Move over, Oscar!The Journal's 1998 Green Screen Awards Our annual Green Screen Awards salute the most (and -- with the accompanying Brown Screen Awards -- the least) environmental films of the previous year. The winners are: A Civil Action (Touchstone): Greedy lawyer saves community from polluters, loses case, loses bank account, discovers soul. Most remarkable element: the movie names the actual lawbreakers -- W.R. Grace & Co. and Beatrice Foods. Bonus: Robert Duvall's skin-curdling portrayal of corporate uberlawyer Jerome Facher. A Bug's Life (Disney/Pixar): Lovable, big-eyed bugs (but what about those missing legs?). Hero is another misfit mis·fit n. 1. Something of the wrong size or shape for its purpose. 2. One who is unable to adjust to one's environment or circumstances or is considered to be disturbingly different from others. free-thinker who blunders his way to victory. A politically correct politically correct Politically sensitive adjective Referring to language reflecting awareness and sensitivity to another person's physical, mental, cultural, or other disadvantages or deviations from a norm; a person is not mentally retarded, but male ladybug ladybug or ladybird beetle Any of the approximately 5,000 widely distributed beetles of the family Coccinellidae. The name originated in the Middle Ages, when the beetle was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and called “beetle of Our Lady. is a step forward for gender-benders. Downside: Plotline slanders an entire order of insects (grasshoppers Grasshoppers may refer to one of the following:
Mighty Joe Young (Disney): One movie, two orphans -- how can you miss? One's a 15-foot Tanzanian gorilla; the other's Charlize Theron. Gorilla Joe is brought to a US wildlife preserve to save him from poachers but the endangered species endangered species, any plant or animal species whose ability to survive and reproduce has been jeopardized by human activities. In 1999 the U.S. government, in accordance with the U.S. black market threatens Joe even in the Land of Liberty. The Avengers (Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) ): Special Award for "Best Villain in a Really Sucky Movie." Sean Cannery (kilted kilt n. 1. A knee-length skirt with deep pleats, usually of a tartan wool, worn as part of the dress for men in the Scottish Highlands. 2. A similar skirt worn by women, girls, and boys. tr.v. , not stilted stilt·ed adj. 1. Stiffly or artificially formal; stiff. 2. Architecture Having some vertical length between the impost and the beginning of the curve. Used of an arch. ) as megalomaniacal meg·a·lo·ma·ni·a n. 1. A psychopathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of wealth, power, or omnipotence. 2. An obsession with grandiose or extravagant things or actions. businessman Sir August De Wynter who -- in cahoots with a pack of "pure scientists" -- has figured out how to commercialize the climate, Best line of the year: "From now on, you will buy your weather from meeeee!" Greatest disappointment: No cameo by Diana Rigg. Firestorm (20th Century Fox): A force of nature in a title role. Howie Long and Scott Glenn face 600-foot walls of fire to save a cute child and an even cuter ornithologist named Jennifer. Special Mentions Wag the Dog (New Line Cinema) proved that even the wittiest satire is no match for reality The movie launched a political catch-phrase that should have prevented the bombing of Baghdad. Bulworth (20th Century Fox). The year's funniest tragedy Courageous, obscene and on-the-mark, Senator Jay Bulworth's raps on politics, race, money, power, and socialism should be required reading in every school in the land. The Siege (20th Century Fox). After the Oklahoma City bombings Congress passed a bunch of anti-terrorist laws. In 1997, the FBI, Pentagon and local police began making joint contingency plans to handle the "terrorist threat" in US cities. If you weren't worried in 1997, rent this film. Do you really want to live in a country ruled by General Bruce Willis? Brown Screen Awards: 1998% Least Environmental Films Tied for First Place: Armageddon and Deep Impact: These films, along with Antz and Bug's Life, marked 1998 as the year of the instant sequel. Both space-rock blockbusters wind up with the Earth saved by a combination of military genius and nuclear bombs. Is this credible? No comet. Babe: Pig in the City (Universal): Why sweat a storyline when you can get laughs by making animals act like human stereotypes? Here's why: You poison the spirit of an original and truly charming fable with too many scenes of snarling snarl 1 v. snarled, snarl·ing, snarls v.intr. 1. To growl viciously while baring the teeth. 2. To speak angrily or threateningly. v.tr. violence, grotesque humans, and overblown special effects. Babe II has all the subtlety of a Batman sequel. Message to the director: Dear Bacon-for-Brains, next time give the lead to the singing mice! Hard Rain (Paramount): Bad Eco-Timing Award: For climactic chase scene through flooded high school ... on jet skis! Feh! |
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