October 1997 feed hollywood by Mike Stiles |
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Bat ... who?
I've now started playing a new game with myself. Unlike previous games with
myself, this one does not involve worrying about getting caught by my mother. I like to
see which new movie can almost fill the house at the earliest matinee on the first day of
its release. This indicates that the promotional material really worked, and that
people are so excited about the movie they almost literally can't wait to see it. Today I
actually waited in line to buy a ticket to an 11:45am showing of The Peacemaker.
As I stood in line, I wanted to cry out to everyone in it, "I certainly hope none of you are
here to see Peacemaker if you haven't seen The Game yet! If that's the case ... please
switch theaters immediately!" I thought The Game was a must-see. Not since Watergate
have so many people talked to each other about what they knew and when they knew it.
Rumor had it that George Clooney was going to sneak in a plug for the movie during the
previous night's live airing of ER. I didn't hear anything like that, but then again, just
being there and showing his pretty face probably helped remind people to get out and see
it. The local Atlanta paper gave it an "A." However, that same paper gave Drop Dead
Fred a "C," so you really have to be careful about those steep movie-critic grading curves.
The movie, of course, is about George Clooney and Nicole Kidman racing to catch terrorists who
have managed to snatch around 10 nuclear warheads. These aren't the kinds of things
that show up at your local gun & knife show. These are the big guns. In a half-attempt
not to be sexist, Kidman is cast as Clooney's commander, but you would never know that
since our hero immediately envelopes her with machismo and pretty much leads her by
the hand as to what they are and aren't going to do. You know, sort of like what Tom
Cruise probably does at home.
The movie certainly has that bigness to it that you want in a movie theater:
lots of action, plenty of chases and explosions, lots of beautiful and foreign locales, great
cinematography, the large box of Starburst candy from the counter. In fact, the couple in
front of me in the line argued that all the movies he liked had to be seen in a theater, whereas
all the movies she liked could be watched on TV at home and be just as good. I don't
know what that says about the sexes and the movies we like. Maybe this woman would
like movies in the theater better if she could talk on the phone at the same time?
But as fine a movie as The Peacemaker is, I think the thing I came away with most is
how pleased Clooney must be that this is a movie that can quickly help us forget he was
in that last dreadful Batman movie. He really does make a great hero, and he is great in
uniform, provided that uniform doesn't have a mask, utility belt, and plastic nipples.
in the junk drawer:
September 1997
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