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Show j6p ) x )( )( )( ( Jt))( )(,)( x j( )( :Qi 'J i ! - , : ' 1 - -J i ' .., E.T..THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL from Universal pictures. Directed by Steven Spielberg, screen plav by Melissa Mathison. Starring Dee Wallace. Peter Coyote. Henry Thomas. Rated 'PG' By J.T. YURKO Steven Spielberg's "E.T." is one of the most enjoyable pieces of cinema in a long, long time. It's a film the entire family can see and share together, and one many people peo-ple will want to see over and over again. Thus "E.T." also should become one of the great financial successes of the year, as a film needs the repeat business to become a certified blockbuster. Everything goes right in the film, even though the story is little more than a variation on "a boy and his dog" theme and the formula is as old as movies right down to the chase scene at the end. The characters (human, that is) are all finely drawn, and they are played by unknown actors. It is easy to identify with the characters and allow ourselves to be drawn headlong into this most tender tale of sci-fi. As for E.T. itself, not since "Star War's" Yoda has an artificial arti-ficial creature become so quickly loved. Future generations genera-tions may look back at our time and point to a general disenchantment with authority or a lack of faith in our leaders as the reason why the heroes of our movies are puppets, not people. Sometimes it's easier to believe in the unreal than the real. "E.T." makes you want to believe. Spielberg, the guiding force of the project, has been making movies that he would like to go and see himself. He is a lover of cinema who knows how to combine the best of the new with the old masterpieces, and, with the possible exeption of George Lucas, no one does it better. "E.T." shows every sign of becoming one of the top-10 money-making films of all time. If that happens it will mean that four of those films "E.T.," "Jaws." "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" will have been made by Spielberg, and that, my friends, is almost out of this world. 1982 Compulog |