Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Jan. 23, 1985, edition 1 / Page 3
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0 V lorchlight' By FRANK BRUM Staff Writer Most television stars making the transition to film play it safe at first: romantic comedy, science fiction, adventure. Not Pamela Sue Martin. This gutsy actress, familiar to most as the departed Fallon Carrington on ABC's Dynasty, chose to tackle the big screen with Torchlight, a serious drama about cocaine abuse which began its two-week test run in the Triangle Friday. "I was inspired from personal expe rience and from knowing people whose lives had been destroyed by cocaine,'" Martin, who co-authored the film, said at a small press conference Thursday at the Radisson Plaza hotel in Raleigh. "I spoke from the heart, and I spoke what 1 knew about." Indeed, the decision to film Torch light, which will be released nationwide Feb. 1, was no mere whim on Martin's part. She first introduced the project four years ago and has been working on it ever since. Her commitment to complete it was one of the reasons she left the phenomenally popular Dynasty. "I was working on it during the series and filming it during vacations," Martin said. "1 was doing too much." Finding time to finish Torchlight was not the only difficulty Martin encoun tered in bringing her pet project to the screen. She had to switch directors in midstream, turning to Tom Wright, whose previous work had included only consultation and unit direction on other directors' projects. "We had another director who was incompetent," the auburn-haired, raiU thin actress said, shaking her head in 'Torchlight' sloppy, falls flat "If it's not scary, it's not fun," architect Jake Gregory tells painter Lillian Weller in their first meeting. With a mischievous grin and demonic eyes, Jake comes across as a man who likes to live on the edge; and were that idea carried through in Torchlight, Jake's subsequent psychological addic tion to cocaine might ring more true. But he meets his first chance to try cocaine with reluctance, and he only falls into a cycle of abuse when he feels betrayed by wife Lillian's return to work. It's a strangely illogical sequence of events, but then Torchlight, which depicts the disintegration of Jake and Lillian's marriage as he freebases his days away, is a particularly flaccid piece of moviemaking. Not even the key components of its plot the ostensible love Jake and Lillian feel for each other and the attraction cocaine holds for Jake are established in a credible fashion. HI , . sV" -'i-? i i ..... You don't worry about the hassles of transportation, like shuttle buses, transit schedules, bicycles or hunting for parking places The place to be this fall is Granvill liioro Convonlono is Standard- , Applications now available for fall University Square marks actress's move to i j f . t .: Pamela Sue Martin speaks last week recollected disbelief and shooting a smile at co-star Steve Railsback and husband Manuel Rojas, both of whom also attended Thursday's conference. "We had to re-shoot scenes." Still, Martin had the good fortune not to have to obtain financing from a major stftdio, a process she thinks would have' presented some difficulty. "1 was able to bypass the selling procedure to some extent." Martin said with a sigh of relief. She explained that UCO International, a corporation of which Rojas is president, helped to Frank Bruni Review Consider the first 10 minutes of the film. An utterly improbable love-at-first-sight meeting between Jake and Lillian at a construction site cuts to a series of still photographs depicting their courtship and wedding. Action only resumes at their first wedding anniversary. As a method of storytell ing, the sequence is functional, but it's hardly inspired. The sequence also fails to establish any grounds for Jake and Lillian's mutual attraction, so it's difficult to comprehend precisely what the two are losing when their marriage dissolves. They share few common interests. Communication between them is less than ideal; Jake's abashed reaction to ir :-: " i .. . i, Sr j I 1 ... .r.rilil ttaahJaSaJBt-aJWBaWi' W I 111 LJ s 1 ilia Tow 'it1 14 DTH Jamie Moncnef at a Raleigh press conference. finance Torchlight. Rojas became the film's executive producer. "My husband got interested in it and in producing it," Martin said. "I have to remind him of that sometimes." Part of what this financial independ ence meant was an unusual amount of creative control for Martin, the asso ciate producer of the film. Part of what it meant was being able to put the