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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 1990)
PAGE 11 — The Georgia Bulletin, Janaury 11, 1990 Med/a Notebook A Handful Of 1989 Films Merit Oscar Attention BY JUDITH TROJAN NEW YORK (CNS) — While 1989 was a dull year as far as thought-provoking film fare goes, the year did produce a few quality films to stand the test of time and be exciting Oscar contenders. Listed below in alphabetical order are the best movies for 1989, including their U.S. Catholic Conference classification and Motion Picture Association of America rating. “Batman (A-III/PG-13) surprised everyone with its dark, haunting vision of the caped crusader (Michael Keaton) ( ^ Mass Televised SUNDAY. JAN. 11 THE CATHOLIC MASS - The Mass will be tele vised at the following times: 8:30a.m. on WOR-TV (Channel Mon Prime Cable). 9 a.m. on WGN-TV (Channel 15 on Prime Cable). 10 a.m. on WVEU-TV (Channel 69). The Mass for the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time will be celebrated by Father Jerome Vereb. The pro gram is produced by Passionist Communications. To obtain a missalette for the Mass, write Passionist Communications, Inc., The Sunday Mass, P. 0. Box 440, Pelham, N.Y. 10803. V who not only battles the despicable Joker (Jack Nicholson), but the demons left over from his own tragic childhood as well. Director Tim Burton does not make the eternal fight between good and evil an easy one, but the breathtaking production design and Nicholson’s fiercely zany portrait of the Joker are sure to win Oscar nominations. “The Bear” (A-I/PG) is one of the most glorious and remarkable nature films ever produced. Set in the wilds of British Columbia in 1885, Jean-Jacques Annaud’s dramatization follows the plight of two bears as they frolic in nature and dodge relentless hunters. Filmed from the bears' point of view, the novel-based story relies on minimal dialogue, pure cinematic form and incredible bear “performances” to connect these majestic animals to humans in universal, pro-preservationist ways. Woody Allen’s 19th writer-director credit, “Crimes and Misdemeanors” (A-III/PG-13), examines the limits of our moral universe by focusing on an influential New York ophthalmologist (Martin Landau) who agrees to have his mistress (Anjelica Huston) murdered when she threatens to spill the beans to his wife (Claire Bloom). Allen explores this man’s struggles with guilt and accountability that rid dle him with memories of his devout Jewish father. Also in terwoven is a tapestry of his other well-connected friends and relatives who have moral issues of their own to resolve. Allen subtly compares and questions the sum total of his characters’ choices with humor, pathos and some melodrama. This thought-provoking film about the fading lines between good and evil, sin and redemption, crime and punishment could win Allen a best screenplay nomination and Landau some best actor kudos. The highly incendiary “Do the Right Thing” (A-IV/R) zeroes in on the racial tensions in a Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood that threaten to destroy an Ital- ian-American’s family pizza restaurant after 25 years. Danny Aiello gives a stirring performance. Black writer- director-actor Spike Lee has concocted a riveting, highly original film about racism that encompasses passionate characters, sharp satire, savvy musical counterpoints and overt theatricality that just may win him an Oscar nomina tion for best film of the year. An exquisite film adaptation of Alfred Uhry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Driving Miss Daisy" (A-II/PG) charts the unlikely and uneasy f riendship that develops between a wealthy, Jewish widow (Jessica Tandy) and her black driver (Morgan Freeman) over 25 years. Opening in 1948 and set in Atlanta, during an era of turbulent change for Southern minorities, director Bruce Beresford’s film sen sitively tackles the issues raised by this whimsical friend ship. including bigotry, the difficulties of change and aging and the death of the old and birth of the new. Ethnic and racial stereotypes are nobly absent. For their understated performances, Miss Tandy and Freeman will be the ones to beat for Oscars, and Dan Aykroyd should surely be nominated for his wonderful supporting performance as Daisy’s loving son, Boolie. Donald Sutherland gives the best performance of his distinguished career in “A Dry White Season” (A-III/R), a harrowing film by black female director Euzhan Palcy about apartheid in South Africa. This wrenching adaptation of Andre Brink’s 1979 novel about the 1976 Soweto uprising tracks the about-face of a politically naive white Afrikaner (Sutherland) who becomes an anti-apartheid activist when his black gardener and the gardener’s young son are brutal ly murdered by Gestapo-like police. Sutherland is powerful as the conscience-stricken man who painfully realizes that his white compatriots and wife and daughter are morally bankrupt. Director Norman Jewison poignantly evokes the Vietnam War’s continuing toll on veterans, their families and sur vivors in “In Country” (A-III/R), a contemporary drama about one rural Kentucky family still dealing with unfin ished business and personal tragedy resulting from the war. Emily Lloyd is outstanding as a young woman who begins to question her family about her soldier-father who died in the war. Also effective are Bruce Willis as her war- damaged uncle and Peggy Rea as her grandmother as they dramatize the crucial elements of coping and healing that must occur within