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Show 0 CX Paired themes one surprise of '85 independent entries " " t t I ! " , . ; " . I I V , 1 . ' :. ! t ; ! '- f - A in ; ; " -it- : - ' ' ; V i I " k f - 4 5 "V. V, v- i - j (From top) Married couples, in "Cold Feet"; union troubles in "Killing Floor," and odd couple in "Roommate. "Room-mate. " r m i JuiLJiimRiiiiwiu.im.111 i imliii.i i .. ii ii i.i . in ii iin n .-.. m i mi iiJi.iii"iwniui..i mm- 111 T" "'v . .... " : , I 4 fry If ,4-1 S l-ilV r (S It T I? V If - v " - i v v : 'T'fi ( , , by lUck Rrough By an odd coincidence, the competing independent movies in this year's U.S. Film Festival include pairs of films with common elements. For instance, we have two historical documentaries with narration by Jason Robards; two dramatic films with actor Griffin Dunne about the evolution of relationships; and two pictures with actor director John Sayles playing a scoundrel. The U.S. Film Festival will play in Park City from Jan. 19 through 27. There is more than coincidence to attract you to this year's independents. indepen-dents. There are two categories-dramatic categories-dramatic and documentary film and a prestigious panel of judges has been selected for each section. For the dramatic films, the judges are independent director Robert Young, who filmed "The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez" and Paul Simon's film "One Trick Pony"; Peter Biskind, editor of American Film magazine; and Mirra Bank, whose film "Enormous Changes at the Last Minute" was featured at last year's festival. The documentary films will be judged by three highly-respected names in the field: Frederick Wiseman, famous for his "institution" "institu-tion" documentaries such as "Hospital," "Hos-pital," "High School" and "Basic Training"; D.A. Pennebaker, a pioneer in the cinema verite style and maker of "Monterrey Pop"; and Barbara Kopple, director of the documentary "Harlan County, U.S.A." The winners will be announced at an awards party on Saturday, Jan 26. Here are the entries in the dramatic film division: Almost You Alex and Erica Boyer (Griffin Dunne, Brooke Adams) are a bored w''marrieff'coupleIi might help. But matters quickly grow complicated when Erica is struck by. a car and bedridden; Alex starts fooling around with her nurse; and an actor and his girlfriend become involved with the couple's mating dance of frustration. Directed by Adam Brooks (not to be confused with Brooke Adams), this film follows a love affair from its death to its resurrection. Blood Simple Joel Coen's movie is a Texas moron-Gothic tale with all the ingredients for a fuzzy equation. Just take (a) a jealous bar owner, (b) his wife, (c) the bartender she's fooling around with, and (d) a detective hired by the husband to kill the adulterous couple. Complications begin when the sleazy detective, Visser, figures its more profitable to take the husband's hus-band's money, kill him, and frame the wife! From then on, complications complica-tions and misunderstandings plague all the characters. Filled with visual tricks (when the camera tracks down the bar it courteously jumps over a drunk) and recommended by festival officials as a must-see picture. The Brother From Another Planet (Out of competition.) Can a mute, three-toed black alien survive in Harlem after crashing his space ship? He can, especially when he can repair machines with a mere touch of hi hand. Joe Morton is excellent as the alien. His hero may be silent, but writer-director John Sayles does a superb subtle job of telling you the Brother's history. His muteness also has a way of drawing out the personalities of people around him, including the quirky patrons of a local bar; a soul singer on her way down the " career ladder: two whitebread college students lost in Harlem; and , a well-heeled drug dealer. , j Sayles and David Strathairn are hilarious as. two poker-faced alien policemen hunting the Brother. They're the Dorks from Another Planet, you might say. ' ' Cold Keel At a party, two relationships are breaking up. Tom (Griffin Dunne) is getting fed up with his flower-child wife and Marty (Marissa Chibas) is dumping her dependent man. The two barely take indifferent notice of each other, but once they're both free, a romantic involvement gradually grad-ually begins. Bruce VanDusen's film is about a romance set against an age where the only hang-up is risking a commitment Cold Feet. A Flash of Green This film is about the conflict in a Florida small town between a developer who wants to turn a bay into a "floating suburb," and the environmentalists who fight him. Ed Harris (John Glenn in "The Right Stuff") is a reporter who tries to maintain an uneasy neutrality. He is inveigled into spying for the developer, but later decides to take a stand. Already this sounds like the Record's favorite movie! The cast includes Blair Brown and Richard Jordan (Duncan Idaho of "Dune" ) as the villain. The film was directed by' Victqr Nunez,, ,'. Hard Choices Three youths accidentally kill a guard during a robbery and the youngest (Gary McCleery) is caught and jailed, possibly for life. A female social worker (Margaret Klenck) takes pity on him. But just when you're expecting a "pity-the-poor victim" story, the social worker falls in love with the kid and resolves to break him out. John Sayles plays the drug dealer who helps her, cynically figuring it helps him to have another criminal on the loose. The film is directed bv Rick King. Heartbreakers Arthur Blue thinks his friend Eli Kahn is a success at love and money. Eli envies the artistry of Arthur. They see their life-long friendship as the most solid element in their lives, until it is tested by their love for the same woman. The film stars Peter Coyote (the man with the keys from "E.T.") as Blue, Nick Mancuso (a festival guest) as Eli, Kathryn Harrold as Arthur's lost love, and Max "Barney Miller" Gail. It is directed by Bobby Roth. The Killing Floor Frank Custer (Damien Leake) journeys from the South during World War I and takes a job in a slaughterhouse. Gradually,, he becomes be-comes convinced that the only way to fight the bosses is to join an inter-racial union. But this makes chug-a-lugging and panty raids. Directed by Nell Cox, the film stars Lance Guest (who played "The Last Starfighter" ) as Orson and Barry Miller (star of "The Chosen") as "Hub." Stranger Than Paradise Jim Jarmusch's film, with its vagrant plot and scruffy heroes, is one of the most acclaimed of the year. The film has roughly three sections: self-styled New York hipster Willie (John Lurie) chafes at a surprise visit from his immigrant cousin (Ester Balint) but is charmed by her; he later visits her at their aunt's home in Cleveland; and Willie, his cousin, and a friend (John Edson) leave for a misadventure misadven-ture at the Florida dog races. Vamping Patrick Duffy of "Dallas" plays a burned-out jazz saxophonist who reluctantly hires out as a robber. But during the burglary, he sees his victim, a widow,-and falls for her. It is directed by Fred Keller, who has had t a .( other films at the festival. iw. -, $ i , 1 i I v.'f , - ' V - i f ,r v. s,' A . . C i I V ii 1 , "A', V. f k v-;-: ;- ' i if " ' ; i 11 Ly T j - . - -' ir i : r i , M ' . i . , , , him a mortal enemy to the othei blacks such as Heavy Williams (Moses Gunn), who are suspicious of the white workers. The movie's exploration of class-race tensions takes place on a slaughterhouse floor where a knife is a badge of honor. The film is directed by William Duke. IMS in the Dust This is a tale of the West, where men were men and women were1-400-pound transvestites? Yes, the freaky Divine is the heroine of this oater, abused by the Third World gang of Hard-Case Williams (Geoffrey (Geof-frey Lewis) and rescued by Tab Hunter. The film is directed by Paul ("Eating Raoul") Bartel. The Koommatc Orson Ziegler is a 1952 square who has his life all planned out. He knows he will go to Northwestern U., study medicine and then practice in his home town, while he marries the girl next door. But he doesn't count on his college roommate being an "Anglican Christian Platonist" named "Hub" Palamountain, who introduces him to the joys of |