/

Sweet
Dreams

'Copycat'

Rated R

istory's most famous seri-
al killers each had his own
modus operandi. Jack the
Ripper ripped; the Boston
Strangler did the Boston stran-
gle; and Jeffrey Dahmer simply
looked for the chance to get a
head. In Copycat, the serial
killer's notoriety stems from his
penchant for emulating the var-
ied signatures of his more famous
predecessors. Unwilling or un-
able to develop his own style of
murder, protege Peter Foley
(Robert McNamara) shoots for
distinction by copying murder-
ous methods that worked for
others in the past. Not coinciden-
tally, the film itself is a copycat:
It owes an enormous debt to Si-
lence of the Lambs.
The film opens in a university

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* More than a Coffee House
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classroom, where serial killer ex- expertise to catch the maniac;
pert Helen Hudson (Sigourney Hudson needs Monahan to vic-
ariously return her to her
Weaver) lectures on what
former life. Interspersed
it is that makes these
MOVIES
in the story are tepid
guys tick. Before long, the
suggestions of romance
good doctor has a harrow-
ing, near-death experience at the and rivalry among the support-
hands of an escaped killer whom ing characters, including Mona-
she helped convict. The escapee, han's partner (Dermott
Darryl Lee Cullum (Harry Con- Mulroney).
Though terribly derivative,
nick Jr.), gives Hudson such a
scare, she becomes an agorapho- Copycat is not altogether terri-
bic recluse, self-incarcerated in ble. The premise has promise, but
unlike its killer, the film doesn't
her ultra-cool apartment. .
It takes the much publicized execute. With erratic pacing,
deaths of a series of local women questionable casting (sweet Hol-
to bring Hudson out of her shell, ly Hunter as a gritty detective?)
and though remaining in her con- and obvious parallels to the sto-
finement, she joins forces with ry of Hannibal Lechter, this film
veteran murder investigator De- comes in like a cat but goes out
tective M.J. Monahan (Holly like a lamb. 2 out of 4 bagels
Hunter).
— Rick Halprin
Their relationship is based on
need: Monahan needs Hudson's

It's a Sweet Dream
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Hours
Mon-Thurs 7am-1 1 pm
Fri & Sat 7am-midnight
Sunday 1 Oam-1 Opm

Film Buffs Come Out Of The Dark

JULIE EDGAR STAFF WRITER

M

embers of Detroit Area
Film and Television
(DAFT) refer to them-
selves as the "popcorn
and coffee club" because of the
odd hours they keep.
For 27 years, they've gathered
at 9 a.m. Saturdays, once a
month, to preview and discuss
new films before they hit area
theaters. Then, braced by caffeine
and a breakfast of popcorn, the
intrepid film goers step out into
the daylight to resume their nor-
mal routines.
DAFT's stated goal is to in-
crease "visual literacy," said
group president Annette Alexan-
der-Frank of Royal Oak. Satur-
day morning viewings are "the
most fun and the most visible"
aspect of DAFT, but the nonprofit
organization's agenda is the ed-
ucation and promotion of aspir-
ing filmmakers.
The lion's share of DAFT's
funding — $50,000 annually —
comes from the Michigan Coun-
cil for the Arts for DAFT's spon-
sorship of animation workshops
for children, scholarships for as-
piring filmmakers and the an-
nual Student Film and Video
Festival. The 300-member orga-
nization also promotes the work
of emerging filmmakers by
screening their work.
This year, a few weeks before
the Academy Awards in March,
DAFT screened most of the 12
short-action features and short
documentaries that were up for
Oscars but never made it to local
screens. It was so successful, they
plan to do the same next year.

Membership fees are $30 an-
nually, although students and se-
niors get discounts. For members
of DAFT's Movie Club, who re-
ceive preview movie passes at
home, the fee is slightly higher.
"We have people in our orga-
nization who teach video and
film, people who make film and
video, and people who just like to
watch films," said Ms. Alexan-
der-Frank, an art teacher in the
Dearborn Public School District.
After the screenings, members
are asked to fill out a response
card that goes to area movie dis-
tributors, who use them to get a
feeling of how well a film might
do when it reaches the general
audience.
"They really value what our
members have to say," she said.
Like DAFT, the Film Lovers
Club and Reel Talk meet at the
AMC Maple 3 Theatre in Bloom-
field Township.
The two organizations, with a
combined mailing list of 400,
were formed last June by AMC
Maple general manager Ruth
Daniels, who received a "Butts in
the Seat" promotion award for
her work from AMC's national
organization.
She said the AMC Maple will
continue to carry "art" and alter-
native films, despite competition
from the relatively new Main Art
Theatre in Royal Oak and the
Detroit Film Theatre.
"I am striving to keep it spe-
cial," said Ms. Daniels, an actor
by training.
Monthly meetings of the Film
Lovers Club are held on Sunday

morning and feature guest
speakers, after which a question-
and-answer period is held, along
with a drawing for promotional
prizes like posters and sound-
tracks.
Reel Talk members watch
first-run movies currently play-
ing and discuss them afterward,
usually over coffee at Barnes &
Noble bookstore across the street,
at Maple and Telegraph roads.
The latter group meets the last
Thursday of each month and
draws up to 110 people.
Both groups attract a wide
range of ages, but everybody who
shows up shares a genuine in-
terest in the cinema, she said.
"There are so many people out
there who have a knowledge of
films. It's amazing what kind of
people I'm meeting," said Ms.
Daniels.
Membership in both organi-
zations is free, but Reel Talk
members are charged a regular
ticket price for movies. -
Bloomfield Community TV
now tapes sessions of the Film
Lovers Club and airs them on
Booth Cable.
The next meeting of the Film
Lovers Club is Nov. 19. John
Monaghan, a local newspaper
film critic, will discuss film noir
and show clips to illustrate the
lecture.

=-I

6558 Telegraph Rd.
in the Bloomfield Plaza
(810) 737-8900

I

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Et For information about
DAFT, call Annette Alexander-
Frank at (810) 547-0847; for in-
formation about the Film
Lovers Club or Reel Talk, call
Ruth Daniels at (810) 855-9091.

Simsbury Plaza 33214 W.14 Mile Rd. • W. Bloomfield, Michigan 48322
(Corner of 14 Mile bi Farmington)

(810) 626-7393

Hours: Mon.-Thurs.: 6:30 a.m.-11 p.m., Fri.: 6:30 a.m.-12 a.m.,
Sat.: 7:30 a.m.-12 a.m., Sun.: 7:30 a.m.-11 p.m.

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