• The American Game -- Documentary contrasts the lifestyles, motivations and family ties of two high school basketball stars, a black from Brooklyn and a white from Hoosier country. Producer Anthony Jones follows the young men through a crucial decision-making period detailing the uncertainties and pressures of winning and losing in sports and in the game of life. Spotted with some rough locker room language, but still worth the attention of teenagers facing similar problems. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1979
  
  
• Apocalypse Now -- Director Francis Ford Coppola's uneven attempt to transpose Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" to a Vietnam War setting follows an intelligence officer (Martin Sheen) on a mission to kill a renegade Special Services officer (Marlon Brando) who has set up a private domain deep in the Cambodian interior. Much ambiguous and unresolved soul-searching in between several brilliant battle sequences but stealing the show is Robert Duvall's performance as a gung-ho helicopter commander. Much graphic violence and some rough language. A-IV-adults with reservations (R) 1979
  
  
• The Black Stallion -- Strikingly visualized tale about the magical relationship between a youngster (Kelly Reno) and the horse he finds shipwrecked on a deserted island becomes a beautiful metaphor for the force of youthful ambition taming the raw power of nature. Directed by Carroll Ballard from the Walter Farley story, the drama is the perfect children's movie -- unsentimental, gripping and good stimulation for the young imagination. A-I-general patronage (G) 1979
  
  
• Breaking Away -- Light comedy chronicling a summer in the lives of four teenagers in mid-America who are determined to stay together despite community and hometown college pressures to the contrary. In centering on one youth (Dennis Christopher) and his bemused parents (Barbara Barrie and Paul Dooley), director Peter Yates reveals a depth and feeling for character that gives weight to the movie's exploration of youthful determination culminating in a vivid bicycle race. Several discrete sexual references. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1979
  
  
• The China Syndrome -- Director James Bridges' prophetic drama deals suspensefully with nuclear safety issues in a movie featuring Jack Lemmon as a plant executive and Jane Fonda as a TV news reporter whose consciences won't let them conceal the imminent danger of a nuclear meltdown at a power plant. Thoughtful entertainment. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1979
  
  
• Kramer vs. Kramer -- Superficial treatment of child custody battle between angry wife (Meryl Streep) and resentful husband (Dustin Hoffman). Director Robert Benton conveys the tragedy of divorce by putting the emphasis on the father's attempts at parenting but neglects the child's perspective. Some harsh language and a sex scene witnessed by the young child. A-IV-adults with reservations (PG) 1979
  
  
• The Muppet Movie -- After a chance encounter with Hollywood talent scout Dom DeLuise, Kermit the Frog abandons his soggy swamp for a movie career, taking the entire Muppet crew on a heart-warming cross-country jaunt that ends with Miss Piggy saving the day for Kermit's studio audition. Jim Henson's Muppet characters seem right at home on the big screen and director James Frawley's location filming gives them the world as a stage. Delightful entertainment for all. A-I-general patronage (G) 1979
  
  
• Norma Rae -- Inspiring drama with Sally Field in the title role as an Alabama textile worker recruited by a tenacious labor organizer (Ron Liebman) to help rally her exploited co-workeers into forming a union in the face of tough tactics by an unenlightened management. Director Martin Ritt's dramatic expose of injustices in the workplace gives viewers some characters and a cause to cheer about. Absorbing, thoughtful entertainment but there are some frank references to sexual misconduct. A-III-adults (PG) 1979
  
  
• The Rose -- Glossy romantic tragedy about a flamboyant, whiskey-swilling rock star of the late 1960s (Bette Midler), someone much like Janis Joplin. When she finds a man she really loves (Frederic Forrest), the blow of losing him shatters whatever stability she has left. Fine performance by Midler and the capable direction of Mark Rydell convey with some force how too much success can alienate one from all those values that give significance to life. Sympathetic depiction of illicit sexual relationships, drug and alcohol indulgence and some very rough language. A-IV-adults with reservations (R) 1979
  
  
• The Tree of Wooden Clogs -- Quiet, richly textured Italian drama about the lives of four peasant families who work as tenant farmers on a Lombardy estate at the end of the last century. Beginning with the fall harvest and ending with the spring planting, the movie depicts the everyday life of rural people who endure with human dignity in spite of the oppressive system which exploits their labor. Written, photographed and directed by Ermanno Olmi, this is a loving portrait of ordinary life in an age of social injustice. Some tense scenes. A-II-adults and adolescents -- (Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America) 1979

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