The Hot Button by David Poland

Weekend, 7-8 November 1998

NEWS BY THE NUMBERS

10. THE TWITCH SWITCH: Stephen Baldwin joined Mark Addy (from The Full Monty) as the new Barney and Fred in Viva Rock Vegas, Universal's sequel to The Flintstones. Why is this news? Well, I think this could actually be a terrific movie, that's why. While the original carried the massive weight of trying to be a massive hit, this one is going to be much smaller in scale and cost and could find the laid-back tone that made the TV cartoon so special. On the other hand, Brian Levant is back as director. You win some, you lose some.
9. CUT!: If Halloween can do an H20, why not a TCM25? That's for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre's 25th anniversary. (They will actually be calling it TC25, which will make my capo di capo, Ted Turner, and his Turner Classic Movie network quite happy.) We got The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre last year with Matthew McConaughey and Renée Zellweger. We saw Dennis Hopper in TCM2 and Viggo Mortensen in TCM3.
8. GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME: Tommy Lee Jones got out of the hospital this week and Carrie Fisher went back in. Jones fell off a horse and Fisher fell off the wagon. Reports that former co-workers of Jones paid the horse to throw him were erroneous. Likewise, it is not at all true that Fisher's return to prescription drugs was caused by an attempt to write realistic female characters into a Jerry Bruckheimer film.
7. TAKING A BITE: Disney has bought the North American rights to Breakfast of Champions, the film based on Kurt Vonnegut's classic novel, starring and produced by Bruce Willis. Alan Rudolph directed the $11 million project, for which Disney reportedly paid less than $2 million upfront. That puts the film about even, as about $9 million is already in the movie's pocket from international guarantees. The one thing that concerns me is Variety's report that Disney will put the film into limited release sometime early this spring. What will that mean for Wes Anderson's Rushmore, a wonderful, potential youth/cult hit, that Disney has pushed back into the early 1999 slot after initially planning on a summer, then fall, then winter release? To paraphrase the great Terry Gilliam in his battle with Universal about Brazil, "Joe Roth -- When are you going to release Wes Anderson's film, Rushmore?!"
6. HOLY HEART FAILURE: Bob Kane died this week. (POW!) He was 83. (BOFF!) The man who created Batman will be missed (BOOM! BAFF!)
5. OSCAR BUZZES BACK AT ME: My interest in doing an early peak at the Oscar buzz around town (THBs 10/28, 11/03, 11/04, 11/05) was met by some good letters and some bad. I take the bad ones too seriously, I am told. That's a definite possibility. I hope that my responses were thoughtful and fair all around. In the meantime, for some perspective on how good my perspective is (and isn't), check out last year's Oscar tracking from the Whole Picture, first in September (Oscar I), then in December (Oscar II), and then just before the awards (Oscar III ). It was fascinating looking back and seeing how many movies went up and down the Academy ladder. At least it was for me.
4. WCW EAT YOUR HEART OUT!: George Lucas participated in a major event with the Screen Producers Association of Australia this week and was fairly generous to the studios, attacking the middle management that "doesn't know how to make films," but maintaining that the system isn't completely worthless. Lucas "took on" James Cameron and Titanic, saying that J.C. is "not the easiest person to work with, and he'd be the first person to admit it." He didn't stop there. Variety quotes him as saying that Cameron "took a $90 million movie and turned it into a $260 million movie. I think Jim could have controlled himself a little more. It was very brave of Fox to stand by while Jim did that. Sure, they were afraid of him, but not that afraid." OK, so Cameron teams with Hulk Hogan and Lucas partners with Jabba, the Butt-Kicker. Let the best $100-millionaire win!
3. TAKE OUT YOUR TEETH WHEN YOU DO THAT: Harrison Ford was named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive for 1998. It does seem odd that they chose him in a year that he had just one film, which pretty much flopped and he did his best to look as old or older than he is in it. (Gotta tell you, after Meet Joe Black comes out, the magazine may look silly for not awarding the prize to Brad Pitt yet again. He is scarily appealing at the beginning and end of that film. I mean, it's scary.) Perhaps they saw that he was able to get an erection while acting opposite Anne "I Never Met a Self-Promotion I Didn't Like" Heche. (The funny thing is, I still find Ms. Heche quite sexy even though she is such a shameless media slut. I think I've been in L.A. too long.)
