Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • 36

fC2 THl HARTFORD COURANTi Friday, Nowmbf 1, 1983 BARGAIN MATINEES 2-50 MON. 1HIU iAt. All SHOWS OiFOai 4PM. IUN.4HOIIDAVS lit MAIINIISHOWONIV BACK TO TKE FUTURE.ro, 1:00 7:30 MO DEATH WISH 3,., lt15 3ilS5t)5M5il3 BETTES OFF DEAD IPO) ItOS StOO KH COmMAKDO MO 345 5:10 7ii0 9:10 i rtana II j) fifiTJi7ins Steak Alaskan Crab Zm sat. xAiMfwin.

sun. NDli 1:30 (anlrow i lira" Or Steak Lobster Tail tiM ii Secret Service agents Vukovich, played by John Pankow, left, and Chance, portrayed by William Petersen, vvuivi i aiivai tvuuivuviivi 0 uiuau faJ WJ vvuu hiihiiv) iu j. via uu vi til AJn fTo Live and Die in L. Starts sWith Brilliance and Then Fades "Come on Down" For a Rewarding Evening of Fun and Entertainment at the Bob Barfrcr Fun Gomco Shotv I 0 1 11 1 Aim hf- -v 1' BOB BARKER WILL PERS0NM1V SELECT CONTESTANTS FROM THROUGHOUT THE AUDIENCE. BRAND NEW HONDA AUTO Refrigerator Range Recliner Luggage Video Recorder Patio Set Stereo System Video Garnet Color Console TV Canoe Bicycles Dishwasher Microwave Camera GET TICKETS AT: The Hartford Cjvic Center Box Office and all Ticketron Outlets.

To charge tickets call CHARGELINE MCVISA 727-8010. Handicapped information: 249-7528. Thanks to JC Penney, and Schaller Oldsmobile Honda for their valuable help with the show. Thanks also to Whirlpool. MGMUA Counterfeiter Eric Masters, played by Willem Dafoe, starts to manufacture a new batch of $20 bills In bis secret workshop in William Friedkin's new film, "To Live and Die in L.A." mm mm 3 4 Appearing in Person BOB BARKER (Star ol the Price is Right) Hartford Civic Center 4 TONIGHT $9.00 ADULT $4.50 CHILD 12endunder Bccomponi.d by an adsiH GENERAL ADMISSION 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 Itlilliniiiiiiiniiiiiiiii Ill 1 mmwm- 5 for A II II HI I ADMISSION 994 RT.

(EXItS OR 9S) M9-V333 rRT.73 JCT.3 t. I5III-9333 NOW BERLIN-VERNON (R) CHUCK NORRIS INVASION U.S.A. KLOOTM-KRLai tMUMLM COMPROMISING POSITIONS (Ri NOW VERNON RORLOWE ST. ELMO'S FIRE (R) A NEWINGTON ONEMA i iVtl ifl law BETTER OTP -1 DEAD Today; 1:10 7:15 U1AWLP- Courant readers own homes. The Sunday Courant reaches 84 of Hartford Market homeowners.

Source: I95 Hartford Market Study by Urban and Associates lintlfotb 7:409:57" "DEATH WISH III" 7:20 9)40 (R) 11 AUEITER OFF 7:10 DEAD w-jy It 1 fLl 11 7.00 AA I mm 1 STARTS TODAY a Today: Today: 1:00 7:20 9:30 1 By MALCOLM L. JOHNSON Courant Film Critic 1. In "To Live and Die in L.A.," Wil liam Friedkin makes a bold, blazing bid to recapture his reputation as the fgrittiest, most smashing action director around, won in 1972 with "The French Connection." For the first 15 gminutes or so, he succeeds brilliantly. But then this film noir about a hotshot Secret Service man madly rtent on revenge begins to die posing its way in its dazzling maze of Sleaze and ultra violence. Friedkin's new cop film resembles another recent comeback attempt: Michael Cimino's sexy, bloody, riotously colorful tale of life and death pn Chinatown, "Year of the Dragon." But "Dragon" boasted much better performances from Mickey Rourke and John Lone than Friedkin draws Hrom his less well-known leads although Willem Daf oe again proves a delightfully perverse heavy.

