ago and now the driver who killed her is out of prison and Nicholson wants to
kill him in the crossing guard the latest film directed by Sean Penn the
pleasant surprise of the picture is that the best character in the story and the
best performance comes from the least known actor David Morris plays the drunk
driver now an ex-con who ran over Nicholson's daughter and when Nicholson
sneaks into his trailer and surprises Morris you can see the quiet Morris
frankly out act Jack Nicholson I'm not calling any cops I just be here trying
to get on with things would you maybe you know
will you take a couple days and maybe think about not taking my life Nicholson's
performance is often over the top even for an enraged man and here's a scene
that comes out of nowhere Nicholson going nuts in the face of a jerk here in
his jewelry store my ring size has always been a seven this is not a seven
it won't even fit on my hand yeah I won't fit my finger my hand won't fit
anything six and a half six and three-quarters maybe
does that look like a six and a half to you
right you're a perfect seven perfect seven a better moment Nicholson and his
ex-wife in the film played by his former lover Angelica Houston to meet you so
small and weak I needed you to be big and strong the reason to watch the
crossing guard is the character played by David Morris I won't forget him or
the performance a layered role in which there's a great deal of calm and yet
deep down great pain Morris doesn't push his performance it's memorable work
overall does the movie work only in fits and starts blame that I think on Sean
Penn's screenplay which includes too many extraneous elements including a
role for Robin Wright his former lover playing a woman who takes a strong
sympathetic liking to the drunk driver so a mixed review but reluctantly thumbs
down on the crossing guard you often quoted Howard Hawks who said his
definition of a great movie is three great scenes no bad scenes yes this
movie has three greats yeah but plenty of that scene between Nicholson and
Houston the scene between Morris and Nicholson early in the film and the
scene between them late in the film but it has a lot of bad including the final
scene which was almost unsupportable I almost felt like the movie should have
ended before the final scene let me tell you there are a whole bunch of people in
this world sadly who can relate to this situation losing a child which is
probably one of the most cataclysmic things that can happen anybody and
reportedly you never get over it no one ever gets over it it's with them
every day every hour of their lives that's great drama it would be it's a
interesting movie stronger through line all the way through you're right David
Morris and you've got a terrific so I yet I honor the good stuff in the movie I
think that guys are very good director he got to become a little better writer
and editor when we come back the strange story of a man named Thurman who
invented another worldly musical instrument and then disappeared for half
a century does cooking with less fat make your family less than enthusiastic
introducing Campbell's new reduce fat cream soups with half the fat but rich
creamy Campbell's taste your family will love Campbell's it seems like just
yesterday that Dave Metcalf and his son Terry did everything together but as
they often do things change then Dave got ussb on his new 18-inch digital
satellite system ussb is a new entertainment experience with his
favorite channels and digital sound and picture now Dave and Terry are looking
at things in a whole new light
does cooking with less fat make your family less than enthusiastic
introducing Campbell's new reduce fat cream soups with half the fat but rich
creamy Campbell's taste your family will love Campbell's our next movie is an
unusual documentary called Thurman an electronic Odyssey and I want to start
my review with a clip from a 1951 science fiction movie named the day the
earth stood still and as you watch this pay special attention to the soundtrack
that eerie otherworldly sound is created by a musical instrument named the
Thurman and this is the instrument itself being played by a woman named
Clara Rockmore who was billed as the greatest living Thurmanist
the instrument was invented by this man a Russian-born inventor and musician
named Leon Thurman seen here in 1928 the Thurman was used in an underground way
by generations of musicians including Brian Wilson used the sound on the Beach
Boys hit good vibrations in 1938 Thurman was apparently kidnapped by Russian
agents and thrown into a series of Soviet prisons to work on war projects
he dropped right out of the pages of history and he and his instrument were
forgotten until incredibly the makers of this documentary discovered him still
alive in Russia in his early 90s the film ends with his return to New York
Thurman is one of those documentaries that tells a story that is not only
stranger than fiction but more satisfying well this is why I like
documentaries over most of the fiction films that I see because you meet a
better class of people I mean this is fascinating stuff just forget that you
find him later isn't it refreshing just to see the side of someone playing this
thing yes it is I mean stroking the air I mean and it sounds neat doesn't it well
it does I mean it's not my favorite instrument but but I like just the
weirdness it may not it may not be your favorite instrument but it certainly
creates sounds that no other instrument creates and here's another thing well I
like the whole journey I want to say the journey of it all that you're tracking
something you're trying to find a mystery I want to tell you there was a
