The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 33

33 THE BOSTON GLOBE FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 1990 Friedkin It's a fun romp with 'Spaced Invaders' By Jay Can- GLOBE STAFF 7 By Betsy Sherman SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE THE GUARDIAN Directed by. William Friedkin Screenplay by: Stephen Volk, Friedkin and Dan Greenburg based on Greenburg's novel, "The Nanny" Starring: Jenny Seagrove, Dwier Brown, Carey Lowell, Brad Hall Playing at: Cinema 57 and suburbs Rated: (gory supernatural killings) sorry to see what happens to the would-be rapists. Until we learn that the tree has certain appetites, there isn't a lot of violence, yet the threat of it is always there, which is exactly what makes a film of this sort work. But as it makes its way to a bloody payoff, it loses immediacy and individuality, subsiding into bloody cliche. Even here, however, it isn't above kidding itself in a scene when wolves try to break into a terrified mother's jeep, as in King's "Cujo." The primal stuff involving the gnarled old tree and parental fear of child loss is heavy-handed, though on this level, "The Guardian" doesn't touch "Paper-house." The jerky cutting and hyperactive camerawork (including a fish-eye lens employed at floor level to impart a tot's-eye-view) eventually double back and work against "The Guardian," too.

But a lot of the time it surpasses the genre's admittedly not lofty standard. Kudos to the special effects crew for though he's got no nose) and a Lakers t-shirt Kudos to the special effects crew for the great animatronic Martian heads. Good performances, too, by BARGAIN MATINEE TODAY FIRST SHOW NO PASSES two the great Martian heads. character actor Royal Dano as a resourceful old codger and by Ariana Richards and J.J. Anderson as the kids who protect the Martians from the panicked townsfolk.

ONLY AT STARRED FEATURES ACCEPTED "Spaced Invaders" is a very silly, but also pretty funny, junk-food movie. It doesn't quite match the in- Mnvio sPired lunacy of muvic "Teenage Mutant Review Ninia Turtles" or "Bill and Ted's Ex- cellent Adventure," but it's packed with slapstick gags for the kids, wisecracks for older kids and teens, and enough dumb fun to keep young-at-heart adults giggling, not to mention some impressive special effects. It's Halloween in Big Bean, 111., and the local radio station broad- casts Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds." Meanwhile, a spaceship crew of bumbling Martians little green men with bulbous heads and antennae pick up the signal and want to get in on the invasion. What follows isn't exactly original Big Bean is an updated Mayberry and a good chunk of the movie takes off on "E.T.'s" trick-or-treatmg scene but the fantasy never turns saccharine. The Martians come to Earth fully equipped with American slang, circa 1989; one talks like Cary Grant and another one not only talks like Jack Nicholson but, if you didn't pick up on that, he wears shades (even SPACED INVADERS Directed by: Patrick Read Johnson Written by: Johnson and Scott Lawrence Alexander Starring: Royal Dano, Ariana Richards At: Copley Place and suburbs Rated: PG I SMCEIMVMMS FOB Ml MHttM 115,320,520,720,040,1138 CIVIUT IMUTHH'Sl WUII TOM IU 11,110,320,530,740,10,12 130,4,7,930,1150 WILBOtCNIB THE COOK.

THE THIEF, WIFE 10,1220,240,450,720,940,12 III KEI LOVE! TOIHNMTEIIII8ECR00H 1050,1,310,520,730,940,1150 CIHEHI MJUMSS limit HISS MISI W57.950,1205 10,1215,230,445,715,945,12 HY LEFT F80T (wit met TEEMCE MTMT MM ToTTUS (K) 10,1210,220,440,7,915,1130 II 1103205400 1015 110,315,520,730,950,12 I mm wuniLKS 130,330,530,740,950,1150 PtETTYWOMM 09 1,315,530750,1010,1215 ctuTKom 145,345,545745,945,1145 IWT FN Kl KTHEI 115,41515,10.1220 mmm i lOM Of THE FUtS 00 130,330,530730,030 mmsmtkum mui 120,320,520720,020 III 115,47,040 ISHOCXTITHESTSTEH 10,1230,315,530,745,10,12 tf CfMW TW TUKf vic met "The Guardian," William Fried-kin's first stab at the supernatural genre since "The Exorcist," is pretty Movie good You've got to like R8V16W the way it quickly and amusingly dares itself by showing a departing father dropping a copy of Stephen King's "It" in his suitcase. Even before that, we know something bad is coming by the way Friedkin's busy camera prowls a baby's nursery. Actually, 'The Guardian," based on a Dan Greenburg novel, is more sus-penseful than most of the movies made from King's books. One reason is that Friedkin allows a certain weight of ominousness to accumulate, being in no hurry to let us know exactly what specific form the threat will take, or even from whom it will come. We have our suspicions when Jenny Seagrove, a personable and almost chillingly competent nanny shows up after the nanny a couple originally planned to hire is killed in a freak accident At this point, we're still wondering what happened to the first couple we' saw and don't see again until the end, Friedkin having abruptly cut away from them.

