Tuesday, July 30,2002
Courtesty photo
Mike Meyers, starring as the mojo-driven Austin Powers—and many other characters—takes box office ‘gold’ this past weekend in Austin Powers in Goldmember.’
HE’S GIT THE GOLDEN’ TOUCH
MOVIE REVIEW
The third Austin Powers movie has to stand as some kind
of monument to running gags. There are jokes in
“Austin Powers in Goldmember” that the series has
used, in some form or another, since the first film. The
filmmakers seem to feel the need to use every variation on a
joke possible, milking them for all they’re worth.
The plot itself is absolutely irrelevant to anything and
exists only to hang the jokes on. For example, the film
opens with an overdone action sequence that takes a
well-deserved rip at “Mission: Impossible 2,” goes
through a slew of very funny celebrity cameos, and then
moves onto a faux Hollywood dance number cumulating
with Britney Spears’ head exploding (this alone is worth
half the admission price). All of this has little to do with
the rest of the film, and all of it happens during the open
ing credit sequence.
As it is hard to top the death of Britney Spears, the film
moves downhill from there. It gets stuck in repeating itself,
and many of the characters are tiresome retreads of what
they were in the first two films. Fat Bastard and Dr. Evil
have outworn their welcome.
It’s strange that the series has become so much like the
Bond series it so gleefully mocks, in that the hero remains
consistently the same person from film to film and the real
surprises come from new characters.
The addition of Michael Caine and Beyonce Knowles,
from Destiny’s Child, are the film’s saving grace. Caine is
especially worth seeing as Austin’s father, and he steals al
most any scene he’s in, which is quite a feat in a movie with
this assortment of characters.
Caine has some of the film’s best lines, and they work sim
ply because of his comic timing: “There are two things I can’t
Turn to Groovy, page 6
Ani DiFranco ventures into filmmaking
Along with co-director Hilary
Goldberg, the singer has created
a film, titled ‘Render,’ which looks
at her personal, professional life
By Aaron Shakra
for the Emerald
Ani DiFranco. Since 1990, she’s re
leased 15 albums (two of which are
double records) while constantly tour
ing throughout the world. Now, she
makes a foray into documentary film
making with the release of “Render,”
appropriately subtitled “Spanning Time
With Ani DiFranco.”
Co-directed by Hilary Goldberg (she’s
the one behind the camera), the two
hour film alternates between footage of
her most recent (2000-01) concert tour
and a behind-the-scenes look at the
singer, her band, her interests and her
record label. Because the film was large
ly shot on a digital camera, a “home
made” aesthetic comes across. Yet this
shouldn’t equate to unprofessional; the
style adds rather endearingly to the sub
ject matter.
While Righteous Babe Records might
be perceived as merely a vehicle for
DiFranco’s own releases, the label hosts
a whole slate of artists, many of whom
make appearances throughout the
Turn to DiFranco, page 6
Courtesy photo
Music, comedy
to look outfor
“There will be other drugs. ”
“Yeah, I know... but I really liked those ones. ”
— Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke in “Tape ”
I watched the movie “Tape” over the weekend, and it’s
still ricocheting in my mind. Directed by Richard Lin
klater, “Tape” is a clever, one-room drama about three
people examining a dark secret from their senior year of
high school, 10 years ago. Ethan
Halwke is fantastic.
Anyway, thanks to the “Tape” preoc
cupation, all I have is a raw list of cool
things to check out this week.
Labor leaders, labor lovers and la
bor-rights laborers can watch an enter
taining piece of history come to life 8
p.m. Friday at the EMU Ballroom, as
Ian Ruskin performs his one-man play,
“From Wharf Rats to Lords of the
Docks,” chronicling the life of West
Coast labor luminary Harry Bridges.
Bridges led San Francisco’s 1934
general strike, helped form the Inter
national Longshore and Warehouse
Union — arguably at the forefront of
labor rights for almost 70 years — and was its president
for 40 years. Bridges was known to be wickedly entertain
ing, so expect a performance akin to Hal Holbrook por
traying Mark Twain. And, it’s free. Doors open at 7:50
p.m., and the show starts at 8 p.m.
On Friday, the WOW Hall (291 W. Eighth Ave.), KWVA
Turn to Kleckner, page 6