Weekend, 20-21 November 1999

NEWS BY THE NUMBERS

10. The King Of Big Screen: Richard Barrow, Webmaster of ThaiStudents.com, sent in this news from the Far East: "In today's edition of The Nation here in Thailand, there was an article about Anna and the King. Apparently, last week, 20th Century Fox sent the National Film Board a preview of their upcoming and controversial movie Anna and the King in the hope that the board will change their mind and not ban the movie from showing in Thailand. However, Pattamavadee Jaruvorn, a member of the censorship board said that the "previews are unacceptable" as it still contains historical inaccuracies and shows disrespect to the Thai monarchy. In the movie, Chow Yun-Fat, who plays King Mongkut, calls Anna "the equal of a king". The promotion suggests that Anna was a woman who changed the heart of a king and the destiny of a nation. Fox claims the movie is based on historical records, but in the extensive diaries that King Mongkut kept, he only mentions Anna once. In reality, Anna did not figure very highly in the Royal Court of Siam and historians have long since discounted her book and life as a work of fiction.

We have a Website about all of the movies that have come out of this story. Our aim is to show people that there is little truth in the story and that the musical The King and I so upset the Thai people that it has been banned in Thailand for more than 40 years. Warner Brothers released an animated version of The King and I in March of this year. It was never released at the cinemas in Thailand, though it is available on pirated videos. So far, it looks like Anna and the King will also be banned. The King and I: Fact or Fiction? -- http://www.thaistudents.com/kingandi

9. Land Of Smoke & Bulls**t: Gee, we all (well, some of us) rallied 'round the flag for the right to freedom of speech for Hollywood Stock Exchange and NBC's O&O -- owned "Access Hollywood". What the whole thing was about -- and now is clear, was always about -- was NBC's new financial investment in HSX. Well, bravo for freedom of profit sharing! Good to see that HSX has you, the little people, who really make this business go, close to its heart. It isn't just a cynical cash and attention grab for Max Keiser. It was an important step for the Internet. Yeah. Blah, blah, blah. I have nothing against Keiser making his move, financially or fame-ily, but don't some of you feel like you stretched yourself out in the name of 'Net honor and just got punched hard in the face? Where was all the disclosure back when so many of you were out there fighting for the honor of HSX?

8. Cell-ebration: They're setting down the law in Michigan. Check those cell phones at the door. Well, actually, they aren't going quite that far. The Star Theater chain is posting notices and running trailers letting audience members know that cell phone usage during a movie is grounds for getting 86ed. Of course, here in L.A., people think that using a cell in a movie is so cool, it's grounds for being 69ed. But aye, there's the rub. A cool tattoo or a neon light under your car doesn't disturb my enjoyment of a movie. Your cell phone, your conversation, your chair kicking (which is inevitable if you drape your damned legs over a seat down the row from me) and your crying infant do. Cut it out or I'm moving to Michigan.

7. Life Is Suck-i-ful?: President Clinton is in Italy this week and requested that Roberto Benigni attend a dinner he'll be at in Florence. Benigni, of course, accepted the invitation from the second most powerful man on the planet. (Harvey Weinstein being top dog for Roberto.) My question is, given Benigni's energy and compulsion to please and our President's proclivities, will Roberto go "all the way" to entertain Clinton? Ewww! I thought it was funny when I started writing it, but now I've just made myself sick. Sorry.

6. What Double Jeopardy Hath Wrought: So, you turned out in droves to see The Fugitive Girl? Well, New Line has just bought a spec called Westward that's described in the trades as "the story of a woman who becomes involved in a deadly cat-and-mouse game with a mysterious killer while driving a rental truck across the country." Hmmm...remind you of a movie called Duel by some young guy named Spielberg...except with a chick? Or could it be a knock off of 1997's Breakdown...except with a chick? New Liners Brian Witten and Stephanie Striegel obviously are above caring about the success of a movie like Double Jeopardy. Striegel told The Hollywood Reporter, "This is a contained thriller with a resilient woman at the center." Added Witten, "It provides a great opportunity for an actress to play a strong and smart female lead." You mean like Thelma & Louise...except with...well, you get the point.

5. Ebert Does India: Roger Ebert has braved the trip to India in the midst of the holiday movie season and his correspondence has been a lot of fun. His most recent piece includes great pizza, no spitting and some really bad driving. And if you still didn't read his first piece, read it now.

4. Context Is Key: The MPAA is making the move to have movie ads explain their ratings in any ad that contains a rating. And I agree with the decision whole-heartedly. An "R" vs. a "PG-13" has become so unclear a message that the ratings are less and less useful for parents, their intended vict...uh, consumers. But I do have ulterior motives. I hope that by clarifying the ratings, the ratings board will be a little more lenient about PG-13 vs. R in areas that aren't extreme. For instance, I have no idea why The Hurricane is an R-rated movie instead of a PG-13. There may have been some language in there and there is one scene with the bloody aftermath of a killing and two boxing matches, but this is a movie about how a teenager and a fallen hero brought hope to one another and changed their lives. I would have no problem taking my 10-year old nephew to this one. Give me a PG-13 for gun and pugilistic violence and some foul language and I'm a happier consumer.

3. Facing Costner: Thirteen Days seems to have been a victim of the Kennedy curse from its start until now. We'll see what happens in the finish. Phil Alden Robinson is in, Phil Alden Robinson is out. Universal's in, Universal's out. Sony's in, Sony's out. Coppola is in, Coppola's out. Kevin Costner is in. Beacon is in. New Line is in. And then, director Roger Donaldson got in. Cinematographer Roger Deakins got in. But now he is out. And in is Andrzej Bartkowiak, who shot Donaldson's last two films.

