IQ__ ___________ A&E
’Swordfish* is a world of scandal and deceit
The CI ac I ìamas P rìnt
WedNEsdAy, N ovem B er 28 , 2001
CHRISTINA MCFARLAND
Staff Writer
“Swordfish” turned out to
be one of the few good films
I’ve seen lately. It is an ac-
tion/thri 1 ler filled with sur
prises.
The film stars Hugh
Jackman as Stanley Jobson.
At one point in his life he was
the most dangerous hacker in
the world. However, after
hacking into a FBI program
that was doing Big Brother
like surveillance on Ameri
cans, Stanley found himself in
jail. Now free from prison, he
lives alone and penniless in a
trailer, banished from all com
puter contact. But one day a
sultry woman named Ginger
(Halle Berry) shows up at his
door, requesting his presence
at her employer’s. All he has
to do is meet him, and Stanley
will receive $1 million and the
chance to get his daughter
back from his porn star ex-
wife. Stanley agrees because
he longs to be with his daugh
ter.
Ginger and Stanley soon
meet with Gabriel Shear (John
Travolta). Gabriel soon re
veals to Stanley what he
needs his hacking abilities for.
There exists a hidden slush
fund accumulated by the
Drug Enforcement Agency in
a money-laundering scheme,
code-named “swordfish.”
Gabriel wants to get a hold of
this $9 billion for his own ben
efit. Stanley can understand
that, but he disagrees with the
idea. But the idea of getting
his daughter back and receiv
ing $10 million doesn’t sound
so bad either. He agrees to
take the mission.
There is also some chemis
try involved in the film be
tween Ginger and Stanley.
They never act upon it, maybe
because signals are somewhat
mixed, or perhaps because
Gabriel and Ginger’s relation
ship is unclear. Soon after
Stanley agrees to take the mis
sion, he finds Ginger wearing
The hard-core cast of "Swordfish, “ from left to right: Ginger (Halle Barry), Gabriel Shear (John
Travolta), Agent Roberts (Don Cheadle) and Stanley (Hugh Jackman).
comes a thrilling fight to the
in Los Angeles.
When
a wire. She confesses she’s
end. __ _
Stanley finds himself at the
with the DEA and advises him
This was an awesome movie.
World Banc Investors Group,
to act casual, not telling
It
truly is one of the best films
he learns the truth about
Gabriel. Stanley agrees.
I
have
seen lately. There’s an
Gabriel
’
s
twisted
scheme.
So
In order for this operation to
interesting twist at the end that
Stanley comes up with an idea
work, they need to find a bank
makes it. all the better. I
to put a kink in Gabriel’s plan.
with the adequate computer
strongly recommend renting
equipment and satellite con
However, Gabriel’s smarter
this one.
than Stanley thinks, and it be
tacts. Fortunately, there’s one
Television’s new fall lineup falls flat
DANIEL MERYS
Staff Writer
Autumn is upon us and of
course, the most exciting part of
this season is...television! The net
works have submitted shows for
bur approval and, with the excep
tion of two, they all suck. We’ll go
through the networks one by one
and review the new fall lineups.
“Alias,” ABC’s new action
drama, airs on Sundays at 9 p.m.
Jennifer Garner plays Sydney
Bristow, an athletic grad student
who finds out that her employer, a
top-secret division of the CIA, has
some secrets that not only put her
life in danger but also threaten the
security of the free world. Appar
ently, she was recruited during her
freshman year of college when she
.was shy and introverted. But now
she’s an ass-kicking secret agent.
Right. This show is a blatant rip*
off of the show “La Femme Nikita,”
which ripped off the movie “ Point
of No Return,” which ripped off the
French film “ La Femme Nikita.”
“ Thieves” isn’t much better.
John Stamos plays Johnny, an old-
school charm-your-way-into-the-
mansion-style thief. His partner
Rita, played by Melissa George, is
all about hi-tech gadgetry .and ex
plosives. Together they make the
perfect team, until they’re caught
by the FBI. But the Feds offer them
a “get out of jail free” card. Now
these career criminals have to re-
cover’things that the FBI has some
how misplaced: national art trea
sures, underworld secrets and
nuclear launch codes...that kind of
thing. Did they check between the
couch cushions? The show’s
premise is utterly ridiculous and the
urge to change the channel is nigh
overwhelming. If you can suspend
disbelief for an hour, then you’ll like
‘Thieves.” It plays Fridays at 9 p.m.
CBS has rolled the dice yet again
and spewed forth another Ellen
DeGeneres sitcom. This time Ellen,
also the name of the show, is a
teacher. After Ellen’s highly publi
cized break-up with Anne Heche,
CBS apparently figured that people
still give a damn that Ellen DeGeneres
is a lesbian. “Ellen” is on.
The two halfway-decent new
shows both belong to Fox, home of
demon-spawn ‘Temptation Island.”
"24," starring Keifer Sutherland,
is far and away the best new show
to come along in the past few years.
Sutherland is Jack Bauer, a member
of the CIA’s counter-terrorism unit.
His mission is to stop the assassi
nation of a presidential candidate,
Senator David Palmer. The show is
based around the events of a single
day, with each episode being an
hour of that day. “24” airs Tuesdays
at 9 p.m., with a replay on Friday
evenings, also at 9 p.m..
Also on Fox is “ The Tick,” star
ring Patrick Warburton (Puddy from
Seinfeld) as the blue-suited super
hero. Along for the ride are his side
kicks, Aurthur, played by David
Burk, Captain Liberty, played by Liz
Vassey and Batmanuel, played by
Nestor Carbonell (who almost man
ages to steal the show). Not as great
as the cartoon, but “Men in Black”
producer Barry Sonnenfeld comes
as humanly possible.
With ‘The Tick,” “24,” ‘Titus,”
“Malcolm in the Middle,” “Unde
clared,” ‘That 70s Show” and ‘The
Simpsons,” Fox has managed to turn
itself into the best network on tele
vision.
Right: "The Tick,
played by Patrick
Warburton
Left: "The Moth,
played by David
Burke
Photos courtesy of
"The Tick" official
website