OCR Text |
Show ; r . ! ipf c qo to the movies! se.uimmts ; W " " !,-. Allen Hasson fj V.'.; .riYnioir,,,uWW-:!-l,,,-'lH'-1- wj in Kali" t;ui,,,, S UK OR ISN' T IIK? IS SJIK OK ivVTSHK'- Within a fe months we may begin bumper slickers proclaiming, rman Bates is Innocent!" Or Pivbe in I4- "Norman Bates for president!" -Psycho H" 's fu" of surprises: urprieN-1: The film was made, uver heard of watting 23 years to Jrike a soquel to a successful film? curpn N- 2: Director Richard rnklinhasthe Hitchcock touch. Ho I ife'ctivelv creates unbearable snense although in a somewhat dif-Trit dif-Trit stvle. In fact, the imitative umera angles in the show er seem jicst a parody of the original. Surprise No. 3: Tony Perkins' performance per-formance as the psychotic Norman gjies is so effective it's almost ospathetic and touching Surprise No. : The Original plot is adened and updated. I surprise No. 5: Norman's mother is... If you enjoy getting sliced up dv nor-w nor-w films, then by all means cut out wir other plans and knife your way is the theatre to endure "Psycho II." The story concerns Norman Bates' release after 2 years rehab, over the votests of those w ho believe criminal xsnce favors the guilty. He goes back B 'Fainiew. Calif.," to run the seedy ii motel and live in the spooky man-;vn man-;vn on the hill, where his domineer-jg domineer-jg mother once turned him into a taicidal maniac. With 7 victims to credit, Norman finds that some of ts neighbors are trying to force his iad by driving him bonkers. Is be cured? Was he even guilty in ie first place? Is his dead mother's essence still in the house? Who is sponsible for the latest killings? Do people change? Can killers ever be siely released? Plenty of suspense here, a classy r3er all the way, with a somewhat recble ending. Warning: not for the cjeamish! (Trouble is, everyone icjeams!) Rated R for graphic, ghastly vieace the last half hour. There is re! partial nudity, and a little prolix pro-lix Law-and-order advocates, if iey can stand to sit through the film, l;? be irritated at the overdrawn por-riysl por-riysl of their counterparts in the I "THE MAN WITH TWO BR.AINS" ( ) Ch-1, OC-1, Sk-1 in Rating BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD Seve Martin and Richard Pryor are is possibly the funniest guys around. Pryor's eyes project a special comic in, and bis social comments are ivastating. Martin is the best of the r-; gag pranksters, and his social sc-nnentary is uniquely amusing. Sick has a respectful, almost gentle ry of siding with their audiences to :e fun at society. They do it by pok-3 pok-3 fun at themselves. It's great, -ey 're precious. Uprise, surprise! With the excepts excep-ts of Pryor's x-rated nightclub act, Kber man makes funny movies! ae of Martin's films were any good i Pryor's celluloid sitcom collection st much better. ffhy? simply suggest it's a problem 1 occupational misalignment. Pryor M Martin are standup comics, not fm performers. Even if they were ed by the entire staff of writers 'MASH'', their situation com-would com-would be, well, just situation Wies. They're competing with .-"selves. Nothing and nobody can as funny R p and s M hve soo ge, not even R.P. and S.M. ally those two-in 100 minutes of ..e after time this happens. One Pects the producers just htn. dumb- and mignt be s'y- x-wV0Capitalize on the drawing ;of the Big Name. (Pryor just one of the most lucrative multi-5-J1 tracts 'm movie history. He iMi, 6 several movies. We can "' wait.) Martin's newest is "The Man with eonT" He plays a brain si "l) marries a lecherous, -"oman. then falls in love with f.ed brain of another niM ' there's a challenge for 1 -ilea) wrug,., .Ahnost no laughs. Plot worse rlv,,.eakest Tv si'com. Humor C 'vulgarities. tast" profanity- nudi'y and ,AIt GAMES" (VV-l,Ch-2, 0NT"tnRaling Guide) Pshs Vo ames" off the screen, g0r .. 'an(1 for two hours doesn't Or and r Games," like "Rocky ain,.,... "Aiders," is audience n at its best! This high- ie year' l,ertainment wil1 one of i-ai J bl8iest hits! It may out- ilJ IH"-Richard Pryor ir7,Tgand could even rival '-'Tm 1 sales- nce word gets 'prevfames'' is even better than ;fsio ads may give the gadget couId eitner an ?tement w f'lm' or an anti-nuclear U.it'santi-gadgetry, all right. The tension and excitement con-corn con-corn a gigantic goof caused by pervasive per-vasive dependence on computers in a fictitious U.S. military establishment. But the film is not exactly anti-nuelear; anti-nuelear; it's just plain anti-war, any kind of war. The thrilling conclusion of "War Games" will have young people peo-ple cheering, and us old fogies either nodding or choking in agreement, depending on our emotional makeup and aesthetic biases. Matthew Broderick (the boy in "Max Dugan Returns") is David Lightman, a 