Friday, 03 December 1999

WEEKEND PREVIEW

Much as I would like to kick off today's preview with tales of big movies hitting screens this weekend, alas, I cannot. For in the great tradition of Hollywood, there are no wide releases the weekend after Thanksgiving. Why? Because it's a weak weekend for business. Why is it a weak weekend for business? Because no one releases any big movies! This goes right beside the question, "Why has Disney won the Thanksgiving weekend box office race for six years running?" Answer: Because there are few studios that have the cajones to open movies against them that weekend. Since 1994, when The Santa Clause plowed over Junior and A Low Down Dirty Shame, Alien Resurrection and Babe: Pig In The City are the only really wide releases to fight Disney as Thanksgiving week newcomers and both were crushed. (Competing on a smaller level were Wild Bill, White Man's Burden, Very Bad Things and Jerry Springer: Ringmaster.)

And so, this weekend, we have one regional release (Virtual Sexuality) and two one or two screen NY/LA releases (Beyond The Clouds, Spanish Fly) that I have not seen and guess I will never see. Opening Oscar® runs on extremely limited number of screens are: Agnes Browne, Holy Smoke, A Map of the World, Sweet & Lowdown and The End of the Affair. I have not seen Agnes Browne (despite many attempts and great interest in Angelica Huston's latest directorial work) or The End of The Affair (fewer attempts, even more interest given that it is Neil Jordan, whose work I love.) Sweet & Lowdown made my Top 17 for Telluride-n-Toronto and grows on me each time I think of it. (Scroll down on Day 3 to read my brief review.) A Map of the World, a film I caught in Toronto, joined a big pile of movies that ran from very good to crap on the T-n-T trip. A Map of the World was on the wrong side of that scale for me. (You can read my Day 16 mini-review.)

Holy Smoke got a more recent viewing. The film is the latest Jane Campion flick and unless you live in the big towns, you won't have a chance to see it until January. I like Campion a lot, especially her more recent films. And here, she attempts something brand new, a Jane Campion-style screwball comedy. For two acts, she pulls it off. Kate Winslet is funny, focused and visually ripe. Harvey Keitel is a perfect choice for the too-macho-for-words cult deprogrammer chosen by Winslet's outback family to bring her back to her senses after she is seduced by Indian guru culture. And Campion is quite smart in not making it clear whether Winslet has really found a personal Nirvana or if she has, indeed, been brainwashed. But when Campion heads into the murky area of who is brainwashing who and is this still a comedy, she seems to lose her compass as badly as her characters. I mean, she had me. I was taking that trip. And then, it just drifted away. Logic was bent for the sake of comedy. Motivations got too murky. And there was just no insight around. Then, at the very end, she found her bearings and gave the film the ending that she clearly intended from the beginning. And it was the right ending. But it was too late. I was lost by the third act. Could have been a great movie. I'm still glad I saw it and wouldn't fight against seeing it again. But unfortunately, I can't rave for this one.

So that's the weekend picture. Catch the business side, including venue counts and my guesstimates, in Box Office Extra after noon est.

THE GOOD: This is a TV story. But it is the best news, this side of Titus, I've gotten all week. David E. Kelley has agreed to kill "Snoops," his latest and by far his least television series to date. I love the ensemble cast of "The West Wing" though I hate the production and smug dialogue from Aaron Sorkin. That said, the show may get really good in its second season. "Snoops" was car wreck from scene one. Paula Marshall is, in my opinion, very attractive and very talented. But casting her with Gina Gershon is self-destructive at best. The style of the show screamed 1970s/Aaron Spelling. Cute, but unsustainable without demanding contempt. And what was the point of the show? Where was the hook? Could there be anything more terrible to say about a guy as talented as David E. Kelley than "'V.I.P.', as crappy as it is, is a better TV show because it knows what it is and doesn't pretend to be anything else?" ABC made the smart move and threatened to move the series up against "ER," which insured a painful demise. And Kelley made the smart move by pulling the plug. Death be proud.

THE BAD: The state of "black film" in America, as defined by the nominations for the NAACP Awards must be pretty bad. Of the five nominees for Best Picture, only The Hurricane is an "appropriate" nominee in my eyes. It's a great story about a man, who happens to be black, helped by a younger man, who also happens to be black, to a free life. Nothing really wrong with The Wood or The Best Man, but what film group, not motivated by race, would ever nominate those films as "Best Picture?" Life, the Eddie Murphy/Martin Lawrence comedy, well, what can I say? Two terrific performers in a truly mediocre (if that's not being too kind) movie. And the fifth nominee is The Matrix, shoehorned into the NAACP Awards by way of Laurence Fishburne and Gloria Foster's great cameo.

