■SfiSiss. Arts & Entertainment T
Fall films present drama, quirky relief
By Anne Steyer
Staff Reporter _
“And the Oscar goes to ..
Fall is typically the season of the
great Oscar push. This autumn is no
different. October and November are
filled with the sensitive films that
make for Academy Award nomina
tions.
Fortunately, there are also a few
quirky films to be released, giving a
little relief from dramatic overkill.
October Highlights:
“The Butcher’s Wife”: “Love, like
clairvoyance, requires a leap of faith.”
Sound familiar? A little bit like last
year’s “Believe” from the mega-hit
“Ghost”? It’s not completely coinci
dental — the star of that film also
stars in this one.
Demi Moore is Marina, the clair
voyant wife of the local Greenwich
Village butcher. The gossip starts flying
when she doles out predictions and
advice to the locals.
Enter concerned psychiatrist Alex
Tremor (Jeff Daniels of “Arachno
phobia”). The sparks fly as Alex at
tempts to unravel the mystery sur
rounding Marina and her psychic
powers.
Moore has been making headway
dispelling the “Mrs. Bruce Willis”
label, especially with “Mortal
Thoughts” and “Ghost.” This should
be an interesting turn for her, long
blonde wig and all.
Daniels has been consistently good,
turning in solid performances in a
variety of roles. From the philander
ing husband in “Terms of Endear
ment”! to the screen idol in Woody
Allen’s “The Purple Rose of Cairo,”
Daniels has provided sound charac
ters for the screen.
“The Butcher’s Wife” also boasts
an impressive supporting cast includ
ing Mary Steenburgen (“Back to the
Future III”) and Frances McDormand
(“Hidden Agenda”).
The film could be carried by its
supporting cast, but it will need a
strong performance from Moore, The
script is also the first for screenwrit
ers Ezra Litwak and Marjorie Schwartz.
“Frankie and Johnny”: Michelle
Pfeiffer and A1 Pacino, together for
the first time since “Scarface,” star in
this tender comedy from Paramount.
Pacino, a six-time Oscar nominee,
is Johnn y, a short order cook at N ick ’ s
Cafe. It’s there that he meets Frankie
(Pfeiffer), a waitress with more than a
cynical view of love and happiness.
The movie chronicles their attempts
at a real love affair.
Director Garry Marshall had the
magic touch last year with another
unlikely romance, “Pretty Woman.”
That film catapulted Julia Roberts to
national attention and gave Richard
Gere’s career a needed boost.
Marshall has cast Hector Elizondo,
a supporting player in “Pretty Woman,”
as Nick, the cafe owner.
Whether or not Marshall can turn
this oddball romance into a hit re
mains to be seen. He has a good touch
with dramatic comedies and he docs
have two certified stars this time
around. It’s hard to miss with either
Pfeiffer or Pacino.
November Highlights:
Left to right: Forest Whitaker, Kiefer Sutherland and Ray Li
otta co-star in “Article 99,” coming to theaters this fall.
¥ " m
Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino serve up romance as the title
characters in director Gary Marshall’s “Frankie and Johnny.”
“The Addams Family”: Based on
the comic strip and television show of
the same name, this film is bound to
be a broader, darker comedy than
others due out this fall.
Oscar winner Angelica Huston
(“Prizzi’s Honor”) stars as Morticia
See FALL on 10
Lincoln to get first do liar-theater complex
By Steve Pearson
Staff Reporter
Lincolnites will soon have an
economical alternative when they get
the urge to go to the movies. Work
has begun on Lincoln’s first “dollar
theater complex.” Star Ship 9, to be
located on the south side of Q Street,
between 13th and 14th streets, is slated
for a March opening.
Pricesdefinitcly will be lower than
first-run theaters, she added.
The theater will have “a lot of
flash and neon to it,” Mardock said.
Mardock said that the lobby will
feature mirrors and neon and tracer
lights. The outside will be three shades
of pink and include a large marquee,
covered with lights to create a “galac
tic effect.”
