The Hot Button by David Poland

Tuesday, 23 February 1999

WB UPDATE 1: I feel a little Harry Knowles here, but this gives me a chance to set a couple of records straight. First, The Incredible Mr. Limpet is definitely going to happen. Jim Carrey is 100 percent committed to making the film. The issue that's holding things up is the directing chair and here is the answer to that one. Warner Bros. is thrilled with Analyze This and wants Harold Ramis to take the reins of Limpet. The studio has had to find little ways of moving Steve Oedekerk off the picture without appearing to move him off. Oedekerk left under his own steam a few weeks ago. Now, with Ramis off DreamWorks' Galaxy Quest, the deal would appear imminent.

WRITING IS ITS OWN REWARD: The Writers Guild Awards were given out on Saturday. I am, for all intents and purposes, non-plussed. Shakespeare in Love won for Best Original Screenplay. And Scott Frank took home the award for Best Adaptation for Out of Sight, an award I should be more excited about, except for the fact that I already know he has no chance of winning with the full membership of the Academy voting for Oscar®. Mr. Showbiz's Jeffrey Wells is looking for this award ceremony to mark the start of the drumbeat against the Elia Kazan honorary Oscar® because of Kazan's choice to name names to the House Un-American Activities Committee. There was a petition being presented for signature around the hall. In the meantime, the Guild gave its own special award to screenwriter Paul Jarrico, who refused to name names, getting himself stuck on the blacklist in Hollywood. But unfortunately, you'll read less about the late Paul Jarrico than you will about Kazan in weeks to come.
WB UPDATE 2: Back at the You've Got Mail junket in December, Tom Hanks was already moaning about the ongoing principal photography on The Green Mile. When Warner Bros. moved the film to fall, about a month ago, it was assumed that they were clearing out a busy summer and moving the Stephen King-based thriller to an appropriately bleak slot. But the film is still in production. In fact, it should be wrapping in the next two weeks. Hanks has already started on Fox's Bob Zemeckis project, Cast Away, but he must be thrilled to have finally escaped the slow-moving production. Even with the long delays, the budget on Green Mile has not gone wildly out of control. Word is that Warner Bros. should still be able to keep the film under the $100 million barrier that has become the publicity dead zone for films ever since Titanic broke the $200 million barrier. Of course, WB knew that, which is why they hid the fact that Batman & Robin broke the $200 million mark before Titanic.
MORE HANKS: The Russian Parliament is pissed at Hanks, Zemeckis and everyone involved with Cast Away, a film that is barely underway. Apparently, there is a scene in the script that, according to The Hollywood Reporter that "depicts Russians as lazy workers who prefer to drink, smoke and moan than complete a full day's work." Gee, hard to imagine this. Maybe we ought to send them a copy of Office Space as a show of cinematic glasnost. Hanks' character works for the Moscow FedEx office. Absolutely, positively guaranteed to piss some Russians off every time.
MALICK BACK TO WORK?: After coming back to the business with The Thin Red Line, Terence Malick is now getting into the producing game. He and producer Ed Pressman have started a production company and set up shop at Sony Pictures Classics in a three-picture deal. The plan is to do three pictures, all under $15 million. Malick may even direct one. As much as I love The Thin Red Line, it would be great to see what a mind like Malick's comes up with under those kinds of budgetary constraints.
WB UPDATE 3: A little stat I had missed. Soldier, which did only about $15 million domestic, was considered a disaster. But little did I know that the film grossed only $5 million in international markets. Five million! For an action movie, that's almost unheard of. Many "B" movies are pre-sold to international markets for more than that. Ouch. Yet, with that and The Avengers as his calling cards, Jerry Weintraub remains a major player at the WB. Go figure.
HOT BUTTON LINE-UP: Tomorrow, it's Martha Plimpton at Movie Chat (6:00 p.m. ET/3:00 p.m. PT) on Yahoo! Chat. The next big event is the SAG Awards, which I'll be tuxedoed up for on March 7. Then, starting on March 9, it's roughcut.com's third annual trip to ShoWest, the studio doppelganger of Sundance. We're the only Website doing daily coverage of the event that sets the tone for studio movies for the rest of the year, so check it out. And watch for announcements of our live events at the convention. I can't tell you who we'll be chatting with yet, but for the sake of hinting, there's something about ShoWest. The next week, it's the Academy Awards. A busy 1999 continues.
