Dates at the end of capsules indicate the film's initial review in the Deseret News.
NEW FILMS FRIDAYCITY SLICKERS II: THE LEGEND OF CURLY'S GOLD - Billy Crystal is back in the saddle in this sequel to his biggest hit, with Daniel Stern and Jack Palance also returning, and Jon Lovitz joining them. The story is a comic take on "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," as they search for a lost gold mine. Filmed largely in Moab. Reviewed in this section today. PG-13 (violence, profanity, vulgarity, sex). (Broadway, Century, Creekside, Gateway, Midvalley, Reel, South Towne; Valley Vu, with "Grumpy Old Men.")
SPEED - Keanu Reeves takes on a macho leading man/hero persona as a Los Angeles SWAT cop out to save passengers on a runaway bus, which has a bomb set to explode if the vehicle drops below 50 mph. Dennis Hopper is the villain. Reviewed in this section today. R (violence, gore, profanity, vulgarity). (Century, Cottonwood, Gateway, Midvalley; Redwood, with "Bad Girls"; Sandy 9, Trolley Corners.)
WIDOW'S PEAK - When a young widow (Natasha Richardson) moves to a small Irish village, where an older woman (Joan Plowright) is the dominant force, it causes a streak of anger in a heretofore quiet middle-aged member of the cloistered community (Mia Farrow). Reviewed in this section today. PG (violence, profanity, vulgarity). (Broadway, South Towne.)
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
MIDNIGHT COWBOY - A 25th anniversary re-release of the 1969 adult drama about a redneck would-be hustler (Jon Voight) who heads for New York City, where he strikes up an unlikely relationship with a sickly, homeless con artist (Dustin Hoffman). Oscar-winner as best picture, director and screenplay. Reviewed in this section today. R (violence, sex, nudity, profanity, vulgarity). (Exclusive, Tower.)
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE - The classic Tennessee Williams play with Marlon Brando heading a perfect cast in the story of neurotic residents of a New Orleans tenement. Oscars went to Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter and Karl Malden. With some brief restored footage that was deemed too "adult" for early '50s audiences. Reviewed in this section today. Made before ratings (1951), probable PG-13 (violence, adult themes). (Exclusive, Tower.)
JOHN CANDY FESTIVAL
ONLY THE LONELY - * * 1/2 - Maureen O'Hara is very good, returning to the screen after a 20-year absence, as the bigoted, somewhat nasty mother of lonely Chicago cop John Candy, who can't quite untie the apron strings long enough to romance mortician's assistant Ally Sheedy. Nice performances, but the script, with occasional dark comedy digressions, is very uneven. Jim Belushi, Anthony Quinn co-star. PG-13 (violence, profanity, vulgarity, nudity). (Friday, midnight, Sugarhouse.) (May 24, 1991)
CONTINUING FILMS
ACE VENTURA, PET DETECTIVE - turkey - Over-the-top Jim Carrey stars in this dreadful slapstick farce as the title character, tracking down the kidnapped Miami Dolphins mascot and quarterback Dan Marino prior to the Super Bowl. This one is in Pee-wee Herman-Ernest P. Worrell territory, except that it's far too vulgar for children. PG-13 (violence, sex, nudity, profanity, vulgarity). (Redwood, with "Beverly Hills Cop III"; Sandy Starships, Sugarhouse, Valley Fair.) (Feb. 4, 1994)
THE AIR UP THERE - * * - Disney basketball comedy, along the lines of "Cool Runnings" and "The Mighty Ducks," with Kevin Bacon as a down-on-his luck assistant coach who travels to Africa after spotting a promising player in documentary footage, unaware that his prospect is a chief's son and the tribe is in the middle of a land dispute. By-the-numbers stuff. PG (violence, profanity, vulgarity). (Kaysville.) (Jan. 7, 1994)
BAD GIRLS - * * - OK Western with a feminist twist, as four prostitutes (Madeleine Stowe, Andie MacDowell, Mary Stuart Masterson, Drew Barrymore) band together to make a new life in the Northwest, only to find their plans thwarted by Stowe's old troublemaking gang. Everyone is fine except Barrymore, but the script offers up one Western cliche after another without any wit or style - just women toting six-guns instead of men. R (violence, profanity, vulgarity, sex, brief partial nudity). (Redwood, with "Speed.") (April 22, 1994)
BELLE EPOQUE - * * * - This year's Oscar-winner as best foreign-language film is a romantic comedy-drama about an Army deserter in 1931 Spain who is befriended by an older man in a small rural community, and then finds himself seduced by each of the fellow's four daughters. Lots of political subtext but also enjoyable as a character comedy. In Spanish, with English subtitles. Not rated, probable R (violence, sex, profanity, partial nudity). (Tower.) (May 27, 1994)
