Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 69

A 0 0 EntertainmentTV 1 0 1 LIKRGo EntertainmentTV 1 CULTURES UNTIED BEHIND THE r-i 1 i i ''04- -io! 4 (Ist l''''l 1) X'-: Mike Nichols 8 LcL 0 4 Rust in peace: Tradition is foiled again i' fr iij i L- 4 '4 l'' i' NO' 4----- fr '11'' 4 I '-7i '''i 1 3 i l'- 1 1 -I -1 1- --e i 'S- i A )'f--' -A 'tt -1Pi-'-'-' -f-'' -a-: 1 l- 4 -r''1' ii-- I' ii2-- 1---''l f- --f -4 T' 1 1''!" --'1 k- I --'---1- fo- '''''4 -0 --1' ''''''''--i 4 2 I il i 4030i- 1-: t'l '-7'll-''- i -'-1 '-''14''' it ''''i'- -ii- I I 1'-3- I f'- vi'-7'-' 'i' i I' i'-d-P c1' i 1' Ni -p-t 416- sx 4 7- i i 7- '1'''I'''''' ''-'Y'-' '-'i' -r -1 ii4 i- z' H--' -Ii "iT i i By CAROL SEWELL Star-Telegram Art Writer An exhibition opening today at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History speaks eloquently of two cultures that became one Ancient Faces: The Mask in Modern Mexico explores one aspect of the 500-year interaction between Indian and European which began with the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire in 1521 and has resulted in the rich cultural heritage of modern Mexico On show are more than 100 traditional dance masks from 25 Mexican states fanciful creations of wood leather fur clay papier-mache and cloth that are used in rural villages throughout Mexico in festivals that commemorate historic events pay homage to saints evoke mythic beings and relate to ancient Mesoamerican rituals These striking and imaginative masks would be worth seeing simply as objects but they have been made even more compelling by photographs and text that present them within the context of their history meaning and function The masks were assembled by Dr Ruth Lechuga sub-director of Mexico's Museo Nacional de Artes Industries Populares The museum actually a chain of 10 museums nationwide has a mandate to exhibit and make understandable Mexico's traditional arts and crafts and its indigenous Indian cultures many of which have been threatened by industrialization and urbanization The Fort Worth exhibition was jointly organized by the Museum of Science and History and InterCultura Inc a local foundation that is the catalyst behind two concurrent shows focusing on ancient and modern Mexico The foundation initiated the The Blood of Kings Maya art exhibition now at the Kimbell Art Museum and organized Time Warps: Mythology in the Weave of the Maya the complementary show of contemporary Maya weavings that can be seen through this weekend at Evelyn Siegel Gallery Mask-making as this exhibition so ably demonstrates is one of Mexico's oldest continuing traditions and one that was common to both Spanish and Indian cultures And in recent years it has begun to be appreciated as an artistic tradition as worthy of preservation as Mexico's great archaeological heritage "There have always been masks in Mexican cultures beginning with the very oldest" according to Lechuga "Some pre-Hispanic masks have survived and we have evidence of others from the codexes (written records of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures) and from stone carvings at ancient sites" The earliest known masks were made of stone or clay and date from about 1000 BC Masks were worn by priests and kings when performing religious rituals and by soldiers in battle They adorned statues of the gods They Please see Cultures on Page 2 (An obituary to mark the passing of an old friend) he original aluminum TV-din- 1 ner tray a pioneer in the field of convenience foods died last month after a long illness It was 34 years old The tray's family physician Dr Pepper was at its bedside when the end came "The old tray coughed weakly and wheezed: 'After I'm gone Doc make 'em keep my peas and carrots cold' Dr Pepper said the cause of death was progress But in Camden NJ a spokesman for Campbell Soup Co's Swanson TV dinners makers of the tray since 1952 defended its switch to plastic trays: "We hate to have to change the trays because they are well a classic in eating But with the popularity of microwave ovens there was no way we could continue with the aluminum tray" Thus in May another faithful friend of the single person and the harried homemaker went to that great Hefty Bag in the sky A memorial service for the tray was attended by hundreds in the food container industry including some who themselves have become obsolete Honorary pallbearers included a glass milk bottle hobbling on a cane and a waxed-paper bread wrapper now quite wrinkled and deaf in