The Morning Call from Allentown, Pennsylvania • 66

P2 THE MORNING CALL, FRIDAY, JULY 24, 1987 wiwiwjiimimaiiiu jihii Jiji.miif 1 'Summer School': Let's get stoopid v. J. 1 Fourth 'Jaws' is dull fishing By LOU CEDRONE Of The Baltimore Evening Sun Universal may have gone back to the water once too often. Their "Jaws The Revenge," fourth in the "Jaws" series, is a tepid, unexciting experience. Give the producers this much.

They have not gone the gore route. The first "Jaws" may have been more bloody than this one, but a suspense film'needs a little more than restraint, and that's about all this one has. "Jaws The Revenge" is dull fishing, and it is partly the shark's fault -He looks very fake. Director Joseph Sargent gives us only brief shots of the great white, but they are never brief enough, and every time the shark appears, one of the players says, "Oh, My God" and heads for the high ground. You wish you could do the same because all this gets to be rather funny after a while, and that isn't the way you're supposed to react to these things.

"Jaws The Revenge" begins in Amity, the resort town where Ellen Brody, widow of the deputy sheriff, loses her younger son to a great white. You do wonder why she continues to live there, but that's the way these movies go. When her son dies, the woman journeys to the Bahamas to spend some time with her older son, his wife and their daughter, and guess who begins to haunt those waters. Yes, it's the great white, who doesn't seem to know that great whites are never seen in this area. We are witness to the usual.

The shark makes nosh of three or four people as it moves in on the Brody family, and when they have had enough, they rid themselves of the beast in much the same way the sheriff (Roy Scheider) did in the original screen as Tom Selleck ever was. Harmon is gym jock Freddy Snoop, drafted Dy an evil principal into drumming some literacy into the thick noggins of his remedial class over the summer because they all flunked an exam in "English skills" (whatever they might be). Alley is Robin Bishop, teaching a class of history honor students. She's dating the vile principal but Snoop wants her for his own, possibly because she wears costumes more revealing than adorn most East Coast teachers of history. Snoop's class consists of the usual "Welcome Back, Kotter" misfits, minus, alas, John Travolta.

And these blockheads are Venice Beach surfers instead of inner-city muggers. Otherwise, no difference. One kid is named "Chainsaw" (his favorite movie, we guess, is not another is his best friend. There's a nightclub male stripper who sleeps through every class, either because of his working hours or because "Summer School" itself is so boring; a hot number from Milan whose naivete is more Southern Cali-fornian than Northern Italian; a By RICHARD FREEDMAN Newhouse News Service Among last summer's worst kiddie comedies was Carl Reiner's "Summer Rental" But at least that bomb had John Candy init Reiner's new offering is "Summer School which has nobody in ityou'd recognize unless you re a TV addict Which is only appropriate, because the whole movie is like an excruciatingly drawn-out episode of "Welcome Back, Kotter." The only interesting thing about "Summer School" is how the man who directed Steve Martin in "All of Me" could make an exploitation flick as desperately unoriginal and unfunny as this about a class in remedial English at a Los Angeles high school Another question is how does Carl Reiner son Rob manage to make such fine movies as "This Is Spinal Tap" and "Stand By Me, leaving the old man stuck with such formula rubbish as "Summer School." TV "personalities" Mark Harmon and Kir-stie Alley and are as hopeless at filling the big Mark Harmon wears hideous shirts in 'Summer girl suffering from dyslexia, whose impairment seems to affect her driving tests as well as her English, and a 16-year-old Lolita who wants to move in with Snoop and be his love. Shoop himself chews gum, feeds his dog peanut butter out of the jar, wears hideous shirts, and seems no more at home with the English language than his pupils.

In addition to these airy comic fancies there are jokes about menstruation, Sean Penn, barfing, and movie mavens Ebert and Siskel. Surfs down! "Summer School." Rated PG-13. Now playing at General Cinema Lehigh Valley Mall, AMC Quakertown 6 and AMC 25th Street 4, Easton. A fake-looking shark is only one of the problems plaguing 'Jaws The It's all very formula and not that interesting, and the sound is bad. Most of what the actors say is lost Not that it matters.

