ARTS Monday, December 2, 1985 The Michigan Daily Page 7 'Dancers and detectives deck the halls By Seth Flicker T he closing of the Thanksgiving season not only serves to ring in Christmas cheer but also rings in the new holiday movies. The holiday season proves most profitable and because of this the film companies are exposing a myriad of "new and ex- c0ng" films to capture viewer in- terest. Two of the most promising films are produced by none other than Steven Spielberg. Young Sherlock Holmes, Vjjjch opens December 13th, is direc- ted by Barry Levinson (The Natural). Set in London, the film deals with Holmes and Watson, played by Nicolas Rowe and Alan Cox, as children uncovering their first caper. When some elderly Londoners, in- Oiuding one of their professors, are murdered, the duo attempts to unravel the mystery with help of the professor's niece, played by Sophia Ward. The Color Purple, which opens 6ecember 20, is not only produced by also directed by Spielberg. Funny- lady-turned-serious-actress Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover (Places in the Heart) star as Celie and "Mr." in the film rendition of Alice Walkers Pulitzer prize winning novel. It deals with Celie, a mistreated and op- pressed woman living in Georgia in the early 1900's, who, through letters to God or her sister, Nettie, expresses her abuse. It is not until Shug Margaret Avery), a lusty blues singer, enters Celie's life, that Celie starts to realize and relieve her op- pression. =*I began reading The Color Purple c ually," Spielberg said, "and I couldn't put it down, .I got angry, I laughed, then I cried. I want the audience to feel every color in Celie's rainbow; the rainbow she makes for herself and dives into headfirst." The holiday movie season also brings back a couple of sequels. R*cky IV, which opened November *th, is the latest movie in this s' emingly unending series. Eight y ears after Rocky entered the silver screen, he has to face his most dif- ficult opponent: Ivan Drago. Drago is a; world heavyweight amateur cham- pion from the USSR. "My name is Dgrago," he says with a heavy Russian December, has an all-star cast which includes Eileen Brennen, Madeline Kahn, Martin Mull, Christopher Lloyd, Tim Curry and Michael McKean and is directed by Jonathon Lynn. The movie is based loosely on. the popular board game. REVOLUTION, which stars Al Pacino, Nastassja Kinski and Donald Sutherland, is directed by Hugh Hud- son (Chariots of Fire). The historical dramatization deals with the signing of the Declaration of Independence with an underlying theme of a father- son relationship. ted by Taylor Hackford (An Officer and a Gentleman). "I am interested in digging deep," said Hackford, "I want to make films abut real people, working people. I want audiences to get excited about seeing characters representative of themselves." What movie season would not be complete without a real Christmas film. Santa Claus: The Movie stars Dudley Moore as an elf and John Lithgow and is directed by Jeannot Szwarc (Jaws II, Somewhere in Time). According to Szwarc, "This film is a deliberate attempt to get away from the typical high adventure film. There is no cruelty, no sadism or cheap tricks. What there is in Santa Claus: The Movie is emotion, heart, pathos and humor." This is only a partial list of all that is opening this holiday season and it looks to be a promising one. So whether you're a movie buff, a fan, or just plain bored, take in a movie you can't go wrong. Enemy Mine, which looks to be very successful, opens December 11th. The time is 100 years from now and the United State's new enemy is a planet named Dracon. Dennis Quaid plays the earth pilot who crashes on a deserted planet. Tension rises when Lou Gossett, an alien "Drac" also crashes on the planet. The two enemies learn about hatred, prejudice, war but most of all, each other. Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling is written, directed, produced and stars Richard Pryor. It is essentially an autobiographical story about a comedian who almost loses his life to a drug-related accident. It opens December 13th. Meryl Streep and Robert Redford star in Out of Africa. It is a Danish writer's account of her life on a Kenyan coffee farm. Streep stars as Karen Blixen, the Danish writer who moved to Kenya in 1914 to work with GET ON TOP OF YOUR FINANCES The University Cellar offers the best overall buyback prices in town. We pay 50% or more of current list price for cur- rent editions reported for usage in future courses. If your book has been dropped from use in the class, we will offer you a top wholesale price. Trade books, (those small, prepriced, paperback books of mass market variety), generally get 25% to 33% of the original cover price. Old editions have no value, so don't sit on your books for too long! Santa Claus (David Huddleston) does his best to convince Joe (Christian Fitzpatrick) that Christmas will come after all. accent, "I cannot be defeated." Can Itocky ever win? Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito recreate their roles from Romancing the Stone for the new film Jewel of the Nile, opening December 18. This time Joan Wilder, novelist, and Jack Colton, adventurer, m~ake their way to a nameless North African country in seach of yet another jewel. * The season also brins two film her cousin on the farm. Blixen grows to love the people and the land of Kenya and remains there for over 10 years. Redford plays Denys Finch Hatton, Blixen's lover. The director is Sydney Pollack (Tootsie, Absence of Malice). Out of Africa opens Decem- ber 22nd. White Nights, which opened November 27th, stars Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines as Rrn-in afnsrc Tha film..irr Our buyback people are committed to fast service, excellent prices, and honest explanation. We're your student bookstore.