The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 58

6 Part VIMonday October 31 1983 ilos MOVIE REVIEW CLIFFORD AND CO SHEETS: LEGEND OF CALIFORNIA ART HORROR FILM THAT MISSED THE BUS By KEVIN THOMAS Times Staff Writer rsss 4 1 'r' tt'' '1 7 1 1 41111 4-41 tV 1 A I it 'skj v-4 'r tv01414 1 7 4Zikl:) 1 )A A- 4 1 tiL i ri'czy A I 1 -A A -a I O'r- I- 0 i'it i tt i) 14: s) ti 1 AI lowesmasumfigusuton304 Had the young people of "The Final Terror" (citywide) seen "The Evil Dead" they might have thought twice about going on an outing deep in a forest wilderness As it is it doesn't seem very bright of them to take off in an old bus with a clearly unstable driver (Joe Pantoliano) who abandons them in a huff 45 miles from civilization Just as they're trying to figure out what to do next an unseen slasher starts slicing throats Thanks to a fireside tale related by one of the fellows in the group about a tragedy that had taken place on the very spot where he and his friends are stranded it's not hard to figure out the who and the why of the murders In short writers Jon George Neill Hicks and Ronald Shusett the latter wrote haven't come up with much of a much director-cinematographer Andrew Davis A protege of cinematographer Haskell Wexler Davis made a notable feature directorial debut in 1978 with "Stony Island" an uneven but engaging fable about the creation of an interracial South Side Chicago jazz-rock group But armed with a more experienced and familiar cast headed by John Friedrich (as an edgy Vietnam vet) Rachel Ward Adrian Zmed Mark Metcalf Daryl Hannah and Ernest Harden Jr than is usual for low-budget horror Davis has managed to turn out a competent though scarcely compelling film with believable people Although not for the faint of heart "The Final Terror" avoids lingering morbidly over its bloodshed and at least is not yet another exploitation of extreme violence against women That "The Final Terror" (rightly rated is a few notches above the usual shock fare may be on account of its veteran producer Samuel Arkoff co-founder of the late lamented American International Pictures Continued from Page 1 ty a national reputation Knowing all this is essential to seeing Sheets' current exhibition in context If the art stands alone it suffers badly But when "Millard Sheets: Six Decades of Painting" is considered as a chapter of Southern California art history and as one aspect of an influential figure the show is valid and revealing If nothing else it proves what a long way the local art community has come in those six decades The problem with admiring Sheets' painting for its own sake by current standards is that he is such a shameless borrower His 1978 Tahitian scenes are straight from Paul Gauguin A 1930 painting of Colombian women incorporates the style of Mexican murals "Beer for Prosperity" a fine watercolor of 1933 is haunted by Edward Hopper Several other works from the '30s are obviously influenced by Thomas Hart Benton and other regionalists Sheets' sure sense of design his penchant for muscular forms conscious lightdark patterning and boundless enthusiasm for artfully interpreting his travels provide a certain consistency to an uneven oeuvre Yet he appears to be a facile chameleon often adopting characteristics and themes of better-known artists or painting in styles associated with the locales of his subjects Like Woody Allen's Zelig he pops up everywhere In Mexico he paints like a Mexican in Africa like an African If this bespeaks a lack of originality or an unsure aesthetic sensibility it also reflects the spirit of an foreign travel seemed blissfully exotic when most Southern California artists led an insular existence and when regionalism was a religion Sheets was not a regionalist