Frid,6y, bct6ber 17, 1 X75
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Roge Five
Friday, October 17, 1 ~75 THE MICHIGAN I~AILY Page Five
Pick of the Week
Sleeper
Ann Arbor Film Co-op, MLB
Fri., 7, 8:45, 10:30
Woody Allen has consider-
ably matured as a comic and
filmmaker over the last few
years. Allen is no longer just ten overly - pretentious cinema,
a slapstick, laugh-a-minute per-I but in Tommy Russell has l L thsCnm TF 1
former; ; his days of overex- reached the nadir of his ad- ,'W ats playing this Cinema Weekend
tended humor about stolen egg mittedly inconsistent career. Although there isn't much new opening on the commer-
salad recipes seem long past While Women in Love had Glen- cial circuit, the reruns are plentiful in number. As for an
now. His films and writings da Jackson and The Music excellent documentary, Peter Davis' Hearts and Minds
have taken on a pessimistic and Lovers was at least well-script- returns to Ann Arbor for another well deserved showing.
almost dejected tone, filled with ed, Tommy shows Russell's It is only interesting to note at this time that Ken
doubt as to our individual worst impulses run rampant. Rusell's newest, Lisztomania, opens at the Fifth Forum,
ability to outlast challenges! The film stars Roger Daltry, promising another round of critical controversy for the
from mammoth corporations, lead singer of the Who, as outrageous director.
pushy governments, and an in- Tommy, a blind, deaf and dumbTks:
creasingly restrictive society. teenager whose one skill is pin- The entire weekend schedule looks like this:
Sleeper, released at the end i ball playing. Admittedly the Friday-Sleeper, MLB 3, 7, 8:45, 10:30, Bus Stop, Arch.
of 1973, was Allen's first true plot is rather thin, but on the Aud., 7, 9:05, The Passenger, Aud. A, 7, 9:05, It Happened
film - his first cinema effort original Who album, released One Night, Hutchins Hall, 7, 9:15, The Great Gatsby, Nat.
that progressed substantially in 1968, the focus was not on Sci. Aud., 7, 9:45, Casino Royale, MLB 4, 7:15, 9:30.
beyond mere laughs and began the storyline, but on the gen- Saturday-The Passenger, The Great Gatsby, Hearts
to consider, through subtle but erally excellent rock music. In and Minds, MLB 3, 7, 9, Some Like It Hot, Arch. Aud., 7,
biting satire, questions of mor- the filmed version, however, theI 9:05, Oliver, Bursley West Cafeteria, 8:30.
ality and lifestyles, soundtrack is nfinitely worse Sunday-The Misfits, Arch. Aud., 7, 9:05, The Eclipse,
Allen prry a wistful, ue because it features the singing,
wportrays quitu, quiet btoust the s from Aud. A, 7, 9:15, Lady Sings the Blues, MLB 4, 7, 9:30.
mag the Who, but also the rest of All weekend-Farewell, My Lovely, Michigan (665-6290),
been frozen after entering the the cast, which includes such ' Fantasia, State (662-6264), Butley, Campus (668-6416), Lisz-
hospital for a minor operation vocal talents as Oliver Reed, tomania, Fifth Forum (761-9700), Tommy, The Return of the
and sutdenly is reawakened in Ann Margaret, and Jack Nich- Pink Panther, The Happy Hooker, A Woman Under the
tury. He finds America 200 olson. I'm sorry to say that: Influence, The Movies, Briarwood (769-8780), The Last De-
years hence to be a radically whoever was responsible for tail, Matrix (994-0627).
different nation -- a country the casting of the movie appar-'
dominated by a totalitarian elite ently neglected the fact that
and .deumanizng so I those st s,draws, have abso- cutting footage of widows andI who is crazier, the "lunatic",
structure. Yet many o h aeyn uia aet ht orphans expressing their per- or everybody else? I ended up
characters in the future, from lutely no musical talents what sonal agony with an interview sympathizing with her. She
the fast food franchise to the sOeer. with Gen. William Westmore- seemed to be slowly driven
repressive secret police, seem Russell has directed the film land explaining that the Viet- over the edge by the lack of im-
as a visual extravaganza inladepann thtte it-oeteegebtelckfim
all too familiar.asgz namese don't value life as do agination of her family, her
The structure of Sleeper which everything but the kitch- Westerners doctor and her friends. If you're
lacks the fine polish of Love en sink is thrown n for a num- It is that prevailing mentality looking for a happy movie,
and Death, Allen's latest pic- ber of sequences. that still pollutes influential! don't go; but if you want to see
as it-The movie makes use of an;
ture. But Sleeper is just traordimary vaket s of al ideologies today - merely af- a real pot boiler go imme-
ty and -- if you pay close at- extraordinary variety of special fording one the comfort of con- diately.
tention - almost as thought- effects and camera tricks that firming previously existing sus- -Jim Finkelstein
provoking. IJust don't come off. Put sim- p icions.
k -David Blomquis ply, Tommy is one movie this -James Valk
- i B* o s year that should be missed by
anyone interested in films. teBue Great Gc tsi.y
The Passenger --Jeff Sorenson : Lady Sings the Blues Nat. Sci. And.
