The Fresno Bee from Fresno, California • 48

Entertainment THE FRESNO BEE Thursday July 5 1990 E4 What happened to the jokes Cos? PM Calliii WWOR-TV G8EMUMS 2 THE NEW BATCH jT iWHin Gft I ITMMUP N4M ill 1 NOW PLAYING threatens to steal every scene she shares with Cosby Her Diane is an independent 17-year-old who has had to assume a mother's responsibilities and is tired of it She is very good Watching this film I longed for the excellent work director Sidney Poitier and Cosby did in such films as Saturday Night" and Do It Those films made in the 1970s were genuinely funny pales by erything ends up happy with all the problems solved Fortunately only one of the youngsters in the film is overly cute Her name is Brooke Fontaine and she plays Amanda the youngest daughter with wide eyes and a dippy little voice Her siblings Danny (Salim Grant) and Diane (Kimberly Russell) are much easier to take Grant gives a nicely understated performance as a 12-year-old budding magician who really needs his dad around more often Russell FRESNOSUMMERJHEATRE FESTIVAL AT FRES'nOCITY COLLEGE PRESENTS' SAM EjTI EN EXTYE AR QP'ENSJONIGHTj Julyll 115 gEBCacBitflnron Hnrrmqrmraii $6 studentsseniors Watch far the Joker when you play Wild the new and you could win a trip to The Big Spin? THE NEW SCRATCHER ti two CaUfnmiiMair Loom ku inm he at lea to ptay ftnrnf aNIma nr mmr ujU hr pul mnT Ffjnn Win up to SSOyOOO instantly! The first movie from the family truly ahead of its time! unfit 3FHJ in maun crai rurunnn mm: rtinn uw mm isra hub us rjxKiitta -imiZKimxHimicm fzsa NOWPLAYINg BILL COSBY Guilty of mugging Ghost Dad Starring Bill Cosby Kimberly Russell Denise Nicholas and Ian Bannen directed by Sidney Pettier 83 minutes Festival Sierra Vista PG dy little guy who seems to have been around for at least 50 years becomes one of Cosby's victims Credit must go to the special-effects team headed by Richard Yuri-cich and Richard Helmer It makes Cosby's disappearing act look simple If only the screenplay by Chris Reese Brent Maddock and SS Wilson was as good It veers all over the place from slapstick comedy to serious discussions to downright ickiness There is an underlying message about the family being more important than work but it takes a back seat to the convolutions in the plot And like TV ev- roars until its conclusion it stalls upon arrival The final half-hour of the movie is predictable and has plenty of loopholes The characters fade away in favor of the all-important race The film seems to be too well-constructed to deliver such an average ending Manu Hegde 16 attends Clovis High School 5 Coupon i ADULT MOVIES! Watwrbwds mi iron I (233-7850 IIPIBioidasy admas IHHBmdMy faiiNi23Wioiii92iiBiiii I 2 ADULTS Kf PRICE OCNCftAL ADMISSION Vl WOODWARD PARK 4 MAUiCKHS 435-8160 MUCE1MUJB DIE HARD 2 (R) WAR OF THE ROSES (R) DAYS OF THUNDER (PG-13) ANOTHER 48 HRS (R) ARNOLD SCMWMBNEaGER TOTAL RECALL (R) GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH (PG-13) WAMEN IFATTV AND MADONNA DICK TRACY (PG) R0B0C0P2(R) SUNNYSIDE SWAP MEET sJ BVERY SAT-SUN AM to For hifwrmatlow Call! SS1-1SSS By KATHEY CLAREY Bee staff writer have a lot of laughs which say much for a film that stars an icon of American comedy Millions of people watch Bill Cosby's series every week and he has had a long career as a stand-up comedian So why this movie fumiier? One reason is the Cos himself He's mugging 90 percent of the time while those around him play their roles straight He should have watched Ian Bannen as the dotty old Englishman in charge of afterlife mix-ups Barmen's Sir Edith Moser is delightful whether playing with gadgets