Weekend, 16-17 October 1999

NEWS BY THE NUMBERS

Taste Of The New: If there has been one thing about John Calley's reign at Sony that hasn't been a surprise of the less-than-thrilling variety, it has been his dogged support of Mike Figgis as a filmmaker. Just as Sony High has gotten its last slate of teen pictures to market, Figgis has found a virtual home for his latest experiments. Calley & Co. bought Figgis' Miss Julie, the first of Figgis' films shot solely on digital. I saw the film at Toronto and it's a real success in melding the cultures of film, television and theater. Now Calley has committed to Time Code 2000, a thriller that will be completely improvised, shot on digital, financed by Figgis with a purchase commitment from Calley and with an acting ensemble that will be paid union scale for their work. The movie starts shooting October 29 and will be complete by November 29 and don't be too surprised if Figgis shows up, tape in hand, at Sundance just two months later, time code and all.

Safe At Home: Where is the real fight over ratings? People think it's in the theaters, but whenever the argument gets really heated, it always comes down to what comes up on cable and at the video store. Well, the VSDA (Video Software Dealers Association) is actually talking about getting their membership to enforce the ratings rules so that my 10-year-old nephew won't be able to rent a copy of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut next month. Not that South Park is driving this effort. I have long agreed that the idea of a ratings system makes sense. But I also contend that concerns about video rentals and cable sales have created a big part of the trouble with the rating system. If video stores and movie theaters will enforce the rules, the blur of what ratings really mean could be clarified -- if the industry fights to make it happen -- and movies themselves could be freer to look at life as honestly as filmmakers and financiers can agree to.

Making Green Money: MGM reported a profit this fiscal quarter. First time in a long, long time. What happened? Well, for one thing, they set it up to go this way as they had an IPO set to hit the streets. They've since withdrawn the IPO because, as I wrote last week, it would have diluted primary shareholder Kirk Kerkorian's ownership too much. But still, this quarter got all the benefits of massive write-downs in previous quarters plus some actual success at the box office (Stigmata, The Thomas Crown Affair) and strong television sales. What will MGM be when it finishes growing up again? We'll see soon enough.

Speaking Of MGM: Giancarlo Paretti has been on the white starched collar lam for three years after being convicted of being a lyin', thievin' crook here in the U.S. And they finally caught up with him in Orvieto, Italy this week. But we're going to have to fight for him since he is also wanted in France for more charges regarding his MGM days. One question: who has been making all this effort to find him? Used to be that a good old-fashioned robber baron could hide in the Italian hills until it was safe to return to the U.S. Of course, they might blow up your new wife who is trying to surprise you by driving the car without you, but hey, Diane Keaton is waiting.

Fight Club 2: This bon mot on Fight Club came from Marilyn Beck and Stacey Jenel Smith: "If You Ask Us: Brad Pitt, Ed Norton, director David Fincher, producer Art Linson, Fox 2000, Regency Enterprises -- and everyone else involved in Fight Club -- ought to be ashamed. Its message, its glorification and gratuitous use of violence -- to a degree we've never seen on-screen -- are not only repelling, they're downright dangerous, for this is a film that seems bound to attract the disenfranchised -- the youth most likely to commit copycat crimes. At this week's screening, with a mixed audience of media and people off the street, there were actually cheers and applause when Pitt's character announced The Fight Club was going to blow up five buildings that housed credit card companies. Motion Picture Association of America czar Jack Valenti has continued to defend Hollywood against growing charges that the industry inspires real-life violence in this country. We don't know how he could take that stand after seeing Fight Club. Frankly, it gives the entire industry a black eye. It is an abomination to the spirit." Well, at least they clarified it as editorial copy.

I Coulda Been A Contender: It hasn't gotten a lot of press outside of New York, but it's gotten so much press in New York, you could choke on it. "It" is the deal to make a film studio out of the Brooklyn Naval Yards, which seemed to be set for production under the Robert DeNiro/Weinstein Bros. banner with a $150 million budget. But like many movies, the apparent green light turned red suddenly when Mayor Rudy Guliani decided to go with another company for the development. What happened? Some say it was over the Weinstein's public support of Hillary Clinton over Guliani in the upcoming Senate race for which Hillary has still not announced. Others say that it came down to one $25 million chunk of the financing that simply couldn't be agreed upon. Of course, had it been Francis Coppola instead of DeNiro & the Weinsteins, the building would be 25 percent completed already with money out of his own pocket, just waiting for the completion financing to come through.

having its best year since 1982 and E.T., breaking its single-year record of $709.1 million. That figure apparently doesn't include the gross for Patch Adams, the bulk of which was earned this year. Counting holdover dollars as well, 1999 is still a touch behind 1994's $758 million year, but not for long. In any case, Universal's 1999 slate boasts three $100 million movies (The Mummy, Notting Hill and American Pie) for the first time ever. Only Warner Bros. can match that (with The Matrix, Wild Wild West and Analyze This) and both companies share in foreign rights with their top grossers. Plus, Universal still has The Bone Collector and End of Days coming. Those releases, Warner Bros.' The Green Mile and Disney's combo of Toy Story 2 and Bicentennial Man should make the race for the top of the chart for 1999 a very interesting one. The only real miss for Universal all year was the failure to launch EDTv. They deserve a pat on the back.

Fight Club 2: The battle continues. Critics have become stuck in a cycle of demanding new visions for Hollywood and then slamming anything that has a unique vision. But more on that in Act 3 of my Fight Club Working Hollywood next week. For now, it's the spoiler-free Act One and my column-long review, which has spolier warnings not just about Fight Club, but for The Matrix and American Beauty, too.

We Are The World: How American movies get distributed overseas has become more and more critical in the last decade. These days, overseas box office dollars are generally expected to add more to the till of pretty much any film that isn't a chatty comedy. The last few months have been anxious times as murmurs of change swept through the international distribution world. But in the end, the sales remain the same. Pretty much. Universal and Paramount have decided to maintain their partnership at United International Picture (UIP) despite losing the third part of their group, MGM. (That studio has decided to pact with Fox International for their distribution.) Universal had talked about switching its full support behind UPI, Universal Pictures International. But no. Cheaper to share with Paramount. UPI will, meanwhile, become a video-only company. Outside of those companies, you have a fairly complex assortment of players, with Disney (Buena Vista International), Sony (Columbia/Tri-Star) and Warner Bros. all mostly self-distributing as well as making foreign-language acquisitions for international distribution. And then you have other major distribution arms like Kinowelt, Constantin, Gaumont, UFD, Roadshow, Intercontinental, Golden Harvest, Newport and on and on and on

READER OF THE DAY: Donna writes: "When I saw the male critics falling on the movie with great slobbering joy, I knew I'd have to read all the spoilers I could find to see if I could handle watching it. But you were not content to praise it, you also had to fight off the female critic who dared to be less than thrilled with it. In fact, you had to beat her to a pulp and then print a letter from another female who praised you for this. Well, I'm a boomer female also, and not a wannabe. The Wall Street Journal review today said that the women will not likely go for the fights, torture and emasculation in the movie. The only thing you say that I do agree with is that the film industry should be able to show anything they want without fear of copy cat crime. Beyond that, I see that you men are reacting to seeing the rage you feel acted out and reinforcing your feelings. White men have been in charge and have created the world, rampant consumerism and all, as it is. It's sad that your best solution seems to be fisticuffs and worse, after all these years.

E ME: Just noting, this film is getting killed by male critics far worse than female. Janet Maslin gave it a very positive review. Ken Turan probably needed a nap after he railed against the film like a Southern preacher. This is the fight of the year. Which side are you on?