6
Thursday, February 16,1995
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Billy Madison (Adam Sandler), the son of a hotel magnate, makes a bet that he can repeat all 12 grades of school in
less that six months to win control of die family business. He is the tall one on the right
Sandler Moves Up in the World
Billy Madison has to go back through
all twelve grades again so he can inherit the
family business. “Don’t you think that’s a
little pathetic?” asks his third grade teacher.
“Yes,” replies Billy Madison, before the
audience can get a chance. But for some
reason, this is a good movie.
The film starts out with Billy (Adam
Sandler of “Saturday Night Live” fame)
lounging around in a pool, improvising an
ode to his sun
tan lotion,
without being
very funny. It’s
a scary way to
start a movie,
MITCH BENNETtI
Movi6 Review
'Billy Madison”
B
and as Billy jumps out and drunkenly drives
a golf cart, screaming and shouting (with
out being very funny), to pick up the day's
delivery of nudie magazines, the audience
prepares to hibernate. But then a giant
penguin shows up out of nowhere, dancing
and taunting him.
"Is that funny?” wonders the audience.
While it’s probably not, it’s strange enough
to pull us into the next scene, where the
plot unfolds. Billy’s father Brian Madison
(Darren McGavin) is about to give control
of his Fortune 500 hotel corporation over
to the evil V.P. Eric Gordon (Bradley
Whitford). "But Dad,” says Billy, ”1
thought we had this unspoken pact that
you would go to work and build our future,
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featuring Steve Ellington and Jeff Johnson
Hill Hall, Friday, Feb. 24,8 pm
Admission: $5 general public, $3 student w/lD
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Memorial Hall, Saturday, Feb. 25,8 pm • Free Admission
Collegiate Jazz Festival with performances by UNC-CH, NCCU, ECU & ASU
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Film: Round Midnight
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and I would stay home and enjoy myself
and one day, you’d hand over the business,
and I’d really appreciate it.” So now Billy
must prove to his father that he’s not an
idiot and is capable of running the com
pany. After a less than touching scene in
which Billy’s Dad agrees to the deal, all of
the characters leave Billy on a staircase,
where he dances to a Culture Club song for
about a minute, without being very funny.
But for some reason, this is a good movie.
Then school starts, and if you can get
over the premise that a 27-year-old man
would be allowed in an elementary school
at all, much less as a student, then you can
start to really enjoy the show, which is, for
some reason, a good movie.
Bridgette Wilson (“Last Action Hero"),
Billy’s third grade teacher/girlfriend
Veronica, has a tough job. She has to be the
only serious character in a stupid movie,
and she tries, but always looks ridiculous.
It seems like this could be, if not the end of
her career, the end of her pride. By the
credits, though, she has grown onus, much
like the rest of the mo vie, for no identifiable
reason. The main problem with her char
acter is that no one can figure out why she
falls for Billy, whom she originally hates.
The closest I can guess is that her emotions
go into a frenzy when Billy thoughtfully
saves third-grader Ernie’s reputation after
Ernie pees his pants. Ah, love. But for
DIVERSIONS Movies
some reason, this is a good movie.
The majority of “Billy Madison” is like
areally long episode of SNL, only it’soften
funny. This pleasant sequence of short
skits involving Veronica, the different
grades, graduation parties, Brian Madi
son, and Billy’s loser buddies (Norm
MacDonald and Mark Beltzman) contin
ues until Billy reaches high school. He
apologizes to a slimey nerd of a man whom
he had teased during his first tenure at high
school, who says it’s okay, then crosses
Billy off of a list entitled “People to Irifl.”
Here the sketch format toms surreal as the
guy lounges back and puts on lipstick,
smiling in a way that I can only describe as
odd. The flavor of surrealism (or is it just
stopidism?) continues to the end, and for
some reason, it works.
A good way to describe the movie would
not be to quote director Tamra Davis: “It
never gets too goofy. That’s one of things
we tried to stay away from.” But for some
reason, this is a good movie.
Sharing the jokes would be sinful, but be
aware that there are lots of them, some real
winners, some original Sandler songs, and
even some touching “cute kid” scenes.
Sandlerperforms light-heartedly, and even
though he’s often a loud jerk, you just want
to hang out with him the whole time.
Believe it or not, “Billy Madison” is a
good movie.
Leonardo DiCaprio Livens ‘Dead’
Giving “The Quick and the Dead” a B
may make some people angry. Sam Raimi
fans will most likely be hailing it as anew
masterpiece from the king ofeheese, thereby
deserving an A, but people who loathe the
film ftirits frenetic camera movement, some
sketchy performances (particularly by
Sharon Stone), and a wandering plot will
be clamoring for no greater than an D.
I was simultaneously tom between rav
ing about it simply on the basis of my
affection for
Raimi and my
disappoint
ment with the
film for the
same reason.
“The Quick
TODD GILCHRIST |
The Quick and the
Dead”
B-
and the Dead” is certainly not a conven
tional western. It stars Sharon Stone as
Ellen (though usually called Lady by the
townspeople), a revenge-driven cowgirl de
termined to pay back Herod (Gene Hack
man), the dictatorial ruler of the town
called Redemption, for exacting the mur
der of her father when she was a little girl.
