Calgary Herald from Calgary, Alberta, Canada • 29

Entertainment CALGARY HERALD Thursday, August 10, 2000 B9 Reeves takes a Matrix break FromB7 A-Channel: Variety of films funded In November, Superchannel will air Bad Money, with a cast featuring Graham Greene, Joe Turvey and Murray Spender. Coming up on pay-per-view is Grizzly Falls, starring Daniel Clarke as a boy who must use his wits to survive after he is kidnapped by a bear trying to free her cubs. Other movies partly financed by the A-Channel Drama Fund are Silent Cradle, Framed, Anthrax, Deadly Arrangement and Question of Privilege, all produced by Calgary's Bruce Harvey, who has made a specialty of high-tension dramas. "When they (A-Channel) came in, they got a lot happening," says Harvey. Calgary screenwriter Schultz, whose credits include Silent Cradle, Question of Privilege, Framed and is about to make his debut as the director of Jet Boy.

He credits A-Channel and Levy with getting the film going. "Jet Boy wouldn't be made if it wasn't for Joanne, that's a fact," says Schultz. "A-Channel's been great Joanne's the first person who believed in this film and helped get it going." Schultz has been trying to make the film, which he calls a "character piece," for seven years. "What I like about it, nothing's been done like it in Alberta," Schultz says, calling Jet Boy "a cross between My Own Private Idaho and Old Yeller, which made it really hardtoselL" The story centres on Nathan, a 13-year-old prostitute. When his mother dies of a heroin overdose, he hits the road in search of his father, whom he doesn't know.

Nathan hitchhikes and is picked up by Boon, a wordly, down-on-his-luck character on his way to a drug deal While Levy concedes Jet Boy sounds edgy, she says the film is simply intended to be good storytelling that appeals to as many viewers as possible. "We have a commitment to nurture the industry here (but) ultimately, of course, it's the viewer (that counts) at the end of the day," Levy says. "We're hoping that when they see these movies they'll say, There's something fresh, there's something interesting, there's something we wouldn't have gotten from any other And we're feeding the system because a number of projects will probably be seen on pay-TV before they come to us, or they may be seen on other networks. That's just the economics of broadcasting. But I like to think that we've given some people a good start." 1 .0 J- Ron Phillips photos Keanu Reeves says he patterned his Replacements character on his favourite player, NFL quarterback John Elway.

The actor went through three weeks of football training for the film. Preview The Replacements opens Friday in Calgary theatres. JIM BECKERMAN Knight Ridder Newspapers The eyelids are heavy, the beard is a patchy six-day growth and the hair stands on end, even though Keanu Reeves keeps periodically pushing it back with his hand. Press junket burnout? A hangover? Or just the Keanu look? It could be any of those things, but it could also reflect the punishing turn his career has taken. Anyone might look exhausted after what Reeves went through preparing for The Replacements, opening Friday.

For the sports comedy, Reeves endured three weeks of football boot camp in order to be convincing as an ex-quarterback who gets a second chance at the big time. "It was important for me to be believable," said Reeves, appearing for interviews in a New "York hotel suite. Or perhaps his weary look is simply Reeves looking ahead to his year and a half of non-stop work on two sequels to the snjash cyber-thriller The Matrix. Shooting starts in November. In a radical move with few precedents (the original Superman, the in-production Lord of the Rings trilogy), the two Matrix sequels will be shot simultaneously, over a two-year period.

Reeves will have to put his career, and life, on hold for 17 months including four months of training to do his second and third go-rounds as Neo, the kick-boxing saviour out to rescue the human race from a cyber-dominated future. "I'm looking forward to playing the part again," he says, adding that the appeal of The Matrix went beyond its stunningly choreographed action scenes and its amazing visuals. The real hook, he believes, was the human drama. "It had an ambition to create a cinema that's never really been seen before in that form, but was recognizable in anime, or graphic arts, or cartoons. "What is interesting about The Matrix is that for all of its new-feeling cinema, you'll notice that after the first action sequence, you have drama and scenes for almost 20 minutes (where) ideas and dialogue and communication are going on.

It isn't just quick cuts and it isn't just tomographic, it's about a discussion and relationships unfolding." 0 (Jon Favreau), a chain-smoking Welsh soccer player (Rhys Ifans), a convict (Michael Jace) and a sumo wrestler (Ace Yon-amine). The 35-year-old Reeves, who was born in Beirut and grew up in Canada, didn't play football as a youth, but he did watch it on TV. The Replacements gave him a chance to indulge in hero-worship by patterning his Falco character on his favourite player, legendary retired Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway. He and his fellow actors went through three weeks of football training supervised by stunt coordinator Allan Graf, who did similar work with the actors in Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday. The film, which takes off from events surrounding the 1987 NFL players strike, is about the good sportsmanship that seems to be vanishing from an increasingly money-driven game.

