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Show Het's qo to the movies! Cinematic " " f ; ! Sentiments ' l By Dr. Allen Hasson gj , J j Best of the movies 1983: The Year of the Great 'Little-Movies 'Little-Movies (That Passed Us By) Last year, the best and most enjoyable en-joyable movies were big hits, and played everywhere (E.T., Gandhi, Rocky III, The Verdict, Sophie's Choice, Missing, Tootsie, Officer and Gentleman). 1983 is different. Although a few of the year's best are playing locally (Return of the Jedi, War Games, The Survivors), the quality quali-ty films of the 1983 remain largely unseen un-seen in Middletown, U.S.A. These are limited-appeal films. They're trying their "legs" in major cities, so the distributors can see how they do, then develop the best advertising approaches ap-proaches to market them in cities under a quarter million. They may yet play here this year, or you may not see them until 1984, after they draw attention atten-tion by garnering Academy Award nominations. The best movie we've seen this year is "Tender Mercies" (mild PG), a film involving some of the most talented people in the business. "Mercies" is the story of a down-and-out country singer who tries to piece his life back together.' Robert Duvall, an actor without peer, is has-been singer Mac Sledge, who drifts into a seedy motel somewhere in Texas. He marries the lovely motel owner (Tess Harper) early ear-ly on, and the rest of the film deals with the problems of her son, his daughter and ex-wife, and getting his career modestly back on tract. "Tender Mercies" is not just for country coun-try music fans; it is a special experience ex-perience about love and tenderness. Bruce Beresford, director of "Breaker Morant", and screen writer Horton Foote, who adapted "To Kill a Mockingbird" Mock-ingbird" for the screen, have produced produc-ed an unforgettable view of middle America, shown with exquisite picture-postcard photography. Another four-star film is a screen adaptation of Verdi's opera, "La Traviata" (G). Franco Zeffirelli has taken opera from the stage medium, and noticeably improved it with a vast expansiveness of sets and scenery that would be impossible on the stage, and with careful attention to facial expression expres-sion through closeup photography. If you're not an opera fan, our guess is that this magnificent production, and the feeling and emotion it creates, will work a change in you. Other special films of 1983 include "The Grey Fox" (mild PG), the story of stagecoach robber Bill Miner, the "gentleman bandit." Miner got out of San Quentin in 1901, and found that things had changed in 33 years, but he hadn't. "Fox" won Canada's highest film award, and features American character actor Richard Farnsworth in his greatest performance. Then there's "Pirates of Penzeance" (G), the rollicking screen version of Gilbert and Sullivan's best, with Linda Lin-da Ronstadt as you've never seen her before. The producers made the mistake of allowing this film to be the first ever released to both theatres and cable TV the same day. "Local Hero"(PG), one of the year's wittiest films, stars Burt Lancaster as a wealthy oilman who sends his assistant assis-tant to buy up a little Irish coastal village for oil exploration. In hilarious cultural exchanges, the village charms the outsiders into a new point of view. "Betrayal" (mild R), with Bend ("Gandhi") Kingsley, is a sensitive study of the problems associated with adultery. Ask your local theatre people about these films. If enough interest is shown, you may not have to wait for the Academy Awards to bolster your chances of seeing the year's best. |