Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 25, 1990 TAG: 9005250059
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Chris Gladden
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Since the blockbuster opening of "Star Wars" in 1977, studios have unofficially begun the summer movie season on the Wednesday before the Memorial Day weekend.
But this year's summer season - such as it is in light of the heavy year-round release schedule - began last Friday with the opening of "Bird on a Wire" and "Cadillac Man."
Instead of "Star Wars," the studios were counting on the star power with Goldie Hawn, Mel Gibson and Robin Williams.
It could also be argued that the season really opens today, when "Back to the Future III" hits screens nationwide. The film comes from Steven Spielberg and Roger Zemeckis, two of the industry's more significant boys of summer. There is a tradition of starting the season with a big-budget, hardware sequel, and "Future III" certainly qualifies. Still, "Star Wars" Day (Wednesday) saw nary a major movie opening. Apparently tradition dies easily when faced with the shifting dynamics of chasing the dollar.
This is shaping up to be the year of David Lynch. The quirky, inventive and seriously hip film maker has just taken the top award at the Cannes Film Festival for his new movie, "Wild at Heart."
He has also been blitzed by the press, lauded by TV critics and even anointed by the New Yorker magazine because of "Twin Peaks," the bizarrely compelling TV series that has attempted to eclipse the hype over "Who Shot J.R.?" with the burning question "Who Killed Laura Palmer?"
If anyone suggested a year ago that Lynch - most notorious for the outrageous "Blue Velvet" - would wind up with a prime time series, I would have countered with ". . . Sure, and Russia's gonna become a democracy."
This has not been a good year for prognostications. Lynch - like fellow outlaw film maker John Waters - has entered the mainstream.
But in Lynch's case, it seems more a matter of the public's changing tastes than the film maker's changing his vision.
"Wild at Heart," starring Nicholas Cage and Laura Dern, is reportedly destined for an X rating when it reaches these shores. Lynch has already agreed to cut it to an R. He calls the movie - which has some references to "The Wizard of Oz" in its sex-filled and violent plot a - "violent comedy."
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Lynch said he already cut some of the movie after 100 people in a test screening walked out during a violent scene. I've long admired Lynch as one of the more original voices in film but I'm uneasy about the hunger of jaded audiences for shock entertainment.
Does all this mean that "The Cook, the Thief, the Wife and Her Lover" will one day show up uncut on a TV network "Movie of the Week?"
by CNB