The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 44

D12 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 1990 MOVIES Iranian movie helps shatter illusions o5 (310(5) half this mean-minded movie, dressed up splashily by British director Mike Figgis. But after six killings, Gere loses control. Andy Garcia as the fellow cop who nails him, looks better. R. The Little Mermaid (Rideau, Britannia, Gloucester, Promenades) New generation of Disney animators keep the studio hallmarks superb animation, bouncy musical items and a happy ending in first Disney animated fairy tale in 30 years.

It's lively, full of cameo characters, and fun. REVIEW The Runner CFI Cinema jfjT IP NEW IN TOWN Bad Influence (Westgate, Vanier, Kanata, Orleans) Obviously Rob Lowe's reputation raises marketing expectations for this sleazy outing in the underside of Los Angeles where Lowe inducts yuppie executive James Spader into the pleasures of drugs, booze and other sins AA The Handmaid's Tale (Somerset) Careful adaptation of Margaret Atwood's 1984ish vision of a society obsessed with purity in which only "handmaids" bear children and weird rituals repress dissent. Director Volker Schlondorff graphically visualizes Atwood nightmare. rating seems pointless. In The Belly of the Dragon (Vanier) Inventive comedy by young Quebec film-maker Yves Si-, moneau has slapstick farce, social satire on medical research, and a couple of clowns, Remy Girard and Michel Cote, to celebrate.

Mixed-up styles blunt Simoneau's point. PG. Joe Versus The Volcano Vi (Capitol Square, Britannia, Gloucester, Promenades) John Patrick Shanley who wrote Moonstruck directs his own script in which Tom Hanks plays Joe Banks, assistant librarian who agrees to dive into volcano. Quirky fun but uneven; simmers when it ought to erupt more. PG.

Landscape In The Mist (By-Towne) Striking imagery, delicate treatment by Greek director Theo Angelopoulos, in much-awarded movie about an odyssey by two children in search of their father. PG. STILL IN TOWN Back to the Future Part II (Vanier, Westgate, Orleans) Same cast, same director (Robert Zemeckis) but a different Back To The Future, Industrial Light and Magic, snarly dialogue and some very confusing time warps have displaced warmth of original. Disappointing. PG.

Born On The Fourth Of July (St. Laurent, Westgate, Kanata, Orleans) Oliver Stone's latest Vietnam post-mortem takes his Platoon back home, to the betrayal of its own veterans by an ungrateful nation. Tom Cruise, as Ron Kovic who wrote the book, has never been better. Nor has Stone. The outrage is intense, the violence graphic.

An Oscar is on the wall. Cinema Paradiso (Phoenix) All the magic of film wrapped in blissful memories of childhood spent in projection booth of small-town Sicilian cinema with Philippe Noiret. Fellini-esque characters, scrupulous detail, empathetic acting add up to more magic. Not to be missed. PG.

Courage Mountain (St. Laur- Christy. See it. PG. Revenge Vi (Elmdale, St Laurent, Orleans) Ex-Vietnam flier Kevin Costner calls on old pal Mexican landowner Anthony Quinn and has affair with his wife.

A lot of talent squandered on messy, sadistic movie. AA. Ski Patrol (Orleans) It's from the producers of Police Academy, so you'll know what to expect more of the same mindless mayhem, only on the slopes. PG. Stanley and Iris (Capitol Square) Martin Ritt's love story about an illiterate canteen cook (Robert De Niro) and co-worker Jane Fonda, who becomes his teacher, sensitively acted but might have been more persuasive with lower profile stars.

Well worth seeing -though. PG. Steel Magnolias (Place de Ville) Robert Harling's off-Broadway hit about a sextet of small-town Louisiana women confronting impending death becomes light drama with Terms of Endearment mood, smart ensemble acting and a script-ful of one-liners. PG. Stella (Capitol Square, Kanata) Stella Dallas, the King Vi-dor 1937 weepie, revamped for the 0s, with a powerhouse performance by Bette Midler as the blowsy mother with a heart of gold who sacrifices all for daughter Trini Alva-rado.

AA. The War Of The Roses (Vanier) This comedy is so black it almost isn't. Danny De Vito directs this brutal anatomy of a divorce with Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas who bar no holds when they both claim the family mansion funny in a fierce way, but be prepared. AA. REPERTORY ByTowne: All week, Landscape In The Mist; also tonight, Bye Bye Blues; March 10 Bye Bye Blues, Animation Celebration, sex, lies and videotape, Sign O' The Times; March 11, Amadeus, Old Gringo; March 12, King of Comedy; March 13, Dangerous Liaisons; March 14, Insignificance; March 15, Weatherby.

