ENTERTAINMENTpage 9 Technique • Friday, June 1, 2001 • 9 This Week: Nique Online Exclusive Coverage Exclusive coverage of this year’s Music Midtown Festival is on the Technique ENTERTAINMENT website. Also this week are reviews of Another Man Down and John Mayer. http://www.nique.net/ Technique • Friday, June 1, 2001 Pearl Harbor delivers war and romance but not history By Joseph Jeong love side backdropped against the on the other, we have Josh Hart- Professionally critical start of World War II. We are intro- nett, a relative unknown except to duced to our two male leads Rafe horror aficionados; who do you think MPAA Rating: PG-13 McCawley and Danny Walker, gets the girl at the end of the movie? Starring: Ben Affleck, Josh Hart- played by Ben Affleck and Josh Affleck’s performance was de- nett, and Kate Beckinsale Hartnett respectively, as two young cent, as he can play the suave hero Director: Michael Bay kids growing up together on a farm very well since it is familiar territory Studio: Touchstone somewhere. for him. However, he was not at all Runtime: 183 minutes The story moves forward to 1941 convincing as the bumbling hero Rating: yyy where Rafe and Danny are pilots with a country accent (which pretty for the US Army, essentially the much disappears completely when Epics usually either succeed be- predecessors of Maverick and Goose he switches to suave hero mode). yond one’s imagination (a la Brave- of Top Gun fame. Cue the entrance Jon Voight as President Roosevelt heart) or just flat out fail miserably of the female lead Evelyn Johnson, (a la Costner’s Waterworld and The a Navy nurse, played by Kate - Postman). Pearl Harbor is an epic, insale. In typical Hollywood fash- but it does neither. The movie has ion, with two male leads and one The biggest flaw with its share of moments, but it is also female lead, a love triangle ensues. bogged down by its fair share of Setting up the whole love trian- Pearl Harbor is its flaws and inconsistencies. gle takes up about a third of the inability to decide if it The Michael Bay and Jerry Bruck- movie. Hence in typical Bay & heimer partnership is known for Bruckheimer fashion, we suddenly is a love story or a producing action-packed, explosion- shift gears to become an epic war war epic. filled summer blockbusters and not movie. The bombing of Pearl Har- award-winning, critically acclaimed bor begins, and big explosions fill Castle Rock-like movies. Randall the screen. This whole sequence can’t Wallace, the screenwriter, has con- compare to Saving Private Ryan’s proved somewhat inappropriate, as fessed, much to the chagrin of his- intense introduction, but it isn’t too he did play the part quite convinc- tory buffs, that he developed the shabby either. Perhaps the biggest ingly, managing to look too healthy plot line before doing his historical gripe might be that the horror and for a polio-stricken president. Hart- research. Hence the movie takes cer- emotional impact of the bombing nett’s part could catapult him into tain liberties with history to fit the isn’t conveyed as fully as the thrill the league of lead actors in Holly- Hollywood movie mold. Knowing and action of this big explosion se- wood should this movie become a this going into the movie, the his- quence. huge success. Beckinsale’s role doesn’t By Andrew Cooper / SMPSP torical inconsistencies or other flaws The aftermath of the bombing demand much besides looking pretty Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck) and Evelyn Johnson (Kate Beckinsale) share did not detract from the enjoyment sees Rafe and Danny being selected on the screen and appearing to be an embrace in Pearl Harbor. Was there any doubt who would get the girl? in a manner that typically accom- for a “top secret” mission, or as Rafe love-stricken for much of the mov- panies action movies. describes it in the movie, “the kind ie, so it’s hard to pass judgement on the cook’s name was Doris “Dorie” Even with all this ranting about The problem that Pearl Harbor that gets you a medal, but the medal her acting ability, although she was Miller. the flaws of the movie, Pearl Harbor cannot overcome is not its histori- gets sent to your relatives”. excellent in Last Days of Disco. The Gooding tangent served as isn’t without its merits, which seems cal inaccuracies, but the inconsis- The training for the mission is This brings up another big flaw more of a distraction rather than an to be a problem with many recent tency of its story telling. The biggest very typical of any other action movie, with this movie, which is the role of interesting subplot. This anecdote Bay and Bruckheimer efforts (i.e. flaw with Pearl Harbor is its inabil- and the resolution is somewhat sim- Cuba Gooding Jr. Gooding plays a seems more an afterthought than Armageddon). ity to decide if it is a love epic or a ilar. Take a quick guess how the cook on board one of the ships who anything else, a misguided attempt But as for this summer’s first war epic. Hence, the movie doesn’t love triangle is resolved. On one