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Also this issue: Shot by Both Sides Preschool Confidential Screen Picks |
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July 5-11, 2002
movie shorts
LIKE MIKE
Think: Shirley Temple with a wicked jump shot. That’s not say that Jermaine Dupri protégé Bow Wow (in the process of dropping the Lil’ from his name, now that he’s 15) is at all into ringlets or animal crackers. It is to say that for his first starring role (having already made an impression in Ice Cube’s All About the Benjamins), the kid plays Calvin, an orphan living in a rickety inner-city Group Home (run by Crispin Glover -- very scary). There he shoots hoops with fellow waifs Brenda Song and Jonathan Lipnicki (who seems not to have grown an inch since Jerry Maguire -- slightly less scary), and hopes to be adopted by the perfect family. When he finds a pair of old kicks with the initials “MJ,” Calvin can fly beyond his wildest dreams. He earns a spot on the L.A. Knights, where he’s coached by infinitely patient Robert Forster and hounded by fans, you know, like a rap star. Conveniently, the franchise player (Morris Chestnut) is in need of focus, which he finds in his new buddy-roommate-son-figure Calvin. Co-produced by the NBA and conceived by Philadelphia’s own Michael Elliot (once a rapper himself, as well as Krush magazine publisher and radio host), Like Mike is more like a lengthy commercial than a movie, but the kid’s appeal is worth contemplating, and you see some of how it works, here, for girls, boys and young women. Sexy, innocent, cute, tough, authentic, pop-fake, self-conscious, delirious -- he can do it all. --Cindy Fuchs (AMC Andorra; AMC Orleans; UA Cheltenham; UA 69th St.; UA Riverview)
MEN IN BLACK II
Like the first Men in Black, II is a blessedly terse affair -- if nothing else, director Barry Sonnenfeld makes no bones about the business of summer entertainment: get in, distract ’em, and get out before they notice their wallet’s missing. Sonnenfeld fills out his cast with ace comedians like returning veterans Rip Torn and Tony Shalhoub, and new recruits Patrick Warburton (Will Smith’s hapless new partner), Jack Kehler and Mr. Show’s Jay Johnston -- not to mention David Cross, who re-ups despite have been devoured in the first installment. (And that’s without mentioning the ace comic timing of Tommy Lee Jones.) Turns out, though, that it’s so easy for Sonnenfeld to pare down his material -- MiBII clocks in somewhere under the 80-minute mark -- because when you strip away the nods and the winks, there’s precious little left. For every moment when the comedy hits every mark, there’s one where the bottom drops out, and considering what dead spots do to a nightclub act, it’s not a pretty end result. The biggest hole in the picture is roughly the shape of Lara Flynn Boyle: As the malevolent alien villainess (or rather, the current form of a shape-shifter inspired by a Victoria’s Secret ad), Boyle emits malice but no glee, which is to say you hate her, but you don’t love it. And pity poor Rosario Dawson (you know, the busty Pussycat), who as Smith’s love interest is stuck mugging into the camera of a director who’s more energized by Rube Goldberg gags than the simplicities of the heart. As in the original, an awareness of race surrounds Smith but rarely touches him -- the talking pug makes more jokes on the subject -- although it’s worth noting that his character’s dialogue has been significantly streeted up. (He actually uses the word “jawn.”) Who knows what corners of the universe he’s been visiting. -- Sam Adams (AMC Orleans; UA Cheltenham; UA 69th St.; UA Grant; UA Main St.; UA Riverview)
THE POWERPUFF GIRLS
See Sam Adams’ review here. (AMC Orleans; UA Grant; UA Riverview)
PUMPKIN
See Cindy Fuchs’ review here. (Ritz Five; Ritz 16)