The only thing linking them is a pop-up 'Mankind' puts By Robert Garrett SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE Every now and then, as this documentary on the Apollo missions unfolds, you have to remind yourself Movie the images from outer Review space are real. From a space capsule on its way to the moon, the view looking back at our planet makes earth look like a splendid Christmas bauble suspended in the void. And when the pockmarked moon looms up, looking close enough to touch, it almost seems like a nice dramatic touch served up by a Hollywood special effects designer. It's interesting, then, to hear the voices of the Apollo astronauts, 13 of whom recall their space odysseys in interviews conducted by independent filmmaker Al Reinert Several of them mention the distinct sense of unreality that they sometimes felt, as they circled the moon, or became moon men by walking, hopping and f. tooling around in their lunar rover von its surface.

Scientific inquiry aside, the nine manned Apollo flights between 1968 and 1972 confirmed maw t'mmm HENRY VaMMiaMaMHaa' 1030,120,5,11040 raCOISHUSTIECMITII fNl THE COOS MUST BE CRAZY (PI) CITiT 5 --m- i i- iiin -innir tLWT TIECUU0IM 08 CMEHI PUUIS8 5,330.530,740,950 llM7.83i.l2 MUSEPMTY MILS ORCHrB 08 tOCH MMM a I I. 1..11 1 I iSHBSSr-TZTZ Dwier Brown in a scene from "The Guardian." version of a Hansel Gretel book in which a huge, ancient, leafless tree dominates a forest Eventually, Sea-grove makes her way to exactly such a tree, which by the merest of coincidences, happens to exist in uprooted splendor in LA But we still don't know if the seeming druidess is good or bad. There's a tinge of menace in the way she guards the baby, but when three creeps attack her in the forest we're on her side and aren't us in touch with FOR ALL MANKIND Produced and directed by: Al Reinert Playing at: Nickelodeon. most spectacularly the capacity of adults for childlike awe. In the years since then, most of us have experienced the flipside of that awe, the human tendency to quickly accept amazing feats as routine or even boring.

This film puts us back in touch with the wondrous, by presenting footage from the NASA archives, much of it rarely seen before. "For All Mankind" does have a serious flaw. In its eagerness to sweep us along on an impressionistic joy ride, the film lops off much of the historical context Clips of the various missions are edited into one seamless whole, and we often don't know from which space capsule we're peering out at the heavens. Frustratingly, the voices of the astronauts are never identified by name, presumably so as not to spoil the celestial postcard pictures. Are we hearing the voice of Michael Collins, or Neil Armstrong, or Charles Conrad? One wonders what director Reinert would have done if he could mmo pound OOfflMOttSMf.

01. 590-13)0 I THE GUARDIAN 11:45 3:00 5:15 7:30 0:400 128 KIT 321 272-4410 THE FIRST POWER II I the wondrous have recorded Christopher Columbus' voice to commemorate the events of 1492. Would he have called Columbus a "sailor" and left us guessing' Don't expect anything like the depth of insight in this film that Tom Wolfe brought to the space program in his book "The Right Stuff." But if you accept the starstruck attitude of the film, the visuals certainly do their job. Some of the crisply filmed scenes on the moon itself are especially vivid, as we watch a pair of as tronauts trot around a bleached val ley and ridge which the voiceover de scribes as reminiscent in its lunar way of the Grand Canyon. The space explorers, reflecting back in the film's narration on their space trips, are by turns poetic, folksy," funny and humbled by what they saw.