You could watch this one with no sound at all and never miss the dialogue. The film could easily play as a silent The photography is very clear, and logistically the film is impressive, but we all know where this movie is going, and once it gets there, we hardly care. Lorraine Gary, the sheriffs wife in the first two "Jaws" movies, continues in the same role in the new film. Lance Guest is her only surviving son, a marine biologist, and Mario Van Peebles is his partner in research. Guess who ends up on the menu.

Michael Caine is a pilot who romances the widow. Caine had to withdraw from "Switching Channels" because "Jaws: The Revenge" wasn't finished in time. Burt Reynolds stepped in for him. Caine is probably cursing that great white. "Jaws The Revenge." Rated PG-13.

Now playing at General Cinema Lehigh Valley Mali, UA The Movies at Trexlertown and Eric Easton 6. Some fudging on the facts to increase dramatic impact of Valens film By GLENN LOVELL KNT News Wire chie learned 'La Bamba' from our mother's first cousins, Rudy and Dickey Cato." Donna Ludwig, the high-school flame who became the inspiration for spirit to what happened, but changes some minor, others major were approved to goose up the thin story line. For instance: Ritchie's manager, Bob Keene, wasn't nearly as saintly and generous as the movie Keene (played by Joe Pantoliano). Morales speculates that a deal was cut with Keene so his name could be used. "Luis sort of made the manager look like a family friend," fumes Morales.

"As far as I'm concerned, he wasn't a good man. I think he took advantage of our mother. We never heard from him after that the plane crashl I've never been too nappy with him. The less I deal with the man, the better I feel." Morales never took his younger brother to a Tijuana medicine man and brotheL where, according to the film, he got the idea for a rock version of the folk tune "La Bamba." That's more Hollywood fabrication, charges Morales. "That all happened to me.

Rit Ritchie. He doesn't look anything like the real Ritchie. "Ritchie was heavier and his complexion was lighter. A lot of people didn't even know he was For all these discrepancies, Morales still likes the movie, which was shot in part in Hollister. He doesn't even mind that he's portrayed as a real skunk, a wife-beater and a druggie who's jealous of his younger brother's fame.

Morales can take solace in that he's remembered as a charismatic anti-hero, a sort of Latino version of Brando in "The Wild One." Indeed, many are already saying that Esai Morales as Ritchie's black sheep half-brother upstages Phillips. "Luis forewarned me that that might happen," Morales says. "He told me he was going to create a hero. 'I I said. 'No, I'm going to create a hero of Luis said.

At the time, I didn't' know what he was talking about Now I do." she existed until then." In the opening scenes of the movie, Bob Morales steals away Ritchie's girlfriend, Rosie. "Rosie and Ritchie were real good friends," Morales says. "But she was never really his girlfriend, like in the movie." In one of the film's funniest sequences, brother Bob backs Ritchie on the drums. "I played a little bass guitar, not the drums. That was made up.

Actually my mother sat in with him once. My mother played the drums." Valdez has Ritchie phoning his half-brother that fateful night, just hours before his plane went down. It makes for a highly poignant moment agrees Morales, but it didn't happen that way. "Ritchie got killed on a Thursday, and I talked to him on a Tuesday. We had a good conversation, but it wasn't like in the movie." And, finally, Morales quibbles with the casting of newcomer Phillips as According to Bob Morales, Valens' older half-brother, the film is faithful in spirit to what happened, but changes were approved to goose up a thin story line.

Luis Valdez's "La Bamba" already is being hailed as "the sleeper hit of the Summer," a distinction accorded Rob Reiner's "Stand by Me" last year. No quibble on that score from this corner. Valdez's portrait of Latino pop sensation Ritchie Valens does make for compelling viewing, and the performances by Esai Morales, Rosana De Soto and, as Valens, Lou Diamond Phillips are of a very high caliber. But is this "the true story" of Ricar-do Valenzuela, or did Valdez fudge on the facts to increase his story's dramatic impact? After all, Valens died at age 17 Jin the same plane crash that took Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper). And, from all accounts, he ate, drank and slept rock 'n' roll.