BEVERLY HILLS COP III - * * 1/2 - Funny but overly violent and profane Eddie Murphy comedy, with Detroit cop Axel Foley seeking revenge on a killer in a Southern California amusement park, clearly modeled after Disneyland. The gags about the park are hilarious and Eddie Murphy is back in peak form, but the story is ridiculous and the stunts borrow too much from Indiana Jones and James Bond. R (violence, gore, profanity, vulgarity, partial nudity). (Century, Cottonwood, Flick, Gateway, Plaza 5400; Redwood, with "Ace Ventura, Pet Detective"; Reel, Sandy 9.) (May 20, 1994)
BLANK CHECK - turkey - A young boy is mistakenly given a million dollars in stolen loot and goes on a wild spending spree in this hopeless blend of the MTV and QVC cable channels, as well as "Home Alone" and "Brewster's Millions." An atrocious, unfunny exercise in crass moviemaking. PG (violence, vulgarity). (Valley Fair.) (Feb. 11, 1994)
BRAINSCAN - turkey - Dumb horror-satire on video games with Edward Furlong ("Terminator 2," "A Home of Our Own") as a high school latchkey kid who gets involved with the ultimate interactive game, which leads the player through a grisly murder. Then, of course, he discovers that it's more than just a game. There's also The Trickster, a Freddy Krueger wannabe. R (violence, gore, profanity, vulgarity, nudity, sex). (Family Center, Valley Fair.) (April 22, 1994)
CLEAN SLATE - * 1/2 - Dana Carvey makes a good comic leading man, but the script and direction fail him in his latest bid for movie stardom, a farce about a Venice, Calif., detective who wakes up each morning with a complete loss of memory - an obvious variation on "Groundhog Day." Valeria Golino, James Earl Jones and Kevin Pollak co-star. PG-13 (violence, sex, profanity, vulgarity, brief partial nudity). (Cinemas 5, Olympus Starships.) (May 6, 1994)
CLIFFORD - turkey - Unbelievably awful, laughless comedy with Martin Short as a devilish 10-year-old boy, though he plays it like an idiot adult masquerading as a child. The plot has his bachelor uncle (Charles Grodin) babysitting to prove to his reluctant fiancee (Mary Steenburgen) that he could be a family man - but instead he's terrorized by the "Bad Seed" boy, whose pranks include a phony bomb threat. PG (profanity, vulgarity, violence). (Sugarhouse, Valley Fair.) (April 8, 1994)
COPS AND ROBBERSONS - * 1/2 - Stupid Chevy Chase farce about a mild-mannered suburbanite who dreams of being a TV cop, and then his suburban home becomes a stakeout point for tough cop Jack Palance. Chase does an even dumber spin on his "National Lampoon's Vacation" character, and Dianne Wiest, as his wife, is wasted. Palance does manage a couple of chuckles through sheer hamminess. PG (violence, nudity, profanity, vulgarity). (Family Center, Sandcastle, Sugarhouse, Valley Fair.) (April 17, 1994)
THE COWBOY WAY - * 1/2 - Stupid, by-the-numbers and surprisingly mean-spirited comedy-thriller about two New Mexico rodeo stars (Woody Harrelson, Kiefer Sutherland) who head for Manhattan when a friend disappears there. Ernie Hudson fares best, as a friendly mounted policeman they meet in Central Park. PG-13 (though it should be an R, for violence, profanity, vulgarity, nudity, sex). (Century, Holladay, Midvalley; Redwood, with "Reality Bites"; Sandy 9, Trolley Square, Trolley North.) (June 3, 1994)
THE CROW - * * - Brandon Lee was accidentally shot to death during the filming of this comic book movie, which gives an extra, if eerie layer of texture to this fantasy-thriller about a murder victim who rises from the dead to take revenge on his killers. Interesting visually, but unsatisfying in terms of story. R (violence, gore, profanity, vulgarity, sex, nudity). (Broadway, Olympus Starships, Plaza 5400; Redwood, with "Death Wish V: The Face of Death"; Sandy 9.) (May 13, 1994)
D2: THE MIGHTY DUCKS - * 1/2 - Silly sequel/remake of "The Mighty Ducks," with Emilio Estevez and his underdog Minnesota peewee hockey team joining the Junior Goodwill Games in Los Angeles. Strictly for kids. PG (violence, vulgarity). (Cinemas 5.) (March 25, 1994)
DEATH WISH V: THE FACE OF DEATH - Charles Bronson is back in the fourth sequel in this 20-year-old series, this time with pacifist-turned-vigilante Paul Kersey going after a Manhattan mobster (Michael Parks) who guns down his fiancee (Lesley-Anne Down). R (violence, profanity, sex). (Exclusive, Redwood, with "The Crow").
