Mercurial movies

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by MATTHEW HAYS

Though some have been chastising me for blasting M:I2, a film I found to be a rather dreary sequel, I am by no means opposed to dumb movies. God no! Nay, I am not one of those film critics who's fixated on subtitled fare. When I'm in the mood, I like 'em good and dumb, and this summer, it appears I won't be disappointed.

The Farelly Brothers, who've made it on screwier stuff like Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin and There's Something About Mary, have been reunited with comic superstar Jim Carrey and the results are pretty outrageous in Me, Myself and Irene. Again, the bros are back with the cum jokes, toilet humour and gags involving those we generally consider marginalized (dwarves, albinos, the disabled). The best part? This fraternal team manages to do it with heart. Carrey is hilarious as the mild-mannered cop who, when pushed too far, becomes an evil twin personality, out to destroy everything in his path (June 23).

Two stars we don't necessarily connect with the supernatural have a creepy film set for July. What Lies Beneath stars Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as a couple desperate to figure out what kind of nasty, evil, mysterious forces are out to ruin their lives. Robert Zemeckis, the man behind Forrest Gump, is in the director's chair, so I suppose copious special fx will be in order.

Fantasy land

As usual, that band of wacky, crazy, screwy Fantasia programmers are bound to score once more. Okay, so some of the movies they screen are just plain weird. But with the banal state of most moviemaking today, something twisted coming our way isn't such a bad thing. I caught a sneak of one of the coming attractions: Psycho Beach Party is a B-movie adaptation of the Charles Busch play, which itself was surfing on '50s and '60s B-movie culture. Fantasia runs July 13-31 and undoubtedly, Psycho Beach Party won't be the only fucked-up entry.

Yes, I am still lamenting the absence of what some might consider the ultimate dumb movie: the disaster movie. But this summer holds some serious promise for a disaster renaissance. Take The Perfect Storm (June 30), in which Diane Lane, Mark Wahlberg and George Clooney are forced to battle the more ferocious elements of the sea. The trailers look kickass, and the press material reads "Warner Bros. Pictures appreciate the press' cooperation in not revealing the ending of this film to their readers..." Which means an added bonus--a surprise ending! So either Lane will turn out to be a man, the entire cast will realize they've been dead all along or Clooney and Wahlberg will turn out to be the same person.

For all us countless, diehard Clueless fans, there's potentially good news. Director/writer Amy Heckerling has returned with Loser (July 21), the story of one total nerd (Jason Biggs) who finds a piece of cool with down-and-out student Mena Suvari. The plot sounds a tad shmaltzy, but hopefully some of the razor-sharp wit Heckerling brought to Clueless will also be on screen here.

TV or not TV

It is with some trepidation that I dare to afford any more hype to The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (early July). After all, I grew up on this fine and ultrastrange cartoon series, and I still enjoy catching the odd one. So far, the effects look cool and the casting (including le De Niro) looks impressive. But TV-to-movie adaptations are running a pretty dreadful track record these days, from The Mod Squad to (dare I say it?) Mission: Impossible (oh Brady clan, where are you when we need you?). I suppose we'll all have to sit tight and pray that dear Rocky doesn't end up on the rocks.

Though set in a different era, Mel Gibson's latest film, The Patriot (June 30), looks surprisingly like Braveheart. Again, he's dragged into ferocious battle with some nasty colonialists after his family is attacked. And, also again, he's irritated by and fighting with the English. Apparently the battle scenes are as impressive here as they were in Braveheart, so if that sort of thing is your cup of tea, you might want to check this one out.

In the cute and ironic title department, Coyote Ugly (August 4) features a roundup of babes who work in a bar named after the movie they're in. One young lass is desperate to make it as a singer, but finds that she's having more success slinging the drinks as a barmaid. Surprisingly enough, a romance ensues.

No summer roundup would be complete without mention of the city's biggest film event, The World Film Festival, which runs Aug. 25-Sept. 4. People bitch loudly about the tin-pot dictators who run this event, but it still attracts record numbers and generally features approximately 400 movies per year. :