According to Bob Morales, Ritchie's older half-brother who now lives in Santa Cruz, the film is faithful in the Valens hit "Donna," wasn't as crucial to Ritchie as the film makes out. "She was not a friend of the family," Morales recalls. "I didn't meet Donna until the funeral We didn't even know "La Bamba" is presented with the sensibilities of its era intact The poverty of the migrant worker camps and the barrio is shown. The racism of the community toward Chicanos is represented. Valens' dating of Donna Ludwig (played by Danielle von Zerneck), the pretty Anglo high school girl and inspiration for his song, "Donna," is forbidden by her father.

The conflict between his half-brother Bob Morales (Esai Morales), Rosie Morales (Eliz abeth Pena), his mother Connie Valenzuela (Rosana De Soto) is depicted. "It would be very easy to judge the 50s through the Os, said Dan- site. Migrant worker scenes were filmed in Hollister, Calif. "We bad to find a double for the town of Pa-coima. The San Fernando Valley is filled in.

There are no orange groves now," said Luis. The town of Fillmore, about 25 miles away, was used. Another authentic aspect of "La Bamba" is the music. "Right at the beginning, there was great discussion about using the original tracks or not It was necessary to give the music a sense of life and spontaneity," said DanieL "Most of Ritchie's songs were under three minutes. The sound quality was monaural." It was LA BAMBA Continued From Page D1 lens' sleep.

The crash comprises the movie's opening scene, one of the most startling this summer. There is no dialogue. The eerily appropriate rock ballad "Sleepwalk" by Santo and Johnny is heard. "It sort of lulls you to lean back," Luis said of the song. "It's also shot in slow motion, and the color was leached out in the lab.

The graininess was added." "Ritchie's dream was also fact" Luis continued. "It was communicated to us by Ritchie's half-brother Bob, that he Ritchie was obsessed with dying in a plane crash." The crash involved an Army transport and a Navy jet. In the movie, a wide-tail Beechcraft Bonanza was substituted for the jet About 80 to 85 percent of the movie is factual," according to Luis. "There are some inventions necessary to make the screenplay work." "La Bamba" proved to be a 14-year quest for Daniel Valdez, 37. It began when he and producer Taylor Hackford agreed the story of Ritchie Valens' life should be made into a feature film.

The Chicano background of the Valdez brothers paralleled that of Valens. Daniel was 12 when he first took up the guitar and played Valens' music, Hackford was a documentary filmmaker at Los Angeles PBS station KCET and Daniel was an aspiring actor and singer. Daniel has since starred in the stage play and film version of "Zoot Suit. Daniel was originally going to play Valens, but because the project took so long to develop, he no longer looked the part of a teen. Daniel has a supporting role in "La Bamba" and wrote two songs for the soundtrack.

The SlashWarner Bros. LP features a stunning array of late '50s rock 'n' roll. Hackford went on to direct "The Idolmaker," "An Officer and a Gentleman," "Against All Odds" and "White Nights." It was only after these successes that Hackford could form New Visions, to produce "small pictures with human values." "La Bamba" is New Visions' first project A limited amount of material was available about Valens. Daniel discovered that the Valenzuela family was living in Watsonville, about 16 miles from the Teatro Campesino in San Juan Bautista, the theater group founded by Luis. Hackford was a Peace Corps trainee when he met Luis.

Initially, the Valenzuela family was reluctant to cooperate. Others had attempted to adapt Valens' story before. Once the family authorized rights to the story, Hackford asked Luis to write the script "Normally, I do not write anything that I do not direct" said Luis, 47. "I saw this as a tribute to Ritchie Valens and, like the Lobos, I had no choice but to get involved." As it turned out Hackford also asked Luis to direct "La Bamba." is a wedding dance. It means, "This A bride and bridegroom dance.

