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The Red and Black • Thursday, January 18, 1990 • 5
Some new video releases that you might want to check Inw
Jan. 18 - 'Eddie and the Cruisers Part II," Jan. 25 - "Turner and
Hooch, "Karate Kid III," "Uncle Buck," "New York Stories."
Kick Boxer" and"UHF."
SCREEN
‘Always’ isn’t a great
Spielberg production
By ANDREW LAWLER
Entertainment Writer
Steven Spielberg’s newest ef
fort fails to catch fire in a film
hamstrung by sappinesB.
Every year huge fires rage in
America’s national forests. "Al
ways" tells of some of the pilots
who help fight these infernos.
Richard Dreyfuss plays a hot-
shot airman whose luck runs out
when he dies saving his best
friend (“Roseanne’s” John
Goodman). An angel (none other
than Audrey Hepburn) informs
him he must serve as spiritual
■inspiration’ to a would-be pilot
(Brad Johnson). Alas, said new
pilot iB after Dreyfuss’ old girl
(Holly Hunter).
“Always” is a mess — slow-
moving and mawkish. The major
culprit is a script in which the
story is awkwardly presented
and the dialogue is cliched. It has
Goodman and Hunter launching
into a tear-jerker scene that has
the emotional truth of a soap-
opera. The climax is absurd and
comes out of nowhere. The story
is hackneyed at best. When ac
tors such as Dreyfuss, Goodman
and Hunter can’t make charac
ters interesting, the fault can
only lay in the script.
The disappointment wouldn’t
be as great if the director hadn’t
been Steven Spielberg. With his
track record (seven of the top 10
grossing films of all time), expec
tations are justifiably high. In
stead this film is rather
lackluster, only showing that ol’
Spielberg magic when fires are
actually being fought. These
scenes are excellent images
verging on the hellish. Only here
do we receive that nail-biting,
edge-of-your-seat tension that we
expect from Stevie.
However, scenes like this are
far too few and the able cast can’t
redeem the quality of this film.
John Goodman wrings every
comic nuance he can from the
■ FILM REVIEW
script and shows an emotional
range not seen previously. How
ever, I got the feeling that his
funniest bits were improvised
rather than from the script. Holly
Hunter gives her usual enga
gingly quirky performance but is
given little to do that seems
fresh. Dreyfuss is given the big
gest role but also the least depth
of any of the characters. His char
acter is painted as selfish in the
“Always” is a mess,
slow-moving and
mawkish. The major
culprit is a script in
which the story is
awkardly presented
and the dialogue is
cliched.
beginning, and theoretically pro
gresses beyond that. The viewer
never sees this. Dreyfuss’ lines
show him as selfish until the end
of the film.
The big discovery of this film is
ex-model Brad Johnson. Johnson
brings an awkward charm to his
role that belies his looks and size.
His performance is reminiscent
of Christopher Reeve in the “Su
perman” movies. Johnson’s is the
only character that seems three-
dimensional. He has great chem
istry with Hunter, better than
Dreyfuss.
If “Always” had had a stronger
script, it might have been the
film Spielberg needed to estab
lish himself as a director of films
out of the adventure genre. Alas,
“Always” doesn’t make it.
Texas Chainsaw III:
It just doesn’t cut it
230 N. Finley
ft* Classic Inn
trmtmw&m ( behind Steak & Ale)
A review of “Leatherface: Texas
Chainsaw Massacre III," starring
Kate Hodge and R.A Mihailoff. Di
rected by Jeff Burr. A New Line re
lease rated ‘R.’ Now playing at
Georgia Square.
By KEVAN WARD
Entertainment Writer
First (in 1974) came part one, an
utterly atrocious black and white
non-efTort that played more like a
bad LSD trip than a movie. Sort of
a cut-rate, no-talent “Night of the
Living Dead,” but based very
loosely on a true story. Still, it was
undeniably disturbing (perhaps a
direct result of its amateurish,
raw, home-movie style), and the
Leatherface character was the
forefather of all the Jason Vor-
heeses, Michael Myerses and
Freddy Kruegers to come.
