Newspaper Page Text
Jarman February, 1979
Ampersand
15
SUfEKMAN, with Chriatophrr Rrrvr. Grnr
Hack.' Marlon Brando, Margot Kidder; writ
ten b> Vlario Hu/o. I.rslir Newman. David Nrw-
man t. Robert Benion; dirt*, led l»\ Richard Don-
Foul yearn and SI S million since producers
Alex.' nder and Ilya Salkind announced they
woul< < make an epic movie alxiut Superman,
thrlfilm has Mown into theatres across
Amc tea. The ads say “you’ll believe a man
can fly," which curiously is tieside the |x»int in
jj^^bweet, almost ingenuous film about the
wot!.' s favorite super-hero. If you go expect
ing knottier dazzling special effects movie on
^^^brder rtf2001, Star lUir\ or Close Encounter of
the Uhtrd Kind, you’ll be dreadfully disap-
^Bited However, if you go expecting
^Biw-.tway sophisticated acting, a lovely
j^^Banrr and a little high adventure. Super
I . an do no wrong.
The film’s major saving grace is 25-ycar-
| Reeve. Good looking, athletic, he also
*es a charm and sweetness that can’t
Baked tie plays Superman very straight-
pid and with enough subtle grarr to make
l believable. Unlike the comic Ixxiks on
|i< h this movie is based, what makes our
en Superman work is his ability to relate
to the world — and the people around him.
Him notably Lois Lane, played by Margot
Hd'h i
^pieev e and Kidder have an on-screen rap-
poi' ihat's quite remarkable and their scenes
^Bcthcr, although in this part-one of the
^K.-part movie saga quite ( haste, are oddly
Bm.intic.
B W'hei r Super man gets grounded is in build-
in.; to a viable dramatic climax. It's as if the
^■nmiakers were so intent on making two
^karate films (the next to be released in ’79),
Bita had no idea how to finish this initial
Hrnture. And the secpiem es from the planet
Krypton to earth never quite mesh in style.
|Yhen we’ie on Krypton the attitude is pure
gntasy; when we come down to earth. Don-
r and company try for rralism. a mish-
ishing of styles that’s (|uite distracting,
e best way to watch .Superman is simply to
f g*' * 1 yourself over to the flight of fancy and
I conn in for an easy landing.
1 And oh yes, Brando is in this film as
Buperman’s daddy, although he's hardly
rworth the marquee valur of the $4.') million
I h< received for 12 days work. He is, however,
Blis usual accomplished Super-self.
Jacobs Atlas
1 MoVD'.. MOVIE, starring GrorgrC. Scat, Irish
1 Y.m Drvere; written by Laii) Gelliart and Sheldon
I Keller, produerd d? directed by Stanley lb men
A woman in one of James Thurber’s short
stories scalded her hand on purpose, just to
see if the salve she'd Ixiught at the county fair
was any good. It was only so-so.
Movu, Movie, a two-segment burlesque of
Thirties films, aims to be funny by being
awful on purpose. It's only a little bit funny.
Part tine, “Dynamite Hands," takes a de
livery boy into the fight racket in order to pay
for his sister's needed eye operation. He’s
sidetracked by a blonde lloozie and duped by
a crooked manager, but he wins in the end.
thanks to a trueheart girlfriend, a loyal family
and his gruff but lovable first manager. Part
two. “Baxter's Beauties of 1933.’’ traces the
birth of a Broadway hit, the last one for dying
prtiducer Spats Baxter, whose daughter,
away at school so long neither she nor her
father know each other, lakes over the lead
role after the bitch who was to star breaks a
leg on opening night. Spats fades right after
closing curtain on their triumphant opening
night, of course, saying, “One minute y ou’re
in the wings, the next minute you’re wearing
them."
Perhaps the affectionate stance of its
humor is what limits Movie. Movie to lieing a
cute failure, because every joke is harmless
and yaw ns outpace laughs by three to one. As
a project, it seems to have been lots more fun
for its creators than it is for its audience.
Writers Larry Gelbart (Oh, Cod) and Sheldon
Keller (Huonn Sera. Mrs. tnmpbell) enjoy most
of the giggles themselves. Accomplished
wiseguys, clever to a fault, they turn their
takr-off into a jerk-off, mixing and over-
extending metaphors as if they believe groans
are better than laughs. But their supply of
comic effects goes no farther than warm
hearted exaggeration. When writers want to
draw laughs from the obvious—and Movie,
Movie is an exercise in inevitability — they
should bring more than just the obvious into
play. Marshall McLuhan aside, the message
is something bigger than the medium.
