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- - NAA r vA PORT PERRY "WEEKEND STAR" Gah oh a aaa aaa est Sl sss... ose TEES RET) IY S140" RL: Cad VS ~N ¢ FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2000 - Independent Grocer honoured ryt WATS TO AAT FRESH WA FRESH WAYS TO SAVE J {LR . : CHRIS HALL/PORT PERRY STAR A total of 24 grocery stores across the province, including Reid's Independent Grocer in Port Perry, were presented with Foodland Ontario Retailer Awards recently through the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Accepting the award from Foodland Ontario official Jim James (far right) were Reid's staff Chris Fieldhouse, Angela Frain, and Paul Drinkwater. College's program wins award Durham College's Youth Internship Apprenticeship Program has surpassed 14 other entries from across Canada to win the prestigious Program Excellence Award from the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC). This is the first time that Durham College has won an ACCC Excellence Award. The award is one of five honours the national education association presents each year. The other four award categories are: leadership, staff excellence, teaching and student leader- ship. ACCC was found- ed in 1972 and it repre- sents more than 175 post-secondary institu- tions across Canada. Durham College will be recognized for the award at the ACCC con- ference in Whitehorse, Yukon, in May. As well, an ACCC representative will honour the college at a local ceremony. e 3M Scotchguard e Broadloom e Upholstery Durham Steam Cleaning , | osse Rugs 985-8552 852-6711 AVAILABLE NOW ON VIDEO & DVD DENZEL WASHINGTON ANGELINA JOU + te BONE GOLLECTOR -~ Pitrar™or ew re EEL YEE EE PE ESR REN BIER D WENN WR ER ose "Intense Siispense Thrille LE ©1999 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS AND COLUMBIA PICTURES : . INDUSTRIES, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED UN VERS AL brought to you by... A CRAG Ell Fe ]= Video SUPER Store Hwy. 7A at 1874 Scugog St, Port Perry 985-4459 www.thevideoimage.com 76 Baldwin St, Brooldin Mars movie a melancholy mess From page 9 favour. Through the nineties, de Palma has blundered his career away, from one mess of a film to another, the only exception being the Tom Cruise action thriller Misson : Impossible (1996). With Mission to Mars, one can only believe that perhaps he sold his soul in the 70s, and the devil has come col- lecting. After a manned mission to Mars goes wrong, a rescue mission is put into place with ill-prepared astronauts journeying to the red planet to save their comrades. Everything about the film screams SOMEONE FORGOT TO WRITE A SCRIPT, because while the picture is technically sound, often quite beautiful, the dialogue is utter nonsense, and downright stooooo- ppppiddd! We know much will go wrong on the mission, we know they encounter aliens, and we know the film maker will attempt a deep and meaningful statement about life reaching out to life. What the film makers forgot to do was create a decent storyline to get us through the film, which with each pass- ing moment becomes unwatchable. Strong actors such as Gary Sinise, Tim Robbins, and Don Cheadle look positively embarrassed to be in the film, which on paper must have sound- ed good. My beef is this: Do actors not read screenplays for themselves anymore? Do directors not read? Do they not realize halfway through the shooting that the film they are creating is dreck? Perhaps Tim Robbins sums up this mess better than anyone ever could when he was quoted as saying the only reason he did the film was so his kids could see the action figure they would make based on his charac- ter. Finally, the ultimate embarrass- ment for de Palma is the fact he strives for such depth in a screenplay as deep as the paper it was written on. Great science fiction films such as 2001 (1968), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and Contact (1997) are masterpieces of the genre because not only are the scripts well thought out and researched, but the film mak- ers dared to challenge and question us. The beauty of Kubrick's 2001 is that it dares the audience to come to terms with the film rather than simply lay it all out there for them. Contact merges theology with science, questioning the existence of God, and perhaps sug- gesting that aliens are God. Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind was often called a religious experience by people seeing the film for the first time because of the soar- ing message of hope and peace that permeates in every frame of the frame. As hard as de Palma tries here he creates something laughable, easi- ly surpassed in the annals of great sci- ence fiction by Mel Brooks film Spaceballs (1988). Mission to Mars is a disaster of a film. SETTLEMENT HOUSE Clearance Outlet 7A & QUEEN ST., PORT PERRY VET OILED LES ql F:1:{.1,'[d3 EXTRA 25% OFF ALL STOCK AT OUR HWY 7A STORE MOST ITEMS ALREADY 1/2 PRICE OR LESS Candles - candleholders - glassware dinnerware - throws - quilts cards - gift items - floor mats 25% FURTHER SAVINGS Don't Miss It! 7A 8& QUEEN ST., PORT PERRY 905-985-6696 Mon. - Thurs. 9:30-5:00. Fri. 9:30-7:00. Sat. 9:30-5:00. Sun. 12:00-5:00