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weekender february 15 1986 p15 weekender tertainment is u jvhiiiinn scrt mjtlhjcn oatttto i lor rojtkniplcicjil 2m6468 movie scene fx intrigues by special effects by ian bailey fx this thriller title is a bit of jargon that refers to the special effects that permeate many cur rent movies the gimmick in fx is that special effects are taken beyond fantasy to become a weapon in reality this movies intriguing quality isnt its plot which seems predict able in light of the filmmakers intention to make a thriller in a special effects mileu but the way its main character uses a collec tion of special effects gimmicks to play with the reality his enemies perceive the main character is a special effects wiz named rollie tyler played by australian actor bryan brown whose work on such films as i dismember mama song of the succubus and rockadiebaby so impresses some shady federal agents cliff deyoung and mason adams that they hire him to stage the assas sination of a mob figure jerry orbach theyre protecting the idea is to make the crimin als colleagues believe hes dead so the feds can focus their ener gies on squeezing him for in formation rollie obliges them by using his skills in makeup and pyrotechnics to stage the killing but when the feds try in turn to kill him and the police start to look for him he begins to wonder if his illusion hasnt turned into reality so what is a special effects man to do when hes been pursued by the authorities why just use special effects to fight back the result is the most amusing thing in fxrollies use of the tricks of his trade to keep his foes on edge with makeup mannequins and a number of assorted gadgets at times he seems more like a james bond than a movie technician rollie sets out to confuse his ene mies and by extension us in a dra ma that ranges throughout new york as a film about the making of films fx fails to use the contra diction between reality and fan tasy with the same verve and energy as such similiar movies as the stuntman or even the awful but compelling body double its best characteristic then is that its fast and engaging and the be neficiary of browns amusing portrayal of rollie f7x plays as a joke the obvious fact that anyone who made a liv ing by staging ghoulish death would have to be just a bit crazy and brown plays the role with just a touch of petulant madness f xs hero gets his jollies from the moments of shock and horror that his illusions produce in the people who experience them without knowing theyre not real the movie takes a similar pleasurepg thornhill square thornhill square murphys romance a sub dued comedic drama thats as soft sweet and unfulfilling as a mouthful of marshmallows the fact that its watchable comes from the serviceable perform ances of stars sally field as a plucky divorcee lance kerwin as hershiftless husband and espe cially james garner who has been nominated for a best actor oscar as a smalltown eccentric who falls in love with field the problem is that the filmmakers have smoothed out the rough edges on all the characters at least the worldweary easygoing garner adds a welcome touch of cynicism to this gooey brew aa out of africa robert red- ford plays denys finch hatton a british hunter in kenya in 1914 who fell in love with karen blixen meryl streep a danish woman who managed a coffee plantation for 20 years and later wrote about africa under the pseudonym of isak dinesen this majestic epic from director sydney tootsie pollack moves slowly at times but its an intriguing drama where length means depth instead of tedium pg markville the jewel of the nile a flat and tedious sequel to the per ky 1984 adventure romancing the stone that has little going for it except the charisma of stars kathleen turner and michael douglastpg swearing 101 dalmatians a rerelease of walt disneys 1961 animated film about two dalmatians who try to save their pups from certain death weekend afternoon matinees only f down and out in beverly hills richard dreyfuss and bette midler play an affluent cou ple in beverly hills whose lives are changed when they take in a bum nick nolte who tries to drown himself in their swimming poouaa course language rollie tyler bryan brown pretends to shoot lipton cliff de young before taking some shots at rose bud in the orion pictures release fx fx is cur rently playing at the thornhill cinema producer fits pieces together in mlts the dining room by barry robinson in any theatre production the actors on stage naturally receive all the attention but few in the audience give a passing thought to all the unseen backstage work that has gone on and is going on during any given performance as producer of the dining room i have had to coordinate the talent and effort of more than 30 markham little theatre mem bers over half of the mem bership roughly six weeks prior to opening night volunteers are chosen to head up the various de partments design construction properties publicity front of house etc i must work out a budget and each department works within its allocation prob lems do tend to crop up however and there is generally something unforseen to keep the producer on his toes in the last production on gol den pond the unaccounted for was the 60 per gallon fire retar- barry robinson and his backstage crew are the backbone of the upcoming markham little theatres production of the dining room here mr robinson meets with his crew in one the regular planning meets prior to the production dant paint which had to be painted on every unfinished surface of that large complicated set ev ery flat every brace even the en tire underside of the staircase hd to be fire retarded imagine how tactful the producer had to be to induce the painting crew to paint what would never be seen and get them to befieve they were en joying it too as producer i keep in touch with department heads and hold regular meetings for the produc tion crew here each department reports and is kept up to date with how the production is going the construction crew needs more bodies the props people are look ing for a whatnot the set dres sers need an oriental carpet who has one who knows some one who has one would they loan it would they rent it who is going to ask them so many details to worked out and coordinated the producer must encourage and enthuse prod and badger soothe and mediate and do such a good job that when the curtain closes and the lights go up on another thor- 1 oughly entertained audience the producer and his crew can rightly take their share of the applause with the actors j tickets for markham little theatres production of the din ing room are available from the markham theatres box office 4790201 the play runs nightly atj8 pm feb 26 to 28 and march l n