Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / Oct. 7, 1998, edition 1 / Page 8
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Meredith Herald October 7,1998 8 Campus Extras Antz: six legs, two antennae, zero inspiration Tory Hoke h^eatures Editor Before I address ihe quality of the beautiful but disappointing Antz. permit me to wonder aloud as to what defines a mature theme. I suspect that this film, which carries a PG rating despite themes of drunk driving, decapi tation, war, torture and genocide, would have swiftly ascended to R with the addition of any sexual innuendo, which is notably absent. May I also wonder why the screening I attended featured a trailer for Pixar’s competing ant tale A Bug's Life instead of Dreamworks’ Prince of Egypt! The mind boggles. I am sorry to report that Antz, Dreamworks' first animated release after a paltry two years in the making, is hardly worth the trouble. For all its visual fresh ness, Antz does not feature even one fresh idea. There is a mad man who raves that the truth is out there until he is dragged off by authorities. There is a battle sequence lifted intact from Star ship Troopers. There is a plucky . royal female who wants a whole new part of your world just around the river bend. There is a reluctant kidnapper and his nag ging kidnappee. There is a mem ber of the royal court who plots to kill the doddering monarch and marry the princess. There is the villain’s henchman who has a last minute change of heart. There is a vague and dippy happy ending which fails to explain how the central conflicts will be resolved. It’s a big heap of something, and I don’t think it's ants. This film can't even decide what it wants to be. It's a sequel to Annie Hall, it’s a standard Dis ney formula, it’s a war flick, and h’s a pitch black comedy. I’m still reeling from Woody Allen as protagonist ant Z bidding farewell to a disembodied head. Voiced by Danny Glover. Whose character’s name is Briefly Appearing Token Black Guy. Well, not exactly, but from his first appearance the smell of death clings to him so closely you try not to get too attached. All the celebrity voices are admirably well-contributed, although voice characterization is Hollywood’s golden fleece, meaning even the biggest names wiJl vie for the work. Allen's New York neuroses schtick accounts for half the film’s laughs (“I’ve never been able to lift more than 10 times my body weight,” he confesses to his ther apist), and Sharon Stone’s Princess Bala would be pleasing ly strong-willed if the script did n’t make her so annoying. Christopher Walken’s Colonel is nicely lubricious even if his char acter design absolutely reeks of Scar from The Lion King. Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin are a scream as a snobbish WASP cou ple until she dies onscreen in a death that is played for laughs but nonetheless permanent. Anne Bancroft.does a disappearing act as the bland birthing queen; apparently there are no good roles for mature actresses any where. As for educational value, the movie displays a blatant disre gard for biology. While a viewer might allow for a coed ant popu lation in order to help the plot {the working populations of real ant colonies are entirely female) and for the omission of wings from the male ants, (a lone male ant does have wings.) The film establishes early that the career assigned to a larvae is arbitrary (the gurgling larvae are an uncommon stroke of genius). Yet the soldier ants are distinct from the worker ants. Losing this dis tinction would have made it funny for the identical ants to never consider that they could swap jobs. As it is, the chance for funny is as lost as the ants’ attempt to overthrow their Stalin ist government with a Marxist revolution. Plus the ants’ pupils don't react to light. And the ants are erect, even when fleeing, so they move like Xena’s lame cen taurs. And they dance funny, even when they’re not trying to. Antz does succeed wildly with its visuals. The rendering of light, texture and movement is flawless and astonishing; the insects frequently look like pup pets. When Z and Bala have a commercial Honey I Shrunk moment, the animators exagger ate speed and the length of the human’s legs to make the sequence exhilarating. When the two find Insectopia, the anima tors find romance in a low-flying flock of green-bottle flies and the reflective surface of a piece of plastic. Here, Z makes a snow angel in the powdered-sugar sur face of a doughnut, his antennae scraping out the halo. The red- eyed stoner bugs found in Insec topia are on the screen too briefly. The final scene reveals what everyday items are the ants’ immense landmarks; it’s witty, it’s clever, and it’s too little, too late. Antz (PG) Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman Dreamworks Polly Jean Harvey back, asks fans, Is This Desire? AsHLYNN Browning Siatl Wriler P.J. Harvey’s long-awaited new album. Is This Desire? from Island Records, should satisfy fans who have been hungry for more ever since the 1995 release of To Bring You My Love. After a three year hiatus from solo work, Harvey has redirected her attention from a host of side projects to focus on this new album, which is a super-emotionally-charged look at love in all its veiled forms. Band members Rob Ellis, John Parish, Eric Drew Feidr man, Joe Gore and Mark Har vey provide the musical back drop to Harvey's lyrics, which are delivered with exciting variety, sometimes through a growl and sometimes through a sexy whisper. Is This Desire? can’t quite be called a concept album for no coherent story is told, but the same pervasive emotions of longing, yearning, passion and pain haunt each song. Lyrical imagery, which Har vey has a real gift for creating, plays a strong role also in developing the atmospheric feel of this album. Influences from electronica miisic, synthetic drums and collaboration with musical artist Tricky give Is This Desire? an element of sur prise that goes over very well. Harvey’s characteristically raw vocals are honed on this album, and there are plenty of areas of softness to contrast the forceful screams. This album is a piece of work worth the wait, and may well be the culmination thus far of Harvey’s talents. Look for her on The Tonight Show on Oct. 14 for more discus sion of Is This Desire? Is this Desire? Warner Brothers Trouble with the Law? Kurtz & Blum Attorneys At Law CRIMINAL DEFENSE DWI m Traffic • Misdemeanors • Felonies FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION. ALL INQUIRIES STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL 16 West Martin Street; Suite 304; Raleigh 832-7700 International festival brings crowds 11ie .fiayQis .and;.'cost8'mes 'jtte^8a1e^';C^n¥«htjoh:dei!^
Meredith College Student Newspaper
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Oct. 7, 1998, edition 1
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