Friday, May 1, 974 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Fiv cinemca weekend Pick of the week: Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me Cinema Guild, Arch. Aud. Fri., Sat., 7:30, 9:30 Gorgeous Kid, a good - but not great - film from the mag- nificent Francois Truffaut, comes into town this weekend for its first Ann Arbor appear- ance. The film is a light comedy, and perhaps that is its major fault. Somehow this rather trite story of a flittering female who rises from a French prison to become an acclaimed singing star lacks the biting polish of Shoot the Piano Player or Day for Night. About the only scene that really rivals the best of Truf- faut is a fabulously funny clip near the end in which a 10-year- old film director (yes, that age is correct) bars outsiders from the screening of his 'dailies'. Still, Gorgeous Kid is far bet- ter than most pictures, and is certainly the best of this week's offerings. -David Blomquist King of New York Fifth Forum Charlie Chaplin's A King in New York (1957) is both ap- pealing and desperate at the same time. Produced in Great Britain because the original cinematic genius was no longer loved in America, King has never been allowed a commer- cial showing in the States up until a few months ago. This exclusive Ann Arbor showing is a must-see for both Chaplin's virtuoso perform- ance as the ultimate has-been, looking for one last fling, and because it is the last starring role Charlie ever had. A few years later he directed Marlon Brando in Countess from Hong Kong (1966), but the embittered tramp stayed behind the cam- eras. King contains dialogue ap- propriately ironic to the tramps' mistreatment by the American people in real life, and also briefly sparkles with the Chaplin we all once upon a time had a never-ending crush upon. Charlie Chaplin may have been "washed up" when he made King in New York, but he certainly knew what he was doing. The film is bitter, and deserves to be. -Michael Wilson Z Cinema II, Aud. A Fri., 7:30, 9:45 Costa - Gavras doesn't make movies, but "political thrillers" that are more like roller coaster rides than they are motion pic- tures. Z is no exception; it grabs you in your seat and doesn't let go until "the end" flashes on screen and you're ex- haling again. Yves Montand stars in this true story, based on an actual assassination attempt that oc- curred several years ago in Greece. Montand is superb, but it is Costa - Gavras's direc- tion that is so overpowering. There is a car chase scene utilizing stop - action photog- raphy that is positively breath- taking. The plot is so paranoid that I guarantee Z will turn even the most casual Marlboro man into a nerve - wracking chain smoker. Twenty years from now peo- ple will be seeing Z and nail-bit- ing might come back into fa- shion. For now I can only sug- gest you take a deep breath and enjoy the best of all the Costa - Gavras thrillers. It's worth it. -Michael Wilson Born Losers Michigan Billy Jack is back! Well, not- really - Born Losers, the first of the Billy Jack series with star Tom Laughlin, is out again for a second time around. Hope- fully it will be its last. The old story of a California town terrorized by a motorcycle gang ("Crabs" Cooper, "Gan- grene" Cook, and "Cue Ball" Tessier), is squeezed for every last melodramatic drop. Will the girls testify that they had been raped? Will the gang move out of the church and let the swallows return? Will Billy Jack continue to plague our theaters? Yes, yes, yes! Director T. C. Frank must have needed the money if he voluntarily put together this "dreck". Frankly, you might as well save your hard earned dollars and pass this picture by. -Louis Meldman a first-class melodrama that moves with the pace of a snail but bites like a cobra in heat. Bogarde's introspective char- acterization is far and above the best thing he's ever done. The film also features Stanley Baker in an effective supporting role. -Michael Wilson Adalen 31 Cinema II, And. A Sat., 7:30, 9:30 Written and directed by Bo Widerberg, Adalen 31 is a pic- ture certainly worth seeing. As in his Elvira Madigan, Wider- berg captures the visual beau- ty of the Swedish countryside, while here giving us a view of the 1931 general strike which toppled the Conservative gov- ernment