With pretty boy William L. Petersen and nondescript John Pankow as Secret Service partners who will -take any course, however illegal, to Jnail Dafoe's murderous master counterfeiter, "To Live and Die in L.A." is weak at the center. These 'young actors, both with impressive theater credits, are no match for jGene Hackman and Roy Scheider, jthe team that gave "The French Connection" its one-two punch. But Petersen and Pankow don't really have a chance; the screenplay Friedkin fashioned with Secret Service agent-novelist Gerald Petie-rvich is just too thin. The central idea of "To Live and Die in L.A." is one 'common to contemporary police dramas "The French Connection," "Year of the Dragon" and 'Friedkin's own "Cruising." Being a cop, these pictures say, corrupts the best of men.

Richard the athletic, madcap, chance-taking young agent Splayed by Petersen, is perhaps not I-the best of men to begin with. But jCthen, the method of "To Live and Die in L.A." is not conducive to illumi-Jnating character. Its graphically zappy, fast-cut preamble is superbly exciting as J'shot by the German director of phonography, Robby Muller, and scored Ijby the English band, Wang Chung. it doesn't really tell us much gabout Chance only about his environment, the crystal office towers jjand endless barrios of the City of 'Angels. After the overview of Los Angeles, Friedkin and his collaborators set up characters and motive.

We see Chance and his aging partner head-ing off an Arab fanatic's assassination attempt, presumably on Ronald Reagan, at a swank L.A. hotel. We see Eric Masters, the master forger, printing up crisp $20 bills in his JShowtimes HARTFORD 2 Art Clmma Dtar Fanny (X) 1, 4 with All (7 the way In (X) 2:40, 5:30. 1. ritw DUnlw IOI t-iA 1 rkauM 7 VI accinwna iy The Godt Mull jHour(R) 7:40, 9:50.

Sllvarade (P I craty IPG) 7:20, Ailar. MQMUA 6 it JU 1,1 above-the-law, sexually exploitive killer. This comes as no surprise. "To Live and Die in L.A." is almost relentlessly schematic. The joys of sex as experienced by Masters and Chance are compared almost like clinical specimens, for example.

And even the sneering, hip criminal seems to have a slightly healthier attitude toward the artsy, bisexual dancer in a masked, androgynous troupe than the Secret Service man harbors toward a pathetic, but treacherous parolee-informant. Neither of the women cast in these parts can do much more than express sexiness and a single note. Debra Feuer exudes ambiguity as the dancer, while Darlanne Fluegel conveys shiftiness as the beautiful ex-convict. But in "To Live and Die in L.A.," only the criminals shine. Dafoe, a veteran of the experimental off-off Broadway Wooster Group, is even more cool, cruel and satanic than he was as the outlaw biker in "Streets of Fire." The best performance, though, comes from a recent graduate of the Yale School of Drama, John Turturro.

His streetwise, stonewalling criminal courier is a fascinating, fully rounded creation amid the thinly drawn figures who live and die in Friedkin's L. A. Rated this film contains virtually non-stop violence, some of it highly graphic, and much nudity and sex, some of it bizarrely erotic. Plan 1,2, 344 Schedule unavailable. WEST HARTFOP.D Elm 1 4 2 Invasion, U.S.A.

(PG-13) 7, 9:15 Maria: A True Story (PG-13) 7, 9:15. WETHERSFIELD Paris 1 4 2 Pee-wee's Big Advantura (PG) 7, 1:45. Invasion, U.S.A. (R) 7:15, 9:05. WILLIMANTIC Jlltsea Square Cinema To Llva and Die in L.A.

