While some of this summer's movie selections may have been, slightly less than inspiring, we at the Daily have toiled long and hard to bring you a comprehensive review of the best and the brightest of the Summer 2000 lineup, so you'll have another chance to catch the few gems when they come out on video.
Scary Movie
Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans
Scary Movie earns 4 stars for living up to its full potential... whatever that may be. Without any lofty aspirations of communicating a moral lesson or even telling a coherent story, the Wayans brothers succeed in elliciting raucous laughter from audiences nationwide. There's also a lot to be said for the shock value of Scary Movie's brand of comedy, which earned it $42.3 million its opening weekend this July. With a sense of humor similar to There's Something About Mary, director Keenen Ivory Wayans and writers Shawn and Marlon Wayans manage to drop jaws and have over-17-year-olds everywhere whispering "Was that really what I thought it was?"
As a parody of the modern horror films that seem to have become required viewing material for any informed member of pop-culture, Scary Movie combines elements from the Scream trilogy, I Know What You Did Last Summer (and its sequel), The Blair Witch Project, The Sixth Sense, and The Matrix. The resulting convoluted storyline is more than made up for by the laugh-out-loud scenes. Not for the faint of heart or the politically correct, Scary Movie is full of racial slurs, sexual scenes, and violent images... not to mention the ever-elusive male frontal-nudity shots. Cheri Oteri's portrayal of Gail Hailstorm - a parody of Courtney Cox-Arquette's character in the Scream trilogy - is upstaged only by the scarring image of the high school gym teacher. (Shudder.)
Stars: IIII
What Lies Beneath
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Speaking of scary movies, with What Lies Beneath, Zemeckis achieves a level of suspense and horror not often seen since the films of Hitchcock. While the plot has been done before, Zemeckis brought in new elements to make it not only fresh, but also better. Acting to an almost silent soundtrack and in an eerily realistic world, Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford depict a ghost story that actually haunts the audience. Zemeckis abandons the modern practice of scaring people with special effects and violence in favor of subtler, more potent devices. Using something as simple as a door opening by itself or steam clouding a bathroom mirror, he excites the audience to an almost unbearable point of tension. The hook is that, thanks to Zemeckis' setup before the climax, what would seem an unbelievable, abstract ghost story is made spookily possible.
In what could almost be described as a psychological thriller, Pfeiffer's character, Claire Spencer, is established as a precariously sane housewife married to workaholic Dr. Norman Spencer. Their life is depicted, elements are added... and, piece by piece, a mysterious force chips away at the foundations of Claire's world. In typical Hitchcock style, the audience questions first her sanity and then whether the outside elements could possibly mean her harm. Not to miss is the bathtub scene in which the audience hears from under the water and feels as submerged as the character. Definitely a date movie... if you want your date in your lap by the end.
Stars: IIIII
Me, Myself, & Irene
Directors: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
Most people may not have noticed, but Jim Carrey has managed to work himself into a rut. He has taken on all sorts of roles and always produced critically-acclaimed performances, but he has a knack for doing so in less-than-superb movies. Like Man on the Moon, Carrey's Me, Myself, & Irene finds the funnyman creating a distinct and engaging character in an unsatisfying film. Carrey plays Charlie, a Rhode Island state trooper with a fear of confrontation and rather polar split personalities. When Charlie falls in love with Irene (Ren?©e Zellweger), his more violent personality, Hank, also takes an interest. With the already brutal conflict between Charlie's two halves, this new challenge provokes a vicious battle... with himself.
The Farrelly brothers are best known for There's Something About Mary, and Me, Myself, & Irene plays on that reputation a bit too much. While most of the gags are entertaining (and certainly vicious), the directors seem intent only on one-upping their previous efforts, not on unearthing clever new ideas or maintaining a healthy pace for the film. Carrey makes the split between his two characters quite distinct, but scenes of him beating himself up have been done before - and better - in Liar, Liar. His performance is certainly to be appreciated, but the Farrelly brothers can't rely on shock value to bring them box office success every summer.
Stars: II
X-Men
Director: Bryan Singer
With any comic-book-to-movie adaptation, there is the risk of angering the legions of purist fans waiting to seize on any inaccuracy in the film (think Tim Burton's Batman or the ill-conceived, live-action 'Spiderman' television series from the '70s). Everything from casting to story lines to costumes falls under the ever-critical eyes of the adoring fans, sometimes with less-than-stellar results. What plays well on pulp paper often does not work as well on live people. In the case of X-Men, however, there's little to moan about. Despite black leather replacing the classic yellow and blue spandex of the original, the film shapes up to be both accurate and an answer to most fans' prayers. Bryan Singer (Apt Pupil, The Usual Suspects) avoids stepping on any toes without simply rehashing old plots.
For those unfamiliar with the "mythology" surrounding the series, X-Men takes place on Earth in the near future. As evolution marches on, random mutations have given rise to people with various supernatural powers. Part of what has made the comic book so enduring is the complex morality behind it. Most ordinary people react with fear to these changes, while the mutants themselves are divided into two rival camps: those who wish to co-exist with other humans, and those who believe themselves the next step in evolution, and regular humans the enemy. Whether seen as a faithful comic-book adaptation or a surprisingly moral action movie, X-Men can please both newcomers and die-hards alike.
Stars: IIII
