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8 Thursday, March 6, 2003 Li, DMX Bury Deep Substance in Favor of Fights in 'Cradle' By Philip McKee Staff Writer “The Hours.” “Nicholas Nickleby.” Films like these were evidence of a sin ister Hollywood plot to bring substance back to the big screen. But action-lovers and plot-haters, fear no longer, for a remedy has arrived: “Cradle 2 the Grave.” The newest film from director —— ~.mov/e> review/ "Cradle 2 the Grave" Andrzej Bartkowiak, whose other pro jects have included “Exit Wounds” and “Romeo Must Die” - or, essentially, DMX’s acting career - “Cradle 2 the Grave” takes plot 2 the grave in favor of heavy action. Diverging from the typical profes sional thief-and-idiot-cop-buddy movie formula, the movie pairs an untouch able thief (rapper DMX) with another equally untouchable cop (Jet Li). the South Pm ± - r \ jf Hi ; "From Eisenhower through Clinton: Fifty Years on the Edge of History" ROGER KENNEDY -•historian, author, advisor to 6 presidents- SPEAKS TODAY AT 12:30 P.M. in 569 Hamilton Hall. Admission is free, and attendees are invited to to bring their lunches. Sponsored by VNC’s Center for the Study of the American South UNC Student's Pizza Headquarters Lunch, Dinner, Late Night s<!:2i2&rl •vr>r/ '\j\fi\ if r 1 $999 - JVJD2J ON OS-i BKBA&&2rG!-JS£> American Express and UNC One Card The roles seem tailor-made for the actors. Li plays a fast-kicking intelli gence agent whose lines are rarely more complex than, “You wish.” DMX plays a profanity-spewing, vio lent character, who, along with Li, searches for mysterious black stones that could bring about the end of the world. The rest of the cast is filled out by a stripteasing Gabrielle Union, an insuf ferable Tom Arnold and Anthony Anderson - who didn’t pick the best movie to be his rebound from “Kangaroo Jack.” So, the plot’s not great. But it’s an action movie, and rarely do 3 minutes go by without at least one punch being thrown, which usually explode into all-out brawls. Which means that moviegoers who have seen the trailer will be getting exactly what they expected - lots of violence, none of the sappy pretenses. One of the movie’s only sensitive DIVERSIONS scenes artfully segues into a prison sequence with heavy backbeats as a soundtrack. Classy. And, as action movies go, “Cradle 2 the Grave” delivers more action than any movie to come to theaters in recent months, if little else. In “Romeo Must Die” Li defeats nearly a dozen enemies by himself. In “Kiss of the Dragon” - 20. In a single scene in “Cradle 2 the Grave,” he dispatches more than three dozen solo. If the trend continues, look for him next year as Napoleon, single-handedly taking on the entire Russian army in “March 2 Moscow.” “Cradle 2 the Grave” uses almost every type of generic or proven formu la for the chase-and-fight scene in less than 2 hours - thankfully not taking any longer. The movie is terrible but terribly exciting. The end deserves special notice - it involves tanks, helicopters, planes and four separate fight scenes. One features an objectifying girl-on girl skirmish that has enough cleavage and flying stilettos to pass for a beer commercial. In another, Li challenges his oppo nent in a flaming ring. The fight ends with a death scene so outlandish one almost expects to hear “Fatality!” at the end. ®| tuesday Chapel Hill's Best Open Mic Night with Matt __ I.J y ffi McGuire. $2 Import Bottles & $2 Flavor Drinks Wednesday Manager Madness: fUU4UIHHr t : sday Ladies Night - ALL ladies in for free. $2 Domestic Bottles & $2 Long Islands DuelingnPiano Bar & Grill fpj-sat Weekend Party I . * | | ] H H [ U Hill (Make your reservations early) kl I ""A Ti T i Sunday In “the biz” Night: EVERYTHING in g t the house is $2 (and we mean everything!) Piano Show Every Wed-Sun Night FREE before Spm! THIS PLACE ROCKS! 136 e. rosemary street, chapel hill, nc 27514 (in the Bank of America building, the former Molly’s location) Session I May 22 - June 25 jfjflj Intersession I I June 9 - July)l Session II June3o-August I II fi!SKil The University of North Carolina at Wilmington Call us at 910.962.3243 or 800.228.5571 Email summer@uncw.e(lu or visit www.uncw.edu/summsch UN C W is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Act ion institution. ■At PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES Martial arts master Jet Li and hardened rapper DMX battle to save the world in the action-packed and entertaining "Cradle 2 The Grave." The movie definitely won’t win any awards -but it does make cinema his tory. It’s quite possibly the