"Egalite," Reeves says. "That was the spirit of the film, with all the actors coming together." ceived. When I saw it, I thought, 'It's better than the film I thought rdmade." Now that The Matrix seems destined to be the kind of long-term franchise for Reeves that James Bond was for Sean Con-nery, he's taking time out to change his pace while he can. He'll be seen as a wife abuser in the upcoming The Gift, opposite Hilary Swank, and he'll appear with Charlize Theron in a remake of the old Sandy Dennis weeper Sweet November. "I don't want to be one kind of actor playing one kind of part," he says.

In The Replacements, his first release since The Matrix, the onetime college ice hockey player gets to once again show off his physical side as Shane Falco, a has-been football player who gets one more shot at the big time when a major league team goes on strike. Gene Hackman is the maverick coach who recruits a Dirty-Dozen assortment of characters to play on his team, including a sprinter (Orlando Jones), a NOW OPEN 14 wall-to-wall screens stadium seating digital sound cafS frozen treats games room 33 3 Brooke Langton plays a cheerleader in the movie. The enormous success of The Matrix was something that took Reeves as well as almost everyone else by surprise. "I had no expectations," Reeves says, looking back on what proved to be a major turning point in his career. "I didn't know how it was going to be re THOMAS AND THE MAGIC RAILROAD(G) Thursday 2:00,4:00,6:00 hollow man 1IA No Passes (On 2 Screens) 10:20 THE PATRIOT) 14 graphic vtoamca) Thursday 1:00.5:00,9:10 NUTTY PROFESSOR THE KLUMPS 14A crude content) (On 2 Screens) Thursday 12:40,1:50,3:20,4:30.7:00,8:00,9:30,10:30 violence-prone LA.

cop GUNAT0R(14Agoryvlolencs)Thursday 12:10.3:40.8:30 X-MEN PG may frighten younger childran (On 2 Screens) Thursday 12:20.1:30.3:10, 5:10,7:30,8:10.10:10,10:50 NEW WATERFORD GIRL( 14A Thursday 2:10,4:50.7:40,11:00 WHAT LIES BENEATH 14A (On 2 Screens) Thursday 12:30,1:40.3:30.4:40,6:40.7:50.9:40, 10:40 Special Daily Twilight Matinees! Reduced Admission Prices MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 (14A Thursday 1:10,4:10.7:10.10:00 SCARY MOVIE 18A crude seiual content Irrroughoui (On 2 Screens) Thursday 12:00.3:00.6:30,8:20.9:20.1 1:10 NOTE NCW HOURS OF OPERATION! A MERCHANT IVOHY PRODUCTION COTTON MARY pfu No 7 00 how on Thufi Aug 10 HELD OVER- AMY IRVING IN BOSSANOVAH- SMC CQHBOIt 4.10. m. 9 J6 (I4A I nightly SAT SUN 2-00 i 4-20 STE 2 HOLLOW MAN 1 SA No Passes Thursday 1:00,3:30.7:00.10:00 conn voir x. oo ipgi WHAT UtS KNE4TH Vtltm 7 00 915 9 40 14A) THf PERFECT STORM 4 .40. 7:10.

9 50 (PGi laxpi CMtCKEN Him 4 4:50 7:20 (6' En TbnigtW 331 X-MEN PG may frighten younger childran (On 3 Screens) Thursday 12 30 1 30 3 30. 4:20,6:40.7:10,7:30.9:30,10:00,10:20 ri NUTTY PROFESSOR It THE KLUMPS(14A crude contant) Thursday 1:30,4:00,7: 15,9:45 J) II 1U1I1I J1I.I All MOVIES 2M 0 l5S Matinees $2.00 loom'e luesdays SHOWTIMFS FOR WED THURS AUG 9 10 X-MEN PG may frighten younger children Thursday 12:45.3:15,6:45,9:15 SCARY MOVIE 18A crude seiual content throughout (On 2 Screens) Thursday 12:50.2:00.3.40.4:50,7:00,7:20.9:10,9:40 SCARY MOVIE 18A crude seiual content throughout (Thursday 7:30.9:30 1 i 1:153:407:159.45 .10 4:05 7:20 10:05 THE PATRK)T(14A graphic violancs)Tlwrsilay 9:00 THE PATRIOT! 1 4A graphic violence (On 2 Screens) Thursday 1:10,4:40,6:30, 9 00,9 50 SHANGHAI NOON BOY'S AND GIRLS -iugoeiK cene TITAN AX i B0SSA NOVA MofinMt: Today ot 4:10, 7:10 i 9 10 fri, Mon. Thun. 4:00 45.6:30 Fri. Thon.

