The General's Daughter
Directed by Simon West
Starring John Travolta, Madeleine Stowe, James Cromwell, James Woods, Timothy Hutton
Whodunnit murder mystery set on a US army base in the American South, with Travolta as the military detective called in to investigate the ritual murder of a bright young female officer - the daughter of the army's most powerful general. For a while, there's much to enjoy, but The General's Daughter takes a disappointing nose-dive in its final act, when implausible sentimentality takes hold and the more interesting sub-plots are jettisoned in favour of an unconvincing conclusion.
South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut
Directed by Trey Parker
Yes, it's cheap and nasty-looking. Yes, it's full of jokes about farting, vomiting and sodomy. Yes, many people are likely to find its depiction of religion deeply offensive. But the big-screen version of the cult TV show was one of the funniest, sharpest American releases of 1999. If the movie relied solely on confrontational excess, it would hardly sustain even its short 81 minutes, but it's packed with so many visual and verbal gags that it's often difficult to keep up. The first really good musical in years.
The Haunting
Directed by Jan De Bont
Starring Liam Neeson, Lili Taylor, Catherine Zeta Jones, Owen Wilson
Jan De Bont's turgid, effects-driven horror movie updates Shirley Jackson's novel The Haunting of Hill House to the present day, with Neeson as the scientist who brings three people to an eerie, deserted mansion to observe their reactions. The three turn out to be stock characters: Taylor is a sensitive loner, Zeta Jones a hedonistic fashion victim, and Wilson a wisecracking cynic. Soon, they're all running for their lives, but it's impossible to give a damn. De Bont chooses to make his ghosts all too visible, and the film is swamped in an absurdly excessive production design that seems intended simply to impress with its cost.