first time Jet Li has ever - ever - been knocked down in a fight. Although “Cradle 2 the Grave” won’t stimulate viewers’ intellects, it certainly won’t put them 2 sleep. The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu. Soily (Ear Hrrl Spacey Fits In as Cursed 'David Gale' Disturbing images, characters blend By Michelle Jarboe Staff Writer Kevin Spacey has perfected his por trayal of dry, direct and most often insane characters -and “The Life of David Gale” proves typecasting isn’t necessarily negative. The most recent in a line of strange men Spacey has played, Dr. David Gale - philosophy teacher, death penalty opponent, alcoholic and sus pected murderer cey/ew/ “The Life of David Gale” - marks litde departure from the actor’s past roles. Like Lester Burnham of 1999’s “American Beauty,” Gale experiences a downward spiral tending toward mad ness. But unlike Burnham’s story, Gale’s life is one we experience through his own words and memories. Gale is on death row, ironically, for the murder of his partner in anti-death penalty efforts. He tells all to ambitious reporter Elizabeth “Bitsey” Bloom (Kate Winslet) in three 2-hour inter views. The young female journalist and the convicted murderer seem to team up to prove Gale’s innocence. But there’s much more to the twisted story than meets the eye. Winslet takes on the role of the respected and objective reporter with aplomb, but it’s Bitsey’s emotional roller coaster that best displays the actress’s abilities. Although it’s difficult to take anyone named Bitsey seriously, and though the character throws away ethics and jour nalistic distance early in the story, Winslet takes to new levels a part that could have been insipid. Spacey, meanwhile, falls back on the demeanor he made so familiar in films such as “American Beauty” and “Se7en.” One comes to realize Gale has a duality of character, with one person ality being the emotionless interviewee with the bland face and the-other being the helpless, hapless near-genius whose life took a nose dive without his assis tance. The allure of the story is that neither perception is quite true, and Gale becomes even more multifaceted dur ing the film’s resolution. So does Constance Hallaway (Laura Linney), the murder victim. Linney captures the quiet devotion and martyrdom of Hallaway and helps to show the deep bond between her charac ter and Gale -a focal element of the story. Unfortunately, as the movie draws to a close, the plot strings - so tighdy gath ered at the start and held throughout - begin to fray slightly. A few of the closing scenes and events seem out of place and remain unexplained in a way that serves merely to remove the viewer at a crucial point. The occasionally graphic nature of the film also takes its toll between a graphic and violent sex scene and the elaborately accessorized death of a naked woman, Gale’s alleged victim. But disturbing images and minor slip-ups aside, “The Life of David Gale” boasts a fairly unpredictable plot and a skilled cast of characters who live up to their past work. And for fans of Spacey, it’s practical ly a must-see. The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu. CffT£_£ftADl€ 919-967-9053 300 E. Main Street • Carrtoro 7FR GOGOL BORDELLO &MC PAUL BARMAN" ($8) 8 SA Benefit for CIS: Tift Mernt and Carbines, Brown Mountain Lights, Cyril Lance (Acoustic)” ($10) 9SU IDLEWILD w/ French Kicks and Solea (SB/$10) 10 MO YO LA TENGO” (sl4) w/ The Glands 11 TU RAINER MARIA / MATES OF STATE / Sorry About Dresden 14 FR GIRL, Sedona, Idea Of Beauty, Sullivan ($5) 15 SA Benefit for PWC: SCOTS, Cyril Lance Band. B- Sides" (sl2) 17 MO WILL HOGE” ($7) 19 WE DATSUNS w/ Sights & Casanovas” ($10) 20 TH COSMIC CHARLIE" ($8) 21 FR CAT POWER w/ Entrance” ($ 12) 22 SA JUNIOR BROWN w/ Mountain Heart" (sl7) 23 SU PROJECT/OBJECT w/Ike Willis 24 MO FOLK IMPLOSION" ($10) 25 TU DUNCAN SHEIK” (sl2) 26 WE BETTIE SERVEERT" ($lO/sl2) 27 TH BOUNCING SOULS 28 FR CURSIVE w/ Engine Down. No Knife 8i Minus The Bear” ($10) 29 SA WXYC BQ's DANCE ($5) 2WE KRS-ONE" 3TH MELISSA FERRICK” (sl2) 4FR EDWIN MCCAIN” (sls) 5 SA Hi Mom Film Festival 6SU WESLEY WILLIS 7MO Yeah Yeah Yeahs w/ Ex Models and The KHIs" ($10) The BEST live music ~ 18 & over admitted ••Advance ticket sales at SchoolKids in Chapel Hill and Raleigh and Radio Free Records in Durham. For Credit Card orders CALL 919-967-9053 ■fflwrii iiii ii 11 —I
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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March 6, 2003, edition 1
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