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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 2000)
PULSE EDITOR: MONICA HANDE BANTER ABOUT THE FILMS YOU M AY NOT REMEMBER OR ARE TRYING TO FORGET 111 VIDEO REVIEW ‘Cloak and Dagger’ Starring: Henry Thomas, Dabney Cole man, Michael Murphy, Christina Nigra, John Mdntire and Jeanette Nolan Commentary Josh Ryneal & Mason West Memory is a tricky thing. “Cloak and Dagger” was one of those movies that seemed re ally cool when relying on child hood memories. What kid doesn’t like spy movies that include explo sions, video games, gunplay and elderly terrorists? The problem with this movie is that it complete ly fails to live up to the expecta tions that a misty memory sets up. This column has been pretty lucky so far. “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen?”: As good as we expected. “Transformers: The Movie”: Even better. OK, “The Ice Pirates” was a bit of a stumble, but it was light-years better than this movie. In a nutshell, the plot revolves around young David Osbourne (Henry Thomas), son of an Air Force sergeant (Dabney Coleman), an avid war-themed role-playing game enthusiast who becomes mixed up in a plot to sell top-se cret bomber plans to terrorists. But in one of the earliest examples of cross-promotional tie-ins, the plans are hidden inside of a “Cloak and Dagger” Atari car tridge, which David must rescue after witnessing the violent death of an FBI agent. Speaking of violence, this movie is awfully dark and violent for a supposed kid’s movie. “Cloak and Dagger” is stuck in limbo: Too dis turbing for small children but too implausible and stupid for older viewers. Over the course of the film, David sees five people meet bloody deaths, and it doesn’t seem to af tect him. Where the movie hooks you or loses you is with Coleman’s dual role as both David’s father and his imaginary friend, super spy Jack Flack. The dichotomy is interesting — as Dad, Cole man is con cerned and con servative, and as Flack, Coleman tells David- to con stantly shoot bad guys, shoplift and disre gard authority. The Jack Flack character seems a little like Drop Dead Fred, from the movie of the same title. He is an imaginary friend, but he seems to have some control over reality. This becomes apparent at the climax of the film’s moral conflict when Flack seemingly diverts the bad guys’ fire while David shoots him. Mason: So is he really there, or just imaginary? Josh: Well, you see David walk ing down the street talking to Flack, and then in the next shot he’s talking to nobody. So, I think he’s imaginary, but that’s where the filmmakers screwed up. The way that the director has Flack come in and out of reality with camera cuts and pans is a good cinematic device, but gener ally confusing. Flack admits that he isn’t real, but he opens doors and sees things that David can’t see. These are very real. I guess we’ll just have to rope off this plot hole and direct traffic around it. The thing that is ap pealing about the film is that the villains get their just desserts. No hokey ending where the bad guys are carted off to jail; in this movie they all meet timely ends. Whether it’s through a wind shield, on the re ceiving end of a bullet (or several) or in the fiery infer no of an exploding plane, kids will get a certain visceral satisfac .tion from seeing the peo ple they hate getting what they deserve: bloody death. It is funny that Thomas just finished “E.T.” before this film because the elderly woman who plays one of the two criminal masterminds has only three fingers. When she takes off her glove to reveal her secret, it looks a lot like E.T. is trying to heal Elliott. Mason: I swear that her finger started glowing for a second. Josh: Elliiiiiioooootttttt. Elliiiii ioooootttttt. There are a few redeeming mo ments to this movie. We found a whole two quotes worth a laugh: “Heros don’t just shoot people. They put dinner on the table; they fix bicycles ...” — Dad “You’ve got a helluva nerve stealing inside the Alamo” — guard But despite a few laughs, the hour and a half that is required to watch this movie is more valuable than the money spent making it. Josh Ryneal and Mason West are Pulse re porters for the Emerald. Bead It! o ® Beginning & Advanced arlequin % Beading w Classes Stop by & check out our class list or visit our website: harlequinbeads.com Beads & jewelry 1016 Willamette ♦ 683-5903 Get down and dirty on the Web amihotornot.com ★★★☆☆ PROS: Easy to use, addictive and gives you a certain guilty pleasure. This site shows you how your vote compares to the average and how many have voted on each picture. Guaranteed tor hours of fun. CONS: Judging people strictly on their physical attractiveness? What areyou, some kind of jerk? www.theonion.com ★★★★★ PROS: Some of the funniest free entertainment you’ll find on the Web all year. Great writing, fake photosand a wonderful arts and entertainment guide that highlights both mainstream and alternative music, movies and books. Also boasts some great merchandise, a rarity on the Internet CONS: It’s, well, fake. And it only comes out once a week. But don’t let that stop you from checking it out. www.totaIsports.com PROS: Chock-full of statistics, stories and great photos. Sports fiends and trivia masters looking to expand their knowledge will find a new home here. CONS: Is it all that different from the other online sports sites out there? Use it as an addition to the sites you already use. www.gamesages.com ★★★★☆ PROS: Massive amounts of game information and a searchable database. Game players will find everything they need, including codes, maps, walkthroughs and cheats. CONS: Massive amounts of game information that the search engine doesn’t always filter through effectively, requiring users to clickthrough a series of tedious links. ■With these four Internet sites, students looking to waste time won’t have trouble getting nothing done By Josh Ryneal Oregon Daily Emerald Ah, the Internet. A mind-bend ingly powerful tool that has been both praised and demonized for its ability to allow people to find pretty much anything they want. Al though most use the Internet for re search or entertainment, what about when you just want to waste time? Whether stuck in the library, goofing off at work or lazing about at home, the Internet has a lot of possibilities for passing the time, waiting for something better to do. Here are some Web sites that will help you become less productive than you already are. www.amihotornot.com Remember in high school, when you used to give people ratings on how physically attractive they were? And that little twinge of guilt you felt when you did it? Well, the Internet thinks of everything. Now, you can revisit that old pastime without having to feel any remorse about being a superficial jerk. Amihotornot.com operates on a Turn to Web sites, page 8B 010491 Voted Best Breakfast in Town! By Eugene Weekly Open Daily KEYSTONE 7am~3Pm Breakfast Served f7am-3pm Lunch Served Monday-Friday 11am-3pm * Redeem for a FREE BEVERAGE of your choice ♦ West 5th at Lawrence • 342-2075 IDR INfO AND UPDAKS CAll DR VISIT 1H( WEBSITE |5D3| 817-3431 (88B| 376 0087 WWW DIRECTPRODUCTIONS.COM Hi IMCRTVIft&tftfTI HnIUNC SOULS