Mayfair: Tonight, Christmas Vacation, National Lampoon's Vacation; March 10, All Dogs Go To Heaven, Lord of the Rings; March 13, The Big Picture, When Harry Met Sally; March 14, The Shining, Rebel Without A Cause; March 15, Miracle Mile, Apartment Zero. CFI Cinema: Tonight, The Runner, Canadian short films; March 12, The Other Woman, Sortie 234Le Grande Monde; March 14, Parade of the Planets, L'aiueleForcier "en Star ratings: Excellent (5); Good (4); Average (3); Poor (2); Awful (1). By Noel Taylor CAPSULES ent, Orleans) Further adventures of Heidi, now 14, leaving grandpa, going to school in Italy, fleeing the war, being rescued by Charlie Sheen in Alpine cave. Solid family fare, slow in spots, but wholesome. PG.

The Dream Is Alive (Ci-neplus) Omnimax film on Canadian Museum of Civilization dome screen takes audience into space with spectacular footage shot by astronauts. Runs until mid-April, starting 11 a.m. every day except Monday, with alternating French-English versions. Information: 776-7010. Driving Miss Daisy (Elgin, Britannia, Gloucester) Well-bred (from Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize play) with nine Oscar nominations, immaculately staged the quiet story of the 20-year relationship between a feisty Southern matron (Jessica Tandy) and her wise old chauffeur (Morgan Freeman).

F. Enemies: A Love Story (Vanier) Moving tragi-comedy by Paul Mazursky om a tale by Isaac Ba-shevis Singer, about a holocaust survivor with three wives a film full of passion, humanity and surprise tricks of fate. Anjelica Huston and Lena Olin both Oscar-nominated. AA. Hard To Kill (Place de Ville, Britannia, Gloucester) Hard to like, too.

Martial arts expert Steven Sea-. gal lethally wooden as detective Mason Storm, fresh out of a seven-year coma, bent on avenging death of his family. AA. Henry (Vanier) Young British actor Kenneth Branagh, directing his first film, has brought off a stunning vision of the Shakespearean history a tight-focussed, cynical antithesis to Olivier's 1944 film, with battle scenes inspired by Vietnam. AA.

The Hunt for Red October (Elgin, Britannia, Gloucester, Promenades) Tom Clancy's best-seller about a secret Soviet submarine threatening the North American coast, graphically adapted for screen by John (Die Hard) McTier-nan. Outdated by glasnost, but efficiently thrilling. PG. Internal Affairs Vj (Rideau) Richard Gere as viciously corrupt L.A. cop, wears evil convincingly for KIWANIS CLUB OF SOUTH OTTAWA INC.

WINNERS DRAW T7 Tuasday, March 6, 1990 ONTARIO UCENCE 759318 $1000 No. 826 Micheline Barbarle $500 No. 1473 Brigitte Pickwick $300 No. 815 Mrs. F.Faubert $200 No.

140 Ruby Brown $200 No. 1371 Jean Paul Paulin $200 No. 553 Ron G. Sabourin in fought over on the beach, and blocks of ice, a symbol of wealth valued in a baked landscape. Amiro hawks iced water to the dock workers (and chases one of them for miles for the coin he didn't leave behind) and goes shoe-shining as a sideline.

But it's the ice block that becomes the emblem of achievement for these young runners a rapidly dwindling block of it poised on a barrel in front of a raging oil fire. Naderi, the filmmaker, celebrates this symbol triumphantly, almost as though it were the prize in a Middle Eastern Chariots of Fire. The life of Amiro is not so much a plight as an existence. He lives on a breached wreck, his only companion a tiny chick. His eyes tell us that he yearns for es- cape, and his voice too.

The Runner opens with a not of anguish but for recognition, to one of the tankers passing in the Gulf and closes with an-: other, as young Amiro watches from the perimeter of the airport a huge jet rising above him. The Iranian series continues March 16 with The Cyclist and on March 23 with The Peddler meets Bunuel meets Other films include The Spell, March 28; Captain Khorshid, March 30; Stony Lion, April and Bashu, The Little Stranger, April 6. Al screenings are at 7:30 p.m. at the National Library auditorium. Each film is subtitled in English.

Star ratings: Excellent (5); Good (4); Average (3); Poor (2); Awful (1) fHwumr 4 COiMTtT NOW PLAYING AT: SOMERSET mm aJ2. RfLfAtfO TMOOOt COIWI i.rnw mm Of Canada NOW PIJLYING AT: ORLEANS KANATA, VANIKR, WI-5TGATE 11 ii.i'JJi i IN THE BELLY OF THE A film by Yves Simoneau ttVaJljij NOW PLAYING AT: VANIER JOHN LARROQULTTE KIRSTI ALLEY irv-vii owon" NOW PLAYING AT: WESTGATE, KANATA, ORI.IiANS whpM iNpiratloH WliM yfdiMf By Noel Taylor Citizen movie writer It takes an act of faith to offer North American audiences a festival of Iranian films. Preconceptions being what they are, there might be apprehension about a dose of Islamic fundamentalism or anti-Western tirades, or worse. Which is all the more reason for catching at least one, maybe more, of a Canadian Film Institute Cinema program of seven recent Iranian films. And if it's one, The Runner, made in 1985 by Amir Naderi, is an impressive sample.

