Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 19, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, August 2, 2002 Page: 32 of 68
sixty eight pages : ill. 14 x 12View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Specializing In Unique Jlomes
Open Sunday; August 4th from l-3pm
tatdy Georgian style home with: 9.5' coved ceilings, extensive moldings, archways,
" and ga; fireplace. Also has sunroom with French doors. Updated kitchen with slate
floors, granite countertops, marble splash, island and stainless appliances. Features:
walk-in closets, brick patio, pavestone walkways and a fountain all on a huge lot.
7001 Pasadena
2/1/2
$239,000
ocated in East Dallas, this charming story Tudor home built
in 1930 has approx. 1565 sq. ft. and features: a formal
dining room, library, sunroom and a loft. Also features fireplace,
ceilingfans, hardwood flooring, covered porch, beautiful
landscaping and shade trees. * ? A
- David Bush
972.407.2507
214.828-4300
RESIDENTIAL BROKERAGE
CBDFW.COM
6021 Gaston Ave.
5/4/2/Fmls/B kfs t
$475,000
AUGUST 2, 2002
DALLAS VOICE
The most
popular and
exciting sexual
stimulant on the
market today! 1
Herbal VIGOR 2000
ONLY
$25.00
Works Fast
Boosts your Sex Drive
Enhances Endurance
Intensifies Pleasure
Stimulates Nerve Endings
No prescription necessary
Enjoy more Powerful & Deeply
Satisfying Orgasms
ORDER ONLINE AT:
www.Gayeyes.com
OR BY PHONE AT:
1-866-GAYEYES (1-866-429-3937).
The community's premier choice for Quality Products,
Thinking
Viagra?
Herbal Alternative
fIGOR
2000
«t :a(1i -is
Officer Paski (Cherry Jones) and farmer Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) investi-
gate an intricate pattern of circles and lines carved into his crops.
By Steve Warren
Contributing Film Critic
We are all Pavlov's dogs. We hear M. Night
Shyamalan's name, and we begin to get scared.
By the time we get to the theater where his
new film is playing, we're terrified. When we
see the ticket prices we drop a load in our
pants.
But seriously... When Signs begins, after a
trailer for Sweet Home Alabama has lulled you
into a false sense of security, the music of
James Newton Howard (channeling Bernard
Herrmann) behind the opening credits will
have pacemakers going off all over the theater.
The question is whether Shyamalan can
sustain the anticipation he's created, and the
answer will vary from one viewer to another. If
I could have measured my vital signs I'm sure
my heartbeat and pulse rate were elevated for
at least three-quarters of the picture.
As Spielberg proved in jaws, the horror you
imagine is worse than the horror you see.
Shyamalan lost me the first time he gives us a
good look at one of the aliens he's been teasing
us with, and it's obviously a guy in a rubber
suit. A better rubber suit than the one on the
Creature from the Black Lagoon but hardly
your worst nightmare.
As an alien invasion flick Signs is as refresh-
ingly free of Hollywood formulas and cliches
as The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, but that's
only half the story. The rest is about an
Episcopal priest, Graham Hess (Mel Gibson),
who lost faith and left the church when his
wife (Patricia Kalember) died six months ago.
He's raising their children, asthmatic Morgan
(Rory Culkin) and little Bo (Abigail Breslin),
who has a thing about water and leaves half-
drunk glasses all over their Bucks County,
Penn, farmhouse.
Graham's younger brother Merrill (Joaquin
Phoenix), a former minor league baseball play-
er who was as bad at hitting as he was good at
pitching, has moved in to help but is thinking
of joining the army.
Mysterious crop symbols have begun
appearing on farms all over the world, most
notably in India but now on the Hess farm
where patterns, visible from the air, have been
formed by bending, not breaking, large num-
bers of cornstalks.
Everybody has a theory, both locally and in
the media. "Either this is one of the most elab-
orate hoaxes ever created," an expert says on
television, "or it's for real." A radio talk-show
host believes one incident inspired countless
copycats. Merrill blames it on "nerds. . . who
never had girlfriends" while his recruiter sees
it as an advance reconnaissance mission in
preparation for a major invasion.
As fright spreads Graham calms Merrill by
telling him there are two kinds of people.
Those in Group One believe in signs — mira-
cles — and are filled with hope when the unex-
pected happens. The Group Two people
believe in nothing and are filled with fear.
Shyamalan keeps the tension so high for so
long that when he should be increasing it he
has nowhere to go and slips in a little comedy
instead. Most of the climax takes place during
an overlong siege where the Hesses are barri-
caded in the cellar. They — and we — can only
imagine what's going on outside.
"It's like The War of the Worlds!" Merrill
exclaims at one point, and that is the story
Signs most resembles. The ending, free of
Shyamalan's customary surprises, is some-
thing of a letdown.
Gibson gives a good performance except
for an early comic scene that's amusing but
inconsistent with his character. Phoenix is fine
and the kids again demonstrate Shyamalan's
skill in working with youngsters. Lesbian
actress Cherry Jones plays the folksy local
police officer, Caroline Paski (Gee, Officer
Paski!). The writer-director himself appears in
a small but important role that illustrates a
problem with the script: the facts surrounding
the death of Graham's wife are revealed grad-
ually over the course of the film instead of all
at once. There is no apparent reason for this, as
again there are no real surprises.
If Signs doesn't live up to our expectations
is it our fault for having those expectations or
Shyamalan's for giving them to us? If Pavlov
switched to a different brand of dog food,
could he have blamed the dog for not respond-
ing?
Then again, maybe we've just had too
many warm, fuzzv m- ies lately ▼
Opens today in wide release'.
Signs
★★ 1/2 (out of four)
Starring Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix and
Cherry Jones
Directed by M. Night Shyamolan
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Vercher, Dennis. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 19, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, August 2, 2002, newspaper, August 2, 2002; Dallas, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth616279/m1/32/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.