Herod, who brought order (“Not law,”
he insists) to Redemption, holds an annual
quick-draw contest to weed out all of those
persons who might possibly be able to
wrest control of the town from him. Ellen
enters, along with Herod, his son, Kid
(Leonardo DiCaprio), and an outlaw
tumed-preacher named Cort (Russel
Crowe) whom Herod’s men captured.
As the contest progresses, these four
characters defeat their opponents with skill,
grace, and panache. In flashback we learn
of Ellen’s motives to kill Herod, as well as
Cort’s past and the Kid’s reasons for enter
ing the contest
These stories are executed with admi
rable skill, never slipping into expository
conversations but using them to bond the
characters together.
The rest of the story, however, makes
you feel conscious that you’re watching a
movie, thereby losing any of the resonance
the film has.
Tm not sure ifl should fault Sam Raimi
or not. Raimi directed such cult classics as
“Evil Dead 1” and “2,” “Army Of Dark
ness,” and “Darkman,” which was fairly
successful, and he is weU known for his
strange angles, P.O.V. shots, and superfast
pacing.
In “The Quick and the Dead,” how
ever, he seems... restrained. Whether he’s
trying to outgrow these adolescent tech
niques or he freed pressure from the stu
dio, Raimi didn’t seem to know what he
wanted.
The scenes that remind of his earlier
classics are priceless, including a P.O.V.
shot through someone’s head and a shot of
a shadow which features the bullet hole of
it’s owner.
He didn’t speed up any of the shots like
he usually does, usually for comic effect or
to make the not-so-sperial effects look more
real, and this makes the film seem almost
slow.
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The Nelson Benton Lecture
Colde Roberts
ABC News Special Correspondent
Friday, February 17,1995
Memorial Auditorium, 11:00am
Public Invited. Free Admission.
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Leonardo DiCaprio stars as the cocky gunslinger Kid, who is the son of
Redemption's Mayor Herod (Gene Hackman), in The Quick and the Dead.”
“The realperson to blame in
the film is Sharon Stone. Until
this point, I’ve withheld
judgment on her acting
because 1 haven’t seen her in
anything that tested her
ability (or lack thereof). ”
Still, his radical montage sequences and
depth-of-focus shifts almost compensate
for these shortcomings.
The real person to blame in the film is
Sharon Stone. Until this point, I’ve with
held judgment on her acting because I
haven’t seen her in anything that I believe
tested her ability (or lack thereof).
With “The Quick and the Dead,” I
realize that she can’t bring anything more
to a role than steely, pensive looks and a
husky voice that will melt butter.
The problem with her performance is
that the lines aren’t to be played straight.
Bruce Campbell, who starred in the Evil
Dead films, played up the cheesiness of
lines like “Come get some,” and Stone’s
playing the lines straight loses the campiness
that previously endeared Raimi’s films to
audiences.
The film could have been campier and it
would have been much more enjoyable;
instead, it seems cheesy in a takes-itself
too-seriously way.
The other performances in the film are
great. Gene Hackman, who did this char
acter once already in “Unforgiven,” mails
in his evil, omnipotent mayor of Redemp-
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tion. He seems so comfortable killing,
taxing, and generally abusing the towns
people, you would think he were the same
way in real life.
Russell Crowe ’ s previous credits include
an Australian film named “Romper
Stomper, ” in which he starred as a skinhead.
Here, with a very full head of hair, Crowe
does his best to make a one-dimensional
character realistic and likeable. He is
succesful, even though his character doesn’t
do a whole lot more than lie in the street or
get beat up.
The actor who truly shines in this film is
Leonardo DiCaprio. I give Stone credit for
pushing to hire him as the cocky, wild Kid.
His very presence on the screen makes you
smile, and his bravado in the free of im
mense odds makes you feel brave even as
you pity him.
We learn about halfway into the film
that he’s seeking recognition as Herod’s
son, and respect for being the fastest draw
in the west
Leonardo, who was nominated for an
Oscar for his performance in the much
overlooked “What’s Eating Gilbert
Grape,” brings all of Kid’s brash youthful
ness as well as his insecurities easily to the
screen.
He is the only character you feel any
thing for, but the audience can easily iden
tify with a person who obviously puts on
an ostentatious front in order to compen
sate for an inner lack of confidence.
People have suggested that he is next in
line as heir to River Phoenix’s throne; I
can’t think of anyone who is more quali
fied.
We’re destined to see some great work
from him, if thes films have been any
indication, and I hope he finds roles which
suit his incredibly in-depth acting.
If you are a Raimi fan, I imagine you
will lie this movie; if not, I can’t predict.
It will be interesting to see how successful
the film is, because it denies convention
even as it reaches for it.
See it for yourself, if for no other reason
than the combination of DiCaprio and
Raimi, and find out whether “The Quick
and the Dead” is the kind of action film
people other than myself like.
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