As the name indicates, the com
plex will include nine auditoriums.
She said that two of the auditoriums
will hold 300 and the total theater
capacity should be around 2,000. Some
rooms will have rocking chairs, and
all will have cup holders.
“We’re calling it the dollar house,
but admission prices have not been
set yet,”according to Deborah Brehm
Mardock, vice president of the Douglas
Theater Company.
Mardock said that there would be
a concern about market saturation if
this were a complex showing first-run
movies, but “since these are not first
run, there would not be a worry.”
Although it will be called a sec
ond-run house, the films shown at
Star Ship 9 will be relatively new.
“There is a 30-day window be
tween the time they leave the first-run
houses and come to the dollar houses,”
she said.
The location was chosen with the
university audience in mind.
“College students may be a prime
audience source for second-run
houses,” Mardock said. “That’s why
we wanted it near the university.”
Mardock said that the mid-March
opening date also was chosen care
fully. “About that time the Christmas
releases will be available for second
run houses,” she said.
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Brian Shallito/DN
Dietrich’s star shines bright in ‘Desire’
Since Turner Network Television
(TNT) seems to be more concerned
with the unnecessary broadcast of
sports events and self-indulgentorigi
nal programming, fewer quality films
are being shown.
Meanwhile, the A&E Network
continues to broadcast more quality
classic films. Recently, A<SpE has
concentrated on several early films
featuring Gary Cooper and Marlene
Dietrich. Two of these films are
“Morocco” in 1930, and “Desire” in
1936.
Although ‘The Blue Angel” was
her first film role, director/mentor
Josef von Sternberg intended “Mo
rocco” to be the perfect American
introduction to the sultry Dietrich.
The Dietrich of “Morocco” was a far
more sensual and enticing character
than her “Blue Angel” role. •
Her identity was created purpose
fully and carefully by von Sternberg.
He was responsible for drawing clear
dialogue from her heavy German
accent. Von Sternberg feared that if
she mispronounced her lines, audi
ences would quickly grow disen
chanted with her, finding her role
comical and unbelievable.
That was the antithesis of von
Sternberg’s wishes.
He designed every move artisti
cally, creating Dietrich’s image into
one of Hollywood’s finest. Von
Sternberg charged cinematographer
Lee Garmes with the auspicious duty
of capturing her in warm, docile light
ing to highlight her “world weary”
manner. Dietrich’s manner and heavy
accent were to carry her headlong
into Hollywood stardom.
However, not everyone was im
mediately captured. The New York
Times’ review of “Morocco” pro
nounced that “Miss Dietrich bears a
resemblance to Greta Garbo, but her
acting hardly rivals that of the Swed
ish star.” The people at the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
disagreed. They nominated her for
Best Actress, as well as giving nomi
nations for von Sternberg’s directing,
Garmes’ cinematography and Hans
Dreier’s sets.
Commercially, the film was a
success as well. The motion picture
did giant business, lending more credi
bility to the young Cooper’s career
and a buoyant beginning tor Dietrich.
Steinberg recalled in his autobiog
raphy that “it should be mentioned
that less than a year later Adolph
Zukor confided to me that the com
pany had been saved from bankruptcy
by die success of this film.”
Working with von Sternberg, al
though rewarding for the young Diet
rich’s career, was not entirely free of
pain. In fact, following the filming of
“Morocco,” Cooper insisted that he
would never work with him again
because of the obsessive attention
paid to Dietrich.
Cooper was not the only person
bothered by the relationship.
Following the filming of “The Devil
Is A Woman” in 1935, the von
Stemberg/Dietnch association was put
to a painful death.
The liberation was a fruitful one
for Dietrich. By 1936, she was free to
try her hand at the finest of comedies
— one directed by Ernst Lubitsch.
In “Desire,” Dietrich was free to
be Dietrich for the first time. And it fit
quite well.
Dietrich makes the best Dietrich.
Thank-you A&E, for letting us see
her.
Stock Is Senior English major, and a
Senior Reporter and Columnist for the Daily
Nebraskan