8 SECONDS - * * * - Luke Perry (of TV's "Beverly Hills 90210") is very good in this sentimental, true story of rodeo bull-rider Lane Frost, who was killed at age 25 after becoming the world champion. The story is a bit strained in places but the rodeo footage is exciting and the supporting cast is excellent. PG-13 (profanity, vulgarity, sex, violence). (Cinemas 5, Family Center, Kaysville, Sandcastle, Sandy Starships.) (Feb. 25, 1994)
THE FLINTSTONES - * * - A great cast and terrific sets and special effects make for the most literal adaptation of a cartoon since "Popeye," with John Goodman as Fred, Elizabeth Perkins as Wilma, Rick Moranis as Barney and Rosie O'Donnell as Betty - with Elizabeth Taylor as Fred's mother-in-law. But it's basically a one-joke movie and wears out its welcome by the halfway mark. PG (vulgarity, one profanity). (Century, Crossroads, Holladay, Midvalley; Redwood, with "Jurassic Park"; Reel, South Towne, Trolley North.) (May 27, 1994)
FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL - * * * - Delightful, frequently hilarious English romantic comedy, a genuine throwback to screwball farces of old (despite too much R-rated language), with charming, womanizing Hugh Grant falling for American Andie MacDowell as they bump into each other at the title affairs. Rowan Atkinson (TV's "Mr. Bean" and "The Black Adder") has a hysterical supporting role as a novice priest. R (profanity, sex, vulgarity). (Cinemas 5, Cottonwood, Trolley Square.) (April 8, 1994)
GRUMPY OLD MEN - * * * 1/2 - This hilarious farce (though it is quite raunchy in places) has Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau as bickering curmudgeons living next door to each other in a Minnesota suburb. They find something new to fight about when alluring, eccentric Ann-Margret moves in across the street. Riotous, very well cast - but decidedly adult. (And don't leave before the credits are completely over.) PG-13 (profanity, vulgarity, sex, comic violence). (Valley Vu, with "City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold.") (Dec. 24, 1993)
GUARDING TESS - * * * - This character-driven comedy-drama is sort of "Driving Miss Daisy" with politics instead of race relations, as an ill-tempered former first lady (Shirley MacLaine) makes life miserable for the stiff, by-the-book Secret Service agent (Nicolas Cage) assigned to protect her. The finale, a misguided kidnapping plot, is unfortunate, but most of the way this is funny, touching stuff. PG-13 (violence, profanity, vulgarity). (Family Center, Sugarhouse, Valley Fair.) (March 11, 1994).
HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN'S THUMBELINA - * * * - Animator Don Bluth ("The Land Before Time," "An American Tail") is back in form with this fantasy about a tiny young woman who falls in love with the prince of the fairies but finds herself spirited away by an amorous toad and a dancing beetle. Not likely to cross over to adult audiences, a la "Aladdin," but good fun for kids. G. (Valley Fair.) (March 31, 1994)
JURASSIC PARK - * * * 1/2 - Eye-popping special effects and Steven Spielberg's skills as a horror director ("Jaws") combine for a thrill-a-minute roller-coaster ride. Adapting Michael Crichton's best seller about genetically engineered dinosaurs running amok on an island theme park, the film is a bit short on character development - but if you'll settle for action, this one certainly delivers the goods. PG-13 (violence, profanity, vulgarity). (Creekside; Redwood, with "The Flintstones.") (June 11, 1993)
LIGHTNING JACK - * * - Disappointing Paul Hogan vehicle - he stars in, wrote and co-produced this cowpoke comedy, best described as " `Crocodile' Dundee Goes West." Hogan is a bungling outlaw with a fast gun, and his laconic screen persona still works. Cuba Gooding Jr., as his mute sidekick, is even better, often stealing the show. But the film is too lethargic and settles for recycled gags. PG-13 (violence, profanity, vulgarity, sex, nude paintings). (Valley Fair.) (March 11, 1994)
LITTLE BUDDHA - * * 1/2 - Ambitious, flamboyant, occasionally fascinating film by Bernardo Bertolucci ("The Last Emperor") that contrasts the early life of Buddha with the modern-day story of a young American boy who is thought by a monk to be the reincarnation of a respected teacher. Unfortunately, casting Keanu Reeves as Buddha has the effect of undermining the film's best intentions. PG (male nudity). (Exclusive, Trolley Square.) (June 3, 1994)