by default or through ignorance he was fascinated by a global spectacle of picturesque genre scenes and he went to great lengths to find subjects that seemed to convey the flavor of an area whether American or foreign The exhibition severely overcrowded with nearly 100 paintings spilling out of galleries into a stairwell shows Sheets' development from a young painter of flat awkward unfinished-looking canvases to an adroit handler of watercolor and oil His talent seems fully realized in such solidly fashioned works as "Angel's Flight" 1931 and "Abandoned" 1934 two of the best paintings exhibited In these tightly organized sculpturally modeled canvases he coalesces the teeming excitement of city life and the haunting romance of the country They are thoroughly accomplished paintings Works from ensuing years allow nostalgic viewers to escape into moody pictures of idealized horses misty seascapes ocean liners and idyllic farms and villages 4 "Anger a solidly fashioned work in which Millard Sheets' talent seems fully realized velotagokoziAii' Continued from Page the tape deck proved recalcitrant In fact it grunted to an unceremonious stubborn halt just before the zonking finale of Clifford's latest orgy of slick show-biz routines something called "Glenn Miller Time" Since there wasn't a deck doctor in the house everyone had to go home unfulfilled Prior to this unintentionally anticlimactic cadence Clifford had offered his small audience a model demonstration of what after a decade of noble struggle is still wrong with the Los Angeles Ballet and thus with its reasonable facsimile) What's wrong is not the seems to get stronger all the Clifford's choreography Clifford is facile Give him that He cranks out ballets as swiftly and it would seem as easily as housewives or househusbands scramble eggs He knows how to stitch together clever effects and he certainly knows how to borrow successful devices from fashionable sources What he seems to lack is style and discipline and focus and originality And taste Most bothersome of the three novelties seen Friday was "Death in Venice" a grotesque narrative distortion and trivialization of Thomas Mann's philosophical novella In the Visconti movie the score was the Adagietto of the Mahler Fifth Symphony Clifford ever original chose the prefabricated Adagio of the Mahler Tenth which functions here as a musical straitjacket In Benjamin Britten's opera the mysterious boy Tadzio is a dancer and his essentially spiritual relationship to Aschenbach the dying suggested in stylized balletic terms Although Clifford does away with the crucial symbolic contrast between speech and dance he does create tableaux that suggest a certain debt to previous "Death in Venice" choreographers from Sir Frederick Ashton to Margo Sappington to Mary Jane Eisenberg Unlike his predecessors however Clifford makes no apparent attempt to cope with the intellectual and aesthetic crises delineated by Mann His it is a pantomime with occasional balletic maneuvers allotted just a smarmy little story of a dirty old man in white who seems to suffer a heart attack after being vamped by a pretty boy in a very tight bathing suit Georges Vargas strikes affecting jittery poses as the dirty old man Damian Woetzel flutters prances and swims in the air most gracefully as the pretty boy Others provide fleeting decoration as his relatives and friends It isn't enough In "Poulenc a Detuc" Clifford falls back on frisky hand- me-down-Balanchine classicism punctuated by some torture-the-ballerina routines worthy of Gerald Reid Olson and Ellen Bauer the executants did what they could So for that matter did Lesli Wiesner and Christopher Boatwright on behalf of a similar Clifford exercise "Introduction and Allegro" This