‘THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK, |htp://chaplin.pkbaseline.com/screen/strange/reviews/lostword.htm! THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK (United States, 1997) SYNOPSIS: A few years back, venture capitalist John Hammond figured out how to recreate dinosaurs from DNA fragments encased in amber. He started a company called InGen, which placed the genetically engineered dinosaurs in a theme park on an island in Costa Rica. But the Jurassic Park systems broke down shortly before it could open, the dinosaurs got free and had to be destroyed, and the island was closed to the public. In the aftermath, everyone involved moved quickly to quash the story. InGen wanted to limit its liability. The Costa Rican government wanted to preserve its reputation as a tourist paradise. And the individual scientists who had been hired as consultants on the project were bound by the nondisclosure agreement to remain silent. But as Dr.lan Malcolm is about to find out... something has survived. REVIEW: A spectacle more entertaining and more laden with dazzling effects than its predecessor, THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK 2s still only no better than it has to be--and not even quite that. Director Steven Spielberg--who surely had final yay-nay over David Koepp's script and perhaps even over Michael Crichton's book--again proves he's got talent like Bil Gates has dollars. But his characters here are sitcom automatons and, with precious few exceptions, their lives are no more meaningful than those of the unseen spaceship pilots. in video games. Add that to the fact that the script is riddled with plot holes and manipulations the filmmakers don't even bother to conceal, and LOST WORLD is the sci-fi/action-movie equivalent of a trashy romance novel. Is that a bad thing? THE LOST WORLD--in which the first film's Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), three other specialists (Julianne Moore, Vince Vaughn, Peter Ludlow) and Malcolm's stowaway young daughter (Vanesa Lee Chester) go to A Faraway Island to try to stop An Evil Corporation from importing wild dinosaurs to a San Diego preserve~delivers its punches and theme-park thrills more efficiently than even the best of last summer's flicks. But so does the Universal Studios tour. Is it too much to expect an action movie by such a gifted director to have characters who matter? What oozes through the flashy surface is contempt: Give the rubes what they want, and don't worry about inconsistent, illogical or downright moronic character behavior, because nobody'll notice. Pick, pick, pick: how can Moore's Dr. Sarah Harding pet a young dinosaur--introducing it to humans--then harp about maintaining "zero impact" on the wildlife? How can an experienced wilderness guide get lost taking a pee? How does a huge tyrannosaurus get locked in a cargo hold with mechanical doors after having slaughtered a ship's crew? And at exactly what “early-morning” nighttime hour are San Diego streets bustling and video stores packed with perky yuppies? We could go on, but hey, who cares, right? Like they figured, we'll all be too dazzled by the dinos. --Written by Frank Lovece STARRING: Jeff Goldblum - lan Malcolm Julianne Moore - Sarah Harding Pete Postlethwaite - Roland Tembo Arliss Howard - Peter LudlowBaseline on the Web —- Film Reviews Sample http://www-pkbaseline.convbaseweb/s_rvw html 2aseline WER Film Reviews Sample Babe U.S. RELEASE YEAR: 1995 SYNOPSIS: ‘A piglet won by Farmer Hoggett as a rafile prize is raised by Fly, the matriarch sheepdog, as one of her own. His owner senses something special in Babe and makes sure he learns sheep herding along with his new brothers. Babe proves so adept, in fact, that Farmer Hoggett enters him in the world sheepdog championship. REVIEW: Parents and kids alike should go hog-wild for this live-action fable, adapted from Dick King-Smith’s book Babe, the Gallant Pig. The curly tale of a piglet who becomes a champion "sheepdog," this Australian import has all the hallmarks of a children's classic. It's also a nifty special-effects showcase, featuring animals who can talk to each other via a combination of trained