that somehow connect with the afterlife or arguing that his name is not a woman's It is Edith Bannen doesn't resort to contorted facial expressions His best feature is his mischievous smile His role however is all too brief Cdkbv is after all the star He pldys Elliot Hopper a workaholic single tether who has little time for his three kids He even tapes bedtime stories And unlike tV 'tether Cliff Huxtable Hopper actually goes to work and has to deal with a tyrant boss In a scene that borders on silly he is supposedly killed and becomes a ghost This enables him to walk-through walls sink into the carpet and disappear altogether Of course he want anyone know he's a ghost And this leads to some funny bits including MW involving his taking a physical He cart become visible if the lights are low but how does he get through an X-ray and deliver a brine sample? Arnold Stang a ner- i i Manu Continued from Page El success They are similar Cruise beautitel genius along the way But tee similarities end there of is a far more intelligent film offering great humor INiTEDIh insist I Bargain MstinM Daily S3 50 unM SOpInTI Villa atJJhawTCIovisOTISiaJJ MUCIWIUMir DIE HARDS SHOWN IN TWO MJDtTOHUm jw 100 11011:00 PETEK WELLER NANCY ALLSN ROBOCOPS ON2SCNEENS iiavuno-iALMMaisn N) STEREO AIMWIYK? HILO AND OTIS 11:301:103:30 10 RAimoRLT TIE HE (IP! Aitriwnwm HOST POS BED OCTOBER 11301:103410 MWlftaonSTEIBO ATADRMT AWARD PUR RENT PORPITiR FILM CINEMA PARADISO 12130030 33010:90 BLGWaORMDGOUW um BOD ON A WOE 1230-2 304 (PC-13) SIERRAISTAf34jM93 Santa Ana at Clovis AveJCIovis WITOLD Y(J RRMRMHER THI RULM Yotinmc-r iwroi GREMLINS THE NEW BATCH (PG-131 STEREO TOTAL EECALL ON 2 SCREENS! 1000 WJ STEREO MAimppranr BmuinnHiiiaTui 14-OH-OMrtliPOI GHOST DAD 74546 (PC) CADILLAC HAN 8008001000 RJ HATINEE ONLY TEENAGE HCTART NINJA TURTLES 1203040 PO) BACK TO THE FUTURE HI VI 13:30307: IPGI CADILLAC MAN 12 45-3-nrvAJO 74030131 MILO A OTIS (Q) MOVIESW439T9406 Barstcm atlBlackstoneT Fresno ARNOLD NnrWARPPFHMMlRR TOTAL RECALL ON 2 SCREENS! 11:3012:302003004:3030 7:008:000:3010:30 (K) USTIDUGUKn TIE ME UP! TIE ME DOWN! 1:303:303:30 72320 PMCORNCm AUTMLIRm HUNT FOR BED OCTOBER 1300305-00-745 1013 (PG) MANCHESTEF222-9620 Blackstone at DakotaT Fresno ONE PRICE FOR EVERYONE 1 MOVL-THURS FRI SAT A SUN ft HOLIDAYS IMPULSE 1 FIRST POWEE 23)030135 IN) BRACK INVADERS 12:104:355:40 (PG) SHORT TUBE 2:2544510:40 PO-13 On the aisle Fresno Bee July 2 1990 "The Nerd" may well be the funniest play of the 1990 season AUNHRQEASE' £GnmKmommmmmaxm'ic onouhbmotmnu The funniest movie in a long KABC-TV LOS ANGELES Gny Franklin The wedding picture doesn't NOWPLAYING igmag $050 BARGAIN SHOW IN (PARENTHESIS) always tell the real story 1 1 1-9 fi 54 'The Nerd' is the word for hysterical silliness "The Nerd is unadulter- Kathey Clarey Kathey Clarey VICK TRACT IS A TRIUMPH' K-raraiNMfraoNiawir TWO THUMBS UM08JDICK TSACT" NlPlil lllNUNmnniN RogmRobbft and Baby Harmon in COASTER RABBH" SPECIALENGAi ated silliness It's the kind of comedy you laugh about the next day when you remember certain lines or scenes Scenes like the ritual" in which four bers of the cast are le and dancing all ove stage and throwing cc cheese out the windov the game of "shoes socks" in which the barefoot with paper over their heads Director Brian the play moving at i clip and lets the actcj going ON TAGE! ALAN AlOA MAWLFNE KAHN M(kLV mKMALb'N' BETSYS WEDDING (1230) 12-451 001 715 WUMTN KATTV AND MADONNA WCK TRACY (PG) Consider it sold! Bee Classified Can 441-4442 STEREO GOOD COMPANY PLAYERS SEG0ND1SPAGE1TH EATER CHARGE BY PHONEI266-0660 DS1 fW: 7 30-101 I12-15)(2-30H-451 1 I.