Fe = Hes Ee page 6: UE 1 art Rees SF iy THE OTHER PRESS eS : sencenabies 16th, 1984 Film fans beware! This week (Nov. 14 - 18) the Vancouver East Cinema serves up two double bills that will leave you begging for more. Thursday, BY JOEL HAGEN November 15th is the last night for The Fourth Man and The Tenant, and this weekend, sci-fi cult films Repo Man and Liquid Sky, are running. Now, | must forewarn you that | am breaking a sacred critics’ rule that says one can’t recommend a film before one has seen it. In fact, | haven’t seen any of these movies, but the word of mouth support has been a_ more-than- adequate indication of their quality. The Fourth Man is a Dutch film that enjoyed quite a run at the Bay theatre earlier this fall. A suspense film, The Fourth Man combines murder, Cathol- icism, and bizarre sexual twists. Holland’s film industry is presently on quite a roll, and the few movies they export to North America tend to be pretty good. The Tenant is an olf Roman Polanski movie (remember MacBeth?) about a file clerk who rents an apartment with a strange history - the flat’s former occupant committed suicide by leaping from its window. Trelkovsy, the clerk, begins to feel as though he is being driven to the same fate by his neighbours, and in true Hitchcock fashion, gets wound up into a state of paranoia, just in time for the film’s finale. The weekend shows are more recent releases, both of the low-budget, sci-fi cult film variety. Repo Man is about a young punker who gets involved in the automobile repossession business. Not a mundane occupation to begin with, things get exciting when we find out that one of the said cars about to be ‘“‘repoed ’’ harbours three aliens in its trunk. Repo Man has had a lot of favourable press, and managed a pretty decent run at the Studio Cinema early in the fall. Liquid Sky is undoubtedly the Lot's of comfort, plenty of joy With only four movies to his credit, Bill Forsyth has established himself as one of the most warm, humourous and exciting new film makers to burst onto by JOEL HAGEN the cinema scene. His first movie, That Sinking Feel- ing, was made in 1979 for a pittance, and finally premiered in Canada early this year at the Vancouver Inter- national Film Festival. But it was only with his next two features - the delightful Gregory’s Girl, and Local Hero - that his reputation as a maker of good movies was established. If his latest effort, Comfort and Joy, is any indication, Forsyth is going to be making good movies for a long time. In many respects, Comfort and Joy is a lot like Local Hero. They share plots which, although at first seem inconceivable, grow into believable stories that are intricate and fascin- ating. Mark Knopfler, of Dire Straits, wrote the moody, textured sound- tracks for both features, and the Scottish flavour of Local Hero has been retained in Comfort and Joy through the use of local actors and actresses. Comfort and Joy is about radio D.). Alan Bird, a quiet character whose life falls to pieces one day when his girlfriend of four years leaves him, taking everything they own with her. It doesn’t help that it is just before Christmas, and Alan has a hard time @ deciding what he is going to do with his life. As it turns out, Alan doesn’t need to decide: the deciding is done for him. He sees a beautiful woman driving an ¥ ice cream truck, and follows her to where she begins her neighbourhood route. He buys an ice cream cone, all the while staring at the stunning driver: of the truck, and is about to go, when two hooded fugitives drive up and begin pounding the truck with sledge- 8 hammers. Alan witnesses this tragic crime, and soon finds himself en- } twined in the fiercest rivalry this side of the Godfather: Mr. Bunny vs. Mr. McCool. Alan becomes a mediator in the @ battle for ice cream supremacy, and @ Forsyth unwinds a tale that pokes fun J at gangster movies, and leads the @ audience out onto a limb. That such an absurd concept can be ¥ handled with such subtlety is a tribute to both the writing and directing @ talents of Forsyth, and the acting ability of the cast, Paterson as Alan. Comfort and Joy, as much as | have tried to explain it already, is not a movie that can be adequately de- scribed or pigeonholed. It is funny, even hilarious at times, but this humour can’t be explained. It has to be experiences. Take my advice: don’t miss Comfort and Joy. Comfort and Joy, rated mature, is playing at the Royal Centre Cineplex. § especially Bill weirdest movie of the bunch. Aliens, seeking heroin, descend upon New York and get hooked up to a trendy fashion model named Margaret. Well, they get all the downtown they need from Margaret and her friends, but soon find something better: a chemical produced by the brain during orgasm. Margaret again is their source of this sores chemical, and she is de- apes with the side-effects of the en’s chemical siphoning process. Each of her sexual encounters ends in a puff of smoke and lots of pretty We’ re talking weird... colours as her lovers, in all shapes, sizes and varieties, become victims of the aliens’ wicked addictions. Just to show you that I’m no hypocrite, I’m going to practice what | preach and go see all of these movies. | suggest you check them out too, if you want a change of pace. The double features start at 7:30 p.m., and the admission is a very reasonable $4.50 for both on Thursday, and $5.00 on the weekend. The Van East Cinema is located at the corner of 7th and Commercial. 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