<SPAN class=350300619-12101999><SPAN class=350300619-12101999>The Ascent of Mann</SPAN></SPAN>
Movies
The Insider
(Buena Vista Pictures). The critics are shocked: They
actually like director Michael Mann's film about the 60 Minutes
interview with a tobacco industry whistle-blower, which was canned when CBS
caved to corporate pressure. "The Insider shouldn't be the
edge-of-your-seat, gut-churning thriller that it is. … Mann could probably make
a movie about needlepoint riveting" (David Ansen, Newsweek ). Russell
Crowe shines as Jeffrey Wigand (the whistle-blower); Al Pacino hams it up as a
moralizing 60 Minutes producer; and Christopher Plummer does a mean Mike
Wallace.
Slate
's David Edelstein writes, "It's a terrific
muckraking melodrama--it will get people fuming." (Click to read the rest of
Edelstein's review.)
Dogma
(Lions Gate Films Inc.). Despite protests from the Catholic
League, reviewers agree that writer-director Kevin Smith's latest is "a
tortured testament from a true believer" (Richard Corliss, Time ). What's
more, this "obviously devout, enlightened parable" about a pair of rebellious
angels (played by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck) is "mercilessly funny" and
"gratifyingly cynicism free" (Janet Maslin, the New York Times ). Chris
Rock, Salma Hayek, and Alan Rickman round out the cast as the 13 th
apostle, a muse, and a messenger from God. (Click here to check out the film's
official site and here to see what the Catholic League has to say about
it.)
The Bone Collector
(Universal Pictures). So-so reviews for this
Seven rip-off starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. Washington
plays a recently paralyzed forensics expert who uses Jolie, a rookie cop, as
his proxy to investigate a series of exceptionally grisly murders. Roger Ebert
(the Chicago Sun-Times ) pans the film, saying it has "one of those plots
where a depraved serial killer leads everyone in a find-the-corpse version of
'Where's Waldo?' " Most everyone agrees, calling the film formulaic and the
gore overly mannered. The one positive comment: Washington and Jolie have
surprisingly good chemistry. (Visit the official site.)
Music
The Battle of Los
Angeles
, by Rage Against the Machine (Epic). Has Rage Against the
Machine finally struck a balance between political preaching and guitar-heavy
rap-rock fusion? Most critics say yes, praising the "resonant, body-slamming
riffs that will leave you shuddering" (Amy Sciaretto, CMJ ) and the fact
that the band's lyrics "make a case that there are still some things worth
fighting for" (Will Hermes, Entertainment Weekly ). A few are not
impressed: Jim Derogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times calls lead singer Zack
de la Rocha "insufferable" and his lyrics "addlepated," and compares his
contributions to the band's otherwise excellent music to "rodent droppings at a
gourmet dinner." (Click here to read Rolling Stone 's cover story on the
band.)
