Monday arch 7, 2005 arts. michigandaily.com artspage@michigandaily.com cite mStrtun tuUl l.RTFS 5A - , '~ ... . . .......... "Don't hit me so hard. I'm not the guy who made 'Cursed.' " . Scorsese masterpiece still a DVD knockout By Adam Rottenberg baily Arts Editor Even though the Best Director statu- tte has eluded Martin Scorsese through- out his illustrious reflects the para- mount of filmmak- ing. Reteaming with "Taxi Driver" and "Mean Streets" Collaborator Rob- career, his work Raging Bull MGM rt DeNiro, "Raging Bull" re-imagines boxing as a metaphor for the paranoia and rage that filled the life of middle- weight champ Jake LaMotta. "Raging Bull," released theatrical- ly in 1980, is a timeless classic. Shot almost entirely in black and white, the film follows LaMotta's meteoric rise and disheartening fall from grace in ;vivid and brutal detail. DeNiro earns his Best Actor Oscar lby delivering the most complex and ,intense performance of his career. The supporting cast is just as impressive, exemplified by Joe Pesci as LaMotta's streetwise brother and Cathy Moriarity as his abused wife. ! The beautiful cinematography accentuates LaMotta's destructive behavior both in and out of the ring. Scorsese stages the boxing matches as a"sort of brutal ballet, which enhances their effectiveness as a part of LaMotta's downward spiral. Yet, the sweet science is almost an afterthought as most of the picture focuses on the volatile relation- ship between LaMotta, his wife and his brother. Through the director and DeNiro, the viewer enters LaMotta's fractured mind and descends into the darkness with him. MGM's release delivers an impres- sive array of extras that are worthy of the cinematic classic, unlike the previous barebones release. The first disc features three commentary tracks. Scorsese and editor Thelma Schoonmaker discuss the intricate details of the film's structure, themes and the shoot in a captivating manner. The next commentary, with producers and assorted members of the crew, doesn't entertain or inform nearly to the degree of the first. Surprisingly, the third commentary, which features the real Jake LaMotta and the screenwriter Paul Schrader, trumps Scorsese's though. LaMotta's own interpretation of his cine- matic doppelganger recounts the validity of the film and even offers rationales and apologies for his choices in life. The featurettes on disc two break down the process of filming - from Scorsese's initial reluctance to take the project to DeNiro's weight gain, which halted production for months. Additionally there is a featurette com- paring LaMotta's fight footage from old newsreels with DeNiro's recre- ations in the film. "Raging Bull" deserved the five-star DVD treatment the first time out, but this release is good reparation. The film is an essential piece to any cinephile's DVD collection. By Jeffrey Bloomer Daily Arts Writer Wes Craven's "Cursed" is like the trashiest tabloid on the newsstand oozed into a half- baked werewolf movie in a to modernize the age-old tale into a hip horror/com- edy gone horribly awry. You know you're in trouble when a character declares, without the slightest hint of irony, that "there's no such thing as safe sex with a werewolf!" CRAVEN AND WILLIAMSON FALTER WlT wretched attempt Cursed At the Showcase and Quality 16 Dimension rewrites. It's hard to imagine that the original was worse than this new version, which takes all the familiar avenues of the standard were- wolf flick - characters developing silly, canine habits and a money shot of the villain transform- ing into a lupine caricature - before launching into an overblown double-climax that literally fills a third of its running time. It requires that viewers sit through not one but two obligatory scenes in which two different villains explain their motivations at mind-numbing length. "Cursed" reteams Craven with screenwriter Kevin Williamson, the team behind the first two megahit "Scream" movies. Their col- laboration on this film was intended to yield a contemporary spin on tired werewolf tales, but instead they deliver a dementedly nuanced and formulaic recycling of the same, clichd material. Williamson, whose work is usually characterized by its witty dialogue and edgy plot twists, offers up a screenplay here that is astonishingly banal. He replaces the frisky fun and frenetic energy of his previous work with outdated pop culture gags and a sub- plot in which the homophobic captain of the wrestling team (gasp!) turns out to be gay in several hopelessly contrived scenes that are shamelessly played for laughs. The subpar direction of Craven, the horror Courtesy of Dimension The horror on their faces is nothing compared to the look on the guy who paid $9 to see this movie. H LATEST SLASHER maven behind such cult classics as "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Last House on the Left," is equally lacking, in comparison to his previous efforts. Though he easily establishes his signa- ture atmosphere, Craven relies on cheap scare tactics and inane in-jokes to drive the story and shows surprisingly little skill in downplaying the film's laughably slipshod creature effects. The werewolves, which are the creation of Rick Baker Studios, look remarkably like stunt- men wearing giant werewolf suits. And as if it weren't gutless enough, the last minute decision by infamous studio head Harvey Weinstein to cut the film from its original R rating to the teenage-friendly PG-13 turns each attack into a boring chase sequence that ends with a fade to black and loud, muffled screams. Meanwhile, the considerably large cast, including Joshua Jackson (TV's "Dawson's Creek"), R&B singer Mya and Scott Baio (yes, Scott "Charles in Charge" Baio) coasts through the film, doing what little they can with the material. The weak story is the most disappoint- ing aspect of "Cursed." It lacks the genre-bend- ing ingenuity and self-aware characters who elevated "Scream" above mediocrity. Without them, the substandard "Cursed" makes for yet another hollow addition to the recent over satu- ration of horror films. The film follows a recently orphaned sister and brother (Christina Ricci, "Monster" and Jesse Eisenberg, "The Village") whose car is attacked by a mysterious beast along a wind- ing Hollywood road. The creature, of course, turns out to be a werewolf, and the siblings discover -that not only are they cursed with "the mark of the beast," but it also appears to be stalking them. Originally slated for release more than a year ago, the film underwent a massive reshoot, including recasting several roles and numerous Film: ***** Picture/Sound: **** Features: **** __j mqb