community in Simon Burke.
We bring out all the old school tricks, stuff that would never play in the city. Fresh from
his roles as Will Hunting and Private Ryan, Matt Damon stars as a very good poker player
trying to use his skills to turn his life around in Rounders, one of five new movies
kicking off the fall season as we begin our 24th year on Siskel and Ebert. I'm Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Time. And I'm Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune. Our first film is
Rounders and I'm a poker player myself and I specialize in the one game, Texas Hold'em,
that is played throughout Rounders and so let me state straight up front that the poker
and strategy in this film is first rate. And here's even better news, so is much of the
drama as Matt Damon's character has to fight his own ego playing the game which has him
dreaming of making a big score that will stake him to a professional career in Las Vegas.
After he loses a lot of money in a big game he gets some tough words from a much more
conservative player who always is flush with cash played by John Turturro. You did it to
yourself. You had to put it all on the line for some Vegas pipe dream. While the poker
in the film is accurate, Damon's advice and method of play isn't. He relies too much on
tells, those give-away facial ticks and hand gestures that can reveal the strength of an
opponent's hand. You were looking for that third three but you forgot that Professor
Green folded it on 4th Street and now you're representing that you have it. The D.A. made
his two pair but he knows they're no good here and Mr. Eisen is just futilely hoping
that his queens are going to stand up. Take it down. But Damon's biggest problem in the
film, one that just won't go away, is his friendship with a self-destructive character
nicknamed Worm. Beautifully played by the fine young actor Edward Norton. After bringing
him home from prison, Damon is immediately caught up in the danger surrounding Norton
who has a lot of outstanding debt. Not too long before a collector comes calling. So
you bought me up Grandma? Yeah, got a real sweet deal too, 30 cents on a dollar. Not
a lot of faith in you out there in the business community. Great, so you're a banker now Grandma,
that's really classy. Not exactly. I don't have to tell you my collection methods. Norton's
character gets back to all of his old tricks, getting both himself and Damon heavily into
debt. He is truly creepy, an angry screw-up who just won't go away. Hey, fellas. Hey there.
That's this guy down at the bowling alley. He likes to play a little card. How you doing?
I don't think Rounders is anything more than just a couple of good character studies. That's
no mean achievement though. But in the case of the Matt Damon character, it's kind of
interesting to me. I once asked a casino owner how many people play poker professionally
in Las Vegas like he wants to. And he said very, very few. And he said the reason is
that anybody who wants that for a life probably is bringing with them to Vegas a whole set
of personal problems. Substance abuse, inability to have a relationship, money management,
all kinds of things. And Damon has a few of those characteristics. He seems like he's
perfect in terms of his play, but you look for the flaws. So that's kind of interesting.
Oh, he's going to have problems in Vegas. I enjoyed the movie too. In fact, I would give
it a thumbs up. But it's a sports movie. It's like a Rocky movie. It ends with a big fight.
In this case, it's a poker game. What amused me in a way, or maybe even concerned me in
a way, is that this is a pro gambling as a compulsion movie. I would not recommend this
movie as a training film at Gamblers Anonymous. Well put. But as you said, he has a flaw and
he's not going to make it. It isn't just the bad penny that keeps turning up. The Edward
Norton character. The bad penny is inside himself. He's one himself. But yet at the
same time, it's an entertaining movie as long as you don't take it very seriously as career
guidance. Oh, that's good. That never occurred to me. Okay, next movie. And our next movie
is a delightful and visually breathtaking animated feature named Kiki's Delivery Service.
It's the work of Hayao Miyazaki, whose cartoons have outgrossed Disney features in Japan and
whose entire output has been purchased by Disney for release in this country. I love
Miyazaki's work. I admire its visual grace and beauty, and I love the way it identifies
with its young heroes and heroines who are more like ordinary kids than mythical superheroes.
There's one thing not ordinary about Kiki, however. She's a young witch in training,
and when she reaches her teenage years, she sets off with her pet cat Gigi to find a new
town in which to practice witchcraft. The movie has been lovingly dubbed by Disney with
an American cast, including Kirsten Dunst as Kiki and the late Phil Hartman as Gigi
or Kat. Gigi, climb up and turn on the radio. I don't think I can handle it. Can you do
it? Oh, great. Now I'm suddenly the flight attendant. In a new town, Kiki gets a job
as a delivery girl for a pregnant baker named Asono, an earth mother voiced by Tress McNeil.
Oh, my goodness. Kiki makes a pal, a young boy named Tombo, who goes on a dirigible ride
and gets in a lot of trouble. Kiki! Tombo! The animation of Miyazaki is only now becoming
familiar in this country, but he's the equal, I think, of the Disney animators at their
best. In the pipeline is Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke, which, until Titanic, was the highest
grossing film in Japanese history. Kiki's delivery service is direct-to-video. It's
in stores right now, and I loved it. I enjoyed it very much, too, Roger. It has a different
visual style than the classic Disney animators, and so that's one thing. It catches your eye.
But the story, I mean, Kiki is really almost on a conveyor belt through this story, and
I was fascinated by someone who followed her rapidly, never looked away, my three-year-old
son. Yeah. Now, that amazed me. He happens to, his favorite things are monster truck
rallies and that kind of stuff, you know what I mean? He's a real boy. He liked this gentle
story about a girl walking, you know, through, I mean, there's exciting sequences, and they're
well animated, but not a word from him, and this kid likes action. It's surprising that
there is a narrative here, and kids hook into it. Right. Coming up later, Alan Arkin stars
as a down-and-out dad moving his family around the slums of Beverly Hills. Wake up. We're
moving. Again? We just got here. And coming up next, Ashley Judd and Oliver Platt befriend
a remarkable boy named Simon Birch.
