The Michigan Daily - Ulcrte.4, c4. - Thursday, February 22, 1996 - 3B
Slasher film cheats on fonmula in tine 'Copycat' style
Ex-Alien' hunter Sigourney Weaver tangles with killers in the mist
AL.XANDRA TWIN
Public Access
& eve Forh4s
iFS. Bo46
God Bless America. Surely, it is the
4ny place in this great, wide world
iere Spam is considered to be a
technological advance, where "tanning
sistant" is a profession you can train
r, where the president and the first
lady are the butt of more jokes than in-
laws, and where Steve Forbes, a God's
Honest American Dream Come True
* with absolutely no political
experience - can make a serious bid
for the presidency ... or at least the
Republican nomination.
How can you not love Forbes?Never
mind his ideology, beliefs, ideas. The fact
is the guy isjust so eamest that it seems
unfairnot to trust him. He's so rich, he
couldmove Ross Perot into the gutter.
He's so smiley thathe could do ads for
Kool-aid(andhe smiles in such agenuine,
yway,just like your favorite uncle,
adviser, catatonic North Campus
resident or homicidal maniac).
Best of all, there's no deceit with
Forbes. What you see is what you get.
He admits to his flaws and lack of
qualification, beginning most speeches
with "I am only a nouveau riche,
wealthy bastard with no political
experience whatsoever (smile, pause). I
have no clue where I am right now. Can
meone please tell me? Uhhh ... I got
My figurehead job from daddy who
worked for a living (smile, pause), but
there's nothing wrong with nepotism
and there's nothing wrong with me
(smile, pause) ... Well, at least not
.nymore (chuckle, pause). People say
That I am balding (he begins to rub his
ikull slowly), but this is not true. I am
attempting to empathize with you
people, uh ... we people, ... she, he,
e, (sings) we-bop, he-bop a you-bop, I
Ap, they bop, a who bop? (Smile,
pause, frown.) ... Mommy, I gotta go
pottie."
Much like the Olsen twins (Mary-
Kate and Ashley) and Barney,
everyone's favorite purple, singing,
cheerful, overweight, co-dependent
dinosaur: There's very little not to love
about Steve Forbes.
Granted, his approach may be a little
iple, but compare him to Bob Dole
who is considered by many to be the
main righteous dude in consideration
for the nomination - in the following
Crucial areas and you will see that
imple is not just a condescending way
to refer to that kid in the back of the
Oass whojust didn't get it. It is also a
vital part of the presidency (remember
when we had Bonzo's good friend?).
Sense of Fashion: Both Dole and
Forbes dress fairly conservatively,yet one
*uld easily imagine Forbes relaxing
comfortably in anice pair of Hawaiian
shorts... or a nice set of heels and a
Ieather muumuu.
Youth Appeal: Forbes is like your
pops, Dole is like your grand-pops who
growls when you're late for supper,
boy. Grandpa may have gone on MTV,
but at least dad can take a joke.
Pop culture Knowhow: Dole slams lots
cool movies he's never seen'cause
y're violent or naughty or make him
feel guilty about that time in eighth grade
when he opened the bathroom door-by
accident -on his oldersister Bobette.
Meanwhile, Forbes puts out astuf
.nagazine for rich people that is neither
violent nor naughty, yet he doesn't lash
out at the movies. Insofar as entertainment
purposes, "Forbes" may not be that cool,
but I think I speak for all ofus when I say,
bravo to Steve Forbes, areal man who
*esn't let slide a perfetly good
opportuni toseeali teT&Aevery
now andthen kow wha I mean, homes?
Jowl Movement: Much like the tin
man before he hooked up with Dorothy,
Bob Dole seems rather ... well, ...
fixed, eh? A not unfrightening resem-
blance both in the jowl region and
others to ol Tricky Dick, perhaps? As
for Forbes, See section A: KOOL-AID
PRESENTATIVE POSSIBILITIES
ve. The guy's ajowl movement
hamp; he can chew gum for weeks.
