WIfTBY YREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23,1988, PAGE 5 A friend puiled me out of the corridor yesterday. Pointing to the only chair in bis office, he smiled. "Seen any good, movies lately?" He repeats -the question every time I meet hlm. In time past I would counter, listing worthwhile movies I had recently seen. Not any more. "Saw one.two weeks ago, " I replied. "t..." "'Any good?" "I'm sorry to say, no. In fact, I can't even recaîl the title. Or whatitwas about." "Must have been some movie." *My friend's thesis, which he has been repeating to mhe for several years, claims that there are no good movies being made today. Atbest, esmply re-work old themes. At worst, prouducMprste ae, nticsofte miarket.,p1 ,tebsrîs~cso h He becomes agitated ôo'ver the concept. "Police Academy 5? Comne on, now! -Police Academy I makes somne sense. But 2,3,4, and now 5? That's just milking the market for al its worth, regardless of the merit." "But ours is a marketing society,"i I counter. "If a market exists, serve it. If you don't, somnebody else wiIl. Can there be anything too wrong with that? " He hoids a- pencil horizontally -in front of him, his knuckles turn white: "It's the American waX. Neyer rpind about the quality of the product you're turning out: just get it out and flog it to whatever the market happens to be. " Part of me insists on trying to prove this guy wrong. "We've had a few quality movies in recent years. " t is a lame counter; worse, it wilnot go unchalienged., "Name ten." "Ten? Ail right. Let's see. Network, That's one of the few worth seeing more than once." "Ninemore." "Sa Wr. eun fth éd.Te Empie ri WITH OUR FEET UP by Bill Swan Decline iniquality "&They meet my criteria: they stand up well the second, third time; we'll see them re-released periodicaliy for decades. New generations will discover them as treasures, the way we now discover gems from the thirties and for- ties." "Sixmore." "That movie with Indiana. Jones and the hunt for that whatever it was that got stored away in government vaults." "If you can't remember the title, it couldn't have been s0 hot * Six more"' "Superman." "Balderdash. Crude crud. Six more." "The trouble with all this," I say, doing my best to switch the topic, "lies in your standards. Movies are meant to be enjoyed. tlo do that you have to pretend you belong to the target group. Then judge." "But that's just the point! These moveis are ail made for kids sixteen to twenty five. And what do they have to com- pare anything to? You ever watch television lately? das S t.eW.gasstationpla -'y.. ;'M~v.. Whitby admninistrative commit- tee will recommend to council den-al of a gas bar application for the southeast corner of Dundas St. E. and Jeffery St. Despite a Marshall- Mackin Monaghan consultant's report which found that intersection improvements were unnecessary, councillors said they were heeding *the advice of Town engineers that iniprovements were needed and denying the gas bar because it was unnecessary. 'We don't need another gas station there," said councillor Ross Batten on Monday, after councillor Joe Drumm said the property was "'too small for a gas station." . Earlier this month, admin- istrative committee told the applicant,- Southland Canada Inc., to pay. for intersection improvements, to cost up to $160,000, before a gas bar is allowed. "'Our engineer bas given -us damn good advice," said Drumm, who also stated there were "too many gas stations" in Whitby. 'i going to belleve the engineers. He's giving us advice and Fm taking it." Drumm had first challénged the consultant who made the report that improvements were "not warranted by the traffic volume." 1I-Found Him Under Dancing Ini The Yellow Pages. Besides meeting Dave, 1 got the best teachers and the best program. Arthur Murray taught me dancing in a hurry ... and 1 found somneone special, too. Taking dance lessons was one 0f the smartest decisions N'e ever made. the people are friendly, it's exciting and it gives me something to look forward to every week. Plus, Dave and 1 are out having fun and dancing. 5 lessons $50. rc eeso (New aduft tudelts onIv) shift mrKers. We oezi accomodate you. 1~.I St. N. Whitby 430-0014 'Why should I believe you?" said Driimm, -who said he disagreed with the findings. Batten said the traffic cbunt, on which the consultant's recom- mendation was made, was held Iast Thursday- during March break so that traffic volume may have been down. Batten also said the gas bar could pose a "potential hazard" for vehicles turning at the corner. FASrMORI,,ALGE -APUBOVALS -GET YOUR ANSWER IN A DAY OR YOU DON'T PAY!* Whether you're buying a home, or transferring your mortgage from another in- stitution, here's some great news from National Trust: If we don't give you an answer on your mortgage application within 24 heurs, Io'l pay NO Processing or Appraisal Fee! Plusc vnîi recelve: ADDITIONAL SAVINGS when you take advantage of our- many options. PROTECTION 0F YOUR INVESIMENT with oui rnortgage insurance options. FOR, FRIENDLY, EFFICIENT SERVICE from our expert staff, .visit one of oui offices today and let us make your home financing easy. 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UNATIONAL TRUST , A National Vi,,tru andi Grvy Trusicu L mpans WHITBY --352 Brock St. S. 666-1800 &308 Dundas St. W. 668-9324 AJAX -Harwood Place Malil S. 683-7344- OSHAWA - 32 Slmcoo St. S. 723-5207 -'PICKERING -Pckorlng Super Centre 831-650,1 <- t. 4 ~î- 'a- - i4I4#~~~~*A,'b'ê ~ Insurance DO YOU REQUIRE RATES & SERVICEI! Receive bath rates & service on the following:- 10% discount on New Homes (10 yrs. old or Iess) 10% discount on 3 yrs. claims free. 10% discount on Seniors 60 yrs of age or older. 10% discount for home, equipped with Central Station Alarm Systems. PaCr ~~vo ai PHUJL ANDREWS Busi ness - 445-1333 Eýyeni ng s - 579- 7366 Anything that's a littie betteër than tele vision, they think Is great." "Some of the stuff that's worse than television they ,thk is great." "Whatever. So everybody's out to make a, quick buck, satîsfy the market and run home with the profits. They never Will make any more great movies that way." "Movies have aiways been made that way. This is a marketing society. Evelything has to come up tô the emdsof the market." My friend ieaned back in his chair, smiling in triumph. "But the market has been gobbling up stories until there are none left. Ail they're doing rnow is remaking the same stories. over and, over. Now that. might be interesting, perbaps, but nover great." "Good Morning Vietnam" "Haven't seen it, but I can tell you right now it's over- rated." f Three Men and a Baby." "You gotta be kidding! Ail that cute stuff, and one baby peeing in Tom Seileck's eye. That's reaching. What's even worse about ail of these is the hype. You read the reviews of mhost of these movies, you'd think they were the gréatest since time began. That oniy goes to show thats omebody's got to the reviewers. Either that, or the reviewers are brain dead. Given the number of bad movies they have to watch, that's likely it." "Anne ofGreen Gables." "That's a television movie, for cryin' out ioud! Besides, the story is about a hundred years old." "Eighty."1 "Okay, eighty. But you owe me six more movies on that list. Best ten movies of the past decade." (Readers can help get me off the hook by completing that list of ten. Or make up a list of your own. Surely there are ten good movies out there. That't only one a year. Send 'em to Bill, c/o Free Press.) i . ý . . ý 1 1 c 4 A