Friday, 11 February 2000

WEEKEND PREVIEW

Hmmm...The Beach, Snow Day and The Tigger Movie...hmmm...which will readers care about?

Well, I guess the answer is clear. If you are under 8, The Tigger Movie wins. If you are under 12, Snow Day reigns. And if you are under 30, The Beach may well bring you joy. Over 30, like me, and you may want to look for the expanding screens of Holy Smoke. And if you wear a raincoat in L.A., you will probably be lined up for the matinee of Sex: The Annabel Chong Story, even though it might make you feel like the sleaze that you are.

So, a weekend for everyone!

The interesting thing about this weekend is The Beach, and I think that we critics are about to get a nice, strong slap in the face. When critics rip a horror movie or a broad comedy, there is the expectation that audiences will look past the critics and decide for themselves based on ads and trailers and such. But The Beach is pretentious enough to make critics think that it's a movie that they can have a say in the future of. So, of course, they have trashed it beyond any reason.

For me, it's one of those great examples of when meeting the filmmaker makes me a better (read: more fair) critic. My feelings about the film were not changed by talking to Danny Boyle at the Maui junket. I think the film is okay, but it fails because it sets up a central issue of whether people are equipped to obtain and live in paradise, and then fails to answer the question because its central characters make silly errors that endanger the haven, not choices that speak to their humanity. However, in speaking to Danny Boyle, it was clear that he intended this. He seemed to feel that each character had an individuated story and that each one needed to play out regardless of the overall theme. And so they do.

In any case, the Leo-bashing is at full steam, giving me that embarrassed-by-my-profession glow that I sometimes get. With the exception of taking a couple of scenes to task, there is nothing about The Beach worthy of evisceration.

I am sorry to say that I haven't seen The Tigger Movie, as Tigger is one of my favorite Disney characters ever. And I am as pleased as can be not to have seen Snow Day, lest I feel compelled to slit my own or Mr. Chase's wrists in a Titus-like bout with selflessness.

And, once again, no Box Office Extra today. I will try to regain my taste for that column by next week for those of you who miss it.

THE GOOD: The Writers Guild of America award nominations came out on Wednesday and, as is so often the case, the group showed some real insight. Of the 10 nominees (5 for Original Screenplay, 5 for Adapted), there is only 1 that I have my doubts about, there are a couple that are pleasant surprises, if mild ones, and there is one that was, at least by me, completely unexpected and glorious to see. The mortal locks seemed to be, in Originals, M. Night Shyamalan, Alan Ball and Charlie Kaufman and, in Adaptations, Michael Mann and Eric Roth, Anthony Minghella and Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor.

(At this point, I'm wondering to myself whether I need to attach the names to the titles of their films, but firstly, I think that if you're reading this, you are hip to who is who and secondly, I think that if you're not, that writers deserve to become as fluidly thought of as directors. So if confused, look them up and commit their bios to memory.)

P.T. Anderson and David O. Russell both seem like easy calls, though they were both living in the land of you-never-know until now. And the thrill of all thrills for me was seeing that October Sky, a movie that I really do love, got a nod for its adapted screenplay by Lewis Colick from Homer Hickam's autobiographical book.

And in the only disconnect with the DGA Award nominations, The Green Mile was not nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, presumably in lieu of the one nomination that I consider a soft one, The Cider House Rules. Ironically, in both cases, I would put the presumed weaknesses of the screenplays at the feet of the director and producers of the films. In Cider House, John Irving has adamantly not said that the movie has been bent out of shape by the romantic story, but it has been. And in Green Mile, Frank Darabont hung himself in terms of praise and awards by making his film too long by about 20 minutes, pushing for many viewers, especially critical ones, the line from intense to pretense.

ALSO GOOD, I THINK: For those of you who were concerned that the Eyes Wide Shut Academy screener wasn't letterboxed, I am told by a fairy inside the WB family that, in fact, Kubrick specifically requested that the video be released in "the full aspect ratio of the camera negative." That seems to mean no letterboxing. But I am no expert on this. (Been away from film school for too long!) The video and DVD will hit the street on March 7.

THE BAD: Why do people keep writing about the idea that Hannibal is being resurrected? It's not all that complex, kids. There is too much cash already in play not to make Hannibal or, for that matter, to wait for Jodie Foster even if she is really passing because she wants to make Flora Plum now while Claire Danes is available. Universal or MGM could, it seems, get off the distribution boat if they wanted, but Dino DeLaurentis is not (and never has been) one to sit on the multi-million investment he has made in Ridley Scott, Anthony Hopkins and the screenplay. Hannibal is happening and has been happening since Hopkins signed on the line which is dotted, make no mistake.

"Ugly Me, Pearl Harbor May Go Nuclear & Charlize Disease in ROTD"