Something for everyone at the flicks
Something for everyone at the flicks
JAKARTA (JP): Here is the lineup of movies playing at local
movie theaters, with reviews and grades by Rayya Makarim and Tam
Notosusanto.
Arlington Road; thriller; starring Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins,
Joan Cusack and Hope Davis. Directed by Mark Pellington.
Widowed history professor Bridges suspects that the couple who
live next door (Robbins and Cusack) are not the charming suburban
family they appear to be, but left-wing extremists bent on
blowing up government office buildings.
It's a suspenseful, captivating film that benefits from a
sharp, uncompromising script, a stellar cast and the visual
prowess of former music video director Pellington. Graded B+ by
TN.
The General's Daughter; detective story; starring John
Travolta, Madeleine Stowe, James Cromwell, Timothy Hutton and
James Woods. Directed by Simon West.
Travolta and Stowe are army investigators delving into the
case of a murdered female officer, the daughter of an
influential, politically ambitious war hero. It's one of those
Hollywood movies that want to depict the military as shady,
twisted and absolutely evil, only this one probably tries too
hard. One aspect that makes it worth seeing is Woods'
multilayered performance as a tormented army colonel. B- (TN).
Instinct; environmental campaign; starring Anthony Hopkins,
Cuba Gooding Jr., Maura Tierney and Donald Sutherland. Directed
by Jon Turteltaub.
Primatologist Hopkins will not speak a word after reemerging
from years of closely studying African gorillas in their natural
habitat. It's up to cocky psychiatrist Gooding to unlock the
mystery surrounding the famed scholar, now incarcerated for
killing people who hurt the apes.
In this film, the gorillas are really kept in the mist,
leaving the terribly miscast Gooding ruining everything with his
unforgivable overacting. Show him the door, somebody. C (TN).
Phantasm: Oblivion; horror; starring A. Michael Baldwin,
Reggie Bannister, Bill Thornbury and Angus Scrimm. Written and
directed by Don Coscarelli.
For the fourth time, the constantly victimized Michael Pearson
(Baldwin) battles the sinister Tall Man (Scrimm) and his army of
ghoulish dwarfs. Not much has changed: the flying spheres are
still looking for foreheads to drill, and Michael's loyal
sidekick Reggie (Bannister) apparently forgets what happens if he
picks up strange chicks on the road.
If the previous episodes are pure trashy, schlocky fun, this
one wants to be a quasi-existentialist journey that only ends up
being too muddled and joyless. Oblivion is where it belongs. C-
(TN).
Pushing Tin; comedy; starring John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton,
Angelina Jolie and Cate Blanchett. Directed by Mike Newell.
Inside the pressure cooker that is New York's Terminal Radar
Approach Control center, air traffic controllers Cusack and
Thornton entangle themselves in a fierce competition of wits and
derring-do, risking their marriages and the lives aboard the
7,000 flights that come in and out of New York. Glen and Les
Charles, creators of the hit TV series Taxi and Cheers, wrote
this superbly acted character-driven piece. B (TN).
The Sixth Sense; psychological drama; starring Bruce Willis,
Toni Collette, Haley Joel Osment, Olivia Williams and Donnie
Wahlberg. Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan.
Child shrink Willis must get inside the mind of a troubled
young boy who sees dead people walking around him. It's a moving
human drama about relationships and the fragility of life,
disguised as a mild ghost story.
It does not matter that Willis underperforms, because Osment,
as the boy, steals all the scenes he is in with his staggering
portrayal of a reluctant psychic. Look for the unrecognizable
former New Kid on the Block Wahlberg in a chilling brief turn. A-
(TN).