The Albuquerque Tribune from Albuquerque, New Mexico • 28

TV-1 Thu Albuquerque Tribune Saturday July 5 1980 Dan Rather's drug 'use' causes flap in community timing could have been behind it but we Mt we had ts oppose a statement She Wat just aa PORTAGE led (AP)-The city cenciL of this northwest Indiana cammuni-ty has decided it would rather not see Dan Rather an choring the CBS Evening News The seven council mem bers encouraged by local efforts to stem drug trade in the town of 25000 voted unanimously that Rathei should not assume Walter job because he acknowledged experimenting with drugs It dashed the resolution off to CBS which has announced that Rather will take over the job sometime next year want to crucify the guy but we had to make him aware got to be responsible for what he's saying" Leon West sponsor of the resolution said THE FLAP began last month when the veteran newsman was quoted in Home Journal as say- a that a I don't want to any Oafs the only context tried everything" "I've never been a social user of any of these things but my curiosity haa carried me into a lot of interesting areas" he said adding he tried heroin in 1955 or 1956 so he could do a story on it He also said he told his children that if hell-bent to try pot then try it at home around 'people who care about you" "WHEN MY children were fairly young and there was so much emphasis everywhere on drugs it was not possible for them to tell me I didst know what I was talking about" CBS News President William Leonard mid then that he "get excited about a reportorial experiment of Dan Rather or any other young newsman that took place a quarter of a century age" A network spokeswoman who refuaed to identify herself said there was no immediate comment on the Portage resolution West said the anchor position was of the key things about this You're talking about a position that influences quite a few people" Another factor said West may have been timing HAD THE biggest drug bust in the state of Indiana on June 18 and me and two other council members were sitting in the police station at 3:30 am while bringing these offenders in" he said "Well we got to looking through the newspaper and Dan Rather saying its okay to use drugs Portage a community of steel workers nestled along the Lake Michigan shore just 10 miles from downtown Gary is a polite basically conservative town said council member Albert Seng STEPPED-UP pressure by state and local law enforcement officials in the past year has resulted in several arrests and curtailed drug activity in Porter County and nearby Lake County Seng said And more community-based programs reaching into the schools to get at the problem before it grows into a big he added usually watch NBC but I sure know who Rather said Seng it totally surprised me to hear a man like that say a good thing about drugs As knowledgeable as he is he was deciding what wefc trying to Together again HOLLYWOOD (UPI) Roads" Sally Field who won this is the first Academy Award for motion picture of CBS Thea-best actress in Norma Rae trical Film it will be prowill once again work with duced on locations in Ala-the director of that film bama where much of Ritt in ma Rae" was filmed 'Blues Brothers' so silly it's entertaining tist church (Tames Brewn) intruaems from a music store owner (Ray Charles) arguments brae a cafe wait-resa tabu has an in the hand (Arethu lYanklm) brig fimua a adf-styled praumtea (Cab Cafloway) and death threats jama aeR-styed aaasmin Carrie Pisher -Landis has a habit of puaning scenes post their beat effect But Aykroyd and Belushi piny it deadpan behind dark glasses that came off only once during the film The comic invention in "Blues is in their actmg which is seldom off target AYKROYD EVEN writes a Dragnet parody into a small scene which considering his way with wonts the manner of Joe Friday is hilarious even from memory Brothers" looks sleazy as it should Cinematographer Steven Katz sinds neo-depression locations and colors as easily as Elwood ditches cops And the music from Aretha Ray James Cab Sam and Dave John Lee Hooker and the Blues Brothers Band is infectious from the first chorus Any film that costs $30 million and refuses to take itself seriously can't be all wrong If Aykroyd and Belushi are on a mission from God found the right church in Mi ally hundreds of American cars are reduced to scrap by Landis and company in the finest demolition derby show since Ascot Park IN TERMS OF destruction "Blues picks up where "Animal House" left off In terms of property damage Landis' new film sets new standards in the field His most inspired moment comes in the Great American Marketplace the shopping malL Chased by a squadron of cop cars Jake and El wood Blues (Belushiand Aykroyd) take the Blues mobile into the mall and proceed to level every mannequin and display case in the place Jake sees some great bargains as they go SCREENPLAY is appropriately simplistic The Blues Brothers two white boys from South Side are out to save the neighborhood orphanage by reforming their blues band As Elwood explains on a mission They get inspiration from the reverend of a local Bap Brothers" Is showing at the Louisiana Cinema 1-40 and Louisiana Blvd NE and Montgomery Plaza Theatm 165 Montgomery Plaza NE) By KEITH RAETHER Tribune Arts Writer 1 "Blues Brothers" the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd brother act is silly excessive expensive pointless past a pom and thoroughly entertaining Some self-righteous types are making a big stink about the $30 million director John iwdie spent on th film BIG DEAL Compared to and Peace" which cost: $96 million and took five years to make "Blues is a drop in the bucket And somehow it says more about the American experience than any Sergei Bondarchuk epic "Tora! Tora! was a fortune in the making and a true bomb on the screen So why all the sudden fuss about Landis' film? Besides any project that makes calculated mincemeat of Detroit metal must have some redeeming value Liter- i "Blues Brothers" cheats its audience direct left from a similar and much better done scene in "French LANDIS EVEN DREDGES UP the bumbling lawman cliche a character worn threadbare in such productions as TVs "Sheriff and filmdom's and the As guilty as "Blues is of exploiting its audience with car crash overkills it is equally guilty of exploiting the fine musical stars who make guest appearances in die film In one number Aretha Franklin obviously is out of lip synch with the soundtrack as she dances and sings her way through one of her great golden hits Of A FILM WHOSE PRICE tag is marked at $30 million no excuse for such careless production Soul singer James Brown does a number in a church but cinematographer Stephen camera is so busy jerking around the room that we do not see much of Brown's explosive stage style Generally die dance numbers are sloppily choreo- BHIlllflJ LANDIS SQUEEZED IN JAZZ GREAT Ray Charles for a quick number But just a quicky After ail there were those car crashes to be filmed ByDAVENORDSTRAND Tribuac TV-Radlo Writer Blues Brothers" is an aitnlem film that not only cheats its audience but exploits its cast as well John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd of NBC-TVs "Saturday Night fame star in this dismal story about and the Blues Brothers reassembling their old band and trying to raise $5000 to save an orphanage THE FILM ISNT SATIRE which it pretends to be Nor is it slapstick though there are traces of that too There's music in but the film hardly qualifies as a musicaL So what is "Blues It's a mixture of these elements that work It certainly is not entertain-1 ment I NOT TO SAY the film is void of all redeeming qualities Belushi and Aykroyd both high-grade comedy I talents have funny moments I But they are funny moments buried and forgotten bequeath piles trf wrecked cars If "Blues accomplishes nothing else it sets a record for the number of cars smashed crashed squashed or otherwise demolished during a single movie GLASS TIRES AND steering wheels fly every-which-' way as police the Nazi Party and a redneck band try to the Bines Brothers stunts are among the most exploitive gimmicks Hollywood has to offer ranking along with Suzanne tight halter taps and hot pants on TVs Company! When the creative juices dry up go for the head-on collision to hold audience attention That has got to be rule Numero Uno in dinector John Landis's bow of filmmaking CAR STUNTS AND CHASES have a legitimate place in films like where they fit snuggly into the plot development In "Blues they are a cop-out When all else start your engines" A chase scene under Chicago's elevated train tracks is a.