2. BACK ON THE MOVIE TRACK: Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin are back in business whether you like it or not. (I still think people overreacted to Godzilla, but life has moved on, hasn't it?) The film is called Patriot, and it's being written by the screenwriter behind Saving Private Ryan, Robert Rodat. You know, I hate to be a party pooper, but the last major movie about the Revolutionary War that I remember was Revolution, starring Al Pacino and pretty much ended the career of Hugh Hudson. Tread carefully, gentlemen. I root for you, but I fear the worst.
1. DON'T GO THERE: Bias against black films isn't just for white guys anymore. The Magic Johnson Theaters passed on the film Belly, which opened to a powerful $1,493 per screen on Wednesday (more than four times the next best per screen), because "The content and marketing of Belly has raised concerns about the film's overwhelmingly negative and violent depictions of African-Americans, as well as its potential to create disruptive situations for our theaters, patrons and employees." Read between the lines? They think that young black audiences will bring trouble to their theaters. It is one of the most unfortunate and accepted forms of racial thinking in this business that black-youth-themed films are released on Wednesday in order to minimize the possibility of "trouble" in the theaters. Now, the Majoc Johnson-owned chain won't show the film. Make you own conclusion. Mine are primarily based in sadness.
READER OF THE DAY: Here are a few readers who live in hope. First, Dgarda: "As in every year, there are the small gems which are often overlooked by the Academy due to poor box office, early year release or the independent status. This year I would like to see two performances make the cut: Eamonn Owens in The Butcher Boy and Ally Sheedy in High Art. Do you think there is any chance for either of these films or performances come Oscar time?" (David Note: I wish they did, but no.)
And Andrew adds: "It is an honor just to be nominated, but it won't be happening for the small but wonderful Brazilian film Central Station and that sucks!"
Greybird offers up: "I saw Gods and Monsters yesterday. I wish the good script had been a great one, but the film is thoroughly enjoyable, and Ian McKellen gives another astonishing performance. This has been a remarkable year for middle-aged British actors playing sensually obsessed characters; in addition to McKellen, we've had John Hurt in Love and Death on Long Island, Jeremy Irons in Lolita and Derek Jacobi in Love Is the Devil. All the performances were great though the films were variable. (Love and Death on Long Island was my favorite of the four.)
And BladN takes Spike to heart: "In a discussion of the best films of the year, the movie I am always surprised nobody mentions is Spike Lee's He Got Game. I feel it joins Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X as great and (two of the most) Oscar-nomination worthy films Lee has ever made. The movie excels in every way a movie should. The story of the film is very compelling.
Everyone knows that Spike Lee loves basketball, and he has made a movie that is about so much more than basketball. The acting is excellent all around. Denzel Washington gives a great non-movie star performance and Ray Allen, a real basketball player on the Milwaukee Bucks, also gives a solid performance for a non-actor. The movie is cinematic, a trait that is under-appreciated in all of Spike Lee's films. He knows how use color, lighting and movement of the camera to create a great effect. The score/soundtrack from Aaron Copeland and Public Enemy is clearly the best of the year, with only the music from Out of Sight coming close to complementing and enhancing what you're seeing on the screen. I know this is the type of movie that does not get nominated. It made no money, it came out too early in the year, it is too explicit and it was made by Spike Lee. If you missed it on the big screen, rent it. The movie affected me."

E ME: And so the weekend is here. Let's hear about The Siege and The Waterboy. (Those two would make a really horrifying double feature, huh?) Living Out Loud is getting to more of you this weekend. And I wonder whether the Pitt hype is getting to you yet. Heck, you can even write and rip me about my Oscar picks and projections. Just be gentle. I do read your mail. All your mail. I can't always respond, but I try. So be nice.