at 7:00 A 9:00 Sal A Sun. ot 1:00 A 3:00 THOMAS AND THE MAGIC RAILROAD(G) Thursday 12:30.3:00.5:00 THOMAS AND THE MAGIC RAILROAD(G) Thursday 12:40.2:50.5:00 BIO MOMMA'! HOUSi i 1:203:557:2510:00 fi4Al FINAL DAY ENDS TONIGHT COTTON MARY Today at 4:00 A 9:20 Only ERIN IROCXOViai 3 THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY BULLWINKLE Thursday 1 40,4:00 ROAB TRIP OA 23510:10 1:254.00 HOLLOW man 1 No Passes (On 2 Screens) Thursday 12:50,1:20.4:00.4:30,7:10.7:40.10:00. 10:30 L0SER(14A)Thursday 1:20.3:50.6 50.9 20 FUHTSTONES THOEG 1:404:10 COYOTE UGLY PG) Thursday 1:40. 4:20,7:20.9:50 7:109:50 ME, MYSELF ft IRENE 18A crude content, may offend Thursday 1 50. 4:30.7:40.10.30 1:354:15 SPACE COWBOYS PG Thursday 12 00,3:20.7:00,10:20 U-571 Km lares ROAD TO DORADO i BATTUFIELD IARTH i -no.

wittue yojrqp WHERE THI HEART IS CHUCK BUCK Official SeIrion Sunrfanct film Festival 2000 FrL-Thurs. at 7:10 4 9:15 Matinees: Mon. -Triors, at 4:10 Sat. Sun. at 1:10 3:15 LID STARTS TOMORROW 1:053:50 14A gory TMeiwe)TrrursdBy 1:00,4:10.7:50 NUTTY PROFESSOR THE KLUMPS(14A crude content (On 2 Screens) Thursday 12:40,1:10,3:10.4:10.6:30,7:30,9:40.10 35 H15155 4 EAST IS UST CANCaAWMAW WHAT UES BENEATH (14A Thursday 12:30.3:30.6:50.10:10 -owne language mmmmmmwmmmmmm STARTS TOIWIUHHUWI IMTWAktHUt A2-33M THE PATRfOT(14A graphic violence) Thursday 7:30 7 10 9 15 FRI UOtt 4 10 S' Slt MATS 1 Ifj 3 1 X-MEN PG may frighten younger children (On 2 Screens) Thursday 12 20,1:00.3 40.