It's usually played on a harp. And the couple forms a bow with their toes, symbolizing a union." "La Bamba" is a Mexican folk song believed to have originated in Vera Cruz, a seaport on the Gulf of Mexico. Valens learned the song from a relative, who sang it at family gatherings. Here are some of the lyrics to "La "Para bailar la bamba Se necesita una poca de gracia Yarriba, Yarriba. Port ti sere, por ti sere.

Yo no mariner Soy capitan. "He's telling the woman that he's more than just another guy. He's not just a sailor. He's a captain," said Luis, adding that other lyrics state that "in order to get to heaven, you need a small ladder and a big ladder. 'Up and up and up I "In order to dance La you need grace and then some.

You need strength. You need grace under pressure. It's a very joyous song. It's an ambitious song that requires not only energy to sing it but to dance it" "La Bamba," rated PG-13, opens today at General Cinema Lehigh Valley Mall, AMC Quakertown 6 and Eric Easton 6. Keene (played by Joe Pantoliano), is shown dealing with Valens in a questionable business manner.

"Based on research we did, what was revealed was very typical of the 50s," said Daniel. "Record labels were a Mom and Pop kind of business in those days. The managers controlled everything. It would have been very easy of us to lean into Bob Keene, but that's not the way it was. "Ritchie had a tremendous respect for Bob.

It was almost a father-son relationship. Bob Morales still does not like Bob Keene very much." Keene had an ear for talent. Before Valens, be handled Sam Cooke and, after Valens' death, Johnny Crawford and Bobby Fuller. "The royalties have continued to generate money for the family since he Valens recorded the songs because of the interest in nostalgic albums like the K-Tel albums," said DanieL He's pleased that the "La Bamba" video is telecast on MTV. "It's the ringing of a certain kind of bell that is reminiscent in other people's lives, and also 'La Bamba' is being discovered by a new generation.

The music is still alive," Daniel said. Luis disputed the Anglo notion that the song "La Bamba" is a collection of nonsense lyrics. "It might seem like nonsense, but they have a great deal of meaning. 'La Bamba' 'La Bamba' is a wedding dance. It means, 'This dance.

A bride and bridegroom dance. It's usually played on a harp. And the couple forms a bow with their toes, symbolizing a union. LulsVaktoz, 'La Bamba' wnterdirector determined the original masters were unusable. "The evolution of Los Lobos was a glove that was made to fit beforehand.

Davey Hidalgo captured his Valens' spirit We spent a lot of time with Los Lobos in the studio," Daniel said. There are several scenes in the movie where Valens' manager, Bob ieL "We wanted to get inside of it A certain kind of awareness was taking place in the country at the time. Dreams were being born." The movie is not only true to its era period cars, dress and cultural details are lovinglyshown but to locations, as well The airplane crash at Pacoima Junior High School was recreated at the actual ously photo derived, but its overwhelming beauty and size make an immediate and indelible impression. Another enigmatic work exists in Flack's "Rainbow Christ" It is a more recent work, done in 1983, but it exhibits a further excursion into the religious themes that Flack uses. The painting itself is a comparatively small depiction of the head of Christ his eyes looking skyward as drops of blood run down his face from the crown of thorns on his head.

In the background surrounding Christ's head is a spectrum of rainbow colors, like an aura or an extended halo. This in itself is enough to elicit an immediate religious response, but Flack takes it one step further. On the frame of the painting is a small ledge containing inspirational business cards, several small rocks and other tiny, nondescript items. The viewer is encouraged to take a card or an object as if it was an altar offering, an idea magnified by the presence of three small red candles flickering in front of the work. On the card is this message: "Listen to the voice within you that knows the truth.

Inspire others with your highest ideals. "Saints and Other Angels The Religious Paintings of Audrey Flack" continues through Sunday at the Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College, Allentown. Hours are 10 pjn. Monday- Friday, noon-5 pjn. Saturday and Sunday.

For more information, call 821-3466. 77m Higgins is a free-lance writer on the visual arts for The Morning Call. 'Hey, this is if LeBar explained. "It's like Sweet or Kiss. It's a light word, almost effeminate, that describes a heavy sound." Speaking of effeminate, LeBar says he and the rest of the band Brittingham, Keifer and drummer Fred Coury aren't wearing as much make-up onstage these days and have stopped over-styling their hair.