Meanwhile, The Best Man gets two nominations in each of the four acting categories. (Was there anyone in the film not nominated?) And none of them are anything less than excellent actors. In fact, none of the acting nominees aren't terrific actors. But Debbi Morgan for eight minutes in The Hurricane? Rosario Dawson for the worthless Light It Up? The great Clarence Williams III for being pretty much a cardboard villain in The General's Daughter? Vanessa Williams for looking crappy in one of her worst performances in Light It Up? Come on! You must overcome.

THE UGLY: The countdown to a new critic -- now apparently two new critics -- at The New York Times is coming near a critical mass. And the sad part is, the more people write about it, the more embarrassing the lack of choices has become. Denby or Ansen seem to be in the lead for role of lead critic. Yawn. Both critics are rarely worth the read in my book. Word has Julie Solomon, Michael Sragow and Elvis Mitchell are in line to possibly be "the young critic." And while I applaud the notion of variety and having two critics who can legitimately maintain equal stature, isn't there any new blood on the planet? When I bombastically threw my hat in the ring months ago, it was pretty much a joke. I don't belong as a critic at The New York Times anymore than I belong as a writer of feminist poetry. But is The New York Times so interested in being the mainstream and not terribly smart that they've thrown out candidates who could actually bring the paper to life in the arts? Oh well, 20 years from now, they can try again.

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY: Six Days In Roswell, the feature documentary about the town of Roswell, New Mexico, will screen at The Santa Fe Film Festival in Santa Fe, New Mexico next week. Screening number one is Saturday, December 11 at 9:30 pm and screening number two is Sunday December 12 at 1:00 pm. For tickets, call 505-471-7370 or check out the Website at www.cinemasantafe.org.

BAD AD WATCH: Well first, when I went looking for a bad ad, I came across "Sean Penn is so incredible!" in The New York Times ad for Sweet & Lowdown, taken from an appearance on "Roger Ebert & The Movies." And, I couldn't be prouder. He is incredible in this film. And, he is perhaps the greatest actor of his generation. I just wish I had said, "absolutely incredible" instead of "so incredible." C'est la vie. Apart from me, the thing that caught my eye was the ad for The End of the Affair. As I wrote above, I am looking forward to finally seeing the new Neil Jordan, as I have anticipated all of his films since Mona Lisa. But then I see Jeanne Wolf, Bonnie Churchill, Jeff Craig and Paul Wunder among regular, but hardly high end critics like Thelma Adams, Dennis Cunningham and Jim Sveida. But then, on top of this motley crew, at the very top of the ad is Ray Pride from New City, who I admire greatly. So, he gives me hope once more. It is a funny thing how the quotes supercede the source. I guess I'll never have the financing to do a study to see if anyone really notices who is raving about all these movies, great, good and terrible. Oh well.

READER OF THE DAY: From PD: "I saw The Green Mile tonight and wanted to share my thoughts. I found it to be a very moving and rewarding film, but not the best of the year. Hanks has played this role before and he is going to turn into Robin Williams soon if he isn't careful. He is just playing a simple and ordinary man. He is good at it, but it is not award worthy. I feel the real attraction is the supporting cast. David Morse, Barry Pepper, Doug Hutchison, and especially Michael Duncan were exceptional. Frank Darabont is also quite brilliant, as is Thomas Newman. I must admit that I prefer The Shawshank Redemption, but I do not agree with complaints that it is too long. It didn't feel long to me and it is a wonderful film. I do not think it is the best movie of the year, and maybe not even my top five, but it is still a great movie. The audience I saw it with were in tears at the end, and I only heard a couple of moans about the length. I was surprised at the turnout though. Free movies usually do really well where I am from. It was only about half full. Even movies that came and went like Mumford had a full house when I saw it. I wonder how this is going to do.

E ME: No worries. I agree. I won't likely have The Green Mile in my Top Five this year. But I really liked the film a lot and the cast is excellent. Don't worry, P.D. $150 million minimum at the box office and a boat full of Oscar® nods. So, are you all ready for a big new movie this weekend or are you still chewing on November's crop?