earns a Medal of Honor by man- to convince audiences that Pearl epic, Pearl Harbor, certainly there flow quite as smoothly as it could. hand, we have Ben Affleck, an es- ning one of the guns during the Harbor is really historically accu- are worse ways to spend three hours Pearl Harbor starts out with the tablished $20 million superstar, and attack. This actually occurred, and rate. of your time this weekend. ’s Bridge stands up By Alan Back track “Back in the Day” starts Things get a little soggy and off Edits with a machete up; sounds unusu- balance at times, especially dur- ally mellow and puts his har- ing the last third of the disc, but Band: Blues Traveler monica into the back seat. when it all comes together, the Album: Bridge (Unthinkable to longtime fans, five-man lineup delivers on its Label: A&M but here you are.) promises and even recalls the Rating: yyyy The first single, “Girl Inside original group’s work. “You My Head,” follows this up and Reach Me” and “All Hands” carry The last offering from Blues is sure to leave you asking, “Are strong echoes of the early-’90s Traveler, Straight On Till these the same people who did albums and Trav- Morning, was four years and one elers and Thieves, respectively, bassist ago. Founding member and are two of the best cuts of died of a drug Are these the same this latest bunch. Chan and overdose in 1999, leaving his drummer leave lots three bandmates wondering people who did of fingerprints all over these. whether they still had a future “Run-around”? Of Frustration and sadness at By Anton Corbijn / WARNER BROTHERS together. Sheehan’s death bubble to the R.E.M., one of the best things to ever come out of Athens, serves up another They were right to think long course not. Bridge surface on several cuts, with “Pret- album. Long-time fans will especially enjoy Reveal, R.E.M.’s twelfth album. and hard about this; the jam- trades the band’s ty Angry” being the best exam- band scene they helped to launch ple. This one feels very much R.E.M.’s newest album Revealed in the early 1990s has changed earlier approach like a rehearsal, with everybody greatly. Three of its for a chance to playing a few licks to warm up By Jason Dean itation of Life,” marks a return to cornerstones—Phish, the Spin before Wilson starts in with a Wanted to go for a swim their early 90s style with an eerie re- Doctors, the Dave Matthews refine its songs. quiet piano line and nicely sets semblance to 99’s “The Great Be- Band—have either closed up the example for everyone else to Band: R.E.M. yond,” off the Man on the Moon shop or moved away from the follow. It’s good enough by it- Album: Reveal soundtrack. loose, open atmosphere they rode ‘Run-around’?” Of course not. self, but with the upbeat “The Label: Warner Brothers Records The album follows a theme of as- yyyy to stardom. The focus of the album leans Way” immediately following, it Rating: cension – ironic considering their last This crew chose the latter toward precision in songwrit- becomes even more effective. album was titled Up. Says , option, adding guitarist Chan ing, trading in the band’s past Bridge is Blues Traveler’s way R.E.M. is back on the shelves with “we built those songs brick by brick in Kinchla’s brother Tad on bass shower-of-notes approach. It’s of getting past the problems that Reveal, their twelfth full-length stu- the studio, with plenty of overdubs. and Ben Wilson to cover keys the same mindset they used for have plagued them in recent years. dio album. With it, they offer up a For the new album, we played togeth- and expand the sound. Bridge, Straight On but not to such an It’s not what die-hard followers taste of the classic sound they’re known er in the studio, and I think the result their sixth studio album, came extent that the end result sounds are expecting—not by a long- for, while meshing in string arrange- has a warmer and more human di- out last month and finds them too intricate and overdone. shot—but even the most griz- ments as well as a spoonful of DJed tightening up their game con- Wilson and Tad do well in zled veterans can change their samples. The album’s first single, “Im- See Reveal, page 11 siderably. The new vibe comes the spotlight (“Girl,” “Rage”) style. And if they do it well, they through as soon as the opening and as part of the ensemble. deserve credit for it. ENTERTAINMENT Technique • Friday, June 1, 2001 • 11

