The Capital Times from Madison, Wisconsin • 56

THE CHPITHLTimES Thursday, July 21 1 988 56 Die Hard starts strong, falls victim to lamebrained plot Movie Review 10 screens in 1 theater on east side Filmgoers want variety, Marcus Corp. believes By JAY RATH Special to The Capital Times Madisonians, perhaps more than most Wisconsinites, like variety. At least thats what the management of the states first 10-screen movie theater is gambling on. We just felt the need for (screens on) the east side was there, said Gary Berkley, area manager for the Marcus Theater which recently opened the Eastgate-10 Cinemas. Berkley said Madison has grown to the point where the west side, downtown and east side are separate audiences.

Motion picture studios dont want to miss a possible market The studios are wanting more runs on each side of town, Berkley said. But each of those markets has different likes and dislikes. For example, with 10 screens under one roof, will Eastgate make one of its screens available to less commercial, more artistic films? Its manager, Dick Lepsch, is hesitant. I believe that it takes time to establish something like that, he said. Lepsch said that action is what does well on the east side, while your west side is a little bit more sophisticated.

Lepsch, who holds a psychology degree from Viterbo College in La Crosse, said that Eastgate has done especially well with the Disney Co.s line of Touchstone films, which include Eastgate-10 Cinemas manager Dick Lepsch stands in the lobby of the state's first 10-screen theater. Die Hard, rated is playing at the Eastgate Cinemas, Esquire Theatre and Westgate Cinemas. By ROGER EBERT Universal Press Syndicate The idea has a certain allure to it: A cop is trapped inside a high-rise with a team of desperate terrorists. He is all that stands between them and their hostages. Give the terrorist leader brains and a personality, make one of the hostages the estranged wife of the cop, and youve got a movie.

The name of the movie is Die Hard, and it stars Bruce Willis in another one of those Hollywood action roles where the heros shirt is ripped off in the first reel so you can see how much time hes been spending at the gym. Hes a New York cop who has flown out to Los Angeles for Christmas, and we quickly learn that his marriage was put on hold after his wife (Bonnie Bedelia) left for the Coast to accept a great job offer. She is now a vice president of the multinational Nakatomi and shortly after Willis makes his surprise entrance at the office party, the terrorists strike. They, too, are a multinational group, led by a German named Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), who is well-dressed and has a neatly trimmed beard and talks like an intellectual and thinks he is superior to the riffraff he has to associate with. He has a plan that has been devised with clockwork precision, involving the theft of millions of dollars in negotiable bonds, and it is only after Willis starts causing trouble that he is forced to take the Nakatomi employees as hostages.

The terrorists are skilled and well-armed, and there are a lot of them. Willis strategy' involves keeping them off guard with lightning attacks from his hiding place, on an upper floor of the building that is still under construction. This plan involves the deployment of a great many stunts and special ef- Arts fects, as when Willis swings through a plate glass window on the end of a fire rope, or when he drops plastic explosives down the elevator shaft of the building. On a technical level, theres a lot to be said for Die Hard. Its when we get to some of the unnecessary adornments of the script that the movie shoots itself in the foot.

Willis remains in constant radio contact with a police officer on the ground (Reginald Veljohnson), who tries to keep his morale up. But then the film-makers introduce a gratuitous and unnecessary additional character, the deputy police chief (Paul Gleason), and doubts that the guy on the other end of the radio is really a New York cop at all As nearly as I can tell, the deputy chief is in the movie for only one purpose: to be consistently wrong at every step of the way, and to provide a phony counterpoint to Willis progress. The character is so willfully useless, so dumb, so much a product of the Idiot Plot Syndrome, that all by himself he successfully undermines the last half of the movie. Thrillers like this need to be well-oiled machines with not a single wasted moment. Inappropriate and wrongheaded interruptions reveal the fragile nature of the plot and prevent it from working.

