but the story suffers a bit with not too much to do once we’ve established this central conceit. Still, the actresses are so charming that their story washes over you, and you feel like you’re visiting with folks you’ve known all your life.
“Sling Blade” is Surprisingly Sentimental
Slicing into the heart of the American Gothic with razor-sharp perception, writer/director/actor Billy Bob Thornton carves out a startling yarn with the genre-slashing masterpiece Sling Blade (A). Thornton crafts a singular portrait of the South and of a man faced with a moral dilemma that may cause him to resort to violence. Alternately sweet in sequences with child actor Lucas Black and menacing when facing an alcoholic character played by Dwight Yoakam, the film sustains a delicate tone and a spellbinding sense of time and place as it builds to its finale.
David Cronenberg’s 1996 “Crash” Kinky, Bizarre
Director David Cronenberg uses car crashes as a stand-in for unusual fetishes, but his focus on this type of auto-erotica seems like more a delirious dissertation than an actual real thing in the erotic thriller Crash (C-). Nonetheless, James Spader, Holly Hunter and a game ensemble sell the heck out of the high-concept. But there’s only so long the hang-up on bang-ups can sustain.
“Space Jam” Scores with Families
Basketball superstar Michael Jordan proves to be the ultimate good sport in his film debut opposite Bugs Bunny in Joe Pytka’s family adventure Space Jam (B-). This blend of live action and animation surrounding an intergalactic hoops game to solve a rivalry is mostly throwaway, but the charms of favorite Looney Tunes characters will keep kids and adults entertained throughout the cheery, self-effacing glee.
“That Thing You Do!” A Fun, Frothy Confection
Tom Hanks’ directorial debut, That Thing You Do! (B+) is a light, fizzy film about the meteoric rise of a one-hit wonder band to the height of fame and fortune. Hanks as manager and the bright young cast he has assembled are a delight to watch as their characters sort out relationships once the band gets big. Filled with great music and period detail, this is a rich sleeper comedy.