little hippety-hop translation of Ravel which opened the program dates back to 1976 and reveals how short a road the choreographer has traveled in the last seven years "Glenn Miller Time" may not want to do much more than jitterbug in toe shoes But it does toy amusingly for a while with a number of 1940s cliches does exert an innocent brand of old-fashioned Broadway energy does look like a neat invocation of World War II mores in the exalted manner of MTV Perhaps John Clifford has missed his metier Except for a few works from the mid-'40s done after Sheets witnessed World War II destruction there are few hints of social criticism Human beings are almost uniformly noble and the world is a glorious place to be explored experienced and interpreted by an artist Stylistically Sheets tries decorative varieties of Impressionism and Pointillism broadly painted watercolor and illustrator techniques He is at his best when perfecting his version of the curvaceous space advocated by Benton and in some recent watercolors "The Moon Over Russian Hills" (1982) for example is a handsome spare composition imbued with spiritual power Though reminiscent of Arthur Dove it adapts Sheets' design style to a simply affecting image The most surprising thing about the show especially to those who discount his work as a relic of a bygone era is that some of his recent "Moon" and "Sundown-Running Free" a watercolor of horses racing through a hot sunset in a Southwestern startlingly up-to-date They have the same tone as much of the figurative painting of the '30s currently being recycled by young artists This makes one realize that had the show been edited to demonstrate Sheets' strengths and pruned of its most derivative images he might have gained a new audience THE FINAL TERROR' A Comworld release Exec producer Samuel Arkoff Producer Joe Roth Director-cinematographer Andrew Davis Screenplay Jon George Neill Hicks Ronald Shusett: from a story by George and Hicks Music Susan Justin Art director Aleka Corwin Costumes Sue Miller Stunts Jeannie Epper Film editors Paul Rube II Erica Flaum Hannah Washonig With John Friedrich Rachel Ward Adrian Zmed Mark Metcalf Daryl Hannah Ernest Harden Jr Joe Panto liano Lewis Smith Cindy Harrell Akosua Busia Irene Sanders Richard Jacobs Donna Pinder Running time: 1 hour 31 minutes MPAA-rated: (persons under 17 must be accompanied by parent or adult guardian) OPENINGS ART A 1' -I) I TOR IUM PACIFIC DESIGN CENTER (8667 Melrose Ave) "Building by the Little Folks: Early Architectural Construction Toys" organized by Arlan and Barbara Coffman Ends Nov 30 PALOS VERDES ART CENTER (5504 Crestridge Road Rancho Palos Verdes) "Sam Maloof Furniture Designer and Harrison McIntosh Ceramist" Also baskets by Nan Hackett Jo Ends Nov 20 :60 A 'OVEMBER 1983 BEST MUSICAL NY DRAMA CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD NY DRAMA DESK AWARD NY OUTER CRITICS AWARD 1983 PLY Cf arilleV 1 4401 Co i DP 6 AMR I -7h677aut Wintat ottiott I TOMORROW AT 8:30 I uTuTill POP MUSICJAZZ MILLIE JACKSON MANHATTANS (Beverly Theatre Beverly Hills 7:30 and 1030 pm) KISSING THE PINK Palace Hollywood 9 pm) ALVIN LEE (Country Club Reseda 9 pm) BIG JAY MCNEELY (Lingerie Hollywood 9 pm) RED KROSS (0N Klub Hollywood 9 pm) HURRY! LAST 4 WEEKS! kic4(21))553-81019 SENIOR 4 STUDENT RUSH WITH VALID ID In NOUN KRONE CURTAIN Ravishing music from the Renaissance to the 20th Century by this distinguished ensemble 1250 1111AL $1050 Student rush 'A price a Taps Ihra All at 8 30pm Sat al I 10pm Son at 230 A 1 30pm INFORMATION (213) 5539000 GROUP SALES (213) 2011520 WESTWOOD PLAYHOUSE L10886 Le Conte Ave in the Contempo Westwood Center Convenient Parking -tenOristinsi Cast Minn assemble on 'Geffen Records a asansisee4 STAGE MOVIE REVIEW THE