Monday February 16, 2004 arts.michigandaily.com artseditor@michigandaily.com RTS 5A By Raquel Laneri Daily Arts Writer Strangely, many comedies have certain issues with being comedies. They either feel the need to com- pensate for the stupid jokes by tacking on some trite, sappy, feel- good subplot or moral or to com- pensate for too much romance and cheese by throwing in some bath- room jokes here and there. Peter Segal's "50 First Dates," the lat- est Adam San- dler vehicle, falls into this trap. The film tries to add 50 First Dates At Showcase, Quality 16 and Ma stone Columbia juvenile humor to tone down the sentimental-romantic-comedy feel, but the jokes just end up seeming awkward and out-of-place when juxtaposed with all the cheesy "love stuff." Yes, the film is ripe with senti- mentality, sometimes embarrass- ingly so, which is a shame because Sandler and co-star Drew Barrymore have an undeniable chemistry. Sandler plays Henry Roth, a commitment-phobic sea-animal caretaker who exclusively dates tourists - that is, until he meets Lucy (Barrymore) and falls in love with her when he sees her con- structing houses out of her waffles at a restaurant. Except Lucy, and here's the twist, has no short-term memory, so every time she sees Henry, he has to try to make her fall in love with him all over again. Sandler is rather dull when he's not sharing the screen with Barry- more, with whom he exudes a rather goofy charm. The rest of the time, he's trying too hard to appear cute by acting buddy-buddy with sea creatures or deep and sensitive with Lucy's father (Blake Clark, "Mr. Deeds"), which makes the Courtesy uof Co~lumia Stop looking at me, Swan ... you too, Walrus. 50 WORST DATES SANDLER AND BARRYMORE REUNITE IN DISASTER But instead of tuning down melo- drama to prevent the romantic com- edy from oozing too much sentimentality, the film tries to divert the audience from the cheese by throwing in sight gags and crude jokes. Humor about walrus penises or gender-ambiguous co-workers gets tiresome pretty quickly. And why Segal thought gratuitously showing Rob Schneider's butt- crack would make audiences laugh - instead of cringe - is just mind-boggling. The film, surprisingly, has some redeeming aspects about it - the "Memento"-meets-"Groundhog Day" premise, the chemistry between the two lead actors, and Schneider's endearingly daft, pot- smoking character (when he's not showing his butt crack). Unfortu- nately, these qualities get muddled in the sickeningly sweet dialogue and vulgar gags. Instead of comedy and romance working together to create a film with both tenderness and humor, the two clash only to create an unconvincing mess. 'Bustin' Out' fails to build upon the original By Jason Roberts Daily Arts Editor V .DEOGAME REVIEW The Maxis franchise of "Sim" games has been an extensive one, and dozens of hit or miss sequels and spin-offs have followed the original, "Sim City." It wasn't until the year 2000 that Maxis hit pay dirt with its release of "The Sims," a game in which players took a voyeuristic look into the lives of a family of virtual characters, deciding how each person was to live his life. From showering in the morning and finding a job during the day to cooking dinner that night, gamers were attracted and ultimately addicted to this style of God-like The Sims: gameplay. Bustin' Out Maxis's newest GameCube, PS2 release, "The Sims: and XBox Bustin' Out," Maxis promised to get the Sims out of the confines of their homes and into the neighborhood, allowing for all new environments and interactions with other Sims. In this respect, the game does deliver. Gainers are allowed to take their creations out into locales such as Pixel Acres (a nudist colony), Club Rubb (a local dance club) and Shiny Things Lab (home of a mad sci- entist) to meet and form relationships with other characters. The new locales and the variety of new jobs develop upon the already involving gameplay of the first "Sims" release. The graphics have also under- gone a massive overhaul; no longer are the camera angles trapped in four pre- determined isometric views. Instead, viewers are allowed full control of the 360 degree camera. In the end, however, "The Sims: Bustin' Out" simply feels like another expansion pack to the original game. Creating characters and having them advance along their prospective career paths is an interesting premise but, as it did in the first game, gets bogged down in rudimentary and banal micromanage- ment. Keeping your Sims in good spirits. constantly involves cooking them din- ners, having them take showers, letting them water flowers and numerous other everyday activities. If gamers sigh at the fact that they have to take out the trash in real life, why would it be any more enjoyable in a videogame? The goal-driven career mode keeps the game on track, though. With a vari- ety of objectives laid out, ganers feel as though they are advancing toward some higher end. Without it, the upgraded graphics and gameplay wouldn't matter, and "Bustin' Out" would flounder completely. commitment-phobic jerk aspect of his personality unconvincing. Barrymore, however, projects a cute sincerity that seduces the audi- ence. Her mediocre acting actually works for her here, since she plays a ditzy, but sweet, perpetually "out- of-it" character. And she clearly feels very comfortable with San- dler, which makes their romantic moments together seem natural and genuine, despite the sometimes- ridiculous dialogue. The "Nothing beats a first kiss" line is used no less than five times - actually, probably more like ten - in a montage of "kissing moments." Every time is like the first time, because she doesn't remember the previous kisses. Clever, isn't it? By the end of the montage sequence, the line, at first harmlessly cute, becomes vomit-inducing. Segal's choice of music saturated with swelling violins and tinkling wind chimes to underscore these "touching" moments doesn't help the problematic dialogue. He should give his actors more credit and allow the romance to bloom through their interactions, not through sweeping music or trite exchanges. Soundtrack's pop tributes to '80s love songs fall flat By Evan McGarvey Daily Arts Writer The cinematic dumping ground of Febru- ary usually yields nothing more than a refuse pile of studio-delayed films. Their matching soundtracks are equally as scatter- shot. "50 First Dates," the newest Adam San- dler.romantic-comedy claptrap, doesn't just have a weak soundtrack, it has a reprehensi- ble one. Packaging on the album proclaims it as a concept album of "classic" '80s love songs "interpreted" by modern pop stars such as Jason Mraz and Sugar Ray's frontman, Mark McGrath. Inifying themes and c6lhesion usually bode well for an album. Unfortunately, when that cohesion means reducing every song to a pathetic attempt at reg- _ gae with a plodding, lethargic tempo, all it Various does is unify the poor Artists quality. 50 First Dates The Black Eyed Peas' Soundtrack Will.I.Am and Fergie stumble through a saccha- Maverick rin, popping version of Spandau Ballet's "True." Fergie's heavy breathing and limp vibrato makes Will.I.Am and his bland raps an almost welcome reprieve. Elsewhere, Mraz does his best on a meandering version of the Modern English classic "Melt With You." His guitar is happi- ly drowned ou'diYihe song, but the replace- ment isn't much better - slow reggae per- cussion-anldweakcTeverb effects erase any fondness the listener might have for the original's carefree guitar lines. UB40's mas- sacre of The Police's hit, "Every Breath You Take" is played on what sounds like a dilapi- dated Cancun soundstage with rusty horns. Fans of The Cure will also weep. "Friday, I'm In Love" and "Love Song" are vandal- ized by Dryden Mitchell, the lead singer of Alien Ant Farm, and 311, respectively. To serve as the sour icing on the cake, Adam Sandler phones in "Forgetful Lucy" to try and convince his dwindling fan base that he's still got it. The best advice at this point is to hibernate until the summer and wait for some legitimate soundtracks. 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