Jayne Loader’sPublic Shelter

CD-ROM for Windows
EJL Productions

An interactive multimedia sequel to the 1982 cult-documentary The Atomic
Cafe (which Jayne Loader co-directed),Public Shelter is probably
the largest gathering of information on atomic weapons and energy to this date
— science fiction and science fact. By incorporating a design that utilizes
the medium to the utmost (each chapter is set up like a Web home page, with
hypertext links to all 15 megs of fully-indexed data), the experience takes the
form of an eye-opening and wryly comic self-led journey through the apocalypse.
(A technical note: quality viewing is strictly enforced, so be sure your
computer has all the system requirements. The product won’t even load if your
monitor can’t be set to thousands of colors.) Though the CD contains some
potentially scary stuff — recently declassified documents on topics such as
government-sponsored human radiation experiments, scenes from historic atomic
bomb propaganda films, revealing data on nuclear accidents, and 18 original
songs — don’t be afraid. “Edutainment” isn’t frightening when it’s well done.
(Jayne Loader will be the special guest speaker at the public AIVF meeting
Monday, July 29. See “Short Cuts,” p.40, for complete info.) —
Jen Scoville

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Casino

The Mob of the Seventies moves West to Vegas in Scorsese’s latest
two-cassette epic. When successful small-time operator Sam Rothstein (De Niro)
is taken off the streets to apply his lucrative touch to the fabulously swank
Tangiers casino, it becomes his job to keep business booming and on the
up-and-up in appearance while the bosses back East enjoy the fruits of his
labors — and they can be messy ones. Scorsese’s characteristically flashy
cinematography — obscure camera angles, quick cuts, and slow pans — get lost
on a small television screen, but come off even more stylized with the
infamously garish time period as a backdrop. The story itself seems bogged down
by narration (especially in the beginning), but who can resist the soundtrack,
the costumes, this cast? While De Niro relaxes in a comfortable role and Joe
Pesci gives his usual (but accomplished) maniacal tough-guy performance, both
Sharon Stone and James Woods outdo themselves in characters so repugnant, they
belong in the decade for which they were written. —
Jen Scoville

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The Brothers McMullen

Love is in the air as the three Irish-American McMullen brothers wrestle with
how to fit happiness and ladies into the same sentence. The only similarity
between these three guys is their heritage, but they find plenty to talk about
over beers when it comes to romance. While Patrick wonders whether to marry his
Jewish girlfriend, Jack experiments with infidelity in his marriage. Barry,
played by Edward Burns (who also wrote, produced and directed the project), is
the film’s big heartthrob. This is a small movie, low-budget, and with no big
names, but it succeeds as a direct hit for the heart without being schmaltzy.

— Kayte VanScoy

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Tommy

Wow! It’s like an album, movie, and coffee- table book rolled into one!
Unfortunately, that rolling squeezed out most of what was inside, it seems. Of
the five hours of audio and video promised on the box, wouldn’t you think there
would be some complete Who songs? No such luck, nor is there much reward in
wading through the tiny snippets of new interviews with Roger Daltrey, and fans
and crew who “were there.” Seriously, buy the movie, the album, and a coffee-
table book, and sit back and enjoy them instead.

–Ken Lieck

This article appears in July 26 • 1996 and July 26 • 1996 (Cover).