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