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MACHETE-PACKIN'
MAMA: Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
(above) mixes romance, mythology and kung-fu in what
promises to be one of the best films of the year.
SAll
opening dates are tentative and subject to change. Keep
your eyes on this section for updates.
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The year 2000 has been one for the history books. Fidel
Castro triumphed over America when Elian Gonzales was returned
to Cuba. The Yankees and the Mets slugged it out in the
first-ever subway series. The concept of democracy received
a golden shower during the recent presidential election/clusterfuck.
And worst of all, like someone with
a bad case of food poisoning, Hollywood unleashed a never-ending
barrage of shit into movie theaters across the country.
But with a few weeks left before Y2K fades from our memories,
there's still hope that concerned citizens will lead an
armed insurrection against Florida and that the film industry
may still knock our socks off. Here's a look at what the
next several weeks have in store for us:
The Big Guns
In the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's, you can
bet Hollywood will release what it considers the best films
of the year. One that everyone's talking about--especially
in the City of Roses--is Finding Forrester
(Dec. 25). Directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Portlander
Mike Rich, Finding Forrester stars Sean Connery as
a reclusive novelist who comes out of hiding to help a young
aspiring writer. Likewise, O Brother, Where Art Thou?
(Jan. 5), the latest from Joel and Ethan Coen--a Depression-era
retelling of The Odyssey--has many film fans waiting
with eager anticipation. And Tom Hanks reteams with Forrest
Gump director Robert Zemeckis for Cast Away
(Dec. 22), a modern-day variation of Robinson Crusoe with
a coconut instead of a black guy.
Best of the Best
Some of the most eagerly anticipated films of 2000 won't
be
coming to Portland until 2001, but they will be coming.
Advance word says director Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon (Jan. 12) is one of the best films
of the year. An incredible mix of Chinese mythology, romance
and kung fu--choreographed by The Matrix's Yuen Wo-Ping--the
film stars Chow Yun Fat, the baddest actor in film today.
Few directors get better performances from actors than
Steven Soderbergh. His latest film, Traffic (Jan.
12), has an ensemble cast that includes Michael Douglas,
Don Cheadle, Benecio Del Toro and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Based on a British television mini-series chronicling the
international drug trade, Traffic is being compared
to William Friedkin's classic The French Connection.
Set in a fictitious Vermont community, State and
Main (Jan. 12), written and directed by David Mamet,
takes the film industry to task. William H. Macy, Philip
Seymour Hoffman, Alec Baldwin and Sarah Jessica Parker star
in Mamet's farcical look at what
happens when a Hollywood film crew descends on an unsuspecting
small town to shoot on location.
At Long Last
Portland isn't always the first city to get films that
are in limited release, but they usually make it here sooner
or later. Fans of Spike Lee will be happy to know that after
nearly two months in release, Bamboozled is
finally coming to Cinema 21 on Dec. 29. Starring Damon Wayans,
Bamboozled is Lee's comic tale of a modern-day minstrel
show that becomes a popular television series. Dark
Days (Dec. 15) is the critically acclaimed documentary
about the homeless living under New York's Penn Station.
Sweet Sounds
The Northwest Film Center will present the 18th-annual
Reel Music Film Festival from Jan. 5 to Feb. 1. The five-week
festival plays host to a wide variety of music-related films,
including a rerelease of A Hard Day's Night;
D.A. Pennebaker's Searching for Jimi, which
looks at the enduring legacy of Jimi Hendrix; Vinyl,
a documentary about paraffin-obsessed music-lovers; and
the ultra-funky concert film Wattstax, featuring
performances by Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, Richard
Pryor and a host of others.
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