Austin360 blogs > Austin Movie Blog > Archives > 2006 > June > 28
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
‘Pirates’ preview
Intrepid intern Sarah Frank is just back from the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” preview. She reports that it does the job as a summer blockbuster and features such icky monsters she had to avert her eyes. Sounds pretty cool.
Meanwhile, Slate has a piece on another highly anticipated film (especially in Austin), “A Scanner Darkly.” Writes Joshua Glenn: “In (Richard) Linklater’s ‘Scanner,’ that is to say, audiences may finally catch a glimpse — even if through a glass darkly — of the director’s own paradoxical worldview, one in which slacking is not only a form of political activism but the only possible activism.”
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Loving ‘Footloose’
So, the Sinus Show is making fun of “Footloose” this weekend. This is one of the best shows I’ve ever seen them do, and it’s well worth checking out.
Do not let the wisecracks, however, distract you from the masterpiece that is unspooling before you on the screen. Consider this a companion commentary to your Sinus Show experience.
Sarah’s Case for the Greatness of ‘Footloose’
Point No. 1. Kevin Bacon. Hot.
2. Lori Singer. As preacher’s daughter Ariel, she’s not just bad, she is bravely and epically bad. You can tell she is utterly convinced the performance will make her a James Dean-caliber icon of teen rebellion. Instead, she’s just annoying. Singer took a lot of risks with how she approached this part and the fact not one of them really paid off doesn’t change the fact that she was fearless enough to take them. If “Footloose” were made today, Mischa Barton would sleepwalk through the Ariel role. Thank God we got Lori.
You also have to love the character’s quotability. Look for my favorite Ariel moments, “My daddy hates it when I wear these red boots” and “I’m not even a virgin!”
3. Chris Penn. Because you want to remember him as Willard, not as sad, bloated latter-day Chris Penn.
4. Sarah Jessica Parker. Her crowning moment as Rusty, best friend to Ariel and girlfriend to Willard, comes when the gang sneaks across the river to go to a honky-tonk (a scene, by the way, that I thought at the time embodied how totally awesome being a grown-up was). Willard does not want to dance, but Rusty really, really REALLY does. So much so that she starts bopping up and down in her chair until she can control it no longer and springs onto the dance floor with a man who is not Willard.
5. The names. Ren. Ariel. Rusty. Willard. Shaw. Burlington. When we find out that Ariel has a dead brother named Bobby, it actually seems kind of weird.
6. The locale. OK, it may not be the same town where “Napoleon Dynamite” takes place, but I bet the two schools play each other in football. And it’s easy to picture Uncle Rico as a cohort of Chuck Cranston.
7. The profound political and social implications. “Footloose” follows Ren (dreamy, dreamy Kevin) as he tries to loosen up a small town that has banned rock ‘n’ roll, dancing and, apparently, attractive clothing. It supported my young self’s world view that any threat to rock was an attack on democracy. In fact, I’m pretty sure Al Gore made up this global warming business to distract attention as Tipper relaunches her war on rock.
8. The prom. You can love the finale of this movie on so many levels, There’s its prescient resemblance to the dance in — again — “Napoleon Dynamite.” There’s the fact that you will never see such a concentration of dowdy dresses again in your life. And then there’s its simple perfection. All the kids are standing around moping, as if they simultaneously realized that they’re probably never getting out of that lousy town after all, but then Ren arrives and … PARTY! Suddenly, everyone knows how to dance — well, more or less — and there’s glitter raining down from the ceiling and no one in the history of fun has ever had more fun than this.
It kind of gives me chills.
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The view on movies
A few things to keep you busy while we wait for the movie version of “Barbara vs. Star.”
— Austin Outsider unveils the Asphalt Planet Web site.
— Austinist is giving away tickets to the “Quality of Life” screening tonight.
— A look ahead to “Wassup Rockers,” set to open in Austin on July 21, and “Who Killed the Electric Car?,” slated for July 28.
— Wired time-travels to the future, when all commercial theaters are closed and we’re nostalgic to re-create the moviegoing experience of yore: “This module provides one of the most vital aspects of the early 21st-century movie experience: the thrilling chirps and trills of ringing cellular phones. We’ve programmed the generator with over three hundred authentic antique cell-phone alert signals, or ‘ringtones,’ including ‘Laffy Taffy,’ ‘My Humps’ and ‘Please Let Me Touch Your Secondary Sexual Characteristics.’ “
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It’s bird! It’s a plane! … It’s a dog?
You know what would make “Superman Returns” better? Pets.
There is much giggling here — although of a professional, journalistic nature, of course — as Joe and Chris have found more pictures of caped animals than I even knew existed.
I give you Krypto the Superdog.
Oh, but there’s more. Meet the Super-Pets Now you’ve got horses and monkeys and some other indeterminate animal getting in on the act.
But my favorite is here, where Krypto builds a Doghouse of Solitude. I apologize to Joe for initially accusing him of making this up.
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‘Pulse’ moves
The release date of teen horror film “Pulse” has moved from July 14 to Sept. 8. The movie, a remake of the Japanese film that played in Austin early this year, stars Kristen Bell of TV’s “Veronica Mars.” It’s the second move for “Pulse,” which was originally slated for March release.
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Update on ‘Scanner Darkly’ premiere
As of the Austin Film Society’s last count Tuesday, there are just 49 tickets left for tonight’s Austin premiere of Richard Linklater’s “A Scanner Darkly” at the Paramount Theatre. The tickets available are for obstructed-view seats. They’re for sale at the Paramount box office at $8 for AFS members and $12 for nonmembers. For more information, visit austinfilm.org.
