12 January 2001

THE UGLY: The bloodbath continues at studios and dot coms everywhere. Now comes word that Warner Bros. let The Donners, Richard and Lauren-Shuler, end their tenure at the studio. They’ve been involved with a few small projects for the studio you know, small stuff, like the Lethal Weapon series, Free Willy, You’ve Got Mail, Dave. But Richard Donner hasn’t made a film for the studio since LW4 and Lauren Shuler-Donner’s most recent picture was X-Men for Fox. What have they done for you lately? But they aren’t alone -- Barry Levinson’s Baltimore/Spring Creek Prods. is also gone, as is Bob Newmyer and Jeffrey Silver’s Outlaw Productions. Of course, Barry Levinson’s exit is a little more ironic, as WB’s Alan Horn used to be at Castle Rock, a company known almost exclusively for making films of Levinson’s style and taste. Of course, there’s no point in having a pity party for people who will continue to make movies and make millions. But the scent of blood is in the air in Hollywood. With a recession and a strike on the way, compassionate conservatism is as false a reality as many in this town felt it was coming out of George Bush’s mouth. No compassion here.

THE CHAT: The chat schedule is loaded at Sundance and getting fuller all the time. We’re going to be chatting pretty much every day of the festival at 8 pm EST/5 pm PST/4 pm Sundance Time, and the guests are looking great. Keep an eye out for the whole schedule.

RADIO RADIO: Speaking of loaded, keep an ear out this Saturday. It’s gonna be a madhouse -- a mad house of love -- at KABC 790 in L.A., kabc.com on the web. First, we’ll be talking a little Elvis with TCM’s Tom Brown. Then, it’s all Chocolat, as legendary producer David Brown comes in, perhaps with director Lasse Hallstrom. And who could argue with a call-in from Leslie Caron? But that’s not all!!! In the second hour, we’ll be contending with Gary Oldman, who is coming in to discuss The Contender, both his Oscar-worthy turn in front of his camera and his controversial role in the media after the film’s release. It all starts at 11 am PST on The Movie Show on KABC.

JUST WONDERING: Does anyone have to restrain their gag reflex when McG puts himself in the company of Randal Kleiser, Russ Meyer, and Tony Scott? ("I make movies for the demographic I understand, and that’s Middle America,’’ McG said to Variety. "I like to keep them one part Grease, one part [1960s helmer] Russ Meyer, and one part Top Gun.") For one thing, he’s made movie, not movies. And any one of those three directors would have been sure to make a better Charlie’s Angels than he did. I love this town and those who read too much of their own press.

BAD AD WATCH: This isn’t really bad, but it is bizarre. I don’t know if any of you have ever heard a radio ad for a movie-score Oscar campaign, but I heard one last night for Ennio Morricone’s score for Miramax’s Malèna. Did you know that Morricone has composed more than 300 scores, and has been nominated four times but has never won an Oscar? Thanks to Miramax, now you know! Did you know that people said nice things about this score? Now you know! Very funny, driving down the street, hearing music and then, that voice, "What you just heard is Ennio Morricone’s score for Malèna..." Funky.

READERS OF THE DAY: C3 writes -- "I seriously doubt your math when you wrote, "A videotape may have a six-month life span at a rental store, but a DVD will last at least four or five years on average.

"I have rented two DVDs and both turned out to be useless. Why? Because a previous renter treated them as if they were beer coasters. They were scratched and smudged. They were unplayable in either of my DVD players. I don’t see how Blockbuster or any other store expects to keep happy customers with this most delicate of rental properties. And I’ve had a couple friends who have bought used DVDs from Blockbuster only to return them because they constantly broke down (picture checker-boarded and skipped).

"A videocassette cannot be mishandled to the same degree, because it has a wonderful protective shell around the tape. The genius cabal behind DVD went cheap. The disc should have been sealed inside a case like your plastic computer diskette to insure that casual use cannot damage the plastic. But that would mean less money to the fat cats.

"The industry has this illusion that a DVD is like a tank. It’s more like an inflatable decoy tank."

And this from The B, who wrote in with the defense of Tamra Davis -- "Yeah, I know what you’re saying, her films have been bombs and it’s not in Britney’s best career interest to sign to her, but man, every single movie Davis made has rocked! Really. I mean, not Oscar flicks, but Guncrazy, CB4, Billy Madison, and Half-Baked are all movies I’ll rent over and over again, enjoying each time. Anyway, just standing up for one of the few (maybe only sadly) truly funny female comedy directors out there."

E ME: Tell me somethin' good...