MAJOR LEAGUE II - * * - Some scattered laughs help but this sequel is really just a retread of the first film. The Cleveland Indians once again find themselves in the cellar and then unexpectedly climb back to the top. Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Corbin Bernsen and Bob Uecker return, with Omar Epps taking over the Wesley Snipes' old role. PG (profanity, violence). (Kaysville; Redwood, with "Maverick"; Sugarhouse.) (March 31, 1994)
MAVERICK - * * * - Loud, bombastic but highly entertaining adaptation of the beloved '50s TV series, with Mel Gibson in the title role as the Old West rambling gambler and Jodie Foster as a con artist with whom he locks horns. The original TV Maverick, James Garner, is along as well, playing a U.S. Marshal. Overblown but funny and gorgeously photographed (by Vilmos Zsigmond), especially the Lake Powell scenes. PG (violence, profanity, sex). (Century, Gateway, Holladay, Plaza 5400; Redwood, with "Major League II"; Reel, Sandy 9, Trolley Corners,) (May 20, 1994)
MONKEY TROUBLE - * 1/2 - Boring children's comedy about a young girl befriended by a trained monkey, unaware that the little creature is a thief and pickpocket. Thora Birch ("Patriot Games," "All I Want for Christmas") stars, with Mimi Rogers as her mother and Harvey Keitel, in a horrid stereotype, as the Gypsy who trained the monkey. PG (violence, a couple of mild profanities). (Cinemas 5, Kaysville, Sandy Starships, Sugarhouse, Valley Fair.) (March 18, 1994)
MY FATHER THE HERO - * 1/2 - Appallingly tasteless teen farce with French superstar Gerard Depardieu as a befuddled father who takes his neglected 14-year-old daughter on vacation in the tropics, where she concocts a wild story about him being her lover, hoping to impress a 17-year-old boy. Depardieu manages a few chuckles, but the film is obnoxious and the camera leers at the girl in her thong bikini. PG (violence, profanity, sex, partial nudity). (Valley Fair.) (Feb. 10, 1994)
THE PAPER - * * * 1/2 - Highly entertaining comedy-melodrama in the tradition of rough-and-tumble newspaper flicks from director Ron Howard ("Splash," "Parenthood"), whose high-powered ensemble cast includes Michael Keaton, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid and Marisa Tomei. The focus is 24 hours in the life of a New York tabloid, in particular Keaton and Quaid's scramble to beat the competition with a hot story. Great fun. R (violence, profanity, vulgarity). (Family Center, Sandy Starships.) (March 25, 1994)
THE PELICAN BRIEF - * * - Extremely disappointing adaptation of John Grisham's popular novel about two U.S. Supreme Court justices being assassinated and the young law student (Julia Roberts) who comes up with a theory about who may have done it and why. But when it threatens to entangle the White House, she finds herself on the run. Roberts and Denzel Washington are too low-key and the film is sluggish and slow - and nearly 21/2 hours long. PG-13 (violence, profanity, sex). (Kaysville.) (Dec. 17, 1993)
PHILADELPHIA - * * * - Tom Hanks won an Oscar for his role here as an in-the-closet gay lawyer who develops AIDS. The story has him being fired by the law firm he works for, so he hires homophobic Denzel Washington to sue for discrimination. Washington is also superb, gradually changing as the film progresses, and in support, Mary Steenburgen and Jason Robards are also good. The final third, set in a courtroom, gets a bit preachy and routine but this is stirring stuff most of the way. PG-13 (profanity). (Sugarhouse.) (Jan. 14, 1994)
THE PRINCESS AND THE GOBLIN - * 1/2 - Stilted, vulgar British animated fairy tale about a young princess living in a palace on a mountaintop, who discovers a plot by evil goblins to take over the kingdom and kill all "sun people." Animation on the cheap. Voices include Claire Bloom, Joss Ackland and Rik Mayall ("Drop Dead Fred"). G (violence, vulgarity). (Cottonwood, Trolley Square.) (June 9, 1994)
REALITY BITES - * * * - Charming, funny and witty twenty-some-thing romantic comedy about finding yourself in the '90s, with Winona Ryder heading the ensemble cast as an aspiring documentary filmmaker who graduates as valedictorian of her class but can't get a job in her field. A bit whiny in places and runs out of steam before it's over, but there's a lot of fun along the way. Ethan Hawke and Ben Stiller (who also directed) co-star, with newcomer Jeaneane Garofalo stealing much of the show. PG-13 (sex, profanity, vulgarity, drugs). (Redwood, with "The Cowboy Way.") (Feb. 18, 1994)
THE REF - * * 1/2 - Profane, dark and frequently hilarious (but with an oddly sentimental ending), this satire of life in upper-crust suburbia is something of a spin on O. Henry's "The Ransom of Red Chief," as a jewel thief (Denis Leary) kidnaps the most dysfunctional couple in history (Judy Davis, Kevin Spacey) and wishes he hadn't. Uneven, but when it's funny, it's very funny, with Davis and Spacey getting the lion's share of the laughs with their incessant bickering. R (violence, profanity, vulgarity, nude photos). (Sugarhouse.) (March 11, 1994)
RENAISSANCE MAN - * * - Uneven mix of slapstick and sentiment gets a boost from Danny DeVito's central performance, as an out-of-work advertising executive who takes a job tutoring "dumb" Army recruits and winds up teaching them Shakespeare. Directed by Penny Marshall, whose track record is better than this ("A League of Their Own," "Awakenings," "Big"). PG-13 (profanity, vulgarity). (Flick, Gateway, Plaza 5400, Reel, South Towne, Villa.) (June 3, 1994)
SCHINDLER'S LIST - * * * * - Superlative moviemaking from Steven Spielberg, who dug deep into his soul - and finally won his Oscar - for this three-hour-plus, black-and-white epic true story. A stark look at the Holocaust through the eyes of a complex, decidedly unheroic German Nazi who ultimately saved more than 1,100 Jews from the death camps. Liam Neeson is superb in the title role, Ben Kingsley is very good as the Jewish accountant who becomes his conscience and Ralph Fiennes is chilling as the monstrous Nazi commandant whom Schindler manipulates. And in the end it is surprisingly uplifting. A dozen Oscar nominations, each well-deserved; winner of seven, including best picture and director (Spielberg). R (violence, sex, nudity, profanity, vulgarity). (Murray.) (Jan. 7, 1994)
SHADOWLANDS - * * * 1/2 - Wonderful, low-key romantic melodrama, with director Richard Attenborough ("Gandhi," "Chaplin") toning down his usual excesses. Celebrated English author C.S. Lewis (Anthony Hopkins) finds his cloistered 1950s world at Oxford disrupted by a brassy New Yorker (Debra Winger) with whom he unexpectedly falls in love. What starts as comic turns tragic, however, as fate steps in. PG (nothing offensive). (Avalon, Kaysville.) (Jan. 7, 1994)
3 NINJAS KICK BACK - * 1/2 - Dreary sequel to "The Three Ninjas" has the young karate kicking trio traveling to Japan, where they battle more bad guys in "Home Alone" fashion. Low humor may appeal to youngsters, but parents will be looking at their watches. PG (violence, vulgarity). (Cinemas 5.) (May 11, 1994)
THREESOME - turkey - Piffle that purports to explore sexual politics but merely exploits them instead. Josh Charles and Stephen Baldwin are mismatched college roommates whose third roomie is a woman, Lara Flynn Boyle, thanks to a computer error. At first she balks at the prospect, but it isn't long before the title can be taken literally. R (sex, nudity, profanity, vulgarity). (Sugarhouse.) (April 8, 1994)
WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE - * * * - Funny, sharp-eyed view of small-town Americana and family loyalty, with Johnny Depp in the title role as a young man unable to break free of inherited responsibilities. His anxieties only heighten when he falls in love with a stranded tourist (Juliette Lewis). Subplot with Mary Steenburgen as a frustrated housewife misfires but most of the way this is a real charmer. Leonardo DiCaprio (who was Oscar nominated as best supporting actor) steals the show with a complex performance as Depp's retarded brother. PG-13 (sex, vulgarity, profanity, violence). (Family Center, Sugarhouse.) (March 4, 1994)
WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN - * * * - Despite the expected cliches that are impossible to avoid in one more movie about alcoholism, Meg Ryan's astonishing performance is well worth the ticket price. Andy Garcia is also excellent as her husband, who helps her come out of her alcoholic stupor but then doesn't know how to be supportive during her rehabilitation. Unique and ambitious in its efforts to show how alcoholism affects other family members. R (profanity, vulgarity, sex, violence). (Creekside, Crossroads, South Towne, Plaza 5400.) (May 13, 1994)
WITH HONORS - * * 1/2 - A homeless man (Joe Pesci) links up with a Harvard senior (Brendan Fraser), teaching him - and his roommates (Moira Kelly, Patrick Dempsey, Josh Hamilton) - the value of street smarts over academics. Predictable but enjoyable, until it bogs down in sentiment toward the end. PG-13 (profanity, vulgarity, veiled nudity, violence). (Cottonwood.) (April 29, 1994)