Movies

ANIMATED WITH A TWIST

DJ QBert makes Wave Twisters and the world is saved by a . . . dentist?

When I was little I hated going to the dentist. There was a dental assistant there who was really mean. She'd make me feel like shit for not flossing nine times a day. She'd flash her pearlies with this smug little grin just before telling me that I needed to take better care of my teeth. Even my kindly mother agreed that she was something of a Nazi.

I needed some Honey. They always played easy-listening music in my dentist's office, too. That was almost more painful than that plaque-scraping hook jabbing at my gums.

I think that a little bit of hip-hop could've eased my oral agony.

Honey is a Jessica Rabbit-bodied dental assistant to the hero-- Inner Space Dental Commander, a superhero disguised as a dentist-- in the new animated hip-hop oddesey Wave Twisters. The brainchild of world-renowned skratch artist DJ QBert, this film is three years in the making. It comes from QBert's turntable magnum opus of the same name. When making the album, QBert had the plot in mind; it's about an alternate dimension in which the government controls all of the music. He is on a quest to bring the arts of hip-hop to this desolate world. Breakdancing, rapping, graffiti, and, of course, skratching are these lost arts, and the heroes must battle an assortment of villains who guard them. Apparently, the origin of his desire to make a film centered on his music may have stemmed in part from Devo.

"I always knew the importance of video; it's very important for your music. I learned that from Devo ... they had, like, videos for every song."

Using a myriad of unconventional animation techniques-- from the stark simplicity of Hanna Barbara-style animation to slightly tweaked live action-- Wave Twisters promises to offer a new animated-musical feature in the vain of such classics as Heavy Metal and Pink Floyd's The Wall.

To boot, the whole film has been seamlessly syncopated so that the turntable music itself tells the story.

According to QBert, however, the film is moving into some new territory. "The animation style is totally on a different level and totally in a world of its own. I don't think that anyone's doing that style that I've seen. It's really hard to explain, you just have to see it."

DJ QBert has always brought a fresh and somewhat spiritual bag of tricks to the hip-hop scene, and is widely considered as one of the world's most dexterous skratch artists. "Helping others and giving others things is my whole spiritual basis ... what I can do, as far as what I'm gifted for. If I can just give people that and if can make someone happy, that's a totally spiritual fulfillment."

Despite the serious level of his skills on vinyl, he has said that he tries to keep a childlike state of mind when it comes to promoting and nurturing his creativity.

This professor of turntablism describes the setting and message of the film as, "A parallel to this universe. What's happening is that the music is controlled by a government and the people will never hear hip-hop. Like I said, a parallel to this world. If you watch TV and stuff and listen to the radio, you'll never hear like a cool skratch song or some underground beat boys breaking or some weird crazy MCs that you'll hear on some underground mix tape. It should be a lesson to everyone that, hey there's more than just radio and TV."

While he believes that a sequel might be on the horizon, these days he is planning a move to Hawaii and on some much needed relaxation in the form nature walks and video games.

Video games. That's one other thing my dentist's office could've used.

--Josh Tyson

Wave Twisters screens at the Boulder Theater March 24 at 6, 8, and 10 p. m. with a special live appearance by DJ QBert and D-Styles for the 10 p. m. show. For more information, check out either www.wavetwisters-themovie.com or www.bouldertheater.com

MOVIE REVIEWS

BLOW DRY

Blow Dry might have been funny if it hadn't come so soon after Best in Show, but I doubt it. Both movies are about the strange personalities who get way too involved in ridiculous competitions; Blow Dry actually tries to make its audience care who wins.

In this case, the competition is England's national hairstyling championship. The contest takes place in a small Yorkshire town, guaranteeing work for a handful of character actors (movie cliché #637: every small town in the British Isles is largely populated by lovably eccentric characters). It also ensures an entry by a local family of hairstylists, who will be the only team capable of defeating the unscrupulous returning champions.

The filmmakers seem to have spent most of their energy trying to manipulate audiences into feeling good about life, instead of directing that energy toward making a good movie. The result is a film sappier than the cola on the theater floor, and almost as pleasant. There are several movies that use an occasional recycled idea because they can't think of anything original. In Blow Dry, however, there is nothing else. The format itself is the same as every sports movie out there; the bad guys cheat and the winner is determined by one point at the last minute.

Now imagine all that with an over-used collection of stock characters. There's the disillusioned former champion who picks up his scissors for one last try; his ex-wife, who needs to win because she is dying and a hairstyling trophy would solve all her problems; and their son, who dreams of being a great hair dresser just like dear old dad. The ex-wife's lesbian lover rounds out their team, because the movie needed a token gay character. (You wouldn't think a movie about flamboyant hairdressers would have to stretch for a homosexual character, but this one did.). You've also got an old grudge between the good stylists and the bad ones, and a romance between the son and the bad guy's daughter.