Bowel Movement: It has een
suggested by some that Bob Dole perhaps
should engage in this activity more
frequently, whereas Forbes seems at ease
with both the world and his bowels.
The fact is, Forbes just gives us all
that "gosh-damit-l-am-so-proud-to-be-
,n-American" feeling. He's the
ultimate self-made man/American
jsccess story (or at least the son of it)
Willing to use his goodness to tackle the
evil, corrupt world of American politics
and bring us all to a new, higher
understanding of our global signifi-
cance. Wow.
Granted, he has no chance in hell of
getting the nomination, but we can
always dream.
-Alexandra Twin is a Daily
Arts editor. Her column appears in
this space biweekly. You can reach
her over e-mail at alixt@umich.edu
By Christopher Corbett
Daily Arts Writer
The funny thing about renting a
movie on video is that you often re-
member the slimeball who was your
date when you went to see the film
four months ago. Yet, you can draw
two conclusions here.
1. You can feel icky and say,"Wow,
I was pretty stupid. What did I think it
was, Scuzz Fest or something? I went'
out with THAT THING?"
2. You can feel good and say, "Wow,
I was pretty stupid. Thank God I came
to my senses and washed my hands of
the filth before I caught a disease."
Ifyourent "Copycat" (new on video
this week), though, you might not
have to make the choice. Given the
trippiness of this slasher film, you
might not be thinking back to your
date at all.
Yes, Sigourney Weaver has tan-
goed with the mother alien and slept
with the gorillas in the mist, but now
she has to face her greatest challenge
yet ... Harry Connick Jr. You want to
rent "Copycat" because you like Harry
Connick Jr. and you think he's a great
singer? Well, his character ain't try-
ing to hear that. He's got a gun and a
knife, baby, and he wants to rumble
with that "Aliens" gal.
"Copycat," no matter how you slice
it, shapes up as a straight-up "Silence
of the Lambs" rip-off. You have the
psycho who has all the good lines but
is hardly on screen (Connick) locked
away, you have the tough-girl cop
whom everyone assumes will save
the day (Holly Hunter) and you have
the other psycho who's doing the hack-
ing, holed up in a dark basement (some
geek whom you've never heard of
before).
Although it cheats, the film still has
some butt-kicking, scary scenes; most
of them, however, occur early on in
the film, when Connick's character is
on a rampage and attacks Ripley -
uhh, Weaver.
Some of the other good moments in
the film, which make it worth renting,
come when Ripley-dammit, Weaver
- is a prisoner in her apartment.
She's agoraphobic and the fllmniak-
ers exploit that gimmick all they can.
It's interesting stuff, though, because
we're so used to seeing Weaver as
I}
Sigourney Weaver's "Copycat" role doesn't live up to her earlier performances. Harry Connick Jr. should just stick to singing.
Ripley, the woman who torched the
entire nest of aliens and yanked
Newt up from the slimy cocoon in
"Aliens."
Ifshe's not portraying a strong char-
acter like Ripley (God, I love saying
that name), then she's portraying a
"bitch," as she did in "Working Girl."
In "Copycat," though, Weaver's more
or less a cripple, because if she steps
outside her door, you know what hap-
pens?
We get groovy camera work that
makes us feel like we're on speed,
crack, heroin and pot all at the same
time - you know, like how you feel
when trying to find your station in the
Fishbowl.
"Copycat"has its fair share ofshoot-
ing, knifing, de-gutting, mangling,
rending, severing and strangling. But
as a maniac-flick, most of the vio-
lence is tastefully done. Some light-
ning-quick editing during most of the
murderous moments leaves you feel-
ing scared, not grossed out.
The movie might lose some of its
pizzazz at home - formatting the
original, wide-screen frame (as you'd
see it in the theater) requires cutting
some of the frame, or some of the
images. The focus of the frame, then,
becomes larger, blown-up: What we
z I
Wesley Snipes shows off his "hair
fusion" In "To Wong Foo, Thanks For
EverythingI Julie Newmar."
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