film in theaters, and not on television sets. "We vascillated back and forth for a while," Martin said. "It could have been for television, but I'm glad it as story of cocaine abuse Lillian's desire to return to painting ignores the fact that he first met her in a professional context. Most incongruent, however, is the way Torchlight seems to forget about Jake's lust for adventure after the first third of the film. The world of freebasers including a stereotypically oily skinned, unctuous dealer that sedu ces Jake is not a heady but a lethargic one. The chic aspects of "the champagne of drugs" and their occasional grip on an upwardly mobile, materialistic businessman like Jake are not mentioned. That first-time screenwriters Pamela Sue Martin and Eliza Moorman man age to hit so many wrong notes in telling a simple boy-meets-girl boy-meets-drugs boy-loses-girl story is no mean feat. That a film denouncing drug abuse should fail to convey the basic infor mation about its target drug is equally noteworthy. Torchlight is a sloppy ,1 : : 4"' 1 -. Z I ers 929-7143 big screen wasn't. Television has its limitations, and here we were able to tell it like it is. We didn't write a movie that we thought people wanted to see, we wrote a movie we wanted to tell." Nevertheless, Martin was quick to insist the film is not sententious. "It's not a preachy sort of thing; it's a love story," Martin said. "It's also the story of a strong woman and of a woman's survival." The opportunity to create a female character who resists stereotypes, be they domestic or feminist, figured prominently in Martin's writing and filming Torchlight. The absence of just such characters on Dynasty was one of her chief frustrations with the show. Also dismaying to Martin was the show's population of irresponsible, petulant adults. "If people want to watch fantasy about rich people, that's fine," Martin said, but she made it clear that she no longer wanted to promote such fiction. For her part, she would rather work on meaningful projects, but the choice, in the end, may not be hers. Her contract with ABC has not yet expired. Although she's not certain how or if she must fulfill it, she said ABC might successfully prevent her from working with any other network for at least two years. To the millions of Dynasty fans who have been encouraged by the show's storyline not to rule out entirely Fallon's reappearance, that's promising news. To Pamela Sue Martin, whose ambi tions and concerns will not be satisfied by the mere stature of celebrity, that's an example of how difficult it can be to start anew. effort on all accounts; it doesn't even bother to explicate how cocaine becomes freebase, the process from which the film derives its title. Torchlight does, however, boast two competent performances by Martin as Lillian and Steve Railsback as Jake. Both able and immensely attractive performers, they manage to generate some interest in the story. Martin especially invites empathy. The film may not explain why Lillian loves Jake or is compelled to stay with him so long, but the affection-turned-anguish on Martin's face is completely convincing. One improbably effective scene lingers long after the film has run its disappointing course. Over a candle-lit table on their first anniversary, Jake gives Lillian diamond earrings and then insists that she let him pierce her ears immediately. As she trembles and he holds her in place, it's a sexy, offbeat moment; it's the fear-laced fun Jake previously mentioned. Had Torchlight been the story 6T a woman seduced and' then- betrayed by that mad streak in her husband, it would have been a more consistent and compelling film. I I I I Please send me Northwestern Name Address. I I City Phone ( ). I I fa pa Jiff M-t The Daily Tar 5 a las ? r. a ' U "2 3 S 2 c H free Appalachian Ski Mtn. 295-7828 365 8 2 3 n O 3 O C U j Cataloochee Ski Area 926-1 401 740 TT2lj"aao"ci L." jO a O "5" "E "g Fairfield Sapphire Valley 743-3441 425 4 T 2 "" 75" "" "5" C D a5" "5" Q Hound Ears Lodge & Club S63-4321 107 2 1 1 DO C o Mill Ridge Ski Resort 963-4500 225 3 EE0n C 75" Ski Beech 387-2011 830 i2 6 2 u n o "a d gjaa" 77 75" 7J 7T Ski Hawksnest 963-6561 619 7Tlf"2"75"7775"75"75" c:aa 75" Ski Scaly 526-3737 225 4 1 1 U U u ob 75" 77 Sugar Mtn Resort 898-4521 1200 16 4 3 D jdao 7775 77 Wolf Laurel Ski Resort 689-41 1 1 700 77T"3TTT5"75"75"T5 O j D B a 5 77 ltd .XlCIXIS Skiing is exercise in winter fun By LIZ SAYLOR Staff Writer Skiing has become a popular sport with students at UNC, and winter weekends find Carolina snow worshipers, from the most experienced to