movie review
Playing war with real guns
Director Harold Brecker and cinematographer Owen Roizman use forceful camera
angles and long, poignant takes to delineate the motives of Timothy Hutton's
character.
Taps
Timothy Hutton, George C. Scott
West 11th Cinemas
Rated PG
It looks like a normal military school
A flag waves overhead Brick buildings
with white trim stand as they have for
years Uniformed cadets walk around in
pairs and trios
The cadets at Bunker Hill Academy are
not attending classes as usual, however
Instead of practicing drills and sitting
through military science classes, they
are carrying M-80's to sand bag bar
ricades to prepare for enemy attack
Their enemies are their parents and
National Guardsmen
In order to keep their school from
being closed to make room for con
dominiums, the students at Bunker Hill
Academy take over the campus with
weapons stored on the grounds The
situation becomes intense when the
governor orders the military to take the
campus by force
Although the story sounds a bit far
fetched, “Taps" is powerful drama
Masterful performances by George C
Scott and Timothy Hutton and excellent
supporting roles make "Taps’ one of the
very best of the Christmas line of movies,
and certainly one of the best of the year
Scott plays Brigadier General Harlan
Bache, the top dog at the academy
Hutton is Brian Moreland, the ranking
cadet who idolizes Bache and takes him
literally when he speaks of honor and the
necessity of defending it against all else
Scott delivers another of the high
power performances he is famous for,
and Hutton lives up to the standard he
set in "Ordinary People"
Performances by supporting cast
members Sean Penn. Moreland's room
mate and best friend, and Tom Cruise, an
overly gung-ho cadet who revels in the
confrontation, are equally good These
roles give the confrontation a sense of
humanity and realism
In fact, the film seems so real that after
the violent climax it comes as a surprise
that there's no blood splattered on the
theater floors
Many reviewers have attacked "Taps'
on the grounds that writers Darryl Pon
icsan and Robert Mark Kamen haven't
given Hutton's character enough of a
motivation for his actions I disagree
Although there aren't many references to
his motivations, director Harold Brecker
and cinematographer Owen Roizman
emphasize the rare references with
forceful camera angles and long, preg
nant takes
The finished product leaves a good
vision of Moreland's reasoning, but
doesn’t overstate it
"Taps" is something of a modern
"Lord of the Flies,” excellently develop
ing the theme of children acting in an
adult world With powerful acting and a
good plot. "Taps" is an impressive and
solid film that may prove to be a con
tender for more than a couple of Oscars
By Matt Meyer
Northwest Bell delivers new Phonebooks this week
Door-to-door delivery of Pacific
Northwest Bell's 1982 directory for
Eugene-Springfield. Florence-Mapleton
and the rest of Lane County began
Tuesday
PNB Area Manager Bruce Hall says the
company expects to distribute a total of
190,528 copies by Jan 15 Directories are
being hand delivered
Some 141,000 telephone books will be
delivered in the Eugene-Springfield area
Another 6,695 will go to customers in the
Florence-Mapleton area and a remaining
25,475 to customers throughout the rest
of Lane County, including Blue River,
Cottage Grove, Harrisburg, Junction City
and Veneta
For the first time the directory will
include the "Peach Pages," a new index
to the Yellow Pages A completely rede
signed "Call Guide” section in the front
of the book is also included The
changes were made for better readabili
ty, Hall said
Other changes include a new listing,
822-6035, for Blue River area fire reports
As in the past PNB has made arrange
ments with the Eugene Mission for
recycling the old directories Books may
be left in the newspaper drop boxes
provided around the Eugene-Springfield
area by the Mission, or arrangements
may be made with the Mission for free
pick up when 25 or more phone books
are accumulated at one location
The new directory features an Oregon
scene on the front cover — a pastel
colored rainbow rising over golden
fields Alan St John, a naturalist who
lives in Eastern Oregon, was the winner
of PNB's third directory cover photo
contest with a rustic scene taken in the
Upper John Day Valley St John won
$1,500 for his efforts
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