(R) 7, 9:10. Jogged Edge (R) 7:10, 9:15. Death wish III (R) 7:10, 9:05. The Gods Must Be Craty (PG) 7:05, 9:10. Back to the Future (R) 7, 9:15.

Commando (R) 7:05, 9:05. WINDSOR Plata Sweet Dreams (PG-13) 7:15, 9:25. IN MASSACHUSETTS AGAWAM Twin Cinemas Marie: A True Story (PG-13) 7:30, 9:30 St. Elmo's Fire (R) 7:15, 9:15. SPRINGFIELD Cinema Theatre Invasion, U.S.A.

(R) 7:15, 9:05. WEST SPRINGFIELD Palace Cinemas 1 4 2 Schedule unavailable. Showcase Cinemas 1-10 Schedule unavailable. DRIVE-INS Berlin My Breaklast With Andrea (X) 7, 9:30 with Surrender to Paradise (X) 1:15, 10:45. Eest Windsor Closed for the season.

Farmlngten Closed for the season. Hartford Risky Business 7 with Gremlins PG) 0:45 with Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (PG-13) 10:35. Menchester Closed for the season. Mansfield All American Girls Part III Up, Up and Away (X) 0 with Factor (X) 9:15. Pike Herd Way To Dla (R) 7 with Nlnla Mission (R) 0 30 with Moke Them Die Slowly 10.

Plainvllte Closed for the season. Pleasant Valley (termerty Rogers Corner) Schedule unevoileble. Portland Closed for the season. Seuthlngten Twin Closed tor the season. Watertewn Schedule unevoileble.

(Schedules are published as received from the theaters. The Ceurent Is net responsible far tasl-mlatite CteeMtfoM WT BvlCeMViplCte) USttHfaVet A 1 Film Review TO UVE AND DIE IN L.A., Directed by William Friedkin; screenplay by Friedkin and Gerald Petievich, based on the novel by Petievich; director of photography, Robby Muller; music composed and performed by Wang Chung; production designer, Lilly Kilvert; supervising film editors. Bud Smith and Scott Smith; produced by Irving H. Levin; executive producer, Samuel Schulman. An MGMUA Entertainment Co.

release, playing at Showcase Cinemas, East Hartford. Running time: 116 minutes. Chance William L. Petersen Eric Masters Willem Dafoe John Vukovich John Pankow Bianca Torres Debra Feuer Carl Cody John Turturro Ruth Lanier Darlanne Fluegel Bob Grimes Dean Stockwell Jeff Rice Steve James Thomas Bateman Robert Downey Jim Hart Michael Greene Max Waxrhan Christopher Allport fantastically well-equipped funny money factory. Then Chance's old Secret Service buddy goes out on a solo mission in pursuit of Masters who viciously blows him away.

From then on, it is Chance against Masters with a few side trips into both men's rather twisted sex lives and, of course, an incredible car chase, culminating in a sweaty-palmed, wrong-way run through freeway traffic. A lot of this is rather fun in its own kinky, kinetic way. But the ultimate point is driven home with a vengeance: that Chance turns his new partner, Pankow's. innocent, nervous John Vukovich, into an amoral, MANCHESTER Twin Shauna, Everyman's Fantasy (X) with Can't Get Enough (X) Irom 11. Some Kind of Woman (X) with A Brief Alfalr (X) Irom 11.

UA Theaters East Cocoon (PG-13) 7, 0:35. Fright Night (R) midnight. Marie: A True Story (PG-13) 7:10, :40 The Rocky Horror Picture Show (R) midnight. Invasion, U.S.A. (R) 7:20, 0:25.

Pink Floyd: The Wall (R) midnight. MAHSFIELO Trans-Lua College Twin Tha Gods Must Be Craiy (PG) 7, Allen (R) 7 with Starmaii (PG) 0:15. MERIDEN Merlde Twin Remo Williams: Tha Adventure Begins (PG-13) 7, (R) 7, 9:10. MIODLETOWN The Mevleheuse To Live and Die In L.A. (R) 7:15, 9:30 Death Wish III (R) 7:05, 9:15.

