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'E.T.' bleni By Richard Culbertson "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial," director Steven Spielberg's finest film, asserts that room still exists in big-budget fantasy films for more than blaster fights, hacking blades and exploding spacecraft. Spielberg ("Jaws,"' Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Raiders of the Lost Ark") has created a touching, witty, vitally human film. The film is about an alien inadvertently stranded on Earth. The extra-terrestrial finds refuge with Elliott (Henry Thomas), a ten-year-old suburban boy who dubs the other-worlder "E.T." Plenty of adversity is manifested in the plot: a Mysterious Government Agency is on E.T.'s trail, and E.T.'s health grows steadily worse as the length of his stay on Earth increases. Elliott's confidants about the unorthodox vjouui cu r *11^ ui uiuui ivuv-im^i v nunci i Macnaughton) and his sister Gertie (Drew Harry more -- John Barry more Sr.'s granddaughter). A SORT OF empathy grows between E.T. and Elliott; Elliott, after all, is alienated too. His father has just left the family for another woman, he is the runt of the neighborhood gang of kids, and he is faced with the awesome, frightening prospect of leaving childhood behind in the insecure context of a broken home. This film is imbued with a simple humanity, a storybook quality in its enchanting imagery: E.T.'s jury-rigged S.O.S. transmitter is a Dr. Seuss-like amalgam of children's toys and household bric-a-brac, and one is reminded of "Peter Pan" when Elliott and E.T., astride Elliott'sbicycle.fly (thanks to E.T.'s psychokinetic abilities) in silhouette across the face of the full moon. i / / J / Keys (Peter Coyote) explains to Elliot t HThoi "E.T." ere Dee Wallace and Drew Barrymore. f Sl)B STRTIQH ] I $1.00 OFF 1 Any whole Si I with the Purchas< I any size soft drii ! I urr il Any Half Sul with the Purchase any size soft drir I 749 Saluda Ave. | In 5 Points Expin li mm mm.mm mm mm mm mmwtm gas m is the crei |ip5||g ~ ^g/ , , - - a ' A"BF " M HK| j| w^S8?sS?w?wS?8??^?3wHwMWe?^RWflB8888?w!^<: v s-.' ?. .>w Henry Thomas, starring as 10-year-old El hiding place. The delightful smuggling of E.T. to the rendezvous with his rescue ship is effected in a slightly tongue-in-cheek but thrilling chase scene. The neighborhood kids, at breakneck pace on their bikes, elude the gmen in big, institutional automobiles. The humor and pathos of "E.T." are not forced or contrived. The suburban hons;phr>IH Mint K* T li\/n<? in Ho h/\r-?o<? for rescue is itself something of a won derland. A lot of humor inheres in the situation of an alien plopped in the center of middle class America: E.T. learns halting English from "Sesame Street," plays "dress-up" with Gertie, and encounters a mas) why E.T. must be isolated. Also starring in ?Need Bir Inforr S|* All information s i All methods of b I Convenient clini< ib I ?Student Discouni B Of B VD testing/treat ll^j | Nurse practition Pregnancy testii n* Problem pregna Pregnancy terr anesthesia now & of Si 11 The Family ! j Planning Clini 256-6681 11 of the Ladies cl 3S: 6-19-82.11 .... ? ? HMnM ajl! Barnwell St. < jible and ii liott, follows sounds that lead him to E.T.'s six-pack of beer. Also inherent are moving illustrations of E.T.'s loneliness: E.T., with Elliott under the star-filled night sky, scans the vastness above for some sign from home. AT ONE POINT a neighborhood kid suggests to Elliott that E.T. needs merely to "beam up." Elliott retorts by saying "This is reality!" Oddly enough, given its fairytale nature, the film does seem full of reality ? a key reason for the film's success. The credibility of "E.T." is never in question, one 10 me auinenuciiy 01 iignung ana dialogue, the textural clutter of the am ** i W* ' M W%t ' M TmBlBsStm JH&SB ""** Teen agers stare in awe at the spaceshi| playing at Spring Valley and Jefferson Sqi rXB,r**ayrr^Tri!. i""i '"H1""""""1 ill ^UIIU UI nation? i fcL strictly confidential 1 KBlOS irth control available | : hours/location | t fee ment I sandwic er available 8! 1. roast b lg I 1 2. CORNED ncy counseling 8 I 3-PASTRAI ninations/general j | * genoa s available , I | 6.HAmoNI I | 7. UVERWU mic 1 | DELI T Columbia, S.C. 254-7553 I ^ TfrYi^TTTanrr^Ttmrir mJi ?riitffnmTjrirr7=rrBTTn ncredible meticulously dressed sets, and a pervasive fairy-tale sense of the incredible happening firmly within the context of the credible. Macnaughton and Barrymore are excellent as Elliott's siblings, and Dee Wallace is wonderful as Elliott's mother. Peter Coyote, as Keys (a sort of grown-up Elliott), is fine as the leader of the Mysterious (but, in the end, not villainous) Government A A., T7*li:~A4 TU ^ 1 ~ I 1!^ /A^tney. rtb jCiiuuii, i nuiiiab is ueiievauie as the child caught in the disintegration of a home, but still able to learn the healing magic of love. The mechanical contrivance for the stumpy alien (designed by Carlo Rambaldi) leaves "Yoda" of the "Star Wars" cycle far behind. A full, consistent range of articulation, expression, movement and mannerism make the "E.T." prop a full, living character. The optical effects are nicely subordinate to the story (a rarity) and are handled by the always-competent Industrial Light and Magic division of Lucasfilm. John Williams' musical score is skillfully crafted and perfectly suited to the emotional content of the film. SPIELBERG'S DIRECTION (from Melissa Mathison's screenplay) maintains a stronger sense of character and human scale than his previous efforts. Allen Daviau's photography is impressive and controlled. "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" relies on no "mind-bending" opticals, and instead explores the bond between E.T. and Elliott in the suburban milieu of contemporary America. This luminous film is an evocation of oeoole. of the Doienancv of childhood, of ? * A*??? ' the limitless power of love on an individual human scale, in a universe that is full of magic. r-f * lip $j? ii xs life gar i that lands in "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial," iare theaters. KEG O'NAILSl SKlSk 3824 ROSEWOOD DRIVE [Si COLUMBIA. S. C. \IW$ 782-5397 ' ! WP DELICATESSEN & LOUNGE | Deli Sandwiches at their 8esf.| HES m EEF ON RYE OR PUMPERNICKEL 2.25 I BEEF ON RYE OR PUMPERNICKEL 2.20 | VII ON RYE OR PUMPERNICKEL 2.20 M HA ON RYE OR PUMPERNICKEL 1.95 , iALAMI ON RYE OR PUMPERNICKEL 185 | *YE OR PUMPERNICKEL 1.75 | IRST ON RYE OR PUMPERNICKEL 1.50 g [\\ TvnPS flf Rlllimarino Qonrli?iinLno ... . 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