Without the deputy chief and all that he represents, Die Hard would have been a more than passable thriller. With him, its a mess, and thats a shame, because the film does contain superior special effects, impressive stunt work and good performances, especially by Alan Rickman as the terrorist. Heres a suggestion for thriller-makers: You cant go wrong if all of the characters in your movie are at least as intelligent as most of the characters in your audience. Briefs Eastgate, the Esquire Theater, East Towne Cinemas, Point Cinemas and the West Towne and Westgate Cinemas. The Eastgate theaters are named for old movie palaces.

The four new screens are named Cameo, Rivoli, Tivoli and Capitol, in honor of the old Capitol Theater at 211 State which later became part of the Madison Civic Center. The largest theater at the complex remains the Palace, with 460 seats, and which is capable of projecting 70mm film. Another, smaller 10-screen theater is currently under construction in Appleton. palaces of the past all, the complex, at 3764 Burke Road, features: 2,753 seats; stereo in all 10 of the wide-screen theaters, with Dolby stereo in four of those; seats with cupholders; a staff of around 30, operating two separate computerized box offices and concession stands trimmed with stained oak. Construction began in late March.

How much did the addition cost? Just say lots, said area manager Berkley. If Eastgate is big, consider the Marcus chain itself. It now has 29 screens in Madison, at Good Morning, Vietnam, Three Men and a Baby, and the recently released Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Theres no problem with the public accepting (Touchstone), Lepsch said. I think that Touchstone has always had a lot of action.

It never drags. Eastgate had only four screens when it opened on Dec. 9, 1983. Just 11 years before, the countrys first multiplex theater had been created when a Kansas City, theater added a second screen. Since then, bigger has become increasingly better, to the point that East-gates proportions rival movie Madison Scouts end European tour in time for Saturday show Murphy keeps perch atop box office HOLLYWOOD (AP) Eddie Murphys Coming to America earned a princely $10 million to keep first place in the nations weekend box office, while Dirty Harrys return to the beat in The Dead Pool was in second place with $9 million.

Clint Eastwoods cool San Francisco police inspector, Harry Callahan, is one of the names on the list of a whos-going-to-die-next betting pool One of the victims is a movie critic. Two Walt Disney movies, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and were in third and fourth place, respectively. Roger Rabbit, which mixes live and animated action, earned $8.5 million, while Bambi, originally released in 1942, sold $7.2 million worth of tickets. The child-in-a-mans-body comedy Big was in fifth place with $5 million, while the baseball movie Bull Durham was in sixth place with $3.3 million. They were followed by the robot fantasy Short Circuit 2 with $3.2 million and the teen comedy License to Drive in eighth place with $2.91 million in ticket sales.

The Dudley Moore sequel, Arthur 2: On the Rocks, dropped from third to ninth place in its second week of release, earning $2.9 million. In 10th place was the Aussie adventure comendy Crocodile Dundee II with $2.2 million. Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis as an off-duty cop who runs into terrorists, earned $601,851 at just 21 theaters, a $28,660 per screen average. The John Cleese mystery-comedy A Fish Called Wanda opened at just three theaters for a weekend take of $115,418, or $38,473 per theater. State Fair to conduct look-alike contest for seniors Loveable Look-A-Likes, a new contest for seniors who resemble a brother, sister, father, mother, sons, daughter or even a spouse is planned for 1 p.m.

Aug. 5, Security Savings Senior Day in the Activity Dome of the Wisconsin State Fair. Seniors can win prizes in five categories: grandparentgrandchild; parentchild; siblings (brotherssisters, brothersister); twins; and hus-bandwife. Registration is required and begins at the Activity Dome at 12:30 p.m. At least one of the contestants must be age 60 or older.

Other contests planned are the senior dance contest at 9:30 a.m. and the Putt It Straight golf competition at 2:30 p.m. Information on all contests is available by writing: Senior Day Coordinator, Security Savings, 184 W. Wisconsin Milwaukee, WI 53203. Zozo will clown around at Dane County Fair Madisons own Loyal Freymiller better known as Zozo the Clown will be at the Dane County Junior Fair Friday through Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.

along the midway. Stage shows will be: Friday at 1 p.m. (Show-mobile) and 5:30 p.m. (Coliseum stage-west); Saturday at 12:30 p.m. (tent) and 5 p.m.