Director Donen has musical and light ro
mance credits going hack to Singing in the Ram
and Charade. His camera movement is Movie,
Movie's best source of momentum. And
nearly all the actors, young and old, are
praiseworthy in their hammy-beyond-brlirf
roles. It's the concept that stinks.
Byron Laursen
MoMENI BY Moment. With John Travolta &
Lily 'Ibmlin. Written Ct directed by Jane Wagner.
It's dangerous calling any film “the worst
movie ever made" because someone can al
ways come up with an alternative disaster,
but Moment by Moment is surely one of the worst
films ever made, filled with lofty pretensions
and feeble-minded literalness. It’s a perfect
example of the lack of creative leadership in
HollywiNxl. The movie looked good on paper,
teaming John Travolta, America’s hottest sex
symlxil. with Lily ’Ibmlin, America's hottest
comedienne, in a trendy older woman-
younger man romance set in the glittery
world of Beverly Hills. But somewhere be
tween signing the contracts and shixiting the
movie, everything went wrong.
Writer-director Wagner (Tomlin's good
friend and a co-creator of the Tomlin style)
has not bothered to write believable char
acters in a realistic setting. Lily is supposed
to play a rich, bored matron who has a fling
with a slightly dangerous street kid. Travolta.
It’s an okay notion, especially since the
creators wanted to deal with the very in
teresting issue of role reversal, where it’s the
man who's needy, romantic and anxious for
love, while the woman is cautious, realistic
and anxious for sex. But Wagner, a screen
novice, simply isn’t up to the task. Lily's
character is so superficial she’d lie thrown
out of Gucci's and John’s alxiut as dangerous
as Perrier water, although to be fair, the sheer
power of Travolta's screen presence at least
makes us care alxiut him.
I.ilv is ail wrong; she is simply tixi hos
tile. t«xi cold to make us believe her char
acter; she is a prrlormrr without |»assion. so
her desperate sexual need for Travolta be
comes a laughing matter. I watched the love
scenes embarrassed for the actors, and it's
ultimately this lack of sensuality that kills
Moment by Moment. The movie needs to lx* the
scieen equivalent of Anais Nin’s Delta of
Irw—a womens point of'view of erotica, a
movie alxiut how women perceive raw pas
sion, unencumbered by sex and romantic
love. But Wagner and Tomlin don’t seem to
know very much alxiut that aspect of life; at
least they don’t know how to put it on screen.
There's a great deal of Travolta Hexing his
muscle and offering his body, and a great deal
of’Ibmlin reaching out to take what's offered,
but very little desire. I hope Travolta fares
better in his next movie, Ameruan Cigala, and
I also wish Ibmlin and Wagner better luck
with their next film, appropriately titled. The
Incredible Shrinking Woman. Jacob* Atlas
fact:
this protects
your most important
hi-fi investment
Trying to economize by
putting off the replace
ment of a worn stylus
could be like throwing
away five dollars
every time you play a record Since the stylus
is the single point of contact between the
record and the balance of the system, it is
the most critical component for faithfully
reproducing sound and protecting
your record investment. A worn
stylus could damage your rec
ord collection. Insure
against this, easily and
expensively, by having
your dealer check
your Shure stylus
regularly.
When required, replace it
immediately with a genuine Shure
replacement stylus. It will bring the
entire cartridge back to original
specification performance
Look lor tha name SHURE on tha
stylus grip and tha words 'This
Starao Dynatic* stylus is precision
manufactured by Shura Brothers
Inc" on the boa
Shura Brothers Inc • 222 Hartray Ave Evanston ll 60204 • In Canada A C Simmonds A Sons Limited
Manufacturers of high fidelity components, mic rophones. sound systems and related circuitry
IfYou’re Deeply Into
Music, At Last There’s
A Magazine
The World's Biggest Music Magazine Is Now
Published Every Month In The U.S.A.
• Interviews with the world's leading
contemporary musicians.
• International news from the world of
music.
• Album reviews by critics who are
musicians.
• Everything you need to know about
music.
Special Offer
12 Issues For Only 513,50
(Usual Price $18)
SEND TO: International Musician &
Recording World, PO Box 414, 277 Old
Nyac Turnpike, Spring Valley, New York, NY 10977.
/ enclose my draft/check for $13.50 made payable to International
Musician & Recording World. Please send the next 12 issues to my
address below.
Name
Zb.