17-year-old electronics genius who is flunking science. Aly Sheedy ("Bad Boys") is Jennifer, his 17-year-old friend. She's flunking science too. These kids are so insightful, in-sightful, they make their science teacher look like an idiot. David lives in Seattle with his Mom, w ho sells Century 21, and his dad, who works too, somewhere. He learns of an electronics firm in Sunnyvale, Calif., that is working on some elaborate and incredible computer games. Through careful investigation, David learns how to contact their computer with his home computer. Global Ther monuclear Warfare is the game he chooses to play, but a transmission snafu sets off America's defense system, and possibly World War III. David is quickly apprehended by the FBI, escapes, and he and Jennifer embark em-bark on a wild scheme to save the world from war. "War Games" is almost always exciting, ex-citing, and when it isn't exciting, it's funny. Dabany Coleman is Dr. McKit-trick, McKit-trick, the government's civilian defense advisor. Since his role as Jill Kinmont's coach in "Other Side of the Mountain," he has emerged as a master of subtle humor in such films as the awful "Young Doctors in Love," and as the harried TV director in "Tootsie." Suffice to say that Mr. Coleman Col-eman has the best wince in the business. He's funny, and so are some of the situations, such as tapping an emergency warning light with one's finger to make it go out, and a marvelous way to butter corn that is every neat-freak's dream come true. Broderick and Sheedy, as David and Jennifer, exude teenage verve, nerve and sweetness as we've not seen on the screen in many a moon. It's a credit to their talents that we generally care more about their personal plight, than about impending nuclear war. Director John Badham ("Saturday .Mgni rever nas two Dig summer hits, "Blue Thunder" and "War Games"; the latter is clearly superior to the former. The musical score, photography and editing in "War Games" also score mightily; they're campy and schmaltzy, but it's good schmaltz. The ending is a powerful message, and a real zinger! Conservative patrons may wish to know that profanity, much of it blasphemous, is probacy the sole reason for the PG rating. There is no violence, sex or suggestiveness. "OCTOPLSSV"(") THIRTEEN IS UNLUCKY If there is any justice in this world, "Octopussy," now wTiggling at a theatre near you. will be the last of the James Bond thrillers. But there isn't, and it isn't. Roger Moore, 55, is Bond in "Octopussy," "Oc-topussy," and Sean Connery, 53, returns as Bond in "Never Say Never Again," later this summer. There will be more. After all, nothing succeeds like success. Since the 1962 "Dr. No," this is the 13th film of Ian Fleming's superhero Bond stories, one of the most successful runs in movie history. But honestly, folks, aren't we tiring, just a tad, of the obligatory rigged chases, the requisite smart remarks in the face of danger, and the degradation degrada-tion of women? No? OK, have it your way. On the plus side, we must admit that Monty Norman's James Bond theme, like the Pink Panther theme, always gets us right down here, every time we hear it. The unimaginative photography does reveal some interesting in-teresting scenery from India and Germany, Ger-many, the musical score is good, and the opening sequences and titles are classy as usual. (The James Bond movies are unique in that they have created and sustained for a generation, genera-tion, an art form that is a blend of sex and violence. ) There is. of course, the lab with its super-gadget weapons. This gimmick has been around so long, it was frequently satirized on the old "Get Smart" TV series. An airborne fight stunt, in the end of the film, is one of the most impressively impressive-ly executed movie stunts we've seen. We also loved the theme song, "All-Time "All-Time High." sung twice on the sound track by Rita Coolidge. The story' concerns an unscrupulous art dealer (Louis Jourdan). a lovely jewel smuggler bearing the name of the film (Maud Adams), and a maverick Russian general trying to smuggle an atomic weapon. Naturally, as you will recall from other "Bonds." James will convert the gorgeous she-crook to the side of right with (a) his charm, and (b) the revelation revela-tion that the crooks she works with, really are crooks. It's fun. It works. But at two hours plus, it's much too long. The audience I sat with, soon became underwhelmed underwhelm-ed with the hokey action, and the cheers of early evening became the yawns of the night. With no story or characorization, what can you expect? Dont miss "War Games" for this! Rated PG for nudity (especially in opening titles), sex, (His mentality of women as sex objects, and comic-book violence. We heard no cuss words, and saw almost no blood. |