(Coliseum stage-west); and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (tent) and 4 p.m. (Coliseum stage-west). Friends of WHA-TV present awards to volunteers Rodney Pflaum has been named Friends of WHA-TVChannel 21 Volunteer of the Year. Pflaum worked on every activity and event the group has sponsored in the past year.

He is also a member of the Auction Personnel Committee and took several days of vacation from his job to work on Auction 88. Other awards for continuing support were presented to Fran Pauley, Jean Hoffman, Kathy Ott and Shirley Koehler. Joan Gille, Lee Kempf and Arly Kempf received awards for their volunteer contributions to Auction 88. Margaret Gleason received the Administrative Support Award. Those interested in becoming a volunteer for Friends of WHA-TV may call 255-8447.

By BILL MERRICK Special to The Capital Times Madison Scout Mike Allen likes to make people happy. I can honestly say that Ive made 40,000 people happy, he says with a smile. Allen and the rest of the Madison Scouts have made plenty of people happy this summer and not just in the United States. Late in June, the Scouts took their show overseas for 16 days, playing to crowds in Germany, Holland and England. As in this country, the Scouts wowed audiences with their unique flair and style.

The trip was financed in part by a $90,000 grant from the Pride of Cincinnati Foundation. An additional $95,000 was raised by the 128-mem-ber troupe from appearance fees, donations and an entourage of 50 fans who paid $100 apiece to accompany the Scouts. Performing in foreign countries wasnt as nerve-wracking as it is at home, according to one horn player, and the Scouts were relaxed during their first concert in Germany. We were not as nervous as much as we are here, says mellophone player Dan Mooney. In the U.S.

there is the competition and a lot of the nervousness comes from the judging. In Europe, the nervousness has gone away and that gives you a chance to play freely. Mooney says European drum corps are new to the game and a little behind the Americans. The Scouts critiqued and instructed other corps but didnt compete against them. In Holland, the Scouts stayed with the families of foreign corps members.

That served two purposes, says Steve Vickers, who covered the trip Madison Drum and Bugle Corps members (from left) Mike Allen, Danny Mooney and Jon Hillebrandt were among those who delighted European crowds during a recent tour. American crowds will soon get a chance to yell for more when the Madison Scouts celebrate their 50th anniversary Saturday, July 23, at Memorial High Schools Mansfield Stadium at 7 30 p.m. Following a 50th anniversary alumni picnic, the Drums on Parade festival will feature the Madison Scouts and other Midwestern drum corps. Although Madison is a big switch from Europe, Allen still looks forward to every performance. Were going out there to entertain the crowd, he says.

Whether its 200 or 40,000 it doesnt matter. All I want is to give my best show and make some people happy. for for Drum Corps World, a newspaper he edits for drum corps aficionados. We wanted to give them the experience of living with a family abroad and it also happened to be a halfway point and we needed to do our laundry. Though there was a distinct language barrier between band members and their host families, most were able to adapt.

Communication was a problem, admits Mooney. But we spoke English real slowly and most people could understand us. Two shows in the Hague, Netherlands, involving 14 European corps, were especially memorable because, as Allen puts it, The crowd was rockin. Illinois 23, 24 Paid for by Rockton In Cooperation with the Illinois of Commerce and Community Affairs Office of Tourism OLD SETTLERS DAYS SUMMER SALE 40-50-60 off Sale Begins Friday, July 22 at 8:00 am 40-50 off all spring and summer sportswear, swimwear, blouses, sweaters and dresses 50-60 off coordinates from John Meyer and Country Sophisticates from Pendleton Extra Special bargains on the sidewalk Saturday, July 30th Style shows, Tuesdays at noon at The Post House. New Injection Treatment Of Disfiguring Blue Veins Capillaries (Non-Surgical) BEFORE INJECTION TREATMENT AFTER INJECTION TREATMENT Rockton, July 22, A town celebration with more fun and free things to do in two and 12 days than you can imagine Call 815624-7600 for more information.

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