Movies
Gattaca
(Columbia Pictures). Rookie director Andrew Niccol's
sci-fi film about a futuristic dystopia wins praise for its moral stand against
genetic engineering. Ethan Hawke plays an idealist who suffers discrimination
because he was naturally conceived. Some critics call Niccol a stylist and laud
his minimalism and use of pale colors. Others say the film has the "earnest
simplicity of a freshman philosophy paper" (Jack Mathews, the Los Angeles
Times ) and "ends in the cheesiest of plot twists" (Rita Kempley, the
Washington Post ). (Stills and clips are available here.)
A
Life Less Ordinary
(20 th Century Fox). Critics profess
surprise that Scottish director Danny Boyle's follow-up to the much-praised
Trainspotting should have turned out to be a "pileup of spectacular
flakiness" (Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly ). They call the plot,
in which a disgruntled janitor (Ewan McGregor) kidnaps and then falls in love
with his boss's daughter (Cameron Diaz), "pure, vintage fluff" (Janet Maslin,
the New York Times ). Scenes involving angels, played by Delroy Lindo and
Holly Hunter, are said to be especially silly. Critics predict that McGregor
and Diaz will be huge stars. (See the official site.)
Theater
Triumph of Love
(Royale Theatre, New York City). This musical
adaptation of an 18 th -century French farce about a princess who
courts a philosopher is the season's surprise success. Critics praise it for
bucking Broadway trends: It is both low-budget and brainy (one of its goals is
to mock Enlightenment rationality). The score by first-time composer Jeffrey
Stock earns approval for being more Sondheim than Lloyd Webber. Dissenting, the
New York Times ' Ben Brantley says its over-the-top book confuses
bathroom humor with witty repartee.
Book
Speaking Truth to Power
, by Anita F. Hill (Doubleday). Critics
wonder why Anita Hill even bothered writing her side of the Clarence Thomas
controversy--she adds nothing to her case that hasn't been said before in other
books. Hill sympathizers, on the other hand, like the book's "straightforward,
earnest" tone (Elizabeth Mehren, the Los Angeles Times ). Conservatives
cannot help noting it bears "the mark of a truly expert complainer" (P.J.
O'Rourke, the Weekly Standard ).
Television
Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (ABC; Nov. 2; 7 p.m.
EST/PST). A remake of the 1957 made-for-TV musical wins praise for its
African-American lead and multiracial cast, which includes Jason Alexander,
Whitney Houston, and Whoopi Goldberg. "Finally, a sister is getting to go to
the ball," says Newsweek 's Veronica Chambers. Others observe that even
remakes with good intentions cannot overcome the blandness of the original,
whose score is said to be vastly inferior to the Disney film version's.
Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery
(PBS;
Nov. 4 and 5; click here for times). The backlash against the Ken Burns documentary
machine kicks into high gear. Critics call the subject of the film inherently
intriguing but complain that it has been "marred by the Burnsian sensibility,
... the same sentimentality and earnestness he throws over every subject"
(James Collins, Time ). Techniques recycled from Burns' documentaries on
baseball and the Civil War--including background fiddle music and actors
reading wistful letters--are singled out as especially grating. Critics note
the emergence of Lewis and Clark chic (a miniseries and a movie about the
explorers are imminent). (PBS previews the series.)
Music
The
Velvet Rope
, by Janet Jackson (Virgin). Janet Jackson's album is said
to secure her place in the top tier of pop divas. Critics praise her eclectic
style--funk, blues, soul, and dance--and dwell on her racy lyrics. Topics
include: phone sex, a ménage à trois, and lesbian trysts. But critics find her
raunchiness far more introspective than Madonna's--"closer in spirit to the
unabashed emotionalism of Joni Mitchell" (J. D. Considine, Entertainment
Weekly ). (Audio and video samples and photos are available on the official site.)
Dance
Merce Cunningham: Forward & Reverse
, choreographed by Merce
Cunningham(Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City). The performance of four
new pieces by the 78-year-old avant-garde choreographer occasions
pronouncements about his influence on contemporary dance. Critics are surprised
that his signature style, in which dancers' movements are determined by
coin-tosses and dice-rolling, still works. Praise also goes to his
collaborations with other downtown artists like Robert Rauschenberg (sets), Rei
Kawakubo (costumes), and John Cage (music). Some carping, however: Costumes by
Kawakubo are said to make dancers look like they have "incipient elephant-man
disease" and to obscure their movements (Joan Acocella, the Wall Street
Journal ). (B.A.M. plugs the show.)
Update
In the
New Republic , James Wood criticizes Don
DeLillo for succumbing to the paranoia he means to depict.
"Underworld proves, once and for all, ... the incompatibility of
paranoid history with great fiction."
Recent
"Summary Judgment" columns
Oct.
22:
Movie -- The Devil's
Advocate ;
Death --James
Michener;
Book -- Jackie
Robinson: A Biography , by Arnold Rampersad;
Theater -- Side
Show ;
Architecture --New
Jersey Performing Arts Center (Newark, N.J.);
Fashion --Wearable
Computers (Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab);
Music -- Psyché , by Cesar Franck (New York Philharmonic).
Oct.
15:
Movie -- Seven Years
in Tibet ;
Movie -- Boogie
Nights ;
Fashion --Versace,
Spring/Summer '98 Collections;
Product --Internet
Explorer 4.0;
Award --Nobel Prize for
Literature, Dario Fo;
Book -- How the Mind Works , by Steven Pinker.
Oct.
8:
Movie -- U-Turn ;
Movie -- Washington
Square ;
Movie -- Soul
Food ;
Architecture --Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao, Spain);
Book -- Toward the
End of Time , by John Updike;
Death --Roy Lichtenstein.
Oct.
1:
Movie -- The
Edge ;
Movie -- The
Peacemaker ;
Book -- Big Trouble:
A Murder in a Small Western Town Sets Off a Struggle for the Soul of
America , by J. Anthony Lukas;
Book -- Timequake , by Kurt Vonnegut;
Music -- Time Out of
Mind , by Bob Dylan, and Bridges to Babylon , by the Rolling
Stones;
Television -- ER :
"Ambush" (NBC);
Art --"Sensations: Young British Artists From the Saatchi Collection"
(Royal Academy of Art, London).
--Franklin Foer
