SIN Entertainment
At The Movies
'Mulholland Falls'
the production design through-
out, with natty suits, dresses, hats
magine a free-wheeling squad and, of course, the bulky '49 Buick
car full of Los Angeles police- Roadmaster. To fiirther authen-
men who drive around beating ticate matters, Hoover has an
up crooks, gangsters and an oc- adoring wife (Melanie Griffith)
who stays home reading
casional civilian. No, it's
Hemingway novels while
not contemporary LA.
MOVIES
her husband is gallivanti-
It's the early '50s, and
ng about.
Max Hoover (Nick Nolte)
Things shift into another realm
and his elite team of beefcake,
dressed in stylish padded suits, when Hoover's former mistress,
are the enforcers — the legendary the voluptuous Allison, is found
"Hat Squad" responsible for main- dead, face down in the dirt.
After shaking down Allison's
taining law(?) and order in town.
That means that anyone who gay friend, voyeuristic photogra-
might cause trouble — from pher Jimmie Fields (Andrew Mc-
fleabag crook to big-time gangster Carthy), Hoover discovers films
— gets routed out of town via exist surreptitiously document-
Mulholland Falls, a drop down ing Allison's paramours, includ-
the canyon wall off Mulholland ing Hoover himself.
Professionally and personally
Drive. You've seen the view —
looking down into a billion lights involved, Hoover must act swift-
ly to avenge his former lover's
in the San Fernando Valley.
The Falls motif is used both lit- death and to save his restored
erally and figuratively — first marriage. The case takes Hoover
when mobster William Peterson and his men to White Sands, N.
is sent packing and then when M., site of the atomic bomb test.
Hoover drops his girlfriend, the There they encounter Col.
lovely Allison Pond (Jennifer Con- Nathan Fitzgerald (Treat
nelly), by breaking off their affair. Williams), who is just as overzeal-
Don't let the TV trailer or the ous about maintaining military
all-star cast fool you on this film. security on the base as Hoover
It looks like a rock 'em, sock 'em is about maintaining a police state
in Los Angeles. Moreover, Gen.
cop story, along the lines of "The
Untouchables Go to Chinatown." Thomas Timms (John
But more favorable than the im- Malkovich), a leading nuclear sci-
entist, may also be connected to
probable plot is the crisp evoca-
Allison's mysterious demise.
tion of period.
Besides Chazz Palminteri, as
Haskell Wexler, award-win-
ning cinematographer, works a chatty detective who speaks a
wonders lighting the sparse peri- '50s version of "I'm OK, you're
od sets, and the film has a burnt- OK," pop psychology, the best
amber cast, as if trying to create thing about Mulholland Falls is
the 16= film within a film star-
a film sepia genre.
The early '50s are reflected in ring Jennifer Connelly, which
Rated R
I
triggers the investigation into her
murder and is used in the open-
ing-credit sequence. It is riveting,
titillating, voyeuristic; it smolders
with desire, passion, intrigue —
all suppressed during the Cold
War years.
But, if I see one more film that
relies on finding an incriminating
film or video (e.g. Primal Fear,
Murder One) for its raison d'etre,
I'll scream.
`&
—Dick Rockwell
The Last Supper
3 Bagels
Frank and 011ie
Cats & Dogs
Last Dance
3 Bagels
2 Bagels
2 Bagels
Sunset Park
Celtic Pride
L5 Bagels
1.5 Bagels
Jane Eyre
2.5 Bagels
Primal Fear
2.5 Bagels
3 Bagels
A Family Thing
Executive Decision
The Birdcage
Fargo
2.5 Bagels
3.5 Bagels
3 Bagels
Bagel Barometer
c) cy-)
, 4.. Outstanding
c.'ct
'0
Very Good
Good
Fair
PHOTO BY ROBERT ZUCKERMAN
Paul
(George
Segal), left,
tries to
reconcile
the past
with his son
(Eric
Roberts),
who is about
to lose his
battle with
AIDS.
buoyed by a humorous script
that is, at times, ghoulish and
garish.
Eric Roberts seems to have re-
discovered his acting talent af-
ter spending many years
sneering as a B-movie bad guy,
portraying the wisecracking
Nick with spirit, courage and
honesty. The supporting cast,
featuring bit parts by Olivia
Newton-John and Christopher
Atkins, complements Roberts
well. Even Pinchot's character,
steeped in stereotypical gay
histrionics, serves as a welcome
distraction when the drama gets
too thick.
Ultimately, Kleiser's ambition
prevents It's My Party from be-
ing more than just a melodra-
matic study on the horrific
effects of AIDS. Heartstrings
get tugged from many directions
and angles to the point that we
begin always to know when to
feel bad. But even though many
of the punches are telegraphed,
it doesn't make them hurt any
less.