critters, animatronics, and computerized lip-synching. Except for a trio of stiffly moving mice, who serve as a humorous geek chorus, the interplay between animatronics and live animals is almost seamless. The animals' personalities are nicely distinct, ranging from feisty old ewe Maa (voice of Miriam Flynn) and lovably conniving duck Ferdinand (voice of Danny Mann) to a viciously catty cat (voice of Russie Taylor). At the story's center is Babe (voice of Christine Cavanaugh), a runt initially destined for Christmas dinner. Yet farmer Arthur Hoggett (James Cromwell) detects something special in him, as does kindly mama-dog Fly (voice of Miriam Margoyles). Babe's guileless, inadvertently funny sincerity and courage eventually even win over patriarchal sheepdog Rex (voice of Hugo Weaving), who's initially a bit put out by this pig who don't know his place. With droll humor and a soothing narration (voice of Roscoe Lee Browne), BABE steers a smooth path between the fantastic and the functional. I's rather episodic, and various characters have American or Australian accents for no discemable reason. Yet BABE deserves its every squeal of delight. --Written by Frank Lovece DIRECTOR: Chris Noonan U.S. DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures RUNNING TIME: 91 mins. MPAA RATING: G GENRES: children's / adaptation RATING: 4.5 starsMARS ATTACKS! (United States, 1996) SYNOPSIS: Released in the wake of news that a meteorite — crashed to Earth from Mars about 15,000 years ago -- may contain indications of simple life forms, "Mars Attacks!" offers definitive proof of life on the Angry Red Planet. No placid single-celled organisms, these space invaders are of the big-brained variety with a flair for ray guns, treachery and planetwide pandemonium. Citizens of Earth face their doom with gung-ho valor and brainless abandon as little green men from outer space gleefully terrorize the planet in an all-star, cross-country sci-fi comedy. REVIEW: A candy-colored spectacle as two-dimensional as the trading cards that inspired it, MARS ATTACKS! is a kitsch homage to every 1950s drive-in science-fiction-movie cliche. Ray ‘guns fry, saucers fly, giant robots topple, and Martian brains explode... OK, so maybe that last partis the filmmakers' way of appealing to modem sensibilities. It's all greatly amusing, if ultimately a little unsatisfying. After a stunning opening sequence, U.S. President Dale (Jack Nicholson) announces that a fleet of apparently benign spaceships is approaching. As the world waits, we meet the immense cast in tried-and-true (if less than successful) disaster-movie fashion. Among them: news anchor Jason Stone (Michael J. Fox), ditsy TV interviewer Natalie Lake (Sarah Jessica Parker), bus driver Louise Williams (Pam Grier), former heavyweight champ Byron Williams (Sim Brown), pipe-smoking scientist Dr. Donald Kessler (Pierce Brosnan), First Lady Marsha Dale (Glenn Close), Press Secretary Jen Ross (Martin Shor), a trailer-rash er), a grandmother (Svivia Sidnev, who eives the movie's hest Strange Fun ~ Now On Video http://www. pkbaseline.com/screen/strange/nowvideo html performance), and a white-trash casino developer (Nicholson again) and his New Age-y wife (Annette Bening). Directors Jerzy Skolimowski and Barbet Schroeder have small roles. as, respectively, a scientist and the President of France. The introductions take a fair bit too long, and by the time the Martians start killing off the name cast (starting with Fox and Paul Winfield), they're way overdue. Their eventual demise, conversely, comes a bit too soon and anticlimactically. In between are some good gags, several inventive weapons, a couple of audacious human experiments, and a few minor but annoying inconsistencies. The cult-classic, 1962 Topps cards stressed a lurid, pulpy tone of impending apocalypse — the Martians looked equally ridiculous, but the death and devastation weren't played for laughs. The film's ending is different from the Earth-attacks finale of the cards, and the plot has actually been dumbed down. And for the record, the reportedly $70 million MARS. ATTACKS! isn't the first movie adapted from trading cards - THE GARBAGE PAIL KIDS MOVIE (1987) holds that distinction. Written by Frank Lovece STARRING: Jack Nicholson - President James Dale/Art Land Glenn Close - First Lady Marsha Dale Annette Bening - Mrs Barbara Land Pierce Brosnan - Professor Donald Kessler Danny DeVito - Rude Gambler Martin Short - Press Secretary Jerry Ross Sarah Jessica Parker - Natalie Lake Michael J. Fox - Jason Stone ‘Tire Sesiedifieeeea’ DncieerStrange Fun ~ Now On Video hy ;vww.pkbaseline.com/screen/strange/nowvideo html STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT (United States, 1996) SYNOPSIS: While on routine patrol, Captain Jean-Luc Picard gets word from Starfleet Headquarters that the Borg, an insidious race of half-machine, half-organic aliens, have entered Federation Space and are on a direct course for Earth. Violating direct orders to remain uninvolved, Picard leads the newly commissioned Enterprise E into Starfleet's massive assault against their deadliest foe. After the attack on Earth fails, the Borg institute a plan to go back in time to Earth at its most vulnerable time in history, the dark age after the Third World War. The crew of the Enterprise follow the Borg back to a missle complex in Montana. The date: April 4, 2063, the day before the legendary flight of Zefram Cochrane's warp drive rocket, the Phoenix. This historic flight would ultimately lead to the initial meeting between humans and beings from another world and subsequently, the birth of the United Federation of Planets. It is this "first contact" that the Borg are trying to prevent. REVIEW: This first film based on "Star Trek: Next Generation" (1994's STAR TREK: GENERATIONS was the transitional film in which the torch was passed from the classic “Trek” crew to the new one) is nothing if not faithful to the would-be cerebral TV series. Watching it is like watching baseball: you either appreciate the relatively slow unfolding of puzzle-piece strategy or you switch channels. But for a space opera that's supposed to be less about space than it is about opera, STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT is as passionate and emotionally involving as a Vulcan on Valium. Following a visual knockout of an opening, the crew of the new, seemingly chrome-plated Enterprise learn the virtually unstoppable, collective-mind beings The Borg are attacking Earth. The Federation orders Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) to stay away, mindful of his Ahab-like obsession with The Borg. But after what sounds like a thrilling space battle -- we only hear it over Picard's radio —- Picard disobeys orders, destroys the big, bad Borg in about two seconds, and follows a breakaway Borg contingent through a time portal to the past. They find themselves on the brink of a pivotal moment in future history: April 4, 2063, the day before scientist Zefram Cochran (James Cromwell) is to attain warp speed with his experimental spacecraft, inadvertently leading to Earth's first contact with alien life. While Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Troi (Marina Sirtis) and Geordi (LeVar Burton) try to keep history on track on Earth, Picard, Worf (Michael Dom), Data (Brent Spiner) and 2ist-century freedom-fighter Lily (Alfre Woodard) deal with a Borg infestation aboard ship. The head nemesis -- both literally and figuratively - is the seductive Borg Queen (Alice Krige). ‘As much as one wants to root for director Frakes in his feature-directing debut (he's helmed several "ST:TNG" episodes), FIRST CONTACT plays at the same emotional pitch throughout, whether an individual scene is of momentous import or merely a check-it-off plot point. Part of the problem is that he's saddled with a remarkably sloppy script, filled with vague or contradictory plot and character tus, hackneyed dialogue -- Picard actually says, "Cover me" and "Make every shot count" -- and behavior that's stupid even by Ensign Expendable standards. There's some fine acting, at least, especially in the big confrontation between Lily and Picard. But though highly attractive, the film looks cheap — there's an odd dearth of extras, for instance, to populate the city-like Enterprise. FIRST CONTACT will play well to Trek fans who want to see historic, referred-to events in that universe played out on a big screen,Strange Fun -- Now On Video ‘http://www pkbaseline.com/screen/strange/nowvideo him ~-Written by Frank Lovece STARRING: Patrick Stewart - Jean-Luc Picard Jonathan Frakes - Riker Brent Spiner - Data LeVar Burton - Geordi Michael Dom - Worf Gates McFadden - Beverly Marina Sirtis - Troi Alfre Woodard - Lily James Cromwell - Zefram Cochrane Alice Krige - Borg Queen DIRECTOR: Jonathan Frakes U.S. DISTRIBUTOR: Paramount Pictures RUNNING TIME: 110 mins. MPAA RATING: PG-13 RATING: a Se 3 INDEPENDENCE DAY (United States, 1996) SYNOPSIS: Itis an ordinary summer day. But then, without warning, something very extraordinary happens. Enormous shadows fall across the land. Strange atmospheric phenomena, ominous and mesmerizing, surface around the globe. All eyes turn upward. The question of whether we're alone in the universe has finally been answered. And, in a matter of minutes, the lives of every person across the globe are forever changed. With the fate of our planet at stake, the Fourth of July is about to take on an entirely new meaning. No longer will it be an American holiday. It will be known as the day the entire world fought back. The day we did not go gentle into the good night... The day all of us on planet Earth celebrated our independence day. REVIEW: Just as The Twilight Zone cloaked morality plays in paranormal trappings, INDEPENDENCE DAY uses sci-fi spectacle to tell a good ol' fashioned war story. ALIENS (1986) did the same thing: When the bad guys are murderous extraterrestrials rather than poor-sucker enemy draftees, it's deliciously easy to cheer on the troops. And that we do, after Clinton-esque President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman) and General William Gray (Robert Loggia) have made every attempt to communicate peaceably with the aliens. By then, they've already seen a mother ship dispatch three dozen 15-mile-wide flying saucers, which have perched over major cities. Math whiz David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) deduces that the ships are using Earth satellite signals to coordinate, so he and dad Julius (Judd Hirsch) rush to the White House, where David's ex-wife (Margaret Colin) is press secretary. Then the hovering hoard begins blasting away, tuming cities into fireballs of collapsing dominoes.‘Strange Fun - Now On Video |itp://www pkbaseline.com/screen/strange/nowvideo html Other heroes-in-the-making include drunken vet-turned-crop duster pilot Russell Casse (Randy Quaid), top-gun Captain Steven Hiller (an eye-openingly terrific Will Smith), his girlfriend Jasmine (Viveca A. Fox), and his buddy Captain Jimmy Wilder (Harry Connick Ir.). David's boss Marty (Harvey Fierstein), the First Lady (Mary McDonnell), the Secretary of Defense (James Rebhorn), and a scientist (Brent Spiner) at Area 51~-where the government really is hiding Roswell aliens. Though pre-opening buzz painted it as a big-budget B-movie, INDEPENDENCE DAY transcends its genre roots. Though quickly sketched, its characters are three-dimensional. Unlike TWISTER (1996)--which is populated by automatons-INDEPENDENCE DAY features interesting people with recognizably human concerns. Some of its best moments involve not special-effects, but genuine emotion. Whitmore's speech to his ragtag troops before their final assault is a well-delivered masterpiece of one-world patriotism that only a misanthrope would find comy. The science? It's no more implausible than usual, and while INDEPENDENCE DAY ultimately engages the eye more than the brain, it also engages the heart~-something most current action-movie directors have forgotten how to do. --Written by Frank Lovece STARRING: Will Smith - Captain Steve Hiller Bill Pullman - President Whitmore Jeff Goldblum - David Levinson Mary McDonnell - Marilyn Whitmore Judd Hirsch - Julius Margaret Colin - Constance Spano Randy Quaid - Russell Robert Loggia - General Grey James Rebhom - Secretary Nimziki Harvey Fierstein - Marty Harry Connick Jr - Jimmy Vivica Fox - Jasmine Debrow James Duval - Miguel Brent Spiner - Dr Okun DIRECTOR: Roland Emmerich U.S. DISTRIBUTOR: 20th Century Fox RUNNING TIME: 135 mins. MPAA RATING: PG-13 RATING: de Se SS