Bovie Movie

Terry Gilliam (Brazil, Twelve Monkeys, The Fisher King) directed this colorful, stylized, pseudo-psychedelic $21-million adaptation of the 1971 Hunter S. Thompson classic, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey into the Heart of the American Dream, about stoned sportswriter Raoul Duke, Thompson’s alter ego, on a wild drug-crazed road trip, a paranoid plummet into the belly of the beast, with his pal, lawyer Oscar Zeta Acosta. Originally serialized in Rolling Stone (November 1971), the book catapulted Thompson headfirst toward the Kerouac-Mailer-Capote pantheon and jump-started the entire movement of “gonzo journalism.” Carrying a suitcase of drugs, Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp with shaved pate) and his attorney Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro) drive a red convertible across the Mojave from L.A. to Vegas, where Duke has an assignment to cover the Mint 400 desert motorcycle race. As the drugs kick in, Duke ventures into voiceover, filling in the blank spots and narrative gaps. “This is not a good town for psychedelic drugs,” says Duke, but even so, they consume vast quantities, eventually escalating to ether. Duke notes that with ether “you can actually watch yourself behaving this terrible way, but you can’t control it.” The two trash their hotel room, and Gonzo goes back to L.A. Thinking the hotel room holocaust will lead to an arrest, Duke begins a drive back to L.A., but after an odd encounter with a highway patrolman (Gary Busey) and a telephone conversation with Gonzo, he returns to Vegas to cover the District Attorney Convention on Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in the glitzy Flamingo Hotel. This time the drugged-out duo trash their Flamingo room. The crazed carnival atmosphere segues into a carney casino, Bazooko’s Circus, where a barker (Penn Jillette) spiels amid aerialists, clowns, and a rotating carousel bar. Gonzo worries over runaway teen Lucy (Christina Ricci), who paints portraits of Barbra Streisand. Soon the hallucinations begin: Duke sees Gonzo transmogrify into a demon with breasts on its back, and an acid vision of a Vegas bar features large legit lounge lizards (courtesy of monster makeup man Rob Bottin). Flashbacks depicting Duke’s intro to the drug scene jump back to love-Haight relationships in San Francisco’s Summer of Love. Cameos and guest stars include Mark Harmon, Cameron Diaz, Flea, Lyle Lovett, Harry Dean Stanton, Ellen Barkin, Tobey Maguire, and Hunter S. Thompson himself. The film features a Geffen Records soundtrack mixing rock of the period with Vegas lounge tunes. Over the years, various script adaptations came and went as did numerous talents; people connected with past efforts to film Thompson’s book include Martin Scorsese, Jack Nicholson, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, and writer-director Alex Cox. Shown in competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.

This Tarantino-esque movie combines action (often culminating in murder) with luscious dialogue and a first-rate cast to relate the blackly comic tale of ex-criminal Thomas Jane (Deep Blue Sea), who has now taken the path of respectability, with all its suburban trappings. Cue 24 hours of hell when old buddy Aaron Eckhart turns up on his doorstep, laden with drugs and looking for a safe place to stash them. Jane and Eckhart are fine, but both are overshadowed by Paulina Porizkova, as the slinkiest, sexiest heroine in years — to call her and Jane’s memorable sexual encounter “subversive” is an understatement. It’s sick and sadistic, but in a fun way. 

A bit of history: Jurassic Park made over $900 million worldwide. Sequel The Lost World made $600 million. So a third instalment was, let’s say, economically inevitable. This time, as if to prove that the franchise runs itself, Steven Spielberg allowed Jumanji director Joe Johnston to take the reins. It’s basically a retread of the earlier films with some new set pieces thrown in, but Johnston has done a creditable job. We’re back on Isla Sorna, where genetically engineered dinosaurs run wild, with another band of walking packed lunches: divorcees William H Macy and Téa Leoni looking for their 14-year-old son who is lost in the jungle; palaeontologist Sam Neill (from the first film); and his protégé Alessandro Nivola. You don’t have to wait long for the big reptiles to appear — early on, a towering, belligerent spinosaurus makes light work of a T rex as if to say: there’s a new, computer-generated villain in town. It’s familiar ground, but those set pieces (particularly the pterodactyl attack) are excellent, and only the ending seems a little dashed off. 

Actor/director Kevin Costner’s skill with westerns was proven by his masterpiece Dances with Wolves. This doesn’t aspire to the epic scope or profound themes of that movie, but it’s still a beautifully crafted, well-acted example of the genre that only very occasionally lurches a little too close to cliché for comfort. It’s set in a fascinating transitional period of frontier history, as the traditional free-ranging cattlemen and their herds were harassed and attacked by settled ranchers. But Costner finds most of the film’s interest in the subtle relationships between the main characters. He is impressive as the taciturn Charley, whose Civil War memories haunt him, and Diego Luna (of Y Tu Mamá También) and Abraham Benrubi are likeable as the younger team members. But it is Robert Duvall’s restrained, dignified performance as Boss Spearman, the gruff de facto father to the “family” of travelling cow-pokes, that’s the movie’s real treat. Gorgeously shot, robustly written and solidly sentimental, this will be a delight for those who like their westerns on the traditional side. 

In this energetic and highly inventive comedy, Nathan Lane and Lee Evans play the hapless brothers who inherit a valuable old house but find it is already occupied by a pesky rodent. There’s stacks of Laurel and Hardy-style visual comedy as the pair wreak havoc in their bid to rid themselves of the furry fiend, though adults may prefer Christopher Walken’s hilarious turn as an exterminator to the more obvious sight gags. The darker touches might upset younger children and, with over 60 mice used for the animal stunts, the film is definitely not for viewers with a phobia of rodents. But for sheer verve, this slice of family entertainment is hard to beat. 

You go for years without seeing a movie about skydiving and then suddenly, like buses, two of them come along at the same time — this and the Charlie Sheen vehicle Terminal Velocity. This is the pick of the pair: an exhilarating ride directed by action specialist John Badham with his usual flair and eye for spectacular set pieces. Wesley Snipes exudes charisma as the US marshal who sets out to hunt down the parachuting crooks whose airborne antics cost Snipes’s brother his life. Gary Busey delivers another entertainingly villainous performance, while Yancy Butler is equally good as Snipes’s reluctant partner.