Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1982)
The Historian Skeksis in The Dark Crystal. by JaorTH Sims This is Hollywood’s favorite time of year: happy people love, presents, good and going to the Traditionally, late December is Big Bucks time for the studios, when aii hose bored, restless, hum folks (college students ) go to dark theaters search of laughs, insights stale popcorn. Thus glv the film studios their own s (money!) and good cheer (success!). Everybody V: Ks-vsxLrl Ka kjkMMU <lk»«4na> Last noted, of turkeys for the i and I do not refer to the Buddy, Rollover, i Pennies from Problems and Anyway? ail did Scroogy Bombed, as it m This year, Hollywood Is of hopefuls of • luck (a studios’) wUI change. , CHOICE stars Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline and Peter Mac Nichol in the film venton of William Styron s best selling novel about a mtwmt r<w imiTugforH wno- mjx The tfory plays out in Brooklyn. cH^pntc nfiu iiiri j©Wi»f» iOwt Nathan (Kline) bee m a boarding Moose and latfcxv. naturally ...) and ,-„ — ierina Katherine Healy in a modem three-hanky romance. Dudley's a politician, Mary s a cosmetics queenpin. Healy is her doomed dancing daughter. Actor Tony Bill di rected, For those expecting this year 's version of Arthur, be advised that this is being called Dudley Moore's first dramatic role. FRANCES is the compelling, often gruesome story of Thirties actress Frances Farmer, who rebelled against conformity and ended up In a mental institution. Jessica Lange stars, acclaimed stage actress Kim Stanley portrays her dominating mother, and playwright Sam Shepard is o mysterious detective who met Frances when she was !6 and loved her until her death In 1970. THE DARK CRYSTAL is a Kve action non-animated film in which no humans appear —only creatures devised by Muppe'.eers Jim Henson and Frank Ot and artist tthe book Fames) Brian Froud. The Dark Crystal is peopled (creatured?) with Qeifiings, Skeksis, Garthim warriors and Mystics: they at! talk and move (thanks to some space age engineer ing by the technicians behind the creatures) amid magical forests and anthropomorphic rivers. The plot is good vs. evil, the effects look spec tacular. and it's all produced by Star Wars producer Gary Kurte. THE VERDICT stars Paul Newman as a down-and-out Boston lawyer, a drunk who's sunk so low he fre quents funeral parlors hoping to cadge a few contested-wili cases. He is suddenly handed tine case of a lifetime: an "unwinnabte" malprac tice suit against a big, rich Catholic hospital. But first, he has to get sober . Charlotte Rampling and Lindsay Crouse also star. KISS ME GOODBYE stars James Caan, Saily Field and Jeff Bridges in a good-natured fantasy tove story wherein Caan, deceased famous Broadway choreographer, returns to haunt his very much alive wife (Field) on the eve of her wedding to Egyptologist Bridges. There is a message underlying the silliness— letting go of the past—and Caan does some tap dancing; the latter may (or may not) be worth the price of admission. AIRPLANE lb THE SEQUEL re portedfy has wonderfully dumb puns just like the original; it also stars Robert Hays and Juke Hagerty, just like the original (plus dozens of fa mous TV faces tike Peter Graves, Sonny Bono, Raymond Burr, William Shatner, et ai.) This time, the tionai Clint Eastwood offering. Well, thank goodness, the man has come through for us this year Hanky Tank is a more personal' mm, we re told (not exactly Dirty Many Goes to a Bar. ff you get my drift, podner). Chnt plays a singer—yea. a singer —back in the Thirties, who journeys from dust bowl Oklahoma to the Grand Ole Opry to make his name and fortune CSnt also pro duced and directed and i. for one, can't wait. BEST FRIENDS. Burt Reynolds, who used to be ingratiating and amusing but Is now just boxing and seii-important; and Goldie Hawn, who was once cutely iconoclastic but is r*ow just cute, portray two screenwriters whose close working habits lead to closer personal habits. Best Friends was written by Barry Levinson (wbc wrote Diner) and Val erie Curtin together they also wrote ... ,arw Justice for Alt, among others, and Best Friends is partially based on their own writing (and other) experiences. TWICE UPON A TIME is that old, fashioned holiday standby, an ani mated adventure film in which two apprentice heroes do battle with evil. The subtitle may explain everything: "The Synoiwness Botch and His Murk Workers Try to Save the Rushes of Din from Non-Stop Nightmare Bombs—Clocks Stand Stffl." GANDHI is a four-hour mufti million dollar International cast-of thousands epic — and glorious it is. too. {Gandhi, Five Days One Summer and Stitt of the Night are the only films in this list I’ve actually viewed.) We see Gandhi's rise from lawyer to spiritual leader, his power and influence over millions simply awesome: when Gandhi fasted, India came to a haft until he resumed eat ing. Ben Kingsley, a British/Indian actor and member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, is com pletely convincing. The script is powerful and witty, the spectacles spectacular, the path to unity and peace fascinating. In these uncertain times, it is strangely comforting to look back at other uncertain times, to see one little man stubbornly — but peacefully—prevail over one of die most powerful nations in the world. Gandhi instructed the world in the ways and powers of non-violent protest: it is a lesson worth a re fresher course. 48 HRS. has Nick Nolte as a tough Los Angeles cop who springs Eddie Murphy (the comedian from Satur day Night Uve In his first film role) from the slammer because he needs