piece of film that shows a party for Clara the Thurmanist and Leon at an
early and they kind of slow it down and they look at each other and you realize
the buried subtext is these people are in water they were in love and that is
something that the film returns to and I finally there's a reunion and you
realize that there's a whole other story that the film just hints at it's a
fascinating right documentary films I hope that they get booked in theaters
around the country look for this one it you're gonna have to move quickly to
find it coming up next when night is falling an adults-only film about two
women in love how do you get clean and fresh Juergens body shampoo I get so
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it's Tim Allen I shave in the morning and afternoon I look like this and he's
turning into Santa whether he likes it or not
I am lactose intolerant own the comedy hit that shows the lighter side of
Santa Charlie naughty very nice Santa Claus own it today there was a party the
other day in Dinuba California the Ruiz family and all the folks at El Mata Ray
were celebrating the first shipment of their new El Mata Ray Mexican grill
burritos enchiladas and quesadillas everyone agreed that the best tasting
frozen Mexican foods ever but there was still one big hurdle Grandpa Lewis
fortunately he approved and now El Mata Ray Mexican grill is headed your way
with love from everyone here in Dinuba California it's never happened before it
may never happen again the Lakewood forward-land clearance center has been
assigned a special inventory with orders to liquidate all vehicles
immediately regardless of profits save $3,000 on a 96 f-150 XLT and they just
$99 a month say $5,000 on a 96 explore it's simply the greatest automotive
offer ever made the Lakewood forward-land clearance center hurry
before it's over the Century Plaza offering the finest and luxury service in
Southern California style adjacent to Beverly Hills on LA's fashionable west
side the Century Plaza hotel and tower a Western hotel our next film is when
night is falling the story of a professor at a Protestant college who
becomes enamored of a lesbian circus performer both are very pretty women and
this movie by director Patricia Rosema is always lovely to look at even though
many of its plot points are absurd here's where the two women first kiss
they're played by the beautiful Pascal Bussiere and Rachel Crawford
undone by this affair is the professor's boyfriend played by Henry Cherny he too
teaches at the University and his girlfriend's behavior threatens both
their religious training and their careers please just think before you
speak when night is falling is better when it sticks to pretty sexual scenes
including fantasy sequences of desire
that's the level of which when night is falling works sexual dreaming but many
of the plot points including the Dean of the college popping over to the
professor's apartment just as she's getting a back rub are plain silly so a
mixed review and thumbs down for me on when night is falling me too I think
that in a way maybe she went a little bit too far in the backgrounds of the
characters to have this kind of religious professor and the woman who
works for Cirque du Soleil or one of its clones right and so that the question is
are you gonna run away with the circus is a bit much and then the whole
hypothermia subtext where she almost freezes to death yeah followed by the
conclusion where her dog miraculously thaws out I felt that at some point
somebody should have just put a rain on the screenplay and said hey just tone it
down a little bit it'll work a little better or you're trying too hard you know
why because these two women are good actresses and frankly the most
interesting scene is right in the laundromat there's no there's no special
effects here are no backstory these are two individuals one turned on and one
about to be turned on human stuff works better than the whole surrounding you
got it now let's recap the movies we reviewed on this show a split vote on
GoldenEye the latest James Bond adventure the story left me out in the
cold my reaction to Pierce Brosnan was in difference Roger however enjoyed the
film for what it was two thumbs down for it takes to the simple-minded kids movie
about two girls switching places two thumbs up way up for Toy Story the
groundbreaking Disney animated feature drawn by computers the film opens nation
wide next week a mixed review and two reluctant thumbs down for Sean Penn's
The Crossing Guide with Jack Nicholson out for revenge two thumbs up for
Thurman a most unusual documentary about the creator of a most unusual musical
instrument and two thumbs down for one night is falling the pretty but often
silly lesbian fantasy Toy Story the best in the show sure is that's it for this
week next week we'll be back with reviews of more new movies including
Martin Scorsese's new film Casino starring Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone
in a behind-the-scenes look at Las Vegas
also money train starring Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson as New York Transit
cops planning to hijack an armored subway train that's next week and until
then the balcony is closed take in the adventure and freshness of the great
outdoors with Aspen the exhilarating cologne for men the game of knowledge
the exciting and educational game for children and parents to the game of
knowledge new from University Games glade clip-ons the refillable air
freshener designed specially for your car now with more freshening power
experience bridges the romantic new fragrance inspired by the movie the
bridges of Madison County bridges some moments last forever