is what he encountered more often
than not in response to his guided
tours of New York.
"The double-decker bus taught me
how easily curiosity is stolen from peo-
ple's lives," he said. "[It] was a place
where there were so many people com-
ing to experience New York for the first
time, the hugeness of all that. They
were on an open air bus, often under
beautifully lit skies, 14 feet above the
sidewalk, experiencing omniscience,
and they were totally asleep."
Miller was familiar with that feeling
of sleepwalking through life.
After attending New York
University's film school, he'd been toil-
ing in the more anonymous aspects of
the film world.
An assignment to make a short
documentary for the American
Foundation for AIDS Research rekin-
dled his interest in filmmaking.
When he went on a 1994 walking
tour of Manhattan led by Levitch,
Miller realized he'd found an ideal
subject for the first of a projected
series of films.
"I think a lot of culture today is real-
ly designed to basically anesthetize,"
Miller said, "to create distraction, to
numb yourself, to lead you away from
yourself I hope that [The Cruise] does
not do that. I hope that it's not just a
couple of laughs. I hope that within it,
people find themselves moved in some
way That they get some perspective op
their own lives."

❑

Unrated, "The Cruise" opens
today at the Maple Art Theatre,
(248) 855-9090.

AMISVSM"4,
frftWIMf4
.

'...MSOMMEMA

you about it in this newspaper, but
let's just say that it is played to perfec-
tion by Davis, Bebe Neuwirth
("Frasier's" Dr. Lilith), as a hooker,
and two bananas.
Although the themes in Celebrity
are not as Jewish as in many of Allen's
other films — in this one, Catholics
come in for their fair share of satire —
there's still a lot to identify with.
Celebrity is hip, witty, relevant and, as
always, entertaining.
Andy Warhol predicted that, in
time, everyone would enjoy 15 min-
utes of fame. Allen puts that theory
to rest forever in this brilliant look
at the effects of fame and celebrity
status.
I give Celebrity four stars. I predict
you will, too. ❑ Rated R *CH)*

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11/20

1998

Detroit Jewish News

91