Reveal from page 9 Moulin Rouge is too much scenery, not enough plot mension.” By Jenny Sum with an enthusiastic silliness, con- Distraught by the exit of drum- Has been to Disney World trasting with her earlier work in Eyes mer and founding member , Wide Shut and The Portrait of a R.E.M. pressed on using a drum MPAA Rating: PG-13 Lady. McGregor plays the poor and machine for Up, resulting in a dis- Starring: Nicole Kidman, Ewan talented yet charming writer of the appointing, methodical drone. For McGregor, and John Leguizamo production for which the two are Reveal, musicians Scott McCaugh- Director: Baz Luhrman rehearsing. Of course, the real Duke ey, and drummer Studio: Fox of Monroth (Richard Roxburgh) is signed on. Runtime: 126 minutes seeking out the beautiful Satine by Gone are the days when R.E.M. Rating: yyy becoming the benefactor of the pro- revolutionized music and brought duction. Roxburgh plays an uncon- “alternative” to the mainstream. Director Baz Luhrman brings to vincing villain, due to lax character Front man had to go mainstream audiences Moulin Rouge, development. to drastic measures to get inspira- a musical period piece set in the The colors and backdrop of the tion this time around. “I’d jump a Montmatre district of Paris in 1900. movie, while very detailed and plane whenever I got stuck. I’d go Among the riffraff of lowlife tal- unique, are eventually overwhelm- ... then come back, put it together ents, Satine (Nicole Kidman), a cour- ing. The nauseating collage of im- and sing it,” said Stipe. tesan and star of the Moulin Rouge, ages make you feel as though you You’d think with that much de- and Christian (Ewan McGregor) were on a ride at Disney, trying to termination, the album would be meet under literally tons of glitter- take in as much as your eyes will less quirky. Many lines are tongue- ing confetti. Kidman and McGre- allow. Lurhman destroys the film in-cheek and disappointing and Sti- gor are the ones who make the movie with jaunty camera work and fast- pe’s struggling voice continues to worth-while, along with Jim Broad- cutting camera angles. His freeze deteriorate on this album. bent who plays the owner of the frames and jolting close-ups make What Reveal lacks lyrically is made Moulin Rouge, and John Leguiza- caricatures out of the entire cast. up for in its beautiful music, how- mo who plays Toulouse-Latrec. The ultimate eyecandy of the ever. Strings are scattered through- The plot is a stunningly conven- film is the surrealism of the sets. out many of the tracks, including a tional one. One could spend the They truly make the viewer believe lovely, dark arrangement at the start whole movie wondering if Luhr- that this is a set for a grand musical. of “Disappear.” The work on pi- man will throw a twist into the plot, However, this movie musical sim- ano and keyboards adds to the well- but the movie never deviates from ply cannot compare to any classic rounded portraits painted here. its cookie cutter story. Penniless writ- musicals. But who can fault the movie Reveal offers hope that R.E.M. er meets the beautiful star of show, for lacking a Rodgers and Ham- By Ellen Von Unwerth / FOX hasn’t stopped making good music, she mistakes him for a wealthy duke, merstein to save it. Advice to Luhr- Moulin Rouge fails to deliver a plot, but Nicole Kidman’s costumes even if they aren’t getting any radio and the two fall in love. man: Get out of Hollywood and mange to stay elaborate and luxurious the entire movie. Here Satine play. It may offer Warner Brothers Kidman plays the role of Satine head for Broadway. (Kidman) and Christian (McGregor) flaunt the debonair feel of the movie. a little hope as well, considering they signed the band to a record setting $80 million, five-album deal Exciter really excites, especially Depeche Mode fans in 1996. For those who are searching for By Jon Kaye Characteristic of Depeche Mode’s parture from Depeche Mode’s usu- better-known work, one will note a substitute to the sell-out, “all im- Obviously enjoys techno unmistakable sound, Exciter features al style; “Dream On,” the album’s that “Exciter” is uncharacteristical- age, no talent” modern rock that the elements of Euro-dance music, first top-forty single, shows a sur- ly mellow. While clearly maintain- saturates the airwaves today, and Band: Depeche Mode yet presents them in a way that the prising acoustic guitar presence. ing elements of the style that made for those die hard fans of the Athens Album: Exciter mainstream listener can appreciate. Depeche Mode’s skillful acoustic them famous, Depeche Mode boys, this album is a must-for your Label: Reprise Marked with intense, repetitive, elec- guitar blends with Dave Gahan’s branches out on this release. yyyy collection. For everyone else… let’s Rating: tronic rhythms, this album draws distinct voice to provide an ethereal Simply put, “Exciter” definitely just say Warner Brothers still won’t the listener into a synthetic world quality on the strong opening track deserves a spin. Having sold al- profit from their signing of the band. Having not released an album of technological beauty while at the Played with the same confidence bums since 1981, the band’s musi- Some would say R.E.M. has ma- since 1997, Depeche Mode returns same time grounding him with rich, as the first track, the rest of the cal prowess has only grown with tured; others would counter they’ve from obscurity with their latest re- powerful lyrics. album confirms Depeche Mode’s age. This long-awaited release will just gotten old. lease, Exciter. Exciter begins with a slight de- skill. As compared to the band’s not disappoint.

Boys are trouble. I miss you, old roomies!!