It's the heartwarming Disney classic that's brought people together for generations on
video for the first time in a decade. Walt Disney's masterpiece, Lady and the Tramp,
on video Tuesday, September 15. Fall in love all over again.
Quit hogging the cat's shoes. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. Animal. It's a cat. It's a beaver.
It's a brown cat. It's a beaver. Look, it's a marmot. That was a beaver. Are beavers nice?
Yes. Look at him. There he is. Oh, yeah. He looked at me. I'm gonna give him a nut. He's
cute, isn't he? No. Beavers don't like nuts. I've never seen a beaver eat a nut. I've never
seen a beaver. Everyone loves planter's nuts, fresh roasted taste, and they're cholesterol
free. Oh, he's good. He's very good. Planters, relax. Go nuts. Think that'll fit in the van?
The world's greatest furniture sale is coming to an end. Every single item in Casey Fine
Furniture's $9 million inventory is on sale. And to make sure this is the greatest furniture
sale you've ever seen, take your choice of no payments until January 2000, interest free,
or use your cash and save an extra 7%. It's the world's greatest furniture sale, and it's
only at Casey Fine Furniture. Come in early. You don't have to be a morning person to love
breakfast. At IHOP, you can be a noontime or a nighttime person, too. Take IHOP's tempting
Very Berry Breakfast, two fluffy pancakes with luscious strawberries and creamy whipped
topping and a generous helping of tangy blueberry topping in the middle. With two eggs, bacon,
or sausages, and hash browns, they say Very Berry is very hard to resist. Good thing you
can enjoy it for just $3.99, and it's ready whatever time of day is best for you. Any
time's a good time for breakfast at IHOP. I said, what does coffee and donuts have to
do with God? They're merely refreshments so people can socialize and discuss the upcoming
activities. Whoever said that church needs a continental breakfast? Simon? An independent
thinking boy, a dwarf named Simon, interrupts a church service, and that's just one example
of how he impacts his community, his family, and friends in Simon Birch. To my mind, one
of the year's best and certainly most thoughtful and emotional movies is suggested by a character
in the beloved John Irving novel, A Prayer for Owen Meany, and both book and film have
a spirituality absent in so much of today's popular entertainment. Little Simon believes
that each one of us is God's instrument, and he means it, and that kind of talk sets him
apart even at Sunday school. The wonderful actress Ashley Judd, as the mother of his
best friend, comes to Simon's defense. We can't have him talking that way. It frightens
the other children. Oh, I think it's you it frightens, Miss Levy. What? Why would I be
frightened of little Simon Birch? Because that child has more faith than you'll ever
know. Ashley Judd is becoming one of those rare actors whose very presence in a film
is a guarantee of quality. Joseph Mazzello plays Simon's best friend. You shouldn't
talk about this hero stuff, Simon. Why not? Because it's weird. The other gets easy enough
as it is. I don't care. It's the truth. But you don't have any proof. I don't need proof.
I have faith. 11-year-old Ian Michael Smith is completely effective making his film debut
as little Simon. Jim Carrey plays the adult Joe, who in narration recalls the effects
of Simon's spirituality. What faith I have, I owe to Simon Birch, a boy I grew up with
in Gravestown, Maine. It was Simon that made me a believer. Simon Birch is more than gentle
sermonizing. A singular event in the film challenges Simon's theories and is by itself
an intensely dramatic interlude. That is a delicate balance, spiritual theories and action.
But writer-director Mark Steven Johnson manages it superbly. I was shocked to learn that his
main previous screen credits include writing the grumpy old men movies. I guess God's plan
for him was to ultimately bring a prayer for own meaning to the screen. What a wonderful
question. I like this movie too. I like the whole feeling of the town. I know that it's
more of a Norman Rockwell town than a real town in this place in Maine maybe 30 years
ago. But nevertheless, in the evoking of that town and that little boy and his best friend
and how they're both outsiders because the larger of the two boys doesn't know who his
father is. So he's kind of a misfit and these two misfits get together. It shows a friendship
that just transcends everything. And it's a funny movie and it's a warm-hearted movie
and I loved it. Did the film hook you that much that you began to think about your own
purpose and stuff like that? It didn't take that film. I've been thinking about that for
a long time. My purpose is to give good reviews to movies like Simon Birch. That's what I'm
on earth for. Well, I'm glad you arrived here today. When we come back, a comedy about a
poor family in a rich neighborhood. Marissa Tomei stars in Slums of Beverly Hills. I'm
not high. I'm bloated. Hey, Colorado, I'm coming home to Channel 7. You know, I started
in a Denver comedy club and now I've got my own talk show. Is this a great country or
what? Roseanne, coming September 14th to Channel 7. This is a 7 News Doppler Max update. Good
afternoon. I'm meteorologist Pam Dale. A few showers out there on 7 Doppler Max, most
of them to the north. I'll have you complete 7-day forecast at 5. Channel 7 and Einstein
Brothers Bagels could hand you the keys to an all-new 99 Osmobile Alero. Just go to your
local Einstein Brothers Bagels and pick up an entry form. Then watch the premiere of
ABC's Tuesday Night Comedies with Home Improved.