4 40 640.7 50.1025 SCARY MOVIE 18A etude seiual content throughout (Thursday 8: 10.10:45 ME. MYSELF IRENE 18A crude content, may offend Thursday 7:40 THE PATRK)T(14A graphic violence Thursday 9:00 BOYS AN0 GrflLS(PGtuggeitryt langvage Thursday 8 20 LOSER 14A Thursday 8:00, 10:40 THE PERFECT ST0RM( PG coarse language) Thursday 6:20.9 30 SHAFT) 14A violence and coarse language: throughout Thursday 8: 10 I I CHICKEN RUN Thursday 12:10,4:50 TTT" LOSER 14A Thursday 8 00 POKEMON THE MOVIE 2000(G) Thursday 1:30,3:50 THOMAS ANO THE MAGIC RAJKD( Thursday 1.50.5 00 GONE 60 SEC0Nre(1)Thursdey7 50 SCAY HOVie 4 25 7 25 9 30 lA Oude mull oorMM Vouahoul TMOilAl TM IUGIC KAILROAO 12 50 2 5 4 45 (G) leneral tHSHtrS TMt RIO Mon 10 00 4) 25 6 45 9 10 Tu TSu 2 10 4 2S 9 10 Wcm) 2.10 4 25 9 10 Gt GflfWal COTOTl UGCI NO MSSES) 1 20 1 50 3 4 Ml 7 10 7 40 40 10 10 iPGi Pannlal Gudanc TH MTKWT Mon 1 30 Iu4-T)l 3 20 30 14 Grne okn LOS 2 00 14 if HOLLOW MAM (NO MSSES) 1 10 1 40 3 40 4 20 7 15 1 00 50 40 1A OLADIATON 1 14 vtw 4CM4CKEH RUN 1 25 IGl Gm LIES BENEATH 1X415 720 7B 1DT5 1036 14 x-HeN 2 20 4 50 OS 1025 PG Pmi Guaxo ktay IKgM- Ifflium PROFESSOR TOE M.UMPS Frt Sat 145 2 15 4 00 4 40 6 50 7 50 920 10 20 Sun1 45 2 15 4 00 6 50 7 50 9 20 10 20 14A Cude content THE PERFECT STORM 1 55 4 30 7 56 10 45 (PGI Parana Gudanee Coars languaot VTOKEMOM: THE MOVK 2W9 12 45 1 15 3 003 30 5 10 5 45 Gt General pace coonors mo passes) i oo 4 05 700 7 so woo 10 -PC' PsifHat G.i1ar 1 1 fro 31 ERIN BROCKOVKH 14A) Thursday 400.6:45.940 THE RJNTSTONES MVA ROCK VEGAS Thursday 7 00 I I 1 950 TTTAN A.E. PG Thursday 7: 1 5 I aTMfc PERFECT STORM J2U 1 15 10 5 IPGi PararealGiKBraCcanennaMKja aOKEMON: THE MOVC 200 12 20 1 10 3 00 iGl General COVrSOTS (NO PASSES) 12 40 3 40 10 10 00 (PG) Parental Guoanca tCHKHEN RUN 12 2 30 Gafaral LOVE AND BASKETBALL! 14AThursdsy 'OtSMEY THE K.JO 1 11) 2 50 6 8 DO )Oi General fCOTOTE UGLY INO PASSES) 1 20 3 50 7 10 30 IPGI ettOLLOW MAN (NO PASSES) 12 30 1 00 3 30 400 700 7 30 50 10 20 18 arnHHAT LIES BENEATH 13O4305075O940 1040 14A HUSSION IMPOSSIBLE It 40 9 30 atHJTTY PROFESSOR THE KLUMPS 12 504 720 10 10 4 Cnjrje content BOYS ANO GmS(PG rjogestive language) Thursday 9 30 TTTAN A.E-(PG) Thursday 3:45.7: 15 935 BKS MOMMA HOUSE PG etude content Thursday 9 25 i I I I I ZrH 4J' SHANGHAI NOON PG coarse language Thursday 4:45.7:30.10 00 SHANGHAI NOON PG coarse language Thursday 6 45.9 45 lEEJTiaCnE ,165 See-t freer SO 246-60o4 t045Mdt045 tv Sari 1-ai A 32 Ke A A04V-4j)b6 corort tMa(NoAsSsTTw440 7 4o ioMTO Cerent 3.aarx lot ATnoT '0 1A4 Graonc acm eTHOltOej MAM NO PASSES) I40420720940 tM rCrCriNJ RUM 2 20 4 45 'G tier MV VWHAT LtES WMEATH I 20 4 1SJ 56 14 WE HELL OF A SCARY RIDE' ft4 2 1 4 7 45 Fararne Qu Kxre1 cnren MUTTK tXXJFFSSOR I TUT rRUaS 1X150 715 930)4 ArTWOlBAS THE MAOC WAR WOAO 3 0 GerM VCOTOTE UGLT PASSES)) 1 20 M0 7 48 20 (POi rrMreAl Gh.IiMW'B VTOStR 2 18 '44 'yxOUSm MAM (MO PASSES M7JI K3K4X7talX95C IC4C HJ yOMCRENRUN l30GenM (yVMATLKS HttFATN 1 004 720 10 14 POaEMC-N iS0i0555nGiarTratiatia aMEPCRPECTSTORIt 46 9 2S aa HOLLOW MAN He fell in love for the first time-. She fell in love forever. iKX ics "srn tovfj rn VVCf COaiaOTSa3 PASSES) 1 04 3B 7 00 50 2Sr 3C St ''in S7 GENERAL AJAasStOM S4 or TuesjAvs sc weeam teATHFis scifryxoiTv'rwfloAivTrian aflMfTTT PROFESSOR 2K SXIPMPS VapvTiai la2X4375SKKMM2394X7910 FMOoa) THE 1 1 VH LANGUAGE tCOOTE UGLV aaO PASSES) 1 2 3 9 7 JO t8 fPGt rvr.E ton 'r' er-TWE PCftFECT 3 Of 4 20 7 30 (PtS Paw ii IvraceEN aia 1 4T5 AOS Seneetf TE PECT STOtaa E50 9 Lnrfe arAt StVTOTT 1 CCWJSEUM MARKET MALL 1 SUNRtDGE 1 WESTHrLLS I CROWFOOT 121 EAU CUMREl OaXMON THI MOV4E TBW 7 30 5 00 rG Gcrvtf 'rSPACE COWROrS (NO PUSES aSB 328 700 laTO taOIMmmm eVBngAT "BBraslaTi-i TE PI CWCarO 14 0EaC H4E MOW 2008 1 354 15 TX (6" General rSPACE COPlSOVS (NO PASSES) lOSISSTaSaSOtOGl I 1 NOW PLAYINGIm STARTS TOMORROW! tCTOES.