One astronaut remembers stopping to simply look at his sur roundings, and at the blue planet in sky. He had to repeat to himself: "This is the moon, that is the earth." The film's chief glory is that it shares that godlike view. UCluVtiMl TEEHME MUTANT HINJA TBHTUS Pt HUMIILUES 00 145,345,545750.10 'M 8ll 1,3,5715,920 130,330,530 745.10 fllST fOWEI GENUINE TRIUMPH!" wtm mimmr vmcon tr. rHE nt voiik times THE FllST FBWEI 08 THECUMOUH HUMES OENTHusnnMBsiiPT mia sisKELft ebert 130,340,520,735,1005 140,430,720,945,1150 130,330,530745,10 iSSSm.ii; I 5 Ll TO 130,335,520,1120 TEEMCE MTMT Mil TITTLES otl 1 1 i mm hues 7 9201120 1 520,730,945 J.m.UN PltTTT OJ0M4J iim 1 1 1 THE FllST P0WEI 00 2.420.730.9S5 i hhtfoiieiictoiei miFFTFSOT 'm 1 18YE YB8 TO IEITH (8 mm IIFllTHTl7 U7 120,340,540,8.10.5,12 jS 1 i PW 11 A TEEMCE MTMT Ml TOOTLES Pt j5om5t40940 J. I jl Vj i 7,935 jSSoj.ir AmJLJI iHS XL I lHT F0I IEI OCTMEI at) 08 CROiT (PH 430.710.94S cmzy people hilimchii LEXINGTON IIIYIHC MISS IIISY (Pt) 110,410,720,953.1145 515720,930 863-3260 I 4 BABOAIN MATINiES IVERY DAT ry 9 mows startino bifori 6 p.m.

M8lB0IW8BBMB0ii4 "'ri I 0 a OJ'8 '0 111 liZ 1 I II 1 I 41T1 IS iHtvABTtiL ill 1 SPACED INVADERS 3:00 3:15 7:30 0:551 1:15 4:10 7:00 0:401 GOES TO JAB. 3:00 5:00 7:15 9:45 P8 PRETTY WOMAN 4:10 7:10 0:43 0 'J jut UP riLIYI: VAI III am I ill intfi I hT?) I7l I a BOSTON GLOBE ITKS'TJt 11:45 3:00 5:20 7:30 0:45 0 ERNEST Goto to Ml 3 I LOVE VOU TO DEATH 5:15 7:35 0:45 0 50WW SHOtt PUZA 140-10701 1 SPACED INVADERS I 12:30 2:50 5:10 7:30 0:50 Pi CRAZY PEOPLE 1:103:20 5:30 7:40 10:0011 ERNEST GOES TO JAB. 1 103:135:20 7:25 0:30 Pt PRETTY WOMAN 1:30 4:10 7:00 0:35 0 IWMfiATi MALI 063-0833 CAPUiTWMwiiBia Mtl HOW0H0 ST 277-25001 SPACED INVADERS 1:00 3:10 5:20 7:35 9:45 P8 I LOVE VOU TO DEATH 12:45 3 3:20 7:409:55 0 PRETTY WOMAN 11 3:30 5:00 7:30 10:08 HIM HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER 1:00 3:45 7:10 10:00 P8 DRIVING MISS DAISY 12:151:15 4:30 7:05 0:15 P8 i II'IJUH. i.niTiimnniiiiiir iKMllSHOfflEHOm 235-0020 SPACED INVADERS 12:45 3:00 5:15 7:30 1:50 P8 CRAZY PEOPLE 11:45 3:00 5:13 7:45 0:55 I LOVE YOU TO DEATH 12:45 3:10 5:117:35 PRETTY WOMAN 1:30 4:10 7:20 1:500 HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER rusamo nn-4M0 dout si DRIVING MISS DAISY 12:45 3:00 5:15 7:40 0:50 BAHOAiN SHOW FIRST MATINEE DAILY HIE. 12:45 ERNEST 1:00 1:30 12:15 12:45 1:00 ERNEST 12:45 HUNT 1:10 1:00 -saar- L.