forever. The film jumps about from the bleak factory to the beau- ty of nature and from the table Michigan Daily Arts alibi that this flick is science fiction: the foundations of sci- ence fiction - imaginative speculation, alien-ness, removal in space and/or time-are no- where to be found. That the film is set in a future century is irrelevant: it could just as well have been set in 13th century China, 18th century Ireland (remember A Modest Propos- al?), or 20th century (fill in your favorite continent). For a filmmaker who has been called visionary, Boor- man's visions seem limited to two: one of barbarian feudal- ism, and one of technocratic feudalism. Space limits me to just one comment on Boor- man's perception of a society where women are whole and strong: paranoia strikes deep. Save your money. -Marnie Heyn Blazing Saddles The Movies, Briarwood Actually, this latest M e I Brooks "movie" is not much more than an ordinary TV com- edy sketch extended out to fea- ture film length. Nevertheless, a few great one-liners and some brilliantly composed situations makes Saddles a top candidate for the funniest film of the year. On the outside, Saddles is a spoof of the grade B western flick. Yet there's more to the film then just satire, since Brooks seems to have permeat- ed the whole work with an al- most Laurel and Hardy atmos- phere. Cleavon Little and Gene Wild- er head up a fine cast, w i t h some hilarious backing f r o m Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn, and Brooks himself. -David Blomquist Serpico Campus Serpico is a fine example of how a film can wrestle with a controversial subject and come out on top. Al Pacino exquisitely portrays Serpico, a Greenwich V ill a g e intellectual who decides to join the New York City police force. Disgusted by rampant corrup- tion among patrolmen, he com- plains to his superiors, but each time receives the same blunt answer - an order to keep his damn mouth shut. Easily Sidney Lumet's best movie, Serpico also happens to be producer Dino De Laurentis's first picture since setting up shop permanently in the United States. -David Blomquist The Sting State The fascinating aspects of The Sting are limitless: you could spend days trying to figure out what makes this film so success- ful and never come up with the right answer because there is none. The movie is utterly de- void of cinematic talent and completely claustrophobic. The screenplay by David Ward is strictly third-rate stuff - most of the "plot tricks" a r e about as hard to figure out as a three letter crossword puzzle. Stars Paul Newman and Rob- ert Redford smile, sweat, swear and swing a lot, but you know underneath it all they're just bluffing until the paychecks are cashed and the percentage man- ey starts rolling in. The saddest thing about The Sting, however, is the direction. George Roy Hill used to make fairly decent pictures like Toys in the Attic (1963) and T h e World of Henry Orient (1964), but ever since he became a com- mercial success with Butch Cas- sidy (1969) he substituted non- sense for talent. But fear not, dear reader - The Sting will doubtless be back - the only question lies in possbile titles. How about Son of Sting? The Bride of Sting? Or perhaps Don't Worry About Talent, We're Wearing Tuxedos? -Michael Wilson The Exorcist The Movies, Brlarwood Director William Friedkin (French Connection) has said that this movie was intended to scare people. It is the story of how a little girl (Linda Blair) becomes possessed by the Devil. The little girl masturbates with a crucifix, turns her head all the way around, and swears a la Jack Nicholson. --Louis Meklman The Day of the Dolphin The Movies, Briarwood Mike Nichols must have been sleeping when he directed Day of the Dolphin. Either that ot he was drugged, because it's just inconceivable that he would go for this kind of Saturday-af- ternoon-rainy-day-popcorn-juven- ile-fantasy about a brilliant scientist who teaches a dolphin to talk. I guarantee you'll get itchy, then restless, then bored, then finally fed up. I almost walked out, but I wanted to see the final credits to make sure it was the right Mike Nichols. -Michael Wilson The Heartbreak Kid Friends of Newsreel, MLB Fri., Sat., 7:15, 9:30 Elaine May directed The Heartbreak Kid with