DOCK BRIEF (Company of Angels Theatre Vine Street at Waring Avenue Hollywood 855-1172) Mon-Wed 8 pm Ends Dec 18 MACBETH (Globe Playhouse 1107 Kings Road Los Angeles 654-5623) Mon 8 pm Regular schedule: Wed-Sun 8 pm Ends Dec 4 Or Visit the Box Office 300 Green St Pasadena CA 91129 Concerts sponsored by Ambassador Coarse 'GOING BERSERK' A CRASS COMEDY iTHEsTHEATRICALI EVENT OFITHELYEARk I SMASH HIT MLIVCALIlt- 11 1 1 4 5s wsok PT e11060 '1 i i 014' 41140 1 1 )14 I 0 td 14 i 1 44 1 I O''' 1 a I I A 1) 1 Ltddi lk ALA1' 98 THE OPEAMSC "An audience show one for the fans A WONDERFUL CROWD PLEASER!" Robert Osborne KTT' I TOM'W AT 8:00 ONLY 8 PERFORMANCES LEFT! Now thru NOVEMBER oth "An audience show one for the fans A WONDERFUL CROWD PLEASER!" Robert Osborne KTT' I TOM'W AT 8:00 ONLY 8 PERFORMANCES LEFT! Now thru NOVEMBER oth A RIGHARD 1-011 ki 0E! RI) VA roiTBOENSTYpALAWyARD19W83INNE COMES TOiLOS'ANGELEST NO 6T of Es oft foe' 0 1 00 a RARITY FIER5IE013 Ivitell soNG Jilitco LIMITED ENGAGEMENT NOVA A go NEW YEAR'S EVE MASTS MAI LLLLL AT SOX TICKITSON OU LLLLL ANO SY IAML MIT 851-9750-410-1062 FOR GROUP CALI 881-9750 FOR INFORMATION CALI AAA-ASSN WallINGTON HARTFORD THEMSI 1615 VINE STREET HOLLYWOOD CA 1100211 oing Berserk" (citywide) isn't the kind of movie that you can take seriously or try to put into any kind of critical perspective It's episodic graceless and often moments of crass humor but some amusing performances Director David Steinberg who co-wrote the screenplaycombines off-the-wall comedy with much that is quirky crude and vulgar John Candy stars as a nerdish part-time limousine driver who aspires to be a nightclub drummer He is engaged to a pretty young woman (Alley Mills) who seems to be from a different class and a different movie The flimsy story involves Candy's being kidnaped and brainwashed by a religious aerobics cult leader (Richard Libertini and his woman-friend (Dixie Carter) who try to get Candy to assassinate his future father-in-law (Pat Hingle) a hypocritical ambitious congressman Candy's loyal sidekick is played by Joe Flaherty Ann Bronston is Mills' younger sister and Eugene Levy a sleazy Hollywood producer-director who blackmails Hingle into allowing his daughter's wedding to be filmed Paul Dooley has a funny cameo as a psychiatrist "Going Berserk" is rated for foul language and other kinds of offensiveness GROSS TOMORROW AT 8:30 Tickets available by mall all Mutual and Ti CkOttOn A901101 and at tolt Oft let Student Unity Citizen Rush tlyeept $at Esith I 2 Regular Prise Csh Only) 21re 00000 Pert (Subject to AiIbII4Iy VII ID Required INFORMATION CHAIM 'Klan WITH MAJOR CREDIT CARDS CALI Tickets also available by mail and at all Ticketron agencies TO CHARGE TICKETS CALL: CHARGEASEAT 5539000 (213)5538101 101( OFFICE HOURS DAILY tO AM to 9 PM OlettP SAMS Am 19 AM to 9 PPAI SUNDAY NOON to I PM 5539000 (213)5538101 101( OFFICE DAILY it) AM I OSIOUP SAIII AN IA 9 Phil SUNDAY NOON I 201-1520 tX) Shubert Theatre IN flit ENTIAIAINPAINI CENIAR 2070 MAUI PIM VANS 105 ANGELIS CA AOKI (213)460-4411 6' (213)461-3881 For Group Sales Call: Lucille (113) 464-7321 OASSMOAS CAST AMMO ON 0 GISMO MOODS CASSATTIS IlltwOHIRtrnIrATRECZZItliZIMMIS ft4ft4MT601 TOMORROW AT LAST 32 PERFORMANCES MI 5 MOTAUYII EVIA 11 I Era EVU $15 $20 $25 fdT vfl SPECIAL GUEST STAR OLYMPIC WORLD CHAMPION DOROTHY HALL Eli Now EVERYONE can see ThjI ra) Al- ot8 L9JtailV An American Classic FE Ppkynner CE ME Variety Arts Theatre 9th Figueroa Charge Tickets By Phone (213) 488-1456 OPENS TOMORROW IV Optill Variety Arts Theatre 9th Figueroa I Charge Tickets By Phone (213) 488-1456 i r41 0 trA Ca 0 716 -now kk 34 kt -01 littloo 123 MINUTES 10 OF HEART- STOPPING ENTERTAINMENT! 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