What does Deakins' exit mean? I really don't know. The easy money is on the idea that Deakins isn't shooting Kevin Costner the way Kevin Costner wants to be shot and that when Deakins was headed out the door, Donaldson dragged his friend Bartkowiak into the picture. The other possible scenario is that since Donaldson was hired at relatively the last minute, Bartkowiak was already hired on Warner Bros.' Gossip and couldn't be done by Thirteen Days' start date. Since Deakins wasn't the preferred hire, as soon as Bartkowiak became free, Donaldson did what he had to do to dump Deakins. Of course, Deakins, who became The Coen Bros. cinematographer after Barry Sonnenfeld moved into the directing ranks and whose ability to capture the intensity of Denzel Washington on film in The Hurricane will likely win Washington an Oscar nod, was probably New Line and Beacon's first choice because of his rep for making even inexperienced directors look great. Bartkowiak is a tremendous cinematographer also, but change is never a good sign in the middle of production (two months in) on a movie. Of course, Bartkowiak also made aging leading men Mel Gibson, Tommy Lee Jones, Al Pacino and Barbara Streisand all look great in four of his last five pictures (I'm leaving out Dante's Peak because Brosnan doesn't really need that much help). So, maybe Costner wanted Bartkowiak all along, hiring Donaldson under the assumption that Andrez would come along and has been waiting for an opportunity to dump Deakins himself all this time.

Of course, all of this is mindless conjecture. The truth is that Deakins really had creative differences with Roger Donaldson, so they parted amicably. Yeah, right!

2. A Busy Week For The Reaper: What is it about death that sends Sickle Boy into your circle of connection for multiple pick-ups in the same week all at the time? Two suicides of people under 40 (Jay Moloney and South Park's Mary Kay Bergman) and the shocking heart attack death of 48-year-old Ed Margulies all in one week. There is a very nice tribute to Margulies on the Mr. Showbiz site. On the flip side, Mary Kay Bergman's passing didn't seem to be important to the media until it was framed as a suicide. Not good.

1. Back To The Deficit Financing: It's official! Disney has greenlit Bruckheimer & Bay's Tennessee to the tune of $145 million. That should keep the final budget under $200 million. In an era when studios are aggressively cost-cutting, trying to actually stay under $100 million (not the fictional $80 million budgets that WB became infamous for), this is a bit of a shock to the system and will be closely watched by budget watchers all over town. Disney's list of Bruckheimer/Bay concessions, given to the trades, are all a little creaky. "Neither Bruckheimer nor Bay will receive their regular first-dollar gross deal..." Emphasis on "regular" and how does that reflect on their unmentioned up-front fees? "Their back-end participation will be far less than on previous pictures." What does that really mean? Particularly regarding "they," as opposed to Bruckheimer specifically. And then, there's "They will also be held responsible for budgetary overages." Hmmm...Armageddon came in around 50% over-budget. I'm sure that Disney insisted that there be fiscal responsibility at some dollar figure. But I doubt it comes before $170 million. Also, keep in mind that there's no announced cast yet. The studio is claiming that the film will not feature a $20 million-type movie star. Interesting. But then they allow that if one comes in, they will have to make the movie for scale, which is code for one of these deals that is back-end heavy. Hmmm...Arnold, Tom and Will seem rather unlikely. I don't see Hanks or Ford hooking up with Bay. So, who does that leave? Nic Cage? Probably not going back to work with Bay either. Bruce Willis? Hmmm...just got a $100 million-plus payday for a backend deal on The Sixth Sense at Disney...made a ton on Armageddon too...could easily play an army type...hmmm...$145 million riding on the likes of Ryan Phillipe and Jenna Elfman...hmmmm...

READERS OF THE DAY: The Green Machine writes: "I have decided to believe that Angelina Jolie's lips are all her own, if only as an act of faith. To believe that such phenomena can occur in nature and without the aid of science is important to me spiritually. Plus, look at her father. The most obvious connection between the two physically is the lips, which does lead to some pretty cheap jokes about Jolie having a "purty mouth", but it's true nonetheless. (And no, I'm not attracted to Jon Voight, you bastard, I could make pretty much the same observation about Nastassja Kinski and her father Klaus.)"

LC: "A wonderful old movie house - The Michigan Theater, in Ann Arbor, MI - has such a regular organ player as well. And, as someone who's been to the Music Box many times, I can tell you that the Michigan Theater's a much better moviehouse experience (though I'll take the legroom of L.A's Vista over anything)."

The Seal Man: "Thought you should know that here in Oakland, CA, we have not one but TWO theatres that have a live organist. The Grand Lake has one on weekends, and the beautiful art deco Paramount has an organist prior to every movie showing (once a week at most, as the theatre is multi-use). And don't forget the Castro over in the West Bay (SF to you Los Angelenos).

RM didn't forget The Castro and writes: "Re: theater pipe organs, you may not be aware of the Castro Theater in S.F., which regularly features live pipe organ music before evening shows. It's a fabulous old movie palace and SF Historic Landmark, and the Toy Story 2 Wrap Party was held there about 2 weeks ago. The best part is that the last song played before the feature is "San Francisco" of Jeanette Mac Donald fame.

I used to Stage Manage a long-running cabaret show here in town called "Beach Blanket Babylon," which ends with that song. One Thanksgiving, many of us from the show went to the Castro after our turkey, and started singing along with the organist. This was encouragement for most of the other patrons to sing along with us. We all laughed and gave ourselves a great round of applause, and that evening remains a special movie memory."

E ME: Any jokes about a pipe organ in The Castro will have to wait. I'm looking forward to the flood of mail defending Kevin Costner. Y'all may love him, but tough stuff does happen on almost all his movies. Has Roger Ebert convinced you all to schedule trips to India? And what macho movies do you think should be remade with women in the leads? And why?