NEWINGTON Cinema 2 3 The Stuff (R) 1, 7:30, 9:35. After Hours (R) 7:20, 9:30. Better Off Dead (PG) 1:10, 7:15,9:30. Newlngten Theater A View to a Kill (PG) 7, 9:30. SOUTHINGTON Queen Plata Witness (R 7:15, 9:20.

SUFFIELD Villoae Cinema Mad Ma Beyond Thundordome (PG-13) 7, 9:15. TORRINBTON HeUday Cinemas Jagged Edge (R) 7:15, 9:45. To Live and Dla in L.A. (R) 7:30, 9:45. OeethWlshlll(R) 7:05, 9:20 Sweet Dreems (PG-13) 7:25, 9:40.

Com-mendo 7:05, 9: W. Agnes of God PG-13) 7: 9: 15. Parkade Cinema Back to the Future (PG) 7:15, 9:30. VERNON Clna I 2 St. Elmo's Fire (R) 9:15.

Invasion, U.S.A. (R) 7, 9:30. WALLINGFORD Celeny Cinemas 1 2, 4 4 5 jagged Edge (R) 7:15, 9 30 Commando (R) 7, 9. To Live end Ola In L.A. (Rl 7:20.

Wish III (R) 7:20. 9: W. Jogged Edge (R) 7:15, 9:30. Back to tha Future (PG) 9:30. WATERBURV Cinema 2, 3 4 4 Batter Oft Deed (PG) 1:05, 2, 1 7.

9 Beck ta the Future (PG) 1, 3:10, 5:20, 7:34. Com men do I 1: 10, 3 OS. 10. 7: 10, 10. Death Wish III (R) 1:15, 7:15, 9:15.

rho World's Riaaest tsesi i I rk ST 1 Ztorjr?" I With French Fries S1Q9 I Wtbstw Schadula unavailable. Jim other towns ERLIN 2Cliw 11 Compromising Poiltlom (R) 7:10, 15 Invasion, U.S.A. (R) 7, 2Clm-Fax Thaatra Stray Catt (X) with Bordallo (X) Jrom II. RISTOL Vcurtaf MaN 1 4 1 Jaggad Edga (R) 7.M. JiLlva and Ola In L.A.

(R) 7:10, EAIT HARTFORD NottwMd put CliMflia Maria: A Trua Story (PG-I3) 7:15,9:20. Paar Richard's Pva ft Clmma Invasion, U.S.A. (R I 12. aSnawcasa Clnamas 14 Back to tha Future (PG) 0:40, 11:45. Agnas 01 God (PG-13) 1:30, 7:15.

:30, Commando (R) 1:30, 7:40. 10. 11:50. To Llva and Dla In A. (R) 7:30, 50, 11:55.

Jaggad Edga k(R) 1:40, 7:20.0:45, 11:50 Oaath Wish III (R) 1:45,7:40, IlO, 11:50. Amarkan Flyars (PG-13) 1:44. 7:15, 0:40, (R) 1:50, 7:50, 10. Wll-Kllams: Tha Advantura Baglns (PG-13) 1:50, 7:15, 0:40, .11:50. ENFIELD Clna BftftaM I Daalh Wish III (R 7:20, 0:40.

To Llva fand Dla In A. (R) 7:40, 0:55. Sllvar Bultal IRI 7:30, 4S mo Williams: Tha Advantura Baglns (PG-13) 4S. Back to tha Future (PG) 7, 0:20. Jaggad 'Edge (R) 7:45, S5.

Better OH Deed (PG) 7:10, Commanda (Rl a. M. BnfleM Cinema striptease (X) 1 JO. 30 with Temp- ESSEX juncNea Theater Back ta the Future (PG) 7, IS. LITCHFIELD CmiOIM IV 'athtrjtho Green Ants Dream (R) 7, f.

I 1 1985PorJroM.mc gJT7 lOKC I.