SNAKE EYES 2?: Apparently, no one wants Brian De Palma to make Brian De Palma movies anymore. I hated Snake Eyes, but I will also go see anything this guy makes. He is one of the best directors alive. The dubious project of the day for De Palma is Disney's Mission to Mars, which saw Gore Verbinski exit just a few weeks ago before he picked up the Tom Hanks' starrer, Where the Wild Things Are (THB 2/18). The film has already had four writers and you can expect more with the arrival of a new director. As I have been noting far too often lately, there are some movies that really don't want to be made.
READERS OF THE DAY: From G.F.: "As much as I disagree with Siskel's opinions, the show is not the same without him. I don't think the dynamic between him and Ebert will be duplicated. I think it was obvious he never fully recovered from the operation since I think Ebert got the last word in more times since the operation than he did in the first 23 years. I would also like to thank the show (especially in the early years before the explosion in movie coverage) for bringing many smaller movies to my attention that I would have otherwise missed. I was 13 when the show started and it has had a great influence on my love of movies."
From Dimitri: "A charitable trust has been established in Gene's name by his family. Contributions can be sent to: Gene Siskel Charitable Foundation, 108 W. Grand Ave., Chicago, IL 60610. For what it's worth, Siskel and Ebert came on for me after Siskel's death was announced, and I was startled by my depth of emotion for the man. A lot of people are noting that it feels like a family member died, and I have to admit, it feels exactly that way."
From Joey: "Film criticism will never be the same again. Period."
From Sam: "I think that his L.A. Times obituary overblew (is there such a word?) [Editor's note: No.] his and Ebert's influence. It claimed that a thumbs down could hurt a film's chance of success. In my proud opinion, their real influence was on independent and foreign films. Over the last few decades, these films have been able to make it to smaller towns and I think it's because these guys reviewed them that it made it more feasible to book them on the extra screens in the multiplex, rather than another print of Lethal Weapon 4."
From Rob: "Kurt Cobain. River Phoenix. Teenagers typically become depressed when people such as these die. Not me. When people such as Phil Hartman pass away, that's what gets me down. However, the loss of Gene Siskel on Saturday had a more profound effect on me than any other previous celebrity death. For a budding film critic such as myself, the death of such an icon was nearly overwhelming. He and his partner, Roger Ebert, are perhaps the two biggest reasons I developed the love for film that I have, and have decided to devote my life to it. The knowledge that Siskel was gone, and that there would be no more classic arguments between him and Ebert was quite shocking. The two men had such a passionate love for the medium, and such a remarkable chemistry. Now, one-half of the duo is gone. I can't imagine one without the other. No one will ever be able to replace Gene.
"With his reviews, I either violently disagreed with him or totally agreed with him. Only sometimes did I find myself thinking, 'Well, he almost hit the mark on that.' But, I always respected him for his insight and humor. He could definitely pan a film when he was in the mood. (His hysterical trashing of I Still Know What You Did Last Summer was classic). He and Ebert changed film criticism forever. Mr. Siskel helped bring it into the mainstream, and helped to improve the image of film critics in general with his easy-going attitude. In addition, his opinion of the Academy Awards was right on. Everyone seems to agree that he met the challenge of his sickness with dignity and courage, and in truth even people who hate him cannot refute that. Truly, a giant has passed on. Farewell and godspeed Mr. Siskel. The balcony may be closed here on Earth, but there will surely be a seat reserved for you in heaven."

E ME: I am as proud as ever of my readership today. There wasn't a single smart-assed e-mail dogging Gene Siskel upon his passing. It's during moments like this that I know that I am doing the right kind of work in my little intellectual garden.

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