The University News (Irving, Tex.), Vol. 35, No. 21, Ed. 1 Tuesday, April 20, 2010 Page: 7 of 12
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The University News
Arts & Entertainment
April 20, 2010 — 7
Crazy Kick, Morose Funeral,
Exquisite Eclipse,' Disappointing4Joneses
FS
Contributing Writer
"Kick-Ass"
You might not expect much
of a movie based on a comic
book called "Kick-Ass" (wide
release), but in the event it
proves to be a wacky treat,
a combination of goofy teen
humor and heavy-duty action
that also manages to be a sly
commentary on the nuttiness to
which fanboys can carry their
obsessions.
The plot focuses on a comic-
loving high school geek who
decides to become a masked
vigilante despite a decided lack
of skill or strength. Though he
gets thrashed out on the street,
he becomes an instant internet
celebrity called Kick Ass.
He also catches the eye of
a far more effective team, Big
Daddy and his little daughter
Hit-Girl, who are targeting
the local crime lord, whose
son decides to pose as a hero
himself to dupe K-A into setting
up Daddy and Girl for capture.
Major confrontations result.
The violence in the movie
isn't always stylized enough -
transferring it from the printed
page to the screen gives it a
realism that can be unpleasantly
abrasive.
But for the most part
"Kick-Ass" is a gleefully wild
exercise in absurdity.
And it also offers Nicolas
Cage another opportunity to go
completely over the top as the
loony Big Daddy.
"Death at a Funeral"
Why someone thought it
was a good idea to remake a
mediocre 2007 British farce is
anybody's guess, but the new
"Death at a Funeral" (wide
release), which transposes the
plot from Blighty to an African-
American family in Los Angeles,
proves a misfire on every level.
The movie is about the
slapstick complications that
ensue at a family wake when
a midget shows up claiming
to have been the gay lover of
the deceased and trying to
blackmail the man's sons to
secure his silence.
And there's a secondary
plot thread involving one of the
"mourners" who accidentally
takes a hallucinogenic drug
and goes bonkers, eventually
winding up on the roof in the
buff.
The picture wants
desperately to be a madcap
romp, but the gags are musty and
frequently tawdry.
The biggest question is why
Neil LaBute, a great playwright
and a talented if variable director,
chose to take on this misguided
project.
"The Eclipse"
Add "The Eclipse" (Magnolia)
to the ranks of literate cinematic
ghost stories like "The Haunting,"
"The Sixth Sense" and "The
Others."
Gifted Irish actor Ciaran
Hinds stars as a widower still
mourning the death of his wife
while trying to raise his son
and daughter. He also serves
as a volunteer chauffeur for
the authors visiting his seaside
hometown for its annual literary
festival.
But he suddenly finds
himself haunted not only by the
spirit of his wife but by that of
his aged father-in-law, who's not
even dead. Fortunately, one of
his passengers is an authority on
paranormal phenomena whom
he can consult; unfortunately,
she's being pursued by another
of the guests, a drunken novelist
who sees the driver as a celebrity
stalker.
It's easy to discern that the
man's experiences are prompted
by the trauma of his loss and
his struggle to overcome his
grief. But the film also suggests
that there might be something
supernatural about them as
well.
In the end "The Eclipse"
doesn't explicitly explain what's
been going on, preferring to
allow the viewer to make up
his own mind. But in this case
the ambiguity suits the picture,
an elegant exercise in mood in
which plot plays a secondary
role.
"The Joneses"
There's the makings of
a sharp satire of American
materialism in "The Joneses"
iAngelika), about a phony family
that serves as the instrument of
"stealth marketing" - they're
installed in an upscale suburban
community to get their neighbors
to lust after the new products
they ostentatiously use and
praise.
For the first hour, the picture
is cleverly written and darkly
cynical.
Unfortunately, in the later
reels it turns sappy and moralistic
as the damage the sales tactics
do to ordinary people leads the
"family" members to reconsider
the propriety of what they're
doing.
As the script turns soft, the
movie gets preachy. The upshot
is that it's a sermon easy to tune
out.
A 'Fouge -ilicious GIT
i£f* **. IY
The Fouge, a southern soul rock group comprised of University of Dallas
sophomores, played TGIT last Thursday. Liz "Stevie" Stephens sang lead vocals, John
Petrucelli played lead guitar and sang backing vocals, Michael Hayes (not pictured)
played the keyboard, Phil Cerroni played bass and Johann D'Souza played drums. The
UD band had the crowd dancing and singing along to their original alternative-rock
songs, he Fouge drew "one of the largest attendances of the semester," said TGIT
director Natalie Koch. Jason Throws Whiskey, another favorite UD band, opened for
the group. Photos by Peter McDonough
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Nelson, Heather. The University News (Irving, Tex.), Vol. 35, No. 21, Ed. 1 Tuesday, April 20, 2010, newspaper, April 20, 2010; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth201522/m1/7/: accessed May 3, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting University of Dallas.