Thrills! Chills! Lava spills! Hang on, Him fans! h's the.„
By Gerry Beltz
Film Critic
Another semester, another season
of cinema to salvage or sicken the soul.
What’s good and what’s bad? Who
knows?!?
One thing is for sure in Lincoln:
Release dales are subject to change
with all the predictability and logic of
the weather.
Obviously, there will be other mov
ies besides these, but these should be
some of the bigger releases.
And don’t forget, Academy Award
nominations will be here in about a
month.
“Beverly Hills Ninja” (Jan. 17) —
Minus usual smarmy sidekick David
Spade, Chris Farley stars as a young
man who wants to follow in his
father’s footsteps to become a great
, martial artist. Unfortunately, Farley’s
character has absolutely no aptitude
for martial arts whatsoever.
It’s comedy for people who thought
the humor in “Airplane” was too ce
rebral. Still, with Chris Rock as a co
star, it may be worth a look-see.
“Metro” (Jan. 17) — It’s another
Eddie Murphy cop movie, but it ain’t
“Beverly Hills Cop.”
A fast-talking hostage negotiator
(Murphy) tries to balance a brash new
partner (Michael Rapaport) and his
love life while chasing down a master
criminal (Michael Wincott).
Can Murphy keep success rolling
after “The Nutty Professor”?
“Portrait of a Lady” (Jan. 17) —
The stars come out of the woodwork
for this one, which has already been
in limited release since late Decem
ber.
In 19th-century Europe, a strong
willed woman (Nicole Kidman) finds
herself stuck in an arranged marriage
to a total scumbag. Other stars of the
film include John Malkovich and Bar
bara Hershey.
“Fierce Creatures” (Jan. 24) —
The cast for “A Fish Called Wanda”
reassembles for another madcap com
edy.
A British company buys a zoo, and
while the ambitious executive (Jamie
Lee Curtis) and lecherous partner
(Kevin Kline) launch their own plans,
the new zoo director (John Cleese)
stocks the zoo with only dangerous
animals, and the peaceful insect wran
gler (Michael Palin) tries to save the
zoo itself.
“Hamlet” (Jan. 24) — Originally
more than four hours long, we may be
getting a slightly trimmed-down ver
sion (for better or worse).
Kenneth Branagh directs and
i stars in this Shakespeare trag
* edy, and he’s brought along
more stars than you could
believe, including Robin Will
iams, Billy Crystal and Jack
Lemmon.
This one looks to be
Branagh’s grandest
Shakespeare film yet, includ
ing a flashback of Yorick,
■whom he knew so well....
“Star Wars” (Jan. 31) —
The waiting is done. The
talking is done. After 20
years, “Star Wars” hits the
big screen again, but for only three
weeks.
Additional footage and souped-up
special effects highlight the anniver
sary for a film that revolutionized the
movie industry.
The two other “Star Wars” films
— “The Empire Strikes Back” and
“Return of the Jedi”—will each open
on Feb. 21 and March 7, respectively,
but each will run for only two weeks.
“Mother” (sometime in January,
probably)—Albert Brooks once again
directs a film about what he does his
best work with—real life. Brooks also
co-wrote the script for “Mother” and
co-stars with Rob Morrow (“Quiz
Show”).
After his second divorce, John
(Brooks) decides to fix up his relation
ship with his mother (Debbie
Reynolds) once and for all. Otherwise,
his future with women is doomed.
Don’t be surprised if you see a little
of your life in this film; that’s one of
Brooks’ gifts as a director.
February
/jWSwwlv"-"
“Dante’s Peak” (Feb. 7) — Team
up frustrated seismologist (Pierce
Brosnan) and the skeptical mayor
(Linda Hamilton) to help a town of
blithering idiots escape certain death,
and you have “Dante’s Peak.”
With “Twister” out of the way, it’s
time for new natural disasters, and
“Dante’s Peak” is one of two volcano
„ oriented films coming out this semes
ter.
With the success of “Independence
Day,” disaster films may be finding
their way back into the theaters.
“Absolute Power” (Feb. 7)—Clint
Eastwood is back in the White House,
but this time he’s a criminal.
(And just HOW do we tell him
from the other ones?)
The president’s mistress is mur
Please see PREVIEW on 13
By Gerry Beltz
Senior Reporter
So many movies, so little time.
It’s another typical semester for
Dan Ladely, director of the Mary
Riepma Ross Film Theater, 12th
and R streets.
“It’s always tougjh every time we
put together a schedule because
there are more good films than we
have time to show,” Ladely said.
The time for movies at the Ross
is also restricted because classes use
the facility and Sheldon Memorial
Art Gallery holds events there, he
said.
“This limits us quite a bit,” he
said.
To pare down the list of films
to play for a given semester, Ladely
said, he often just checked the video
M--—
It is possible that, in the near future,
we will be seeing more independent
films nominated for Oscars than
Hollywood-based films *
DanLadely
Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater director
release date.
“In the past, we have sometimes
scheduled films that ended up play
ing at the same time it was hitting
the video shelves,” Ladely said.
“We’re trying to avoid this as much
as possible.”
Oscars announcements are
coming next month, and Ladely
said he expected several of the films
from last semester’s and this
Please see ROSS on 13
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