30 - Wednesday. December 13, (989 - North Shore News

Film

Future Ii has special effects but no special feeling

Back to the Future Part It ** (Universal) Rated M (at the Granville,
Park, Scott 72, Coquitlam, Station Sq., Clearbrook, Park and Tilford

Cinemas)

Lloyd) and Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) were biasting

Te LAST time we saw them, Doc Brown (Christopher

off into the future in Doc’s time travelling Delorean to

rescue Marty’s kids.

Picking up at that point, Part
hits the ground running and never
slows to catch its breath. Howev-
er, 2015 is not the happy, inno-
cent place that 1955 was. How
cheery can a future be that prom-
ises Jaws 79 (even if it is directed
by Steven Speilberg’s son, Max)?

But some things never change.
Biff Tannen (Thomas Wilson), the
thick-necked troublemaker of Part
I, may be a stooped old man, but
he still likes swatting McFlys. His
grandson Griff (Wilson again), a
chip off the old blockhead, is try-
ing to browbeat wimpy Marty Jr.
(Fox) into joining his gang.

Marty rights the future wrongs,
but in the process triggers a chain
of events that alter the course of
time.

tn a nightmarish sequence, MMar-
ty returns to find his 1985
hometown a very different and
frightening red light district run by
Biff. Derelict cars burn in the
night. Gangs, winos and cycle

mamas lurk outside Biff’s Vegas-
like casino. Marty's dad occupies a
windswept spot in the cemetery,
while mom (Lea Thompson) is
now Biff’s alcoholic wife. (it’s a
Wonderful Life, anyene?)

To correct the terrible time

TIM
BELL

film review

paradox that has been created,
Marty and Doc have to return to
the setting of the original film on
that one stormy night that holds
the key to the future.

And that’s only the first half of
the story. Director Robert

Zemeckis promises the conclusion
coming next summer will concen-
trate on the characters and sport a
sunnier look. Let's hope so,
because this sequel has a wealth
of special effects, but no special
feelings.

The Time Machine *** (MCA/UA
Home Video) Rated G

A turn-of-the-century inventor,
simply named George (Red
Taylor), feels he doesi:'t belong.
Sitting inside his wondrous time
machine, ke looks for an era more
to his liking, say 200,000 years
from now. Instead of his antici-
pated Utopia, he finds a lot cf
biond, bland youth living in a pas-
toral world of bounty. The cloud
in front of this silver lining is the
Mortochs, a grisly race of subter-
raneans who snack on the ultra-
passive youngsters once they
reach maturity.

This remains one of the best
time travel films, with an excellent
score and a jook that belies its
meagre budget. One nice touch is
a plate on Georges’s time machine
that reads ‘Manufactured by
H.G. Wells, 1899’ (the book's
publication date).

NORTH SHORE VIEWS
West Van Odeon: Closed due to
labor dispute
Park Royal: Steel Magnolias, The

Children sing Ceremony of Carols

THE VANCOUVER Children’s
Choir, headed by Rupert Lang,
celebrates Christmas this year with
a performance of Benjamin Brit-
ten’s A Ceremony of Carols, along
with other seasonal works.

The performance takes place at
Vancouver's Christ Church Ca-
thedral on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 8

Choirmaster Lang said A Cere-
mony of Carols, a collection of 10
carols, is “vivid, pictoral music’
which has captured the children’s
imaginations. “It’s a challenge for
them on many levels, but they
love it, and they sing it well,”’ said
Lang.

The choir will be accompanied
by Miranda Brown on concert

harp and by members of the Van-
couver Youth Symphony Or-
chestra.

On Dec. 17, the choir will per-
form with the VSO at B.C. Place
Stadium to mark the opening of
Winterfest.

Tickets for the Dec. 16 concert
are available at Ticketmaster and
by phone at 280-4444,

Bear, Looks Who's Talking
Park & Tilford: Prancer, Dad, Erik
the Viking, Back to the Future II,

She-Devil, War of the Roses

681-4255, Cineplex 687-1515

Thursday nights
in our Bistro
For reservations
call 985-4151

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Showtime hotline: Famous Players