Twelve years later, we were
treated to Part II, a campy perver
sion of the first film. Just as bad as
the original — maybe worse — it
was notable only as a trivia ques
tion — it featured Dennis Hopper
(pre-“Blue Velvet”) as a kind of
Chainsaw Lone Ranger.
Now, just in time to kick-ofT this
non-prolific series’ third decade,
comes “Leatherface: Texas
Chainsaw Massacre III.” It’s not a
welcome cinematic homecoming.
It starts ofT well enough — a
young couple driving across
country, exchanging witty, if not
particularly meaningful, dialogue.
Promising director Jeff Burr
(raised in Dalton, Ga., his two pre
vious film credits are “The Off
spring” and “Stepfather II”) adds
some creative flourishes to help
pass the time — shooting from the
point of view of an armadillo as it’s
clubbed with a rock, zooming to a
screen-filling closeup of a flashing
yellow warning light that dissolves
into the next scene’s sun.
Now, just in time to
kick-off this non-prolific
series’ third decade,
comes “Leatherface:
Texas Chainsaw
Massacre III.” It's not
a welcome cinematic
homecoming.
However, as soon as the heroes
run afoul of the chainsaw-toting
cannibals, the script (by author
David Schow) degenerates into
little more than a colorized version
of the original, packed with more
horror cliches than any sane
human could ever hope to experi
ence in a single 87-minute period.
Burr’s fast-paced direction is much
better than that of his “Chainsaw”
predecessor, Tobe Hooper, and at
times faintly reminiscent of ac
claimed director Stuart Gordon
(‘The Re-animator”).
The acting in “Leatherface” is
also a cut above the average
slasher-film clone.
Sadly, the rest of the movie is
strictly average.
Although billed as “controver
sial,” it’s nowhere near controver
sial enough. Schow and, finally,
Burr, play it too safe. They don’t
even try to push the limits of the
genre. The last “Friday the Thir
teenth” was actually more creative.
In the end, “Leatherface” is only
“Friday the Thirteenth” in dis
guise.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
OPEN DAILY
2 p.m.
Pitchers Old Mill
1.50 2 till 4
UNCLE FESTER
Tues. Wed.
Thurs.
Helen's Restaurant
I Your Broad Street Home.
I 20% oil with coupon
| breakfast 6:00am • 11:30am Iunch11:00am
i_ 247 East Broad Street 549-1446
■ FILM REVIEW
Time Magazine selected Nicholas Nickleby
as one of the top 10 plays of the year.
I NI LINE AND ADVENTURES Ol
Nicholas
Nickleby
THE NATIONAL PLAYERS • TOUR 41
2S5P
COT®
Tuesday, January 2 3, 1990
7:00 p.m. Fine Arts Theatre
Tickets $4.00 Students $8.00 Public
Available at the Tate Student Center Cashier’s Window
INTRODUCING
THE
1990 NIKE SHOE
COLLECTION
New style Nikes have arrived.
Come in now while selection is
good. All Athletic shoes reduced
10%-50% thru Jan. 31st.
Free Nike T-shirt with purchase of
any Nike shoe and coupon
Expires 1/31/90
A
Billmgstonjj
APPAREL
WINTER CLEARANCE SALE
Reg. Price
Sale Price
Washed Chambray Shirts
$28.00
$18.50
Pigment-Dyed Twill Shirts
$29.50
$23.50
Washed Oxfords >. <t>naranutnpssi...
$34.00
$23.50
Cotton Supply Shirts
$28.00
$16.00
Heavy Weight Rugby Shirts
$42.00
$24.00
Pima Cotton Sports Shirts
$36 00
$19.50
Canvas Out-back Pants impeai..
$24.00
$18.50
Pleated Washed Twill Pants
$26.00
$21.00
ALL SWEATERS
40 to
50%
Remember our Regular Price
is already 20% to 40% OFF
V
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396 Pope Street 55
(across from Brumby) gg| 7Tf
MON. - SAT
10 TO 6
548-7788