Others in the series were made since 1987. The Iranian cinema, on this evidence, is an industry with few inhibitions, certainly not the ones you might expect. The Runner is a child, a boy of about 10 named Amiro who lives by his wits on the docks and the beaches of the Persian Gulf. He runs everywhere, both from and to his work and to be with his friends, and quite often after those who are bigger and older and have stolen from from him. He's a scrappy kid, played so appealingly by Majid Niroumand that there will be those in the audience who will want to reach out to protect him from the other runners around him.

What surprises the Westerner is the frankness of this film. There is no censorship, it's apparent, no sense of betrayal of a society that leaves these children to their own survival, though they do not seem oppressed by their lot. Besides they have each other; the adult world does not care much about them. They survive on their earnings. Their currency is uniquely theirs the empty bottles tossed by "foreigners" into the sea to be BACK TO THE FUTURE II (PG) EVE: 7:15 MAT: 2:00 4:15 DESTINY TO OROER (AA) COARSE LANGUAGE EVE: 9:25 Only ENEUIEti A LOVE STORY (AA) SEXUAL CONTENT EVE: 705 920; SAT i SUN MAT: 1:30 3:50 IN THE BELLY OF THE DRAGON (PG) MATURE THEMES.

SUBTITLES EVE: 7:10 920; SAT 4 SUN MAT: 1:40 3:45 HENRY (AA) VIOLENCE FRI-SAT EVE: 7:30 9:35 SUN-THURS EVE: SAT SUN MAT: 1 4.00 WAR OF THE ROSES (AA) MATURE THEME. NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN EVE: 7:00 9:1 SAT 4 SUN MAT: 1 :45 4:05 MADHOUSE (PG) EVE: 7:30 935; SAT i SUN MAT: 1:45 4:00 BAD INFLUENCE (AA) ALCOHOL, DRUG USE, NOf SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN, NO COUPONS EVE: 7.10 9:1 SAT SUN MAT: 1:35 3:40 BAD INFLUENCE (AA) ALCOHOL. DRUG USE, NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN. NO COUPONS EVE: 7:05 9 25; SAT SUN MAT: 2:00 4:10 MADHOUSE (PG) EVE: 7:10 920; SAT SUN MAT: 2:15 4:15 SNEAK PREVIEW SAT, MARCH 10: NUNS ON THE RUN" 7:30 WITH "MADHOUSE" 9:30 ONLY BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (R) COARSE LANGUAGE EVE: 7:00 935 Only BACK TO THE FUTURE II (PG) SAT SUN MAT: 2:00 4.05 Only HANDMAID'S) TALE (R) NO COUPONS EVE: 700 SAT MAT. 2 00; SUN MAT: 2.00 4:20 STELLA (AA) EVE: 7:15 9 20; SAT MAT 1 SUN MAT: 1:45 3.50 BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (R) COARSE LANGUAGE 9.40; SAT MAT SUN MAT: 1:30 4:15 MADHOUSE (PG) EVE: 7:05 05; SAT MAT SUN MAT: 2:00 4:00 BAD INFLUENCE (AA)AICOHOL, DRUG USE, NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN.

NO COUPONS EVE: 7:10 0 16; SAT MAT 140; SUN MAT: 1:40 4 00 mmr" CINEMA PARADISO (PG) SUBTITLES EVE: 7.00 925; SUN MAT: 4 00 4:25 m1 iiy imil MY LEFT FOOT (PG) COARSE LANGUAGE EVE: 7:15 9.30; SAT MAT: 2.00; SUN MAT 2 00 4 25 REVENGE (AA) SEXUAL CONTENT. BRUTAL VIOLENCE EVE: 7.00 9.20, SAT MAT: 2.00; SUN MAT; 2.00 4.15 REVENGE (AA) SEXUAL CONTENT, BRUTAL VIOLENCE EVE: 7:15 945 Only COURAOE MOUNTAIN (PG) SAT a SUN MAT; 1:45 4:15 BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (R) COAHSE LANGUAGE 9 35; SAT SUN MAT: 1 :30 4:05 BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (Ft) COARSE LANGUAGE EVE: 7:00 930 Only back to the future ii (pg) sat mat: sun mat: 1:55 425 bad influence (aa) al cohol, drug use, not suitable for childhln. no coupons eve; 720 9 25, sat mat 150, sun mat. 150 4 20 ski patrol (pg) eve. 7.10 9 00, sat mat: 145, sun mat 145 4 10 tamqo 4 cash (aa) coarse language, violence, not suitable for children EVE: 725 935 Only COURAOE MOUNTAIN (PO) SAT MAT; 1:40, SUN MAT; M0 4:05 MADHOUSE (PO) EVE: 7:15 20, SAT MAT: 1 35, SUN MAT: 1 35 4 00 REVENQI (AA) SfXUAl CONTENT, BRUTAL VIOlfNCE EVE; 7 06 9 45, SAT MAT: 1.30, SUN MAT; 1 30 4 15 tfs Dan Aykroyd Stars in Loose Cannons Loose Cannons (Rideau) Gene Hackman wasted as genial straight man to crazy cop Dan Ayk-.