- * * New World MLB 4
j
SomeLike It Hot A few of the scenes sho
CinemaGuild, Arch. Aud. some of the old flashes of ge
Sat., , 9:05ius, as when Clousseau's bo,
Sakt, 7, 9: h shoots his nose off with a g
Some Like It Hot has achiev- he thought was a cigarel
ed "classic" stature since its lighter. And the scene at t
release in 1959, and it's easy to:iht n. bdtheenerat
understand why. The cast list beginning between Sellers a
alone reads like a Who's Who the organ brder is pricel
of '30s, '40s and '50s Holly-h (MrNKEY!) But despite t
wood. huge efforts exerted by Selle:
There are Tony Curtis and mlost of the movie did not ma
Jack Lemmon traveling incog- me laugh.-JimFinkelstein
nito as female musicians, and
Marilyn Monroe as a singer
(Sugar Kane) with the all-fe- Oliver
male band. Joe E. Brown steals Bursley Hall Enterprises
scene as a lecherous millionaire Bursley West Cafeteria
with an eye for Jack Lemmon's Sat., 8:30
shapely legs, and even George This film is an example+
Raft does a poker-faced bit as one of those rare things -
a vengefuul gangster. musical translated successfu
The performances are pure from stage to screen. Basedt
craziness, but Billy Wilder di- the novel Oliver Twist by Dh
rected with a flair for con- ens, the film is both rousing a
trolled madness that gives the enchanting, gorgeous and squ
film both subtle and overt sen- id ,funny and moving,
sual tones. Mark Lester is appealing
See it to lose those post-exam th part L terphaned mou
blues. ! the part ofateorned youn
ftrxxhn falls in with a eat
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The Return o
Pink Panth
The Movies, Briar
The Return of thel
ther checks in as ye
episode in the misadv
Inspector Clousseau,
by Peter Sellers. TI
fails where the ear
were successful: m
cause times have ch
maybe because the sc
videdly lame. Seller's
bumbling becomes tir
ter a point, and wea
left numbed by over-
is Ceski ster w no ie t IIIa
a Chski of thieves. Ron Moody, as F
gin, the head of the gang,
)f the ! evil and hilarious, and E
Sikes (Oliver Reed) is 1
er quintessence of rea, no-holi
rwood barred evil.
Pink Pan- The settings are wonderfu
t another evocative of Dickensian Er
entures of land, from the thieves and t
as played street-sellers, to the rich a
his movie nowerful and their elegy
lier ones homes. Oliver Twist, asan E
aybe be- Ilish Candide, bears all his f
anged, or tunes with equanimity, as
ript is de- moves from the cellars of t
incessant lowly to the palaces of t
esome af- great.
are finally As a whole, this film succee
exposure. on two levels - the deeply p
sonal and the overblown produc- Camelot, Hello Dolly!, and
tion side, with the last movie to Mame, it becomes clear why
do that successfully being My Oliver! is the marvelous film
Fair Lady. When considering it is.
the other films that tried, -Jeff Selbst
of s
lly Ji-n -
on T Ts 3C. °Y
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Ind R
aI-
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he
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he 6
. H ELD OVER!
5ds Third Week of Excitement
per- C 9 4. N 1k Tnl-WTT )nr.-n
Cinema 11, Aud. A
Fri., Sat., 7, 9:05
With his second failure in a
row, the cinematic fate of Mi-
chelangelo Antonioni is defi-
nitely at stake. After 1970's Za-
briske Point, one would think
that the director would ap-
proach his material exercising
m re caution, but his latest
film, The Passenger, proves:
that little has been learned in
the last five years.
fHearts and Minds
Ann Arbor Teach-In, MLB 3
Sat., 7, 9
With a sense of moral com-
mitment and striving decency,
PeterDavis' Hearts and Minds:
stands as a cry of outrage
against the indignation of thea
U.S. involvement, in Vietnam.
Employing the documentary
framework to its pinnacle, Da-
Working from a faulty pre- vis goes beyond merely expos-
mise, Antonioni stages Jack ing the lunacy of the no-win
Nicholson as a British journal- war - he rubs our noses in the
ist on assignment in Northern corrupted mentality that deceiv-
Africa who adopts the identity ed the American people from
of a colleague who is found its very conception.
dead in his apartment. He pro- The film is an American saga.
ceeds to London, where he dis- of lies and deceptions that
covers himself in the midst of started with Truman and con-I
& gun running caper, all the tinued through to Nixon, ex-,
time remaining snug in is new hibiting proof in the compact
identity thanks to great care form of a chronology of shame,
taken by the screenwriter to'that stood as standard policy
cleverly justify all possible through five administrations.
