27. May, 2002 - Memorial Day - May movies
- St. John's community wonders about its future in light of allegations. Donations are drying up. This quotes Joe Wright, who was a student at SJP one year ahead of me, quite a bit.[strib]
- Handgun Giveaway Angering Chicago Law Enforcement. Though it's not stated in the story, the quote
Better judged by twelve than carried by six.
came to mind. [endwar]
- Billy Bragg and the Blokes' jubilee protest song Take Down the Union Jack entered the UK Indie charts at #2. It's #22 in the UK Top 75. The penultimate goal is still to be #1 next week, but there's tough competition including the re-release of the Sex Pistols' God Save the Queen
Want to participate? Buy the three CD single versions of TDTUJ from Roughtrade.com. Sales there count towards the UK charts even if you're having them shipped elsewhere. [Jim]
- I wonder if maybe I'm starting a tradition, but here are the movie reviews for May, 2002. The list is a lot shorter than the one in April, but that's because I've been a lot busier. If you were to try to guess when the next reviews might happen, June 30 would probably be a good guess:
- The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension: Ahh, the 80's. Good vs. Bad, with a brain-surgeon / rock-star as the hero. Buckaroo isn't really believeable as either a rock-star or a brain-surgeon, but suspension of disbelief makes this one work. Quirky. 7 of 10.
- Kiss of the Dragon: Okay, you've got Jet Li, who's supposed to be the hot new action star, and it's directed by Luc Besson, who also did the original Nikita and Léon (aka "The Professional"), both of which I enjoyed immensely. Jet's certainly a very good and fast martial artist, and probably much better than Jackie Chan. But Jackie's funny and that makes him a lot more fun to watch. It was still a very good movie, but I found that I'd rank it behind just about any of Jackie Chan's recent movies. With Besson directing, I should have known it would be moodier and darker, but I don't watch kick-flicks for moody and dark, I watch 'em for things like Roy O'Bannon saying
I may not know karate, but I know crazy.
6 of 10.
- Showgirls:
Sleek seductiveness... a world of exoticism and danger!
says the big print on the back. I'm not sure I understand the NC-17 rating. It feels more like the same level of sex you see in the not-rated (soft-core) movies on late-night (non pay-per-view) cable. The plot is pretty weak, but there is one. Plenty of tits to be seen, but the movie didn't feel all that seductive or erotic. Just naked. Without all the good-looking nekkid chicks, I'd probably rate it a 3 or 4. Due to the nudity, I'll give it 5 of 10.
Copyright 2008, Dave Polaschek.
Last updated on Mon, 27 May 2002 09:11:34.