royd who does impersonations whenever danger threatens. They're (yet another odd-couple cop team, pursuing Nazis in Washington. AA. Madhouse (Westgate, Vanier, Kanata, Orleans) Raucous mayhem about a TV sitcom couple, John Laroquette and Kirstie Alley, besieged by unwanted house guests, wastes its stars, runs out of steam and never knows when enough is too much. PG.

Men Don't Leave 12 (Rideau, Gloucester) Family drama deftly built around Jessica Lange's mother, holding family together when her husband is killed at work. Lange copes convincingly with rebellious kids, nosey neighbor and sympathetic musician. Sensitive acting all round. PG. Music Box V2 (Britannia) Costa-Gavras back in form (after Betrayed) with provocative holocaust thriller about a Chicago mill-worker charged with war crimes 50 years ago, defended by daughter lawyer Jessica Lange.

As much about relationships as criminal guilt and a mystery to the end. AA. My Left Foot (Elmdale) A film to treasure about severely handicapped Christy Brown, born into a poor Dublin family of 13, who becomes both writer and painter. Moving, never mawkish, funny and uplifting, inspired by completeness of Daniel Day Lewis' portrayal of Mon. March 197:30 P.M.

Montreal Forum Bus Package $69.00 plus surcharge Buses depart Laredowne Park at 4:00 P.M. RATEFUL DEAD Si qSr COPPS Coliseum (Hamilton) Buses depart Unsdowne Park at 11 00 A. each day 3" Sister Inviolate of the Immaculate Conception GfOUGE MAKISON ul NIS BHIl wnni w. 'ohoiwikib, lUTMIHAN UNN I 9 EARLY BIRD PASTA FEAST BUFFET WITH SOUP CAESAR SALAD F- I hi" i I TOMORROW- AU. DOCS 00 TO HEAVEN LOHO OF THE F'NOS uiiUKHt VANESSA aC Friday Moth Scheduxi 7:00 Bye Bye Blue ipgi Nominated lor 13 Genres, including Best Picture and 8mI Acitfis (Rebecca Jenkins) I Friday, 9.30 lilio Sil.

8:45 am Sun. 9.00 pm) landscape inthtmist A beautiful new film by THEO ANGELOPOULOS about 2 children wno leave their home in Alliens to Una then long lost lather (loGieek 'subtitles latedAA) Admission $6 00 Members 4. 00 Saturday Movu Schzddxi Sat 2 00 Bye Bye Bluei (abovei 4 70 Animation Celebration Sipgi Sal. 45 Landscape In The Mist iaa. (20 fex, lie videotape AAl Sat.

1 1 20 Sign 0' The Timet prince iaai BYTmiME 325 RI0EAU ST. (near Kmg Edward) 230 FILM ST. PATRICKS, DAY PARTY MARCH 17th Rosorvo kNow T7 rSk FILM "py fmom (5 Monday to Saturday 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. IMiDATO INK CH? 101 Kill 1 JiJLl limn NOW PLAYING AT: KANATA.

ST. LAURENT. WESTGATE KEVIN COSTNER MORE POWERFUL THAN LOVE NOW PLAYING AT: ST. LAURENT, ELMDALE, ORLEANS i.3gKltHiGi. Hi-mA JOV NOW PLAYING AT: VANIER NOW PLAYING AT: PHOENIX mr a mm PtUjli tCMwa I I Jt il r--" minnm niiililni inlimu Sister Euphemia of the Five Wounds 5.

duCW WW THE STORY OF AN IMMACULATE DECEPTION. MANtXMWHt IONIMN IYNN I fWCIOlE KIHIIII COl tNt NUNS ON Tm BUN JANf rtllOi-d HIDDEN I ACES SIMON H(ISN(JI)M I QumaHCl WAV Oft HO tOMf SNEAK PREVIEW TOMORROW NIGHT AT: NEW EXPANDED MEM! WE BEST PASTA, VEAL, STEAK SEAFOOD! 1430 MCRIVALE RO. 22S-TINA WITH "MADHOUSE" 7:30 NOW PLAYING AT: ELMDALE NOW PLAYING AT: VANIER.