mom@sftri.UUCP (Mark Modig) (06/26/85)
> > Speaking of disappearing movies (well, somebody was), whatever happened to > "Brazil", Terry Gilliam's new film? I've been frantically anxious to see it, > an appetite only whetted by reviews posted here of festival and preview > screenings. It was supposed to be out in March, but no appearance on the > general release scene, at least not in the Bay Area, has occurred. Are there > any Variety readers out there who know what the hell's going on? Has anyone > seen it in their area? Thanks in advance. > > Steve Upstill I was at a con in Philly a few weeks ago and there was a promo poster up for the movie. Several people from various studios were there to present clips from upcoming films, and one of them said he had seen clips from it and highly recommended it. I believe he said it was targeted for a late summer release. Actually, there were clips and presentations for quite a few films at the con, including Ron Howard's ("Splash") new film, "Cocoon", which looked interesting. This one is about a group of aliens who come back to retrieve some large round objects left on the sea bed when they were last here 10,000 years ago. Steve Guttenberg ("Police Academy") is the "hero". There were also clips from "Lifeforce", which has got to be one of the most dreadful *things* to come out of Hollywood in the past month. It's based loosely on the book "The Space Vampires", by Colin Wilson-- one of the very few books I have ever thrown out in the trash. It was directed by Tobe Hooper, of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" fame. Coming at Christmas is "Santa Claus- the Movie." I am a romantic at heart, so I didn't particularly care for Ilya and Alexander Salkind (remember the Superman flicks?) playing around with "my" fairy tales. Anyway, Dudley Moore plays a disenchanted elf who falls under the sway of the greedy toymaker played by John Lithgow. The message here seems to be that Christmas should be enjoyed as Christmas rather than viewed as a commercial venture-- I wish the producers of this film had taken that thought to heart, although it doesn't matter really, I'll still stay home and watch the Grinch! There was also a preview of the new Mad Max picture. The story seemed fairly similar in general to "The Road Warrior" as Max gets beaten on and his stuff stolen, fights the baddies led by Tina Turner, and is the champion of the downtrodden and weak. One scene leads me to guess that this will be the last Mad Max picture, but remember I only saw some clips and slides. "Warning Signs" [not sure about the exact title] deals with an accident at a gene-splicing facility. Sam Waterston ["The Killing Fields"] and Yaphet Kotto star. This one looked interesting enough for me to consider seeing it; it looks sort of like a cross between "The China Syndrome" and "The Andromeda Strain". Last is "Real Genius", the story of two students, a senior and a freshman, attending Pacific Tech, a science oriented school, sort of like Harvey Mudd College. They embark on a project to build a large laser as part of a research project under a physics prof there. Imagine their horror when they discover what the laser is really going to be used for; the last part of the film is about their efforts to break into the facility where the laser has been installed and disable/destroy it before it can be used. Overall, most of the films were disappointing, but I didn't see anything about some of the other films I am interested in seeing, such as "The Black Cauldron" and "Return to Oz." So I guess there's still hope left for the summer. Mark Modig ihnp4!sftri!mom