all the compassion of a stale and salty onion bagel. Yet the laughs overcome any and all emotion- al obstacles because Neil Si- mon and his touch of gold wrote the screenplay. This Jewish fairy tale con- cerns a poor. schnook (Charles Grodin) who meets the girl of his dreams in Miami after just getting married to another girl in New York. The unlucky bride, played miserably and flawlessly by the director's daughter Jean- nie Berlin, must sit and suffer in the hotel room with a sec- ond - degree sunburn while her husband romps on the sandy shores with Cybill Shepherd and falls in love all over again. Chaos results when the schnook decides to free himself from the chains of marriage and proposes love to this new- found bikini - pal, but the pain of a heartbroken romance for his newly - divorced wife is al- most too much for the viewer to bear. Eddie Albert co-stars as the father of the second bride, and there are some great shots of Miami Beach sunbathers. The thing not to miss, though, is Grodin's brilliant performance as the most pathetic barhop- ping marriage maniac in the history of the movies. -Michael Wilson Accident Friends of Newsreel, MLB Fri., 7:15, 9:15 Joseph Losey is an extreme- ly inconsistent American direc- tor who can be very good (The Damned, The Servant) and also quite miserable (Secret Cere- mony, Bond). Fortunately, Ac- cident (1967) is one of his bet- ter works, starring Dirk Bo- garde and Jaqueline Sassard in a moody story about adulterous love between a married college professor and one of his more appealing female students. Losey collaborated with the British playwright Harold Pin- ter on this one, and the result is of the rich factory owner to the table of a worker, but is quite often very funny: one townsboy, for example, continually tries to seduce little girls by hypnotiz- ing them. In the end, Adalen 31 proves to be asthetically and meaning- fully fulfilling - and that's saying a great deal. -Louis Meldman Zard oz The Movies, Briarwood To give credit where credit is due, Zardoz had potential. Too bad it didn't live up to it. At least there's good stuff on TV this weekend. You wouldn't believe a plot synopsis, so the vivisection will begin with the technical side of this pile of celluloid. The cam- era work is great, the editing unobtrusive, the costumes and sets delightful, and the special effects ranged from adequate to hokey. Unfortunately, no combina- tion of these could have salvag- ed this turkey. Nor can unfavorable criti- cism be brushed aside with the The films coming for Christmas: Ordinary, yes, but entertaining By DAVID BLOMQUIST the direction of Francis Ford Traditionally, the major mo- Coppola and a blockbuster tion picture studios announce cast headlined by Al Pacino, what movies they will have Robert Duvall, Robert DeNiro, ready for the biggest film week Diane Keaton, and Peter Sell- of the year - Christmas week- ers. each May in the Cannes Film 0 Y o a n g Frankenstein, Festival issue of Variety. a Mel Brooks film with script Well, the 1974 list is out, and by veteran Brooks - directed even though it isn't as asthetic- actor Gene Wilder. Wilder ally exciting as one would stars. hope (but, then, it never is), it . The Towering Inferno, a does appear as if quite a bit of joint product of 20th Century good, although commercial, fare Fox and Warner Brothers that will be around and thriving in is being produced by Holly- the theaters this Christmas, wood's top sci-fi man, Irwin Al- Among the highlights expected len. Basically, Inferno promises this December's holiday week to be not much more than an are: attempt by Allen to slide in " Godfather, Part II, which and clean up on the reputation is presently finishing up under of his 1973 Poseidon Adventure, which (somehow) managed to pull in $40 million at the thea- ters. . Lenny, a film biography of Lenny Bruce being put together by Cabaret director Bob Fosse. Dustin Hoffman has the title role. * The Front Page, a remake of the classic story of life in the newspaper business. Oscar- winner Jack Lemmon is joined by Walter Matthau and Carol Burnett; Billy Wilder is direc- tor. * Casanova, the newest Fel- lini film which just may be ready for Christmas. Dino De Laurentiis is producing this pic- ture, which got underway last month in Rome.