Friday, 8 January 1999

WEEKEND PREVIEW

Guess what's opening this weekend? Have you guessed? Here's the answer: NOTHING! A Civil Action expands and so might a few other pictures, but basically, we're looking at the same old, same old for a third straight weekend. Well, we did get a little movement last weekend, with Shakespeare in Love finally joining the Top 10. If there is a change this weekend, it would most likely be SIL moving past Star Trek: Insurrection and maybe The Faculty. Also, Jack Frost, of all movies, could reappear in the 10 spot.

This is the weekend to go check out the movies you haven't caught yet, as the avalanche of new product starts again next weekend. Hang in there, however, as much of the high-end product still hasn't fanned out across the U.S. That will take another few weeks. (Those of you in other countries, my eternal apologies for our tardiness.)

THE GOOD: Basketball is back. This not only offers excuses for poor box office performances, something to watch on Saturday afternoon and a gathering place for those with serious pituitary conditions, but means the gods of TNT will be happy, happy, happy. True, it probably won't effect my work one way or another, but at least Ted Turner will continue not to know that I exist.

THE BAD: I kind of ticked a few people off on Wednesday. For the record, I am not out to get Val Kilmer. That was sarcasm aimed at the Kilmer fans who have suggested that I or Time-Warner (TNT's parent company, which has never asked for me to comment either way on any film or actor ever) is out to get Val. I do not think Harry Knowles is a whore, even if I do worry that he is slowly being co-opted by some companies as he enjoys, pretty understandably, the ride. And I disagree about Schindler's List being better than Saving Private Ryan on story points and overall effectiveness only. The other stuff I brought up was just me riffing on the subject matter. It's a funny thing doing this column. Some days I worry about being to nice and some days, people all seem to want to tell me how cruel I am. It's a good thing I have an ego the size of the great outdoors.

THE UGLY: A car bomb exploded outside a movie theater in Cape Town, South Africa, on New Year's Day. It seems like an extreme reaction to me. Police think the bombing may have been related to the premiere of The Siege because of earlier bomb threats about the film's perceived anti-Arab tone. The last bombing in the area was at the nearby Planet Hollywood, which again seems to suggest more of a customer service problem more than a political issue. Either that or a disgruntled stockholder. Or maybe this is just a South African way of saying, "We want Bruce and Demi to get back together." And while we're complaining, those of you who didn't look at other readers' movie horror stories, take a look by clicking here.

THE CHAT: Next Wednesday on Movie Chat, first we talk horror with Virus director John Bruno, and then I'll be talking to the fabulous starlet from Varsity Blues, Ali Larter. It all starts at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT on the TNT stage at Yahoo! Chat. And get ready for daily chats from Sundance, starting at 9:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. Sundance Time/6:00 p.m. PT on Jan. 22.

MARCHING TO SUNDANCE: Today's film is Sugar Town, the latest offering from Allison Anders, one of the indie business' most-liked success stories. Anders teamed up with Kurt Voss, who last collaborated with Anders back in 1987 on Border Radio, as co-writers/directors of this showbiz saga. Anders has become a lightning rod for female talent, and this time is no different. Rosanna Arquette, Lucinda Jenney and possible Academy Award-nominee Ally Sheedy lead the crew this time out. Sugar Town is the Sundance Centerpiece Premiere this year and will be one of the most highly anticipated films in the second half of the festival.

JUST WONDERING: Had anyone noticed that the Gary Ross chat transcript from our Pleasantville chat hadn't been posted yet? Well now it is. Here.

QUOTE WHORING USA: For Shakespeare in Love: "The most nudity from Gwyneth yet!" "You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll try to figure out what happened to Rupert Everett!" "Stoppard the world, I want to get on!" "Look for the sequel: Tolstoy in Love, with Matt Damon and Winona Ryder."

HAPPY TRAILERS TO YOU: OK! Whose silly idea was it to give the Carrie sequel a name other than Carrie?! (Note the kinder, gentler David, who did not use the word "stupid.") I mean, it takes a lot of hormonal power-lifting to even consider doing a Carrie sequel. (Brian De Palma himself did a virtual sequel with The Fury, just two years after Carrie.) Who needs more pig blood and flying stuff? But off they went. Amy Irving jumped on board. And, then, when it's ready to hit theaters, they call it The Rage? (Well, The Rage: Carrie 2, but it's basically The Rage.) It sounds like a gay bar or a style of the moment. Anyway, the trailer starts off well enough until everyone figures out what we're watching even before they showed the prom scene. The audience I saw it with was laughing from the middle on. And when the title came on, it was, "Boo, hiss," as though it were something truly heinous, like a Holocaust movie staring Steven Seagal or a new Batman with Joel Schumacher directing star RuPaul as Batman and Catwoman or an L.A. Times ad. There is nothing sadder than bad kitsch. And one thing about kitsch: you can't hedge. Dump The Rage, keep the Carrie.

BAD AD WATCH: I ran into Ron Brewington again. He didn't converse with me this time. He almost makes me feel guilty, but what have I done other than point out the obvious? Back to the ads. Here is one that is a kind of moral issue: Newsweek calls Down in the Delta, "This year's Soul Food!' Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Many black filmmakers don't want to ghettoize their movies by calling them "black films." And that comparison pretty much does that. What do you think? Bad ad or good ad?

READER OF THE DAY: Mark W. wrote: "Just a quick note from the UK about Roger Ebert's choice of Dark City in his Top 10 films. I recently watched the film on DVD and, like every good DVD should, it contained some additional commentary tracks. It's strange that one of these should be by a certain Roger Ebert. Does that make him on commission?"

RESPONSE OF THE DAY: This comes from the inimitable Mr. Ebert himself: "I am so aware of this issue that, for that very reason, I have never done a commentary track before. In this case, I receive no royalties on any DVD sale. They offered me an honorarium, but I asked that they put it to another use. I wanted to do a shot-by-shot of Dark City at the Conference on World Affairs at [the University] of Colorado at Boulder, where I have done an annual shot-by-shot film analysis for more than 20 years. I thought that going through it for a week at Boulder would be good preparation for the commentary. To do shot-by-shot, you need a laserdisc (or DVD). Needless to say, none was available last April, but I suggested they use the honorarium to pay costs for making a custom laserdisc. If I were getting royalties from the sale of the Dark City DVD, that would be a conflict of interest and would cast suspicion on my choice of it as the year's best film. (I see no problem, however, in any critic being paid to do a commentary on an older classic film -- that is no different from being paid to write a review of it, or a book about it.)"

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E ME: Have you ever been mellow? Have you ever try-y-y-y-ed? How about this idea from a reader: What are the 10 best movie scenes of the year?