"We took a real hairspray beating there for awhile," says LeBar. "After awhile, we couldn't even breathe with all the hairspray fumes. "We were sick of getting dressed up every night so we wanted to go a little more Basic. We don't wear the long coats as much. We've been wearing a lot of basic blacks onstage: black spider web pants, black vests with a little bit of fringe.

It's almost a Western took, but we're not being like Motley Crue and suddenly leaning toward that Harley look. Our image was never contrived. The change is gradual-Cinderella and Frehely's Comet will perform Sunday night at the Al-lentowa Fairgrounds Grandstand. The concert begins at 7:30 pjn. Tickets are available at Tkketron and the nsoal area locations.

Toe concert presented by Makool Production. For more Information, call 821-0906. Came Stetler is a free-lance writer on entertainment for The Morning Call. producer, Andy Johns, who had worked with the band's idols: Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Recalls LeBar, "One time during a session he said to me, "You know, John, you're probably one of the best rhythm guitarists I've ever and I was floored because here's a guy who's worked with Eric Clapton and everybody.

But then, the next day he was talking about getting rid of Eric Brittingham and I because he thought we were lousy lead guitarists. He's kind of eccentric." The helpful Jon Bon Jovi sang backup on two tracks, "Nothing for Nothing" and "In From the Outside," and asked Cinderella to tour with his band as an opening act Since then, Cinderella's album has been climbing the Billboard charts, boosted by hit singles like "Nobody's Fool" and "Save Me." Only last week did Cinderella begin touring as a headliner, so understandably, the band members are a little nervous. "We haven't even rehearsed in about a year and a half because we've been on the road the whole time," LeBar admits. The group got its name while lead singer Tom Keifer was looking through a television magazine. "Tom looks through newspapers and magazines to get a lot of our song titles, and one day he saw something in an HBO guide this ad for the porno version of Cinderella and he said BELLE Continued From Page D1 East Coast groups are aren't as affected as some West Coast bands.

"When you come from the East Coast, you're not as exposed to Hollywood. I think East Coast bands are more sincere. Just take the Bon Jovi boys or even Poison it's from the heart All those guys are Just down-home boys." Down-home boy Jon Bon Jovi (from New Jersey), helped launch Cinderella's career a few years ago after he caught them at a Philadelphia night club. He was so impressed by the band's basic, hard-rocking sound that he bugged PolyGram to sign the band until record executives took his advice. However, LeBar says that Cinderella was far from amateurish at the time.

"When Bon Jovi went to tell the PolyGram guys about us, one of our press releases was on the guys' desk at the time, so we had our act together. We just couldn't get signed. All the major labels kept turning us down for really stupid reasons, like we didn't look like Spinal Tap or the lead singer's lips were too big." After overcoming such petty, yet harmful pronouncements, Cinderella finally got a record deal and a FLACK Continued From Page D1 One of her most haunting works is the "Ma-carena Esperanza," which is represented in this show with a lithograph of the original oil painting she did in 1971. The Macarena, the patron saint of Seville, Spain, is memorialized in life-size statue that stands in a small Seville church. The statue had a profound effect on Flack when she first saw it in 1970.

Executed by the artist Luisa Roldan in the 17th century, it is a hallmark of the Spanish Baroque style. The polychromed wood technique that "La Roldana" was famous for fit in perfectly with Flack's own personal vision, being the three-dimensional equivalent of the glossy effect given by the airbrush. Flack's version, like the original, shows the saint in a state of mourning, with large tear drops falling down a face so smooth it appears to made of colored glass. She is ornately adorned, almost to the point of gaudiness, with a towering golden headdress, flowing robes of white lace and an abundance of gold accessories. All this Flack captures with an uncanny attention to super-realism, luring the viewer into the work not just with its off-beat subject matter but also its exquisite patterning and rich detail.

This same treatment is given to her "Lady Madonna," an oil pairting that Flack had rendered the following year. Here, the subject is more obvi.