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October 7, 2004
We”ve seen Will Smith as a hunter of aliens, a detective investigating robots, and a defender of the public. Now, in Shark Tale, Smith saves the world as a slayer of sharks. This time, however, the producers and directors are not enticing us by his charm and muscles, but are rather reeling us in by presenting Smith and a cast of celebrities as lovable cartoon sea animals. Shark Tale advertises itself as Finding Nemo with a hip-hop, urban flair. But the only similarities Shark Tale shares with Finding Nemo is its setting and its animation. Behind the stunning underwater scenes, Shark Tale is a simple story of a flat character coping with the overdone issue of being a ‘little fish in a big pond … a really big pond … the ocean!’ Oscar (Smith) is a young fish working at the Whale Wash as a tongue scrubber. When his boss, (a blowfish voiced by Martin Scorsese) ascertains that Oscar has borrowed $5,000 for get-rich-quick schemes, he threatens to have the mafia (with whom he has close ties) kill him. Oscar gets the money, but blows it all at a seahorse racetrack. Just before his execution, a strange course of events ensues, and he finally gets his lucky break by taking credit for killing a shark (who happens to be the son of the Godfather shark, played by Robert De Niro). The only one who knows that Oscar is a liar is the Godfather”s other son, Lenny (Jack Black), a vegetarian shark who throws up at the thought of eating shrimp cocktail. Bringing in pop culture references such as The Godfather and giving them a sea-spin (shell phones, Kelpy Kreme donuts, Jessica Shrimpson) helps this movie”s cause, but certainly doesn”t keep it float. While Shrek and Finding Nemo found the right balance between these references and an original plot studded with characters that actually possessed some semblance of depth, Shark Tale (excluding its animation) is very one dimensional. The characters, for example, are underdeveloped. It is difficult to understand why Don Lino (De Niro) comes to accept his son Lenny”s differences, and equally difficult to understand when exactly Lenny himself matured enough to embrace his identity. It seems as though the producers had an idea in their mind of where they wanted this movie to begin, a dazzling, colorful under the sea version of Times Square, with Katie Current (Katie Couric) commenting on it all — as well as where they wanted it to end (a broadway number featuring Missy Elliot and Christinia Augeileuria as fish). But they left little thought to what fell in between. For some people, however, the gloss and glamour of this movie may be all that”s necessary. To see De Niro”s facial expressions captured in those of a Shark, to laugh at the Fresh Prince of Bel Air”s influence on Oscar, and to marvel at the glittering gold in Lola”s (Angelina Jolie) gills could satisfy your desire for cute and colorful entertainment. Archived article by Jenna MitchellRed Letter DAZE Staff Writer
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October 7, 2004
Mark rice Red Letter daze staff writer Now that we”ve done our time in the line, the countdown has begun to the start of hockey season. While hockey hasn”t received as much Hollywood attention as baseball and football, there still are a bunch of great films dedicated to the sport. So, since the NHL isn”t helping out in filling our demands for hockey, here are a few entertaining flicks to fill your need for the sport on ice. Slap Shot There are a bunch of reasons why this film always finds itself in the top ten of critic lists when it comes to sports movies. What puts Slap Shot at the top of all sports movies is the fact that it never takes itself too seriously. From beginning to end, Paul Newman and the off-the-wall Hanson Brothers lead a team of actors (many of them actual minor league players) who pay tribute to the subculture of minor league hockey and the gritty, gutsy elements that we love in the sport. In the words of Jim Carr the radio announcer for the team, ‘Everybody is on their feet screaming “Kill! Kill! Kill!” This is hockey!’ Miracle OK, everybody now, ‘USA! USA! USA! … ‘ This relatively new film has solidified into a sports movie classic. Fortunately, the movie makers took a story that could have turned into a big wheel of cheese and made a classic. Additional kudos to the film for realizing that the original events of the Winter Olympics were amazing on their own and for not embellishing the story for the big screen. Kurt Russell is excellent as he plays master coach Herb Brooks and dons a lot of out-of-fashion plaid suits. Another thing to watch? The skillfully shot game scenes. Mystery, Alaska In between directing Austin Powers movies, director Jay Roach paused to make a really enjoyable sports film. The town of Mystery, Alaska has more hockey-obsessed people per capita than sections A and B at Lynah, one of which is an everyman town sheriff played by Russell Crowe. A publicity stunt is hatched to have the New York Rangers play the all stars of this remote town. At the rate that the Rangers have been playing in recent years, you would think that the locals would have a good chance of winning. However, Mystery Alaska is also a great portrait of small town life as the various Northern Exposure-like residents must deal with their new found fame. Love Story While this tear-jerker story about two star crossed lovers is quite nice, the real reason for watching this movie is to see good old Cornell Hockey in action. It turns out the leading man of this film also plays hockey for the always hated Harvard. The real highlight is when he has to play the Big Red and the movie actually uses some footage from Lynah Rink. As expected, Cornell is victorious. Supposedly, Cornell coach Ned Harkness would only allow the film to use Cornell jerseys if Cornell won the game. During Cornell-Harvard games, the Pep Band actually will often play the Oscar-winning theme song to the film to taunt Harvard.Archived article by Mark RiceRed Letter DAZE Staff Writer