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- CRITICS' CHOICE, Page 11
-
-
- MOVIES
-
- PELLE THE CONQUEROR. A timid old Swede and his dashing
- young son find work on a 19th-century Danish farm. Aided by
- stars Max von Sydow and Pelle Hvenegaard, director Bille August
- cuts a stern, colorful, grand swatch of Masterpiece Cinema.
-
- MY STEPMOTHER IS AN ALIEN. Kim Basinger is an unlikely E.T.
- and Dan Aykroyd the earthling who humanizes her in a clever
- fable -- sweet and light enough for the kids, sexy and
- suspenseful enough for mature adults.
-
- WORKING GIRL. Pert secretary Melanie Griffith climbs the
- corporate ladder, dislodging career gal Sigourney Weaver and
- claiming hunky Harrison Ford in Mike Nichols' suave tale about
- getting it all on your own sweet terms.
-
- THEATER
-
- WE. Pulitzer prize winner Charles Fuller (A Soldier's Play)
- launches an earnest, poignant cycle of five black history
- dramas, beginnning with Sally and Prince, in repertory off
- Broadway.
-
- EASTERN STANDARD. Insider trading, bag ladies, AIDS and
- nouvelle cuisine -- everything '80s gets skewered, then
- sentimentalized, in this stylish satire transferred to Broadway.
-
- FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE. Kathy Bates
- returns to the role she winsomely originated in Terrence
- McNally's off Broadway hit about love between two lonely losers.
-
- PLATONOV. Romanian director Liviu Ciulei blends farce and
- great sadness in Chekhov's early drama, at Harvard's American
- Repertory Theater.
-
- MUSIC
-
- THE MODERN JAZZ QUARTET: FOR ELLINGTON (East-West). Part
- homage, part re-invention, this is a ravishing tribute by one
- of the premier jazz groups to one of America's greatest
- composers. The MJQ pay the Duke the ultimate honor: they don't
- just respect him, they make him swing.
-
- HANDEL: MESSIAH (Archiv). O thou that tellest good
- tidings: Handel's hardy perennial gets a definitive performance
- from Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert & Choir. Hallelujah!
-
- SCHUBERT: SYMPHONY NO. 9 (Virgin). Charles Mackerras leads
- the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in the aptly
- nicknamed "Great" C Major Symphony, on original instruments.
-
- THE TRAVELING WILBURYS, VOL. 1 (Wilbury Records). They look
- and sound a lot like George Harrison, Bob Dylan and other
- famous folk. Could it possibly be? The mystery is thin, but the
- sounds are joyous, making this the good-time record of the year.
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