1' IWfiyi Sis- rfL nnnnnim fe UirJ-KIU SPACED INVADERS 2:40 5:10 7:30 0:45 P8 THE GUARDIAN 3:00 5:10 7:40 101 CRAZY PEOPLE 3:10 5:20 7:30 0:401 GOES TO JAR. 3:00 5:10 7:30 0:40 ft PRETTY WOMAN 1:30 4:107:130:500 FOR RED OCTOBER 4:00 7:00 0:50 ft DRIVING MISS DAISY 3:15 5:30 7:45 10 PC ODrbsEmW HiRAMAX hickeTooeon I II kk ii liHiunnyll NATICK II OEDHAM jf 1 tiALAbaU 1 UimtiAriciui uiuu WFCTMWIDnI I UEXINCTON II flicks -ff. mmm. fl OBA 138 1245 255 118 311 MICHAEL CAINE BOUQUET I Success can be murder. mrreT gj rJki rti VnI EXCLUSIVl ENGAGEMENT Icopiacil 1 Cll lllJll' I NOW PLAYING! "jjgj (C ID Hi CRAZY PEOPLE 100 300 500 735 1000 1155 Ei TEENAGE NWJA TURTLES 1238 245 508 728 845 1145 Efii TJ SODS MUST CM2Y II 115 51S 735 IB THE GUARDIAN 100 300 500 72t) 930 1130 IB THE FIRST POWER 315 845 1145 iff OBA 115 438 715 1005 12311 IS WILD ORCHID 1245 308 518 735 1010 1225 IB! THE GUARDIAN 108 308 508 T25 045 12M 3-mt on 53 337-5353 SPACED INVADERS 11:30 1:50 5:10 7:30 0:50 Pt) ront Knur itut turtles 1:003:00 3:00 7:15 0:30 PC PRETTY WOMAN 1:30 4:107:20 0:50 0 HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER 1:00 4:00 0:40 PC CONTINUOUS PERFORMANCES DAILY 415 715 855 1228 IS WILD ORCHID WILD ORCHID 1258 308 518 745 1015 12ZS IB THE GUARDIAN 188 305 505 740 1818 1218 505 725 858 1205 MIAMI BLUES 518 748 1005 1205 MIAMI BLUES 1235 248 448 738 855 1205 CRAZY PEOPLE 1248 245 445 735 858 1150 THE FIRST POWER 1238 438 715 838 Kl LOVE YOU TO DEATH 238 445 808 1138 El TEENAGE NINJA TURTLES 1238 248 458 715 835 1145 E2l HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER 115 408 700 845 1228 I i if 405 708 855 1238 WILD ORCHID 518 745 1815 1228 DRIVING MISS WSi 1245 245 7881108 500 738 1008 1210 nn IS OBA 115 488 788 858 1225 505 725 845 1158 IS THE GUARDIAN 1238 248 445 715 835 1145 IB! WILD ORCHID 240 838 1135 1248 258 505 748 1018 1228 MIAMI BLUES 1255 308 505 738 855 1205 GOES TO JAIL IS CRAZY PEOPLE 188 308 500 738 1W0 1208 THE FIRST POWER 715 748 835 1145 1248 258 508 748 1818 1215 Kl LOVE YOU TO DEATH 1258 308 5'0 745 1015 1215 IS.

TtiMtOi HMJt TUATUS F4WTT518 1Qi 1215 PRETTY WOMAN 415 729 1005 138 IE 1230 28 458 715 835 1145 PRETTY WOMAM 138 415 779 IOCS 1218 ll, HUNT OA MED OCTOBER 118 488 798 858 1228 QAA 128 1248 255 MIAMI BLUES tm (1 II IHIHI II I I THE GUARDIAN 1245 258 455 735 1000 1205 E2i SPACED INVADERS i. .11 ilV. III II I II I -Ax 105 305 585 748 855 1200 ECOM MUST BE CRAZY 248 848 1158 1235 258 IB THE FIRST POWER MIAMI BLUES 118 315 525 755 1028 1238 TE CRAZY PEOPLE 1258 258 058 735 855 1215 S.ILOVE VOU TO DEATH 118 311 518 745 1005 1218 ES TEENAGE NMU4 TURTLES 1238 28 458 728 845 1145 1255 300 THE IFdICBY-aA6r FIRST POWER 188 305 515 745 1018 1215 Kl LOVE YOU TO DEATH 10S 310 57(1 7S8 1815 1228 MOUSt PARTY 1235 245 455 728 858 1205 ES HUNT FOR NED OCTOBER 125 415 718 1008 1238 Ifi! ERNEST DRIVING MISS DAISY 1245 245 AND STRONGLY ACTED 1T Mill Wj 1 BY RICHARDSON, DUVALL, DUNAWAY AND 1 fflYil Pk iU -Ft ELIZABETH McGOYERN. I )MV pp. -Joy Coit, BOSTON GLOBE UW Wt' The HANDWSTALE as-is.

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