LA Weekly from Los Angeles, California • 46

Jfc "If fe L.A. WEEKLY July 23-29, 1982 yr t' r- 46 FILM GOOD NEWS FOR EVERYONE. ANNIE IS HERE! GENE SHALIT, NBC-TV Remember how people groaned, razzed and -talked back to the screen when Brooke Shields' gave birth in The Blue Lagoon Most of Summer Lovers is on that level, and (fortunately for the heart and sou) of the republic) so are most of the audience groans. (FXF) THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER God only knows how many millions of dollars got used in this miserable movie to get the least possible good out of them. 'The most money seems to have been lavished on a triplepronged sword that inflates the hero's kill-count over the villain's and thereby excuses the scriptwriter, the director, and the actor who plays the good guy from any imaginative effort whatsoever at creating an even remotely heroic character.

More money went for music meant to invest with splendor a silly, tedious story, and more still for special effects that are impossible to watch without wondering when or if they will ever earn their name. But for those who delight in dumbell movies, who enjoy watching male models and centerfold queens give mincing imitations of medieval lords and ladies under duress, this is the picture to see. Kathleen Beller's breasts are filmed with a rare sincerity and there's a blonde girl whose all but bare behind briefly lifts the movie to its only appropriate and most brilliant moment of visual and emotional expression. (GV) THE THING John Carpenter continues the habit he began with Escape From New York he wastes some of the best actors in the business. There is one good line in a movie that is two hours long and the rest is all fill, players grunting to stay awake under the boredom of their assignment.

The monster who ingests and then imitates human life-forms may interest those who enjoy faster paced by a couple of light years, it ranks alongside the very best of the TV show most memorable episodes. In the end, it makes for a beautiful summary, an envoi from which one can circle back through the re-runs and consider Star Trek as a finished whole Even if they never make another (despite the fact that the end of this one lights about 1000 fuses towards sequels III and IV), the saga can stand complete. Like Sherlock Holmes, who so fully expressed the scientific imagination of the Victorian Era that we tend to think of him as a living historical figure, the characters of the Starship Enterprise have insinuated themselves into every corner of our culture. The fact that so many science fiction movies are filling our movie screens is evidence of how widespread Star Trek's effect has been on the public imagination; that such films are Big Box Office is evidence of how deeply Star Trek was expressing the dreams of our culture. Therefore, it's both moving and just that, after fumbling badly in the first attempt, Hollywood has reincarnated Star Trek in the form of this excellent movie.

It's about time. (FXF) SUMMER LOVERS Hilariously bad. The best thing you can say about this film is that it establishes, once and for all, the themes and preoccupations of its writer-director. Randal Kleiser also directed Grease and The Blue Lagoon, and Summer Lovers has all the same obnoxious earmarks. The opening is a disco montage of oiled limbs, bared breasts and stunning Mediterranean scenery, blatantly aimed at fleecing the sexual fantasies of the (generally teenaged) viewing public.

The. question of the sexual relationship between the two women in the threesome is avoided altogether, and the dialogue throughout is painfully corny. NOW PLAYING westnooo Mann Westwood 208 7664 0W It 00 506 7 30 1000 Hourwooo UA Egyptian O.W It 30 2 50 5 15 I 35 10 00 NEWPORT BEACH Edwards Newport Cinema (714) 644 0760 COJSTt Oat 100 MOO BAKERSFIELD GCC Valles Plata (805)832 341 BREA UA Mones (714) 990 4022 CAMARILLO Camaiillo Cmema (805) 987 1644 UNCASTER Moies (805) 945 8686 wc sirs accteTf ron ms rwGACf uemi 35mm OX 3 THIS SIMM DELICIOUS COME! MET! The most satisfying film of the year so far. Charles Champlia, LOS ANGELES TLMES Extremely funny. Viace at Canby, NEW YORK TIMES HAIR SKIN CftR A minor miracle.

performances are uniformly superlative. Peter Rainer, LOS ANGELES HERALD-EXAMINER A banquet of fast food and funny talk. Richard Corliss, TIME MAGAZINE T.M. PRODUCTS NATURE AND FIRTH UNITED UJITH SCIENCE ASSURE THERBPPE EXOll ENSURE HUMECTRESS KgRflpHIX AL06RID HAIR SPRAV BIOTIN CREME BIOTIN SHAMPOO HAIR SUPPLEMENT VELVET RENAISSANCE FACIAL MASQUE FIRMAPLEXy MASQUE SUBDUE MASQUE SUPERIOR PROTEIN MAXI VITAMIN EPITOME BOTANOIl WE FEATURE THE FINEST MANICURE JAPANESE SHIATSU MASSAGE PEDICURES AND FACIALS io mm no STETLTIRr vlnRnTDtntS A JERRY WEJNTRAL'B PRODUCTION DINER ELLEN Sn fR KEVIN BACON. TIMOTHY DALY "if MARI( JOHNSON Mimd JERRY WEIYTRAIB risaah MWPLAYING At These Specially Selected Theatres A 5 1 1 1 1 A COSTA MESA OCEANSIDF TnoDiurr WESTWOOD Westwood COSTA MESA OCEANSIDE TORRANCE Mann 8 (71 4) 439 7008 FULL SERVICE HAIR SALON FOR MEN WOMEN 2929 MAIN STREET, SANTA MONICA 392 3951 Mann 208 7664 Da lv 1 2 4S 3 1 5 4 5 8 15 1C 30 HOLLYWOOD UA Egyptian 467 61 67 4 3 1 is ORANGE V.jl-V, I 1 -I 63u oom, UA Del Amo Cinem.

542 7383 WEST COVINA SRO Capri 960 286 RlVFR'inr WOODLAND HILL UA Movies (7) 359 6995 SANTA MONICA Laemmle Monica 4 Plex 451 86 HO PASSES ACCEPTEOJOR THIS EH A QE Edwards Bristol (71 4) 540 7444 LAKEWOOD Pacific Lakewood Center Sooth 634 9281 MANHATTAN BEACH 6(2U)840 107' SANTA BARBARA rj'w 6 0 ()8? 4936.