Philadelphia Daily News from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 37

PAGE 37 FRIDAY, MAY 26, 1995 THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS I i a I .4 A 7 I 1 i I 4 Isabelle Huppert and Martin Donovan in "Amateur" 'Amateur': It's the pause that depresses by Barbara Shulgasser INQUIRER RLE PHOTO San Francisco Examiner Isabella is a former nun, trying, but failing, to make a living as a pornography writer. The editor of Wet Wild, to whom she would like to sell her work, tells her that her work is "bad." He wants her to just admit that what she's writing is "poetry." An ex-nun writing porn? An ex-nun writing porn who doesn't even crack a smile when she mentions her unusual circumstances in The old Boyd Theater. Save it as a lure for tourists conversation? The presentation of When it comes to tourism, let's look at the big picture incongruities that are treated as if Amateur I memories of the Boyd Theater, better they weren't incongruities is what writer-director Hal Hartley's movies are all about. "Amateur" is, regrettably, no exception. Isabella (Isabelle Huppert) is making so little headway as a porn writer that she doesn't eat often.

The waitress in the luncheonette where Isabella nurses one cup of coffee and writes all day on her laptop wants her out. "This isn't a known as the Samenc, are not all fond ones. Produced by Ted Hope and Hal Hartley, directed and written by Hal Hartley, original music by Michael Spiller. Running Time: 105 minutes Isabelle Isabelle Huppert Thomas Martin Donovan Sofia Elina Lowensohn Edward Damian Young Parents Guioa: Showing at: Ritz Five I once sat with my feet in the air during a or Gap paraphernalia, or even Ferragamo shoes. Developers negotiating to buy the old Boyd once certified as a National Historic Landmark say they want "high-end" retail.

That's great, but no matter how high- screening of "Family Business" because mice had control of the sticky floor. Behemoth security guards have lifted my jacket and patted me down for weapons. During a showing of "Navy SEALs," a portion of the roof and several gallons of water dropped on the people in front me, prompting one wag to wonder if this was a new form of SenSurround. On the other hand, I remember the premiere screening of "Philadelphia," or even Robert Townsend's "Meteor Man," when more than a thousand people packed the main auditorium, providing a end it is, it will still close at sunset, leaving Chestnut Street a row of iron grates and deserted corners. Why can't we keep the Boyd, in restored and improved form, as an after-hours entertainment anchor in a part of the city that sorely needs one? That's the question Sharon Pinkenson, director of the city Film Office, is quietly putting to merchants' groups and fundraisers throughout the city.

"What I'd like to do is save the theater, not just for its historic character as a hotel," says the waitress in a New York whine. But in walks Thomas Martin Donovan looking dazed and disheveled, with a bleeding head wound, no memory and a pocket full of Dutch money, diverting everyone's attention. Isabella tends to him and takes him to rest in her apartment. Thomas doesn't know anything (including his name) except that he woke up in the street feeling achy. But Hartley weaves in information in a parallel story to fill us in.

Sofia (Elina Lowensohn) is trying to extricate herself from a life in the pornographic film industry where Thomas, her husband, has made her a reluctant star. Thomas has also gotten himself in trouble with a powerful bad guy called Mr. Jacques, who is based in Amsterdam. Sofia is telling everyone a window. She doesn't know he survived the fall.

The only thing she killed was his memory. See 'AMATEUR' Page 40 tuckering reminder to Generation Multiplex that the phrase "movie palace" wasn't always an oxymoron. With all of its shortcomings, the old Boyd still has a landmark, although I think that important," Pinkenson said. "I want to save it as a big-screen movie theater in Center City, where we desperately need one. And it should be saved for certain dignity and glamour.

And it deserves better than becoming just another place to buy toothpaste, See THE B)G PICTURE Next Page Going south with cool tunes by Anderson Jones son) than its story. It's like several Irla'JIavt i t-Tt o. CT of MTVs "Alternative Nation" vid- Mad Love Daily NewsStaffWnter eos strung together, occasionally Produced by Davld Manson, directed Drew Barrymore. Road trip, interrupted by dialogue. by Antonia Bird, written by Paula Lingering illness.

Strange then, that a movie with Milne, distributed by Touchstone. Hmmm "Mad Love" could be such strategic commercial appeal Running Time: 99 minutes "Boys on the Side" (with a Boy would excise scenes heavily pub- Matt Chris O'Donnell but without Whoopi Goldberg licized in its trailer and commer- Cav and That Chick Who Dies). It's cials; Melissa Etheridge doesn't MaOTlewLJMard not, but then it's not much more even contribute a single song. showing at: Area theaters either. Barrymore, who at 20 has mas- What the movie is, in fact, is a tered the petulant, bratty act, rebellious streak (because her nearly two-hour promotional tool plays Casey, a bleached-blonde parents are so strict, natch).

She more intent on selling its intru- free spirit who has adopted but- has just transferred from Chicago sive, Seattle rock soundtrack (Nir- ter flies as her motif. She's a frus- vana, Magnapop, Luscious Jack- trated hot-house, flower with a See 'MAD LOVE' Page 41 Drew Barrymore and Chris O'Donnell in "Mad Love".