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Show Friday, February THE HFRAIJ). Provo, Utah, 5, 1993 ! ;;:i'C C7 most 1 0 new comedy movies set to open in next few months of all time "Ghostbusters" "Home Alone," were and "Beverly Hills Cop" It's the dead of winter, and the comedies, usually made for far less cultural thermostat needs adjust- than the "Star Wars"-lik- e blockment. buster extravaganzas. Dying children, crazed marines "I think everybody probably and blind vets are out, out with the goes into a funk after the holidays curdled eggnog. What with the and they want a little laugh," says new year, the new president, his E. Max Frye, the writerdirector wife and hCT new hat, it is time, of the upcoming "Amos & AnHollywood believes, for the Driv- drew." ing Groundhog and the Mant "The appeal of comedy is pretty (more on them later). obvious," adds Joe Dante, the diComedies action, romantic, rector of "Matinee," starring quirky, social, contemporary and John Goodman. "It's pretty undesex are the Next Big Thing com- manding entertainment generally ing this winter, with close to 10 set and a genre that doesn't go away . " for takeoff in the next six weeks or On the other hand, he says, so. Cheap, quick to make, and decomedy requires courage. signed to hold audiences over until "If you make a comedy, the things bloom in the spring. Sort of only thing you have going for it is like of like a piping-ho- t bowl of if people find it amusing," says oatmeal. Dante, whose past directing credits But sometimes, little pebbles include the "Gremlins" pictures. and bugs can be found in old oat"I find making comedies one of the bravest forms of meal, and just what will prove funIf the audience doesn't like it, there ny remains to be seen. Few tortures are as vivid as sitting through aren't a lot of spaceships and spesomeone else's idea of a joke. cial effects to distract you. ' ' howThe rewards of good fun, Divining a common theme ever, can be enormous. Three of among the upcoming slate is a haz the top 10. movies By LARRY HACKETT New York Daily News film-makin- g. ardous business, but irony and cynicism, the staples of '80s comedy, seems rarer, with straight laughs in. If this were television, Leno would beat late-nig- ht Let-terma- n. In "Groundhog Day," for example, Bill Murray starts off in familiar shoes. As TV weatherman Phil Connors, Murray is a cynical, selfish boor whose humor lies in his malevolence towards others. But Connors finds himself stuck in Punxsutawney, Pa. on Groundhog Day stuck, it seems, for good, since each morning when Connors wakes, it's Feb. 2 all over again. Connors gleefully takes advantage of the dilemma, shoving pastries, resuming smoking and stealing money from the bank. Since things start over the next morning, his sins of yesterday are all forgotten. Like the ice sculptures in the town square, however, Connors' cynicism begins to melt as time goes on. "Groundhog Day" finalthe movie and the day ly ends a lot more like "It's a looking ifl ir . & Friday "It's probably idealized," Ramis says of the script, "but what the hell. We'll put our higher aspirations on the screen and see if people bite." In Dante's "Matinee," John diGoodman plays a horror-movi- e rector bringing his new film, "Mant," the story of a half-anto a theater in Key West Cuban Missile Crisis in the during 1962. The film is an homage to both the cheesy fun of the horror genre as well as the general cheesi-nes- s of the early '60s drills, pop songs, etc. Only the haircuts bad and very 1990s half-ma- n, t, air-ra- id "Amos & Andrew" A social comedy on racial stereotypes, "most of v hich are laid to waste in the movie one way or another," says directorwriter Frye. Nicolas crook Amos Cage plays two-b- it Odell, who takes a famous nlack playwright (Samuel L. Jackson) by mistake. Dabney hostage Coleman plays a chief of police looking for a way to let Amos off the hook easy. (Originally seen as a sharp social satire, Fre says the picture now is more of a broad comedy.) Opens Feb. 26. break the spell. Among the other upcoming comedies are: "National Lampoon's Loaded In the tradition of I" "Airplane." and "Naked Gun," Weapon this picture sets out to savage recent movie history. Samuel L. Jackson plays a cop just days from retirement out to solve the murder of his partner. He's teamed up with Emilio Estevez, and they head off into a world of movie ruin F. Murray Abraham as Hannibal Lechter; Kathy Ireland as a femme fatale a la Sharon Stone and Jon Lovitz as the Joe - ng Chris Rock from "CB4" "Saturday Night Live" and stars in this irreverent sendup on the making and exploitation of a rap act from Locash, Calif., whose lead singer assumes the identity of Gusto, Locash's most notorious criminal Opening in March. co-wro- te nudge from "Lethal Weapon." Opens Feb. 5. Maybe "Trusting Beatrice" more romantic than comedy, this is about Beatrice (Irene Jacob), a French immigrant, and her daughter, who are invited to stay in the home of Claude (Mark Even Jacobs). A hapless sort, Claude has a secret he accidentally burned down Beatrice's home. Written by Cindy Lou Johnson, who penned the new play "The Years." Opens Pesci-lik- e "Watch It" y Three former college roomm. tes now in their late 20s continue their tradition of practical jokery, all to the back- ground music of love triangles, yuppie angst, family estrangement n and other movie furniture. Opens March 19. well-wor- Feb. 12. Ff y 1 Crest than "Scrooged." f Oak Life" Wonderful "Bill was afraid of playing unbridled sentiment," says Harold Ramis, who has worked repeatedly with Murray, most successfully on "Ghostbus-ters.- " "He just decided to go for it in this film. I urged him to do it." Ramis admits being drawn to cynical humor, but says age, personal growth and their respective families have led him and Murray to a some may say more generous spirit. "We're not teencorny agers anymore," Ramis says. iy i 2600 Canyon Road Spanish Fork, Utah "30 Years of Making Occasions" Saturday Special FRESH SALMON Sunday Special SUNDAY BUFFET '5.95 Take the Spanish Fork Exit, Up Highway 6- -5 miles 798-704- 5 am W W EGG FOO YONG m FRIED RICE FORTUNE COOKIES CHINESE TEA SWEET AND SOUR POFiK DISTINCTIVE DINING FACILITY ALSO SMALL OR LARGE PARTIES "LET YOUR FINGERS DO THE WAITING1 Excellent Variety Of: Chicken, Steak & Seafood We Serve Tandoori Dishes Cooked in a Special Clay Oven (Max. LUNCH SPECIAL ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET The Plumed Horse Inn on Geneva Road offers a Grand-Hote- l Style Menu in an elegantly furnished facility. We have a menu for everyone and dinners to fit any budget. 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