J &
—Richard Halprin
AMC ABBEY 8
(810) 588-0881
14 MILE/I-75
James and the Giant Peach (PG-13)
Truth About Cats & Dogs (PG-13)
Quest (PG-13)
Mr. Holland's Opus (PG)
Barb Wire (R)
Twister (PG-13)
Boys (PG-13)
Original Gangstas (R)
Jane Eyre (PG)
It's My Party (R)
AMC AMERICANA WEST 6
(810) 855-4200
ORCHARD LK. RD. S. OF 15 MILE
Great White Hype (R)
Mulholland Falls (R)
Truth About Cats & Dogs (PG-13)
Barb Wire (R)
Mrs. Winterbourne (PG-13)
Last Dance (R)
Boys (PG-13)
SHOWCASE PONTIAC 6-12
(810) 334-6777
2405 TELEGRAPH RD.
EAST SIDE OF TELEGRAPH
Truth About Cats & Dogs (PG-13)
The Craft (R)
Barb Wire (R)
James and the Giant Peach (PG-13)
Birdcage (R)
Mulholland Falls (R)
Last Dance (R)
Original Gangstas (R)
The Quest (PG-13)
Boys (PG-13)
AMC LAUREL PARK 10
(810) 462-6200
6 MILE BETWEEN NEWBURGH & 1-275
Quest (PG-13)
Birdcage (R)
The Craft (R)
Mulholland Falls (R)
Pallbearer (PG-13)
Truth About Cats & Dogs (PG-13)
Last Dance (R)
Boys (PG-13)
AMC MAPLE 3
(810) 855-9090
W. MAPLE, W. OF TELEGRAPH
Fargo (R)
Pallbearer (PG-13)
Birdcage (R)
AMC OLD ORCHARD
(810) 553-9965
ORCHARD LK. - N. OF 1-696 & 12 MILE
The Craft (R)
Twister (PG-13)
AMC TOWNE 4
(810) 968-5174
ON GREENFIELD, N. OF 10 1/2 MILE
Diabolique (R)
.
Jumanji (PG-13)
Dead Man Walking (R)
All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 (G)
FARMINGTON CIVIC 2
(810) 474-1951
GRAND RIVER & FARMINGTON RD.
Leaving Las Vegas (R)
Dead Man Walking (R)
GC NOVI TOWN CENTER 8
(810) 344-0077
NOVI RD., S. OF 1-96
Last Dance (R)
Quest (PG-13)
The Craft (R)
Barb Wire (R)
Birdcage (R)
Truth About Cats & Dogs (PG-13)
Pallbearer (R)
• Twister (PG-13)
MAIN ART THEATRE III
(810) 542-0180
ROYAL OAK - MAIN-11 MILE
Frank and 011ie (PG)
SHOWCASE PONTIAC 1-5
(81 0) 332-0241
TELEGRAPH-SQUARE LK. RD.
WEST SIDE OF TELEGRAPH
Primal Fear (R)
Great White Hype (R)
Pallbearer (PG-13)
Twister (PG-13)
STAR JOHN R
(810) 585-2070
32289 JOHN R RD.
JOHN R, S. OF 14 MILE, E. OF 1-75
The Substitute (R)
Mrs. Winterbourne (PG-13)
A Thin Line Between Love & Hate (R)
Primal Fear (R)
Oliver & Co. (G)
Executive Decision (R)
The Birdcage (R)
Fargo (R)
Last Dance (R)
The Craft (R)
Mulholland Falls (R)
Ghost In The Shell (not rated)
UNITED ARTISTS OAKLAND
(810) 585-7041
INISDE OAKLAND MALL
JOHN R, N. OF 14 MILE RD.
The Pallbearer (R)
Sunset Park (R)
Great White Hype (R)
Antonia's Line (unrated)
Denise Calls Up (PG-13)
UNITED ARTISTS 12 OAKS
(810) 349-4311
INSIDE TWELVE OAKS MALL
NOVI RD., N. OF 1-96
James & The Giant Peach (PG)
Primal Fear (R)
Great White Hype (R)
Mulholland Falls (R)
Boys (PG-13)
UNITED ARTISTS WEST RIVER
(810) 988-6943
9 MILE, 1/2 UK. W. OF MIDDLEBELT
James & The Giant Peach (PG)
Primal Fear (R)
The Great White Hype (R)
Truth About Cats & Dogs (PG-13)
Sunset Park (R)
Mulholland Falls (R)
The Pallbearer (R)
Barb Wire (R)
The Quest (PG-13)
Original Gangstas (R)