the first-time beginners, packing up and heading to the mountains for fun on the slopes. Skiing: the art or sport of sliding and jumping on skis, the dictionary says. But what's really involved here? "Most people ski because they're cooped up inside," said Jay Doub, manager of the Ski and Tennis Station in Greensboro. "It's a good outdoor sport." Beginning skiers should take lessons from professionals, said Doug Meis, coach of UNC's ski team and a former ski instructor. Meis, 22, has been skiing for 15 years and began racing five years ago. "I raced for (Appalachian State University) two years and transferred here," the senior " psychology major said. Skiers should prepare by stretching, "concentrating on lower body exercise such as dancing, jumping rope, wall sits," Doursaid. They should wear warm gloves or mittens, goggles, a hat, wool not cotton socks, ski pants or anything other than blue jeans, he said. It is vital that skiers dress in layers, with a windshell on top, he added. Cross-country skiers also need a backpack or fanny pack in which to carry food, water and extra supplies, Doub said. The best places for cross-country skiing are Tennessee's Roan Mountain State Park, North Carolina's Moses Cone State Park and Virginia's Mount Rogers State Park, Doub said. Resorts for downhill skiing are plentiful in western North Carolina, often providing lessons, special pack ages, accommodations, lift tickets, rental equipment and "apres ski" activities. "Apres ski" includes enter tainmenty dining, swimming, Jacuzzi,; dancing andsayna?.-. Sometimes the resort' must even provide its own snow. Natural snow is not a skiing necessity, said Tom Gidley, marketing director at Ski Hawknest. NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE OF CHIROPRACTIC As the need for specialized health care continues to grow, Northwestern College of Chiropractic can help you enter a satisfying career taking care of people as a Doctor of Chiropractic. 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If you would like to know how Northwestern College of Chiropractic can help you achieve your career goals, complete the form below or call the admissions office TOLL FREE at 1-800-328-8322, Extension 290 or collect at (612)888-4777. more information on College of Chiropractic .State. Years of college experience. SEND TO: Northwestern College of Chiropractic, Admissions Office, 2501 West 84th Street, Bloomington, Minnesota 55431 1-800-328-8322, Extension 2S0; collect at (612) 883-4777 Heel Wednesday, January 23, 19853 the slopes AU we require is cold weather (below 28 degrees) to make the snow," he said. The recent snowfall and cold weather have kept the ski resorts in business now, but what do they do when the slopes are dry and it's not cold enough to make snow? Ski Hawknest, located between Boone and Linville, hired some Che rokee Indians in December to perform what Gidley called a "snow dance." It snowed one week later. "We were frustrated not to be able to open the mountains on schedule (because of unseasonably warm weather)," Gidley said. The Cherokees performed six differ ent dances, which they called "a request to the high spirits to provide us with what we need," he said. "They never mentioned snow, to avoid tempting the spirits,' as they put it. They were very serious about it." For Carolina students serious about skiing, UNC has both a ski team and a ski club. The team started last year and is part of the Southeastern Con ference, Meis said. Its 15 members race on Beech Mountain and ski the slalom and giant slalom, he said. The team's season began Jan. 18. "The girls have a very good chance of going to the nationals," Meis said. Meis, who is treasurer of the UNC Ski Club, said the club's main interest was downhill skiing but would include cross-country skiing if more people requested it. Meis joked that the motivation for skiing was "the snow bunnies and the parties," but added, "I enjoy it as a sport the physical exercise, thrill of speed and I love the scenery, the mountains." "Last year I fell and tore ligaments in my right knee," Meis said,, describing this injury as the worst experience he has had skiing. "I had to have major surgery over Spring Break, spend thiee-and-a-half months on crutches, and full recovery takes one year." . Despite scared; of tsi'tahcslj agidn: Inrr; fact, he said, his only reaction after his fall was: "I was worried about having (my knee) ready for starting this ski season." I Zip.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Jan. 23, 1985, edition 1
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