all individuals touched by war. A less predictable and much less sentimental war-at- home drama, “Jacknife” (A-III/R) sensitively explores the ghosts that still haunt two Vietnam combat veterans, one of whom (Robert De Niro) returns to his hometown to salvage the other (Ed Harris) before he’s lost forever in a 20-year haze of drink and drugs. Especially true to life is a tender, tentative middle-aged love story between De Niro and the troubled vet’s shy sister (Kathy Baker). Probably the best film of the year is “The Little Mer maid” (A-I/G) an enchanting animated, update adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale about a feisty mer maid (voice of Jodi Benson) who falls in love with a human prince. The music is exhilarating, the characters are delightfully endearing and the underwater animation is magical. Children will especially love its enterprising female heroine who is faced with typical parental pressures and must learn to take responsibility for her own choices. But it is her guardian, the crabby crustacean Sebastian (voice of Samuel E. Wright), who steals the spotlight throughout and stops the show with three rousing musical numbers. ROMANTIC FANTASY — Actress Holly Hunter is Dorinda and Richard Dreyfuss stars as Pete, a daredevil pilot who flies his plane to fight forest fires from the air, in the film “Always.” Viewers won’t be overwhelmed, says the-U.S. Catholic Conference, but “roman tics may find it worth the price of admission.” (CNS photo from Universal) Capsule Film Reviews Aom one FILM RATINGS NEW YORK (CNS) — Here is a list of recent films the U.S. Catholic Con ference Office for Film and Broadcasting has rated on the basis of moral suitability. The first symbol after each title is the USCC classification. The second symbol is the rating of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPA A). USCC classifications: A-I — general patronage; A-II — adults and adolescents; A-III — adults; A-I V — adults, with reservations (this indicates films that, while not morally offensive in themselves, are not for casual viewing because they require some analysis and explanation in order to avoid false impressions and interpretations); O — morally offensive. MPAA ratings: G — general audiences, all ages admitted; PG — paren tal guidance suggested, some material may not be suitable for children; PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned that some material may be inap propriate for children under 13; R — restricted, under 17 requires accom panying parent or adult guardian ; — no one under 17 admitted (age limit may vary in certain areas). A All Dogs Go to Heaven, A-I (G) Always, A-II (PG) B Back to the Future Part II, A-II (PG) Batman, A-III (PG-13) The Bear, A-I (PG) Black Rain, O (R) Blaze, O (R) Born on the Fourth of July. A-IV (R) C Casualties of War, A-IV (R) Cheetah, A-I (G) Crimes and Misdemeanors, A-III (PG-13) Criminal Law, A-III (R) D Dad, A-II (PG) Do the Right Thing, A-IV (R) Driving Miss Daisy, A-II (PG) Drugstore Cowboy, A-IV (R) A Dry White Season, A-III (R) F Family Business, A-III (R) Fat Man and Little Boy, A-III (PG-13) Field of Dreams, A-II (PG) H Harlem Nights, O (R) Immediate Family, A-III (PG-13) In Country, A-III (R) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, A-III (PG-13) L Lethal Weapon 2, O (R) Licence to Kill, O (PG-13) The Little Mermaid, A-I (G) The Little Thief, A-IV (R) Look Who’s Talking, O (PG-13) M My Left Foot, A-III (R) Mystery Train, A-III (R) N National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, A-III (PG-13) Next of Kin, O (R) P Parenthood, A-III (PG-13) Peter Pan, A-I (G) Prancer, A-I (G) R Roger & Me, A-III (R) Romero, A-II (PG-13) S Sea of Love, O (R) Second Sight, A-III (PG) Sex, lies, and videotape, A-IV (R) She-Devil, A-III (PG-13) Shirley Valentine, A-III (R) Shocker, O (R) Sidewalk Stories, A-III (R) Staying Together, O (R) Steel Magnolias, A-III (PG) T Tango & Cash, O (R) True Love, A-III (R) W The War of the Roses, A-IV (R) Welcome Home, A-III (R) We’re No Angels, A-IV (PG-13) When Harry Met Sally..., A-IV (R) Wired, A-III (R) The Wizard, A-II (PG) Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, A-IV (R) NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by the U.S. Catholic Con ference Office for Film and Broadcasting. “ALWAYS” Forced romantic fantasy about love, death and the human spirit in which a daredevil firefighting pilot (Richard Dreyfuss) loses his life saving another pilot (John Goodman) but comes back to earth to help his girlfriend (Holly Hunter) and an inexperienced pilot. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the movie seems too studied and porten tous to put across either the romance or its inspirational message that the spirit, however defined, outlives the body. Several intense scenes threatening human life and some vulgar language. The U.S. Catholic classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. “TANGO AND CASH” Ultraviolent super-cop vehicle for a formula buddy plot about an unlikely pair of Los Angeles police detectives (Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell) who dislike each other’s style but wind up working together to find the mastermind behind their being framed for murder. Directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, the result is a sophomoric exercise in rock ’em-sock ’em macho violence and bloodletting. Excessive violence, insulting sexual references and rough language. The U.S. Catholic Con ference classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted.
