26 June 2000

THE BAD: I keep asking young actors about the social relationship of all their late-teens/early-twenties actors who are making lots of movies and tons of money. And I keep getting told that there really is none. I finally told Mena Suvari this weekend that we really need a new Brat Pack to write about. She just laughed. But it is odd to me. There are maybe 25 kids who are part of this huge wave and who share so much in common that only they are really experiencing and yet, the relationships seem to go as far as the shooting schedules of the movies they are making.

So, I'd like to propose The Y-Knot. It's a media-driven irritant that VH-1 can do specials about in a decade or two that young "superstars" can be a part of and share their experiences and bodily fluids within so that we can all find something about them interesting enough to be worthy of more ink. Come on! It's a great idea. Leo and Tobey Maguire only qualify if one of them actually manages to get Jennifer Love Hewitt into the Men's Room at Sky Bar while the other marries Marley Shelton after a drunken rampage in Vegas. Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe can be the organization's titular heads. Especially when the videotape of Reese giving birth hits the Internet. (It's a new generation, folks!)

The Y-Knot. I can see the covers now.

THE UGLY: Well, the first big UGLY is my comment about Indiana Jones 5 in the weekend column. The next one, if it ever actually happens, will be number 4. However, if either Yoda or Danny Glover joins Harrison Ford for Indy 4, I think it should be called Indy IV and a half.

Also, a few of you have asked about my opinion of SAG going after Shaq O'Neal for doing an "I'm going to Disneyland" ad after winning the world championship. What I think is that SAG knows that they are losing the strike and that more and more people are breaking ranks and signing waivers every day and that this was a way of getting publicity for the cause. As for Shaq, I doubt he thought much about the strike, but even if he did, I imagine that the honor of that spot was one of the many joys of finally winning a championship and that he was thrilled to be able to part of that tradition.

BAD AD WATCH: Actually, it's as good as this week. I really like the print ad that Universal is doing for The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. There are a few photos of human co-stars and Rocky and Bullwinkle bursting through the page of editorial to get in your face. But the part I love is that all the editorial printing, set up to look just like whatever paper and section the movie is advertising in, says, "If you are reading this print, you are not looking at this ad." Over and over again in all kinds of sizes and type faces, even in what seem to be captions for the photos of the live-action talent. Very clever.

Also very clever was a reader who picked up on the fact that in the ads for Big Momma's House, Martin Lawrence had a gun in his hand when the campaign started and now, he has a rolling pin in his hand. In trying to make sure that my memory, which seemed to jibe with his, was right, I went through a lot of old newspaper that's waiting to be thrown out. And I couldn't find the image. Then, I looked at the box that Fox sent me my Big Momma bra in and lo and behold, there was the gun. I will ask the folks at Fox today what the story is and I'll report back on it later this week.

READER OF THE DAY: TwoJ writes: "Reading the Hot Button and noticed the Spider-Man versus Green Lantern stuff. The responsibility line is in Green lantern as well. I don't have dates or anything like that. But I once owned the original series of Green Lantern comics, Emerald Dawn.

Also, it's possible that these phrases came up independently within DC Comics and Marvel, but I doubt it. With such competition between the 2, its more likely it was co-opted. It doesn't the answer the question of which was first though. I'd say that isn't a big deal now because most people know it from Spider-Man comics and TV series from the 80's. Green Lantern just never got the same TV love that Spidey did I guess."

And this from PG-Not 13, "I think that one of the reasons the re-release of Fantasia may have failed is where it is playing. For example, in Santa Monica it is playing at the Laemmle 4-plex. This is a decidedly inferior theatre compared to the AMC where the Disney family fare usually plays. I have always believe that the theatre and its location is just as important if not more than the amount of theatres."

E ME: What do you think? Are there theaters that you just don't want to go to in your towns? And did you go see Irene? What did you think? What about Chicken Run? Everyone seems to love that one.