one flap Present were the tray's next of kin: some Campbell's soup cans Viejo (The Old Man) made of wood paint and horse hair is worn in dances celebrating Carnival At the movies At the movies Reviews by Michael t-i Price Star-Telegram Film Writer ore reviews on Page 3BB Reviews by Michael I-1 Price Star-Telegram Film Writer More reviews on Page 3BB 'Running Scared' on right track Running Scared (M-G-M) WITH: Gregory Hines Billy Crystal Steven Bauer Darlanne Fluegel Tracy Reed OPENING DATE: Today AT THESE THEATERS: Loews 20 287 Six Flags Bowen 8 Arlington AMC Hu len 10 Las Vegas Trail Seminary South Fort Worth Central Park Bedford North Hills North Richland Hills RATED: coarse language violent action brief bedroom nudity ON A 1-10 SCALE: Praise the Lord 'n' pass the milk The eulogy was delivered by a ahem Billy Graham cracker: "I didn't know the dearly departed well I was always in a kitchen cabinet and it was in the freezer Oh once in a while we'd meet in front of the TV in the den when someone ate a snack How the old tray loved Perry Mason "And sometimes do you know as the person ate my crumbs would fall into the tray's whipped potatoes Did it mind? No It was selfless A good and humble servant Every head bowed every lid closed" The soup cans openly wept into their chicken noodles After the service refreshments were served by Betty Crocker the symbol of General Mills At 65 Crocker has just had her sixth facelift and now looks 30 years younger In fact she attended the service with a much-younger man the sailor boy from a box of Cracker Jacks While some at the service tsktsked behind her back Crocker said: "You gotta stay young keep up with the times The old aluminum tray wouldn't Now (sob) it's gone Now where did my Cracker Jackie go? Oh I LOVE a man in uniform!" Many of those in attendance lamented the changing times Said a tarnished bottle-and-can opener: "I'll be the next to go I'm being made obsolete by twist-top bottles and pull-tab cans Mark my words: The next funeral will be for us church keys Uh beggin' yer pardon Rev Graham Cracker" T---777'-: lc 4: I :::01 4 I Al '3 1 1 A I i 1 Al 1 7 'I? I' H0kF- k1 ft 1 1 -'4 'iq 4 t1 I $iiiretta ttr :::::5 4g: Ig''1 trace of "helpless dame" stereotyping The central story aside from Smits' chilling turn as an immigrant youth gone bad benefits from the portrayal of hoodlums as likable characters in spite of their rotten ways The early arrest of a punker named Snake (Joe Pantoliano) expands the Crystal-Hines duo briefly to a Three Stooges-caliber crew allowing for some uproarious sight-gags until Snake meets an end that is both shocking and saddening And the street kids on whom Hines and Crystal rely for information are presented as New Wave Dead-Enders rough apparently worthless and yet with a hidden goodness that responds to the positive influence of these two boyish cops "You two guys have been the wild men around here for a long time" Police Capt Logan (Dan Hedaya) tells Ray and Danny In context that's a slur on their value to the force but for Hines and Crystal the line sounds more like something that should become a self-fulfilling prophecy Their synthesis sparring and carousing with genuine spontaneity and brotherhood marks a new and rewarding direction: We need wild men like these Running Scared is the best comical crime drama since The Sting (1973) Directed and photographed with a palpably cold-and-dirty urban texture by Peter Hyams (1984's The Star Chamber) this new entry also boasts the savvy teaming of Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal That greater-than-the-sum match creates an act in a class with the Stan Laurel-Oliver Hardy Lucille Ball-Vivian Vance or Paul Newman-Robert Redford combos Crystal and Hines also have plenty to keep them busy: As short-timer Chicago police detectives Danny Costa nzo (Crystal) and Ray Hughes (Hines) they intend to retire to Florida and buy a beachfront bar But first they are compelled to snag a murderous cocaine runner named Julio Gonzales (Jimmy Smits) A relentless dramatic thrust makes Scared the sort of picture that the recent 8 Million Ways To Die promised to become before it collapsed under the weight of sleaze and brutality Danny and Ray their on- and off-theforce enemies and the women with whom they are paired demonstrate that a movie can indulge in violent action ribald wit and serious eroticism without lapsing into tastelessness The Gary DeVore-Jimmy Huston screenplay a marvel of justifying complications with clarity contains