The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 23

El)c Des Moines JJcgisIc Today li li SII.WV. Kkaji ms Kimt.ih, Too Close for Comfort Raiders react to Ann hinders' advice on satin "thuidose" to fiortly passengers on the bus. Page2T MONOM, AM ANY 1 RjJ993. Sl( 1 1( I Comics 3T TVListings 4T Classifieds 5T TlPSIIEET Agenda today: Holiday stuff St jjt 1 1 1 i II II II II II II I Foday is Martin Luther King Jr. day, a federal and state holiday.

No mail today, and federal and state offices will be closed. Celebrations include a bell ringing ceremony from 11:30 a.m. Am to noon at the State Capitol Rotunda, and a ceremony at 1 1 a.m. at the corner of University yr Avenue and Har- JjWJI nuou io re- name Harding Road as Martin ther King Park way. A commemoration of Kine's at- Polly Fug tempt to bridge the gap between races, "The Beauty of the Rainbow," will be 6 to 8 tonight at the Medical Education Center in the Tower Medical Clinic, University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences, 3200 Grand Ave.

The program features music provided by the Drake University Gospel Choir, He Lives Youth Choir and Mornine Star Choir. Admission is free A program, "Martin Luther King Symbolizing the Heartaches and Victories of the African-American People," will be at 6 tonight at the Forest Avenue Library, 1326 Forest Ave. Call (515) 242-2679. Celebrate the memory. A live broadcast featuring traditional hymns, anthems and spirituals performed by several Iowa gospel groups will be broadcast on "Studio III Presents: A Gospel Music Celebration" at 7 tonight on Iowa Public Television.

Wedding tips contest Tell us what worked and what didn't for your wedding, and you could win some dollars. We'll give $50 to the first place winner, $30 to second place and $20 to third. It's not just 'Malcolm X' and lots of movies are running longer than the standard of 1 00 minutes. By BILL C0SF0RD Knight-RmderNewsfapers Fhere are several things we can say about Hollywood movies these days: They are expensive; they are good-looking; they are popular around the world; they are glossy and well-fed with big-time stars. None of this is new.

There is one more thing, and it is a bit of a surprise: They are long. Long, long, long. It's not just "JFK" or "Malcolm at issue here, though those movies, at well over three hours (and night in your neighoorhood theater, thereby maximizing revenue. Another is the conventional Hollywood wisdom that Americans can't sit still for much longer than an hour and a half. So ingrained is the latter idea that foreign films are routinely cut, without test-marketing or complaint, to fit the tastes of restless Americans.

One of the best-loved imports in years, the Italian Oscar-winner "Cinema Paradiso," was a full hour longer in its European release (an adulteration that the Academy, which technically forbids substantial changes for qualification, chose to ignore). At three hours, the original "Cinema Paradiso" was actually a different film different subplots, different ending but the director and producer happily truncated it in deference to short attention spans. So it's odd to find Hollywood suddenly stretching out. But consider: "Hoffa" is 133 minutes long. "A Few Good Men," a solid but unspectacular turn on the standard threatening to spill into four), are certainly throwbacks to the time of such epics as "Ben-Hur," "Spartacus" and courtroom drama, is 135.

"Chaplin" and "Scent of a Woman" are 142 and 149, respectively. "Lorenzo's Oil" and "Alive" run 134 and 122. "Jennifer 8," a routine cop drama, is 122 minutes; "Toys," a surreal comedy that could have moved at the pace of a Robin Williams monologue, ran instead to 117 minutes. "The Bodyguard," a cinematic snail, crawled for 125. Even "Home Alone 2," aimed at kids the shortest-spanned of them all lasts for 1 15 minutes.

On the surface, this seems to be good news. There was never anything sacred about 100 minutes for all kinds of subjects, that running time is simply inadequate. Whenever Hollywood breaks from formula, there is reason to cheer. And it has been shown repeatedly that good filmmaking knows no rigid time limits (many of the James Bond films, which were not well made but did move, ran well over two hours). The problem with this recent trendlet is that the movies that are running long aren't, for the most part, all that good.

As it turned out, 133 minutes of "Hoffa" was more lionizing than anyone but members of Jimmy Hoffa's immediate family really needed. And "Scent of a Woman" at 149 minutes 49 minutes over the "traditional" length is just about 49 minutes longer than it needed to be. Same with "Lorenzo's Oil," which otherwise has the shape of a television disease-of-the-week drama. Interestingly, the films getting longer are Hollywood's, not the smaller productions of the vaunted American independents who are widely understood to be Hollywood's future. Of course, the independents have less money for everything, including film stock, so it isn't surprising that so many of them come in at 90 minutes or so.

So why should Hollywood be growing longer? All kinds of reasons are advanced, including the disappearance of the double feature (but didn't that happen decades ago?) and competition from television (the all-purpose answer to anything Hollywood does). The real reason, though, is ego. We're in one of those periods in which filmmakers on high-gloss projects are enjoying considerable control. And human nature being what it is, one's prestige comes to reside in sheer size: In the still-macho world of big-budget movies, "mine's bigger than yours" has real appeal. That doesn't make it any easier on the rest of us.

Three and a half hours on Malcolm is one thing Spike Lee makes the time fly. But once "Far and Away" had waddled past 90 minutes, the laws of physics began to bend, and time itself seemed to slow, and sleep, merciful deliverer of the suffering, beckoned. It's an interesting phase. But it will be even more interesting to be out of it. Send ideas of what you'd recommend and what you'd never do again, including planning and preparations, ideas for the ceremony, attendants or the reception.

We'll compile a handy-dandy "do's and don'ts list" from the ideas you send in. Send to After a Fashion Wedding Tips, The Des Moines Register, P.O. Box 957, Des Moines, Iowa 50304. All entries must be received by Friday Opening tonight. Jesse's Embers West will open tonight at 50th and E.P.

True Parkway, West Des Moines. The restaurant, which will be open every day, will feature a Sunday brunch from 1 1 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call (515)225-9711. In good voice.

The Johnston Community Chorus, established last fall, is recruiting members. Anyone who wishes to sing no audition required is welcome to practice with the group at 7 p.m. Mondays in Johnston Middle School. Call (515) 278-0552 or (515)278-5414. Video Viewing.

Billboard magazine reports these were the most-rented videos last week: 1. Lethal Weapon 3 2. Patriot Garnet 3. Sister Act 4. Houtesltter 5.

Boomerang 6. Universal Soldier 7. Basic Instinct 8. Far and Away 9. Alien 3 10.

Butfy the Vampire Killer Interestingly, the films getting longer are Hollywood's, not the smaller productions of the vaunted American independents who are widely understood to be Hollywood's future. "The Ten Commandments." Though pretty much everyone agrees that "Malcolm could have taken a 20-minute trim you don't have to be a filmmaker to want to reach up and snip out the big dance-hall scene, which serves as a kind of speed-bump to the story it's obvious that these are epic-sized dramas. They need to be long. Now, "Far and Away?" Ah. Another story.

"Far and Away," Ron Howard's marshmallow about Irish immigrants (Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman) fetching up in young America, doubtless would have seemed long at an hour and a half; it's big and soft and pointless. But at 132 minutes, it's a feature-length invitation to nap. And it is not exceptional in this regard. Hollywood, which traditionally resists movies that run longer than 110 minutes, is waving goodbye to narrative economy. Not long ago, Entertainment Weekly ran a running-time chart that showed movie lengths growing steadily since the 1930s, when you could get the story of Dracula told in 75 minutes (Francis Coppola took 123 minutes to tell his version).

Each decade saw longer movies, though that statistic, based on averages, is a little misleading. At least since the '40s, the golden mean of running times has been 100 minutes. So ironbound has this rule become that given the standard calculation of one page, one minute, screenplays longer than 100 pages have traditionally asked for trouble (essentially, rejection). One reason for the allure of 100 minutes is that a movie of that length may be handily shown three times each TIPSHEET would like to hear from you with items for this column. Write Tip-sheet, The Des Moines Register, Box 957, Des Moines, la.

50304, or call (515) 284-8124. The Far Side Artists from French sister city exhibiting their work here Long-lost twins? Des Moines Inside and Out tr jf Ni- vw jjj afiT tJM Iff r) Ik A 1 Tom Davis Iowa coach Newt Gingrich Congressman Eliot USBAUM V-fSv-S) iAl A blocks had to be removed and replaced with stone, requiring reworking of the interior and exterior of a part of that addition. That's past history, but the question of financial responsibility for the repairs lingers on lo these many years. The case between the Art Center and Meier was sent to arbitration ages ago. Well, a date finally has been set, sort of.

The two parties are scheduled to meet in late April with a backup date of mid May, according to Art Center sources. Iowa connections. When I'm depressed I read magazines. I've been reading a lot of magazines lately and here are a few local connections I've found. The successful effort to save the Lud-wig Mies van der Rohe-designed American Federal Savings and Loan Association building, purchased by the Catholic Diocese of Des Moines, made the cover of the January issue of Historic Preserv ation News.

Decorah potter Dean Schwartz, who regularly shows his work around the state, is the subject of a profile in Meredith's March issue of Traditional Home. Mary Miss, the artist designing an environmental sculpture for the lagoon in Greenwood Park, is profiled in the January issue of Mirabella, in which she talks about the Des Moines project in general terms. The lead photograph in a New York as you make your way through the city this week, you happen onto a group speaking in French, do not panic. I repeat, ne panicez-vons! There is a group of artists here from our sister city, St. Etienne, to exhibit and discuss their work.

Their work is on display through Jan. 29 at the Polk County Heritage Gallery, First and Walnut streets. Their lectures are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Room 336 of Drake University's Harmon Fine Arts Center, Twenty-fifth Street and Carpenter Avenue, and at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Des Moines Art Center.

By the way, this is the second phase of the artist exchange program. Des Moines artist Amy Worthen represented this city in St. Etienne a year ago. While we're on the subject, here's a really weird coincidence or is it? Thursday is the 200th anniversary of the beheading of Louis XVI by French revolutionaries. Perhaps we can help the French delegation celebrate with a Let Them Eat Cake party.

Voicing concerns? State Republican Party co-chairman David Oman, who also is the voice of radio station KBBM, is doing some voice-overs for KCCI-TV. One of his efforts is the opening for KCCI news programs. This past week, the possible gubernatorial candidate also Times Magazine article about Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz, features a work of art very similar to the piece being considered for purchase by the Des Moines Art Center for about $300,000. For the record. The Des Moines Symphony will make its first album for commercial release this weekend with guest performer Earl Wild.

Wild and company will record a Gershwin number and one of Wild's own compositions. The recording for Chesky records of New York will be distributed internationally. The concertrecording sessions are slated for 8 m. Saturday and 3 m. Sunday at the Civic Center.

did the voice-over promoting news anchor Kevin Cooney's trip to Washington for Democrat Bill Clinton's inauguration. KCCI news chief Dave Busiek notes, "We see a small irony there." Still Meiered. Remember Richard Meier? He's the architect who designed the most recent addition to the Des Moines Art Center. From the start, that addition leaked water through some glass paving bricks that made up a part of the building's roof. The leaking was so bad and the repair attempts so futile that the glass Scene trom "Insurance Salesman of the Opera." Tomorrow in Today The nicotine patch tcorks better than gum.

hyjmosis tafX's or lollipops in kicking cigarettes, a 19-year smoker firuls..