identification snafus. The impact of the film is two-
If this synopsis sounds incon- fold. The insane ideologies that
sistant with the Antonioni who put us there still exist, from a
Sii r iher hpr daal fra
. . ,"'" .." .Fri. a. ,94
Sun., 7, 9:30
Anyone who sees Lady Sings And another great novel hits
the Blues will sing the blues the dust. Almost - successes
also - a lament for a pretty are somehow more disappoint-j
good film that could have been ing than out - and - out bombs,
a great musical star-bio, but < and this movie almost made it,
falls back too often on tried-and- with some truly fine perform-
trite situations. ances (excluding Redford) and
The bitter, tragic life of Billy1the beautiful footage of the
Holiday is well served in the ' scenes between Gatsby and
opening scenes, with the full Daisy at his mansion on Long
horror of brutal arrest and im- Island.
prisonment registering strongly. The film is overlong, as if
Unfortunately, later on, the'director Jack Clayton felt he
story dissolves into a soap op- ' couldn't do justice to the work
era of curiously unaffecting in any less than two-and-three-
scenes. Perhaps some impact is quarter hours. Beefed up by
dulled by the excessive length many shots of Charlestoning
of the film. feet and gluttonous partygoers
The music, however, is a who bring to mind the fill of
constant joy, with Diana Ross Rome, the film proceeds at an
wisely and expertly suggesting almost too - leisurely pace.
rather than imitating Holiday's
distinctive voice. Her songs Mia Farrow is wonderful as
evoke the mood far better than Daisy Buchanan, and Sam Wa-
dialogue, and it is because of terston as Nick Carroway is
them that Lady Sings The Blues convincing if terribly cerebral,G
is worth seeing. with the two really flawed per-
-Cyynthia Cheski formances being the two most
S *important roles. Robert Red-
__ _ ford as plavboy / mysterv man
Israeli Movie Party
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18
at H ILLEL-8:00 p.m.
THE MOVIE-
"SALLAH" (English subtitles)
AFTER THE FILM-
falaful-humous-pito
ADMISSION-$1.50
MOVIE & REFRESHMENTS
H I LLEL--1429 Hill St.
I - - - -- --
I
gave us L'Avventura and L'
Eclisse, you're right. The ma-
terial that is exhibited in The
Passenger simply lacks not on-
ly plot logistics but the intellec-
tual thrust that makes the en-
tire effort even reasonably sub-
stanciated.
From what the director has
produced, The Passenger can
hardly be classified as a serious
work of film: rather, it takes
on the form of some quasi-chic
r tuansrtc ero paraa w r a ;$ 1Ua Pavy;u y iy114
former prisoner of war who be- A WOmanUnd er Jay Gatsby is assiduously suf-
lieved and still believes in the the Influence fering, and Bruce Dern as Tom.
American involvement to the T, Buchanan is simply too oafish
hawkish hhilosophy of former The Movies, Briarwood to be believable.
presidential consultant Walt' A Woman Under the Influencej
Rostow, who was instrumental is without question one of the As in the book, surfaes are
in osw, the film from releasej best films I've seen, with Peter important here - the juxtapo-
holdingts Falk and Gena Rowlands main- sition of Gatsby's appearanceI
until just months ago. taining an exquisitely painfulversus the mysterious way he
But the real crimes are tension throughout the two-and-,makes his living - Tom Bu-
against the people - the moth- a-half hours. chanan's love for his wife ver-
er who tries to crawl into tl-e Ms. Rowlands plays a homy ' sus his affairs with the tawdry
. grave with her dead child, the wife to Peter Falk's bewildered Myrtle. But the surfaces seem
anguished father who has lost!blue - collar worker. In scene 1to be all there is to the film.
his family and his home to the after scene, Rowlands' perform- If there were more substance,
bomb, and the young wife who ance is simply dazzling - at the this would be a far better
has only a photo and casket by! end we feel exhausted and movie.
which to remember her hus- wrung out (a fact which seem- -Jeff Selbst
hand. ed to irritate some viewers). -
j But the war wasn't that sim- This movie asks a now-familiar
ple, and Davis breeds from question, especially for Psy-
the source of contempt, inter- chology students - namely,
.-~ . .- - ----------.----.-. -----..-. -- -- t I
Motown's Own Are Together Again!
THE SUPREMES
A ROCKI N 650 music special
with TOM COYNE
TONIGHT at 9 p.m. on the "Student Station"
AND CABLE CHANNEL I
I
political thriller that one might
expect more from Sydney Pol-
lack than Antonioni.
-James Valk
* * k
Tommy
The Movies, Briarwood
Ken Russell has always had
a flee for heavy - handed, of-
Professional Theatre Program
V L 1
haw
1214 s university j
C"A M-P 0 S.,
"A Masterpiece"
--Washincaton Star News
TONIGHT AT 7:00 & 9:15
OPEN AT 6:45
"A masterpiece."
-Washington Star-News
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