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ty Mandy Taylor
twily Arts Writer
"Atlantis: The Lost Empire" is not
our typical Disney cartoon. First of
11, despite a romantic thread that runs
trough the plot, there are no pauses in
se action for a love song. In fact, the
nly song with lyrics plays during the
nd credits (performed by Mya). The
irst scenes of the film are of the
destruction of a
city and the
deaths of many of
its inhabitants.
Atlantis And there are
subtitles.
Grade: B Milo Thatch
At Showcase (Michael J. Fox)
andQualityl16 is a linguist, a
cartographer, a
maintenance man
and a geek, com-
plete with big
glasses. In Wash-
ington, D.C.,
irca 1914, he wants to propose to his
suseum superiors a plan for an expedi-
on to find the Shepherds' Journal.
his book, supposedly located in Ice-
tnd, explains exactly how to get to
Atlantis, a city that existed long ago
ith some mysterious power source
iuch more advanced than anything in
early 20th century. His superiors
vant nothing to do with the foolish
xpedition, but when Milo gets home,
e finds a sexy blonde with an intrigu-
ng proposal. Helga Sinclair (Claudia
Christian) takes Milo to her boss, Pre-
ston Whitmore (John Mahoney) a
friend of Milo's explorer grandfather,
who has the necessary book, a high
tech submarine and funds for a deep-
sea expedition to find the lost city of
Atlantis.
The city is located, its still-living
culture is discovered and many of the
surviving crew members (they are
attacked by a giant mechanical lobster,
bringing down their submarine) admit
devious intentions for the expedition.
The story then turns into an attempt to
save the newly discovered civilization
and its princess, Kida (Cree Summer).
In "Atlantis," the crew is one of the
primary means of entertainment. They
are a myriad group, composed of peo-
ple of many different ethnicities and
nationalities. There is Audrey (Jacque-
line Obradors), the Hispanic teenage
mechanic (from Dearborn, MI, accord-
ing to irw.disney.com), Vinny San-
torini (Don Novello) the Italian
demolition expert, Joshua Sweet (Phil
Morris), the gigantic African Ameri-
can/Native American doctor, Gaeton
Moliere (Corey Burton), the human
mole - geologist, mineralogist and
tunneling expert - who is afraid of
soap and Mrs. Packard (Florence Stan-
ley), the old, white communications
expert with a morbid sense of humor.
Together, the group is interesting to
see interact, and is often hilarious.
Vinny is perhaps the funniest, with his
unintentional wit. Mrs. Packard's catch
phrase is, "We're all going to die." In
By Wilhmina Mauriter
t. rit ets r r
Feminine wiles, Ha! How about some
male Intellect a la Milo Thatch.
fact, there are a lot of jokes alluding to
death and destruction. This element by
Tab Murphy (screenwriter) makes the
movie quite funny for the adults in the
theater, while probably not disturbing
the kids.
Some adult political themes result
from the plot, such as environmental-
ism, humanitarianism and problems of
colonialism. However, understanding
these bigger lessons is not essential to
the enjoyment of the film. For both the
child and the adult, there are elements
of magic and fun futuristic gadgets,
such as hovering vehicles shaped like
fish and powered by magic crystals.
The animation itself was both disap-
pointing and impressive. For a city
based on myth, Atlantis is not as
extravagant and interesting as it could
have been.
Additionally, this film is evidence
that the animation of humans is
becoming more advanced. The minute
detail of these characters' physical
movement is amazing. With these visu-
als and a screenplay that both makes
people laugh and teaches them a les-
son, it is an overall success for Disney.
W hat can you expect from a moie that
is based on a sideo game? There's lots of
action and adsetture, a few wild and oser-
lte-top characters
and a plot that is
J _ L! neither too terribly
Tomb original nor inven-
Raider tive. These movies
do not have a lot of
Grade: substance but when
At showcase the credits roll, it
and Qua ity16 doesn't matter
. because everyone
has had fun. "Lara
Croft: Tomb
Raider" is no
exception to this rule.
The movie revolves around Croft
(Angelina Jolie), a rich, adventure-seeking
girl who lives for the adrenaline rush.
When a special clock, that is literally the
key to a triangle that controls time, is
stolen from her, Croft goes on ahunt to not
only retrieve the clock, but also to stop the
bad guys from getting their hands on the
triangle.
The underlying theme about controling
time is interesting. At one point Croft com-
ments how "time is stolen from us and it's
not fair." Everyone wishes he could control
time and it's interesting to think about what
life would be like if one could. However,
"Tomb Raider" does not focus on this fan-
tasy, thus lacking one of the most interest-
ing plot points the movie could have had.
Jolie is perfect as the movie's heroine,
Lara Croft. You don't need to be familiar
with the video game to know that Jolie has
been successfully transformed into Croft.
From her extremely long hair to her big,
not at all realistic looking breasts, Croft's
animated ceharacter aha en brao_)t to life
on the big screen.
Jolie is also having a lot of fun with her
role, as if she's not acting but rather play-
ing a role. Jolie is constantly posed when
on screen, which is pretty much all the
time. from her strutting walk to her stand-
ing stance, she is always cool Croft. You
could almost go so far as to say that Jolie is
the best thing about "Tomb Raider." If you
don't like Jolie, you won't enjoy this movie
at all. She makes this movie.
You might think that this movie would
be filled with great special effects, but this
isn't the case. Yes, "Tomib Raider" has a lot
of special effects, but none of them are
"special" and actually quite disappointing
considering how advanced technology is
nowadays. One scene where a bunch of
stone apes come alive and start battling
Croft and her crew was so imaginatively
fake, it made me laugh.
There isn't much else to say about
"Tomb Raider." Besides being a fun action
movie, there isn't that was too terribly
memorable. You may not be bored, but you
might not remember it too well in the
morning either.
'1 rtr
STP hits 'Shangri-La' in stride
Shangri-La Dee Da, Stone Temple
Pilots; WEA/Atlantic
:y Soyna Sutherland
laily Arts Writer
After the debut of Core in 1992, STP
ood for more than simply a motor oil.
TP - Stone Temple Pilots - entered
te rock alternative field amidst great
ands like Jane's Addiction, Nirvana and
lice and Chains. Almost a decade later,
ne could ask, where have all the super
ands gone? STP may stands alone in
Or area but they are still standing.
aving sold 20 million records world-
vide, the boys are back, with lead singer
cott Weiland clean, married and a
ither.
Their fifth album Shangri-La Dee Da
a revisit to their Core sound that made
hem famous and works to combine
unk energy with 'diamond hard riffs.'
choing the sonar variations of the Beat-
White Album, STP provides its fans
'Ola truly amazing collection of
houghts set to pure rock n' roll.
Although one could definitely find
one songs to down right jam to,
Dumb Love" or "Coma," perhaps the
best moments reflected on the CD, occur
when the track is slowed down and Wei-
land pauses to explore the soft torture of
love in "Black Again" and "Bi-Polar
Bear."
For any mood at any point, Shangri-
La Dee Dr provides a quality music
experience. The album rides from rip-
ping melodies to a more laid back late
night sweetheart groove, providing it
with the content needed to become
another multi-platinum seller for STP
Grade:A-
'9U
asi A
Tuesday nights at 6:00 p.m. BBQ COOK will return with the beginning of the summer term
Contact Graham Baird for details: after a brief vacation next week.
~urm grahamjbalrd@aol.com