What makes everything worse is that we deserve better from the people involved. Even if we forgive talented actors like Alan Rickman and Rachel Griffiths, it's a little depressing to imagine that The Full Monty writer Simon Beaufoy was a one-hit wonder. There is little chance that anyone will find this movie worth the time it takes to watch it, let alone the price of the tickets. In trying to make us care about anything in the movie, Blow Dry fails miserably.
D --Chris Ward

ENEMY AT THE GATES

A famous philosopher once said, "The anticipation of death is far worse than death itself." Enemy at the Gates uses this quote as a canvas and paints a picture through the eyes of two enemy soldiers who hide beneath the rubble and ruins of 1942 Stalingrad. They are engaged in a game of cat and mouse, waiting for the other to reveal where he is hiding so they can end this war with one shot. The truth behind these soldiers is that whoever wins this battle doesn't win it for their country, but rather themselves, because these are the demons that keep them up at night.

Jude Law stars as Zaitsev, the uneducated son of a sheepherder, who is the best sniper the Russian army has to offer. After the German army had blasted its way through the city of Stalingrad, Zaitsev single-handedly defeated the remaining German soldiers with a handful of bullets. Since the morale of the citizens and soldiers is low, Russian officials decide to use Zaitsev as a national hero, much like William Wallace, and begin to post his daily killings on the front pages of the Russian newspapers. He is propelled to stardom by Commander Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), who writes daily stories for the papers, making Zaitsev larger than life.

The German army retaliates by sending its top sharpshooter Major Konig, (Ed Harris), to the front lines. His only objective is to kill Zaitsev, figuring if he is successful, this will give the Germans the edge they need to defeat the Russians. Harris is a well-seasoned professional; we learn he is the top trainer for German sharpshooters. He has complete control of this hide-and-seek game, and Zaitsev knows it more than anyone.

Both soldiers are defending their countries, but as we delve closer into their lives we realize that this battle is personal. Zaitsev is fighting for the paternal love his father never showed him, and Harris is fighting for his son who was killed a few months ago in this same war. The irony is that these two soldiers can complete each other's mental puzzle by becoming friends or killing each other. They choose to kill, and thus begin a game that involves clever hiding tricks and creative deception.

Director Annaud has an incredible eye for filmmaking. In some early scenes, he takes us through the war as we follow Zaitsev, a mere novice at fighting, through the bullets and explosions. As we maneuver through the streets, the camera is splashed with blood from soldiers as well as dirt from the explosions. This is done so the viewer can have a first-hand feel of the carnage. You want to wipe it away, but you can't. This is one version of a theatrical baptism. Annaud also deserves kudos for keeping the cast small, unlike other war movies which have us involved with giant platoons of characters.

It's unfortunate that Enemy at the Gates will be released during this dormant month of March. This film had an original release date of November/ December 2000, but Paramount felt it couldn't contend in this year's Oscar race. Although the premise of two marksmen waiting on enemy lines to kill each other sounds dull, Annaud does an incredible job of keeping the audience on their toes. What could have been a simple, boring film, is made into a rich, deep film that will have the audience involved from beginning to end.
B+ --Neal James

DVD REPORT

MIMIC

I hate bugs. Hate them hate them. Roaches especially. The site of a roach anywhere near me will send me squealing to the highest available surface. That having been said, it was an exercise of sheer will to watch the first hour of Mimic. It was terrifying from the moment the introductory credits began to roll. The credits are a remarkable effort in editing that piece together a bizarre montage of footage ranging from microscope slides to newsreels to textbook pages and dark bug infested crevices. I almost had to turn the movie off right there.

The story focuses on Dr. Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino), an entomologist, who in the first few minutes of the film is called upon by the Center for Disease Control to help stop an epidemic. Millions of the city's children are dying from a disease spread by the indestructible cockroach. In order to stop the spread, Tyler creates a biological weapon in the form of a new species of bug designed to infiltrate the roach population and destroy it, before dying off itself at the end of its altered biological cycle. All of this takes place in the first 20 minutes or less, and it is all creepy, buggy and dark.

Jump ahead three years and Dr. Tyler stumbles across evidence that her self-destructing bugs may not have actually self-destructed. The cure to the disease is becoming a plague unto itself, and Tyler must destroy her bugs before they destroy mankind.

The Dolby Digital sound was terrific. The majority of what makes this film creepy involves the kinds of bug sounds that come from corners and crevices-- sounds that let you know that something is there and you can't see it. Dimension did a wonderful job with this. The picture quality is also superb until we get into the subway sequences, at which point the action becomes fast paced and things are so dark that activity gets lost in the depths and colors are indistinguishable or orangeish.

Mimic falls into a kind of movie limbo. It was not a blockbuster, but it also hasn't really achieved very much cult recognition from fans of low-end sci-fi (not compared to say, Species, which isn't as good). As a result, Dimension didn't spend a ton of money beefing this disc up with extras. Frankly, that's okay. The movie looks and sounds really good and it's definitely worth adding to your collection. It is a frightening movie because the bad guy isn't from outer space and it's not a serial killer-- it's a big, mutated roach. Did I mention how much I hate roaches?
B --Amy Morrison