half a dozen prominent subplots Of these even the most trivial commands our interest The partners wonder "So how come the bad guys always have the good cars?" and make a running issue of their discomfort with the unmarked clunker they must drive And Ray's courtship of an attached woman named Maryann (Tracy Reed) takes outrageous turns as he abuses his badge to steal her away from a pampered live-in situation Danny's relationship with his former wife Anna (Darlanne Fluegel) is at once more straightforward and more intricate ultimately landing her in a hostage situation which she confronts without a Gregory Hines left and Billy Crystal 'Ruthless People' goes for throat vialunnybone Ruthless People (DisneyTouchstone) WITH: Danny De Vito Bette Midler Judge Reinhold Helen Slater Art Evans Anita Morris Bill Pullman OPENING DATE: Today AT THESE THEATERS: Loews Lincoln Square Arlington Green Oaks AMC Hu len 10 Cinema Ridgmar Mall Fort Worth UA Cinema 6 Hurst Central Park Bedford RATED: extremely raunchy language caricatured violence brief nudity ON A 1-10 SCALE: El 'I've got a fork You wanna Also attending were many single people Said one bachelor: "That old tray kept me from starving I've had more hot TV dinners than hot dates I never owned a pot or a pan And just one fork I wash it every leap year "I remember the first time I met the old tray It looked so cute with its four compartments The little hunk of cornbread the apple sauce the fried chicken It was a good friend and a great American I'm going back home to my kitchen and fly my No Pest Strips at half-mast" But the memorial service was marred by tragedy Witnesses described what happened: "Betty Crocker was talking with a box of French's pepper y'know? Suddenly she sneezed and all six of her facelifts failed causing her ears to slip down around her heels!" "Someone go find the doctor" a cardboard egg carton shouted "Xou mean Dr Pepper?" a roll of white butcher paper asked "No Dr Schott's!" 1 lo 4K It 1 1 rf mot 1k 1 '1-- i 11 -c'-: 11 i 4t-: 'f f- -1-e tiii -7 Tt 441 4 :4 I 000 1 tA--Kngt lit 0 4: )141z 1'0 ti 1 And Danny De Vito: More than a replay of his Emmy-winning Taxi character more than his cutthroat opportunist of the Romancing the Stone pictures Sam is an embodiment of self-knowing self-loving evil Sam at once scary and ridiculous is DeVito's vindication as a screen actor especially significant in that it comes so soon after the misfire of Wise Guys Ruthless People marks DeVito's first movie lead to bear comparison with the brilliance he had brought 15 years ago to the New York stage The kidnapping is a fortunate break for Barbara Stone whom Sam was just about to murder Sam balks so at delivering the ransom that the Kesslers begin discounting their demand Meanwhile Barbara corpulent little toad" in Sam's words) has passed the time in captivity by exercising Overjoyed to find herself slender she warms to her captors finally undevtanding their gripe siding with them to'plot a memorable comeuppance for Sam Ruthless People goes for the throat as a means of tickling the funnybone and touching the heart Its title players are eminently qualified to do so: Bette Midler's mastery of lovably obnoxious mannerisms has never had such deliciously wicked exposure Danny De Vito brings his trademark sleazoid to full seriocomic flower and Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater approach perfection as a pair of hard-luck innocents who become kidnappers out of desperation "Gandhi would've strangled her!" Ken Kessler (Reinhold) tells his struggling clothing-designer wife Sandy (Slater) This gentle couple have abducted heiress Barbara Stone (Midler) as a means of getting back at her slimy businessman husband Sam (DeVito) Sam has stolen one of Sandy's ideas and parlayed it into a fashion craze In a roaringly funny chain of developments predicated on dumb luck RutNess People allows triumphant portrayals it all concerned Midler makes it a momentum-builder for the career turnaround that last winter's hugely popular Down and Out in Beverly Hills gave her Reinhold erases the walk-through impression left by his recent Head Office and Off Beat delivering an immersion in character at which he had hinted in Beverly Hills Cop (1984) Slater breaks the juvenile-adventure mold in which Supergirt (1984) and The Legend of Billie Jean(1985) had cast her taking on an emotional depth to match her expressive face Hostage Bette Middler with kidnappers Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater.