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• ••<br />
,„EBUS.NESS««««'«^°^<br />
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BULL'S-EYEl<br />
DISNEY GETS BACK'<br />
ON TARGET WITH<br />
HERCULES<br />
EUROP<br />
'M<br />
X<br />
T\ND: INSIDE THE NEW GERMAN CINEMA<br />
• A HISTORY OF IRISH MULTIPLICITY<br />
• DOING THE FRANCO-U.S. SHUFFLE I<br />
• HOLLAND'S TUSCHINSKI THEATER
THE CHRISTIE REFERENCE CONSOLE<br />
IS THE PROVEN LIGHT SOURCE.<br />
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COrLECTIONS
DEPARTMENTS<br />
JULY, 1997 VOL. 133 HO. 7<br />
UNQUOTE: Understanding the difference between celebrity and heroism<br />
is good for kids today—iWXi MUSKER<br />
SPECIAL REPORT: GIANTS OF EUROPEAN EXHIBITION<br />
Our annual in-depth look at European exhibition, Including our FIRST<br />
ANNUAL GIANTS OF EUROPEAN EXHIBITION directory with FULL<br />
CORPORATE ROSTERS for 20 TOP EUROPEAN COMPANIES!<br />
PART I: JULY CONTENTS<br />
1 2 COVER: DISNEY'S "HERCULES" By Joseph McBride<br />
Inside Disney's "HERCULES," an instant animated classic!<br />
18 THE BIG PICTURE: UNLIMITED ANIMATION By Ray Greene<br />
Remembering the golden era of UFA animation.<br />
20 SNEAK PREVIEW: "EVENT HORIZON" By Bridget Byrne<br />
Actress Kathleen Quinlan on Paramount's sci-fi extravaganza.<br />
22 SNEAK PREVIEW: "MR. MAGOO" By Wade Major<br />
Hong Kong action director Stanley Tong's live-action "Mr. Magoo."<br />
32 THE 1 997 BOXOFFICE PROMO GUIDE By Christine James<br />
Movie tie-in promotions coming this summer.<br />
34 INTERNATIONAL PROFILE: BIG IN JAPAN By Christine James<br />
Kobe's MOVIX Rokko kicks off Cinemark's pact with Shochiku.<br />
36 INTERNATIONAL PROFILE: PLEX-MEX By Jose Martinez<br />
With 100 screens in two years, Cinemex heats up Mexico's market.<br />
74 SPECIAL REPORT: CINEMA SOUND 0y John Allen<br />
"If They Knew What You Were Missing," part two.<br />
PART II: EUROPE '97<br />
10<br />
40<br />
44<br />
50<br />
52<br />
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58<br />
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AMSTERDAM: PATHE'S TUSCHINSKI THEATER By Ray Greene<br />
Going to Amsterdam's Cinema Expo this summer? Here's a<br />
preliminary tour of one of the finest theatres in Europe.<br />
ITALY: CECCHI GORI GOES HOLLYWOOD By Pat Kramer<br />
The Italian circuit fights prevailing trends with an American<br />
beachhead in Beverly Hills.<br />
GERMANY: DOMESTIC PRODUCTION TRENDS ByPkayKrieg<br />
German films stage a comeback in the homeland.<br />
MARKET OVERVIEW: EUROPE AT A GLANCE By Melissa Morrison<br />
Market by market breakdowns of European exhibition players!<br />
EXCLUSIVE! 1997 GIANTS OF EUROPEAN EXHIBITION DIRECTORY<br />
FULL CORPORATE ROSTERS and contact info on 20 of<br />
Europe's biggest circuits! PLUS:Trade organizations.<br />
FRANCE: PAS DE DEUX By Karen Achenbach<br />
French film luminaries on troubled French/U.S. product relations.<br />
CINEMA EXPO '97 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS<br />
EXPO PROFILE: EXHIBITOR OF THE YEAR ALBERT BERT<br />
EXPO PROFILE: DISTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR JIM GIANDPULOS<br />
EXPO PROFILE: CREATIVE ACHIEVEMENT AWARDEE PETER SCHNEIDER<br />
EXPO PROFILE: FILMMAKER OF THE YEAR LUC BESSON<br />
IRELAND: MULTIPLEX MULTIPLICITY By TonyDeane<br />
A brief history of Irish exhibition, from the birth of the Republic to<br />
1997. PLUS; Meet Albert Kelly, Irish Exhibition's local hero.<br />
EAST EUROPE: BIZ 101 By Norm Schneider<br />
Exhibition sound entrepreneur Norm Schneider of SMART Theatre<br />
Systems on doing business in the former Soviet bloc,<br />
EUROPEAN INDIE SHOWCASE: BERLIN'S SPUTNIK By Melissa Morrison<br />
The Sputnik Theatre used to be up against the (Berlin) wall.<br />
Today, it's a living symbol of German re-unification.<br />
BOXOFFICE (ISSN 0006-8527). Published monthly by RLD Communications, Inc., 203 N. Wabash<br />
Ave., Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60601 . Subscriptions: $30 per y«ar. Canada and Mexico: $40; airmail:<br />
$80 Overseas subscriptkms (all airmail): $80. Periodical poetage paid at Chicago, IL. and additional<br />
mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Boxomce, 725 South Wells St., 4th Floor,<br />
Chicago, IL 60607.<br />
O Copyright 1997 RLD Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction In whole or pari<br />
wittx>ul permission is prohibited.
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HOLLYWOOD<br />
UPDATES<br />
Three lawsuits have been filed against the<br />
filmmakers of TriStar's "Apt Pupil" for allegedly<br />
filming minors as young as 1 4 in the nude<br />
without prior notification or parental consent.<br />
Devin St. Albin, David Stocl
'1I^
8 BrixomcE<br />
HOLLYWOOD<br />
REPORT<br />
NICOLAS CAGE<br />
"Detective" Find<br />
WILL SMITH<br />
"Wild" Man<br />
LAUREN HOLLY<br />
Something "New"<br />
"WHAT DREAMS MAY<br />
COME" Robin Williams will<br />
headline this romantic drama<br />
about a man who dies but<br />
whose spirit remains earthbound,<br />
as he can't bear the<br />
thought of leaving his wife. His<br />
wife is then trapped in Hell, and<br />
Williams' character must team<br />
with a tracker ("Jerry Maguire's"<br />
Cuba Gooding Jr.) to save her.<br />
Vincent Ward {"Map of the<br />
Human Heart") will helm; Ron<br />
Bass ("The Joy Luck Club")<br />
scripts. (Distribution to be set)<br />
"IT'S A DOG'S LIFE" Chris Farley<br />
("Beverly Hills Ninja") will<br />
star in this fantasy/comedy<br />
about household pets magically<br />
transformed into human beings.<br />
As a pup-turned-person, Farley<br />
must win over the lady of the<br />
house before she is seduced by<br />
a transmogrified pet snake (possibly<br />
to be played by Alec Baldwin).<br />
(Warner Bros.)<br />
"DEFECTIVE DETECTIVE"<br />
Terry Gilliam ("12 Monkeys")<br />
will direct Nicolas Cage ("Con<br />
Air") in this comedy/drama<br />
whose plot is in the vein of<br />
Gilliam's 1981 film "Time Bandits."<br />
Cage will play a detective<br />
who's searching for a lost girl in<br />
New York and ends up on a<br />
fantastic adventure. Gilliam coscripts<br />
with Richard LaGravenese,<br />
his "The Fisher King"<br />
collaborator. (Universal)<br />
"BELOVED" TV talk show host<br />
Oprah Winfrey ("The Color Purple")<br />
returns to the silver screen<br />
alongside Thandie Newton<br />
("Gridlock'd") in this period<br />
drama about a slave haunted by<br />
the ghost of the baby daughter<br />
she'd killed years before. Jonathan<br />
Demme ("Philadelphia") is<br />
in talks to helm. This adaptation<br />
of Toni Morrison's novel will be<br />
produced through Winfrey's<br />
Harpo Prods. (Buena Vista)<br />
"WILD, WILD WEST" This adaptation<br />
of the '60s TV series will<br />
reteam "Men In Black" star Will<br />
Smith and "MIB" director Barry<br />
Sonnenfeld. Smith will play<br />
James T. West (originally portrayed<br />
by Robert Conrad).<br />
Johnny Depp and George<br />
Clooney are possible contenders<br />
for the part of sidekick Artemus<br />
Cordon. (Warner Bros.)<br />
NOTHING<br />
"LONG TIME,<br />
NEW" A small-town woman<br />
("A Smile Like Yours'" Lauren<br />
Holly) must find the courage to<br />
forget her past and move forward<br />
with her life in this drama<br />
scripted and directed by Edward<br />
Burns ("She's the One"), who<br />
also co-stars. (Gramercy)<br />
"SIMPLE SIMON" In this drama<br />
helmed by Harold Becker ("City<br />
Hall"), Bruce Willis will play an<br />
FBI agent on the run from the<br />
government. With him is an autistic<br />
boy who has inadvertently<br />
broken into secret databases.<br />
Alec Baldwin ("Ghosts of Mississippi"),<br />
who worked with Becker<br />
for 1993's "Malice," co-stars as<br />
their nemesis. (Universal)<br />
"DOGMA" Kevin Smith ("Chasing<br />
Amy") next tells the story of a<br />
woman chosen by renegade angels<br />
to save humanity. Smith will<br />
play a role alongside "Chasing<br />
Amy" stars Ben Affleck and Joey<br />
Lauren Adams. Jason Scott Lee<br />
("Jungle Book") is in talks to play<br />
the angel of death. (Miramax)<br />
"IN TOO DEEP" In this black<br />
comedy, a man (not yet cast)<br />
learns his best friend ("Inventing<br />
the Abbotts'" Joaquin Phoenix) is<br />
sleeping with his wife ("An Awfully<br />
Big Adventure's" Georgina<br />
Gates). He then plots to fake his<br />
own death and frame the friend<br />
for murder. Vince Vaughn<br />
("Swingers") and Janeane Garofalo<br />
("Romy & Michele's High<br />
School Reunion") co-star. David<br />
Dobkin will direct. (Gramercy)<br />
"KNOCK OFF" Jean-Claude<br />
Van Damme and director Tsui<br />
Hark, who joined for "Double<br />
Team," reteam in this terrorist<br />
actioner scripted by Steven de<br />
Souza ("Die Hard"). Leia<br />
Rochon ("Waiting to Exhale")<br />
will play a CIA operative who<br />
helps him in his plan to take<br />
down the terrorist conspiracy.<br />
(Distribution to be set)<br />
"TARZAN AND JANE" The<br />
Edgar Rice Burroughs character<br />
leaves civilization to return to<br />
Africa to save his homeland.<br />
Casper Van Dien ("Starship<br />
Troopers") will play the famed<br />
jungle man, and jane March<br />
("Colorof Night") will play Jane.<br />
(Distribution to be set)<br />
"BODY COUNT" A "Jade" reteaming,<br />
Linda Fiorentino and<br />
David Caruso will star in this film<br />
about an art heist gone wrong.<br />
Co-starring are Ving Rhames<br />
("Rosewood"), Forest Whitaker<br />
("Species"), John Leguizamo<br />
("The Pest") and Donnie<br />
Wahlberg ("Ransom"). Robert<br />
Spruill ("The Squeeze") will<br />
helm. (Distribution is to be set)<br />
"BEGIN THE BEGUINE" Elijah<br />
Wood ("Flipper") and Anna<br />
Paquin ("Fly Away Home") will<br />
star in this coming-of-age love<br />
story scripted by Raymond De<br />
Felitta ("Cafe Society"). (Distribution<br />
to be set)<br />
"KISS OR KILL" Down Under<br />
helmer Bill Bennett ("Two If By<br />
Sea") will direct "Love and Other<br />
Catastrophes'" Frances O'Connor<br />
and Matt Day in this dramatic<br />
thriller about a couple running<br />
from police across Australia's<br />
Nullarbor desert. When a series<br />
of murders occur along their<br />
route, each suspects the other.<br />
Bennett also scripts and produces.<br />
(Distribution to be set)<br />
"THE RISE AND FALL OF LIT-<br />
TLE VOICE" This adaptation of<br />
the hit British play will star<br />
"Trainspotting's" Ewan McGregor<br />
and Jane Horrocks ("Life Is<br />
Sweet"). Horrocks also starred<br />
in the original play in Lancashire.<br />
Sam Mendes directs. (Distribution<br />
to be set)<br />
"THE ROAD TO GRACE-<br />
LAND" Jonathon Schaech<br />
("That Thing You Do!") will play<br />
a man whose life is shattered<br />
when his wife is killed in a car<br />
accident, but he's helped<br />
through this trying time by a<br />
man (Harvey Keitel) who he<br />
thinks is Elvis Presley. Bridget<br />
Fonda is in talks to play Marilyn<br />
Monroe. David Winkler, son of<br />
director/producer Irwin Winkler<br />
("The Net"), will direct and<br />
script. (Distribution to be set)<br />
"THE FAMILY BLOOM" In this<br />
drama, Penelope Ann Miller<br />
("The Shadow") will play a<br />
woman who gives up her own<br />
life to take care of her widowed<br />
brother and his children. But that<br />
life to which she's become accustomed<br />
falls apart when the<br />
brother decides to remarry. Newcomer<br />
Craig Saavedra directs;<br />
Eric Tuchman ("Anastasia")<br />
scripts. (Distribution to be set)<br />
ET CETERA: "Volcano's" Anne<br />
Heche has been cast opposite<br />
Harrison Ford in Buena Vista's<br />
romantic comedy "6 Days, 7<br />
Nights". ..Harry Connick Jr. will<br />
take his first romantic lead in<br />
Fox's "Hope Floats," which<br />
stars Sandra Bullock and is<br />
being helmed by Forest Whitaker<br />
("Waiting to Exhale"). ..Gena<br />
Rowlands, Gillian Anderson<br />
and Harry Dean Stanton have<br />
joined Sharon Stone in<br />
Miramax's "Freak the Mighty"<br />
...Chris Columbus ("Nine<br />
Months") will direct Julia Roberts<br />
and Susan Sarandon in<br />
TriStar's "Stepmom," about a<br />
dying woman who befriends<br />
her husband's new girlfriend...<br />
Lending their voices to Fox's<br />
Eddie Murphy starrer "Dr.<br />
Dollttle" are Ving Rhames as a<br />
tiger, Chris Rock as a guinea pig,<br />
John Leguizamo as a rat and<br />
Paul Reubens as a raccoon.
"^ur projected income.<br />
1^<br />
Thousands of dollars,<br />
guaranteed<br />
"We guarantee 45 screens $81,000 a year!"<br />
BASED ON 9, FIVE-SCREEN THEATRES.<br />
"We guarantee 20 screens $40,000 a year!"<br />
BASED ON 5, FOUR-SCREEN THEATRES.<br />
"We guarantee 300 screens $540,000 a year!"<br />
BASED ON 60, FIVE-SCREEN THEATRES.<br />
'We guarantee 1 screen $5,000 a year!"<br />
BASED ON 1, ONE-SCREEN THEATRE.<br />
Call us toll free today to find out hovv^ much you could<br />
be making with Unique Screen Ad Productions:<br />
1-800-3584818<br />
Guaranteed. We guarantee you'll make the money we promise by running<br />
our screen ads. That's all. We sell and produce the ads. We pay for all the<br />
equipment and install it. We guarantee how much we pay our theatre<br />
owners before anyone signs on the dotted line. All you do is push a<br />
button to run our localized, community-focused screen ads before each<br />
movie and collect your checks. Indoor theatres only.<br />
UNIQUE SCREEN AD PRODUCTIONS<br />
P.O. Box 2165 • St. Cloud, MN 56302-2165 • 1-800-358-1818 • Fax:320-202-2916 • www.mediaproinc.com/usa.html<br />
Response No. 473
10 BOXOfKICE<br />
EXPO EXTRA: Amsterdam<br />
BEST BET: THE PATHE<br />
TUSCHINSKI THEA TER<br />
Going to Cinema Expo '97? Treat Yourself to an<br />
Afternoon at Amsterdam's Finest Movie Palace<br />
by Ray Greene<br />
INTERIOR DECO-RATING: This plush, luxuriant cx>ncessions area in Amsterdam's Tuschinski Theater<br />
demonstrates the unique design concepts Abram Tuschinski and his designers brought to life.<br />
Amsterdam<br />
is an easy city to fall in love<br />
with. Like many modem European cities<br />
with a long history extending back<br />
to a pre-industrial era, it is comfortably configured<br />
for those who like a brisk walk, and that<br />
walk is made all the more satisfying by a<br />
gorgeous architectural landscape that makes<br />
almost every building, from the extraordinarily<br />
grand Royal Palace in Dam Square to the<br />
random pub or restaurant aniund any given<br />
comer, a feast for the eyes, and just as often a<br />
feast for the mind.<br />
The "feast for the eyes" aspect of Amsterdam<br />
is easy to discern—every street comer has<br />
its own sUuctural ofl'ering to make to the attentive<br />
visitor, and the famed canals which bind<br />
it all together are not only a marveloas way to<br />
get a quick, thumbnail tour of the whole local<br />
topography, they more than live up to their<br />
reputation for tranquil beauty and splendor.<br />
Unlike, for example, most American places of<br />
interest, Amsterdam has the virtue of being a<br />
place where almost nothing has been fabricated<br />
for the tourist's benefit. The canals, for<br />
all the tour boats plying their waters, are a real<br />
and thriving |>art of the economic and social<br />
life of the city. The many museums are a<br />
cultural shrine to Ami;terdam's (and Europe's)<br />
rich artistic tradition—the Dutch are just good<br />
enough to share them with you, too. From the<br />
notorious "red light" district to the shopping<br />
areas to the local bars and restaurants, the<br />
"tourist" elements which greet a visitor are not<br />
separated from the way the natives lead their<br />
lives, and there's an extra thrill in knowing that,<br />
with every experience had in Amsterdam, one<br />
is<br />
shoulder to shoulder with average people,<br />
going about the business of their daily lives.<br />
How<br />
Amsterdam also manages to be a<br />
"feast for the mind" is well demonstrated,<br />
especially for the theatre professional,<br />
by the splendor of what may be its<br />
grandest commercial building: the historic<br />
Tuschinski Theater, the Dutch flagship of the<br />
Pathe circuit and the largest cinema in all of<br />
Amsterdam. Currently celebrating its 76th<br />
year of operation, the Tuschinski is a living<br />
example of a uniquely European approach to<br />
the "movie palace" architecture that flourished<br />
in a brassier and more hyperbolic form across<br />
the Atlantic in the U.S.A. during the same<br />
period as the Tuschinski's construction. Where<br />
a definitive American palace of the '20s like<br />
Sid Grauman's Hollywood-based Chinese<br />
Theatre can be read as a reflection of America's<br />
fascination with the grandiose, tlie Tuschinski<br />
offers a more stately vision of luxuriousness.<br />
Lush hardwood surfaces in a variety of<br />
wtxxlfaces are perhaps the most defining architectural<br />
feature of this wonderful building—one<br />
of the few examples of architecture<br />
from Amsterdam's immediate post-WWI era<br />
to have survived with both exterior and interior<br />
intact. Where an exhibitor like Sid Grauman<br />
used his theaUies to define Hollywood chutzpah<br />
and showmanship, it could be argued that<br />
Abram Tuschinski, the Polish exhibitor who
.lulv. 1997 11<br />
LOOK MA—NO HANDS!: The seemingly support-less twin balconies of the Tuschinski's main auditorium, created to<br />
ensure excellent sightlines for all patrons, are an architectural demonstration ofAbram Tuschinski's egalitarian outlook.<br />
built the Dutch theatre that bears his name, was<br />
in part a philosophical reflection of the democratization<br />
movement that swept through Europe<br />
after the downfall of the German Kaiser<br />
and Russia's Czar.<br />
Tuschinski's quite noble stated aim in building<br />
the Tuschinski was to bring the luxury of<br />
the upper classes to within easy reach of the<br />
common man, and virtually every design feature<br />
of the theatre he left behind triumphantly<br />
proclaims the success of his venture. The Art<br />
Deco influence of which the wealthier classes<br />
were so enamored during the 1920s is prevalent—so<br />
much so that the Tuschinski is often<br />
cited as a prime example of that architectural<br />
school. Deco fans will love the clean, rounded<br />
lines of the Tuschinski's hundreds of light<br />
fixtures, the sheer marbleized surfaces of its<br />
concessions counter spaces and its imposing,<br />
slighdy rococo stairwells and balustrades.<br />
B<br />
ut though the Deco school is amply and<br />
gorgeously represented throughout the<br />
Tuschinski's grand design, Tuschinski<br />
and his architects took a more playful and<br />
eclectic approach to their task in creating the<br />
theatre. There is a Mighty Wurlitzer organ<br />
dating back to the '20s made and shipped to<br />
the house from the Wurlitzer plant in Tonawanda,<br />
U.S.A. which is used today mainly for<br />
concerts and which is considered such a priceless<br />
national treasure that it is actually protected<br />
by government statute. There's a touch<br />
of Sid Grauman's taste for the exotic in the<br />
theatre's many bos reliefmurals and its sculptures,<br />
most of which are Far Eastem in influence,<br />
some even resembling the work of the<br />
pre- and early-Christian Arab icon artists.<br />
Uniquely Dutch motifs are also present<br />
throughout the theatre, reflecting two discrete<br />
architectural movements: the "Jugendstil,"<br />
which is an ancient building approach, and the<br />
more modem Amsterdam school, derived in<br />
part from some of the theories on ftinctionalism<br />
of the Bauhaus group.<br />
Aside from beautiful pine and mahogany<br />
flooring, virtually every covered inch of the<br />
Tuschinski is swathed in specially-created<br />
hand-woven Persian carpets, created according<br />
to a unique design scheme which enhances<br />
and unifies the Middle Eiastem with the Art<br />
Deco components of the theatre's grand style.<br />
An<br />
In many ways it's the floor coverings<br />
which serve to bridge the<br />
dilTering visual approaches manifested<br />
by the Tuschinski's architecture—the<br />
place where<br />
divergent influences meet, mingle<br />
and give birth to the new.<br />
Ifthere is any one feature ofthe<br />
Tuschinski which perhaps best<br />
embodies the democratic spirit of<br />
Abram Tuschinski's original<br />
ideal, it is the relationship of its<br />
two main balconies to the largest<br />
of the Tuschinski's six auditoriums.<br />
Here, where the attractions<br />
which would draw audience's to<br />
the house would be displayed,<br />
Tuschinski and his builders<br />
struggled to ensure that virtually<br />
every moviegoer's experience<br />
would be identical, and of the<br />
highest order.<br />
Sighthnes were the principal<br />
problem in designing the ultimate<br />
viewing place. What<br />
Tuschinski and his collaborators<br />
came up with was a stunning and<br />
unheard of design allowing for<br />
two enormous balconies spanning<br />
the entire rear section of the<br />
main auditorium to hang in the air<br />
without the use of even a single<br />
column for support. It's a breathtaking<br />
sight, and little short of<br />
miraculous given the building<br />
materials of the day; in their successful<br />
quest to ensure that every<br />
seat in the Tuschinski had a clear<br />
view of the screen, Tuschinski's<br />
team created an architectural<br />
miracle that seems to defy gravity.<br />
While the entire theatre is<br />
filled with inspired touches, the<br />
main auditorium is, appropriately<br />
enough, the cuhnination.<br />
m.sterdam is a city of wonders, many of<br />
which—from the Van Gogh Museum<br />
Uo I the Anne Frankhuis to the<br />
Rijksmuseum—are justiy world-famous. The<br />
beauty of its cinematic wonders is by no means<br />
Umited to the Tuschinski—there are many fine<br />
theatres in and about the city proper, a wide<br />
range of which are within easy walking distance<br />
of Dam Square. But for anyone who<br />
loves the architectural possibilities inherent in<br />
the moviehouse and who is looking for something<br />
special to do while at the Cinema Expo<br />
this year, you could do worse than to spend an<br />
afternoon at the Tuschinski. And while you're<br />
at it, take in a movie. After all, when it's all said<br />
and done, that's really what it's all about. |H<br />
75-mirmte guided tours of the Tuschinski<br />
Theater are available during the months of<br />
July and August every Sunday and Monday<br />
morning at 10:30. Groups are welcome year<br />
round, but should apply in writingfor a reservation<br />
at least one week in advance. For tour<br />
info (in Amsterdam): 020-623-1510. Fax: 020-<br />
625-3199.
kV/\I.*L-t/'K.*<br />
Cover<br />
;v*Sfea^'<br />
DISNEY ANIMATION Gets Back on Track With "HERCULES,"<br />
an Animated Epic for tlie Gods by Joseph McBride<br />
the relatively lukewarm public reception for Disney's last<br />
While<br />
animated feature, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," perhaps<br />
stemmed in part from the liberties it took with its classic Victor<br />
Hugo text, Disney is not backpedaling into reverence with its new<br />
animated film, "Hercules." The studio's brashly irreverent take on the<br />
classical Greek legend is satirical and anachronistic, replete with contemporary<br />
gags about f)op culture and the commercialization of heroism.<br />
That hip comedic approach is the trademark of writer/<br />
director/producers John Musker and Ron Clements, whose previous<br />
Disney features have included 'The Great Mouse Detective," "The<br />
Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin."<br />
Following the triumphant release of "Aladdin" in 1992, Disney held<br />
brainstorming sessions to help Musker and Clements choose their next<br />
project. In recent years, with such animated films as "The Lion King,"<br />
"Aladdin" and "Pocahontas," the studio has been expanding its cultural<br />
horizons beyond its traditional reliance on European fairy tales. Currently<br />
in the works are such animated features as<br />
'Tarzan"; "Mulan" (formerly "The Legend of Fa<br />
Mulan"), set in China; and "Children ofthe Sun,"<br />
which takes place in Peru. Greek mythology<br />
seemed an exciting stylistic and narrative option<br />
for Disney's 35th full-length animated feature.<br />
"Aside from the 'Pastoral' sequence in 'Fantasia,'<br />
Disney has generally avoided dealing widi classical<br />
mythology," Clements says. "But for an<br />
artist it's fun to do different things. Mythology<br />
seems a bigger canvas, dealing with bigger issues.<br />
"We were considering 'The Odyssey.' It<br />
scared us a little bit—it seemed too sacred, not<br />
something we could have fun with. Hercules was<br />
the Capra hero of his time, the common-man<br />
hero, a meat-and-potatoes kind of hero."<br />
Sharing a disdain for the starchy movie conventions<br />
of sword-and-sandal epics, the directors<br />
had no desire to treat Hercules as the stodgy,<br />
standard-issue superhero familiar from the 1959<br />
Steve Reeves movie "Hercules" or the current<br />
live-action TV series "Hercules: The Legendary<br />
Journeys." They decided to "adopt a humorous<br />
tone" toward their title character because "anachronistic humor would<br />
give more of an entry into the film," Mu.sker explains.<br />
Not only would a more modem approach to Hercules appeal to<br />
animation's youthful target audience, but it was also a natural fit for<br />
the two filmmakers, whose work always has been replete with<br />
jocular references to other movies and pop-cultural artifacts. "We're<br />
trying to make movies for ourselves first and foremost," Musker<br />
admits. "We're our own audience."<br />
Purists might object to the film's downplaying orjettisoning of some<br />
"In becoming<br />
sort of the<br />
Michael Jordan<br />
of his day,<br />
Hercules learns<br />
there is<br />
of the elements of cla.ssical mythology, including such venerable standbys<br />
as the Twelve Labors of Hercules. And, in line with Disney's<br />
always-conservative approach to touchy sexual issues, Hercules is<br />
no longer the illegitimate son of a god (Zeus) and a human mother<br />
(Hera). Hera has been elevated to goddess status in the movie, and<br />
Hercules's half-human nature now results from a magical potion<br />
imperfectly administered by minions of the villainous Hades, Lord<br />
of the Underworld.<br />
But Musker and Clements (along with co-writers Bob Shaw, Don<br />
McEnery and Irene Mecchi) have used those narrative metamorphoses<br />
as the springboard for much of the film's drama and advenUire, with the<br />
youthful Hercules growing up conflicted about his identity and determined<br />
to prove himself a "true hero" in the eyes of both his fellow<br />
Greeks and his Olympian father. Tate Donovan ("Eiquinox") does the<br />
voice of the young-adult Hercules; Joshua Keaton and Roger Bart<br />
provide the character's adolescent speaking and singing voices.<br />
more<br />
to being a hero<br />
than being an<br />
action hero."<br />
— John Musker<br />
Uescribing Hercules as "Jimmy Stewart in<br />
the body of Arnold Schwarzenegger,"<br />
Clements says the film has a strong Frank<br />
Capra influence diroughout both in plot and<br />
characterizations. On a bulletin board in the<br />
filmmakers' production office, the storylines of<br />
such Capra classics as "Mr. Deeds Goes to<br />
Town," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and<br />
"Meet John Doe" are prominently displayed on<br />
index cards as aide-memoire.<br />
Like the naive young senator so memorably<br />
played by Stewart in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,"<br />
Disney's "Hercules" is an idealistic<br />
country boy who ventures into the big city (in<br />
this case Thebes, aka "The Big Olive") and finds<br />
himself surrounded by voracious, worldly-wise<br />
cynics. Eventually, as in a Capra movie, idealism<br />
narrowly triumphs over the forces of darkness.<br />
"All the former cynics," Musker says, "become<br />
rallying people" to help Hercules prove his<br />
heroism. Among them is the gnomish satyr<br />
Philoctetes (voiced by Danny DeVito), an athletic<br />
trainer whose f)ersonality the directors describe<br />
as part William Demarest part Burgess Meredith via "Rocky."<br />
The film's heroine. Megara is modeled after the characters played<br />
by Jean Arthur and Barbara Stanwyck in the Capra classics. A cynical,<br />
fast-talking city dame who's been kicked around, Meg serves as Hades'<br />
moll until she rediscovers her romantic idealism under the purifying<br />
influence of the good-hearted hero she has set out to exploit and betray.<br />
This brassy, experienced heroine breaks the wholesome mold of<br />
Disney's animated leading ladies, even though she has the voice of<br />
Su.san Egan, a Tony nominee on Broadway for playing Belle in the stage<br />
version of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast."<br />
THE BOXOFFICE<br />
INTERVIEW<br />
STRENGTH
u n< i\ # II. 1. t/'L'<br />
a<br />
Qjmposer Alan Menken, the eight-time<br />
Oscar winner whose Disney credits have included<br />
"Beauty and the Beast," "The Hunchback<br />
of Notre Dame," "The Little Mermaid"<br />
and "Aladdin," says Egan brought a "wonderful<br />
wry quality" to the role of Meg. "She's<br />
tough and yet vulnerable." Menken's coUabothing<br />
in this show has a twist Nothing is quite<br />
straight on, except for the emotions."<br />
Danny DeVito's big musical number, "One<br />
Last Hope," is played as a flamboyant pastiche<br />
of vaudeville and Broadway show tunes.<br />
Menken urged him to "think Jimmy Durante."<br />
But, recalls the composer, DeVito "didn't do<br />
Hercules"<br />
also pokes sly, self-referential<br />
fun at Disney merchandising tie-ins by<br />
showcasing "Hercules Stores" peddling<br />
hero-worshipping souvenir products, including<br />
such items as vases featuring Here's<br />
valiant visage. There's a certain eternal verity<br />
to such gags, the filmmakers believe, because<br />
LABORERS OF "HERCULES": (left to right) Helmers Ron Clements and John Musker recently signed exclusive pacts with Disney:<br />
Tate Donovan takes inspiration from a likeness of the film's hero; and James Woods gets down as the god Hades.<br />
rator on "Hercules" was lyricist David Zippel,<br />
a Tony winner for "City of Angels" and a<br />
newcomer to Disney animation.<br />
Working with Musker and Clements is "a<br />
riot," Menken says, "because each song becomes<br />
a standout song. You have less of the<br />
kinds of songs that are built<br />
in and forwarding plot in a<br />
compUcated way. The songs<br />
they like me to write and that<br />
make them really fun are<br />
production numbers, comedy<br />
numbers, and heavily<br />
stylized numbers. 'Hercules'<br />
is just so funny, so fastpaced,<br />
so entertaining."<br />
of the most daring<br />
Oneaspects of "Hercules"<br />
is its incorporation of<br />
African-American<br />
musical<br />
idioms to convey hope, idealism<br />
and soulfulness, a suggestion<br />
by the directors that<br />
Menken and Zippel eagerly<br />
embraced. The five Muses<br />
making up the film's Greek<br />
chorus—Calliope,<br />
Thalia,<br />
Clio, Meljxjmene and Terpsichore,<br />
sung by Lillias<br />
White, Vaneese Thomas,<br />
Cheryl Freeman, LaChanze<br />
and Roz Ryan—v(x;alize in<br />
a style Menken describes as<br />
"sort of New Orieans funk," a blend of gospel<br />
with rhythm and blues.<br />
That element was added to give the film "a<br />
styli.stic twist that you wouldn't normally expect"<br />
says lyricist Zippel. "Becaase cvery-<br />
Jimmy Durante. It sounded like Danny DeVito<br />
singing, and it really worked."<br />
Another example of the film's incessant<br />
stream of showbiz in-jokery is James Woods'<br />
motor-mouthed portrayal of Hades as what<br />
Clements calls "the hippest villain we've ever<br />
HERC" JERK: Hades is a blue-haired fast talker with teeth as sharp as a talent agent<br />
had, a Hollywood-agent type of personality.<br />
When [fonner agent) Michael Ovitz was here<br />
|as president of the Walt Disney Co. until his<br />
departure last December], we couldn't say that.<br />
Now wc can."<br />
the Greek gods filled a function in their society<br />
much like that now performed by movie stars<br />
or the British royal family in today's mediasaturated<br />
culture.<br />
By offering this "gende parody" of the machinery<br />
by which heroes are created, Musker<br />
and Clements have a lowkey<br />
moral message in mind<br />
for the young among their<br />
family audiences. "In becoming<br />
sort of the Michael<br />
Jordan of his day, Hercules<br />
learns there is more to being<br />
a hero than being an action<br />
hero," Musker says. "Understanding<br />
the difference<br />
between celebrityhood and<br />
genuine heroism is good for<br />
kids today."<br />
The movie's bustling city<br />
of Thebes, beset by myriad<br />
nauiral disasters, is meant to<br />
evoke contemporary New<br />
York or Los Angeles—<br />
plijce in which, as Clements<br />
puts it, "they need a hero but<br />
ihey don't believe in heroes.<br />
I lercules finally attains heroism<br />
when he's not trying<br />
to. That's when he letuns a<br />
self-sacrificing attitude. He<br />
finds that heroism has to<br />
come from the heart."<br />
j^^, .^^ ^^ ^^y^^.^^ i^y.<br />
of "Aladdin" was influenced<br />
by Persian art. the ancient Greek setting<br />
of "Hercules" inspired its own offbeat style of<br />
animation, evoking the art of Attic pottery.<br />
"'Hercules' has a two-dimensional quality,<br />
more stylized. less representational, and more
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ow can I find out about upcoming Dolby<br />
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A regularly updated list of Dolby Digital films, both<br />
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decorative" than the traditional Disney animated<br />
film, Musker notes. "But at the same<br />
time we're still trying to work in three dimensions,<br />
with the Disney illusion of moving in<br />
deep space."<br />
So that the creative team could absorb authentic<br />
location atmosphere, Musker and<br />
Clements took key department heads on a trip<br />
to Greece and Turkey in summer 1994. Shooting<br />
video footage and still photographs for<br />
reference, they discovered unexpected details<br />
they later incorporated into the film's visual<br />
texture. "All the sites were overrun with goats,"<br />
Musker recalls with amusement "Throughout<br />
the film we sprinkled a more liberal dose of<br />
goats. That helped give it a life, a certain color."<br />
The noted British artist and political cartoonist<br />
Gerald Scarfe, whose distinctive style<br />
relies on bold caricature and finely filigreed<br />
calligraphy, also came on board the<br />
"Hercules" production, aiding with character<br />
designs. Scarfe, whose conceptual drawings<br />
flowed from England to Buifcank for three<br />
years, "was basically our graphic designer,"<br />
Clements says, although Andy Gaskill served<br />
as art director.<br />
On "Aladdin," the filmmakers employed<br />
artist Al Hirschfeld in a similar capacity to<br />
Scarfe's on "Hercules." In both films, animation<br />
buffs also can detect the uncredited<br />
influence of the boldly stylized UFA cartoons<br />
that challenged Disney's hegemony in<br />
the 1950s. "Hercules" makes intermittent<br />
use of CGI techniques as well, for sequences<br />
involving morphing clouds and a thirtyheaded<br />
monster, the Hydra.<br />
ting-edge animation directors.<br />
Not only are<br />
they "well-known around Disney for being<br />
adventurous when it comes to technology,"<br />
says their fellow "Hercules" producer Alice<br />
'-ith animation profits soaring over the<br />
past few years, the competition<br />
T T among Hollywood studios for animation<br />
artists<br />
and directors has become in-<br />
MOM & POP OUTFIT: Hera specializes in ambrosia batches, Zeus in ligtitning bolts.<br />
Dewey, "they are unique because they are<br />
writer/directors, so they have a very careful<br />
sense of what their movie is and have thought<br />
it through from the genesis.<br />
creasingly feverish. Keeping Musker and<br />
Clements on the lot has been a high priority for<br />
Disney. When animation honcho Jeffrey<br />
Katzenberg left as chairman of Walt Disney<br />
Studios in 1994 and became a partner with<br />
Steven Spielberg and David Geffen in<br />
DreamWorks SKG, Musker wrote a memo to<br />
his Disney colleagues declaring, "Well, guys,<br />
I think everybody's salary just went up."<br />
Musker and Clements held talks with<br />
DreamWorks and Warner Bros., but last year<br />
they decided to sign exclusive new agreements<br />
with Disney. 'There were long-term projects<br />
we wanted to do, and there are good people<br />
here," Musker explains. The newly competitive<br />
atmosphere is "good for artists, because<br />
it's not so monolithic. It helped us when we did<br />
'The Little Mermaid" that Spielberg [and Don<br />
Bluth] had done 'An American Tail.'We talked<br />
to Jeff and said, 'We've got to do the storm at<br />
sea better. We've got to top them.'"<br />
The next project for Musker and Qements is<br />
another stylistic challenge, an aninwted sci-fi<br />
feature titled 'Treasure Planet" A futuristic version<br />
of 'Treasure Island," populated with robots<br />
and cyborgs, it is being planned for release in<br />
either the year 2000 or 200 1 . "It has to be at least<br />
one ofthose dates," Qements explaias, "because<br />
those are good graphic numbeni."<br />
Hi<br />
EARLYWORK: Musker and Clements '<br />
The unusual blend of influences on Musker<br />
and Clements, and their willingness to experiment<br />
with diverse styles of animation, helps<br />
account for their status as Disney's most cut-<br />
T/ie Little Mermaid" swims back into ttieatres this Thanksgiving.<br />
"Because this is their fourth picture,"<br />
Dewey continues, "they have a tremendous<br />
amount ofexperience, not only with animation<br />
but with each other."<br />
"Hercules. " Vaces by Tate Donovan, Janes<br />
Wix)ds, Rip Tom and Danny DeVito. Dimctedhy<br />
Jdim Musker cmd Ron CUimtUs. Written by Ron<br />
ClemeiUs & Mm Musker, Bol) Slum' & Don<br />
McEnery and Irene MecchL Pnxlmed by Alice<br />
Deyvey, John MuskeratuiRon ClenwiUs. A Buena<br />
Vfaw release. Anitiuited Oikhs wide June 27.
*iei.DonseNo. 49 ,<br />
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The Big Picture<br />
UNLIMITED<br />
ANIMATION<br />
Remembering tlie Golden Era of UPA, tlie Little<br />
Animation Studio tliat Could by Ray Greene<br />
A<br />
funny thing happened on<br />
the way to our nostalgic Big<br />
Picture feature this month.<br />
As a magazinefortunate enough to<br />
call Oscar-winning animator Ernest<br />
Pintoff a friend, we came up<br />
with an idea we thought might complement<br />
our cover story, then told<br />
Ernie what we had in mind. Original<br />
art seemed not onlypossible but<br />
calledfor, andErnie saidhe thought<br />
he had something on hand that<br />
might help us out.<br />
What he came up with was something<br />
so special we felt a black-andwhite<br />
page couldn 't do it justice. In<br />
the meantime, the subject selected<br />
for consideration proved vast<br />
enough to require more than our<br />
usual page space.<br />
The solution was easy: move the<br />
Big Pictureforward into afullfourcolor<br />
double spread that would<br />
meet the visual and narrative possibilities<br />
facilitated by the art<br />
Ernie managed to supply. Continuity<br />
fans will find the Big Picture<br />
back where it belongs next month.<br />
In the meantime, we hope you'll<br />
enjoy this rareformat departurefor<br />
the little .summertime gift it is meant<br />
to provide.<br />
Caricature has always been a<br />
served for illustrations in the slick magazines<br />
of the 4()s and "SOs, and which survives in part<br />
in the recent feature film work of "Aladdin"<br />
and "Hercules" co-directors John Musker and<br />
Ron GemenLs—really only found its way into<br />
theatrical animation in the eariy 1950s, thanks<br />
influence of the Walt Disney Studios during<br />
the '30s and '40s. Though the stories were<br />
fanciful, the visual aesthetic behind such signature<br />
works as "Snow White," "Pinocchio"<br />
and even "Fantasia" was grounded in the concept<br />
of ever more convincing dimensionality<br />
and realism. Under the guidance of<br />
foundere Walt and Roy Disney, the<br />
Disney Studios became famous for<br />
the rigorous discipline they subjected<br />
their artists to, which embraced<br />
art classes and movement<br />
studies with one goal in mind: to<br />
replace the amorphous and inconsistent<br />
motion which virtually all<br />
early cartoons suffered from with<br />
something approaching the real<br />
thing.<br />
Disney's success at re-inventing<br />
the way animation looked is apparent<br />
not only in its own work from<br />
the period but in that of all its significant<br />
competitors of the early<br />
sound era. Original Mickey Mouse<br />
animator Iwerks foundered when<br />
he started his own snidio, in lai^e<br />
part because ofmisguided attempts<br />
to match the production value of<br />
the Disney short subjects division<br />
which he himself had helped create.<br />
At Paramount, Max and Dave<br />
Fleischer, who were arguably<br />
Disney's closest and most imaginative<br />
rivals throughout the<br />
'30s, were forced by the studio into<br />
feature animation production in the<br />
aftermath of "Snow White's" stunning<br />
boxoffice achievement, overextending<br />
and eventually<br />
bankrupting theraselves in the pro-<br />
part of the animator's art. CAUSE.. . Gerald McBoing Boing, titular star of ttie 1951 UPA short that cess. At MOM, the Tom and Jerry<br />
From the earliest Mickey grabbed an Oscar and marked an early example of the studio's graphic style. series put the slapstick energy of<br />
Mouse cartoons to Felix the Cat to<br />
to a then-Columbia based animation studio<br />
"Steamboat Willie" together with<br />
Betty Boop and Ub Iwerks' Flip the Frog, the called United Productions of America, aka a lush pictorial style to create one of<br />
pioneers of film animation took a wicked delight<br />
in presenting exaggerated and at times<br />
UPA.<br />
There was a reason why it took so long for<br />
animation's longest running success stories,<br />
while at Warner Bros., awareness ofthe Disney<br />
grotesque images of the popular figures oftheir what should have seemed a natural marriage hou.se style contributed in the margins to the<br />
day. But "ftxmal" caricature—the kind re-<br />
to take place: the unprecedented success and evolution ofan increasingly three-dimensional<br />
approach to the medium.<br />
PA was the one cartixm studio that was<br />
founded upon a specific mandate to<br />
reject the influential Disney hou.se style<br />
in favor of a more eclectic approach, embrac-
,;<br />
'<br />
'<br />
'<br />
in a surreal, first-person style derived<br />
ing fine artists as disparate as Lautrec and<br />
rtuous seven-minute nightmare rendered cartoon short, and UPA's two attempts at fea-<br />
Daumier as well as contemporary mannerists equally from Dali, expressionist theatre<br />
from Thurber to Hirschfeld. The brainchild of<br />
a generation of Disney animators who had<br />
been hired out of the art schools as opposed to<br />
being brought up within Disney itself, UPA<br />
was bom out of an eclectic group of artists'<br />
and UPA's own evocative house style.<br />
By 1953, the somewhat pejorative term<br />
"limited animation" had been applied to<br />
the UPA technique (some insiders blame<br />
Disney for the term) owing to UPA's interdesire<br />
to expand the<br />
graphic boundaries of animation<br />
into realms that<br />
had been largely off-limits<br />
at Disney, but which were<br />
the bread and butter of<br />
modem art.<br />
A bitter labor strike at<br />
Disney in 1941 pitted the<br />
younger, more sociallyconscious<br />
generation<br />
against the more established<br />
Disney loyalists,<br />
and many of the new<br />
breed went to work for director<br />
Frank Tashlin at the<br />
upstart animation studio<br />
Screen Gems. From there,<br />
members of this breakaway<br />
unit formed their<br />
own company, run originally<br />
by Steve Bosustow,<br />
Zack Schwartz and Dave<br />
Hilberman, with a stellar<br />
animation team including<br />
at various times the likes<br />
of John Hubley, Bobe<br />
Cannon, Bill Hurtz, Bill<br />
Melendez and Ernest<br />
Pintoff— all legends<br />
within the animation field,<br />
and each of whom continued<br />
to work out ideas fu^t<br />
expressed at UPA in subsequent<br />
work of groundbreaking<br />
achievement.<br />
Though most famous<br />
for its enduring "serial"<br />
character, Mr. Magoo,<br />
UPA's output was as varied<br />
as the visual sources it<br />
drew upon. "Gerald McBoing Boing" (1951)<br />
was only the eleventh UPA cartoon produced<br />
and IS widely beUeved to be the first full articulation<br />
est in stylization. To aficionados, the term is a<br />
misnomer; in its audacious and restive desire<br />
to re-invent animation with each new cartoon,<br />
of the UPA house style . In an irony that UPA's output of theatrical cartoons was as<br />
probably wasn't lost on Walt Disney, it boundlessly adventurous—as unlimited, if<br />
grabbed the Academy Award for Best Animated<br />
you wUl—^as any body ofcinematic work ever<br />
Short Subject, which created the un-<br />
created.<br />
likely Oscar spectacle of UPA's Bosustow<br />
standing shoulder to shoulder with Walt Disney<br />
himself, who was accepting an Oscar for<br />
uch a group of free spirits was bound to<br />
waft apart over time. There were man-<br />
'agement difficulties which resulted in<br />
"Madeline," the popular French children's Bosustow taking full control ofthe studio; over<br />
book series, made it to the screen in a Bobe the course of the 1950s, key creative talent<br />
Cannon-directed short from 1952 that flaw- drifted, often into the then-nascent field ofTV<br />
work (where UPA itself was a pioneer). The<br />
TV medium was uniquely configured to take<br />
unique vision of New Yorker cartoonist James advantage of UPA's ability to make arresting<br />
Thurber to life in his 1953 adaptation of visual material out of fixed resources; as a<br />
Thurber's "A Unicom in the Garden." The result, the UPA approach defined a whole generation<br />
of TV's animation style, even when<br />
1953) was a UPA highpoint—an aerie<br />
UPA itself wasn't directly involved.<br />
and But TV soon ended the era of the theatrical<br />
' !j( "Beaver Valley," 1 95 1 's best live action short.<br />
,<br />
lessly replicated Ludwig Bemebnan's singular<br />
, .;<br />
graphic style, while Bill Hurtz helped bring the<br />
James Mason-narrated rendering of Poe's<br />
J , 'Tell-Tale Heart" (directed by Ted Parmelee in<br />
AND EFFECT: Oscar-winning animator Ernest Pintoff got his start at UPA. His later, highly<br />
personal works reflect the UPA influence. ABOVE: Study based on Pintoffs 'Flebus, " made<br />
at Terrytoons. TOP: Study based on Pintoff's self-produced 'The Violinist.<br />
ture length animation (the<br />
Magoo-starring "1001<br />
Arabian Nights" and "Gay<br />
Pur-ee," based on a story<br />
co-authored by Chuck<br />
Jones) were boxoffice<br />
flops. Core UPA personnel<br />
continued to flourish elsewhere;<br />
such veterans as<br />
Parmelee and Hurtz helped<br />
create Jay Ward's popular<br />
"Rocky and Bullwinkle"<br />
cartoons, while Bill<br />
Melendez went on to become<br />
the producer behind<br />
such seasonal TV favorites<br />
as "A Charlie Brown<br />
Christmas" and "It's the<br />
Great Pumpkin, Charlie<br />
Brown" — part of a series<br />
of "Peanuts"-derived cartoons<br />
which, in their flawless<br />
emulation of the<br />
Charles Schulz originals,<br />
were pure UPA. Ernie<br />
Pintoff followed perhaps<br />
the most exceptional trajectory<br />
of all, going against<br />
the pattern for animators in<br />
the '50s and '60s by getting<br />
his first break as an animator<br />
in UPA's TV division<br />
and then moving into theatrical<br />
cartoons, where his<br />
Mel Brooks-narrated "The Critic" eventually<br />
won him an Oscar as producer/director of the<br />
best animated short of 1%3.<br />
Though UPA survives as a company, its<br />
days in the artistic vanguard are a distant memory<br />
today, and the company's achievement is<br />
all but forgotten except among professional<br />
animators and animation devotees. UPA's influence,<br />
however, is as available as the latest<br />
"Ren and Stimpy" or 'T)r. Katz" cablecast, and<br />
can even be said to be reflected in part in<br />
Musker and Clements' recent Disney efforts.<br />
It's startling to look back and see just how far<br />
one small studio managed to expand the visual<br />
possibilities of the American cartoon. In this<br />
era, when more and more money is being<br />
invested by a variety of studios in animated<br />
features designed to look as much as possible<br />
as if they were made by Disney in its "golden<br />
era" prime, the UPA paradigm may be not just<br />
worth celebrating, but worth revisiting, as a<br />
model for the unlimited possibilities of color<br />
and line.<br />
^B
"<br />
Sneak Preview<br />
ON HER "HORIZON"<br />
Kathleen Quinlan heads into action<br />
with Paramount's ''Event Horizon "<br />
by Bridget Byrne<br />
Kathleen Quinlan (center) with co-stars Jason Isaacs andJoety Richardson<br />
in a scene from Paramount's August release, "Event Horizon.<br />
I<br />
took this because there are not<br />
many roles where women are<br />
really active," says actress<br />
Kathleen Quinlan, explaining<br />
why she'll be seen charging about<br />
in a spacesuit in "Event Horizon,"<br />
an outer-space adventure that<br />
Paramount opens this August.<br />
Recently, Quinlan has been in<br />
two films in which the do-or-die<br />
stuffwaslefttoaman. Earlier this<br />
summer, she was the wife who<br />
went missing in "Breakdown," a<br />
highway horror movie headUned<br />
by Kurt Russell. And she was<br />
Oscar nominated as best supporting<br />
actress for her turn as Marilyn<br />
Lovell, the wife who had to keep<br />
her feet on the ground, literally as<br />
well as figuratively, when her astronaut<br />
husband Jim, played by<br />
Tom Hanks, soared off into destiny<br />
in the drama "Apollo 1 3."<br />
Qiuckling, Quinlan acknowledges<br />
that the choice to portray a<br />
medical technician on a space exploration<br />
team could well have<br />
been a .subconscious reaction to<br />
her previous groundings. And,<br />
furthermore, she never set out in<br />
life to be a sit-it-out. Quinlan, now<br />
turned 40, excelled at gymnastics<br />
and diving a.s a teen. But in those<br />
days, before the influx of endorsement<br />
dollars for lop athletes,<br />
she couldn't "figure out how you<br />
made a living doing that."<br />
There was a gym for the actors<br />
at the Pinewood Studios in England,<br />
where "Event Horizon"<br />
was filmed. "We used it not because<br />
of wanting to look good, but<br />
because of the need to be in good<br />
shape to wear the heavy spacesuits.<br />
They are spectacular to look<br />
at but very hot. Putting one on was<br />
like going from chilly London<br />
winter weather to the Bahamas in<br />
just minutes," Quinlan says.<br />
A search-and-rescue-mission<br />
movie, which also stars Laurence<br />
Fishbume, Sam Neill and Joely<br />
Richardson, "Event Horizon"<br />
is set in the confines of a huge<br />
and ghostly spacecraft that<br />
has mysteriously reappeared<br />
after being lost for years.<br />
Quinlan plays Peters, a single<br />
mother with a child back on<br />
earth; she's one of the space<br />
team struggling to cop)e in a<br />
ghastly atmosphere haunted<br />
by many things, including,<br />
says director Paul Anderson<br />
("Mortal Kombat"), "the demons<br />
they bring with them."<br />
Quinlan says that Ander-<br />
.son took the time to provide rehearsal<br />
interaction and clear storyboarded<br />
images of how the<br />
finished scenes would look—essential<br />
aids for the cast, who often<br />
found themselves emoting in a<br />
lonely void that would later he<br />
linked to special effects or the<br />
work ofother actors. "A lot of time<br />
I was acting to nobcxly," says<br />
Quinlun, who rarely worked on<br />
the same days as did Fishbume,<br />
even though most of her scenes<br />
are actually with him.<br />
Ahhough Quinlan admits to<br />
never having had a deep-rooted<br />
interest in space, she feels that<br />
working on this sci-fi film and the<br />
reality-based "Apollo I?" has<br />
given her "moic<br />
ofa universal per<br />
spective." She<br />
says, "It's just too<br />
egotistical to think<br />
that we are the<br />
only lifeform in<br />
the universe,"<br />
though the actress<br />
doesn't buy into<br />
any of the perceived<br />
images of<br />
aliens, which she<br />
believes are bom<br />
out of the sort of fear and prejudice<br />
usually directed by humans<br />
toward anything unknown.<br />
uinlan,<br />
who grew up in<br />
|Mill Valley, Calif., came to<br />
professional acting by<br />
when she was picked out<br />
ofa "cattle call" at her high school.<br />
Billed as Kathy Quinlan, she was<br />
given the role of Peg, who appears<br />
at the sockhop in George Lucas'<br />
1973 nostalgia piece, "American<br />
Graffiti." In 1977, her performance<br />
as a teenager being treated<br />
for schizophrenia in "I Never<br />
FVomised You a Rose Garden"<br />
seemed to mark her out for major<br />
stardom. But since then Quinlan<br />
has favored lower-key films dom-<br />
^^Putting [on the<br />
spacesuit] was<br />
like goingfrom<br />
chilly London<br />
winter weather<br />
to the Bahamas. "<br />
inated by character work, such as<br />
I983's "Independence Day" and<br />
I988's "Clara's Heart."<br />
In conversation, Quinlan comes<br />
across as .someone who thinks<br />
thnxigh her answers to questions;<br />
she's not glib or polished, just<br />
straightforwiird. On this day, she's<br />
biick home in Mulibu with her actor<br />
husband, Bruce Abbott and their<br />
six-year-old son, Tyler, after a New<br />
York trip to promote "Breakdown."<br />
That film, she says, had<br />
even an industry<br />
audience "yelling<br />
and carrying on, peitiaps because<br />
it taps into some unconscious<br />
fear we can all identify with."<br />
Quinlan says she's happy now<br />
with her career, but she admits<br />
there were times<br />
when she<br />
questioned<br />
her choice.<br />
"When not much<br />
is happening and<br />
there seems to be<br />
nothing you can<br />
do to change that,<br />
you do wonder<br />
But it just kept<br />
coming up that T<br />
am an actor, like<br />
it or not.' I stuck<br />
with it and took<br />
what was offered." Those offerings<br />
have also included "Hanky<br />
Panky," 'Twilight Zone—The<br />
Movie" and "The Doors."<br />
She says she is still a little surprised<br />
that she got the role in<br />
"Apollo 1 3," which reminded everyone<br />
of her talents. The film's<br />
director was, of course, Ron Howard,<br />
also an "American Graffiti"<br />
alumnus, which undoubtedly<br />
helped. But she feels that "some<br />
of the newer folks in the industry"<br />
too often cast for personality<br />
rather than character "I'm not really<br />
sure they are familiar with the<br />
term 'acting.' They don't understand<br />
what it means to play a character<br />
rather than just be a personality,"<br />
Quinlan muses.<br />
Whatever the future holds,<br />
she says, "my dream job has<br />
already happened." Earlier<br />
this year, she starred in the<br />
MGM release "Zeus and Roxanne,"<br />
a family comedy atx>ut<br />
a dog and dolphin that would<br />
be suitable for her son to see.<br />
During filming, she got to<br />
swim, and swim, and .swim, in<br />
the open ocean with the dolphins.<br />
It was her idea of bliss<br />
because, this one-time divci<br />
and gymnast avers, "I am re<br />
ally a sea creature. Jusl<br />
mammal that lost its fins."<br />
"Event Horizon. " Slarhiiy<br />
Laurence Fishbume, Kathleci<br />
Quinlan, Sam Neill and Joeh<br />
Richardson. Directed hy Pan<br />
Anderson. Written hy Philip l-js<br />
ner Produced by Lawrena<br />
Gordon, Uoyd Levin and Jcr<br />
emy Bolt. A Paramount relea.se<br />
Sci-fi. Opens August L
\u<br />
^<br />
1<br />
h
11 BoxomcF.<br />
Sneak Preview<br />
LENSING "MAGOO"<br />
Hong Kong director Stanley Tong<br />
goes Disney with ''Mr. Magoo "<br />
by Wade Major<br />
For his Hollywood debut, director Stanley Tong (above) is<br />
transforming cartoon character Mr Magoo (right) to live-action.<br />
Live-action adaptations of<br />
famous cartoons are hot.<br />
Hong Kong directors are<br />
hot. But only in Hollywood would<br />
anyone have dared think of pairing<br />
the two. Oddly enough, in the<br />
case of Disney's "Mr. Magoo,"<br />
forthcoming this fall, the strange<br />
pairing seems inspired.<br />
"They want me to make it more<br />
international," says director Stanley<br />
Tong, "because the<br />
original<br />
cartoon is so American. A lot of<br />
the verbal jokes don't translate.<br />
When you go to Europe and Asia<br />
and put on subtides, you don't get<br />
the joke. What Disney liked about<br />
my work in 'First Strike' and<br />
'Rumble in the Bronx' was that so<br />
much of the humor was visual."<br />
Best known for his three epics<br />
— with Jackie Chan "Supercop,"<br />
"Rumble in the Bronx" and "First<br />
Strike"—^Tong is the latest Hong<br />
Kong action super-director to<br />
make the jump to America, right<br />
on the heels of John Woo, Ringo<br />
Lam and Tsui Hark. Unlike those<br />
of his cohorts, however, Tong's<br />
Hollywood debut will not feature<br />
action star Jean-Claude Van<br />
Damme. What's more, it won't<br />
even be an action film. It's a family<br />
comedy, which suits him fine.<br />
"I don't really like my movies<br />
to be violent," he says. "Too much<br />
gunplay or too many explosions<br />
would kill the female audience,<br />
and parents might not want their<br />
children to see it. The reason I put<br />
so much comedy in my films is<br />
because I want to dilute the action<br />
element, not make it so much a<br />
'hot' action picture. I'll have 'hot'<br />
action in it, but I try to interpret it<br />
in a comic way so all audiences<br />
will enjoy it and so they won't see<br />
it as a straight action picture."<br />
O;<br />
riginally characterized by<br />
|Jim Backus in a series of<br />
theatrical animated shorts<br />
beginning in 1949 and again on<br />
TVduringthe 1960sand'70s,<br />
the myopic Magoo has a predilection<br />
for unwittingly slipping<br />
in and out of hair-raising<br />
situations—a scenario that<br />
would seem tailor-made for<br />
Tong's unique blending of<br />
comic slapstick and complex<br />
action choreography.<br />
That Tong has always handled<br />
the bulk of the action<br />
directing and stunt coordination<br />
himself (most Hong<br />
Kong directors hire dedicated<br />
action directors to handle<br />
complicated sequences)<br />
makes his accomplishments that<br />
much more impressive. Tong's<br />
work on "First Strike." in fact,<br />
earned him a 1996 Taiwanese<br />
Golden Horse award for best action<br />
direction. Tong, though, sees<br />
his diverse involvements as simply<br />
a logical extension of the work<br />
he began while still a stuntman.<br />
"Jackie and I come from similar<br />
backgrounds," he says. "I started<br />
as a stuntman too, and after three<br />
years and hundreds of stunts I had<br />
broken my shoulder, my ribs and<br />
my knees and even gotten a gunshot<br />
wound on my right arm. I felt<br />
that, if I went on doing stunts, I'd<br />
soon kill<br />
—<br />
myself.<br />
So I started working<br />
as an assistant<br />
director so I could<br />
learn more about<br />
production and<br />
the process of<br />
making a movie."<br />
Like Chan, Tong<br />
quickly worked<br />
his way through<br />
the ranks, holding<br />
a variety ofjobs<br />
camera operator,<br />
stunt coordinator, production<br />
manager—before segueing into<br />
directing with his acclaimed 1989<br />
debut film "Stone Age Warriors."<br />
"When you see my films, I'm<br />
more Americanized than other<br />
Hong Kong directors," Tong says.<br />
"I do storyboards and preproduction<br />
very carefully. That system<br />
has been here for so many years,<br />
there must be a reason.<br />
"In Hong Kong, it's true that I<br />
can do whatever I want to do—<br />
can shoot for another day and not<br />
have to ask anyone. If I want to<br />
change a Une in the script, I can do<br />
it<br />
on-set. In a way, that system is<br />
practical, but it also results in directors<br />
waiting until the last minute<br />
to do things. And that's not a<br />
good habit for a director."<br />
a What Disney liked<br />
about my work in<br />
^First Strike^ and<br />
^Rumble in the<br />
Bronx was ^ that so<br />
much of the humor<br />
was visual, "<br />
For "Mr. Magoo." Disney has<br />
provided Tong with the best of<br />
both worids: Hollywood professionalism<br />
and a level of creative<br />
freedom that's all but<br />
unheard of for a Hong Kong<br />
director. "They've even allowed<br />
me to bring in my crew,"<br />
he says, "which is the first time<br />
I<br />
that's happened to a Hong Kong<br />
director. Even John Woo can't<br />
bring over his assistant director<br />
and stunt coordinator. But I'm<br />
bringing over my assistant director,<br />
my director of photography,<br />
my stunt team. It's a package."<br />
ihe one element<br />
missing<br />
from T?<br />
Tong's package,<br />
ironically, is the<br />
one that has<br />
proven most crucial<br />
to his success:<br />
Jackie Chan. But,<br />
with Leslie Nielsen<br />
starring as<br />
the mis-ocular<br />
Magoo, and<br />
a<br />
sohd supporting<br />
cast that includes<br />
Kelly Lynch, Tong appears ready<br />
for a substantial Hollywood bow.<br />
"I'm just working on designing<br />
the signaaire action set pieces,"<br />
Tong says. The story: Evildoers<br />
are after an oblivious-as-always<br />
Quincy Magoo, a nearsighted<br />
millionaire into whose possession<br />
a stolen gem has fallen. "The<br />
challenge is to put in the signature<br />
action sequences while keeping<br />
them funny and humorous in a<br />
way that's true to the original."<br />
Though he admits to feeling at<br />
home in the sftidio system. Tong<br />
stops short of committing himself<br />
to Hollywood for the long haul, as<br />
he's looking forward to yet another<br />
collaboration with Chan,<br />
this to be shot in India. "Whether<br />
I stay in America or in Hong<br />
Kong, I want to make international<br />
movies," he says.<br />
"If there is a good story in<br />
Hong Kong with a Hong<br />
Kong actor, I would love to do<br />
it. But I have to take risks. If 1<br />
don't take risks, then 1 do only<br />
things that I'm comfortable<br />
shooting. I believe that in<br />
order to have success as a director<br />
you have to have the<br />
guts to try something new. and<br />
you have to have tlie patience<br />
to make it hapjien."<br />
"Mr. Magoo. " Starring Leslie<br />
Nielsen, Kelly Lynch. Matt Keeslar,<br />
Nick Chinlimd. Ernie Hudson<br />
and Malcolm McDowell. Directed<br />
by Stanley Tong. Written h\<br />
Pat Proft, Tom Sherohnum emu<br />
Jeff Berry. Produced by Ben My<br />
ron. A Buena Vista release. Liveaction<br />
comedy. Opens thisfall.
. CA<br />
very Day Millions of People<br />
ookDownonUs<br />
eltrac® Public Guidance Systems...<br />
ersatile, Beautiful, Adaptable.<br />
.^?/f.fac<br />
'lyvsir/e,<br />
^.
^4<br />
Hi\vf\wir*v<br />
,<br />
)<br />
AUGUST<br />
TRAILERS<br />
Will there be hot August nights<br />
at the multiplex turnstiles?<br />
which exhibitors usually suffer the<br />
For a month in<br />
Awful August Blues trying to sell tickets to the dogs of<br />
summer, this year's eighth frame holds augurs ofpron<br />
ise. There's no new "Men In Black"-type dreadnougi<br />
coming a-calling (unless the TBA "Titanic" sets sail), but<br />
U^WimmimmflmiMmmmMmMfim<br />
it proved) "Chain Reaction" and "Virtuosity."<br />
That's partly because August 1 997 is front-loaded by<br />
distributors trying to eke out as much summer playina<br />
time for their titles<br />
as they can. Fortunately, although<br />
four major films bow 8/1, most lack direct competition.<br />
Paramount's "Event Horizon" will play to tr'<br />
— '-<br />
r-T*S?*<br />
'f"^^demo,<br />
Universal's "Leave It to Beaver" to families and<br />
Fox 's "Picture Perfect" to the distaff draw. The real clash,<br />
for serious-minded moviegoers, is between Miramax's<br />
"Copland" and Warner's "1§7." The 8/8 weekend is a<br />
bit more dicey, with Warner's "Free Willy 3" going<br />
Measures " trying to outbreed New Line 's "Spawn. "<br />
The big mid-month arrivals— Paramount's "A Smile<br />
Like Yours," Columbia's Alicia Silverstone-starring "Excess<br />
Baggage" (see photo above) and Warner's<br />
"Steel"—nicely share the generational pie chart, skewing<br />
from mature to young adults to children. The final<br />
frames are the more usual August grab berg (a trait the<br />
Miramax's "Operation Condor" and Universal's "Kull<br />
the Conqueror" intended treats for the action/comedy/urban<br />
demos. Still, all in all, it looks to be a month<br />
the industry won't get left on hold.<br />
AUGUST 1<br />
Event Horizon<br />
In 2046, a prototype spaceship<br />
named the Event Horizon missing<br />
for seven years is found by a rescue<br />
team traveling the solar system.<br />
Led by Laurence Fishburne<br />
(also in "Hoodlum"), they discover<br />
that terrifying secrets lie<br />
within. This sci-fi thriller also stars<br />
Sam Neill ("Jurassic Park"), Kathleen<br />
Quinlan ("Breakdown") and<br />
Joely Richardson ("101 Dalmatians").<br />
Paul Anderson ("Mortal<br />
Kombat") directs; Philip Eisner<br />
scripts; Lawrence Gordon ("Die<br />
Hard"), Lloyd Levin ("The Rocketeer")<br />
and Jeremy Bolt produce.<br />
5ee our Sneak Preview in this<br />
issue. (Paramount, 8/1<br />
Exploitips: Unless the likes of<br />
"Lost World" and "Men In Black"<br />
have sated the teen and<br />
twentysomething males, expect a<br />
hot August night at this boxoffice.<br />
For that demo, which supported<br />
Anderson's previous, the "Mortal<br />
Kombat" credit will be an attractant,<br />
as will the genre.<br />
Leave It to Beaver<br />
The Cleavers are back and living<br />
in the '90s. Based on the classic<br />
TV series, this family comedy<br />
features the same wholesome<br />
characters: wise father Ward<br />
("Happy Gilmore's" Christopher<br />
McDonald), wholesome mom<br />
June ("Cliffhanger's" Janine<br />
Turner), big brother Wally (Erik<br />
Von Detten) and, of course, the<br />
Beaver (newcomer Cameron<br />
Finley). Andy Cadiff (TV's "Home<br />
Improvement") tiirects; Brian Levant<br />
("Jingle All the Way") and Lon<br />
Diamond script; Levant produces<br />
with Robert Simonds (also "Happy<br />
Gilmore"). (Universal, 8/1)<br />
Exploitips: Universal has had<br />
success and failure with TV reprises;<br />
think "The Flintstones"<br />
and "McHale's Navy." The plus<br />
here is that this is its date's only<br />
family flick. Play up the nostalgia<br />
factor to pull the thirty- and<br />
fortysomething parents who<br />
would make the moviegoing<br />
choice here for their brood.<br />
Picture Perfect<br />
Jennifer Aniston ("She's the<br />
rie") stars in this romantic comdy<br />
about a woman who uses a<br />
ndom photo to i nvent a fictional<br />
Dyfriend to help boost her caer.<br />
Complications ensue when<br />
\ actually meets the man in the<br />
photo and falls in love. Kevin<br />
Bacon, comic Jay Mohr and llleana<br />
Douglas ("Wedding Bell<br />
Blues") co-star. Glenn Gordon<br />
Caron ("Love Affair") directs, and<br />
Caron scripts with Arlene Sorkin,<br />
Paul Slansky and Jeffrey Abrams;<br />
Erwin Stoff and Molly Madden<br />
produce. (Fox, 8/1)<br />
Exploitips: Audiences will<br />
likely hope this is bounder than<br />
Caron's turgid "Love Affair," but<br />
"Picture Perfect"— given the presence<br />
of Aniston, a TV superstar<br />
via "Friends"— will pull much<br />
younger. Despite the title-heavy<br />
weekend, this is 8/1 's big romance,<br />
so the distaff and datenight<br />
demos are the likely targets.<br />
187<br />
Director Kevin Reynolds<br />
("Waterworld") goes intimate<br />
with this dramatic thriller about a<br />
deeply committed high-school<br />
teacher ("ATimeto Kill's" Samuel<br />
L. Jackson) who returns to the<br />
classroom a changed man after a<br />
long recuperation from a student<br />
attack. John Heard ("My Fellow<br />
Americans") and Kelly Rowan<br />
("Candyman; Farewell to the<br />
Flesh") co-star. Former teacher<br />
Scott Yagemann scripts; "Braveheart's"<br />
Bruce Davey and Steve<br />
McEveety produce for Mel Gibson's<br />
Icon. (Warner, 7/30 wide)<br />
Exploitips: Opening on a<br />
Wednesday, "1 87" has a two-day<br />
weekend's competi-<br />
lead on its<br />
tion— and it might need that edge.<br />
The 8/1 slot is filled to overflowing,<br />
with key competition being<br />
"CopLand," also a drama, and<br />
"Event Horizon, " which also will<br />
pull male. Warner's decision to<br />
go wide right away makes it a<br />
make-or-break debut.<br />
Paperbacic Romance<br />
A shy writer of erotica ("Two If<br />
By Sea's" Gia Carides) who's crippled<br />
breaks her leg. Provided the<br />
perfect "disguise," she goes after<br />
her dream man—a handsome but<br />
engaged jeweler ("Trees Lounge's"<br />
Anthony LaPaglia). Rom/com catastrophe<br />
follows. Formerly<br />
known as "Lucky Break." Ben<br />
Lewin ("The Favor, the Watch and<br />
the Very Big Fish") directs and<br />
scripts; Bob Weis ("Heartbreakers")<br />
produces. (Goldwyn, 8/1<br />
ltd)<br />
Exploitips: The name change<br />
works, as the demo here (women)<br />
read paperback romances. Try a<br />
catchline like "She wrote tales of<br />
love and lust— and then began to<br />
live one herself " Our critic (see<br />
our May 1997 issue) gave this 2<br />
1/2 stars, calling it a "modestly<br />
charismatic" film. Expect the older<br />
female demo to opt for this over<br />
competitor "Picture Perfect."<br />
Hamsun<br />
Based on a book by Thorkild<br />
Hansen, this Norwegian drama<br />
follows the last 1 7 years of the life<br />
of Nobel-winning Norwegian<br />
writer Knut Hamsun (Max Von<br />
Sydow), whose questionable sup-
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Exploitlps: Although not a critical failure,<br />
part 2 didn 't generate much audience enthusiasm<br />
(just $30. 1 million), so this has a hill to<br />
cHmb--and "Air Bud" might seem like a fresh<br />
alternative to a well-worn tale. Also, as Richter<br />
and his original "Free Willy" audience<br />
ages, the latter will be less interested in such<br />
a homespun narrative, and the single-digit set<br />
might see this as a tale for teenagers. But there<br />
can be presold strength in such a brand name.<br />
Copland<br />
Sylvester Stallone stars in this drama about a hearing-impaired sheriff who keeps<br />
the peace in a small New Jersey burg where many New York police officers live.<br />
When a criminal investigation points toward his own town, the sheriff must decide<br />
whether to protect the NyPD officers he idolizes or uphold the law. Harvey Keitel,<br />
Ray Liotta and Robert De Niro star with Peter Berg ("the Last Seduction"), Janeane<br />
GarofaloJ'The Truth About Cats and Dogs"), Michael Rapaport ("Metro"), Robert<br />
Patrick ("T2") and Annabella Sciorra ("The Funeral"). James Mcnaold ("Heavy'l<br />
directs and scripts; Cary Woods ("Citizen Ruth"), Cathy Konrad ("Beautiful Girls")<br />
and Ezra Sweolow ("Waiting to Exhale") produces. (Miramax, 8/1)<br />
Exploitlps: A Cannes debut was nixed, because (per Miramax] the film wasn't<br />
ready. Some Hollywood scuttlebutt hasn't been all positive, but the heavyweight<br />
cast here should make weekend # 1 a solid bet. The key competition for the likely<br />
male demo is "Event Horizon"; expect this to skew slightly older, with the teens<br />
and twenties heading for the sci-fi flick.<br />
port of the Nazis during WWII made him a<br />
controversial figure. The film tracks his turbulent<br />
family life and unusual persona. Chita<br />
Norby co-stars; Jan Troell ("The Emigrants")<br />
directs; Per Olov Enquist scripts; Erik Crone<br />
produces. (First Run, 8/6 NY)<br />
Exploitlps: Our Montreal critic (March<br />
1 997 issue) gave this Norwegian- and Cerman-language<br />
effort 3 1/2 stars, citing its top<br />
performances and atmospheric richness. It's<br />
the week's only foreign-language fare.<br />
AUGUSTS<br />
Desperate Measures<br />
In this suspense thriller, police officer Frank<br />
Conner ("Night Falls on Manhattan's" Andy<br />
Garcia) must find a bone marrow donor for his<br />
dying son. The only match is a vicious murderer<br />
("Multiplicity's" Michael Keaton, in a<br />
change-of-pace role) who plans to use the<br />
hospital setting to escape. Connor must both<br />
protect and contain the killer. Barbet Schroeder<br />
("Single White Female") directs; David<br />
Klass, Henry Bean ("Internal Affairs") and Neal<br />
Jimenez ("Anaconda") script; Schroeder produces<br />
with Susan Hoffman (also "SWF"), Lee<br />
Rich and Gary Foster ("Tin Cup"). (TriStar, 8/8)<br />
Exploitlps: Scbroeder's recent efforts<br />
haven't been blockbusters—a commodity<br />
that the talented Garcia still lacks. The family/peril<br />
narrative, as variously used in the<br />
likes of "Ransom," "Cape Fear" and "The<br />
Hand That Rocks the Cradle," can be the<br />
genre's strongest, however, and as such those<br />
elements in the storyline should be played up<br />
here— especially given that the least familyoriented<br />
demo, male youths, will likely be out<br />
to "Spawn," so this one will trend older.<br />
Spawn<br />
Six years after his murder, government<br />
agent Al Simmons (Michael Jai White) returns<br />
to Earth as Spawn, a man with supernatural<br />
powers. Though he longs to avenge his own<br />
death. Spawn must choose between revenge<br />
or saving his loved ones from the menacing<br />
Violator ("The Pest's" John Leguizamo). Mark<br />
Dippe directs this adaptation of Todd<br />
McFarlane's comic book; Clint Goldman and<br />
Steve Williams produce. (New Line, 8/8)<br />
Exploitlps: fxpecf "Mortal Kombat"-like<br />
numbers dnd gender— i.e., youthful males<br />
who read comic books and love sci-fi. This is<br />
the genre fare at which New Line excels, so<br />
expect assured distributor support. Prize<br />
drawings for comic books would nab interest.<br />
Free Willy 3<br />
In this third go about a boy and his whale,<br />
Jesse (again Jason James Richter) is a 1 7-yearold<br />
whale tracker. When illegal whaling operations<br />
threaten the lives of orca pal Willy and<br />
his family, Jesse teams with the 10-year-old<br />
son of the illegal whaler to save the day. August<br />
Schellenberg and Annie Corley again co-star.<br />
Sam Pillsbury ("Starlight Hotel") directs; John<br />
Mattson ("Milk Money") scripts; Jennie Lew<br />
Tugcnd again produces. (Warner, 8/8)<br />
Air Bud<br />
Twelve-year-old Josh (Kevin Zegers) is the<br />
shy, sad new kid in town whose father has<br />
recently died. Buddy is the runaway golden<br />
retriever with an incredible hook shot. The<br />
two meet, become fast friends and join the<br />
school basketball team. But Buddy's extraordinary<br />
ability causes a media frenzy that leads<br />
his nasty former owner, Norm Snively ("The<br />
Fisher King's" Michael Jeter), to come looking<br />
for him. Wendy Makkena ("Sister Act"), Eric<br />
Christmas and Bill Cobbs co-star. Charles<br />
Martin Smith directs; Paul Tamasy and Aaron<br />
Mendelsohn script; Robe rtVinceand William<br />
Vince produce. (Buena Vista, 8/8)<br />
Exploitlps: The plus here is the Disney<br />
imprimatur, the closest thing to a sure thing<br />
in kids flickery. But a tale ofa basketball-playing<br />
dog sounds like Flubber-era Disney live<br />
action, hijinkery that'll play these days only<br />
to early preteeners.<br />
Parents are unlikely to<br />
attend, instead opting to take kith and kin to<br />
a title more age-malleable. That could be<br />
"Free Willy 3" or "Napolean," but the real<br />
advantage could go to weekend #2 of "Leave<br />
It to Beaver," absent critical skinning.<br />
Napolean<br />
This live-action film about a golden retriever<br />
puppy is set in the Australian wilderness,<br />
where the curious Napolean (voiced by<br />
"The Doctor's" Adam Wylie) is taken when<br />
he slips into a hot-air balloon. There, he befriends<br />
a parrot named Birdo ("Courage<br />
Under Fire's" Bronson Pinchot), who helps<br />
guide him in the right direction. Wendy<br />
Makkena (also "Air Bud") voices Napolean's<br />
mom; David Ogden Stiers ("The Hunchback<br />
of Notre Dame") voices characters cal led Owl<br />
and Koala; and Joan Rivers does Mother Penguin.<br />
Mario Andreacchio directs, scripts (with<br />
Mark Saltzman and producer Michael<br />
Bourchier) and produces. (Goldwyn, 8/8 ltd)<br />
Exploitlps: Any voiceover live-action pet<br />
film will hdve to compete in audience minds<br />
with "Babe. " This film, two years on the Goldwyn<br />
slate, is of the traditional, unlipsynched<br />
variety. Still, one can expect that a Goldwyn<br />
children's film would be different than a Disney<br />
children's film, and if so critical response<br />
could aid this release's later expansion. A<br />
careful adoption/pet care tie-in with the local<br />
SPCA could generate stronger family turnout.<br />
Career Girls<br />
(Jsi.ir-nominated writer/director Mike<br />
Leigh ("Secrets & Lies") turns to lighter, comic<br />
territory in a film he says is "about love and<br />
youth and sex and memories." Set in London<br />
over the course of a weekend, the film follows<br />
two young career women as they encounter<br />
many of their old college friends 1 5 years after<br />
graduation and examine how all their lives<br />
have changed. Katrin Cartlidge (the female<br />
lead in Leign's "Naked") and Lynda Steadman
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(October, 8/8 NY/LA, 8/1 5 exp)<br />
Exploitips: The Oscar attention given<br />
Leigh's most recent credit will give this a leg<br />
up in the arthouse marketplace, in which it<br />
faces "In the Company of Men," "Soul in the<br />
Hole"andtheLAexpansionofTrimark's"Box<br />
of Moonlight" (see our June issue Trailers),<br />
and as such the Leigh name is the salemaker.<br />
In the Company of Men<br />
This blacl< comedy examines the brutalities<br />
of '90s corporate culture and love. Chad and<br />
Howard are two frustrated white-collar execs<br />
who formulate a plan to make themselves feel<br />
better: date and dump a young woman who'll<br />
never get over it. The frat-style prank soon<br />
becomes a serious struggle of hatred, love and<br />
manipulation. Aaron Eckhart, Stacy Edwards<br />
and Matt Malloy star. Neil LaBute directs and<br />
scripts; Mark Archer and Steven Pevner produce.<br />
(Sony Classics, 8/8 NY/LA)<br />
Exploitips: This was named best dramatic<br />
feature at Sundance and screened in Un Certain<br />
Regard at Cannes, two promotable venues.<br />
Our Sundance critic wasn't totally<br />
persuaded, however; a 2 1/2-star review (see<br />
our April 1997 issue) found fault with the<br />
film's morality ("not one ounce of moral restitution<br />
can be found in the climax"), inconsistent<br />
acting and poor production values. Yet<br />
the controversy that erupted at Sundance if<br />
replicated on release could make this mustsee<br />
fare for the arthouse-engaged.<br />
Shooting porn<br />
A look at Hollywood's gay porn industry,<br />
this Ronnie Larsen documentary is the<br />
playwright's first film. It visits two sets, one<br />
of director Gino Colbert, the other of Chi<br />
Chi LaRue. Porn actors Blue Blake, Bryan<br />
Kidd and Adam Rom appear, as do porn<br />
reviewers Mickey Skee and David Widmer.<br />
Caryn Horwitz and Doua Lindeman<br />
produces. (Horwitz, 7/1 1 NV)<br />
Exploitips: Although our reviewer gave<br />
it only one star (see our May 1 997 issue),<br />
"Shooting Porn" generatea interest at the<br />
London Lesbian & Gay Film Fest and at<br />
Berlin 's European Film Market and has an<br />
attention-grabbing salaciousness built into<br />
its title. The film will play 6/27 at the San<br />
Francisco Lesbian & Gay Film Fest and<br />
7/l8atLA'sOutfest'97.<br />
Mrs. Brown<br />
This romantic drama talis of the unusual<br />
relationship between Queen Victoria<br />
("Hamlet's" Judi Denchj and John Brown<br />
("Indecent Proposal's" Billy Connolly), a<br />
Highlander summoned from Balmoral to<br />
walk the Queen's pony as she rides in the<br />
hope that exercise will help Her Highness<br />
LATE MOVIE MOVES...<br />
Billy Zone ("The Phantom") and Gina<br />
Gershon ("Bound") star with Rue<br />
McClanahan, Sheryl Lee ("Bliss") and Seymour<br />
Cassel. Michael Oblowitz directs;<br />
Larry Gross ("48HRS.") scripts, and he<br />
produces with Chris Hanley and Brad<br />
Wyman for Largo. (Orion Classics, 7/1 8)<br />
Exploitips: The film adapts a 1 955 short<br />
story of crime writer Jim Thompson that<br />
went unpublished until 1 983 and the pulp<br />
fictioneer's name is revered by the genre's<br />
enthusiasts. The eroticism of the material is<br />
likely to draw critical and moviegoer attention,<br />
rarely a bad thing (Gershon's "Showgirls"<br />
being an exception). The film arrives<br />
bearing a Sundance imprimatur.<br />
Soul In the Hole<br />
Set in the subculture of NYC street basketball,<br />
"Soul in the Hole" follows one squad,<br />
the Bed-Stuy "Dream Team" called Kenny's<br />
Kings, as it plays through a lot hot summer on<br />
Brooklyn's asphalt playgrounds. Danielle<br />
Gardner directs; Lilibet Foster produces.<br />
(Northern Arts, 8/8 NY/LA, wider Sept & Oct)<br />
Exploitips: Loud Records will release the<br />
film's soundtrack. More "Hoop Dreams" than<br />
"The Mighty Ducks," the film has an emotional<br />
focus— the relationship between star<br />
point guard Ed "Booger" Smith, thrown out by<br />
his mother, and his surrogate father, coach<br />
Kenny Jones— that could grab audiences.<br />
Excess Baggage<br />
AUGUST 15<br />
In this action/adventure, Alicia Silverstone<br />
("Batman & Robin") is a lonely rich girl who<br />
plans her own kidnapping. She involves an<br />
unwitting car thief ("The Usual Suspects'"<br />
Benicio del Toro), but her scheme gets out of<br />
control and she finds herself on the run from an<br />
ex-CIA assassin (Christopher Walken). Harry<br />
Connick )r. ("Copycat"), jack Thompson ("The<br />
Sum of Us") and Nicholas Turturro ("Mac")<br />
co-star. Marco Brambilla ("Demolition Man")<br />
directs; Max Adams, Dick Clement ("The Commitments")<br />
and Ian LaFrenais script; Silverstone<br />
produces with former A&M Films exec Bill<br />
Borden and Carolyn Kessler. (Columbia, 8/1 5)<br />
Exploitips: Will Silverstone deliver on her<br />
multi-pic pact with Sony? Here's the first test,<br />
with the actress far from the comic turf of her<br />
fame-making "Clueless. " Del Toro is a coming<br />
name that could further draw the distaff<br />
recover from the death of Prince Albert.<br />
John Madden ("Ethan Frome") directs; Jeremy<br />
Brock scripts; Sarah Curtis ("The Englishman<br />
Who Went Up a Hill But Came<br />
Down a Mountain") produces for Ecosse<br />
Films/BBC Scotland with Masterpiece Theatre<br />
and Irish Screen. (Miramax, 7/1 8)<br />
Exploitips: Acquired by Miramax before<br />
Cannes, this arrives stateside with thai<br />
fest's famed invprimatur. For arthouse audiences,<br />
the "Ethan Frome" and "The Englishman..."<br />
credits of the filmmakers will<br />
also be a pull, and it being a period piece<br />
won't hinder turnout. Calling 'Mrs.<br />
Brown" "a beautiful film," Miramax cohead<br />
Harvey Weinstein bought both<br />
North American and most world rights, so<br />
expect solid distributor support.<br />
This World, Then the Fireworks<br />
After OS children seeing their father commit<br />
a love-triongle killing that left physical<br />
and emotional scars on their mother,<br />
Marty and Carol Lakewood devotedly protect<br />
eocli other from what Marty calls "a<br />
broken world." Grown to adulthood in the<br />
late '50s, the two live in a small coastal<br />
town, partners in grift end murder, and<br />
their mutual devotion ftos turned erotic.<br />
Latin Boys Go to Hell<br />
Set in working-class Brooklyn, this gay<br />
fest entry tells the story of a shy 20-year-old<br />
(Irwin Ossa) and a savvy Latino charmer<br />
(John Bryant Davila). Jenifer Lee Simard<br />
and Guinevere Turner ("Go Fish") co-star.<br />
Ela Troyano directs, and scripts with Andre<br />
Solos; Jurgen Bruning ("Hustler White")<br />
produces. IStrand, 7/25 NY/LA)<br />
Exploitips: This will attract a similar<br />
demo as "Shooting Porn " and if boasts a<br />
similarly salacious title that will attract attention.<br />
Positive reviews from the film's fest<br />
runs should be pushed.<br />
Wedding Bell Blues<br />
Three women ("Female Perversions'"<br />
Paulina Porizkova, "Grace of My HeartV^<br />
llleano Douglas and "Doc Hollywood's"<br />
Julie Warner) ore turning 30 unmarried.<br />
They decide to head to Los Veaas, find<br />
husbands, get marled and get divorced,<br />
all in 24 hours —<br />
just so they can say they<br />
weren't spinsters. Dana Lustig mokes her<br />
directing debut; Annette GoTlti-Gutierrez<br />
scripts; Ram Bergman & Dana Lustig and<br />
Mike Curb & Carole Curb Nemov produce<br />
the BMG acquisition. (Legacy, o/l3 ltd)<br />
Exploitips: Our Seattle/Women in Cinema<br />
critic gives this three stars, citing a<br />
narrative with "an engaging momentum"<br />
and a cast that provides 'superb performances"<br />
in "an above-average romantic<br />
comedy laden with well-delivered yuks that<br />
also has something smart to say about<br />
aging, relationships and the pressure on<br />
women to marry young. " The obvious demo:<br />
twenty- and thirtysomething females, so play<br />
up the leads and the storyline.
demo— and most guys will be happy to watch<br />
Silverstone for two hours. Expect this to be the<br />
date-night choice for the weekend.<br />
A Smile Like Yours<br />
This romantic comedy stars "Dear God's"<br />
Greg Kinnear and "Turbulence's" Lauren<br />
Holly as a young married couple struggling to<br />
juggle their careers and have a baby. But a<br />
beauty (Jill Hennessy) and a tycoon (Christopher<br />
McDonald, also in "Leave It to Beaver")<br />
bring outside pressures to the duo's happy<br />
marriage. Joan Cusack ("Crosse Pointe<br />
Blank") and Jay Thomas co-star. Rysher CEO<br />
Keith Samples makes his directing debut, and<br />
he scripts with Kevin Meyer; David Kirkpatrick<br />
("The Evening Star") and Tony Amatullo<br />
produce. (Paramount, 8/1 5)<br />
Exploitips: Even if Samples as a director<br />
proves to be a good CEO, "ASmileLike Yours"<br />
has engaging leads that could provide older<br />
couples a weekend alternative to the youngerskewing<br />
"Excess Baggage. " (It also has a more<br />
attractive title.) But August, not April, can be<br />
exhibition's cruelest month, and the key is<br />
to<br />
attract the parent-age demo otherwise busy<br />
with family vacations. Try a contest awarding<br />
the couple with the best smiles.<br />
Steel<br />
NBA phenomShaquille O'Neal ("Kazaam")<br />
stars as metals specialist John Henry Irons, who<br />
develops a top-secret weapon. But his duplicitous<br />
nemesis, Nathaniel Burke ("New Jack<br />
City's" Judd Nelson), uses it to arm street thugs,<br />
and he plans to sell the weapon to international<br />
terrorists. Aided by friends and family,<br />
Irons creates an alter-ego superhero; Steel.<br />
Annabeth Gish ("The Last Supper"), Richard<br />
Roundtree and Irma P. Hall co-star. Kenneth<br />
Johnson ("Short Circuit II") directs and scripts;<br />
music maven Quincy Jones produces with<br />
David Salzman and Joel Simon ("Hard to<br />
Kill"). (Warner, 8/15)<br />
Exploitips: At $18 million in boxoffice,<br />
O'Neal's "Kazaam" didn't overfill Disney's<br />
coffers, and Warner must hope that "Steel"<br />
has more legs than the Lakers did in the<br />
playoffs. "Steel" seems aimed a little higher in<br />
age bracket, and though little kids idolize<br />
Shaq that could lend this project more consideration<br />
from moviegoers. Still, the likely<br />
attendees will be dad and son— hardcore action<br />
fans are unlikely to buy in here— so tout<br />
the O'Neal name to draw his NBA watchers.<br />
She's So Lovely<br />
"Dead Man Walking's" Sean Penn and<br />
"Moll Flanders'" Robin Wright co-star as<br />
crazy-in-love Eddie and Maureen. When a<br />
neighbor attacks Maureen, Eddie's response<br />
lands him in jail for 10 years. On his return,<br />
he finds Maureen is now remarried to the<br />
affectionate Joey (John Travolta), leaving<br />
Maureen torn between past and present, passion<br />
and love. Gena Rowlands co-stars. Nick<br />
Cassavetes ("Unhook the Stars") directs a<br />
script written by his father, the legendary John<br />
Cassavetes; Rene Cleitman (also "Unhook the<br />
Stars") produces. (Miramax, 8/1 5)<br />
Exploitips: Aka "She's De Lovely, " the film<br />
has a publicity-attracting duo in the married<br />
Penn and Wright, and the narrative favors<br />
them. But the celebrity here is Travolta, returning<br />
to the MiramaxLand that relaunched<br />
his career with "Pulp Fiction." And, however<br />
compassionate his role is, he's the interloper.<br />
The casting would be stronger in the Hollywood<br />
sense if the boys had switched their<br />
parts. Butsobeit;afterall, it's John Cassavetes<br />
material. One can expect mano-a-mano<br />
sparks from Penn and Travolta in any case.<br />
How to Be a Player<br />
Philandering ladies man Dray Jackson (Bill<br />
Bellamy, best known from the cable show<br />
"MTV Jams") has his playboy lifedisrupted by,<br />
of all things, the anthropology project of his<br />
sister ("B.A.P.S.'" Natalie Desselle), who sets<br />
out to break the predatory habits of the male.<br />
Pierre Edwards, Lark Voorhies and Mari Morrow<br />
("Virtuosity") co-star. Lionel C. Martin<br />
directs; Mark Brown and Demetria Johnson<br />
script; Mark Burg, Todd Baker, Preston<br />
Holmes, Stan Lathan and Russell Simmons<br />
produce. (Gramercy, 8/1 5)<br />
Exploitips: Despite the comeuppance<br />
storyline, "How to Be a Player" is likely to draw<br />
the urban male demo; if the Showest trailer<br />
emphasized any studies, it was only the Book<br />
of Love, as written by horny males at that<br />
The Full Monty<br />
Strapped for cash, six out-of-work steelworkers<br />
form a ragtag band of strippers to<br />
make ends meet. Robert Carlyle ("Trainspotting")<br />
stars as Gaz, a wild card who persuades<br />
best friend Dave and a former foreman to be<br />
part of an act that culminates with "the full<br />
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Response No. 114<br />
.Tulv. 1997 29
"<br />
"<br />
"<br />
monty"—baring it all. Mark Addy, William<br />
Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul<br />
Barber and Hugo Speer co-star. Peter<br />
Cattaneo directs; Simon Beaufoy scripts;<br />
Uberto Pasolini ("Palookaville") produces.<br />
(Fox Searchlight, 8/1 5 NY/LA, 8/29 exp)<br />
Exploitips: Our critic accorded tliis a fourstar<br />
review (see our April 1 997 issue), calling<br />
it "a gender-reversed 'Striptease' with the<br />
comedy intact" and praising the cast for "performances<br />
with admirable charisma and pathos."<br />
Although Miramax co-head Harvey<br />
Weinstein recently characterized Fox Searchlight<br />
as "10 disasters in a row," this — like its<br />
Cannes-praised "Ice Storm"— is likely to put<br />
the gleam back into Searchlight.<br />
Different for Girls<br />
in this romantic comedy (held from June),<br />
when childhood best friends Paul and Karl<br />
meet 20 years later, the heterosexual Paul is<br />
sexually attracted to his old pal—because Karl<br />
has become Kim. When Paul learns Kim's<br />
identity, he decides to wreck Kim's life. Rupert<br />
Graves ("Intimate Relations"), Steven<br />
Mackintosh ("London Kills Me") and Saskia<br />
Reeves ("Butterfly Kiss") star. Richard Spence<br />
directs; Tony Marchant scripts; John Chapman<br />
produces. (First Look, 8/1 5 ltd)<br />
Exploitips:<br />
The gender-bender storyline<br />
isn't new, but it continues to draw. "Different<br />
for Girls" received the Montreal fest's Grand<br />
Prix of the Americas award for best film, a<br />
citable award for arthouse auds.<br />
Bandwagon<br />
Four kids form a rock band and hit the road<br />
in this slacker rock comedy. Kevin Corrigan<br />
("Walking and Talking"), Steve Parlavecchio,<br />
Lee Holmes, Matthew Hennesey and Doug<br />
MacMillan star. John Schultz ("The Making of<br />
Jurassic Park") directs and scripts, and he<br />
produces with Alyson Poole. (CFP, 8/15 ltd)<br />
Exploitips: Our Ft. Lauderdale critic in a 3<br />
1/2-star review (see our April 1997 issue)<br />
citably called this "a fresh, witty road movie.<br />
AUGUST 22<br />
IMoney Tallcs<br />
A small-time con artist ("The Fifth Element's"<br />
Chris Tucker) is wrongly blamed for a police<br />
killing. Suddenly notorious, he can rely only<br />
on the help of an annoying reporter ("Shadow<br />
Conspiracy's" Charlie Sheen). Brett Ratner<br />
directs; "Toy Story" co-writers Joel Cohen and<br />
Alec Sokolow script this action comedy with<br />
Vince McKewin; Walter Coblenz ("The<br />
Babe") produces. See our Sneak Preview in<br />
the June 1997 issue. (New Line, 8/22)'<br />
Exploitips: Bouncing around on the NLC<br />
slate (first 7/1 8, then 10/1, now 8/22), "Money<br />
Talks" has had its salability hefted a notch by<br />
Tucker's attention-grabbing turn in "The Fifth<br />
Element. " The presence of the "Toy Story"<br />
scenarists could portend a decent comedy.<br />
Sunday<br />
Struggling, middle-aged actress Madeleine<br />
mistakes Oliver, a homeless casualty of corporate<br />
downsizing, for an acclaimed art-film<br />
director. Oliver grabs the opportunity to<br />
reinvent himself, even if only for one day.<br />
David Suchet ("Executive Decision") and Lisa<br />
Harrow ("The Last Days of Chez Nous") star<br />
with Jared Harris ("I Shot Andy Warhol") and<br />
Larry Pine. Jonathan Nossiter directs, and he<br />
scripts with James Lasdun; Nossiter and Aliz<br />
Madigan produce. (CFP, 8/22 NY/LA)<br />
Exploitips: Yet another sign of the ascendance<br />
of CFP, "Sunday" won the grand jury<br />
prize at Sundance. Our Cannes critic rated it<br />
at four stars, saying the two leads give "powerfully<br />
honest and risky performances.<br />
Hoodlum<br />
AUGUST 29<br />
This gritty crime drama stars Laurence<br />
Fishburne (also in this month's "Event Horizon")<br />
as upstart gangster Bumpy Johnson,<br />
who faces off with the famed Dutch Schultz<br />
("Rob Roy's" Tim Roth) for control of Harlem<br />
in the '30s. Andy Garcia (also in "Desperate<br />
Measures") stars as Lucky Luciano. Vanessa<br />
Williams ("Eraser"), Clarence Williams III,<br />
William Atherton, Queen Latifah and Cicely<br />
Tyson co-star. Bill Duke ("A Rage in Harlem")<br />
directs; Chris Brancato scripts; Frank<br />
Mancuso, Jr. ("Species") produces. (LIA, 8/29)<br />
Exploitips: Because ofNew Line's move of<br />
"Boogie Nights," "Hoodlum" faces some<br />
male-demo and urban-aud competition. This<br />
UA project has a higher-profile cast, however,<br />
and its wide break means the promotional<br />
push will be more intensive this weekend.<br />
Dead Man On Campus<br />
The second MTV film (the first was "Beavis<br />
and Butt-head Do America" finds two freshmen<br />
resorting to arcana to win good grades.<br />
Tom Everett Scott ("That Thing You Do!") and<br />
Mark-Paul Gosselaar star. Alan Cohn directs;<br />
Michael Traeger and Michael White script;<br />
and Gale Anne Hurd produces for her Pacific<br />
Western Prods. (Paramount, 8/29)<br />
Exploitips: The scenario could seem a salve<br />
to Ivy-returning students, and one can expect<br />
wall-to-wall promotion on MTV.<br />
Boogie Nights<br />
rhis dark comedy follows a group of<br />
filmmakers hopingto revamp the XXX industry.<br />
Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds,<br />
Don Cheadle, William H. Macy,<br />
Heather Graham and John C. Reilly star. Paul<br />
Thomas Anderson ("Hard Eight") directs, scripts<br />
and produces. (New Line, 8/29 ltd, 9/5 wide)<br />
Exploitips: As it did for "The People vs.<br />
Larry Flynt" (for good or ill),<br />
the XXX setting<br />
will draw this extra attention, but the cast<br />
talents are also salable. New Line moved this<br />
from an early summer bow.<br />
Operation Condor<br />
In this comic adventure (aka "Armor of God<br />
2"), Hong Kong superstar Jackie Chan races<br />
mercenaries across three continents to a trove<br />
of gold hidden by the Nazis during WWII. A<br />
wind tunnel fight sequence is a comic masterpiece.<br />
Carol Cheng, Eva Cobo De Garcia<br />
and Ikeda Shoko co-star; Chan and Edward<br />
Tang ("Rumble in the Bronx") script; Leonard<br />
Ho ("Supercop") produces. (Miramax, 8/29)<br />
Exploitips:<br />
The more recent "First Strike"<br />
"Supercop" $15 million;<br />
made $14 million,<br />
early 1996's "Rumble in the Bronx" did $30<br />
million. To reverse that trend, position this as<br />
an exotic "Raiders ofthe Lost Ark. " Emphasize<br />
Chan's directing and co-scripting roles to lend<br />
this film event status for the already converted.<br />
Miramax moved this from May.<br />
Kull the Conqueror<br />
Based on Robert E. Howard's '30s pulp<br />
fiction hero, "Kull the Conqueror" follows the<br />
adventures of a slave soldier (Kevin Sorbo of<br />
the syndication smash "Hercules: The Legendary<br />
Journeys") turned king. Tia Carrere ("High<br />
School High"), Thomas Ian Griffith ("Excessive<br />
Force"), Karina Lombard ("Legends of the<br />
Fall"), Litefoot ("The Indian in the Cupboard")<br />
and Harvey Fierstein ("Independence Day")<br />
co-star. John Nicollela ("The Fan", 1981) directs;<br />
Charles Edward Pogue ("Dragonheart")<br />
and Don Mancini (the "Child's Play" series)<br />
script; Raffaella De Laurentiis (also<br />
"Dragonheart") produces. (LIniversal, 8/29)<br />
Exploitips: The similar role for Sorbo<br />
means this could pull his TV legions; the<br />
Howard name retains a young-male following.<br />
The PG-13 rating is demo-friendly.<br />
AUGUST UNDATED<br />
Masterminds<br />
After being expelled from the Shady Glen<br />
School by the principal ("A Time to Kill's"<br />
Brenda Fricker), 14-year-old Ozzie<br />
("Alaska's" Vincent Kartheiser) decides to<br />
play one more practical joke. But, when he<br />
ventures into the school basement to do the<br />
deed, he learns the security guard ("Star Trek:<br />
First Contact's" Patrick Stewart) has taken all<br />
the students hostage. That leaves just Ozzie<br />
and his penchant for pranks to lead the kids<br />
to triumph. Roger Christian ("The Sender")<br />
directs; Floyd Byars ("Mindwalk"), Alex Siskin<br />
and Chris Black script; Byars produces with<br />
Robert Dudelson. (Triumph, August)<br />
Exploitips: Held from late May, "Masterminds"<br />
now lands just before classes begin<br />
again— perhaps not as propitious timing, student<br />
psychology wise. New catchline: "Got<br />
school? Here's your hero.<br />
Dirty Dancing<br />
Patrick Swayze stars in this reissue of the<br />
1 987 hit as the dance instructor who makes the<br />
Catskills summer of a coming-of-age girl Oennifer<br />
Grey) into the time of her life. Jerry Orbach,<br />
Cynthia Rhodes and Jack Weston co-star;<br />
the late Emile Ardolino directs. (Live, August)<br />
Exploitips: Aside from "Star Wars, " reprises<br />
draw only limited attendance. Emphasize the<br />
vacation element to interest young females.<br />
Gravesend<br />
This lovv-l)udget drama traces the events In<br />
the lives of four teenage friends over the<br />
course of one tragic night. Sal Stabile makes<br />
his feature directing debut. (Manga, August)<br />
Exploitips: The odd title and under-20<br />
storyline could capture the interest ofout-ofschool<br />
young males looking for escape from<br />
hot August nights.<br />
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Response No 2
"<br />
SUMMER '97 PROMO GUIDE<br />
Promotional tie-ins to the biggest summer movies<br />
Here and Megara from Buena Vista's "Hercules."<br />
BUENA VISTA<br />
Buena Vista has launched another of its<br />
famed Mega Mall tours to tout "Hercules,"<br />
Disney's summer animation event for '97. The<br />
five-month, 20-city tour highlights the art of<br />
animation through live demonstrations, stage<br />
performances and interactive games. There's a<br />
live stage show; a miniature carousel themed<br />
to Baby Pegasus; a workshop where particip)ants<br />
can draw Hercules; and Hercules-themed<br />
game booths and prizes. Sponsored by Chevy<br />
Venture, the event also includes a Chevy Venture<br />
minivan giveaway in each market. Mattel<br />
is manufacturing such action figures as Hydra-<br />
Slaying Hercules; Head-Butting Phil; Lightning<br />
Bolt Zeus; Fireball-Shooting Hades; a<br />
Cyclops; and a Hydra that sprouts new heads<br />
when you chop one off. "Hercules" will also<br />
be promoted from here to Mt. Olympus<br />
through a tie-in with McDonald's, with the<br />
fast-food chain offering figurines of the heroic<br />
demigod, his cohorts and his nemeses.<br />
McDonald's will also promote Buena<br />
Vista's "George of the Jungle," a live-action<br />
version of Jay Ward's '60s cartoon parody of<br />
Tarzan. Customers will be invited to "Swing<br />
into McDonald's and Watch Out For That<br />
Treeeeat...". The merchandise safari also includes<br />
children's apparel from Allison Manufacturing;<br />
sportswear from Jerry Leigh;<br />
neckwear and boxers from MJC; trading cards<br />
fiiom Upper Deck; T-shirts from Stanley De<br />
Santis; footwear from Pagoda; and jungle<br />
blankets and throws from Beacon Manufacturing.<br />
COLUMBIA<br />
"ID4" star Will Smith will again tussle with<br />
aliens this fourth of July weekend, this time in<br />
"Men In Black," in which he co-stars as J<br />
opposite Tommy Lee Jones, who plays K.<br />
They're both MIBs-special agents who monitor<br />
extraterrestrial activity and keep it under<br />
control-which isn't always easy, judging from<br />
some ofthe toys being offered by Galoob. First<br />
there's Alien Ambush J vs. Tree Tmnk Alien.<br />
"There's a secret alien hidden inside the tree<br />
tmnk.. .Pose J to blast 'em out!" Then there's<br />
Slime Fighting K vs. Edgar. "K's being slimed<br />
by the hidden alien!" And Steel Striker K vs.<br />
Manhole Cover Alien-well, that doesn't even<br />
require an explanation, does it? Galoob will<br />
also release MIB Micro Machine scale miniatures.<br />
Over 30 other licensees are on board for<br />
this event picture, including Aladdin Industries<br />
(lunch boxes); American Needle (baseball<br />
Slippers featuring characters from<br />
Buena Vista's "George of the Jungle."<br />
Slime-Fighting K of Columbia's "Men In Black.<br />
caps); Changes Inc. (T-shirts, sweatshirts and<br />
tank tops); Disguise Inc. (costumes, masks,<br />
make-up and Halloween accessories); Ero Industries<br />
Inc. (sleeping bags and play tents);<br />
Foot-Tec Industries Inc. (children's footwear);<br />
GTE Entertainment (CD-ROM games); Impact<br />
(backpacks and wallets); Inkworks (trading<br />
cards and stickers); Jay Franco & Soas Inc.<br />
(beach towels); Marvel Comics (comic<br />
books); Microgames of America (walkie-talkies);<br />
OSP Publishing Inc. (posters); Party Professionals<br />
(masks); Revell-Monograin (model<br />
kits); and Tiger Electronics (LCD hand-held<br />
games). For MIB wanna-bes, there will be an<br />
"Official Men In Black Agent's Manual"<br />
from Newmarket Press.<br />
FOX<br />
20th Centiuy Fox will be pulling out all the<br />
stops to promote "Ana.stasia" the first film<br />
from the studio's new animation division. Meg<br />
Ryan voices the tide character in this animated<br />
musical about an amnesiac girl who might be<br />
the daughter of Russia's last czar. Galoob Toys<br />
has designed a fashion doll with a rags-toriches<br />
wardrobe, from a tattered blouse and<br />
skirt outfit to a gorgeously ornate ball<br />
gown. Burger King will offer premiums<br />
based on the film's characters, and Pizza<br />
Hut, Nabisco, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo and<br />
Coca-Cola will also have tie-ins. Other companies<br />
Fox has pacted with for "Anastasia"<br />
include Applause (plush dolls); Disguise Inc.<br />
(costumes and masks); ERO Industries Inc.<br />
(sleeping bags and play tents); Fruit of the<br />
Loom (children's underwear); Harper Collins<br />
(storybooks); Kid Duds (sleepwear); Tiger<br />
Electronics (hand-held games); Tyco/<br />
ViewMaster(3-D ViewMaster reel cards); and<br />
Warren Industries (board games and jigsaw<br />
puzzles). And the music box Anastasia treasures<br />
will be recreated in several sizes by SF<br />
Music Box, and will play the film's haunting<br />
melody "Once Upon a Etecember."<br />
NEW LINE<br />
"Spawn," a sci-fi action film based on the<br />
popular Image Comics superhero, will be promoted<br />
by a Sony Playstation tie-in and a<br />
sweepstakes in Wizard Magazine. Starring<br />
Martin Sheen, John Leguizamo and<br />
Michael Jai White, "Spawn" is "the story<br />
of the ultimate war between good and<br />
evil." McFarlane Toys is the toy licensee.<br />
The heroine of Fox's "Anastasia" in her tmll gown.
.lulv. 1997 33<br />
PARAMOUNT<br />
Playmates Toys will manufacture a line of<br />
fairy doUs for Paramount's "Fairy Tale...A<br />
True Story." Ruble's Costume Company will<br />
create Halloween costumes, make-up, masks,<br />
boxed costume sets, jewelry, wings and accessories.<br />
Rawcliffe Corp. will produce resin and<br />
pewter figurines. Gilbertie's Natural Fragrances<br />
will offer aromatherapy and beauty<br />
care products, and the Signature Group will<br />
provide women's embroidered denim shirts.<br />
T-shirts, baseball caps, nightshirts and mugs.<br />
TRISTAR<br />
An intergalactic battle with aUen insects-it<br />
has all the elements for a winning promotional<br />
smorgasbord. Galoob Toys wiU manufacture<br />
action figures of "Starship Troopers'" heroes<br />
and villains, and their futuristic weapons and<br />
combat vehicles. GB Posters & Publications<br />
will offer posters of the film, and Spectrum<br />
Holobyte will develop interactive CD-ROM<br />
entertainment software that will mirror the<br />
atmosphere and action of the movie.<br />
UNIVERSAL<br />
Judging ft'om "Jurassic Park's" boxoffice<br />
receipts, its sequel, "The Lost World," should<br />
be the "monster" hit of the summer. And more<br />
than two dozen toy licensees will contribute to<br />
the film's Dino-Might performance. Promotional<br />
partners include Kenner (action figures),<br />
Parker Bros, (board games), Laramie (Super<br />
Soaker guns), Tyco (radio controlled cars),<br />
DreamWorks Interactive (CD-ROMs), Sega<br />
of America (electronic games). Fruit of the<br />
Loom (children's underwear) and MCI (prepaid<br />
phone cards). Burger King will be the<br />
exclusive restaurant promotional tie-in partner,<br />
offering merchandise based on the dinosaurs<br />
and their human adversaries.<br />
Mercedes-Benz is also on board, promoting<br />
their new M-Class All-Activity vehicle, which<br />
is featured in the film. And General Mills<br />
cereals such as Trix, Cocoa Puffs, Golden<br />
Grahams and Cinnamon Toast Crunch make<br />
this offer: "If you hear this box ROAR, you<br />
could win a Lost World Adventure!" A mechanical<br />
device that makes a roaring sound,<br />
activated when a winning box is opened, indicates<br />
that the boxholder is the recipient of the<br />
grand prize-a trip to New Zealand and Australia<br />
for eight people and up to $24,000 in<br />
cash-or one of 10,(XX) first prizes, including<br />
Lost World backpacks, waUde-talkies and binoculars.<br />
General Mills has also introduced a<br />
"Collector's Edition" cereal called Jurassic<br />
Park Crunch, complete with mini-marshmallows<br />
shaped like Raptors and hatching eggs.<br />
WARNER BROS.<br />
With a cast of megastars including George<br />
Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Arnold<br />
Schwarzenegger, Uma Thurman and Alicia<br />
Silverstone, "Batman and Robin" hardly<br />
needs promoting. But that won't stop<br />
Warner Bros., which has teamed with numerous<br />
companies to drive consumers batty.<br />
More than 100 million boxes of Kellogg's<br />
cereal will feature commemorative boxes<br />
and giveaways. Taco Bell will offer premiums;<br />
Frito-Lay will have "Bat"-themed bags<br />
and a sweepstakes game; Kraft will ice the<br />
popsicle competition with Mr. Freeze juice<br />
bars; and Brach will sell candy in the shape<br />
ofthe movie's characters. Kenner is the master<br />
toy licensee.<br />
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Niduiest / Inlernahonal Sales<br />
3840 South Heleno, Auroro, CO 80013, USA<br />
Phone: (303) 699-7477 • Fox: (303) 680-6071<br />
Response No. 274
International Exhibition Profile<br />
I<br />
BIG IN JAPAN<br />
Tlie Opening of Kobe's MOVIX Rokko Kicics Off<br />
Cinemark's Pact With Shochiku by Christine James<br />
As<br />
American exhibitors expand<br />
their companies further<br />
and further across the globe,<br />
they're finding there's one thing all<br />
their stateside<br />
success and experience<br />
can't assuage: culture shock.<br />
There wiU always remain unknown<br />
elements in any foreign marketplace<br />
a given company ventures into. And<br />
those variables could decide the success<br />
or failure of an enterprise.<br />
Take real estate. Where are the<br />
best locations? Where do the local<br />
people congregate? What's a fair<br />
price to pay? And business. Which<br />
companies are reputable? Who produces<br />
the best-quaUty products ? And<br />
aesthetics. What architecture, environments,<br />
styles and colors appeal to<br />
this population? Even food. Will<br />
salted popcorn go over here, or is<br />
pickled squid the cinematic delicacy<br />
of this particular region?<br />
The answer, most circuits have<br />
found, is to team up with a strategic<br />
partner that has the contacts and<br />
I<br />
knows the ins and outs. That's what<br />
Cinemark International, Cinemark's transcontinentally-focused<br />
subsidiary, decided to<br />
do when the company set its sights on Japan.<br />
Cinemark International's president, Tim<br />
Warner, ultimately chose Shochiku, a 103-<br />
year-old entertainment company that's the<br />
lai^gest in Japan. And one of its holdings is<br />
Shochiku Multiplex Theatres, the second largest<br />
exhibition company in Japan. Under the<br />
pact, Shochiku Cinemaric Thea&es (SCT) plans<br />
to build 100 screens in J^an by the year 2000.<br />
"I knew [Shochiku president and CEO]<br />
Toru Okuyama for a number of years through<br />
my involvement with NATO/ShoWest, and<br />
was aware of both the quality and status of his<br />
company in Japan," says Wamer, who resigned<br />
fk)m his position as general chairman<br />
of NATO/ShoWest last year to join Cinemark.<br />
"And I suggested to him when I took my<br />
current position as the president of Cinemark<br />
International that he might want to consider<br />
doing a joint venture."<br />
Wamer points out that while their competitors<br />
in Japan—AMC, UCI (a partnership between<br />
Paramount and Universal), and Time<br />
Warner-owned Wamer International—have<br />
LIKE TO MOVIX: The exterior of the complex in which Shochiku Cinemarii Theatres' MOVtX Rokko is housed.<br />
local joint venture partners, they're not with<br />
companies in the entertainment or exhibition<br />
business. "I think the advantage for us<br />
is having a joint venture partner that is in<br />
day-to-day exhibition," he notes. "They have<br />
excellent knowledge and relationships in the<br />
marketplace, and I think it will enable us to<br />
build our circuit much faster than the other<br />
competing circuits."<br />
"There's nothing like having someone that<br />
knows the market well, and they do," says<br />
Cinemark's director ofcorporate development<br />
Randy Hester. "It's a unique market, it's a huge<br />
market. And it's always advantageous to have<br />
someone that knows it."<br />
Of course, Cinemark brings something to<br />
the table too. "We bring our knowledge ofboth<br />
the domestic and international marketplace,<br />
technology, and experti.se," says Wamer, who<br />
adds that SCT management will be trained in<br />
Dallas, where Cinemark is based.<br />
"We've got some experience that they don't<br />
have," comments Hester. "We've grown our<br />
company from a pretty small regional operation<br />
to a nationwide and intemational company.<br />
And we've got some unique ideas about<br />
theatre design and about operations and customer<br />
service that they saw and they liked."<br />
Shochiku and Cinemark together have 53<br />
percent interest in SCT (meaning each has 26.5<br />
percent). The remaining 47 percent is held by<br />
"large, prominent Japanese corporations,<br />
which will also assist to move the development<br />
forward," according to Wamer.<br />
Rather than use the cumbersome company<br />
name of Shochiku Cinemark Theatres, the<br />
theatres themselves will be called MOVIX.<br />
"Shochiku has had that name for their drive-in<br />
theatres, so the name has been in Japan, linked<br />
with the exhibition business, for a number of<br />
years," says Wamer.<br />
MOVIX intends to provide Japan's theatregoers<br />
with the state-of-the-art multiplexes<br />
that are so prevalent in America. The first<br />
theatre under Cinemark and Shochiku's partnership<br />
was the seven-plex MOVIX Rokko in<br />
Kobe, which opened its doors March 20. "It's<br />
been doing very well, and it was extremely<br />
well-received by the community. Business has<br />
been very, very good," says Wamer.<br />
"The theatre is built in a spectacular new<br />
mall development on Rokko Fashion Island,"
—<br />
Tiilv. ^^)
International Exhibition Profile<br />
PLEX-MEX<br />
From<br />
to 100 Screens in Less Than Two Years,<br />
Cinemex Heats Up the Mexican IVIaricet<br />
by Jose Martinez<br />
POLISHED PRESENTATION: The entrance to Cinemex's Santa Fe 14-plex.<br />
Stadium-style<br />
theatre seats, digital sound,<br />
fully-automated telephone ticketing and<br />
information services, and world class<br />
acoustical standards are taken for granted in<br />
the United States. But these innovations have<br />
been taking Mexico City by storm—ever since<br />
Cinemex opened the doors of its first theatre<br />
in August 1995.<br />
Founded in January 1994, Cinemex is a<br />
first-run multiplex theatrical exhibitor focasing<br />
on the movie marketplace in<br />
Mexico's<br />
capital city. Cinemex originated as a business<br />
project for three Harvard students whose formula<br />
went on to win Harvard Business<br />
School's two business plan awards in 1993.<br />
The company, which employs a staff of 45 at<br />
its head office and 485 at its cinemas, was<br />
formed by managing partners Miguel Angel<br />
Davila (age 31), director of operations and<br />
finance; Adolfo Fa.stlicht (30), director of real<br />
estate development and new projects; and<br />
Matthew Heyman (35), director of programming<br />
and sU~alegic planning. (Of the three<br />
young entrepreneurs. Heyman is the only one<br />
with prior experience in the exhibition industry,<br />
having formerly served as vice president<br />
of bu.siness affairs at Toronto-based Cineplex<br />
Odeon).<br />
Already Mexico's second-largest<br />
cinema<br />
operator in terms of boxoflRce, Cinemex represents<br />
22 percent and 30 percent of the<br />
region's attendance and boxofflce, respectively.<br />
Ramirez is currently the largest chain in<br />
Mexico, and Cinemark is the second largest by<br />
screen count. UA has also recently entered the<br />
newly-hot market, and others are circling. But<br />
Heyman's not worried. "People used to say to<br />
Ramirez, 'Who do you think is your competitor?'<br />
And 1 think he u-sed to say Cinemark. I<br />
think that everyb(xly now looks more to us."<br />
By the year 2(XX), Cinemex plans to have<br />
ftom 350 to 380 screens throughout Mexico
Ifi<br />
R/IVr\L'L-ff'L-<br />
THE ART OF THE DEAL: Cinemex has risen in the ranks of exhibition by bringing state-of-the-art technology and design to fAexico City, as exemplified<br />
by the spacious lobby of the Cinemex Loreto, which features neon-framed poster cases and a ceiling-mounted multi-screen video wall.<br />
City. "The plan is to build as many screens as<br />
we can in Mexico City. Focus, focus, focus,"<br />
says Heyman. "Keep our eye on the ball,<br />
understanding that half the economy takes<br />
place in Mexico City. One-quarter of the population<br />
lives in Mexico City and the cosmopolitan<br />
area."<br />
The company's plan is not to have the finest<br />
theatres in Mexico, but the finest anywhere.<br />
"Every theatre we're building now is 100<br />
percent digital. We're going back and retrofitting<br />
a lot of theatres to make them digital.<br />
We have only one goal—to be the best in the<br />
world. We're not here to be the best in Mexico.<br />
We're here to set the standard for everything."<br />
The company has achieved the iridastry's<br />
highest average ticket price by developing<br />
state-of-the-art multiplexes and exceeding<br />
cu.stomers' theatregoing expectations. "The<br />
quality of theatres was so poor (before<br />
Cinemex entered the market] that it was easy<br />
to raise the bar," Heyman explains. "The relative<br />
comparison was really fast. IPeople] came<br />
in and said, 'We've never seen anything like<br />
this except in the U.S.'"<br />
And the public is willing to pay for quality.<br />
Regarding customers' reaction to Cinemex's<br />
higher ticket prices, Heyman says, "We have<br />
really incredible, committed, and loyal customers.<br />
They never complained once."<br />
Heyman knows the ingredients that go into<br />
a successful theatre. "I look for good sight<br />
hnes, clean service. The big thing for me is the<br />
quality of the presentation, the sound, and the<br />
cleanliness of the building. Those are the<br />
things you notice first. The decor package<br />
and the way the theatre looks are fundamental<br />
to the whole thing."<br />
The company's multiplex philosophy incorporates<br />
the industry's highest technological<br />
standards and<br />
first-class<br />
service<br />
to create<br />
Mexico's premier<br />
moviegoing experience—a<br />
concept<br />
Cinemex<br />
calls La Magia<br />
del Cine (The<br />
Magic of Cinema).<br />
They also<br />
have developed<br />
their own acoustical<br />
standard, Sonido Cinemex, in an effort<br />
to further differentiate its cinemas from new<br />
and existing competitors. "Sonido Cinemex is<br />
our own aLX)U.stical standard," says Heyman.<br />
"We match THX standard in every single theatre."<br />
Cinemex also utilizes a phone service,<br />
Linea Cinemex, dirough which customers can<br />
reserve their tickets in advance. Some sites<br />
offer patrons a liquor bar with draft beer and<br />
a coffee bar, as well as the standard assortment<br />
of movie food, and a special pick-'n'-<br />
mix bulk candy setup called La<br />
Locura—which means "The Craziness." In<br />
keeping with the philosophy that the partners<br />
have created a brand name, all<br />
Cinemex innovations are trademarked.<br />
The company<br />
was fomied at a<br />
time when people<br />
predicted Mexico<br />
was on the verge<br />
of becoming a<br />
first-world country.<br />
Instead, what<br />
occurred was a<br />
meltdown of the<br />
Mexican economy.<br />
"We opened<br />
all<br />
our buildings<br />
during the worst lime. The devaluation hit<br />
and saved our ass," Heyman recounts. "We<br />
couldn't compete because we had no<br />
buildings. We opened .seven buildings in 14
nionthsbecause everyone else was scared. We<br />
opened some great theatres."<br />
At present, Cinemex has 10 multiplexes<br />
with 101 screens. Currently open are the AltaVista<br />
6; the Santa Fe 14; the Manacar 9; the<br />
Los Reyes 10; the Loreto 10; the Perinorte 12;<br />
and the Masaryk 4. (The last is also known as<br />
the Casa de Arte, and is one of Mexico's few<br />
art-houses.) Coming up are the Cinemex<br />
Galerias 14; the Toluca 14; the San Mateo 12;<br />
the Villa Coapa 11 and the Universidad 14.<br />
Heyman and his partners are already working<br />
on expanding Cinemex's scope. "I think the<br />
second phase of Cinemex will be an acquisition<br />
phase that will not necessarily occur in<br />
Mexico City. It could occur in Latin America.<br />
The goal is to create an incredible market<br />
share in Mexico City and then leverage that<br />
market share elsewhere."<br />
One aspect Cinemex prides itself on is the<br />
fact that it is a Mexican company. All three<br />
partners reside in Mexico City, where the<br />
company is headquartered. Heyman is the lone<br />
American employee. (The company's investors<br />
are 50 percent American, 35 percent Austrahan<br />
and 15 percent Mexican. AustraUa's<br />
Hoyts Corp. invested USS22 milhon in November<br />
1 996, and J.P. Morgan Capital was one<br />
of the first investors to come on board, putting<br />
several million dollars into the company back<br />
in October 1993.) According to Heyman,<br />
"We're a Mexican company with an American<br />
flair—and I'm the flair."<br />
Heyman is quick to mention the importance<br />
of his two partners. "My two Mexican partners<br />
are an incredible advantage in this mariceL They<br />
know how to operate in the culture, because<br />
they're from the culture. They can operate<br />
with the govenmient, with the real estate community,<br />
and with any area that is indigenous<br />
to Mexico.<br />
"Cinemex's huge competitive advantage in<br />
Mexico is that we are extremely Mexican, but<br />
we have the benefit of the U.S. experience."<br />
//<br />
We're not here to be<br />
the best in Mexico.<br />
We're here to<br />
set the standard<br />
for everything."<br />
Ultimately, the secret of success is creating<br />
audience demand, and Cinemex knows how<br />
to keep the momenuim going. "We'd rather<br />
have fewer prints and move them around to all<br />
our buildings. The history has always been<br />
releasing 60 prints on one picture and then it's<br />
dead in one week." Cinemex theatres play<br />
approximately 94 percent American films, although<br />
"the rest is not Mexican; [the remaining<br />
percentage] includes French, Italian and Spanish<br />
[films]."<br />
Predicting what will be a hit is an art form<br />
unto itself Converse to American performance,<br />
"Dante's Peak" was a huge hit in Mexico<br />
City, while "Star Wars" proved to be a<br />
disappointment, according to Heyman,. But<br />
Heyman says that Mexico City does not generally<br />
receive science-fiction well—demonstrating<br />
the importance of knowing your<br />
market.<br />
Even Heyman, a juggernaut of excitement<br />
and business savvy, has been surprised by<br />
Cinemex's growth and success in such a<br />
short period of time. "I'm quite surprised at<br />
oiu" success—that we've achieved so much<br />
market share so fast, that we' ve beat so many<br />
other exhibitors to locations. The amount of<br />
respect we've achieved fix)m the exhibition<br />
community has been really nice."<br />
Although Cinemex is relatively new to the<br />
market, Heyman and his partners know that<br />
this is not the time to look back and admire<br />
their accomphshments. Instead, this is the<br />
time to act on their strategies. "The company<br />
has a long way to go. We're going to do a lot<br />
of great things. We're the second largest chain<br />
in the country, in terms of boxoffice, but we<br />
have a long way to go. We're far from Mission<br />
Accomplished. This is a very aggressive strategy<br />
that requires a lot of capital and a lot of<br />
work.<br />
"For us, the biggest challenge we have is to<br />
maintain ourselves as the best. The next<br />
challenge is to continue to get locations, making<br />
sure they are supreme locations, and keeping<br />
the money flowing. The trick is to<br />
minimize what's not going to work and maximize<br />
what's going to woric."<br />
^H<br />
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Response No. 6<br />
T..I., -xaon lo
40 BOXOFFICE<br />
'<br />
Exhibition Profile<br />
THE ITALIAN<br />
CONNECTION<br />
Cecclii Gori Finds Success On U.S. Soil With<br />
Beverly Hills' Fine Arts Theatre by Pat Kramer<br />
Even<br />
as European exhibitors continue to<br />
joint-venture or compete with American<br />
circuits looking to expand overseas, one<br />
Continental company is contentedly selling<br />
movie tickets in Beverly Hills,<br />
Calif. Six years ago, Italy's Cecchi<br />
Gori Group bought and completely<br />
renovated the Fine Arts<br />
Theatre, a historic single-screen<br />
moviehouse built in 1936.<br />
Since the 1991 purchase (originally<br />
via PentAmerica, the now<br />
dissolved American venture between<br />
the Cecchi Gori Group and<br />
Berlusconi Communications),<br />
programming plans have been<br />
modified; the intent had been to<br />
provide a showcase for European<br />
films—especially, if not exclusively,<br />
Italian-language fare—for<br />
American audiences. "Because<br />
[company owner Vittorio] Cecchi<br />
Gori owns the largest theatre circuit<br />
in Italy, he wanted to have a<br />
presence in [U.S.] exhibition, and<br />
the hope was to primarily show<br />
European films," says Cecch<br />
Gori vice president of production<br />
Anna Gross, who is based in West<br />
Los Angeles. "Unfortunately, especially<br />
being a supplier of European<br />
films, we know that market<br />
seems to be shrinking. We make<br />
less than 30 movies a year in Italy."<br />
The Fine Arts does provide extended<br />
runs for Cecchi Gori productions;<br />
for example, the<br />
company's Academy Awardnominated<br />
"II Postino," distributed<br />
by Miramax, ran for 1 7 weeks<br />
there. But, as under previous operator<br />
Laemmle Theauxjs. programming<br />
covers the entire art-house genre, both<br />
foreign and domestic. That's not surpri.sing,<br />
given that Miramax provides a substantial<br />
amount of the theatre's bookings.<br />
The first-run theatre is one of only two<br />
moviehouses remaining in Beverly Hills. (The<br />
THE ITALIANS ARE COMING: A refurbished Fine Arts<br />
opened in December 1993 with "Shadowiands.<br />
grams specialized fare.) The Fine Arts additionally<br />
serves as a screening facility for the<br />
entertainment industry thanks to its state-ofthe-art<br />
projection and sound equipment, all of<br />
other, Laemmle's nearby Music HaU, was recently<br />
converted into a triplex and also prowhich<br />
was installed during an eight-month<br />
renovation project in 1 993 that restored the site<br />
to its art-deco glory.<br />
For the Italian media magnate, owning a<br />
historic theatre—one of the Hollywood<br />
community's last single<br />
screens—^isjustanotherfeatherin<br />
his cap. Although the son of legendary<br />
Italian producer Mario<br />
Cecchi Gori doesn't plan further<br />
stateside expansion, Vittorio is<br />
one of Italy's most prominent<br />
businessmen. The Senator of<br />
Florence and owner of the<br />
Fiorentina soccer team, he also<br />
runs the continuously expanding<br />
Cecchi Gori exhibition circuit,<br />
two TV networks, a record label,<br />
;i host ofcommunications-related<br />
industries, and the largest production/distribution<br />
company in his<br />
homeland. In addition to "II<br />
Postino," his production credits in<br />
I he 1990s include such notable<br />
iiles as Gabriele Salvatore's<br />
Oscar-winning "Mediterraneo,"<br />
Gianni Amelio's "Lamerica,"<br />
,ina WertmuUer's "Ciao Pro-<br />
I'essore!." Guiseppe Tomatore's<br />
"The Star Maker" and Roberto<br />
Benigni's "Johnny Stecchino."<br />
o:<br />
ver the theatre's<br />
lifetime<br />
(its doors first opened in<br />
937), it has passed fiiom<br />
Fox Theatres to Mann Theatres to<br />
I ^lemmle, with each organization<br />
adding its own touch to the site's<br />
look. Designed by renowned theatre<br />
architect B. Marcus Pritica<br />
(who also designed Hollywood's<br />
Pantages Theatre), the moviehoase—then<br />
called the Regina—was initially<br />
a Fox property. During the 1940s, Fox gave it<br />
its first and most pronounced facelift, overseen<br />
by designer Charles P. Skouras; it was he who
;<br />
greets<br />
—<br />
Iiilv 1007 ±\<br />
provided the theatre with an art deco flair by<br />
installing hammered-metal wall sconces, three<br />
omamental chandeliers, quilted walls with<br />
brass buttons, etched metal doors, and a polished-metal<br />
concessions stand.<br />
With Skouras' work completed. Fox renamed<br />
the theatre the Fine Arts and ran it until<br />
1973, when Mann<br />
moved in. In the early<br />
'80s, Laemmle took<br />
over the theatre, programming<br />
specialized<br />
films. When Cecchi<br />
Gori came on the scene,<br />
the theatre was closed<br />
for its most recent renovation,<br />
which was<br />
completed in time for a<br />
December 29, 1993<br />
opening with Savoy's<br />
"Shadowlands." Gross,<br />
who directed the renovation<br />
process, used<br />
the theatre's glory days<br />
as her polestar.<br />
To aid her quest, she<br />
hired designer Joe<br />
Musil, whose refurbishment<br />
efforts for Pacific<br />
Theatres at the<br />
NOW<br />
circuit's El Capitan<br />
carries<br />
Theatre in Hollywood<br />
and its Crest Theatre in<br />
Westwood Village<br />
both of them singlescreen<br />
halls— had<br />
gained well-deserved<br />
acclaim. Musil was<br />
able to salvage many of<br />
the Fine Arts' most intriguing<br />
features: He<br />
recast the hammeredmetal<br />
wall sconces and<br />
restored the quilted<br />
wall coverings and the<br />
proscenium, which<br />
now displays Skouras'<br />
signature 1940s look<br />
with swags and tassels.<br />
The brass buttons<br />
were removed and<br />
made gleaming again;<br />
new carpeting was installed;<br />
and walls were<br />
painted to depict the post-World War n period.<br />
The restrooms and the concessions stand were<br />
modernized with an art deco motif, the original<br />
vintage seats were restored (the theatre now<br />
has several fewer rows, allowing for greater<br />
legroom throughout the auditorium), armrest<br />
cupholders were installed and the marquee<br />
was relit to beckon in passersby. letting them<br />
know that the "grand old lady" had returned.<br />
As at Musil's redone El Capitan and Crest,<br />
a glorious new feature of the vintage look is<br />
the Fine Arts' gUttering velvet curtain, which<br />
audiences in a dramatic way. Says<br />
Gross. "When people round that bend, they<br />
1 gasp because you don't see theatres like that<br />
Lanymore." All told, the renovations ran into the<br />
f says. long with upgrading its look, Cecchi<br />
Gori wanted his theatre to provide out-<br />
LStanding capabilities in sight and<br />
sound. "As a production executive, I know<br />
how hard you work on a film. I know what you<br />
go through—^and then it goes into a theatre and<br />
you don't even recognize your own film," says<br />
AND THEN: The Fine Arts concessions stand now<br />
items favored by American art-house audiences.<br />
Gross, who made sure that the vision here was<br />
attained. To revitaUze the technical systems at<br />
the Fine Arts, Gross hired Tony Francis of Los<br />
Angeles-based Theatre Products International.<br />
Francis designed a version of the THX sound<br />
system, building a wall directly behind the<br />
screen and instaUing loudspeakers in it, and he<br />
created a bi-ampUfied sound system with JBL<br />
speakers. The end resuh is a sound system that<br />
is almost identical to what some consider<br />
Hollywood's premier screening room, the<br />
Samuel Goldwyn Theatre at the Academy of<br />
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Says Francis,<br />
"It's a terrific sounding theatre. When<br />
Turner Entertainment came out with its restored<br />
'Dr. Zhivago,' it screened at the Fine<br />
Arts." Although the original sound installed<br />
was analog, the system has since been \vpgraded<br />
with SDDS digital soimd.<br />
The projection system is designed to accommodate<br />
both commercial films and<br />
screenings of dailies for the studios. To allow<br />
for flexibiUty, Francis installed two projectors—one<br />
for 70mm films, the other for<br />
35mm — plus a platter system.<br />
"The platter worics<br />
both ways," Francis says,<br />
"so that they can use either<br />
projector and the platter,<br />
or they can do a changeover<br />
where they could use<br />
both projectors as 35mm."<br />
To accommodate the<br />
showing of dailies, for<br />
which the soundtrack<br />
isn't always on the film, a<br />
dual dubber (a magnetic<br />
sound reproducer) was installed<br />
to handle separate<br />
picture and track. Both<br />
projectors can be interlocked<br />
to the dubber to<br />
maximize the sound.<br />
With the renovation<br />
well underway. Gross<br />
began looking for a company<br />
to manage the Fine<br />
Arts. As part of her dehberations,<br />
she traveled to a<br />
number of L.A.-area theatres<br />
to inspect them for<br />
cleanliness as well as to<br />
judge the staff's courtesy<br />
and knowledgeability.<br />
Based on a belief that its<br />
management philosophy<br />
was similar to hers. Gross<br />
chose AMC, which has<br />
found great success with<br />
its nearby Century City<br />
AMC 14 and its sevenscreener<br />
in Santa Monica.<br />
She had evidence her<br />
belief was correct barely a<br />
month after the theatre's<br />
reopening— specifically,<br />
on the morning of January<br />
17, 1994—when a phone<br />
call arrived from the Fine<br />
Arts manager 40 minutes<br />
after the predawn Northridge<br />
earthquake. "She had come in the dark<br />
during the aftershocks to make sure the theatre<br />
was okay," Gross recalls. 'That's when I knew<br />
we had great management." Although the<br />
temblor did inflict a certain amount of damage—some<br />
cracking along the roofline and<br />
some broken mirrors inside—the theatre was<br />
able to re-reopen three weeks later<br />
Dashwood, AMC's vice president<br />
Nora<br />
ofoperations ofthe West Division, says<br />
the Fine Arts has given AMC the opportunity<br />
to display its abilities in a new area.<br />
The Fine Arts is one of two single-screeners<br />
(the other is in San Jose) that AMC manages,<br />
an interesting sideUne for the company commonly<br />
credited with giving birth to the con-
—<br />
temporary multiplex. "What attracted AMC to<br />
the job," Dashwood says, "was the phenomenal<br />
job [Cecchi Gori] did with the theatre. It's<br />
an absolute jewel, and customers are very<br />
pleased to have seen it renovated back to<br />
even better than—its former<br />
glory. Being in Beverly<br />
Hills, where the film community<br />
is, the producers and<br />
stars, we felt it would give<br />
AMC a chance to showcase<br />
our operational expertise, as<br />
well as to be able to run a<br />
beautiful theatre."<br />
Now in its fourth year run<br />
under the Cecchi Gori flag.<br />
the Fine Arts provides a<br />
quality of viewing a cut<br />
above some local theatres—and<br />
certainly several<br />
cuts<br />
above many theatres<br />
that make their living on<br />
foreign films. As Gross puts<br />
it, "It's a place for those who<br />
want to enjoy foreign films<br />
inatheatrethatdoesn'thave<br />
sticky floors." Indeed,<br />
keeping the theatre clean is<br />
one of the priorities at the<br />
Fine Arts; another is serving<br />
_^<br />
!;,DEi!|S<br />
high-quality beverages and food. At the concessions<br />
counter, patrons can choose from the<br />
likes of cappuccino, espresso, fresh-baked<br />
pretzels, Snapple drinks, and dried fiuits, in<br />
addition to the customary popcorn and soft<br />
drinks. As with all the features at the Fine Arts,<br />
everything is artfully displayed on polished<br />
counters. And, with a theatre capacity that tops<br />
out at 500, the lines are never very long.<br />
With its subtitled films, which show more<br />
fi^quently at the Fine Arts than in main.stream<br />
Then called the Reglna, the theatre drew a crowd<br />
with a Lugosi/Karloff scarefest in 1942.<br />
houses, the theatre .sees a higher percentage of<br />
deaf viewers. To expand the viewing opportunities<br />
for that audience segment, the Fine Arts<br />
made an agreement with the Tripod School for<br />
the Deaf and the Deaf Entertainment Foundation<br />
(DEF) and is showing English-language<br />
films for the hearing impaired. The program<br />
launched in summer 1995 with a special<br />
screening of Warner Bros.' "The Bridges of<br />
Madison County," complete with open-captioned<br />
subtitles and special captioning indicating<br />
musical song lyrics and<br />
sound effects. Holding<br />
more of such screenings<br />
for the deaf, Gross says,<br />
remains a key goal.<br />
Whether it's providing a<br />
more comfortable sancmary<br />
for art-house lovers and<br />
its many celebrity patrons,<br />
or whether it's serving as<br />
one of the most "authentic"<br />
old theatres now operating<br />
with modem sight and<br />
sound quality, the Fine Arts<br />
provides new-Hollywood<br />
fare in an early-Hollywood<br />
setting. It also represents a<br />
coming-together of two<br />
cultures, with Italian<br />
ownerCecchi Gori providing<br />
the expertise in foreign<br />
and AMC, one of<br />
films,<br />
America's top circuits,<br />
providing the management.<br />
Say AMC's Dashwood,<br />
"It's a bit of a throwback to the past,<br />
restoring some of Hollywood's glory. TTiere<br />
are not a lot of theatres in L.A., where Hollywood<br />
started. Most of the old beautiful single<br />
screens have gone by the wayside. I think the<br />
theatre is appreciated for that."<br />
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SPECIAL REPORT: Europe 1997<br />
KNOCKIN' ON THE<br />
BOXOFFICE DOOR<br />
A German-made blockbuster may serve as a blueprint<br />
for the European production and exhibition<br />
"You've never seen the ocean? Don't you<br />
know what happens when you get to heaven?<br />
In heaven, all they talk about is the ocean. How<br />
gorgeously beautiful it is. And all the sunsets<br />
that they saw. How you couldfeel the sun lose<br />
its strength. And how the cool water splashed<br />
forwardand the onlyfire left was thefire in their<br />
souls. And you ? You can 't say a thing, because<br />
you've never been there. Up there, you'll be<br />
"<br />
nothing but af-— d up outsider<br />
— from "Knockin ' on Heaven 's Door"<br />
The<br />
German film industry<br />
is celebrating its<br />
strongest period since<br />
the 1950s, when domesti<br />
cally-made German product<br />
dominated theatre screens. In<br />
first-quarter 1997, German<br />
features accounted for 37 percent<br />
of the national boxofficc.<br />
More than 1 1 .6 million filmgoers<br />
viewed German features<br />
at moviehouses. In<br />
comparison, American films<br />
counted<br />
19.3 million admissions<br />
in the same period. This<br />
is a-stounding, considering the<br />
very large amount of Amen<br />
can film being shown on Ck i<br />
man screens. During 1997<br />
first three months, 3,0'-' 1<br />
prints of locally-made films<br />
were delivered to German<br />
theatres—a third more than<br />
during an entire year jast half<br />
a decade ago.<br />
"We want to concentrate on producing German<br />
films in Germany for the German public."<br />
That was how Wolfgang Braun, vice president<br />
of Buena Vista International Germany,<br />
summed up his company's domestic business<br />
strategy two years ago at the Buena Vista<br />
International trade fair. And he wa.stcd no time<br />
in putting this credo into action. Buena Vista<br />
Germany's first German production,<br />
by PKay Krieg<br />
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door," a dramedy in<br />
road-movie style, is already setting industry<br />
standards on how German product will be<br />
viewed internationally and how it will be produced<br />
in the years to come. Among other<br />
things, the Buena Vista production shows how<br />
capital from a U.S.-based company can be<br />
used to reinvigorate a European market, as<br />
opposed to siphoning local resources, which<br />
divisions of Hollywood studios are occasionally<br />
accused of doing.<br />
DOORWAY: T/ie story of two men who w, ml<br />
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" has opened new wiij.<br />
Buena Vista Germany risked plunging into<br />
new territory by working with a dynamic<br />
young German production company called<br />
Mr. Brown Entertainment. The result of this<br />
cooperative effort is a road movie about two<br />
terminally ill men, Martin and Rudi, who meet<br />
in the hospital. After realizing that one of them<br />
has never seen the ocean, they steal a car.<br />
planning on driving north to the sea before one<br />
of them dies. It turns out that the car belongs<br />
to Frankie Boy, whose hitmen, Henk and<br />
Abdul, were supposed to transport it (and the<br />
million German marks in the trunk) to<br />
Frankie's boss, Curtiz. Now millionaires, Rudi<br />
and Martin go on shopping sprees, order nx»m<br />
service in the best hotels, and set about making<br />
their foremost wishes come true, determined<br />
to get to the ocean before fate overtakes them.<br />
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" was an instant<br />
commercial smash for Buena Vista.<br />
sea,<br />
:man film.<br />
Within just eight weeks it garnered the coveted<br />
Golden Screen Award (Goldene<br />
Leinwand) for more than<br />
three million admissions sold<br />
(a feat that typically takes up<br />
to 18 months in release). The<br />
film could be seen in almost<br />
every theatre complex in Germany<br />
during February and<br />
March 1997, and it received<br />
two prestigious German Film<br />
Award nominations: for Best<br />
Film and Best Supporting<br />
Actor. Buena Vista Germany<br />
and Mr. Brown Entertainment<br />
touched the pulse of the nation<br />
with their first try, which<br />
makes the details of this intriguing<br />
partnership worth noting<br />
as a possible production<br />
mcxlel for the shape of German<br />
things to come.<br />
•t all began rather harmlessly<br />
two years ago in a<br />
.bookstore in Cologne.<br />
There, Thomas Jahn bumped<br />
into Til Schweiger. Schweigerat that time was<br />
regarded as a major up-and-coming star in<br />
Germany. (He's since gained that reputation<br />
.stateside, having become hot in Hollywood.)<br />
He was basking in the success of "Der<br />
Bewegte Mann" ("Maybe, Maybe Not"), another<br />
huge domestic hit, which was released<br />
on October 13, 1994. Pnxluced by Bemd<br />
Eichingcr (head of Coastantin Film), "Maybe,
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earned the Golden Screen with Star award (a<br />
distinction rarely achieved) for amassing more<br />
than six million domestic admissions (to be<br />
exact, "Maybe, Maybe Not" pulled in<br />
6,510,213 moviegoers during its first run).<br />
That hit catapulted Schweiger into the high-<br />
GERMAN PRODUCTION'S SECOND COMING<br />
If current trends continue, 1997 should be a big yearfor Germanproduced<br />
cinema at the German boxoffice. In addition to the numerous<br />
smaller domestic films which will be in play, here are a<br />
few of the higher-profile features that are either currently in the<br />
editing room or<br />
else in production<br />
forprospective release<br />
this year (all<br />
release dates are<br />
tentative):<br />
A CO-VENTURE ADVENTURE: Wolfgang Braun ofBVI Germany (I.) says the Disney subsidiary took a chance on firsttime<br />
director Thomas Jahn (r.) because the studio wanted "to offer the German audience a new domestic type of film.<br />
est echelons of the country's talent. For ^ . . „• .,<br />
i ,<br />
Thomas Jahn, meeting Schweiger was Gamier starrmg Katja Riemann, Nicolette Krebitz,<br />
therefore<br />
a moment of destiny. Jahn is<br />
a self-described<br />
movie freak: "When I was 1 2 or so, all<br />
I did was go to the movies," he says, "or watch<br />
them on TV. I ingested everything I could get<br />
my hands on—classics from Howard Hawks<br />
or John FonJ, American cult movies like 'Midnight<br />
Run,' action flicks, just about everything."<br />
Tlie reference to "Midnight Run"—another<br />
odd-couple road movie—is no coincidence. In<br />
Jahn's film, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door,"<br />
Schweiger's character is named Martin Brest,<br />
after "Midnight Run's" U.S. director. His<br />
partner's character is named after Rudolph<br />
Wurlitzer, the screenwriter for Sam<br />
Peckinpah's cult western "Pat Garrett and<br />
Billy the Kid." And it's the Bob Dylan tune<br />
used as the musical motif in "Pat Garrett" that<br />
eventually gave Jahn's breakthrough feature<br />
its title: "Knockin' on Heaven's Door."<br />
So when Jahn, who was moonlighting at<br />
that time as a taxi driver, saw Schweiger leafing<br />
through film books, he had to go up and<br />
talk with him. They discussed "Der bewegte<br />
Mann," Schweiger's growing interest in creating<br />
and producing his own films, and Jahn's<br />
stash of unrealized screenplays sitting in his<br />
closet One thing led to another, and within a<br />
week of this initial meeting Schweiger's mailbox<br />
was busting at the seams:-Jahn had sent<br />
him a potpourri of possible film ideas. In that<br />
stack of scripts was a first draft of "Knockin'<br />
on Heaven's Doot."<br />
"What bothers me /.? that death is such an<br />
uncomfortable way to live.<br />
—from "Knockin ' on Heaven 's Door"<br />
Schweiger was automatically drawn to the<br />
story and knew he wanted to film it. He<br />
and Jahn worked on the script for about<br />
• Buena Vista International<br />
Germany<br />
is the number one<br />
major involved in<br />
domestic production,<br />
with a handful<br />
of German co-pro-<br />
comedy about<br />
ductions, including:<br />
"Bandits" is a musical<br />
an all-girl prison<br />
band from Katja von<br />
asmin Tabatabai and<br />
Hannes Jaen-nicke. (German release date: July 3j;<br />
"Hunger: To Yearn for Love," a dramatic love story about the effects that<br />
bulimia can have on one's life, is Dana Vavrova's directorial debut and<br />
stars Catherine Flemming, Kai Wiesinger and Christiane Horbiger. The<br />
film is produced together with Perathon Film, the production company of<br />
German filmmaker Joseph Vilsmaier (Vavrova's husband). (Sept. 4);<br />
"2 Frauen, 2 Manner" ("Two Women, Two Men"), a comedy about<br />
infidelity by Vivian Naefe from Olga Film, stars Heino Firch, Aglaia<br />
Szyszkowitz and Gedeon Burkhard. (Oct. 16);<br />
"Widows" stars Uwe Ochsenknecht, Heino Firch, Huub Stapel, Thomas<br />
Heinze and Eva Mattes. Sherry Hermann is at the helm. (Early 1998).<br />
• Bernd Eichinger's Constantin Film is another company hard at work on<br />
delivering high-quality German product. Its slate includes:<br />
"Die 3 Madels von der Tankstelle" ("Three Girls at the Gas Station") is a<br />
comedy starring Wigald Boning, Axel Milberg and Franka Potentc from<br />
Peter Brinkmann. Boning is the star of Germany's answer to "Saturday<br />
Night Live"; this film marks his feature debut. (June 12).<br />
"Prince Valiant," a fantasy-adventure film based on the comic series,<br />
marks another international production for Constantin (following "Smilla's<br />
Sense of Snow"). Anthony Hickox directs an international cast including<br />
Stephen Moyer, Katherine Heigl, Edward Fox, Ron Perlman, Udo Kier and<br />
Thomas Kretschmann. The film will be shot in English. (July 3).<br />
• Concorde-Castle Rock/Turner is also entering the ring and will be<br />
promoting Paul Harather's newest release, a holiday comedy entitled<br />
"Weihnachtsfieber" ("Christmas Fever"). (Nov. 13).<br />
• Warner Bros. Germany has quite a few projects in the development and<br />
discussion stage. Two that will definitely be released this year are:<br />
"Die Furchtlosen Vier" ("The Fearless Four") is an animation comedy<br />
based on the classic fairy tale about the Bremer Town Musicians. Currently,<br />
it is set to open just before the fall school vacations on Oct. 2.<br />
"Das Trio" ("The Three") is a crime drama starring Christian Redl and Felix<br />
Eisner from Hermine Hundgeburth. This debut film from Next Film in<br />
Hamburg boasts a five million mark budget and is slated for release on<br />
Dec. 4.—PKay Krieg
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a year until they had the story honed. After<br />
investing so much in their endeavor, Schweiger<br />
was afraid of losing creative control over<br />
the project. Thus, in the spring of 1996, he<br />
formed Mr. Brown Entertainment (a name<br />
taken fix)m Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir<br />
Dogs") together with Thomas Zickler, an independent<br />
short<br />
film and commercial pro-<br />
ON THE ROAD: Jan Josef Liefers and Til Schweiger are the terminally ill<br />
believe that a<br />
adventurers in "Knockin' on Heaven's Door. "<br />
major studio<br />
ducer, and with Andre Hennicke, a screenwriter<br />
and actor.<br />
till then I had made only a few Super-8 and<br />
would trust a no-name with such a project. ' 'Up<br />
Mr. Brown immediately began developing video fihns. I never dreamed anyone would<br />
its first feature, and a positive buzz echoed<br />
through the German industry. The fact that<br />
Germany's answer to Brad Pitt was personally<br />
involved in the creative and financial p'ocess<br />
sparked interest at the offices of domestic distribution.<br />
Buena Vista Germany was one ofthe<br />
first local distributors to make inquiries.<br />
Schweiger didn't trust the postal service to<br />
make the sale. "I just didn't want to send them<br />
a script," he explains. "I wanted the chance to<br />
personally introduce the film and all the ideas<br />
behind it"<br />
Amutual friend introduced Schweiger to<br />
Christoph Ott, executive director of<br />
distribution at Buena Vista Germany.<br />
"We didn't reahze that this meeting would<br />
prove to be so important," Schweiger reflects.<br />
"After this initial meeting, we met for another<br />
two or three hours. I read him through the entire<br />
film and even played out some of the scenes."<br />
Schweiger's performance must have been<br />
very convincing. Buena Vista Germany not<br />
only became co-producer of "Knockin' on<br />
Heaven's Door," it also distributed the film in<br />
German-spwaking territories (Germany, Austria<br />
and Switzerland). By teaming with Buena<br />
Vista International,<br />
"Knockin' on Heaven's<br />
Dooi'' profited from high-quality PR attuned<br />
to the likes and dislikes of the German public.<br />
The entire BVI marketing department knew<br />
exactly how to position the film with audiences<br />
and exhibitors alike.<br />
"A crucial factor in our decision to become<br />
involved in the project was Til Schweiger's<br />
enthusiastic dedication to it," says BVI's<br />
Braun. "After studying the material, we knew<br />
it would make a first-class film. But we decided<br />
to go about the production our way. Of<br />
course, we could have hired a well-known TV<br />
director to take the helm. But then the film<br />
would have had that certain old-fashioned<br />
look. We wanted to offer the German audience<br />
a new domestic type of film, and Schweiger's<br />
enthusiasm<br />
and professional<br />
way of<br />
doing business<br />
made that<br />
decision<br />
easier."<br />
"When<br />
even<br />
found out that<br />
the film was<br />
really greenlighted,<br />
I was<br />
ecstatic," Jahn<br />
recalls. "But<br />
when Til kept<br />
talking and<br />
told me that I<br />
was going to<br />
direct it, well,<br />
that was too<br />
much." Jahn<br />
could hardly<br />
give someone like myselfthe reins of a million<br />
mark film project." This faith in his capabilities<br />
proved to be that extra incentive Jahn needed.<br />
"Til and all the others had so much trust in me.<br />
I<br />
didn't want to let them down and did all I<br />
could to make [the film] a success."<br />
Once the crew was set, it was time to focus<br />
on the talent in front of the camera. Not only<br />
the main characters but the cameo appearances<br />
read like a who's who of young German and<br />
European cinema. Jan Josef Liefers took the<br />
second main role of the melancholic Rudi<br />
Wurlitzer against Schweiger's more dynamic<br />
and extroverted main character The film received<br />
a touch of Hollywood by enlisting Rutger<br />
Hauer to play the role of Curtiz, the mini<br />
Mafia boss in charge of the whole operation.<br />
And Holland's best known export, Huub<br />
Stapel, took the role of Frankie Boy.<br />
The secret stars ofthe film, though, are Henk<br />
and Abdul—two hitmen with very limited<br />
intelligence. Moritz Bleibtreu received a German<br />
Film Award nomination for his portrayal<br />
of Abdul, and the best-known star in Luxembourg,<br />
Thierry van Werveke, took the role of<br />
Henk. The scenes with those two characters<br />
were so popular that project talks are currently<br />
underway to develop a spin-off .sequel: "Henk<br />
& Abdul: The Boys are Back in Town."<br />
Schweiger was even able to convince his<br />
mentor Bemd Eichingcr, the innovator of<br />
modem German film production, to take a<br />
small cameo role—no easy task.<br />
I<br />
Eichinger<br />
judges himselfa miserable actor, and considers<br />
his forte to be behind-the-scenes work. "I<br />
didn't let loose until he said yes," Schweiger<br />
says. The cameo appearance—shot with another<br />
German household name, Hannes<br />
Jaennicke—comes right before the end credits<br />
and was an immediate hit with the audience.<br />
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" opened in<br />
Germany on Febmary 20 of this year and<br />
promptly became the number one movie in the<br />
nation, a status it maintained the following<br />
weekend. It went on to become the second<br />
most popular German film of the first quarter<br />
of 1 997. The arrival of "Das kleine Arschloch"<br />
("The Little Bastard"), a domestic adult animation<br />
comedy, pushed "Knockin"' to number<br />
two on its third weekend.<br />
On the live-action side, however, not even<br />
Buena Vista's own high-powered U.S. -produced<br />
competition could hurt Jahn's debut<br />
film. "101 Dalmatians" ojjened against "Das<br />
kleine Arschloch" and landed at number three<br />
on its first weekend, behind those two German<br />
productions.<br />
"Good work, Keller. Thinking always<br />
helps!"<br />
—from "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"<br />
Both<br />
"Knockin'" and the social satire<br />
"Rossini" (another Eichinger production,<br />
which has also received the<br />
Golden Screen Award and is the top-grossing<br />
domestic release of this year) prove that the<br />
German and European publics are ready to<br />
embrace well-made domestic fare. And there<br />
is no shortage of creative talent ready to follow<br />
in Schweiger's footsteps, either in front of the<br />
camera or behind the scenes [see sidebar,<br />
p.46]. Not only Buena Vista but also other<br />
majors and domestic distributors are eager to<br />
help finance and distribute German film.<br />
The success of this latest slew of German<br />
product has proven to even the toughest<br />
naysayers that there is indeed a financial future<br />
for domestic product. "Knockin' on Heaven's<br />
Dooi^' offers vindication for the commercial<br />
style ofmoviemaking as it applies in Germany,<br />
inasmuch as it is a departure from the artistic<br />
and cultural German fihns of the 1960s and<br />
'70s, which focused on high-brow, sometimes<br />
grim subjects appeaUng primarily to specialized<br />
audiences. Where those esoteric efforts<br />
always seemed to project a "message,"<br />
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door'' succeeds first<br />
and foremost as entertainment.<br />
Undeniably, serious and "art" films are still<br />
important and will continue to fill a global<br />
niche. But from a purely pragmatic standpoint<br />
they have limited commercial appeal. And<br />
what's wrong with just wanting to be entertained?<br />
Apparently nothing, as "Knockin' on<br />
Heaven's E)oor" demonstrates. It is proving to<br />
the German film industry that domestically<br />
created "entertainment" can indeed be popular<br />
and acceptable—not to mention profitable.<br />
"Our fihn is one giant pioneering effort and<br />
we are proud of it," sums up producer/<br />
actor/screenwriter and risk taker Schweiger.<br />
"It was done in true team spirit." A team that<br />
was courageous and daring enough to go<br />
where not many German films have gone<br />
before—and, quite possibly, to take the rest of<br />
the German film industry along with it: straight<br />
into boxoffice heaven.<br />
^M
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F[flTHllT[ |
SPECIAL REPORT: Europe 1997<br />
OVERVIEW; EUROPE<br />
ATA GLANCE<br />
A country-by-country examination of<br />
European Exhibition by Melissa Morrison<br />
The European<br />
Continent is<br />
currently in<br />
the midst of sweeping<br />
changes where<br />
exhibition is concerned.<br />
It's a big and<br />
rapidly changing<br />
picture, one which<br />
can be difficult to get<br />
a handle on. Butfear<br />
not: BOXOFnCE<br />
European correspondent<br />
Melissa<br />
Morrison knows the<br />
terrain and was willing<br />
to do the necessary<br />
legwork to get<br />
the pertinent info in<br />
each market.<br />
We can think ofno<br />
better starting point<br />
for an exhibition<br />
professional trying<br />
to get a feel for Europe<br />
than the<br />
data<br />
which has been arranged<br />
here in tabularformfor<br />
your easy reference. A companion<br />
table, listingfull corporate rostersforlO ofthe<br />
biggest players on the European exhibition<br />
scene, begins on page 52. All screen counts are<br />
as of 1 996, except where noted; an asterisk ( *)<br />
indicates 1995 figures.<br />
TOTAL NUMBER OF EUROPEAN SCREENS:<br />
25,636<br />
UNITED KINGDOM/IREUUID<br />
MAJOR EXHIBITORS: Rank-Odeon; UCI;<br />
Virgin; ABC; Cine-UK; National<br />
Amusements' Showcase; Warner Bros. International<br />
TheatresA'illage Roadshow; Ward-<br />
Anderson; Apollo Cinemas<br />
MAJOR DISTRIBUTORS: UIP; Buena<br />
Vista International; 2()th Century Fox; Rank;<br />
Warner Bros.; Columbia TriStar Films; Entertainment<br />
Film Distributors; Guild Pathe; Artificial<br />
Eye; PolyGram; First Independent<br />
SCREENS: U.K.: 2,222; Ireland: 197*<br />
PERCENT OF EUROPEAN MARKET:<br />
U.K.: 8.7; Ireland: 1<br />
PLANNED BUILDS: Major exhibitors have<br />
plans to build a total 400-plus new screens in<br />
1 997 and 1 998; Australia's Village Roadshow<br />
joins the act in partnership with Warner Bros.<br />
INDUSTRY EVENTS: BAFTA Awards<br />
(April); Eklinbuigh International Film Festival<br />
(August); Pre-MIFED Screenings (October);<br />
London International Film Festival & Market<br />
(October); London Film Festival (November)<br />
GERMANY/AUSTRIA<br />
MAJOR EXHIBITORS: UFA Theatre;<br />
Rebbe; Kieft und Kieft; Omniplex Group;<br />
Rolf Theile; Georg Reiss; Bofi-Gruppe; UCI;<br />
Warner Bros. International Theatres/Village<br />
Roadshow; Constantin Film<br />
MAJOR DISTRIBUTORS: UIP; Buena<br />
Vista; 20th Century Fox; Constantin; Warner<br />
Bros.;<br />
TriStar;<br />
Columbia<br />
Concorde-<br />
Castle Rock; Delphi;<br />
Pandora;<br />
FPV<br />
Filmwelt-Prokino;<br />
K i n o w e 1 t ;<br />
Jugendfilm<br />
SCREENS: Germany:<br />
4,0(X); Austria:<br />
382*<br />
PERCENT<br />
MARKET:<br />
OF<br />
Germany:<br />
15.7; Austria:<br />
1.5<br />
BUILDS: (jermany<br />
anticipates about<br />
1,000 new screens<br />
by the end of the century;<br />
UCI beginning<br />
aggressive building<br />
campaigns; Warner<br />
Bros, and Village<br />
Roadshow to build<br />
multiplexes in Germany;<br />
Omniplex<br />
Group plans to build<br />
six multiplexes<br />
''-^'''^^^^^'^-'^<br />
through '97; Bemd<br />
Eichinger's Constantin Group planning $209<br />
million cinema complex in Munich; U.S.'s<br />
UCI and Germany's UFA plan separate projects<br />
in the eastern German city of Gera<br />
INDUSTRY EVENTS: Beriin Film Festival<br />
(February); Filmfest Munchen (June); Filmfest<br />
Hamburg (September)<br />
FRANCE/SWinERLANO<br />
MAJOR EXlllimORS: Gaumont, UGC,<br />
Showcase; Padie<br />
MAJOR DISTRIBUTORS: GaumonU<br />
Buena Vista International; AMLF; UIP; U.S.<br />
studio offshocMs<br />
SCREENS: France: 4,365*; Switzerland:<br />
488*<br />
PERCENT OF MARKED France: 17.2;<br />
Switzeriand: 1.9<br />
PLANNED BUILDS: Heron<br />
International<br />
(UK) is planning five new complexes in<br />
France and Spain at a total cost of $223 million
INDUSTRY EVENTS: Cannes International<br />
Film Festival and Market (May); Deauville<br />
Festival of American Films (September); Festival<br />
of European Cinema (November)<br />
ITALY<br />
MAJOR EXHIBITORS: Cecchi Gori Group;<br />
Cinema 5; Village Roadshow<br />
MAJOR DISTRIBUTORS: Medusa; Buena<br />
Vista; Warner Bros.; Cecchi Gori; UIP;<br />
FilmAuro; Columbia TriStar; OF; Aitisti Associati;<br />
Lucky Red<br />
SCREENS: 4.(XX)<br />
PERCENT OF MARKET: 15.7<br />
PLANNED BUILDS: Warner Bros and Village<br />
Roadshow have formed a joint venture to<br />
build 20 multiplexes throughout Italy; UCI is<br />
planning 15 multiplexes<br />
INDUSTRY EVENTS: MIFED (October);<br />
Venice Film Festival (August/September)<br />
SPAIH/PORTUGAL<br />
MAJOR EXHIBITORS: Lauren Films; Alta<br />
Films; Wamer-Lusomundo; Yelmo Films;<br />
UGC (France); Cinesa; UCI<br />
MAJOR DISTRIBUTORS: Lauren Fihns;<br />
Sogepaq Distribucion<br />
SCREENS: Spain: 2,090*; Portugal: 282*<br />
PERCENTOF MARKET: Spain: 8.2; Portugal:<br />
1.1<br />
PLANNED BUILDS: Lauien to build 72<br />
screens by end of '97: Warner Bros., Spanish<br />
multimedia giant PRISA and Portuguese<br />
major Lusomundo to develop 20 multiplexes<br />
in Spain; Heron Intemational (UK) planning<br />
five cinemas in France and Spain at a total cost<br />
of $223 million; AMC targeting the Iberian<br />
Peninsula for development, scheduling a multiplex<br />
to open in Barcelona this fall, with a<br />
second under construction, as well as a 20-<br />
screen multiplex in Porto, Portugal<br />
INDUSTRY EVENTS: San Sebastian International<br />
Film Festival (September)<br />
BENELUX (BELGIUM, NETHERLANDS,<br />
LUXEMBOURG)<br />
MAJOR EXHIBITORS: Pathe; Decatron/Kinepolis<br />
Group; Gaumont; UGC<br />
Belgique; Decatron: Jogchem's Theatres;<br />
Minerva; Cine Utopia<br />
MAJOR DISTRIBUTORS: Concorde Film;<br />
PolyGram; RCV<br />
SCREENS: Belgium: 447*; Netherlands:<br />
446; Luxembourg: 17*<br />
PERCENT OF MARKET: Belgium: 1.8;<br />
Netherlands: 1.8; Luxembourg: < 1<br />
PLANNED BUILDS: Belgium's Decatron<br />
and Holland's Cinema Groep plan to build 10<br />
cinemas and will begin with an eight-screen<br />
theatre in the Dutch city ofFlushing; Pathe will<br />
build 27 screens in .Amsterdam in 1998<br />
INDUSTRY EVENTS: Bnissels International<br />
Film Festival (January); Film Festival<br />
Rotterdam/CineMart (January/February);<br />
Brussels Cartoon & Animated Film Festival<br />
(February); European Children's Film Festival<br />
Antwerp (March/April); Holland Animation<br />
Film Festival (spring); Holland Film Meeting<br />
(September/October); Randers Intemational<br />
Film Festival (October); Intemational Documentary<br />
Film Festival & Market (November/December)<br />
SCANDINAVIA<br />
MAJOR EXHIBITORS: Finnkino (Finland);<br />
Camera Film, Nordisk, Metronome<br />
(Denmark); Svensk and Sandrew<br />
Film (Sweden); Skifan, Samfilm (Iceland)<br />
MAJOR DISTRIBUTORS: Finnkino;<br />
Scanbox; Svensk FUmindustri; Nordisk<br />
FUm; Metronome; Buena Vista Intemational;<br />
UIP; Camera Fihn; All Right Film<br />
SCREENS: Denmark: 313*; Norway:<br />
250; Finland: 330*; Sweden: 1,168*;<br />
Iceland: 23*<br />
PERCENT OF MARKET: Denmark:<br />
1.2; Norway: 1; Finland: 1.3; Sweden:<br />
4.6<br />
PLANNED BUILDS: Metronome with<br />
Warner to build multiplex in Denmark;<br />
Finland to get three Helsinki multiplexes<br />
constructed by Kino-Palatsi-Sandrews-<br />
Metronome, a collaboration among a<br />
Swedish-Danish exhibition partnership<br />
and a pair of Finnish producers ; Finnkino<br />
to build the world's first 40-plex in<br />
Helsinki, scheduled to open in October 1998;<br />
Oslo's first private cinema, with six screens,<br />
scheduled for completion by year's end; 14<br />
more private cinemas planned for the Oslo area<br />
in Norway; AMC plans a 5,0(X)-seat multiplex<br />
in a Stockholm suburb; Skifan planning a<br />
multiplex in Iceland in 1997<br />
INDUSTRY EVENTS: Gothenburg Film<br />
Festival (January/February); Norwegian International<br />
Film Festival (August); Umea Film<br />
Festival (September); Uppsala Film Festival<br />
(October); Stockholm Intemational Film Festival<br />
(November)<br />
RUSSIA<br />
MAJOR EXHIBITORS: Golden Ring; Eastman<br />
Kodak<br />
MAJOR DISTRIBUTORS: East West Creative<br />
Association; Kino Video Service<br />
SCREENS: 1,468*<br />
PERCENT OF MARKET: 5.8<br />
PLANNED BUILDS: Golden Ring plans to<br />
build chain of multiplexes across the country<br />
INDUSTRY EVENTS: Open Russian and<br />
Intemational Film Festival (May/June); St. Petersburg<br />
Film Festival (June); Moscow International<br />
Film Festival (July); Open Festival of<br />
as and Baltic States (September)<br />
HUNGARY<br />
MAJOR EXHIBITORS: Budapest Film; Village<br />
Roadshow Intemational: InterCom<br />
MAJOR DISTRIBUTORS: InterCom<br />
SCREENS: 470<br />
PERCENT OF MARKET: 1.8<br />
PLANNED BUILDS: Village Roadshow Intemational<br />
has three multiplexes planned for<br />
Hungary in the next two years<br />
CZECH REPUBLIC AND SLOVAKIA<br />
MAJOR EXHIBITOR: Multikino<br />
MAJOR DISTRIBUTORS: Bonton Alpha<br />
and Beta; Space Films; Barradov Biografia<br />
SCREEN COUNTS/MARKET SHARES:V
f? RfixnmfF<br />
1<br />
1<br />
GIANTS OF EUROPEAN EXHIBITION<br />
A Directory of 20 Top European Circuits<br />
Here it is— a compilation of 20 of Europe's top exhibition circuits and supporting trade organizations.<br />
Alttiougli some companies didn't respond to multiple faxes and phone calls (you know who you are), we<br />
believe this to be the most useful directory of its type. Enjoy! And for those European circuits that didn't<br />
make the list—there's always next year. Call, fax or e-mail us with your comments or corrections.<br />
I.UFA Theater AG<br />
Grof-Adlolf-StT. 96<br />
40210 Dusseldorf Germany<br />
PHONE: (49-211) 169-0650<br />
FAX: (49-211) 169-0633<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER:<br />
Volker Riech, board chairman<br />
YEAR FOUNDED: 1917<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31/97): 150<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31/97): 470<br />
AVE. SCREENS PER SITE; 3<br />
PROJECTED SITES, 12/97: 150<br />
PROJECTED SCREENS, 12/97: 470<br />
THEATRE EMPLOYEES: 3,000<br />
CORPORATE EMPLOYEES: 200<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS: Germany<br />
2. United Cinemas<br />
International<br />
Lee House<br />
Great Bridgewater St.<br />
Manchester Ml 5JW England<br />
PHONE; (44) 161-455-4000<br />
FAX: (44) 161-4554076<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER;<br />
(currently vacant), CEO<br />
AlanMcNair,CFO<br />
YEAR FOUNDED: 1988<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31/97): 61<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31 /97): 438<br />
EUROPEAN SITES: 60<br />
EUROPEAN SCREENS; 431<br />
AVE. EUROPEAN SCREENS/SITE: 7<br />
PROJECTED SITES, 12/97: 80<br />
PROJECTED SCREENS, 12/97: 593<br />
PROJECTED EUROPEAN SITES,<br />
12/97; 73<br />
PROJECTED EUROPEAN<br />
SCREENS, 12/97; 522<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS; United<br />
Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Spain,<br />
Austria, Japan, Brazil (12/97)<br />
UCI GSemiany (Multiplex GMBH)<br />
Oskar-Hoffmann-str. 156<br />
44789 Bochum Germany<br />
PHONE; (49) 234-937-190<br />
CONTACT; Ray Smith, vice<br />
president<br />
UCI Spain (CInesa)<br />
Floridablanca 135<br />
0801 1 Barcelona Spain<br />
PHONE: (343) 228-9600<br />
CONTACT; Jose Batlle, vice<br />
president<br />
UCI UK Ltd.<br />
Lee House<br />
Great Bridgewater St.<br />
Manchester Ml 5JW England<br />
PHONE: (44) 161-455-4(X)0<br />
FAX;(44)161-455-t076<br />
CONTACT: Steve Knibbs, vice<br />
president<br />
3. Gaumont Cinemas<br />
30 Av. Charles de Gaulle<br />
Neuilly, Seine 92220, France<br />
PHONE: (33) 1-46-43-2400<br />
FAX: (33) 1-46-43-2428<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER:<br />
Jean Louis Renoux, director<br />
Stephane Parthenay, programming<br />
director<br />
YEAR FOUNDED; 1895<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31 /97): 41<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31/97); 372<br />
AVE. EUROPEAN SCREENS/SITE; 9<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS; France<br />
4. Odeon Cinemas<br />
54 Whitcomb Street<br />
London, U.K. WC2H 7DN<br />
PHONE: (71) 18-39-6373<br />
FAX: (71) 13-21-0357<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER:<br />
Richard Segal, managing director<br />
B.J. Keward, operations director<br />
M.G. Walker, finance director<br />
YEAR FOUNDED; 1930<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31 /97): 75<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31/97): 340<br />
AVE. SCREENS/SITE: 4.5<br />
THEATRE EMPLOYEES; 2,500<br />
CORPORATE EMPLOYEES; 200<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS: United<br />
Kingdom<br />
5. Pathe Cinemas<br />
5 Boulevard Malsherbes<br />
75008 Paris France<br />
PHONE; (33-1) 49-244086<br />
FAX; (33-1) 49-24-4089<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER:<br />
Mr. L. Nielsen, Managing Director<br />
Mr. J.<br />
Seydoux, Chairman/CEO<br />
YEAR FOUNDED: 1987<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31 /97): 76<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31 /97): 267<br />
AVE. SCREENS/SITE: 3.5<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS: the<br />
Netherlands, France<br />
Path^ Cinemas Netherlands<br />
•<br />
P.O. Box 75948<br />
1070 AX Amsterdam<br />
The Netherlands<br />
PHONE: (31-20) 575 1751<br />
FAX: (31-20) 662 2085<br />
6. Warner Bros.<br />
International Theatres<br />
mw vVdiiK-i liiv J.<br />
Bridge BIdg. South, 5th fl.<br />
Burbank, Calif. 91522<br />
PHONE: (818)954-6278<br />
FAX; (818) 954-6047<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER:<br />
Millard L. Ochs, President<br />
C. Christopher Adelmann, Sr. VP<br />
David Bent, VP Theatrical Exhibition<br />
Glenn Finch, VP Finance & Strategic<br />
Planning<br />
Chris Sanders, Director, Worldwide<br />
Concessions<br />
Peter Dobson, Director, Worldwide<br />
Film-buying<br />
YEAR FOUNDED; 1987<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31 /97); 59<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31/97): 485<br />
EUROPEAN SITES: 36<br />
EUROPEAN SCREENS; 222<br />
AVE. SCREENS/SITE: 6.2<br />
PROJECTED SCREENS, 12/97; 550<br />
PROJECTED SITES, 12/97: 65<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS: Australia,<br />
United Kingdom, Denmark,<br />
Germany, Portugal, Spain, Japan<br />
(Italy and Taiwan by 12/97)<br />
Warner Village Cinemas<br />
Wells Point, 3rd fl.<br />
79 Wells St.<br />
London WIP, England<br />
PHONE: (44) 171 4654090<br />
FAX; (44) 171 4654998<br />
CONTACT; Rafael BadUlo,<br />
Managing Director<br />
Warner Lusomundo Cines de<br />
Espana S.A.<br />
Minipark 1 - Edificio B-1 Planta<br />
c/ Azalea N<br />
Urbanizacion el Soto de la Moraleja<br />
28109 Madrid, Spain<br />
PHONE: (34-1) 658-5358<br />
FAX; (34-1) 658-5356<br />
CONTACT; Tomas Naranjo,<br />
Managing Director<br />
Warner Lusomundo<br />
Sociedade Iberica de<br />
Cinemas, LDA<br />
Rua Luciano Cordeiro, 113,<br />
1150 Lisboa, Portugal<br />
PHONE: (351-1) 315-0806<br />
FAX; (351-1) 355-7784<br />
CONTACT; Miguel Teceidero,<br />
Managing Director<br />
Warner Village Italia<br />
Piazza Augusto Imperatore, 3<br />
Scala C/2nd Piano<br />
00186 Rome, Italy<br />
PHONE; (39-6) 68-8111<br />
FAX: (39-6) 68-80-8578<br />
CONTACT: Antonio Maldonado,<br />
Managing Director<br />
7. Village Roadshow Ltd.<br />
206BourkeSt.<br />
Melbourne VIC 3000<br />
Australia<br />
PHONE; (61-3)96-67-6666<br />
FAX; (61-3)96-63-1972<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER;<br />
Graham Burke, Managing Director<br />
Robert Kirby, Chairman<br />
John Kirby, Deputy Chairman<br />
Peter Foo, Group General Manager<br />
YEAR FOUNDED: 1954<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31 /97): 122<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31 /97): 781<br />
EUROPEAN SITES: 23<br />
EUROPEAN SCREENS; 207<br />
AVERAGE SCREENS/SITE: 6.4<br />
PROJECTED SCREENS, 12/97; 1,082<br />
PROJECTED SITES, 12/97; 154<br />
THEATRE EMPLOYEES: 1,090<br />
CORPORATE EMPLOYEES; 335<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS; Australia,<br />
New Zealand, Fiji, Thailand,<br />
Malaysia, Singapore, Argentina,<br />
Hungary, United Kingdom,<br />
Germany, India, Greece<br />
Village Roadshow<br />
International (Europe)<br />
Wells Point<br />
79 Wells St.<br />
London WIP 3RD, United Kingdom<br />
PHONE; (44) 171- 465-4090<br />
FAX: (44) 171-4654998<br />
CONTACT; John Crawford<br />
8. AB Svensk Filmindustri<br />
127 83 Stockholm, Sweden<br />
PHONE: (46-8) 680-3500<br />
FAX; (46-8) 7104460<br />
E-MAIL: stefan.kIockby@sf.se<br />
URL: http:www.sf.se<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER;<br />
Mr. Torsten Larsson, President/CEO<br />
Mr. Raoul Lindqvist, VP and COO<br />
Mr. Jan Bemhardsson, CFO<br />
Mr. Stefan Klockby, Corporate info<br />
YEAR FOUNDED: 1919<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31 /97): 37<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31 /97); 180<br />
AVE. SITES/SCREEN: 4.9<br />
PROJECTED SITES, 12/97: 37<br />
PROJECTED SCREENS, 12/97: 182<br />
THEATRE EMPLOYEES: 1,050<br />
CORPORATE EMPLOYEES: 20<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS: Sweden<br />
9. National Amusements<br />
(UK) Ltd.<br />
2(X) lilni Si.<br />
Dedham, Mass. 02026<br />
PHONE: (617) 461-1600 x300<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER:<br />
Sumner Redstone, Chairman &<br />
President<br />
Shari E. Redstone, Exec. VP<br />
Jerome Magner, Sr. VP, Finance &<br />
Treasurer<br />
William J. Towey, Sr. VP, Operations<br />
Fxigar A. Knudson, Sr. VP, Adv. & Pub<br />
George Levitt, Sr. VP, Film Booking<br />
YEAR FOUNDED: 1936<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31 /97): 116
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. SCREENS<br />
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TOTAL SCREENS (6/31/97): 1,072<br />
EUROPEAN SITES: 13<br />
EUROPEAN SCREENS: 169<br />
AVE. EUROPEAN SCREENS/SITE:<br />
13<br />
PROJECTED EUROPEAN SITES,<br />
12/97: 15<br />
PROJECTED EUROPEAN<br />
SCREENS, 12/97: 197<br />
THEATRE EMPLOYEES: 4,500<br />
CORPORATE EMPLOYEES: 195<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS: United<br />
Kingdom, United States, Chile,<br />
Argentina (planned<br />
10. KieftundKieft<br />
Filmtheater GMBH<br />
Mnehlenbruccke 11<br />
D-23552 Luebeck, Germany<br />
PHONE: (49-451) 703-0200<br />
FAX: (49-451) 703-0222<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER:<br />
Marlis Kieft and Heiner Kieft,<br />
Presidents<br />
YEAR FOUNDED: 1948<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31/97): 36<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31 /97): 137<br />
AVE. SCREENS/SITE: 3.8<br />
PROJECTED SITES, 12/97: 42<br />
PROJECTED SCREENS, 12/97: 190<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS: Germany<br />
11. Kinepolis Group<br />
Eeuwfeest Laan 1<br />
1020 Brussels, Belgium<br />
PHONE: (32-2) 474-2600<br />
¥AX: (32-2) 474-2606<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER:<br />
Albert Bert, Rose Claeys, Presidents<br />
Joost Bert, CEO<br />
Jan Staelens, Firwncial Manager<br />
Boudewyn Muts and Florent<br />
Geybels, VP, Theatre Operations<br />
Koen Bert, Booking<br />
YEAR FOUNDED: 1988<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31 /97): 9<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31 /97): 133<br />
AVE. SCREENS/SITE: 14<br />
PROJECTED SITES, 12/97: 11<br />
PROJECTED SCREENS, 12/97: 159<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS: Belgium,<br />
France<br />
12. Flebbe<br />
Filmtheaterbetriesse<br />
GMBH & Co. KG (Cinemaxx)<br />
Mittelweg 176<br />
20148 Hamburg Germany<br />
PHONE: (49-40) 45-06-80<br />
FAX: (49-40) 45-06-8204<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER:<br />
Hans-Joachim Flebbe, Michal<br />
Pawlowski, Presidents<br />
Emst-Guenther Surkus,<br />
CFO/Treasurer<br />
Wolf-Dieter Hahne, VP Personnel<br />
Chris Koppelmeier, Meinolf Thies,<br />
VPs, TTieatrc Operations<br />
YEAR FOUNDED: 1977<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31 /97): 32<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31/97); 132<br />
AVE. SCREENS/SITE: 4<br />
PROJECTED SITES, 12/97: 37<br />
PROJECTED SCREENS, 12/97: 178<br />
THEATRE EMPLOYEES: 1,400<br />
CORPORATE EMPLOYEES: 65<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS: Germany<br />
13. Sandrew Film AB<br />
Box 5612 I Uiragatan 4<br />
1 14 32 Stotkholm Sweden<br />
PHONE: (46-8) 762-1700<br />
FAX; (46-8) 10-38-50<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER:<br />
Klas Olofsson, President/CEO<br />
Bertil Sandgren, COO<br />
Ulf Djure, CFO/Treasureer<br />
Bo Nilsson, Theatre Operations<br />
YEAR FOUNDED: 1926<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31/97): 31<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31/97): 116<br />
PROJECTED SITES, 12/97: 33<br />
PROJECTED SCREENS, 12/97: 128<br />
THEATRE EMPLOYEES: 300<br />
CORPORATE EMPLOYEES: 50<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS: Sweden,<br />
Denmark, Finland (planned)<br />
14. Yelmo Films SA<br />
Jacometrezo 4, Floor 7<br />
Madrid 28013 Spain<br />
PHONE: (34-1) 523-1560<br />
FAX: (34-1) 523-1658<br />
E-MAIL: yelmo@info4.com<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER:<br />
Ricardo Evole Martil, President/CEO<br />
Angel Poveda Gallego,<br />
CFO/Treasurer<br />
Enrique Vinas, VP, Booking and<br />
Equipment<br />
YEAR FOUNDED: 1982<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31/97): 12<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31/97): 99<br />
AVE. SCREENS/SITE: 8.25<br />
PROJECTED SITES, 12/97: 13<br />
PROJECTED SCREENS, 12/97: 108<br />
THEATRE EMPLOYEES: 133<br />
CORPORATE EMPLOYEES: 19<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS: Spain<br />
15. Jogchem's Theaters B.V.<br />
Veenestraat 31<br />
3751 GE Bunschoten,<br />
The Netherlands<br />
PHONE: (31-33) 298-4884<br />
FAX: (31-33) 298-4908<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER;<br />
J.<br />
van Dommelen and W. van<br />
Dommelen, Presidents<br />
YEAR FOUNDED: 1932<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31 /97): 27<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31 /97): 93<br />
AVE. SCREENS/SITE: 3.4<br />
PROJECTED SITES, 12/97: 29<br />
PROJECTED SCREENS, 12/97: to<br />
be determined<br />
THEATRE EMPLOYEES; 300<br />
CORPORATE EMPLOYEES; 15<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS: The<br />
Netherlands<br />
le.FinnkinoOY<br />
Koivuvaarankuja 2<br />
01640 Vantaa Finland<br />
PHONE: (358-9) 13-11-91<br />
FAX: (358-9) 13-11-9300<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER:<br />
Timo Manty, President<br />
YEAR FOUNDED: 1986<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31/97): 30<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31 /97); 81<br />
PER SITE: 3.9<br />
PROJECTED SITES, 12/31: 30<br />
PROJECTED SCREENS, 12/31: 81<br />
THEATRE EMPLOYEES; 400<br />
CORPORATE EMPLOYEES; 80<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS; Finland<br />
17. Alta Films<br />
Martin do Ins Heros 12<br />
28008 Madrid, Spain<br />
PHONE: (34-1) 542-2702<br />
FAX: (34-1)542-8777<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER;<br />
Enrique Gonzales, President<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31/97): 11<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31/97); 54<br />
AVE. SCREENS/SITE: 4.9<br />
PROJECTED STTES, 12/97: 11<br />
PROJECTED SCREENS 12/97: 54<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS: Spain<br />
18. Grupo Lauren<br />
Exhibicion<br />
Balmes 87<br />
08008 Barcelona Spain<br />
PHONE: (34-3) 451-6679<br />
FAX: (34-3) 323-6155<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER:<br />
Antonio Llorens Olive, CEO<br />
Joan Herbera, Theatre Operations<br />
Xavier Villarroya, Equipment Buyer<br />
Irene Rabar, Advertising<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31/97): 6<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31 /97): 40<br />
AVE. SCREENS/SITE: 6.7<br />
THEATRE EMPLOYEES: 131<br />
CORPORATE EMPLOYEES: 9<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS: Spain<br />
Emp. Central de<br />
Espectiaculos<br />
Teturon, 29<br />
28013 Madrid Spain<br />
PHONE: (34-1) 521-5694<br />
FAX: (34-1) 521-3743<br />
CONTACT: Jose Arias<br />
Grupo Immoblliarlo Mar<br />
Balmes 98<br />
08008 Barcelona Spain<br />
PHONE: (34-3) 451-6679<br />
FAX: (34-3) 451-6980<br />
CONTACT: Joan Herbera<br />
Los CInes de Zaragoza, S.A.<br />
Francisco Vitoria, 30<br />
50003 Zaragoza Spain<br />
PHONE: (34-76) 23-20-18<br />
FAX: (34-76) 32-82-94<br />
CONTACT: Juana Mendizabal<br />
Emp. Control Y Sam.<br />
Catalonia<br />
Rietla,<br />
07003 Palma de Mallorca, Spain<br />
PHONE: (34-71) 72-60-74<br />
FAX: (34-71) 71-86-50<br />
CONTACT: Antonio Roca<br />
19. Cinema 5<br />
via Aurelia Antica 422<br />
Rome Italy<br />
PHONE; (39-6) 66-39-01<br />
FAX: (39-6) 66-39-0440<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER:<br />
Gian-Luigi Delia Casa, President<br />
YEAR FOUNDED: 1988<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31 /97): 12<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31 /97): 29<br />
AVE. SCREENS/SITE; 2.4<br />
PROJECTED SITES, 12/97: 13<br />
PROJECTED SCREENS, 12/97; 32<br />
THEATRE EMPLOYEES: 100<br />
CORPORATE EMPLOYEES: 13<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS: Italy<br />
20. Cine-UK Ltd.<br />
Sutherland I louse<br />
5/6 Argyll St.<br />
London WIV IAD<br />
PHONE: (44) 171-494-1394<br />
FAX: (44) 171-734-1443<br />
EXECUTIVE ROSTER:<br />
Stephen M. Wiener, CEO<br />
Ian Johnston, COO<br />
Paul Stefka, VP, Design and<br />
Construction<br />
Al Alvarez, VP, Operations<br />
Richard Jones, VP, Finance<br />
Sabine Khan, Marketing & PR.<br />
YEAR FOUNDED: 1995<br />
TOTAL SITES (6/31/97): 2<br />
TOTAL SCREENS (6/31/97): 24<br />
AVE. SCREENS/SITE: 12<br />
PROJECTED SITES, 12/97: 3<br />
PROJECTED SCREENS, 12/97: 42<br />
THEATRE EMPLOYEES: 85<br />
CORPORATE EMPLOYEES: 14<br />
THEATRE LOCATIONS: United<br />
Kingdom<br />
EUROPEAN TRADE<br />
ORGANIZATIONS<br />
Cinema Exhibitors<br />
Association (CEA)<br />
John Wilkinson, Exec. Director<br />
22 Golden Square<br />
London WIR 3PA<br />
PHONE: (44-171) 734-9551<br />
FAX; (44-171) 734-6147<br />
Europe Cinemas<br />
Claude-Eric Poiroux<br />
rue Beaubourg 54<br />
75003 Paris, France<br />
PHONE: (33-1) 4271 5370<br />
FAX: (33-1) 4271 4755<br />
Encourages the wider exhibition<br />
and circulation of European films<br />
IVIEDIA Salles/Euro Kids<br />
Netork<br />
EUsabetta Brunella<br />
via Soperga 2.1<br />
1-20127 Milan, Italy<br />
PHONE: (39-2) 6698 4405 8 digits<br />
FAX: (39-2) 669 1574 7 digits<br />
Encourages the wider exhibition<br />
and circulation of European films<br />
MEDIA<br />
Jacques Delmoly, program head<br />
200 rue de la Loi<br />
B-1049 Brussels, Belgium<br />
PHONE: (32-2) 299 9147<br />
FAX: (32-2) 299 9214<br />
Web Site:<br />
http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/<br />
glO/avpolicy/media/en/home-i<br />
2.html<br />
European Union program<br />
administers audio-visual funding<br />
for the 18 EU-member states and<br />
six associate states.<br />
Hauptverband Deutsche<br />
Filmtheater<br />
Stefen Kuchenreuther, president<br />
Wiesbaden<br />
PHONE; (49-61 1)778-920<br />
FAX: (49-611) 723-403<br />
Association of German exhibitors<br />
National Association of<br />
Municipal Cinemas, Norwa;<br />
Kongensgt. 23 0153<br />
Oslo 1, Norway<br />
Besoksadresse Nedre Stottsgt. 8<br />
PHONE: (47) 22-33-0530<br />
FAX: (47) 22-42-8949<br />
Netherlands Federation for<br />
Cinema<br />
PHONE: (31-20)6799261<br />
FAX: (31-20) 675 0398<br />
Irish CEA (same as<br />
Ward-Anderson)<br />
PHONE: (353-1)872 3922<br />
FAX: (353-1) 872 3687<br />
Spanish CEA<br />
Jose del Villa, president<br />
PHONE: (34-1) 576 9913<br />
FAX: (34-1)5762774
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56 <strong>Boxoffice</strong><br />
SPECIAL REPORT: Europe 1997<br />
Pas de DEUX<br />
French film luminaries on the uneasy truce<br />
between France and the U.S. by Karen Achenbach<br />
More<br />
than 102 years ago, the<br />
United States and France<br />
began separate but equal<br />
paths in the creation of motion pictures.<br />
Today they remain cinema<br />
equals, though in very different<br />
ways. The U.S. increasingly dominates<br />
the global market (most commonly<br />
with technically brilliant,<br />
language-recessive action spectacles)<br />
to such an extent that fihri production<br />
in many countries is<br />
disappearing.<br />
But France's use of<br />
legislation to keep its film culture<br />
healthy makes the French film industry<br />
a unique example of the pros<br />
and cons of a protectionist approach<br />
to the film marketplace.<br />
As far back in cinema history as<br />
the late<br />
1950s, Andre Mahaux, the<br />
first French minister of culture, established<br />
the now famous advance<br />
on receipts ("Avance sur recettes"),<br />
a tax on movie tickets to help finance<br />
independent films, administered by<br />
the Centre National de la Cinematographie<br />
(CNC). The bigger the<br />
boxoffice, the more ftinds there are to distribute<br />
back to the fihnmakers. Considering that,<br />
in France, boxoffice is measured by admissions<br />
(by the number of people who come,<br />
rather than the dollars they hold), this assigns<br />
a deep and (typically French) nationalistic significance<br />
to overall attendance. And attendance<br />
has been rising. According to Laurent<br />
Danielou, of the French Consulate in Los Angeles,<br />
in 19% moviegoing was up from each<br />
of the past three years: 1 40 million admissions<br />
in 1996, 1 25 million admissions in 1993.<br />
"Protectionism" and "subsidy" are somewhat<br />
dirty words to U.S. producers, but it's<br />
hard to deny the impact of these French measures.<br />
As a result of all these steps, France is<br />
holding its own in the face of a global system<br />
that threatens to over-simplify the market, and<br />
France remains the European maiicet where<br />
North American cinema gathers the smallest<br />
market share. It was also the French who<br />
spearheaded an action to exclude cinema (culture)<br />
from the GATT (General Agreement on<br />
Tariffs and Trade) treaty, fearing in part that,<br />
under the general agreement, France's elaborate<br />
system of subsidies would be dismantled.<br />
GOING WITH THE FLOW: Alice Hourias Nenette in Claire Denis' "Nenette andBoni."<br />
Stateside,<br />
there are problems for French<br />
product. Of the 500 or so movies released<br />
in North America last year, only 20 were<br />
French. Motivated by the decreasing U.S. market<br />
for French films, a Franco-American cultural<br />
fund was created from blank videocassette<br />
tax monies to support the promotion<br />
of French films in the United States. To this<br />
end, a stellar panel of representatives from<br />
the French industry recently came to America<br />
to plead the French case. The seriousness<br />
with which the French view the situation is<br />
apparent in that the delegation included two<br />
of the most internationally successful<br />
French directors, both of whom brought<br />
prints of their latest films: Claude Lelouch<br />
("A Man and A Woman," "Bolero," "Les<br />
Miserables"), whose most recent effort is<br />
entitled "Men, Women: User's Manual,"<br />
and Bertrand Tavemier ("Round Midnight,"<br />
" A Sunday in the Country"), whose "Captain<br />
Conan" offered a portrait of a sub-group<br />
of warriors within an army.<br />
Both of the.se veteran filmmakers agree the<br />
state of the French film industry is healthy, yet<br />
challenged. "For a hundred years French cinema<br />
has been in crisis," says Lelouch. "But it<br />
is easier nonetheless to make a film in France<br />
than in most other countries. The authorities<br />
like cinema. There are internal rules which<br />
allow us to use money that is<br />
earned by the<br />
cinema. All the successes of films play a part<br />
in the production of film. So I think the French<br />
cinema is very resilient—in a permanent state<br />
of crisis, but it can defend itself"<br />
For Tavemier, alive means aware. 'Today,<br />
the French cinema is very much alive, with a<br />
lot of ideas. One proof of this life is that 66<br />
French directors decided to fight a shameful<br />
French law against immigration. More than<br />
100,(X)0 people were in the street [to protest<br />
the law]. And it was the young [generation] of<br />
film directors who startai this."<br />
One of the more successful young producers,<br />
Georges Benayoun ("Wild Reeds, "Mina<br />
Tannenbaum" and the current U.S. release<br />
"Irma Vep," out via Zeitgeist), believes things<br />
are looking better and better, particularly on<br />
France's domestic side. 'Today, the French<br />
cinema is very alive. Six years ago we got 29<br />
percent of the share of the market, and now it's<br />
around 38 percent. You have to understand that
Julv. 1997 57<br />
France is the only country [in Eurojje] with a<br />
national market like that. Even in the United<br />
Kingdom, British films have only seven percent<br />
OT eight percent of the market"<br />
Producer Benayoun has several recent titles<br />
that he is currently shopping in the<br />
international market: "The Apartment,'"<br />
a sUck exercise in architecture and cinematography<br />
by first-timer GiUes Mimouni; and<br />
"Nenette and Boni", a stunningly intimate film<br />
by Claire Denis ("Chocolat," "I Can't Sleep").<br />
there are 1 60. There are more American fihns,<br />
they stay less time on the screen, and it's<br />
always new films."<br />
French wariness of an unbridled free-<br />
approach to cinema is also<br />
Themarket affecting<br />
French exhibition. Multiplexes,<br />
new to France, are encountering legislation to<br />
limit their growth, in order to protect the arthouse<br />
cinemas of the cities and to defend<br />
against the practice of using many screens for<br />
few movies. Despite the success his own fihns<br />
NEW DIRECTIONS: "Captain Conan" director Bertrand Tavernier feels<br />
French films might be too complex for U.S. audiences.<br />
Recent events in Benayoun's career prove<br />
that Hollywood and French talent are not mutually<br />
exclusive corKcpts. Earber this year,<br />
"The Apartment" screened at Park City's Sundance<br />
Film Festival. Soon after, Benayoun and<br />
Mimouni were both signed by CAA; U.S.<br />
distribution for "The Apartment" and a possible<br />
remake are in the woiks. Meanwhile,<br />
"Nenette and Boni" has been picked up by San<br />
Francisco-based Strand Releasing for a 1997<br />
release ui the States.<br />
Benayoun asserts that the French are now<br />
competing for market shares and producing<br />
many different types of films, even science<br />
-fiction (Uke 'The Fifth Element," an $80+<br />
million, French-financed extravaganza from<br />
the "Gallic Spielberg," Luc Besson). Among<br />
young filmmakers, it appears that ultra-realism<br />
is popular, as in debut filmmaker Sandrine<br />
Veysset's "Will It Snow for Christmas."<br />
As for trends, Benayoun believes the major<br />
trend in French cinema is toward more audience-friendly,<br />
less speciaUzed fare. "The only<br />
trend I see is [that] the writer and the director<br />
are more wilUng to have success. They want<br />
the audiences now, and they are talking about<br />
how to attract the audience and yet not lose<br />
their authenticity."<br />
And attract an audience they must, not only<br />
abroad but at home. Despite pro-French cinema<br />
initiatives, Hollywood has an overwhelming<br />
presence on French screens. "You<br />
have to understand that 10 years ago we received<br />
about 80 or 90 American films," explains<br />
Benayoun. "This year, for instance,<br />
have had in the U.S., Tavernier articulates the<br />
fear many French film professionals feel about<br />
changing France's exhibition infrastructure.<br />
"In Germany," he claims, "where the number<br />
of screens devoted to the American cinema is<br />
much larger than in France, they release less<br />
[domestic product]." [For a counter opinion,<br />
see our article on the German market, p. 44.]<br />
"Nenette and Boni" director Denis agrees.<br />
"American cinema is dear to every single<br />
French director. But we don't Uke the American<br />
emphasis on economics, and we don't Uke<br />
the way that emphasis is taking hold in world<br />
cinema. We consider cinema not only merchandise<br />
but also art."<br />
As to breaking into the U.S. market,<br />
"maybe we have to make better movies,"<br />
asserts Mimouni. But Mimouni also turns the<br />
"protectionist" argument on its head, saying,<br />
"In America, your cinema is incredibly protected.<br />
It's quite impossible for a foreign<br />
movie to be released, and if it is released it's<br />
a very small release."<br />
Demonstrably, the U.S. market for foreign<br />
product is still shrinking. In 1970 there were<br />
52 French movies distributed stateside, while<br />
in 1990 there were only 25. Denis, who had<br />
stateside success with her 1988 film "Chocolat,"<br />
describes the difference in her past and<br />
current experiences. "My experience here with<br />
'Chocolat' was great because I had a great<br />
distributor—Orion before it became Sony<br />
Qassics—and the film really met the audience.<br />
[Getting] 'Nenette and Boni' a U.S. release<br />
was much more difficult, but now I have<br />
a good distributor [Strand Releasing] though<br />
the deal is modest."<br />
Lelouch has had American distribution for<br />
only 10 of his 35 films in the 40 years of his<br />
career. At press time, liis latest, "Men, Women:<br />
User's Manual" was being considered for release<br />
by the specialty arm of a major studio.<br />
"The companies that could distribute our films,<br />
that is to say the majors, are not interested in<br />
our fiUns," says Lelouch. "So we have to<br />
absolutely encourage the small distributors.<br />
The only thing that really can make a success<br />
of a French film here now is word of mouth."<br />
of mouth takes time, and there is<br />
Wordso much product out tiiere that the<br />
market has become very swift and<br />
often very deadly. Paradoxically, the rise of<br />
American independent film, as assisted by the<br />
rise of Disney-owned Miramax, has hurt foreign<br />
product by claiming for American-made<br />
tides a greater portion of the boxoffice shared<br />
by independent and foreign titles. Miramax<br />
also dominates many ofthe art-houses, leaving<br />
smaUer distributors without screens.<br />
According to Jon Gerrins, co-president of<br />
Strand Releasing, Strand recoups its investment<br />
on EngUsh-language tides with video<br />
and cable sales, "and that's where our foreignlanguage<br />
films are having a problem. HBO<br />
won't buy foreign-language films [unless diey<br />
are Academy Award winners], and I can't get<br />
the same amount of dollars for these pictures<br />
as I can get for an average EngUsh-language<br />
picture that can play on a Saturday night."<br />
Subtitles are accused of ruining die market<br />
for foreign-language product. Americans<br />
seem unwiUing to read language onscreen,<br />
whereas in Europe people not only read but<br />
speak several languages, and subtitiing is the<br />
norm. But 'the problem is more than just the<br />
subtitles," says Tavernier. "The problem for<br />
French films in the U.S. is that they do not<br />
bring easy answers. There is not an easy way<br />
out. In a country where there is a lot of unemployment,<br />
where there are poUtical problems,<br />
and where the people feel insecure, where<br />
there is a lot of fear, films that are easy to watch<br />
are popular. They bring easy answers. You<br />
have a problem with the Middle East, you<br />
send Schwarzenegger. No more problems.<br />
The kids go and see those films. French films<br />
are not built that way."<br />
The French wiU continue trying to find an<br />
audience in die U.S. "America is the mecca of<br />
film, so you always feel very good when you<br />
have your film seen here," Benayoun confirms.<br />
The hope for the future "depends on the<br />
American audience," asserts Lelouch. "I am<br />
optimistic because it is my nature. If I wasn't<br />
optimistic I wouldn't try to make my 36th fiUn.<br />
And therefore if my films are not distributed<br />
immediately they wiU be distnbuted another<br />
day. They are immortal. And diey'U wait for<br />
their audience to be ready for them."<br />
BOXOFnCE would like to thank Florence<br />
Dauman of the Directors Guild of<br />
America for her heroic assistance in the<br />
assembling of this article.
1<br />
CINEMA EXPO INTERNATIONAL '97<br />
RAI INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION AND CONGRESS CENTRE<br />
AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS • JUNE 29 -JULY 2, 1997<br />
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS<br />
SATURDAY, JUNE 28<br />
20.00-21.30<br />
9.00-17.00* Trade Show Registration Holland Hall #11**<br />
SUNDAY, JUNE 29<br />
8.00- 1 8.00 Trade Show Registtation<br />
Holland Hall #1 1<br />
8.00-20.00 Convention Registration<br />
Onyx Lounge<br />
10.30-12.00 Seminar. Sponsor: Media Salles<br />
12.00-13.30 Buffet Lunch. Sponsor: Media Salles<br />
Auditorium<br />
Auditorium Lounge<br />
13.30-15.30 Screening: Media Salles<br />
Auditorium<br />
15.30-17.00 Technical Seminar<br />
Auditorium<br />
17.00-19.00 Screening: Buena Vista<br />
International's "Face/Off'<br />
Auditorium<br />
19.00-20.00 EDI Awards<br />
20.00-21.30 Opening Night Dinner.<br />
Sponsor: Polygram Film International<br />
Auditorium<br />
West Hall #3<br />
21.30-23.30 Product Reel aiid Screening:<br />
Polygram Intl.'s "Bean"<br />
Auditorium<br />
MONDAY, JUNE 30<br />
8.00-18.00 Convention Registration Onyx Lounge<br />
8.00-18.00 Trade Show Registration Holland Hall #1<br />
8.15-8.45 Continental Breakfast Auditorium Lounge<br />
8.45-10.15 Concessions Seminar Auditorium<br />
10.30-12.30 Product Reel and Screening: Auditorium<br />
UIP's "The Lost World"<br />
1 2.45- 1 4.30 Opening Day Luncheon. Sponsor: UIP West Hall #3<br />
14.30-18.00 Trade Show and Cocktail Party. Holland Hall #11<br />
Sponsor: Dolby Laboratories<br />
18.00-20.00 Screening: 20th Century Auditorium<br />
Fox International's "Volcano"<br />
* All times arc local Amsterdam.<br />
** All locations are at the RAI complex unles.s .specitled.
Z—<br />
^8gr
iU^<br />
XllWlWEll'V<br />
1<br />
SPECIAL REPORT: Cinema Expo 1997<br />
MULTIPLEX MAVEN<br />
Founder ofDecatron and Kinepolis andfather of the European<br />
multiplex, Albert Bert is Cinema Expo's Exhibitor of the Year<br />
by Pat Kramer<br />
Albeit<br />
Bert, founder of the Belgium-based<br />
Decatron N.V. and<br />
co-founder of its sister company,<br />
the Kinepolis Group, is Cinema Expo's<br />
Exhibitor of the Year. Bert's exhibition<br />
circuit is Belgium's largest, and it's making<br />
inroads into the Dutch and French<br />
markets due to the company's unique<br />
qualifications in building multiplexes.<br />
Widely regarded as the man who<br />
launched Europe's multiplex boom in the<br />
1980s, Bert's companies now operate 1<br />
multiplexes (including two in France)<br />
with 100 screens. Bom into a family<br />
whose heritage was exhibition, Bert followed<br />
the example of his grandfather,<br />
Charles Bert, a forerunner in early exhibition.<br />
The elder Bert established Harelbeke's<br />
first cinema in 1927, running<br />
silents at the Hotel de Flandres, while<br />
Albert's father, Alfred, debuted<br />
Harelbeke's Theatre Majestic in 1941.<br />
Starting out as a ticket seller, Albert<br />
later became involved in the singlescreen<br />
theatre's renovation into a twinscreen<br />
cinema, providing Belgium with<br />
its first multiplex. Joining forces with his<br />
sister-in-law. Rose Qaeys, Bert built a threescreen<br />
theatre called Trioscoop in 1972 as a<br />
sort of test case to see if attendance would<br />
increase when a greater choice of films was<br />
provided. Located in Hasselt, a small provincial<br />
town with only two screens at the time,<br />
Trioscoop was a perfect place to begin proving<br />
this theory. The success of Trioscoop quickly<br />
demonstrated that multi-screen cinemas were<br />
the way to go in Belgium. Bert later added four<br />
more screens to the theatre.<br />
However, as Bert recalls, other exhibitors<br />
were not quite ready to accept the concept back<br />
then. "When my family first started multiplexing<br />
in Belgium, 25 to 30 years ago, attendance<br />
was down very low. Most of my colleagues<br />
thought, 'Yes, he's lucky. Each time it's a<br />
bull.s-eye, but it will not continue.'"<br />
Pentascoop, a five-screen cinema, followed<br />
in 1975 in Kortrijk. In 1981, the 12-screen<br />
Decascoop was built in Ghent. Setting a new<br />
standard for the whole of Europe, Decascoop's<br />
dozen halls and stadium seating for 3,500<br />
made it one of the first modem multiplexes.<br />
"That was the first very big multiplex," Bert<br />
SPECIAL REPORT:<br />
CINEMA<br />
EXPO<br />
1997<br />
recollects. "It had 12 screens, but only one<br />
projection booth!"<br />
Having established expertise in multiplexes,<br />
Bert in 1 987 founded Decatron, owned<br />
by the Bert family. The Kinepolis Group, a<br />
partnership between Bert and Claeys, was inaugurated<br />
the following year with the opening<br />
in Brussels in 1988 of Kinepolis, then the<br />
world's largest multiplex. With<br />
Kinepolis, featuring 24 screens plus an<br />
IMAX theatre, Bert continued to set the<br />
trend for European exhibition.<br />
Since that time, the Kinepolis Group<br />
has added three additional multiplexes.<br />
The 24-screen, 8,500-seat Metropolis is<br />
in Antwerp, and there are two multiplexes<br />
in France: Kinepolis's 14-screen<br />
complex at St. Juhen-les-Metz and the<br />
23-screen Le Chateau du Cinema at<br />
Lomme (Lille). This September, another<br />
multiplex will open in Belgium, a 10-<br />
screen complex in Kortrijk.<br />
With the Belgian exhibition market<br />
now reaching its saturation point, Bert<br />
says plans are to expand into new markets.<br />
One such venture includes the<br />
freshly inked partnership between Decatron<br />
managing director Joost Bert (Bert's<br />
eldest son) and A.J. Weststrate of<br />
Holland's Cinema Groep for an eightscreen<br />
multiplex in Vlissingen (see our<br />
report in the May 1 997 issue). This partnership<br />
is expected to yield at least 10<br />
exhibition outlets in the Netherlands over<br />
the next few years.<br />
Given such burgeoning growth, Bert relies<br />
on sons Joost, Koen, Geert and Peter to help<br />
with management and planning. (There are also<br />
1 3 grandchildren to carry on the family tradition.)<br />
Although he acknowledges his role in<br />
bringing about European multiplexing, he says<br />
there are always new challenges in exhibition.<br />
"1 am always busy. I just received a call from<br />
my son, Joost, who has been [in France] in<br />
Nancy to talk with city authorities. Yesterday, he<br />
was in Reims, about 200 kilometers from here.<br />
In every city in which we go, we have competition.<br />
We're in competition with French companies<br />
that started five or six years ago in<br />
multiplexing. They don't have the same experience<br />
as us, but I still have to plead for my project"<br />
Commenting on his Exhibitor of the Year<br />
award, Bert comments wryly, "It's better than<br />
the Lifetime Achievement Award. 1 am only<br />
69 years old—I'm not done yet!" Saying he's<br />
inspired by his father and grandfather in<br />
heaven, Bert continues to greet the new<br />
challenges with the same perseverance and<br />
vision that has won him acclaim for nearly<br />
three decades in exhibition.<br />
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SPECIAL REPORT: Cinema Expo 1997<br />
MULTI-MEDIA MAN<br />
Fox Intemationial president Jim Gianopulos, a seasoned<br />
entertainment veteran, is Cinema Expo 's Distributor of the Year<br />
by Pat Kramer<br />
becoming president of Twentieth<br />
Century Fox International, Jim<br />
Since<br />
Gianopulos has seen his company's<br />
boxoffice tallies double each year. Having<br />
foreign rights to the likes of the Oscarwinning<br />
"Braveheart" (earning more than<br />
$140 million overseas), "Independence<br />
Day" (more than $500 million) and the<br />
redone "Star Wars" trilogy (expected to<br />
generate $250 million) didn't hurt, but he<br />
credits his staff — "a tighdy knit team, dedicated<br />
to making the most of all our films<br />
in the international marketplace while<br />
working closely with our exhibition partners<br />
to do so"—^for much of the success.<br />
A 15-year veteran of international di.stribution,<br />
Gianopulos has a strong background<br />
in<br />
emerging entertainment technologies<br />
(video, pay TV and satellite)—experience<br />
that has helped him better understand the<br />
exhibition marketplace, he says. As senior<br />
vice president of business affairs/international<br />
for RCA/Columbia Pictures International<br />
Video from 1 982 to 1 986, Gianopulos<br />
woriced to establish the company's worldwide<br />
video operations. He moved to a similar<br />
slot at Paramount Pictures in 1986,<br />
building the studio's overseas video and pay<br />
TV businesses. "Those were great times and<br />
times of rapid growth and excitement," he<br />
recalls. "Being a part of it was very gratifying<br />
and rewarding." During a nine-month stint as<br />
executive vice president, international at Carokx)<br />
Pictures, Gianopulos boosted revenues<br />
handling films like 'Terminalor 2," "Qiffhanger"<br />
and "Basic lastinct"<br />
He joined Fox in 1992 as president of international<br />
and pay TV and took his current post<br />
in 1994. Gianopulos has spearheaded the development<br />
of the studio's regional offrces in<br />
Europe, Latin America and Asia.<br />
He's also<br />
responsible for overseeing foreign marketing<br />
and distribution for all of Fox's theatrical releases<br />
and overseas acquisitions.<br />
"It's interesting to find myself in the theatrical<br />
side of the business," he says, "becau.se I<br />
spent so much of my career in video, pay TV<br />
and satellite distribution. But what I learned in<br />
this pnx;ess is that, ultimately, the beginning<br />
of the lifepsan of any film—and the most<br />
innovative point in its existence—is at its initiation,<br />
its first release in theatres."<br />
SPECIAL REPORT:<br />
CINEMA<br />
EXPO<br />
1997<br />
Rather than thinking of alternatives like pay<br />
TV and video as threats, Gianopulos believes<br />
each medium has its place. "It's not about<br />
trying to diminish those businesses," he says,<br />
"It's quite the opposite. Ultimately, a studio<br />
succeeds because it lives in harmony with the<br />
various media and distribution windows. It's<br />
not about trying to pretend TV or video will go<br />
away. It's about heightening the experience<br />
and the value perceived and the<br />
importance of the media we're in."<br />
Comparing the 1980s trend toward<br />
home video to that of consumer response<br />
to color TV and even radio at their inceptions,<br />
Gianopulos says, "What we<br />
leam from all these cycles of new media<br />
is that, ultimately, people's desire to see<br />
film increases overall. And they reali2e<br />
that the most exciting and newest place<br />
to see films is at a theatre on a big screen."<br />
Gianopulos has a bullish outlook for<br />
foreign returns. "If you look at East Germany,<br />
there's been a very severe economic<br />
recession—and yet attendance is<br />
up almost 20 percent, largely due to the<br />
improvements of the cinema infrastructure."<br />
Similar scenarios are occurring in<br />
Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic,<br />
where revenues are hitting records as<br />
screens are improved, and in Spain and<br />
Germany, where rapid screen growth has<br />
led to admissions gains despite recessionary<br />
conditions. "With Greece, Italy and<br />
Portugal's cinema expansion," he says,<br />
"the potential in Europe and the international<br />
marketplace is tremendous."<br />
Another plus is the longer playing season.<br />
"Typically, summer has not been the most<br />
active cinemagoing season. But then you look<br />
at a place like Germany, where admissions last<br />
ye£U" were up 60 percent, in part due to the<br />
generic campaign we did. In Italy, the expansion<br />
of the season into May and an earlier<br />
opening in August and September are leading<br />
to increased revenues. I think people are finding<br />
that the better the theatfes, the better the<br />
experience, the more likely they are to go<br />
and go more often during the entire year, as<br />
opposed to ju.st at Christmas in years past."<br />
Acknowledging his Cinema Expo Distributor<br />
of the Year award, Gianopulos says, "It's<br />
an honor to win the award, but it's really an<br />
award that reflects the enormous success that<br />
Fox International has had. particularly in the<br />
past year, and in rebuilding an organization<br />
over the past couple of years. And, while I get<br />
to make the speeches, that success belongs to<br />
a team of almost 500 people spread across the<br />
world. And Ishared with them their hard work<br />
and dedication that made it possible." H
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SPECIAL REPORT: Cinema Expo 1997<br />
CELSMANSHIP<br />
Disney Animation president Peter Schneider is honored with<br />
Cinema Expo's International Creative Achievement Award<br />
by Pat Kramer<br />
Peter Schneiderjoined Disney<br />
Since<br />
12 years ago, the company has<br />
achieved phenomenal commercial<br />
and artistic success with such animated<br />
fare as "The Lion King," 'Toy Story,"<br />
"Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin" and<br />
"The Little Mermaid." Under the generalship<br />
of Schneider and Disney Co. vice<br />
chairman Roy Disney, the studio has continued<br />
its long distinction of being the<br />
world's animation leader It's deserved,<br />
then, that Schneider — president of Walt<br />
Disney Feature Animation and Walt Disney<br />
Theatrical Productions—is this year's<br />
recipient of Cinema Expo's International<br />
Creative Achievement Award.<br />
Schneider insists that the glory is not all<br />
his. "This award is not for me, per se," he<br />
says, "but is symbolic of [the wori;] diat<br />
both Roy Disney and I have overseen."<br />
Schneider says he's less excited about his<br />
name being on the award than by the fact<br />
diat animation is finally being honored<br />
globally. "I'm thriUed for the artists being<br />
recognized by the international community.<br />
I feel animation is a very collective<br />
art form in many, many ways. These artists<br />
are truly spectacular in what they've<br />
done. I'm proud of all of them."<br />
Under Schneider's leadership, the animation<br />
division has grown tenfold in size, produced<br />
12 features and received 10 Academy<br />
Awards. Commercially, those animated films<br />
have generated more than $2.5 billion in<br />
boxoffice. Disney's first animated feature<br />
under Schneider, 1986's "The Great Mouse<br />
Detective," earned $25 million; 1 988's "Oliver<br />
& Company" did $53 million. Through "The<br />
Lion King," each successive film beat (he past<br />
record: 1989's "The Little Mermaid" did $84<br />
million, 1 991*8 "Beauty and the Beast" $146<br />
million, 1992's "Aladdin" $217 million and<br />
1994's "The Lion King" $313 million.<br />
Those results, Schneider says, comes from<br />
a collaboration among the wizards of illustration,<br />
writing, technology and song. "Animation<br />
is a visual medium first—it's the written<br />
word and the visual word, in a sort of marriage,"<br />
Schneider says. "But it's the animation<br />
artist, the animator, who knows how to make<br />
things move and give the perception of movement.<br />
[Even] if you have great stories, great<br />
SPECIAL REPORT:<br />
CINEMA<br />
EXPO<br />
1997<br />
characters, great music and great technology,<br />
it takes great artists to do that. When you have<br />
a combination of all these things, I think you<br />
ultimately make successful movies."<br />
Schneider comes fiiom a strong theatrical<br />
backgniund, having spent<br />
15 years cTeating<br />
theatrical productions. A graduate of Purdue<br />
University, where he majored in theatre<br />
directing, Schneider earned his credentials<br />
doing plays at New York's The<br />
WPA, Playwrights Horizon and Circle<br />
Repertory. From 1976 through 1980, he<br />
served as managing director for<br />
Chicago's renowned St. Nicholas Theatre,<br />
where he produced and managed<br />
more than 60 dramas and musicals.<br />
Schneider next moved to London to<br />
serveasgeneral manager for Apollo Theatre<br />
Productions. In that capacity, he was<br />
involved with a number of notable productions<br />
on the West End. In 1983, he<br />
headed to Los Angeles to direct the 1984<br />
Olympic Arts Festival. The following<br />
year, he was named president of Walt<br />
Disney Feature Animation; in 19%, he<br />
took on the additional role of president of<br />
Walt Disney Theatrical Productions.<br />
Crediting that background for his success<br />
at Disney, Schneider cites the similarities<br />
that exist between live theatre and<br />
feature animation. "In animation, which<br />
I feel is more analogous to running a<br />
theatre company than running a movie<br />
business, a lot of things I learned in the<br />
theatre business are being applied," he<br />
says. "It's very much like running a repertory<br />
theatre—the actors, the whole thing. And<br />
we've been very successful at developing new<br />
material, whether it be 'The Lion King,"<br />
'Beauty and the Beast' or 'The Little Mermaid.'<br />
And that's using the same skills one has<br />
to have to be successflil in theatre: the ability<br />
to develop materials with a collective process."<br />
Looking back on the changes that have<br />
taken place in the animation industry over the<br />
past decade, Schneider says animation has<br />
again become a legitimate business. "At Disney<br />
[in the early '80sl, no one cared about<br />
animation. There were only 150 to 200 artists<br />
working in animation. Today, there are more<br />
than 2,200. Clearly, the movies were not grossing<br />
any money, maybe $10 million or $20<br />
million.<br />
Now they're grossing hundreds of<br />
millioas of dollars."<br />
One can expect more of the<br />
same fiwrn<br />
Schneider in the ftjture. Even as "Hercules" is<br />
beginning its global release, Disney has eight<br />
animated features currently in production.<br />
Walt's grand tradition lives on.
.<br />
—<br />
.Tulv. 1997 65<br />
SPECIAL REPORT: Cinema Expo 1997<br />
IMBESSONISM<br />
Luc Besson, creator of "The Fifth Elemenf'and ''La Femme Nikita, "<br />
gamers Cinema Expo 's Award of Excellence in Filmmaking<br />
by Kim Williamson<br />
I'm<br />
a fan of French cinema. I like the<br />
fact that they have 'freedom in their<br />
heads'—they're very free."<br />
On a warm spring day, working inside<br />
the cool confines of James Cameron's<br />
Digital Domain facility in Venice, CaUf<br />
38-year-old French filmmaker Luc Besson<br />
is defending the industry and countrv<br />
in which he gave birth to "Le Demier<br />
Combat," "Subway," "The Big Blue" and<br />
"La Femme Nikita," the 1990 film whose<br />
global success established his reputation<br />
beyond Gaul's boundaries.<br />
Back in fall 1 994, as his first English-language<br />
and studio production, "The Professional,"<br />
was about to hit theatres, Besson<br />
seemed to have less fondness for his French<br />
fellows, busy militating against Hollywood<br />
moviemaking. "I would love for the French<br />
to stop talking and woik more. At 4 in the<br />
morning they're still in bed discussing the<br />
cinema. They should wake up at 8, take the<br />
pen, and work," Besson said then. Instead.<br />
the French "spend their time discussing,<br />
disagreeing.... And during this time the<br />
Americans make 200 movies."<br />
But Besson, whose 'The Fifth Element"<br />
(like 'The Professional") is a<br />
French/American/Japanese co-production<br />
among Gaumont, Columbia and JVC, today<br />
praises French filmmakers as "artists. They<br />
take risks. They are visionary also. Since the<br />
beginning, since Cocteau and all those guys,<br />
it's always been very visionary."<br />
As to why local European moviemaking<br />
seems to be flourishing these days, Besson<br />
says, "I think because the artist drives the<br />
movie, not the producer, not the money. When<br />
the movie is bom in an office, something is<br />
wrong already. A movie needs to come fix)m<br />
the heart. It can't be bom between numbers."<br />
Besson has had confUcts with the industry's<br />
business folks before— particularly during the<br />
stateside release of "The Big Blue" via the<br />
now-defunct Weintraub Entertainment Group,<br />
which recut the film to disastrous boxoffice<br />
but he seems very happy with his<br />
current<br />
corporate partners. (In fact, on the day he<br />
speaks with BOXOFFICE, he is filming a commercial<br />
for JVC's diamond anniversary.) "Everybody<br />
was happy [with "The Professional"],<br />
so we do it again," Besson says. "And I have<br />
Luc Besson (center) on the set of the<br />
Gaumont production 'The Fifth Element."<br />
SPECIAL REPORT:<br />
CINEMA<br />
EXPO<br />
1997<br />
a special relationship with Gaumont because<br />
we try through the years to make everything as<br />
simple as we can. Which is:<br />
1 write the script,<br />
I come, if they like it they say 'yes,' if they<br />
don't they say 'no.' And if they say 'yes,' it's<br />
because tfiey have a good reason.<br />
"And I respect them—I never throw<br />
money through the window, never With<br />
the first movie I did, 1 had no money, and<br />
I know the price of everything. I have no<br />
pleasure in spending for nothing."<br />
"The Fifth Element," which at $80<br />
million is the most expensive French production<br />
ever, is a fivefold increase over<br />
Besson's previous budget high. But Besson<br />
remained calm during production<br />
("If something costs $10, why pay $15?<br />
And if something costs $1 million because<br />
it costs $ 1 million, then let's spend<br />
S 1<br />
million"), and he remains calm as the<br />
film begins its worldwide rollout. "Why<br />
should I feel pressure? My work is fmished<br />
when the film is finished. There's<br />
nothing I can do after that. I can give my<br />
blood for two years for the movie, but<br />
\s hen the credits end and the movie is<br />
finished and it's over, that's it"<br />
Asked why his films translate so well<br />
around the globe, Besson says, "Maybe<br />
because I feel as a human being. I don't<br />
think as a Froichman, or a Parisian, or a<br />
South Parisian. [Besson was bom in Paris<br />
in 1959.] I grew up in Greece and Yugoslavia,<br />
then I spent time in Paris, then I<br />
spent time in Tunisia with my father, and<br />
Rome, then in America, then in London.<br />
"Art is the only country that is without a flag.<br />
Take a Picasso painting: No matter if you see<br />
the painting at the Guggenheim or the Louvre,<br />
it's a Picasso. It doesn't matter if Picasso was<br />
Spanish or French—^it's a Picasso. I love this<br />
world of art, because it's the last safe country,<br />
where you don't need to be white or black or<br />
speak any EngUsh or French. All the people<br />
involved in an artistic process should be more<br />
aware of that: That we are lucky that we still<br />
have a country that's really free, with no fix)ntier,<br />
and we can go fixjm the future to the past.<br />
We can invent everything."<br />
Regarding his Cinema Expo award, Besson<br />
says, "The only thing I understand is, a group<br />
of people somewhere love my work, and I'm<br />
happy. So it's great—it just gives me a little<br />
more pressure to make my movie better, and<br />
to open my eyes more and open my ears more,<br />
and be better on the script and things.<br />
"My only goal if I do another one is, to make
SPECIAL REPORT: Europe 1997<br />
MULTIPLICITY<br />
As in much of Europe, Irish exhibition is changing<br />
dramatically. BOXOFHCE talks to some of today's<br />
movers & shakers, and looks back at a fabled past.<br />
by Tony Deane<br />
STOMPIN' AT THE SAVOY: The beautiful Savoy Cinema in Dublin is one of tfie last survivors from the early days of Irish exhibition.<br />
T\he Internet. What a wonderful vehicle<br />
for bringing people together Case in<br />
point: our new Irish correspondent,<br />
DMiner Tony Deane. Tonyfound us through<br />
BOXOmCE ONLINE (for those of you<br />
who 've been dead these last three years, that 's<br />
http://www.boxoff.com) am/ i/rwcA: up such an<br />
interesting and in.^ightful electronic correspondence<br />
that it was inevitable BOXOFFICE<br />
would make him our man on the Iri.sh .scene.<br />
We didn 't make it easyfor him— no sir, not<br />
us.<br />
Tony's first assignment was nothing less<br />
than a thumbnail sketch of Irish exhibition's<br />
entire history. We couldn 't be more delighted<br />
with the results.<br />
Here then is an Irishman 's view ofexhibition<br />
in his own home country. We 're proud to bring<br />
it to you, and we can promise you thi.s: you 'II<br />
he hearing more from Tony Deane in the very<br />
near future.— Ray Greene, Editor-in-Chief,<br />
BOXOFnCE<br />
THE HISTORY<br />
been called the land of saint-s and schol-<br />
It's<br />
ars, which is ok if you're living in acountry<br />
that still holds on to its old ways. The<br />
Ireland of today is lightyears away from all of<br />
tho.se old fashioned customs people love to<br />
hear about. It's the most westerly island in<br />
Europe, the next stop being the states, and<br />
while some foreigners often mistake it for part<br />
ofmainline Britain it's as faraway from Britain<br />
culturally as it could possibly be.<br />
The Irish Republic has a population of between<br />
three and four million, and research<br />
shows that it has the youngest population in<br />
Europe, each average member coming<br />
equipped with his or her own vast amount of<br />
disposable income. This is spent mostly on<br />
entertainment of some sort, and the cinema<br />
comes high among entertainment priorities.<br />
When Giuseppe Tomatore was writing the<br />
script for his film "Cinema Paradiso," he, like<br />
all Europeans of a certain age, he could draw<br />
on memories of a childhood when the local
Irish Extra:<br />
With Albert Kelly, Irish<br />
Exhibition Legend<br />
President<br />
of Ireland's<br />
Independent Cineina Owners Society,<br />
Albert Kelly is<br />
came up in what he considers to have been more fiercely<br />
a soft-spoken, hard-hitting business man who<br />
competitive Irish times. "When I started there was a cinema on almost<br />
every block," he says. "Now you can see the same movie in every<br />
multiplex, while back then, with the same amount of screens and all<br />
playing different films, I feel competition was stiffer" As one of the<br />
foremost figures in Irish exhibition, his over five decades plying the<br />
screen trade make him a sort of pocket history of growth and changes<br />
within the industry.<br />
In 1940, Albert, who had started life in the cinema business as a<br />
projectionist, bought some 16mm soccer coaching films and offered<br />
to show them to local football clubs. He would show them for a fee,<br />
and some clubs who loved the<br />
idea of seeing the top players of<br />
the S[X)rt giving instruction put<br />
the word out about him.<br />
Due to the club by-laws, Albert<br />
was not allowed to show the<br />
films to members of the general<br />
public or to advertise his product,<br />
but word got out and he<br />
soon had packed houses. Ironically<br />
for a future exhibitor,<br />
"This was not what I wanted,"<br />
says Albert, "and on arriving at<br />
the town I was amazed to see<br />
posters stuck up [by the club<br />
members] on every tree." So<br />
successful was this operation<br />
that Albert went to the Nation;il<br />
Film Institute and hired out additional<br />
films for golf societies<br />
and other special occasions.<br />
Inevitably, Kelly took to<br />
;<br />
cial ftinctions, which proved to<br />
[be very popular. This gave him<br />
an insight into how to book<br />
product, which was to be useful<br />
screening feature films for spe-<br />
at a later stage in his Life. He went back and worked in several cinemas<br />
before getting an opportunity to work for a company called Sundrive<br />
Cinemas Ltd. The proud owners of three suburban cinemas, Sundrive<br />
had 18 members on its board and a managing director who hated<br />
managers (he thought them an unnecessary e.xjjense, being an exjTOJectionist<br />
himself). One day he offered Albert the job of manager<br />
in one of the cinemas and it took him four weeks to decide ifhe would<br />
take it or not. "As far as I was concerned," Albert says wryly, "this<br />
was the nearest position to the door."<br />
Because Sundrive was closing one of its cinemas and Albert saw<br />
this as a potential threat to continuing job stability, he took the<br />
managing job. The Kenilworth was a cinema that held 1 , 1 1 5 patrons.<br />
Under Albert Kelly's stewardship, Sundrive was able to keep the<br />
house almost full most of the time.<br />
One day Albert found Sundrive's managing director dead in the<br />
chair in his office, hiunediately, his circumstances changed. "This<br />
was not the ideal way to get a promotion, but while I knew there were<br />
a lot of directors in the head office, not one of them knew how to<br />
book a film."<br />
The years Albert .spent hawking films around the clubs and<br />
booking feanires and shorts sto
68 BOXOFFICE<br />
A TRUE "CLASSIC:" Irish exhibitor Albert Kelly (see sidebar) stands before his Dublin moviehouse.<br />
"flea pit," as Irish moviehouses were called,<br />
was a way of life. Children of all ages went to<br />
their local cinemas, which were in abundance<br />
if you lived in the city, and movies provided a<br />
central meeting place for those who lived in<br />
the country. In the '50s, the island had at least<br />
300 exhibition sites, each with a single screen,<br />
and only about three prints of any given film<br />
to divide between them. This caused a lot of<br />
delay for the less populated areas, as all the<br />
inventory would play in each of the cities for<br />
at least three to four weeks, with the country<br />
houses restricted from playing them until later<br />
on. By the time they got to the "sticks," the<br />
prints were in bad shape, but they would stay<br />
in rural circulation anyway for as much as the<br />
next three years.<br />
Back then, there was a "barring order,"<br />
which made sure films were not available to<br />
country cinemas because the distributors<br />
"barred" them until titles ran their course in the<br />
city. This gave city cincmagoers a guaranteed<br />
prime choice, and cinema owners everywhere<br />
else high blood pressure. The most popular<br />
genre was the western, which the Irish people<br />
went to in droves because they had an affinity<br />
for the giieat outdoors and the easy pace of<br />
"frontier" life. The Screen cinema (then called<br />
the Corinthian) in the heart of Dublin was<br />
nicknamed "the Ranch," because the staple<br />
diet on offer each week was the old "B" westems.<br />
As the capital city, Dublin held at least a<br />
third of the Irish Republic's population, and it<br />
was therefore the place where all the major<br />
exhibition and distribution companies had<br />
their offices. The largest Dublin moviehouse<br />
was the Royal, which held almost 4,000 people<br />
in one auditorium and showed a mixture of<br />
cinema and stage productions. The more sophisticated<br />
Metropole showed what would<br />
now be called "art-house" fare.<br />
The '(Ah saw a change in the mood of the<br />
cinemagoing public, with the likes of Doris<br />
Day and Rock Hudson grabbing the<br />
attention. As in the states, the Irish<br />
exhibition industry was rocked by the<br />
advent of a new technology;<br />
a tiny<br />
httle box called "television."<br />
The opening of the National Television<br />
Station on New Year's Eve<br />
1%] was almost the end for most rural<br />
cinemas, which had made due with<br />
inferior presentation conditions for<br />
decades. People liked what they could<br />
see for nothing, especially since many<br />
rural theatres had been restricted by<br />
the "barring" regulations into giving<br />
second-rate service. Almost 160 sites<br />
closed in the space of eight years,<br />
leaving only about 120 houses by<br />
1%9 to cater to the small trickle of<br />
available moviegoers. Double features<br />
became things of the past; the<br />
audience's attention span had shortened<br />
due to TV, and a two-hour program<br />
with trailers was all the public<br />
could take.<br />
Things looked bad for the moment.<br />
But Irish exhibitors, like their American<br />
cousins, found a way out of the<br />
abyss: the "twinning" of the Savoy<br />
theatre marked a monumental occasion<br />
for Irish exhibition.<br />
TWINNING<br />
n the early '70s, Dublin's second<br />
largest cinema, the Savoy, was<br />
rXtiturned into a twin. Originally, the<br />
Savoy held over 2,000 patrons; when<br />
it was split, it held 800 downstairs and<br />
1 ,000 upstairs. The first films shown<br />
on the "twinned" Savoy's screens<br />
were "Anne of A Thousand Days' and<br />
"Airport," both of which tumed out to<br />
be Irish blockbusters. The Savoy also<br />
held a restaurant (as did most cinemas<br />
of the day). This was later tumed into<br />
a 200-seat cinema, much to the horror<br />
of other exhibitors.<br />
Brendan McCaul, vice<br />
president<br />
and general manager for Buena Vista<br />
International (U.K.) Ltd., recalls his<br />
days with Rank Cinemas, which owned the<br />
Savoy. "At the time we had committed both<br />
cinemas to two films, 'Eye Of the Needle' and<br />
'The French Lieutenant's Woman.' We had no<br />
place foralittle movie called 'Bugsy Malone,'<br />
so we put it into the 200 seater. It filled the<br />
cinema ftx)m the afternoon until late evening,<br />
seven days a week," The trade was startled at<br />
what had happened at the Savoy, and by 1978<br />
most of the surviving larger cinemas were<br />
being split into some sort of extra capacity.<br />
Gone was the 4,(XX)-seat Royal which, like<br />
the Regal Rooms, had been sold to make way<br />
for an office building. Gone too were many of<br />
Dublin's fine central cinemas: The Capital was<br />
converted firom an opera house to a shopping<br />
center; the Metropole also was converted to<br />
retail space.<br />
Meanwhile, the<br />
Savoy kept subdividing,<br />
eventually growing to house six theatres.<br />
Across the road, its competition at the Carlton<br />
grew to five screens, while the Carlton's sister
cinema, the Adelphi around the<br />
comer, enlarged to six. But the<br />
city still retained some singlescreen<br />
cinemas which showed<br />
art-house and indep)endent movies;<br />
in total, 24 E)ublin screens<br />
were available to the public by<br />
the '80s.<br />
The advent in the 1980s of<br />
home video created an unexpected<br />
problem for Irish exhibitors.<br />
A flood of pirated U.S.<br />
videotapes showed up in pubs<br />
and local hostehies, some located<br />
almost on the doorstep of the big<br />
urban houses. So called "arthouse"<br />
cinemas, which showed<br />
foreign films with some sort of<br />
nudity, suffered most because the<br />
videos showed everything,<br />
which was against the censorship<br />
laws applied to the local cinema<br />
The fact that you could see a<br />
first-run film in a public bar before<br />
a cinema got a chance to<br />
book it caused its own form of<br />
havoc.<br />
In the suburbs, things were<br />
also changing. The local cinema<br />
was vanishing, replaced by supermarkets<br />
in most instances.<br />
Other exhibitors attempted to<br />
keep up with the public's appetite<br />
for entertainment by aiming their<br />
houses into bowling alleys, skating<br />
rinks and bingo parlors. The<br />
one plus for those exhibitors who<br />
stayed the course was that public<br />
transport improvements and the<br />
fact that more people had motor<br />
cars were making it easier to get<br />
into the city to see the wide range<br />
of films on offer there.<br />
UCI AND THE RISE OF<br />
THE IRISH MULTIPLEX<br />
successful years after<br />
Fifteen<br />
existing cinemas began in<br />
earnest to split their large<br />
auditoriums into several screens,<br />
Ireland's first custom-built, dedicated<br />
multiplex was erected on<br />
the south side of Dublin in a place<br />
called Tallaght by European<br />
powerhouse UCI, and Ireland entered<br />
the modem exhibition age.<br />
Despite intensifying competition,<br />
the theatre is still one of the<br />
most important in Ireland. "It has<br />
had a tremendous effect," says<br />
Buena Vista's Brendan McCaul.<br />
"because it has become our number<br />
one grossing hall. It's also in<br />
the top three in Europe for UCI<br />
Cinemas. They were turning over<br />
one to two million admissions<br />
per year, and as a mean average<br />
[for Tallaght] you could multiply<br />
that by three. Take 40 percent of<br />
that figure and it gives you an idea<br />
of the [volume of] craicession<br />
sales."<br />
Adisparaging comment circulated<br />
when the Tallaght cinema<br />
opened was that because of high<br />
unemployment in the area people<br />
had nothing better to do than to<br />
go to the movies. McCaul scoffs<br />
at such an idea. "The fact of the<br />
matter is that more people are<br />
travelling from surrounding<br />
country areas to shop in [the surrounding<br />
shopping] complexes,<br />
and while there they take in a<br />
movie. This is good for the shopper<br />
and for the owners of the sites<br />
that are adjacent to the cinemas,<br />
because both benefit."<br />
UCI next opened a ninescreen<br />
complex on the north side<br />
of the city. While this second<br />
build didn't quite equal<br />
Tallaght' s success thanks to<br />
steeper competition, it still captured<br />
the public's imagination<br />
with its state-of-the-art facilities.<br />
Several months ago, UCI opened<br />
yet another nine-screen complex<br />
in the southwest part of the city.<br />
Opened in the off-season, the<br />
new build has yet to catch on,<br />
even though it contains a wine<br />
bar. But Buena Vista's McCaul is<br />
optimistic fortius new cinema. "I<br />
believe we have not seen the best<br />
of it yet," he says. "When the<br />
summer comes along, the likes of<br />
'Batman,' 'Con Air,' 'Men In<br />
Black' and 'Jurassic Park 2' will<br />
bring people out in their droves<br />
to the cinema"<br />
UCI's ambitious building<br />
spree changed the math dramatically<br />
for other Dublin exhibitors.<br />
Cinemas in the city were hard hit;<br />
in less than two years, they had<br />
new competition from three<br />
state-of-the-art multiplexes<br />
housing 27 new screens. Rumors<br />
abounded in the trade about the<br />
impending closure of the Carlton<br />
and the Adelphi— by this time<br />
national institutions—which<br />
shared management as part of<br />
what was then MGM's European<br />
circuit. The Carlton/Adelphi<br />
ownership reported that it had<br />
been impacted by the new multiplexes,<br />
but it intended to open a<br />
muUiplex of its own, which<br />
would bring people back.<br />
True to their word, they<br />
opened a nine-screen complex in<br />
the heart of the city, which was to<br />
have been called the MGM Multiplex.<br />
Right from the start, the<br />
MGM was dogged by all sorts of<br />
trouble. Owing to a variety of<br />
snafus at the corp
'<br />
Mann<br />
70 RnvnnnrF<br />
a<br />
the complex had changed hands along with all<br />
the other MGM cinemas in Europe. When it<br />
finally opened its doors, the MGM Multiplex<br />
had a new name reflecting its changed status:<br />
it was now The Virgin Multiplex.<br />
WARD-ANDERSON AND<br />
ABBEY FILMS<br />
The<br />
new complex was up against the<br />
very well known and reliable Savoy's<br />
six cinemas, which include the largest<br />
screen in the country (four stories high and<br />
60 feet in width) and the latest in digital<br />
sound. The Savoy was by now a flagship<br />
for the Ward-Anderson group, which runs<br />
it under the company's exhibition arm.<br />
Abbey Films. With over 100 screens around<br />
the country, Ward-Anderson represents a<br />
force to be reckoned with. Its history in<br />
Ireland offers a unique view of the Irish<br />
approach to the medium.<br />
Leo Ward, who was a footballer of note<br />
in the late '40s, went into distribution with<br />
a film called "The Hills of Donegal"—<br />
risky venture that paid off, according to his<br />
son Paul Ward, director of Abbey Films.<br />
"No one wanted to know about this movie,<br />
so my father took it to Cork [the second<br />
laigest city in Ireland] and it ran for over three<br />
weeks. Suddenly, everyone wanted it."<br />
Leo made several visits to London and<br />
picked up the rights to show a few older films.<br />
When the popular British "Carry On" comedies<br />
and the Chinese-made Bruce Lee features<br />
came out, Leo went into distribution in a big<br />
way. But the Ward family's exhibition roots<br />
went even deeper.<br />
"The first cinema the family got involved in<br />
was in the mid-'50s in Lucan," Paul Ward<br />
Paul Ward, Director, Abbey Films, Dublin.<br />
remembers. "The previous owner wanted to<br />
leave the country. He had debts of £8,000<br />
[US$12,000], and my father took over the<br />
debts and gave him £10,000 [US$15,000]."<br />
From then on, Lee Ward and his partner<br />
Kevin Anderson took partial interests in local<br />
cinemas. They had a good working relationship<br />
with the local owners, who continued to<br />
mn the cinemas for the sake of the local<br />
townfolk. In Cork city, Ward-Anderson took<br />
over the Pavilion Cinema, which then took<br />
over the Capital and the Lee. For the first time.<br />
Ward-Anderson assumed 100 percent of<br />
each business, and an exhibition empire<br />
began to spread. "I came into the business in<br />
the '70s," says Paul Ward, "when we had<br />
about 20 cinemas and solid<br />
distribution<br />
deals. But because there was a glut of films,<br />
not all of them were good."<br />
Leo Ward had a cinema outside Dublin<br />
called the Green. Because it was not in the<br />
exact city center but about a mile away, it was<br />
classed as a second-run cinema and could not<br />
get first-run films. Necessity being the<br />
mother of invention, Leo again went to London,<br />
this time buying rights to the first seven<br />
Bond movies for about £500 [$750] each.<br />
He ran them from week to week and took<br />
in 1 times their cost. To put a bit of icing on<br />
the cake, he then double-featured them and<br />
made yet another killing. The distributors<br />
saw the potential of the Green and allowed<br />
Ward first-run movies. Leo Ward was no<br />
longer out in the cold.<br />
The day after Ward-Anderson took over the<br />
Savoy they reduced admissions for the day to<br />
£1 [US$ 1 .50], and five thousand people turned<br />
up at the cinema. 'We realized [from that] that<br />
there was a pricing problem," says Paul Ward,<br />
'<br />
'and reduced the afternoon performances to £2<br />
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[US$3], which was half the price of the evening<br />
performance." Again the public came,<br />
and the other cinemas followed by reducing<br />
their prices.<br />
With a £40 million [US$60 million] turnover,<br />
the Ward-Anderson group employs almost<br />
1 ,000 people. They are at the moment<br />
putting multiplexes up in several Irish cities.<br />
One plan for next year is to have a 1 2-screen<br />
state-of-the-art cinema in the south of Dublin,<br />
where there are now some pre-existing<br />
family dwelhngs. "I expect there to be some<br />
objections to the plan," says Paul Ward, "but<br />
this will be our flagship cinema, with as<br />
much attention as possible to what the public<br />
wants. We intend to have everything you<br />
could want in a cinema complex."<br />
Unlike the mighty UCI operation. Abbey<br />
Films does not have large amounts of cash<br />
to invest in cinema complexes, so it finds<br />
other methods. When the builders of a north<br />
urban market, according to Paul Ward. "They<br />
don't buy, they rent. It's possible that they will<br />
rent the new 18-cinema complex which is<br />
going up in Quarry Vale, which is not too far<br />
away from UCI's Blanchardstown cinemas."<br />
ITie north of Ireland has always been seen<br />
city shopping center which included a multiplex<br />
in its design offered the site to Abbey,<br />
a deal was struck between the two companies,<br />
which saw the builders getting 50<br />
percent of the boxoffice after the Abbey<br />
group equipped the nine-cinema complex—a<br />
"win-win" for all the parties involved.<br />
Brendan McCaul, V.P./Gen. Mgr, Buena Vista Int'l (U.I<br />
In the rural parts of the island, where as a place that has a lot of troubles, but Abbey<br />
constmction costs are far lower than in the has seven cinemas there too. "The north was a<br />
cities. Abbey took another route, building its<br />
own cinemas.<br />
While UCI remains a formidable competitor,<br />
"Virgin is the company to watch" in the<br />
natural progression for us because this is an<br />
island and the distance is not that far," says<br />
Ward. "If it had been England, it would have<br />
not been as easy for us to defend our market."<br />
Both Paul Ward and Buena Vista's<br />
McCaul agree that multiplexes have put<br />
new life into cinemagoing. "People in<br />
'30s and '40s who have not visited a<br />
their<br />
cinema in years are coming back," states Ward,<br />
"and I'm sure this will also extend to the older<br />
bracket."<br />
Last year alone there were over 12 million<br />
admissions to cinemas on the small Irish<br />
island. Since the average ticket price runs at<br />
around £5 [US$8], aknost twice the U.S.<br />
figure, Irish exhibition is looking up. Several<br />
factors point toward an even greater upsurge<br />
and a booming industry, which looks as if it<br />
is going to continue to grow well into the next<br />
century. Chief among these is the expanding<br />
economy in the Irish south, which has made<br />
Ireland one of the most economically desirable<br />
of all the European destinations.<br />
American architects are now planning the<br />
next generation of Irish cinemas from their<br />
New York offices. The door into Europe<br />
begins in this small country, which is why<br />
there are so many computer companies setting<br />
up here, and so many Irish who emigrated<br />
to the European continent and the U.S.<br />
during leaner economic times returning<br />
home.<br />
For the returnees and the general population,<br />
a changed moviegoing experience is what's<br />
waiting on the Irish isle. To be able to sit in an<br />
Irish cinema that is the equal of any other<br />
theatre in the world is a unique pleasure, all its<br />
.JA»Sk^USAM<br />
Celebrating 85 \fears of Exhibition in Georgia.<br />
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7:00 p.m. - Cocktails<br />
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Wednesday. August 20. 1997<br />
8:00 a.m. - Breakfast<br />
9:00 a.m. - Business Sessions<br />
12:15 p.m. - Luncheon<br />
• Advance Registration $50.00 • Registration Desk $70.00<br />
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8H0WS0UTH IS SPONSORED BY:<br />
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"FROM WHERE I SIT...<br />
Our Forum For Readers Just Like You<br />
When<br />
1<br />
stepped off the airplane in<br />
Moscow for the first time, I knew the<br />
trip would be exciting. Like any<br />
other country, Russia proved to possess some<br />
things that were familiar and others that were<br />
very different from what I had expected.<br />
There's also anticipation in visiting a country<br />
rich in culture and history that I had read about<br />
and enjoyed in music, art, films and literature.<br />
You know that you are in one of the world's<br />
most important cities.<br />
hy Norm Schneider<br />
EAST<br />
EURO<br />
BIZ 101<br />
99<br />
opening in large numbers. This energy is apparent<br />
in most of the ex-Soviet countries. But<br />
the change is causing some problems.<br />
The economy ofmany Eastern countries has<br />
been hard hit by the transition, and capital is<br />
hard to obtain. Cinemas in the large cities are<br />
mostly historic buildings that are single-house<br />
theatres that hold from 750 to 1 ,500 patrons.<br />
Multiplexes are starting to pop up with the aid<br />
of foreign investors that can finance such ventures<br />
and bring expertise in the operation of this<br />
manufactured in the Soviet countries, most of<br />
the systems were monaural, and installation<br />
expertise was not generally available. That is<br />
all changing!<br />
With the expanded travel firom East to<br />
West, theatre owners are building state-of-theart<br />
cinemas with the latest technology in pic-<br />
Cinemas in the large<br />
cities are mostly<br />
historic buildings<br />
that are single-house<br />
theatres that hold<br />
from 750 to 1,500<br />
patrons. Multiplexes<br />
are starting to pop<br />
up with the aid of<br />
foreign investors.<br />
ture and sound. Renovation of existing cinemas<br />
is increasing as private and governmentowned<br />
cinemas try to attract customers with<br />
first-classpresentations.<br />
Some areas of Eastern Europe are more<br />
progressive in their plans and progress than<br />
EAST SIDE THEATRE, WEST SIDE SOUND: Moscow's Cinema Khudojestvenny,<br />
one of Russia's moviehouses to have received Western sound upgrades.<br />
With the change of government to democratic<br />
policies, there is a hu.stle and bastic to<br />
adapt to the new cnvin)nment of free enterprise<br />
and entrepreneurship in basincss. Construction<br />
is everywhere, and new businesses arc<br />
foim of cinemas. Stereo sound systems were<br />
rare until recently, and they have been sold and<br />
installed primarily by Western companies<br />
from Germany, America and others. Because<br />
very few products for stereo systems were<br />
others. Countries like Hungary, Poland and<br />
Slovakia are moving along much faster than<br />
are Bulgaria, Romania and others in terms of<br />
the renovation and upgrading of existing sites<br />
and in the construction of new cinemas. This
is partly due to the stronger support<br />
of the government in countries<br />
where culture is considered to be as<br />
important as industry.<br />
Progressive governments understand<br />
that culture is a continuing<br />
priority, and they do<br />
not limit their resources to basic<br />
needs such as highways, schools,<br />
transportation and services. Some<br />
governments will participate in the<br />
cost of renovation in order to privatize<br />
former govemment-owned<br />
facilities or to help theatre owners<br />
update to current technology. The<br />
amount of support varies from<br />
country to country.<br />
Western movies are quite popular<br />
in the East where home video is<br />
king. Major film producers are establishing<br />
new distribution channels<br />
to expand their market. This<br />
creates a greater need for stereo<br />
sound equipment and for local<br />
movie studios to offer stereo<br />
soundtracks for the theatres that<br />
have stereo playback capability.<br />
Many theatres now have one or<br />
more of the digital playback systems<br />
to present their movies in digital<br />
sound. Adding digital means a<br />
complete upgrade of the supporting<br />
components because the few,<br />
older systems cannot handle the<br />
dynamics of digital sound.<br />
The people of the Eastern<br />
countries are optimistic and excited<br />
about the future of cinemas<br />
in their homelands. I have made<br />
many trips to this region and<br />
have developed great friendships<br />
and strong business relationships<br />
with my new contacts. I was delighted<br />
to discover the warm,<br />
hospitable and friendly nature of<br />
people in the East. It's easy to see<br />
the problems they face in trying to<br />
transition to a new way of doing<br />
business, and it makes one want to<br />
"pitch in" and help.<br />
Hi<br />
Ga.-<br />
based SMART Devices, Inc., a<br />
Norm Schneider is the chiefexecutive<br />
officer of Norcross,<br />
manufacturer of cinema sound<br />
products and systems. Schneider<br />
recently oversaw the installation of<br />
smart's "Total Support" sound<br />
system in the Cinema Khudojestvenny,<br />
the premier (and Premier!)<br />
moviehouse— six blocks<br />
from the Kremlin— at which the<br />
Moscow Film Festival is held.<br />
A NOTE TO OUR READERS: Our "From Where<br />
1 Sit" section is designed to provide professionals<br />
working in the motion picture business and related<br />
industries a forum for tlie exchange of ideas. Think of<br />
it<br />
as a space where you can unveil a new idea or approach,<br />
or discuss how traditional methods might best<br />
evolve as moviemaking and moviegoing change.<br />
Those who would like to contribute essays of up io<br />
1,000 words for publication in BOXOFFICE should<br />
write to the magazine at 6640 Sunset Blvd., Suite 100,<br />
Hollywood CA 90028, or fax us at (213) 465-5049, or<br />
send via E-mail to boxoffice@earthlink.net. Also, mail<br />
a black-and-white photograph and a short biography<br />
when you make your submission.<br />
As the production and exhibition industries move<br />
into their second century, and the modem world prepares<br />
for its 21st, there are plenty of issues facing the<br />
business. Some have been with us since the dawn of<br />
the movie theatre:<br />
For example, how can exhibitors<br />
attract more patrons more frequently, and how can they<br />
make moviegoers' stays more exciting—and how can<br />
they grow profits at the same time? Others are moic<br />
specific to our era: E.g., As megaplex operators build<br />
out America, will neighborhood competition increase .'<br />
Sound, picture, projection!, seating, architecture, zoning,<br />
concessions, legal and soCial issues, even the movies<br />
themselves—these and more are all<br />
Let's hear from you on one.of them!<br />
topics for debate.<br />
THE BEST!<br />
Know who you deal with<br />
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THEATRE<br />
10201 BunsenWay<br />
Louisville, KY 40299<br />
(502) 499-0050<br />
(502) 499-0052 FAX:<br />
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Response No. 72
74 RfiVfifFU-F.<br />
—<br />
SPECIAL REPORT: Sound<br />
Motion<br />
IF THEY KNEW WHAT<br />
YOU WERE MISSING:<br />
Part Two<br />
WHY TODAY'S MOTION PICTURE SOUND<br />
SYSTEMS FAIL TO MAKE THE GRADE<br />
AND WHY THEY CAN'T SOUND BETTER<br />
picture sound is critically important in setting the emotional atmosphere of a Him.<br />
Sauna alone is often the determining factor in an audience knowing W a scene is a comedy<br />
or tragedy. Obviously, Hie better the theatre's sound presentation, the better the film works.<br />
If sound is, as some insist, fully half the show, how can exhibitors best exploit its potential?<br />
BOXOFFICE contributing writer John F. Allen continues his important series of articles exploring the<br />
current state of movie theatre sound and providing some valuable auidance. Part one v^as<br />
published in the April 1997 issue of BOXOFFICE/ parts three and four will follow later this year.<br />
Part<br />
one of this<br />
series was devoted to a<br />
detailed analysis of the current state of<br />
the sound systems in today's movie theatres<br />
and some of the many complex reasons<br />
that preclude them from being able to reproduce<br />
digital soimdtracks. Much of the article<br />
covered speakers used behind motion picture<br />
screens and explained why the<br />
majority of<br />
these loudspeakers are simply too small. Although<br />
all the visual action takes place on the<br />
screen, the sound system is installed throughout<br />
the theatre. The all-important surround<br />
speakers are often overlooked as one of the<br />
most vital components of the experience that<br />
attending a theatre is suppxjsed to be. In<br />
this installment, I shall explain why the<br />
surrounds usually fail to deliver what<br />
they should, as well as discuss subwooferand<br />
power amplifier deficiencies that<br />
audiences are also to likely to endure.<br />
WHAT IS BAD SOUND?<br />
Perhaps 1 should once again state<br />
what 1 believe should qualify as "bad<br />
sound." Understandable dialogue is cef:<br />
tainly essential for telling a story, but it<br />
is hardly enough. Any sound reproduction<br />
that is unnatural or colored in tone,<br />
or is lacking in fullness or dynamic range, or<br />
that is unfaithful to the recording in any way,<br />
should not be regarded as acceptable. Pre,sentations<br />
often encountered in which music or<br />
background sounds are ttxj loud, too dull or<br />
altogether inaudible should not be regarded as<br />
acceptable. Phony, distorted and inadequate<br />
bass is widely prevalent in this industry. (Just<br />
think of all the subwoofers that have failed.)<br />
Finally, it must be undersiotxl that the typical<br />
"honky" dialogue sound so prominent in<br />
movie theatres for so many years is bad sound.<br />
Voices simply don't sound that way unless<br />
someone is speaking through a hose.<br />
SURROUND SPEAKERS<br />
It's hard to imagine a mistake one could make<br />
in designing or installing a surround array or<br />
sunound speakei^ that is not commonplace in<br />
today's movie theatres. Many—^all too many<br />
surround speakers have required replacement,<br />
sometimes repeatedly, over the years. It would<br />
almost seem that we are now quite accustomed<br />
There ought to be no<br />
debate that a safety<br />
margin of some amount is<br />
mandatory. But there is<br />
debate as to how much the<br />
safety margin should be.<br />
to hearing of such failures with virtually every<br />
opening of a new action picture, particularly<br />
those with a digital stereo track.<br />
Surround speakers serve a critical role by<br />
bringing the audience into the film. Surrounds<br />
create the atmosphere. In addition, films like<br />
"Twister"<br />
and "Independence Day" use the<br />
surrounds for some enormous sound effects.<br />
These effects can demand bass levels that exceed<br />
those pixxluced at the same lime by the<br />
subwoofers. Yet surround speakers typically<br />
fail to produce anything beyond some kind of<br />
noise during the loudest scenes. The rest of the<br />
time they hardly sound like they're on at all,<br />
even though they are supposed to be. (How<br />
often has that complaint been heard?) The<br />
sound ofthe surrounds should match the sound<br />
from the screen.<br />
Of course, the final issue that must be faced<br />
is that, due to poor placement among other<br />
things, most surround systems don' t ultimately<br />
surround anything. Listeners all too often localize<br />
to, and can even feel attacked by, the<br />
surround speaker or group of speakers to<br />
which they're closest. (See "Why Surround<br />
Systems Don't Usually Work,"<br />
BOXOFFICE, March 1983, p. 68.)<br />
Returning to the theme that most theatre<br />
speakers are too small, the vast majority<br />
of surround systems installed<br />
today are also lacking in size and performance.<br />
For theatres equipped for either<br />
Dolby SR or digital, 1 would advise that<br />
surround speakers with anything smaller<br />
than a 12-inch woofer should not be<br />
considered. Beyond that, surround presentations<br />
cannot improve until far more<br />
attention is paid to speaker placement<br />
The goal should be that no locali?.ation<br />
to individual speakers or wall of speakers<br />
should occur finom any seat in the house.<br />
Due to their height restrictions, theatres with<br />
stadium seating and balconies require a far<br />
greater level of skill and understanding of<br />
coverage geometries than is generally available<br />
to this industry at this time. The usual<br />
practice of locating surround speakers in theatres<br />
by habit and mere guessing needs to go the<br />
way of the hand-cranked projector. The bottom
Tiilv. 1997 75<br />
OR<br />
equaUzations cannot be ignored. So,<br />
when designing a sound system, one<br />
must factor in the typical amount of<br />
equalization anticipated by the speakers<br />
employed and increase the ampUfier<br />
power accordingly.<br />
SO HOW LOUD DO<br />
MOVIES GET?<br />
TOTAL LOW FREQUENCY<br />
RADIATING AREA = 16 SQ FT<br />
MAXIMUM OUTPUT AT 50 FT / 16.5 M = 121<br />
line is this: If you're in a theatre where you can<br />
"feel surrounded" only in the center seats, the<br />
surround system in that theatre, by definition,<br />
fails to surround everyone not seated in the center.<br />
This is, of course, virtually the entire audience for<br />
every show, every day, week after week.<br />
Surround speakers of sufficient size, output<br />
and quality, properly placed for zero localization,<br />
can and do significantly—almost magically—enhance<br />
the motion picture experience<br />
for all films, large and small.<br />
SUBWOOFERS<br />
As noted earUer, the number of subwoofer<br />
failures this industry has experienced is very<br />
high indeed. Frankly, there is no excuse for<br />
this. If a sound system is properly designed and<br />
equipped, its loudspeakers should never fail. I<br />
repeat, never. As with both the screen and<br />
surround speakers, most theatres are presently<br />
outfitted with terribly inadequate subwoofer<br />
systems—how inadequate depends on the theatre.<br />
We do know that subwoofers are required<br />
to deliver peak levels of at least 1 1 5 dB sound<br />
pressure level (SPL) in the center of a theatre.<br />
To do this in, say, a 100-foot-long theatre, the<br />
subwoofer system must be able to deliver 139<br />
dB SPL at 1 meter, according to the inverse<br />
square law and actual measurements done in a<br />
theatre. Adding a 6 dB safety mai^in is a good<br />
design practice. This protects the drivers from<br />
damaging overloads and also allows for realworld<br />
signal conditions that wiU actually push<br />
the subwoofer higher than the theoretical peak<br />
levels. This brings the total output requirement<br />
at one meter to 145 dB SPL in a theatre 1(X)<br />
feet long. Subwoofer ampUfiers must also be<br />
equipped with cUpping protection or limiting<br />
for those occasions when even this isn't<br />
enough. BeUeve me, it does happen.<br />
Because typical subwoofers quit at around<br />
124 dB, theatres need more than one or two to<br />
do the job. In fact, a 500-seat, 100-foot-long<br />
theatre requires 10 standard subwoofers or two<br />
high-efficiency subwoofers. Either approach<br />
will provide the power output required. The<br />
radiating area of 10 standard subwoofers is 16<br />
square feet vs. more than 20 for the two highefficiency<br />
units, but they are at least closer.<br />
Figure 1<br />
TOTAL LOW FREQUENCY<br />
RADIATING AREA = 20.5 SQ<br />
dB SPL<br />
(See Figure 1, above.) If one is using direct<br />
radiator subwoofers, systems with 18-inch<br />
drivers would make a better choice. Most theatres<br />
are equipped with only one or two standard<br />
subwoofers if they have them at all, so the<br />
shortfall in subwoofer power in these theatres<br />
is truly severe. (See "Digital Subwoofers,"<br />
BOXOinCE, June 1995, p. 48.)<br />
If a sound system is properly designed and<br />
equipped, its loudspeakers should never fail. I<br />
repeat again: Never!<br />
AMPLIFIERS<br />
Another of the more important factors contributing<br />
to the lack of performance in motion<br />
picture theatre sound systems is the pwwer<br />
ampUfiers. As with most of the installed loudspeakers,<br />
the amplifiers often found driving<br />
them are too small for their task. Determining<br />
the power required for any channel in any<br />
sound system is a very straightforward exercise.<br />
Using the speaker's one watt, one meter<br />
sensitivity, the maximum peak SPL of the<br />
program material involved and the distance at<br />
which that level must be deUvered, we can<br />
quickly calculate the power in watts required.<br />
We then add 6 dB, or multiply the watts by<br />
four; this adds a safety margin so that the<br />
ampUfiers never run out of power and cUp.<br />
This is critically important in assuring a long<br />
Ufe for the speakers as well as, obviously,<br />
keeping the sound clean.<br />
There ought to be no debate that a safety<br />
margin of some amount is mandatory. But<br />
there is debate as to how much that safety<br />
margin should be. Some have said it can be as<br />
Uttle as 3 dB, which is twice the power demanded<br />
by the peak levels. In the real world,<br />
however, this is not enough, for at least two<br />
good reasons. The first is that, due to its complex<br />
nature, real program material can frequently<br />
use more power than theoretical<br />
calculations indicate. Second, and just as important,<br />
is that we are dealing with equalized<br />
sound systems. If the equaUzation requires the<br />
bass control to be turned upjust 3 dB, as is often<br />
the case, that 3 dB immediately doubles the<br />
amplifier power required. Some common surround<br />
speakers need a 6 dB bass boost. These<br />
Peak levels for digital motion picture<br />
soundtracks are 105 dB SPL for each<br />
screen channel, 102 dB SPL for each<br />
surround channel and, as stated earUer,<br />
II 5 dB SPL for the subwoofer channel.<br />
Adding 6 dB brings the design critaia<br />
up to 111 dB SPL, 108 dB SPL and 121<br />
dB SPLrespectively, as measured in the<br />
center of the theatre. Sound systems<br />
built to these specifications will not clip<br />
and can be considered reUable.<br />
Unfortunately, these common-sense practices<br />
are seldom foUowed. As an example, one<br />
500-seat theatre I visited advertised its sound<br />
as "state-of-the-art." In some sense, I suppose,<br />
you could say it was, as it just poured out<br />
distortion with films Uke "Twister" and "Independence<br />
Day." Doing the math, I calculated<br />
that the cUpping levels for this sound system<br />
were 102 dB SPL for the screen channels, 99<br />
dB SPL for the surround channels and 103 dB<br />
SPL for the subwoofer. At a minimum, this<br />
meant that the screen and surround channels<br />
were 50 percent too smaU. The subwoofer<br />
channel was a whopping 94 percent too smaU.<br />
If one were to include a 6 dB safety margin,<br />
these shortfalls become four times worse.<br />
Clearly, it is an appalling situation for this<br />
industry when such a system can be sold as a<br />
quaUty digital-ready package. One reason this<br />
continues to happen has been a reluctance on<br />
the part of some to own up to the real power<br />
demands of digital stereo—even though anyone<br />
with a calculator could figure it out for<br />
themselves. On separate occasions, two manufacturers<br />
have stated to me their feeUng that<br />
if they told the truth "no one would buy" their<br />
processors. I strongly disagree. The industry is<br />
far better served by the most honest and forthcoming<br />
advice. Without it, everyone on both<br />
sides of the boxoffice loses out.<br />
The<br />
following text is offered as a readyto-use<br />
amplifier power specification for<br />
exhibitors and odiers responsible for instaUing<br />
motion picture sound systems. And,<br />
pubhshed for the first time anywhere. Tables<br />
1, 2 and 3 provide a quick reference for the<br />
minimum amplifier fX)wer requirements for<br />
cinema sound systems.<br />
AMPLIFIER POWER<br />
SPECIFICATION<br />
The power ampUfier requirements in [name<br />
of theatre circuit] 's sound systems shall be<br />
calculated solely using the inverse square law.<br />
Tests have shown that, in the center of the<br />
theatre, the peak sound pressure level (SPL)<br />
for a single screen channel is 105 dB SPL, 102
RECOMMENDED STAGE SPEAKER<br />
POWER REQUIREMENTS<br />
(6 dB HEADROOM, SPEAKERS AND<br />
AMPLIFIERS SAFE)<br />
RECOMMENDED SURROUND<br />
CHANNEL POWER REQUIREMENTS<br />
(6 dB HEADROOM, SPEAKERS AND<br />
AMPLIFIERS SAFE)<br />
120W<br />
200W 320W saow<br />
108<br />
loe<br />
SPEAKER'S t02<br />
SENSITIVITY<br />
SPL 1 W/1M<br />
100
NUMBER OF UNITS<br />
UTUALLY COUPLED<br />
MINIMUM SUBWOOFER<br />
POWER REQUIREMENTS<br />
(6 dB HEADROOM, SPEAKERS AND<br />
AMPLIFIERS SAFE)<br />
9 32W 44W BOW 120W 180W 320W SOOW 720W<br />
/<br />
SOW TOW 125W 200W 2aOW SOOW 800W 1.1KW<br />
OOW 140W 250W 400W SOOW lOOOW 1 .SKW 2.3KW -<br />
200W 280W SOOW BOOW 1120W 2000W 3.2KW4.SKW<br />
SPEAKER'S<br />
SENSITIVITY 102<br />
SPL @ 1 W/1M
International Indie Showcase<br />
OUT OF THIS WORLD<br />
Berlin Movie Fans See Films Via 'Satellite'<br />
at tlie Sputnik by Melissa Monison<br />
THEATRE TO THE REUNIFIED : The entrance to Berlin, Germany's Sputnik Theatre which is neighbor to the infamous, and now defunct, Berlin Wall.<br />
the early '60s, the Sputnik Theatre's own-<br />
faced a unique and traumatic marketing<br />
Iners<br />
problem: Somebody built a huge wall<br />
through the cinema's Berlin, Germany neighborhood,<br />
and half of the Sputnik's patroas were<br />
threatened with death if they tried to cross it.<br />
Needless to say, admissions suffered.<br />
Eight years ago, however, revolution lore<br />
the Berlin Wall down, and Sputnik's owners,<br />
Filme-X, faced another challenge: how to run<br />
a profitable cinema for two distinct communities—one<br />
rich, the other poor; one worldly, the<br />
other starving for Western entertainment.<br />
The resulting sU'ategy, implemented by<br />
Filmc-X's young managers, seems one more<br />
of ad hoc tinkering than textbook formula.<br />
When Filme-X took over Sputnik in 1984,<br />
it programmed art films. When that didn't fly,<br />
the program changed more successfully to<br />
mainstream movies, with special programs<br />
highlighting, for example, children's films<br />
and German films.<br />
The new approach seems to be working.<br />
The Sputnik has broken even for the last<br />
three years, says Martin Protze-Zwick, a<br />
deputy director at Filme-X. And despite the<br />
fact that it's not exactly raking in the<br />
Deutsche marks yet, the company is in no<br />
hurry to unload the theatre, which is a beloved<br />
fixture of the neighborhood and of<br />
architectural aficionados.<br />
Built in 1954 in the north Berlin region of<br />
Wedding, the 3(X)-seat cinema was first named<br />
the Clou and outfitted with early Cinemascope<br />
technology, as well as one of the first wide<br />
screens. It had a simple and elegant design that<br />
writers praise as a perfect example of '50s<br />
architecture, including kidney-shaped motifs<br />
and a quilted diamond pattem on the auditorium<br />
walls. When the pharmaceutical company<br />
Schering paid for a DM 500,000<br />
(US$335,000) renovation in the early '90s (as<br />
an act of charity to preserve a valuable landmark),<br />
it didn't change a facet of what a government<br />
official, in a 1992 article in the<br />
newspaper Der Tagesspeigel, called "one of<br />
the last preserved creations of a cinema culture<br />
which has already been forgotten."<br />
Before the Wall was built,<br />
the Clou was<br />
popular with East Germans, who could pay<br />
East German marks to see Western films. The
theatre was considered one of the "capitalist<br />
propaganda weapons at that time," according<br />
to the 1992 Der Tagesspeigel article.<br />
After the Berlin Wall was constructed<br />
about a mile away, the theatre went into a<br />
tailspin. It changed its identity several times,<br />
including stints as a pom house and a Turkish<br />
cinema, and it had a succession of owners.<br />
"We know of about 11," says<br />
Protze-Zwick. "We're the longest owners in<br />
30 years." Somewhere along the way, the<br />
theatre's name was changed to Sputnik.<br />
flaring white eaves over its glass-<br />
entrance, the Sputnik<br />
Withwall somehow<br />
evokes the flying nun. Inside, the<br />
pale-yellow lobby is spacious, with rounded<br />
comers instead of hard edges. Sinuous brasscolored<br />
railings lead the few steps up to the<br />
auditorium's two entrances.<br />
On a winter weekday evening, the lobby is<br />
dead. "This is normal," shrugs an overall-clad<br />
projectionist before returning to her booth<br />
fiom the snack bar, where she's been chatting<br />
with the concession attendant.<br />
Like classic movie houses everywhere,<br />
the Sputnik has had to adjust to changes in<br />
the neighborhood. Today, the area is tidy and<br />
quiet and home to many Turkish families.<br />
Across the street from the Sputnik is a wedding-dress<br />
shop that features in its window<br />
an elaborate pink creation with a Muslimstyle<br />
headdress.<br />
"It's very difficult, because it's in a quarter<br />
of Berlin that doesn't have a lot of businesses<br />
around the cinema," says Cordula<br />
Bester, a distributor liaison. "People live<br />
there but don't shop there. They go to the<br />
Ku'damm." The Ku'damm is named for<br />
Kurfurstendamm street, the area's major artery<br />
through what is the center of former West<br />
Berlin. In Berlin, the Ku'damm is cinema<br />
central, and is where East BerUners first went<br />
when the Wall came down to see all the gUtzy<br />
capitalist propaganda denied them under<br />
communism.<br />
Bester says the public's initial enthusiasm<br />
for the Ku'damm has waned a bit since then,<br />
but they haven't necessarily transferred<br />
their moviegoing to the more convenientlylocated<br />
Sputnik. "It takes time for people to<br />
[discover the Sputnik] again," she says.<br />
"The young people don't know to go there."<br />
Reunification isn't complete in other aspects<br />
as well. Ticket prices are still lower in the<br />
former East BerUn, around 9 marks (US$6),<br />
while in former West BerUn they're 10 to 12<br />
marks, and 1 5 to 1 6 marks at Zoo Palast. (The<br />
Sputnik charges 10 marks.)<br />
theatre is grappling with other forces<br />
Thebesides reunification. The Wall fell<br />
about the same time the multiplex arrived<br />
in Europe. "You can't tell the effects<br />
apart," says Protre-Zwick.<br />
Filme-X is soon to join the multiplex wave.<br />
The company, which currently operates seven<br />
cinemas—five in Berlin, one in the East<br />
Berlin suburb of Potsdam, and one in Hamburg—is<br />
working with a partner to convert<br />
an East Berlin two-screen cinema called<br />
the Coliseum to a 10-screen that's scheduled<br />
to open in October.<br />
E)espite the company's plans, both Protze-<br />
Zwick and Bester betray some suspicion of the<br />
multiplex phenomenon. Twenty-five multiplexes<br />
are planned for Berlin by UCI, Warner,<br />
German companies and other industry leaders,<br />
Protze-Zwick says.<br />
"If all those are realized," he says, "many<br />
will go broke because you can imagine if there<br />
are about 50,000 seats in Berlin, every BerUner<br />
has to go 10 times a year to the cinema. Currendy,<br />
it's three times a year."<br />
"It's crazy," Bester says.<br />
FUme-X sees a future for single-screen cinemas<br />
like Sputnik. A recent German government<br />
study found that for older cinemas to<br />
survive the advent of the multiplex, they have<br />
to be kept technologically up-to-date and carve<br />
out audience niches with specied programs.<br />
That pretty much sums up what Filme-X is<br />
doing.<br />
"We have to think about the program and<br />
perhaps schedule special events to draw the<br />
people, such as music," Protze-Zwick says.<br />
"We tried, but we have to do it more."<br />
The Sputnik's made it this far, and plans<br />
to get through the next few years while the<br />
two parts of Berlin complete the process of<br />
fusing into one and the local cinema industry<br />
adjusts. The Sputnik survived the Cold<br />
War and the Berlin Wall. Filme-X is confident<br />
it can survive the invasion of the<br />
multiplex as well.<br />
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.lulv. 1997 79
80 (R-94) BoxomcE<br />
—<br />
—<br />
I Love<br />
.<br />
FESTIVAL REVIEWS<br />
GOOD AS GOLD<br />
BOXOFFICE covers the Cannes<br />
festival's 50th anniversary<br />
(CANNES)—Although it didn 't take the Palme d'Or (which was shared by<br />
Abbas Kiarostami's "The Taste of Cherries" and Shohei Imamura's "The<br />
Eel, " reviewed below), Atom Egoyan 's "The Sweet Hereafter" emergedfrom<br />
Cannes bearing the most prizes.<br />
The Canadian production garnered the<br />
Grand Prix, the Ecumenical Jury Prize and the Fipresci critics nods. Although<br />
Johnny Depp's directing debut, "The Brave," fared poorly with<br />
audiences, actor-tumed-fdmmaker Gary Oldman saw his "Nil By Mouth "<br />
bring Kathy Burke a best actress win. Other key prizes: Sean Penn, best actor<br />
for Nick Cassavetes' "She's So Lovely"; Wong Kar-wai, best director for<br />
"Happy Together"; James Schamus, best screenplay for "The Ice Storm, "<br />
reviewed on P. 81 ; filmmaker Manuel Poirier, the Jury Prizefor "Western";<br />
and cinematographe r Thierry Arbogast, the Technical Prize for "She's So<br />
Lovely" and "The Fifth Element, " reviewed on P. 91.<br />
SUNDAY i^i^irir<br />
Starring David Sachet, Lisa Harrow and<br />
Jared Harris. Directed by Jonathan Nossiter.<br />
Written by James Lasdun and Jonathan<br />
Nossiter. Produced by Jonathan<br />
Nossiterand Alix Madigan. A CFPrelease.<br />
Drama. Unrated. Running time: 92 min.<br />
Sunday is a day of rest, generally the least<br />
eventful day of the week. But filmmaker Jonathan<br />
Nossiter has constructed a Sunday of a<br />
very different stripe, one on which people<br />
collide in intriguing and unexpected ways.<br />
Sundays hold little significance for<br />
Olive (David Suchet); a former IBM employee<br />
left homeless by a layoff, he finds<br />
It just another day to kill until returning to<br />
the shelter where he sleeps. But when he<br />
crosses paths with Madeleine (Lisa Harrow),<br />
a high-strung actress who is no<br />
longer young, she mistakes him for a famous<br />
cfirector. Attracted to her and flattered,<br />
Oliver plays along; he becomes<br />
"Matthew Delacorta" and spends the day<br />
with her. Together, these two slightly offkilter<br />
people develop a fantasy—or is it a<br />
folie a deux?— in which both can hope for<br />
career and personal redemption. But<br />
Madeleine's estranged husband (Larry<br />
Pine) and the other men who share Oliver's<br />
shelter present forces of reality that<br />
threaten to sour this fragile accord.<br />
One of "Sunday's" strengths is that the<br />
audience can never tell whether Madeleine<br />
and Oliver are doing something healthy or<br />
dangerous together; one is constantly unsure<br />
of what will happen next. Powerfully<br />
honest and risky performances from<br />
Suchet and Harrow propel the film, which<br />
provides as bleak a view of the streets and<br />
row houses of Queens as may be imagined.<br />
Writer/director Nossiter, in his debut feature<br />
film (he previously helmed the wellreceived<br />
documentary "Resident Aliens"),<br />
shows a deft touch with suspense, character<br />
and milieu. "Sunday" is a film filled with<br />
small pleasures: a lovely scene in a Greek<br />
Orthodox church; an exchange of stories<br />
between the leads in which truth takes on<br />
the power of fiction. Ultimately, this<br />
thought-provoking work adds up to a<br />
unique and memorable experience, one<br />
well worthy of the two awards it took at<br />
Sundance. Cathy Thompson-Georges<br />
THE EEL (UNAGI) ••1/2<br />
Starring Koji Yakusho and Misa Shimizu.<br />
Directed by Shohei Iniamura. Written by<br />
Motofumi Tomikawa, Daisuke Tengan arid<br />
Shohei Imamura. Produced by Hisa lino.<br />
No stateside distributor set Drama. Japanese-language;<br />
subtitled. Running time: 117<br />
min. Shared the Palme d'Or.<br />
The eel is the beloved pet of Takuro (Koji<br />
Yakusho), who's been paroled after spending<br />
eight years in prison for stabbing his<br />
unfaithful wife and her lover to death. Outside,<br />
he saves a young woman (Misa Shimizu)<br />
who has attempted suicide; she is<br />
hired to work at his shop and they predictably<br />
fall in love. Both of their pasts threaten<br />
to destroy the relationship.<br />
Yakusho gives a good performance in the<br />
lead role, but the screenplay doesn't go beneath<br />
the surface of the cnaracters. Writer/director<br />
Shohei Imamura more deservedly won<br />
the Palme d'Or in 1983 for "The Ballad of<br />
Narayama." Here, however, he tries unsuccessfully<br />
to mix different styles. Fantasy<br />
scenes (oddly remini.scent of'Trainspotting")<br />
in which Takuro imagines him.self swimming<br />
with his pet are an imaginative contrast to<br />
his daily routine. But scenes in which a<br />
neighbor makes elaborate plans to greet an<br />
alien spaceship and a climatic slapstick fight<br />
with police rum the serious mix)d set by the<br />
main love story. Ed Scheid<br />
if-kiririf<br />
OUTSTANDING<br />
**•• VERY GOOD<br />
••• GOOD<br />
•* FAIR<br />
• POOR<br />
(no stars) BOMB<br />
FEST REVIEWS<br />
Accidental Legend R-97<br />
Another Mother R-96<br />
The Blackout R-95<br />
The Butterfly Lifts the Cat R-97<br />
The Delta R-98<br />
Dog Run R-98<br />
The Eel R-94<br />
Fire R-98<br />
Floating Life R-98<br />
Goodbye R-97<br />
The Ice Storm R-95<br />
You. ..Don't Touch Me .... R-96<br />
Long Day's Journey Into Night . .<br />
R-98<br />
Private Confessions R-95<br />
Sunday R-94<br />
The Truce R-95<br />
Wedding Bell Blues R-96<br />
Welcome to Sarajevo R-96<br />
The Well R-95<br />
The Wonderful Years That Sucked R-96<br />
REVIEWS<br />
Addicted to Love R-103<br />
Alive and Kicking R-102<br />
Amazon Warrior R-1 10<br />
Austin Powers: Int'l Man of Mystery R-1 07<br />
Boys Life 2 R-109<br />
Breakdovifn R-106<br />
Buddy R-103<br />
Fare Games R-1 10<br />
Fathers' Day R-106<br />
The Fifth Element R-105<br />
Grind R-104<br />
La Promesse R-104<br />
The Lost World: Jurassic Park . . . R-103<br />
Night Falls on Manhattan R-102<br />
The Real Thing R-1 10<br />
Riding the Ralls R-109<br />
Romyand Michele's<br />
High School Reunion R-1 08<br />
Rudyard Kipling's The Second<br />
Jungle Book: Mowgli & Baloo .... R-104<br />
'Til There Was You R-102<br />
Unforgotten R-109<br />
Warriors of Virtue R-108<br />
FLASHBACK: 1959<br />
A Night to Remember R-108<br />
SPECIAL FORMATS<br />
Ace Ventura R-101<br />
Disney's StoryBook: Toy Story .<br />
. . R-99<br />
Forrest J. Ackerman's Museum of<br />
Science Ftetran. Horror and Fantasy R-99<br />
Four Million Houseguests R-106<br />
Mexico R-106<br />
Muppet Treasure Island R-1 00<br />
Sci Fi Movie Machine R-101<br />
Space Jam R-100<br />
The Ultimate James Bond R-100
—<br />
—<br />
—<br />
—<br />
July, 1997 (R-95) 81<br />
FESTIVAL REVIEWS<br />
THE ICE STORM ^^1/2<br />
Starring Kevin Kline, Sigourney<br />
Weaver, Joan Allen, Christina Ricci and<br />
Elijah Wood. Directed by Ang Lee. Written<br />
and produced by James Schamus. A Fox<br />
Searchlight release. Drama. Rated R for<br />
sexuality and drug use, including scenes<br />
involving children, and for language.<br />
Running time: 112 min. Won the best<br />
screenplay prize at Cannes.<br />
A cold, somewhat distant yet oddly intrifjing<br />
film fk)m director Ang Lee, "The Ice<br />
torm" is aptly named. Based on Rick<br />
Moody ' s satiricaJ novel and set on Thanksgiving<br />
weekend of 1973, the film portrays two<br />
suburban American families who, despite<br />
smiley-faced exteriors, are emotionally frigid.<br />
Living comfortably in New England, Ben<br />
Hood (Kevin Kline) and his wife Elena<br />
(Joan Allen) are raising two teenagers. They<br />
are good friends with their neighbors Janey<br />
and Jim Carver (Sigourney Weaver and<br />
Jamey Sheridan)—although, unbeknownst<br />
to Elena, Ben is sleeping with Janey. Meanwhile,<br />
hormones rage through the Carver<br />
and Hood children alike: Wendy Hood<br />
(Christina Ricci), buzzing at the prospect of<br />
sexual discovery, has set out to seduce both<br />
Mikey Carver (Elijah Wood) and his younger<br />
brother, while Paul Hood (Tobey Maguire)<br />
lusts after a prep school co-ed. Their<br />
lies and indiscretions are all revealed one<br />
freezing night on which their region is hit by<br />
the worst ice storm in 30 years.<br />
"The Ice Storm" has several redeeming<br />
features: the performances are uniformly<br />
solid, the production design and costumes<br />
impressively authentic, and the direction<br />
aptly understated. Ang Lee, who turned his<br />
lens on Taiwanese family matters in the<br />
comedy "The Wedding Banquet" and British<br />
domestic ways in "Sense and Sensibility,"<br />
shows an astute eye for American<br />
family politics. Rather than self-consciously<br />
announcing its evocation of the<br />
'70s, the details of the era come through<br />
piecemeal: in conversation (couple-swapping<br />
is trendy), on TV (Nixon insists that he<br />
IS not a crook), in their furniture (the Carvers<br />
have a waterbed). The cinematography<br />
- by Frederick Elmes ("Blue Velvet") is appropriately<br />
crisp and clean, lit in a way that<br />
effectively conveys glacial familial relations.<br />
Unfortunately, however, the film has<br />
the same effect on the viewer. Rather than<br />
being moved or transfixed, one feels frozen<br />
and impartial, almost as disengaged as the<br />
characters themselves. Lael Loewenstein<br />
THE BLACKOUT 1/2<br />
Starring Matthew Modine, Dennis Hopper,<br />
Claudia Schiffer and Beatrice Dalle.<br />
Directed by Abel Ferrara. Written by<br />
Maria Hanson, Christ Zois and Abel<br />
Ferrara. Produced by Edward R. Pressman<br />
and Clayton Townsend. No stateside<br />
distributor set. Drama. Notyet rated. Running<br />
time: 97 min.<br />
For "The Blackout," Abel Ferrara has<br />
moved from the dark New York streets of<br />
"King of New York" and "Bad Lieutenant"<br />
to the bright colors of Miami. Judging from<br />
the disappointing results of the film, the trip<br />
was not a success. Matty (Matthew Modine)<br />
is a famous movie star addicted to<br />
drugs and alcohol. Modine is not believable<br />
as an addict; he has too amiable a screen<br />
persona to be convincing as someone deep<br />
in the depths of drug and alcohol dependency.<br />
Beatrice Dalle ("Betty Blue") and<br />
supermodel Claudia Schiffer (in her feature<br />
debut) are adequate as the one-dimensional<br />
women in Matty's life.<br />
Dennis Hopper plays a sleazy filmmaker<br />
who has videotaped many of Matty's activities.<br />
Matty's decadent lifestyle is too much,<br />
even for his uninhibited girlfriend Annie<br />
(Dalle). Matty is so devastated by a revelation<br />
from Annie that he uses even more<br />
drugs and blacks out. Eighteen months later,<br />
Matty is amazingly clean and sober and<br />
living in New York with Susan (Schiffer),<br />
who doesn't get high or drink. But Matty<br />
begins to have nightmares that he might<br />
have committed a murder; he returns to<br />
Miami to learn whether he is indeed a killer.<br />
In previous films, Ferrara used his<br />
characters' dissipation to explore their<br />
emotional torment and provided strong<br />
roles for many actors, including Harvey<br />
Keitel, Christopher Walken and Chris<br />
Penn. In his latest, the characters and situations<br />
are superficially developed. The dialogue<br />
is insipid and at times is almost<br />
drowned out by throbbing music. 'The<br />
Blackout" has uncharacteristically slack<br />
pacing for a Ferrara work, and the film is<br />
further spoiled by pretentious ranting by<br />
Hopper's character. Many scenes are so<br />
melodramafic and overdone that the film<br />
becomes unintentionally funny, especially<br />
in the ludicrous ending borrowed from a<br />
Hollywood classic. Ed Scheid<br />
PRIVATE CONFESSIONS<br />
(ENSKILDA SAMTAL) ^^^^1/2<br />
Starring Pernilla August, Max von<br />
Sydow and Samuel Froler. Directed by Liv<br />
Ullmann. Written by Ingmar Bergman.<br />
Produced by Ingrid Dahlberg. No stateside<br />
distributor set. Drama. Swedish-language;<br />
English subtitles. Not yet rated.<br />
Running time: 135 min.<br />
Liv Ullmann, who acted in nine films of<br />
Ingmar Bergman, is now the director of<br />
Bergman's script for "Private Confessions."<br />
(Ullmann has cut the film from a longer<br />
version that appeared on Swedish TV.) "Private<br />
Confessions" continues Bergman's exploration<br />
of his parents' troubled marriage<br />
that began in "The Best Intentions," which<br />
won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1992.<br />
The film begins in 1925. Anna (Pernilla<br />
August) feels stifled in her marriage to<br />
Henrik (Samuel Froler), a minister. (Both<br />
August and Froler played the characters in<br />
"The Best Intentions.") Now, Anna has a<br />
younger lover (Tomas Hanzon). The film is<br />
structured on conversations about the relationships<br />
Anna has with her confirmation<br />
priest (Bergman regular Max von Sydow),<br />
her husband, her lover and a female friend.<br />
The last conversation is a flashback between<br />
the 18-year-old Anna and the priest.<br />
The perceptive script continues<br />
Bergman's probing into the complexities<br />
and frequent deceptions involved in relationships.<br />
A scene in which Anna confesses<br />
the affair to her husband is particularly<br />
strong: A calm conversation gradually explodes<br />
into anger and violence. Ullmann's<br />
direction (this is her third turn behind the<br />
camera) is superb. As in her films with<br />
Bergman, the lens explores what Ullmann<br />
calls the "geography of faces" to subtly<br />
reveal a character. The impeccable images<br />
are from Sven Nykvist, Bergman's longtime<br />
cinematographer.<br />
August's performance is extraordinary,<br />
showing the wide range of Anna's passionate<br />
feelings; her work surpasses even her tum in<br />
"The Best Intentions," which won her the Best<br />
Actress prize at Cannes. Von Sydow gives his<br />
character a warm compassion—his final reunion<br />
with Anna as he is dying is particularly<br />
affecting—and Froler is impressive as the<br />
volatile husband. Ed Scheul<br />
THE TRUCE (LA TREGUA) ^^1/2<br />
Turturro and Rade<br />
Starring John<br />
Serbedzija. Directed by Francesco Rosi.<br />
Written by Francesco Rosi, Stefano Rulli<br />
and Sandro Petraglia. Produced by Leo<br />
Pescarolo and Guido De Laurentis. No<br />
stateside distributor set. Drama. Shown in<br />
English- and Italian-language versions.<br />
Running time: 115 min.<br />
"The Truce" is an adaptation of the memoirs<br />
of Primo Levi, an Italian chemist who<br />
was imprisoned in Auschwitz. The film follows<br />
Levi ("Quiz Show's" John Turturro)<br />
through the chaotic times after Auschwitz<br />
is liberated in 1945. Levi lives in a Soviet<br />
resettlement camp and follows a labyrinthine<br />
journey through Eastern Europe to<br />
return to his home in Italy. He begins to<br />
reconnect to his emofions, which he had<br />
kept dormant during his time in Auschwitz.<br />
With his gaunt appearance, Turturro is convincing<br />
as a concentration camp inmate. He<br />
expertly conveys both Levi's pain and the<br />
strength to survive as a witness to the suffering.<br />
A weakness of the screenplay keeps Levi<br />
a passive observer reacting to other characters,<br />
including a Greek prisoner played with<br />
vitality by Rade Serbedzija ('The Saint"). The<br />
most successful scenes are large-scale, like<br />
the opening in which the gates of Auschwitz<br />
are pulled down, or when the euphoric former<br />
prisoners begin their train ride home. But<br />
'The Truce" contains too many characters<br />
and scenes that are familiar from other films<br />
set in the same period. Ed Scheid<br />
THE WELL iririrM2<br />
Starring Pamela Rabe and Miranda<br />
Otto. Directed by Satnantha Lang. Written<br />
by Laura Jones. Produced by Sandra Levy.<br />
No stateside distributor set. Suspense/<br />
drama. Not yet rated. Run time: 101 min.<br />
Based on a novel by Elizabeth Jolley,<br />
"The Well" is a notable feature debut for<br />
Australian director Samantha Lang. The<br />
film shows the chilling consequences when<br />
a car driven by a young woman ("Love and<br />
Other Catastrophes'" Miranda Otto) runs<br />
over a man on a deserted road.<br />
Hester ("Paradise Road's" Pamela<br />
Rabe), a middle-aged woman, has hired the
Kl rR.4fi) Rnvrifinfir<br />
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FESTIVAL REVIEWS<br />
much younger Catherine (Otto) to help with<br />
the work on her isolated farm. A surprisingly<br />
close friendship develops. After the<br />
car accident, Hester hides the body in an<br />
unused well; they later discover that money<br />
they had hidden is missing and believe that<br />
the dead man was the thief. One of them<br />
must go down the well to retrieve their cash.<br />
Jones has shot striking scenes set in a staik<br />
Down Under landscape that is an effective<br />
reflection of Hester's repression. Rabe and<br />
Otto are a potent combination as the possessive<br />
Hester and the uninhibited Cathenne, and<br />
the film becomes an absorbing story ofdependence<br />
and manipulation that takes some very<br />
clever and unexpected turns. Ed Scheid<br />
WELCOME TO SARAJEVO ^^^1/2<br />
Starring Stephen Dillane, Woody<br />
Harrelson and Marisa Tomei Directed by<br />
Michael Winterbottom. Written by Frank<br />
Cottrell Boyce. Produced by Graham<br />
Broadbent and Damian Jones. A Miramax<br />
release. Documentary/drama. Not yet<br />
rated. English- and Bosnian-language;<br />
English subtitles. Running time: 100 min.<br />
One of the most acclaimed films at<br />
Cannes, "Welcome to Sarajevo" is a complex,<br />
deeply moving story of Ufe in Sarajevo<br />
during the Bosnian war. As told from the<br />
perspective of several English-speaking<br />
journalists stationed in Sarajevo, and with<br />
the help of actual news footage, the war is<br />
portrayed in its unrelenting and inexplicable<br />
violence. Yet the film never feels like a<br />
documentary; as directed by Michael<br />
Winterbottom ("Jude"), it's an extraordinarily<br />
affecting, personal, at times uplifting tale.<br />
The choice to have the story unfold through<br />
the British and American journalists' eyes is<br />
especially effective; they serve as the<br />
audience's surrogates and interpreters. Not<br />
only do they help to render understandable<br />
much of the Bosnian political situation, they<br />
also draw us into the tale. A motley crew<br />
comprised of seasoned news correspondent<br />
Michael Henderson (stage actor Stephen Dillane),<br />
hard-working producer Jane Carson<br />
("Shallow Grave's' Kerry Fox), novice reporter<br />
Annie McGee ("The River Runs<br />
Through It's" Emily Lloyd) and jaded, cynical<br />
correspondent Flynn (\yoody Harrelson),<br />
the firess corps strive to maintain their objectivity.<br />
When Henderson begins to broadcast<br />
daily from a local orphanage, however, it soon<br />
becomes clear that objectivity is impossible.<br />
And when a young American aici worker<br />
("The Perez Family's" Marisa Tomei) arrives<br />
to help some of the children escape, Henderson<br />
decides to smuggle out a girl to whom he<br />
has become attached.<br />
"Welcome to Sarajevo" is a flawed but<br />
potent film. At times iLs emotional pull (desperation<br />
etched on the orphans' faces) is so<br />
strong it threatens to overwhelm you, vet<br />
Winterbottom maintains a careful balance between<br />
sentiment and fact. And there's a powerful<br />
lesson here. The news footage of the<br />
wounded Sarajevans is bmtally shocking, but<br />
perhaps no more sh(x;king than the fcwtage of<br />
actual politicians and diplomats, showing the<br />
blind eye turned on Bosnia by a world too<br />
basy to help.— Lael Loewenstein<br />
DAYS OF EUROPEAN<br />
FILM FESTIVAL<br />
THE WONDERFUL YEARS<br />
THAT SUCKED ^^1/2<br />
Starring Libuse Safrankova and Ondrej<br />
Vetchy. Directed by Petr Nikolaev. Written<br />
by Jan Novak. Produced by Jiri Jezek. A<br />
Space Films production; no stateside distributor<br />
set. Comedy. Czech-language;<br />
English subtitles. Not yet rated. Running<br />
time: 109 min.<br />
This film ("Bajecna Leta Pod Psa") is<br />
based on a popular Czech novel by writer<br />
Michal Viewegh, and something was lost in<br />
the translation from book to screen. It's<br />
about a family trying to keep it together<br />
despite the indignities and absurdities of life<br />
in communist Czechoslovakia. The movie<br />
covers three decades, which perhaps accounts<br />
for its choppiness: Events occur<br />
whose impacts aren t felt in the next scene;<br />
characters disappear abruptly; chunks of<br />
time elapse at hyperspeed.<br />
The major pleasure is its quirky family<br />
members. Dad (Ondrej Vetchy), a happy-golucky<br />
economist, eventually cracks under the<br />
strain of being "poUtically visible." His modest<br />
wife ("Kolya's" Libuse Safrankova)<br />
schedules herself to give birth on a day she<br />
knows no male doctors are on duty. And son<br />
Kvido (played as a child by Jan Zahalka, as a<br />
teen by Jakub Wehrenberg) uses his preternatural<br />
vocabulary to comment perceptively on<br />
his parents' struggles, even as he's befuddled<br />
by his own life's events.<br />
Melissa Morrison<br />
ANOTHER MOTHER ••<br />
Starring Janis Reinis and Arys Adamsons.<br />
Directed by Paula van der Oest.<br />
Written by Paula van der Oest and Stan<br />
Lapinski. Produced by Rene Scholten. A<br />
Studio Nieuwe Gronden production; no<br />
stateside distributor set. Drama. Dutchand<br />
Latvian-language; English subtitles.<br />
Not yet rated. Running time: 96 min.<br />
The symbolism isn't exactly subtle in<br />
"Another Mother" ("De Nieuwe Moeder"),<br />
which contrasts life in Western and Eastern<br />
Europe. Such crudeness can be forgiven as<br />
long as characters remain flesh and blood,<br />
which they do here until the last fifth of the<br />
movie. But the ending is groan-inducing<br />
mush—which is a shame, because the film<br />
is a Kleenex-clutcher till that point.<br />
Fed up with post-Communist Latvia's scarcities,<br />
a father. Juris, takes off with his mute<br />
young son, Elvis. The two travel to Holland<br />
Juris being fueled by decades-old correspondence<br />
with a Dutch penpal, Marie, who has<br />
told of a country of opportunity. As the pair<br />
draw closer, voiceovers of her letters describe<br />
her life's trajectory. Along the way. Juris and<br />
Elvis encounter Western Values, as embodied<br />
by a .sociali.st hippie, neofa.scists and, finally,<br />
Marie's materialistic family. It's in Juris'<br />
encounter with Marie's Lolita-esque<br />
daughter—those dam sexually rapacious<br />
15-year-olds!—in the inevitable seduction"<br />
of the East by the West that<br />
flees the movie. Melissa Morrison<br />
reality<br />
SEATTLE/WOMEN IN<br />
CINEMA FESTIVAL<br />
WEDDING BELL BLUES •••<br />
Starring Illeana Douglas, Paulina<br />
Porizkova and Julie Warner. Directed by<br />
Dana Lustig. Written by Annete Goliti-<br />
Gutierrez. Produced by Ram Bergman,<br />
Dana Lustig, Carole Curb Nemoy and<br />
Mike Curb. A Legacy release. Romantic<br />
comedy. Rated R for sex-related content.<br />
Running time: 104 min.<br />
"I didn't know turning 30 was terminal,"<br />
declares single, commitment-phobic Jasmine<br />
("Grace of My Heart's" Illeana Douglas),<br />
thus summarizing the impetus for<br />
"Wedding Bell Blues." This first flick from<br />
director Dana Lustig is an above-average<br />
romantic comedy laden with well-delivered<br />
yuks that also has something smart to say<br />
about aging, relationships and the pressure<br />
on women to marry young. Fed up with<br />
men. Jasmine and her two roommates<br />
Micki ("Doc Hollywood's" Julie Warner)<br />
and Tanya (supermodel/actress Paulina<br />
Porizkova, currently in "Female Perversions")—embark<br />
on a road trip to Las<br />
Vegas. Their mission: to find husbands,<br />
marry, and quickly divorce. Their fast-approaching<br />
thirtieth birthdays will be easier<br />
to stomach, they reckon, as glamorous divorcees<br />
than old maids.<br />
"Wedding Bell Blues" owes much to a<br />
ingenious script by Annete Goliti-<br />
Gutierrez. She builds the story not only<br />
upon the protagonists' relationships with<br />
their male counterparts but also upon their<br />
relationships with each another. The benefit<br />
is a fool-proof framework from which to<br />
pull genuine laughs and character development.<br />
Lustig' s direction remains focused on<br />
resolving the women's issues, and her film<br />
generates an engaging momentum; the distaff<br />
demo is likely to chuckle knowingly<br />
about such common topics as bridesmaid<br />
dresses, pregnancy tests, and men.<br />
Also to Lustig' s credit, even such seenit-before<br />
moments as cruising the Vegas<br />
Strip seem fresh rather than cliched, and she<br />
extracts suf)erb performances from the entire<br />
cast. Leading the pack is Douglas,<br />
who's never been saucier, with Warner and<br />
Porizkova not far behind. Each actress slips<br />
with ease into a character she clearly under-<br />
.stands. Rounding out the ensemble is a fine<br />
supporting cast.<br />
Ian Hodder<br />
I LOVE YOU... DON'T<br />
TOUCH ME •••1/2<br />
Starring Maria Schaffel, Mitchell<br />
Whitfield and Meredith Scott Lynn. Directedand<br />
written by Julie Davis. Produced<br />
by Julie Davis and Jennifer Cliaiken. A<br />
Goldwyn release. Romantic comedy. Not<br />
yet rated. Running lime: 87 min.<br />
Surprise reigned at a festival screening<br />
when Julie Davis revealed that she made "1<br />
Love You, Don't Touch Me" for less than<br />
$200,000. Davis, a 28-year-old director/editor/screenwriter/producer,<br />
is a Hollywood<br />
hyphenate who handles each of her
I<br />
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attentive<br />
lost after three minutes of con-<br />
voluted plot and lightning-fast<br />
During the movie's<br />
i<br />
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subtitles.<br />
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first<br />
;<br />
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FEST REVIEWS<br />
cinematic duties with the utmost<br />
competence and economy.<br />
This most auspicious<br />
cinematic debut is about the<br />
sexual awakening of Katie<br />
(Maria Schaffel). a mid-twenties<br />
virgin with a defeatist<br />
attitude toward romance. Beside<br />
Katie stand her unrequited<br />
"best friend." Ben (Mitchell<br />
Whitfield), and Ubidinous crony<br />
Janet (Meredith Scott Lynn).<br />
What unfolds is a fresh perspective<br />
on contemporary relationships<br />
that is bursting with<br />
stellar performances, smart dialogue<br />
and well-crafted chuckles.<br />
Davis draws laughs not only<br />
from words but also with clever,<br />
low-tech special effects—for<br />
example, the lone bed at an unexpected<br />
sleepover jumps from<br />
the screen. Davis maintains a<br />
brisk pace even as she packs her<br />
film with perfect measures of<br />
emotional heft and light-hearted<br />
giggles. Constructed with an appealing<br />
slickness, "I Love<br />
You. ..Don't Touch Me" is a<br />
laugh-out-loud romantic com-<br />
leaves one breathless<br />
edy that<br />
with anticipation for Julie Davis<br />
films to come.<br />
Ian Hodder<br />
ACCIDENTAL L£GEND^1/2<br />
Starring Niu Cheng-tse and<br />
Chang Shih. Directed and<br />
written by Wang Shau-di. Produced<br />
by Hsu Li-kong and<br />
Huang Li-ming. No stateside<br />
distributor set. Drama. Taiwanese-language;<br />
English<br />
subtitles. Not yet rated. Running<br />
time: 129 min.<br />
A Taiwanese film based on<br />
an episode of Chinese history,<br />
"Accidental Legend" is a difficult<br />
film for unilingual American<br />
moviegoers. Even the most<br />
Anglophone will be<br />
half, viewers are eager to<br />
what's going on—apparently,<br />
two sticky-fingered<br />
lads from a paupers' village<br />
anger the local nobility, who are<br />
obsessed with apprehending the<br />
region's fabled trickster—but,<br />
as "Accidental Legend" enters<br />
its second hour, this once-engaging<br />
fairy tale begins to bore.<br />
The key problems are directorial<br />
restraint and pacing. Director/writer<br />
Wang Shau-di<br />
jams the plot into the first and<br />
final 15 minutes, which means<br />
the movie's remainder works<br />
like undisciplined filler. In<br />
translation, the acting and dialogue<br />
seem crude replicas of<br />
what are probably satisfactory<br />
performances. But "Accidental<br />
Legend" is not without merit<br />
including snatches of fine cinematography<br />
and a smattering of<br />
intriguing dramatic snippets<br />
but one suspects that "Accidental<br />
Legend" is too long in any<br />
language. Ian Hodder<br />
THE BUTTERFLY LIFTS<br />
THE CAT •••1/2<br />
Starring Arjan Kindermanns,<br />
Marjolein Beumer and Rik<br />
Launspach. Directed by Willeke<br />
Van Ammelrooy. Written by<br />
Corel Donck, Sander Vos and<br />
Willeke Van Ammelrooy. Produced<br />
by Stichting De Vlinder.<br />
No stateside distributor set.<br />
Drama. Notyet rated. Running<br />
time: 113 min.<br />
Dutch actress Willeke Van<br />
Ammelrooy, best known in<br />
America as the titular heroine of<br />
the Oscar-winning "Antonia's<br />
Line," steps behind the camera<br />
for "The Butterfly Lifts the Cat."<br />
Crammed with complexities, it's<br />
a tough assignment for a firsttime<br />
director, but Van Ammelrooy<br />
meets the challenge.<br />
That's fitting, because this film is<br />
about overcoming life's unpredictable<br />
obstacles. It concerns,<br />
specifically, thirtyish David<br />
(Arjan Kindermanns) and his relationships<br />
with ex-girlfriend<br />
Linda (Marjolein Beumer) and<br />
brother Anton (Rik Launspach).<br />
David and Linda reunite 10<br />
years after a sudden break-up,<br />
and both have a surprise for<br />
each other: David is stricken<br />
with multiple sclerosis; Linda<br />
has an adolescent son, who<br />
wants to meet his father. Mercifully,<br />
Van Ammelrooy avoids<br />
milking audience emotions,<br />
trusting instead her skillful cast<br />
and script to unfold the drama<br />
in a wholly realistic manner.<br />
Were it not for its often wonderful<br />
cinematography, "The Butterfly<br />
Lifts the Cat" could pass<br />
as a gripping documentary<br />
about a rough period in the life<br />
of three friends. Every scene<br />
rings true. Ian Hodder<br />
GOODBYE ir-kir<br />
Starring Johanna Ter Steege<br />
and Guy Van Sonde. Directed<br />
by Heddy Honigmann. Written<br />
by Helena Van DerMeulen and<br />
Heddy Honigmann. Produced<br />
by Suzanne Van Voorst. No<br />
stateside distributor set. Drama.<br />
Not rated. Run time: 113 min.<br />
The opening sequence of<br />
"Goodbye"— in which Jan<br />
(Guy Van Sande) encounters,<br />
follows home, and makes love<br />
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FESTIVAL REVIEWS<br />
to Laura ("Wyatt Earp's" Johanna Ter<br />
Steege)—is so original and exuberant that<br />
the whole film warrants recommendation<br />
for its beginning alone. After Jan and Laura<br />
consummate their unspoken courtship, they<br />
introduce themselves, and Jan reveals, "I'm<br />
married." What follows is the mother of all<br />
on-again/off-again relationships, as the forbidden<br />
lovers grapple with a passion that<br />
neither of them understands.<br />
Director and co-writer Heddy Honigmann<br />
reveals a wonderful intuition for complementing<br />
her characters' emotions with camera<br />
motion—variously caressing, running and<br />
staring. And it's unimaginable that<br />
Honigmann could have picked more controlled<br />
yet emotive leads than Van Sande and<br />
Ter Steege. "Goodbye" would have benefited<br />
from one less breakup and reunification, regardless<br />
of how true-to-life this drawn-out<br />
pattern is. It's a rare film, however, that can<br />
reaUstically portray all-consuming passion<br />
without descending into absurdity or going<br />
straight over the top. Ian Hodder<br />
(TORONTO<br />
FILM FESTIVAL<br />
•••1/2<br />
FIRE<br />
Starring Shabana Azmi, Nandita Das<br />
and RanjitChowdhry. Directedand written<br />
by Deepa Mehta. Produced by Bobby Bedi<br />
and Deepa Mehta. A Zeitgeist release.<br />
Drama. Unrated. Running time: 104 min.<br />
Deepa Mehta rebounds from her last misfire,<br />
the little-seen Jessica Tandy/Bridget<br />
Fonda starrer "Camilla," with a much better<br />
take on a friendship between two women.<br />
Set in contemporary Bombay, "Fire" is a<br />
probing and sensitive look at the continuing<br />
clash between traditional and modem Indian<br />
values, typified by the strong relationship<br />
between Radha (Shabana Azmi), an<br />
unhappily married older woman, and Sita<br />
(Nandita Das), a young and vibrant addition<br />
to the household who stirs her in ways she<br />
has not experienced before.<br />
Unlike Mira Nair's "Kama Sutra," "Fire"<br />
is imbued with real passion and conviction.<br />
Though shot in English, it never feels stilted;<br />
Mehta' s direction and plotting are pleasingly<br />
subtle. She even throws in some effective<br />
comic bits featuring Ranjit Chowdhry as a<br />
perf)etually homy boarder. The other men in<br />
the film, such as Sita's faithless husband<br />
Jatin (Jaaved Jaaferi), are given their due,<br />
too. In its quiet way, "Fire' pacLs an emotional<br />
wallop. Shlomo Schwartzberg<br />
THE DELTA •<br />
Starring Shane Gray and Thang Chan.<br />
Directed and written hy Ira Sachs. Produced<br />
by Margot Bridger. A Charlie Guidanceproduction;<br />
no stateside distributor set. Drama.<br />
Not yet rated. Running time: HO min.<br />
Set in the new Soutn, this pedestrian and<br />
amateurish drama lcx)ks at the gay life of<br />
two individuals in the Mississippi Delta.<br />
One, a white suburban teen (Shane Gray)<br />
who has a girlfriend, is given to sneaking<br />
off to pick up male hustlers. A Vietnamese<br />
84 (K-98) KoxoKFKK<br />
man (Thang Chan) with whom he gets involved<br />
at the film's beginning falls in love<br />
with him, and the two undertake an odd,<br />
uncertain relationship that ends in tragedy.<br />
The American South remains an underused<br />
subject of stateside film, and its gay<br />
aspects have remained almost completely<br />
untouched. But "The Delta" is such a flat,<br />
slow and uninflected movie that it undermines<br />
any provocative observations it<br />
would like to make. Shot in 16mm, with<br />
nonpros as actors (writer/director Ira Sachs<br />
met his leads in a pool hall), "The Delta"<br />
leaves no impression at all, so its interest to<br />
audiences, whether straight or gay, is likely<br />
to be negligible. Shlomo Schwartzberg<br />
DOG RUN ••1/2<br />
Starring Brian Marc, Craig DuPlessis<br />
and Lisa Ristorucci. Directed by D. Ze 'ev<br />
Gilad. Written by Brian Marc andD. Ze 'ev<br />
Gilad. Produced by Jeffrey Feldman,<br />
Brian Marc and D. Ze 'ev Gilad. No stateside<br />
distributor set Drama. Not yet rated.<br />
Running time: 104 min.<br />
Stuck working in New Orleans for a dmg<br />
dealer, teenagers Eddie (Brian Marc) and<br />
Miles (Craig DuPlessis) leap at the chance<br />
when their boss orders them to transport<br />
some heroin to Manhattan. Once there,<br />
they're left stranded with no place to go.<br />
"Dog Run" is an authentic-looking movie,<br />
a warts-and-all depiction ofthe squatters, drug<br />
addicts and homeless kids fending for themselves<br />
on the streets of New York. But director/co-scripter<br />
D. Ze'ev Gilad is on shakier<br />
ground when he tries to dramatize the situation.<br />
As Eddie and Miles become involved<br />
with two women, drug addict Tara (Lisa<br />
Ristorucci) and college student Rachel (EUzabeth<br />
Horsburgh), the film becomes less realistic<br />
and more contrived. The relationship<br />
between Miles and Rachel is especially unbelievable,<br />
a fake "West Side Story" for the '90s.<br />
A first-time helmer. Gilad demonstrates a<br />
talent for atmosphere, but he'll need a better<br />
screenplay next time around if he expects his<br />
film to score. Shlomo Schwartzberg<br />
FLOATING LIFE •••<br />
Starring Annette Shun Wah, Annie Yip<br />
and Anthony Wong. Directed by Clara<br />
Law. Written by Eddie L.C. Fon^ and<br />
Clara Law. Produced by Bridget Ikin. No<br />
stateside distributor set. Drama. Chineselanguage;<br />
English subtitles. Not yet rated.<br />
Running time: 95 min.<br />
An aptly titled, uneven yet emotionally<br />
affecting work that deals with areas of the<br />
immigrant experience seldom explored in<br />
contemporary films, "Floating Life" was<br />
shot mostly in Australia (where director<br />
Clara Law and her husband/co-writer,<br />
Eddie Fong, now reside). The film chronicles<br />
a Chinese family from Hong Kong that<br />
has scattered to the winds on the eve of<br />
reunification with mainland China.<br />
Eldest daughter Yen settles in Germany<br />
with her husband and daughter; youngest<br />
sibling Bing obtains a huge house Down<br />
Under with her husband, and there the rest<br />
of the family—including a crop of teenagers—turns<br />
up (however uncomfortably) to<br />
live; oldest son Gar Ming stays in Hong<br />
Kong at the old family home awaiting his<br />
own immigration papers. Law shifts her<br />
story from house to house to explore the<br />
dislocations, tensions and longing for a<br />
sense of home. Placed in a suburb that's<br />
stuck in endless space with all that harsh<br />
light, the levels of that displacement are<br />
obvious, and it's both funny and sad, especially<br />
when contrasted with Gar Ming's<br />
loneliness in Hong Kong's teeming crowds<br />
and Yen in Germany's darker shadows.<br />
What most makes "Floating Life" refreshing<br />
is the way it tackles the subject of<br />
emigration. Rather than making the family into<br />
victims of racist rejection at die hands of the<br />
Aussies, the fihn—as did Paul Mazursky's<br />
"Moscow on the Hudson"—looks deeper into<br />
a more complex type of homesickness<br />
brought on by leaving one's cultural roots<br />
behind. Law's work occasionally lapses into<br />
melodrama (as in Bing's battles with her family),<br />
but it reaches incongruently comic<br />
heights also (as when Pa confronts a kangaroo<br />
on his street). Kevin Courrier<br />
LONG DAY'S JOURNEY<br />
INTO NIGHT •••<br />
Starring William Hutt, Martha Henry,<br />
Peter Donaldson and Tom McCamus. Directed<br />
by David Wellington. Written by Eugene<br />
O'Neill Produced by Daniel Iron and<br />
Niv Fichman. No stateside distributor set<br />
Drama. Notyet rated Running time: 173 min.<br />
Probably the greatest of all American<br />
plays, Eugene O'Neill's autobiographical<br />
Irish-American saga "Long Day's Journey<br />
Into Night" has been made into a handsome<br />
and faitnilil work by Canadian helmer David<br />
Wellington ("A Man in Uniform"). Based<br />
on the 1994 Stratford Theatre Festival production,<br />
Wellington has shot this "Long<br />
Day's Joumey" in autumnal colors and in<br />
Panavision; meanwhile, a lonely, spacious<br />
family home itself becomes a character.<br />
William Hutt, as miserly patriarch James<br />
Tyrone, gives a sturdy and powerful performance<br />
as a man who cloaks his despair in a<br />
haze of alcohol and blarney. As Mary, the<br />
morphine addict who opens the spiritual<br />
wounds that lay the family bare, Martha<br />
Henry is better here than she was in the<br />
stage version (though she still exhibits the<br />
kind of technical brilliance that reminds<br />
audiences they're watching a f)erformance).<br />
Tom McCamus, as younger brother Edmund,<br />
a struggling writer who is ill with<br />
consumption, conveys his brooding and<br />
melancholic humor with true lyricism. But<br />
Peter Donaldson (as older brother Jamie, a<br />
man who has failed to live up to his<br />
father's—and his own—expectations) in<br />
the final act, when he confronts Edmund<br />
with his darkest secret, plays so inebriated<br />
that it slurs the potency of O'NeiU's prose.<br />
This take might not have the sweeping<br />
power of the onUf other theatrical film version,<br />
the great 1962 interpretation directed<br />
by Sidney Lumet and starring the amazing<br />
ensemble of Katharine Hepburn, Ralph<br />
Richardson, Jason Robaras and Dean<br />
Stockwell. But it still stands on its own as a<br />
fine adaptation. Kevin Courrier
"<br />
—<br />
July, 1997 (R-99) 85<br />
SPECIAL FORMAT REVIEWS<br />
CINEMA OF CD<br />
by Ann Kwinn<br />
Now that the marriage between Hollywood and Silicon Valley is no longerfront-page news and the couple are not<br />
quite newlyweds, some behavior patterns have emerged in the relationship. In the case ofCD-ROMs based on movies,<br />
studios have become much more cautious, not viewing as many titles as appropriate for the conversion. Some<br />
interactive departments have come and gone.<br />
The way the interactive medium is being used— the approaches, models and paradigm — is narrowing. There are<br />
fewer cinematic or narrative titles, such as "Johnny Mnemonic. " There are fewer adult edutainment titles like the<br />
"Braveheart" CD-ROM, which gave information about medieval Scotland and background information about the<br />
film. Instead, the studios have largely pointed their efforts toward creating true games. And most studios have given<br />
game-making back to the professionals: top performers such as Activision, 7th Level andAcclaim Entertainment. This<br />
trend is so strong that some titles, such as "Space Jam, " are createdfor proprietary game hardware such as the Sony<br />
PlayStation or the Sega Saturn as well as for CD-ROM use.<br />
Still, movie-based CD-ROMs haven't vanished. Following are reviews of some recent titlesfrom the genre.<br />
DISNEY'S ANIMATED STQRYDOOK:<br />
TOY STORY ••••1/2<br />
Disney Interactive and Pixar Animation<br />
Studios; Windows and Macintosh; $35-$40.<br />
Wow. Pixar Animation Studios (whose<br />
CEO and main stockholder is Apple Computer<br />
co-founder Steve Jobs) introduced 3-<br />
D animation to animation festgoers with<br />
"Luxo," a short subject about the relationship<br />
between a high-intensity desk lamp<br />
and a rubber ball. Pixar later created the<br />
hilarious "Tin Toy," in which<br />
toys cower in the shadow of a<br />
drooling, bumbling baby who<br />
doesn't really mean to toss<br />
them around and in the end<br />
wants to play only with the<br />
packaging. And the first completely<br />
computer-generated<br />
feature film, Pixar' s "Toy<br />
Story," delivered stunning images,<br />
humor and excitement.<br />
That means the bar has been<br />
raised for children's CD-<br />
ROM titles. Yet Pixar amazes<br />
the eyes again with a wonderfully<br />
choreographed dance of<br />
light on the CRT with its Disney<br />
Animated StoryBook version<br />
of 'Toy Story." On an<br />
average multimedia computer,<br />
this title seamlessly animates<br />
3-D characters on<br />
many areas of the screen.<br />
Designed for children ages<br />
three through nine, "Toy<br />
Story" is the fourth in Disney<br />
Interactive' s<br />
Animated StoryBook series<br />
and features the talents of Annie Potts, Jim<br />
Vamey, Wallace Shawn and Don Rickles,<br />
who voice the same characters they played<br />
in the movie—the toys of a six-year-old boy<br />
named Andy. But the CD-ROM also features<br />
new animation and content, especially<br />
in the form of activities.<br />
The Broderbund Living Books format<br />
has been improved upon with integrated<br />
puzzles throughout the (toy) storybook. For<br />
example, youngsters can click on Buzz<br />
Lightyear's buttons to see what they do.<br />
Selecting Buzz at various points makes the<br />
spaceman catch Dance Fever or lift into the<br />
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies.<br />
Scenes from the movie are reworked<br />
into activities. For example, in the<br />
movie's final scene. Buzz and Woody<br />
chase the moving van that is transporting<br />
CD SENTINELS: Woody and Buzz stand ready<br />
to entertain again, this time via Disney/Pixar's<br />
"Animated StoryBook: Toy Story.<br />
Andy's family to a new home. Here, in an<br />
effort to bring the two on board, all the toys<br />
have to help. If you choose the wobbly little<br />
Fisher Price people to help, they say, "Get<br />
real. We have no arms." This product is very<br />
well done—although a title about toys can<br />
give you the sneaking suspicion that you are<br />
being marketed to!<br />
FORREST J. ACKERMAN'S<br />
MUSEUM OF SCIENCE FICTION,<br />
HORROR AND FANTASY ^^^1/2<br />
Marlin Software; Windows and Macintosh;<br />
$42.95.<br />
For starters, Forrest Ackerman's apparent<br />
unconcern for what others think of him<br />
and his simultaneous desire to be known<br />
and liked make him an interesting character.<br />
Add to that his having edited 190 issues<br />
of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine<br />
plus other fanzines, won six Hugo awards<br />
and two Gold Satums, acted in 52 sci-fi,<br />
horror and fantasy films, and been a literary<br />
agent for more than 200 writers, including<br />
Ray Bradbury—and you have an icon.<br />
Ackerman is known to such movie<br />
megafigures as Steven Spielberg, John Landis,<br />
George Lucas, Joe Dante and Stephen<br />
King, some of whom have put him in bit<br />
parts in their movies. A fan of wordplay, he<br />
coined the expression "sci-fi," and he can<br />
be seen on the sci-fi convention circuit,<br />
gracious to new fans and old, no matter how<br />
freakish, showing them his mummy ring<br />
a prop from an old B&W horror flick.<br />
Ackerman has one of the world's largest<br />
collections of sci-fi movie memorabilia,<br />
certainly risen in value since the days when<br />
Forry hung with Vincent Price and Bela<br />
Lugosi. Housed in his home, the Ackermansion,<br />
are 300,000 items, including 100,000<br />
photos, 50,000 books, and original artwork<br />
by sci-fi artists. He's guided 25,000 fans on<br />
tours through this private showroom.<br />
The collection is the basis for this CD-<br />
ROM program. It includes interviews,<br />
video clips, artwork, rare photos, seven fulllength<br />
novels, and props and miscellany<br />
from seven decades of collecting. The four-<br />
CD set is grouped by three areas—science<br />
fiction, fantasy, and horror—and presents<br />
the material in a virtual museum something<br />
like the original. A whole room is devoted<br />
to Ackerman's fave flick, "Metropolis."
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SPECIAL FORMATS<br />
This CD and its subject seem well<br />
matched to a target audience; among the<br />
ranks of high-level computer users are<br />
many sci-fi fans. The media richness of the<br />
CD format and its common "searching<br />
through space" metaphor are much like<br />
searching a museum. Because the museum<br />
in question is a media one, cataloging the<br />
fields of comic books, novels, film, etc.,<br />
multimedia is the perfect vehicle.<br />
This product features 3-D animation and<br />
Apple's QuickTime VR (virtual reality)<br />
technology, but the real beauty the Marlin<br />
Software developers have added to the artifacts<br />
are 2-D collages surrounding them.<br />
THE ULTIMATE JAMES BOND: AN<br />
INTERACTIVE DOSSIER ^V^^1/2<br />
MGM Interactive; Windows; $39.95<br />
(includes "GoldenEye" videocassette).<br />
This product is simple, slick, well-organized<br />
and informative. A sort of interactive<br />
version of a Bond encyclopedia, like Steven<br />
Jay Rubin's "The Complete James Bond<br />
Movie Encyclopedia," it uses video footage<br />
from the movies and hyperlinks users to<br />
textual information from basic categories in<br />
the main menu, such as Missions, Women,<br />
Allies, Villians, Q-Branch, Vehicles, and<br />
HMSS Trivia Challenge. There is some<br />
minimal animation for panache. Imposed<br />
limitations set a focused tone and purpose<br />
to this title: Access the data quickly and<br />
tastefully— just as James would like it.<br />
The interface is a fantasy image of what<br />
one might conjure if asked to think of "spy<br />
software," and it leads to information about<br />
the characters more than the films' actors or<br />
creators. It is the proverbial "must have" for<br />
Bond fans. There is new footage of Desmond<br />
Llewelyn, the actor who played Q in<br />
almost all of the Bond movies. The actor<br />
speaks directly to the user to explain how to<br />
use the software. The Q-Branch section<br />
gives the specs of such items as an exploding<br />
gas keychain, exploding milk bottles,<br />
and a KGB panic watch (and those are all<br />
from one movie, "The Living Daylights").<br />
The material was compiled by two Bond<br />
experts who went into the United Artists<br />
vaults to find more than 200 behind-thescenes<br />
production stills and more than a<br />
thousand photographs. (The cover photos<br />
prove that, without a doubt, all the Bonds<br />
after Sean Connery had clefts in their chins.)<br />
SPACE JAM iririr<br />
Acclaim I'.ntertainment; Windows (also<br />
Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn); $39.99.<br />
Creating another basketball CD-ROM<br />
title was a good play for Acclaim Entertainment.<br />
Its NBA "Jam" series is the best-selling<br />
sports video game franchise of all time.<br />
The Warner Bros, film, "Space Jam,"<br />
stars basketball superstar Michael Jordan,<br />
who can Hy through the air like a huge<br />
predatory bird, ana just about any of the<br />
Looney Tunes characters one can think of:<br />
Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer<br />
Fudd, the Tasmanian Devil, Marvin the<br />
Martian, Foghorn Leghorn, Wiley Coyote<br />
and the Roadrunner, Michigan J. Frog, Sylvester<br />
and Tweety, and Yosemite Sam. The<br />
Chicken Hawk wasn't on the court, but he<br />
might have been in the stands. It's a virtual<br />
curtain call for the entire collection of characters<br />
and feels like a stroll through a<br />
Warner Bros, store. The movie also introduces<br />
a new character, Lola Bunny, who is<br />
sexy and athletic and doesn't like to be<br />
called "Doll." This means, of course, that<br />
Bugs doesn't have to dress up in drag to<br />
advance the plot. Yet all this didn't make<br />
the movie the "license to print money"<br />
some thought the expensive film would be.<br />
The CD-ROM version consists of a basketball<br />
game interspersed with side games<br />
and puzzles at the quarters, with names like:<br />
Space Race, Locker Room Challenge and<br />
the Trophy Room, which hearken back to<br />
the movie. On the court, you can run, pass,<br />
shoot, jump or switch in a three-on-three<br />
against either the Looney Tunes characters<br />
(The Tune Squad) or the Monstars, evil alien<br />
creatures (from the movie) who have stolen<br />
the talent of professional players. In individual<br />
play, the basketball ball pretty much<br />
always goes into the basket. One just presses<br />
the arrow key to move down the court, and<br />
then the alt key to shoot. Alternatively, one<br />
can use game peripherals such as a joypad,<br />
which is a joystick with buttons at the base,<br />
or a Gravis Grip, a pad with buttons. Like<br />
basketball itself, it' s for youngsters or adults.<br />
Before the basketball game starts, the<br />
players come onto the court with characteristic<br />
flourishes. For example. Daffy pulls<br />
out a sign from behind his back that reads,<br />
"I'm available for endorsements." As in the<br />
movie, it's hilarious to see Elmer Fudd, in<br />
shorts and headband, flying toward the<br />
baseboard with a look of murder on his face.<br />
A lumpy witch and a bespectacled granny<br />
serve an cheerleaders, leaping high with<br />
huge smiles on their faces. The audio is<br />
perfect: The sound effects and voiceover<br />
announcer are as real as in a real game.<br />
At installation, a user has the option of<br />
installing 4, 55 or 147 MB of data onto the<br />
hard drive. The game runs fine with only a<br />
minimum installation. Many bosses will be<br />
"overwhelmed" to know that the CD also<br />
offers PC-networked play for up to six players.<br />
On those nights when the staff seems to<br />
be really motivated to work late, they may<br />
just be playing "Space Jam."<br />
MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND ••<br />
Activision; \MihIiihs, Macintosh; $39.95.<br />
This title stars the muppet (a cross between<br />
a marionette and a puppet) species<br />
made popular on "Sesame Street," a TV<br />
show big kids pretended not to be watching<br />
when their younger siblings had it on. Like<br />
Colm Meaney, who moved from one "Star<br />
Trek" series to another, Kermit the Frog was<br />
the only muppet to make the leap to "The<br />
Muppet Show," which aired on prime time<br />
with star (human) guests and a less educational<br />
mission. "Muppet Treasure Island"<br />
the movie, like the other muppet films, is<br />
based on the "Muppet Show" characters.<br />
The "Muppet Treasure Island" CD-ROM<br />
is an example of great material in search of<br />
a treasure: an appropriate interactive model,
SPECIAL FORMATS<br />
The Buyers Guide<br />
w inch is never quite found. The developers<br />
were probably striving to create a title that<br />
would appeal to young kids and adolescents,<br />
like the movie did. One failing is that<br />
the game doesn't make much sense to people<br />
who did not see the movie, which explains,<br />
for example, that if a pirate receives<br />
a paper with a "black spot" on it he will be<br />
killed in the night.<br />
Users are dropped into the — Benbow Inn,<br />
where they hear a cry "the black<br />
spot!"—without being told at the outset<br />
the goal one is to accomplish. This makes<br />
it hard for young children to figure out the<br />
program. One good feature is the constant<br />
presence of Stevenson the Parrot, who<br />
will give some help when clicked on. The<br />
muppets race around attractive, off-kilter<br />
backgrounds with multiple perspectives,<br />
like a Grandma Moses painting. The title<br />
is technically advanced, so much so that<br />
some computers may have trouble displaying<br />
all the images and synching up<br />
the sound and picture.<br />
Thankfully, the movie's silly humor is<br />
here. Click on a portrait of a motherly<br />
type, and one hears: "Billy, did you remember<br />
to say 'thank you' after stealing<br />
the treasure map?" Some actions move<br />
the story along, while others are diversions.<br />
The format is more involved than<br />
an electronic book but is more frustrating.<br />
For example, a hint in the jewel-case<br />
booklet reads: "In order to get aboard the<br />
ship, you need to acquire the Seal of Passage<br />
from Squire Trelawney, son of the<br />
Bnstol's master shipbuilder. Before the<br />
butler will let you in to see the Squire, you<br />
must be dressed in a 'Monsieur Edouard'<br />
original. In order to buy a Monsieur<br />
Edouard original, you need to earn some<br />
money. And the only way you can earn<br />
some money is by helping Pops shoot pies<br />
at pirates at Pops' Potpourri." Finding a<br />
hidden treasure sure is hard work!<br />
SCI Fl MOVIE MACHINE ^^1/2<br />
TDC Interactive; Windows and Macintosh;<br />
$34.95.<br />
Computer users like to be active, at least<br />
at the wrist. They don't like to watch long<br />
expository segments—or at least that is the<br />
accepted wisdom. Some developers have<br />
found success in providing material or<br />
structures that users can more freely manipulate.<br />
For example, Davidson and<br />
Associates' "Kid Works" series lets children<br />
create their own stories and draw their<br />
own pictures. A spate of music video CD-<br />
ROMs have come out on various proprietary<br />
platforms that let users assemble<br />
video clips in time to a song. And "Steven<br />
Spielberg's Director's Chair" (see our Oct.<br />
'96 issue) lets CD-ROM users piece together<br />
their own "movies."<br />
"Sci Fi Movie Machine" is TDC<br />
Interactive' s first title in its Cinemaker<br />
CD-ROM series, which also includes<br />
"Bimbo Movie Bash." The "Sci Fi Movie<br />
Machine" has an attractive interface and<br />
gives instruction, in the sci-fi theme of the<br />
program, on how to use it. (The program<br />
warns: "Online help android now activated.<br />
Click here to annihilate sequence.")<br />
Users just have to choose clips from within<br />
the "preview bay" and drop them into the<br />
"sequencer" in any desired order and then<br />
watch the assemblage.<br />
The CD includes hundreds of digitized<br />
film snippets from actual sci-fi movies,<br />
including footage of rockets, robots, dinosaurs,<br />
aliens, scientists and spaceships.<br />
There is no limit on the length or number<br />
of movies someone can create. And, once<br />
they are strung together, they can be<br />
watched over and over again. Youngsters<br />
will probably enjoy this title, especially<br />
the feature that lets them speed up or slow<br />
down the movie, but it's likely too simplistic<br />
for adults, who won't feel they<br />
have really created something but have<br />
merely rearranged it.<br />
ACE VENTURA ^^^1/2<br />
7th Level and Morgan Creek Interactive;<br />
Windows; $39.99.<br />
Ace is back. Love him or hate him, the<br />
Ace Ventura character has been transferred<br />
intact from the movies "Ace Ventura: Pet<br />
Detective" and "Ace Ventura: When Nature<br />
Calls" to a CD-ROM game, complete<br />
with a loud Hawaiian shirt, pompadour,<br />
swagger and adolescent humor. Those who<br />
love Ace have helped the Jim Carrey-starring<br />
films to gross more than $300 million<br />
worldwide. The "Ace Ventura" CBS Saturday-morning<br />
cartoon series consistently<br />
ranks high in the ratings.<br />
Likewise, the CD-ROM "Ace Ventura"<br />
is animated, not live action. But the development<br />
company, 7th Level, is about the<br />
best in the business when it comes to creating<br />
humorous two-dimensional animation<br />
for CD-ROMs. The color, speed and quality<br />
of movement and expression of character<br />
are excellent. The voice actor is not Jim<br />
Carrey, but Michael Hall (who plays the<br />
character on the TV show) mimics Carrey's<br />
vocal style to a T.<br />
The program does a good job of maintaining<br />
the childishly irreverent humor of<br />
the movies and keeping the action simple.<br />
To move forward, players must do such<br />
things as chcking on Ace to get a rope for<br />
climbing down a mountain or click on<br />
him for a key so that an apartment door<br />
can be unlocked. It's quite do-able for<br />
children or teenagers.<br />
Although obnoxious. Ace has a good<br />
heart and does his best to protect the furry,<br />
four-legged and finned creatures of the<br />
earth in brand-new scenarios. One can<br />
travel to an underground Alaskan factory<br />
on Ace's monster snowmobile to solve a<br />
case of missing Huskies, or engage a deranged<br />
whalenapper in an underwater<br />
chase, swimming to avoid floating garbage.<br />
The four villains (one is named<br />
Phatteus Lardus) are all animal haters.<br />
All told, butt-yodeling Ace and a monkey<br />
named Spike take players through<br />
three investigative cases comprising 34<br />
complex scenarios in which one must collect<br />
items and clues to crack the case.<br />
Mazes must be navigated and puzzles<br />
solved along the way as well.<br />
I Ca// 1-800-972-6468<br />
Willming Reams<br />
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Response No, 46
88 (R.in2) Rnxoi.i.u'i.'<br />
—'<br />
—<br />
—<br />
Hir^8!3?Si<br />
REVIEWS<br />
July 1997<br />
DAY AND DATE: JULY 25<br />
ALIVE AND KICKING i^i^m<br />
Starring Jason Flemyng and<br />
Anthony Sber. Directed by<br />
Nancy Meckler. Written by Martin<br />
Sherman. Produced by Martin<br />
Pope. A First Look release.<br />
Drama/romance. Rated R for<br />
some strong sexuality, and for<br />
nudity ana language. Running<br />
110 min. Opens 7/25 ltd.<br />
thony Sher as Jack, a plain therapBf<br />
give lively, starry performances in<br />
which their indulgences are more<br />
often entertainingly surprising rather<br />
than merely showoff turns. As they try<br />
to bring the surface and interior of<br />
their couple's lives into harmony, they<br />
prove a discordant but compelling<br />
couple in a love story that's appealing<br />
in its awkward intensity.<br />
Playwright<br />
Martin<br />
tirne:<br />
"Indian Summer,"<br />
this film's<br />
original title, is<br />
more evocative<br />
and better<br />
suited to the<br />
mood here<br />
than the more<br />
jaunty "Alive<br />
and Nicking"<br />
moniker under<br />
which the film<br />
is now being<br />
released. Despite<br />
the provocative<br />
energies<br />
of its leading<br />
couple, this<br />
story of love in<br />
the face of illness<br />
needs its<br />
sense of melarv<br />
Jason Flemyng stars in<br />
choly transience<br />
to reso-<br />
First Look's "Alive and Kicking.<br />
nate in order to affect audiences fully.<br />
Sometimes it succeeds, but at other times<br />
the deeper feelings twirl away in teasing<br />
superficiality, much in the way Jason<br />
Flemyng's character leads his life before<br />
he meets his match.<br />
Both Flemyng ("Stealing Beauty") as<br />
Tonio, a glamor boy dancer, and An- touching wit.<br />
Sherman<br />
("Ber !nt"l<br />
has creat 3ted<br />
well-etched,<br />
multi-layered<br />
characters. It's<br />
easy to envision<br />
the love<br />
story of Tonio<br />
anci Jack just<br />
being played<br />
out duet style<br />
on stage, without<br />
any need<br />
for the scenic<br />
backdrops that<br />
a film work demands.<br />
But the<br />
issue of AIDS,<br />
which underlies<br />
their life<br />
choices, and<br />
the milieu of the<br />
English dance world, around which the<br />
story is set, are not as fully realized as<br />
the lead roles. Also, little new terrain is<br />
covered, though both Anthony Higains<br />
as a dying superstar and DorothyTutin<br />
OS an addled prima donna catch their<br />
own brief spotlig_hts with bright and<br />
Bridget Byrne<br />
'TIL THERE WAS YOU •<br />
Starring Jeanne Tripplehorn, Dylan<br />
McDermott and Sarah Jessica Parker. Directed<br />
by Scott Winant. Written by Winnie<br />
Holzman. Produced by Penney Finkelman<br />
Cox, Tom Rosenberg and Alan Poul<br />
A Paramount release. Romance. Rated<br />
PG-13 for sensuality, language and drug<br />
references. Running time: 113 min.<br />
Any romantic movie that chooses to incorporate<br />
a cHp of "Brief Encounter" into<br />
its storyline must be very sure about what<br />
it's domg. '"Til There Was You" is not.<br />
This attempt at a modem-day love story is<br />
a mushy and ill-formed mess, uncomfortably<br />
inept whether trying to be sentimental<br />
or satiric. Combining ideas and themes<br />
much better explored in films as diverse as<br />
Claude Lelouch's "And Now My Love"<br />
and Steve Martin's "L.A. Story," the script<br />
fails to weave together its myriad threads<br />
into anything other than a tangled lump.<br />
A jerky plotline follows an intended couple<br />
as chance, circumstance and plot contrivance<br />
keep them apart as they grow into<br />
trendy Los Angeles adults. The characters<br />
are weakly drawn and the symbolic landscape<br />
of their lives heavy-handedly conceived.<br />
Jeanne Tripplehorn, as struggling<br />
writer Gwen, and Dylan McDermott, as<br />
aspiring architect Nick, both lack oomph, so<br />
the movie clings to other surfaces. This is a<br />
movie in which the back history is a collection<br />
of hairstyles and the future, presumably, a<br />
smoke-tree zone. In between is just thirtysomething<br />
delusion.<br />
Bridget Byrne<br />
NIGHT FALLS DN<br />
MANHATTAN ^^1/2<br />
Starring Andy Garcia, Richard Dreyfuss<br />
and Lena Olin. Directed and written<br />
by Sidney Lumet. Produced by Thorn<br />
Mount and Josh Kramer. A Paramount<br />
release. Drama. Rated R for violence and<br />
language. Running time: 110 min.<br />
Corruption, within both the police department<br />
and the legal system, has provided<br />
fertile ground for Sidney Lumet in the past;<br />
witness "Seipico," "Prince of the City" and<br />
"Verdict." With "Night Falls on Manhattan,"<br />
Lumet again sets out to explore issues<br />
of personal and public responsibility, moral<br />
compromise, culpability and the nature of<br />
justice. But this time he stumbles.<br />
This Spelling production concerns an<br />
idealistic young street cop turned Manhattan<br />
district attorney (Andy Garcia) whose<br />
moral principles are tested during an investigation<br />
into police corruption. The fact that<br />
Garcia's character goes from being a wetbehind-the-ears<br />
lawyer to DA so quickly is<br />
only one of many implausible plot points<br />
upon which the story rests. Also thrown<br />
into the mix is a romantic subplot involving<br />
a civil rights attorney (Lena Olin); not only<br />
is the romance pointless, there is zero chemistry<br />
between Garcia and Olin.<br />
Heavy on melodrama and scenery-chewing<br />
performances (especially by Ron Liebman<br />
as a DA overseeing Garcia's fast rise),<br />
the film at least tries to tackle important<br />
issues: the collapse of traditional morality<br />
in America, the nature ofjustice in a corrupt<br />
world, the conflict between the greater good<br />
and the moral infractions sometimes necessary<br />
to achieve it, and the price to both the<br />
public and the individual of making those<br />
compromises. Jean Oppenheimer
—<br />
—<br />
—<br />
—<br />
/D 1A'2\<br />
REVIEWS<br />
BUDDY ••<br />
Starring Rene Russo, Robbie Coltrane and<br />
Alan Cumming. Directedand written by Caroline<br />
Thompson. Produced by Steve Nicolaides<br />
and Fred Fuchs. A Columbia release.<br />
Comedy/drama. RatedPGforsome threatening<br />
animal action. Running time: 84min.<br />
"Buddy" is a difficult—even painful<br />
film to watch, which is most certainly not<br />
what the folks behind the project intended.<br />
Based on a true story, as recounted in Gertrude<br />
Linz's book, "Animals Are My<br />
Hobby," this first feature from Jim Henson<br />
Productions concerns an eccentric socialite<br />
in 1920s New York who surrounded herself<br />
with animals she raised as children.<br />
Gertrude "Trudy" Lintz (Rene Russo,<br />
poorly served by Caroline Thompson's<br />
script) is a wealthy, generous woman whose<br />
achilles heel is that she thinks she knows<br />
what is best for everyone<br />
including Buddy, a sickly<br />
baby gorilla she nurses to<br />
health. She attires Buddy in<br />
human clothes, forces him to<br />
walk upright, makes him<br />
sleep in a bed and generally<br />
sets out to civilize him, blind<br />
to how unhappy and lonely<br />
the growing ape is becoming<br />
and failing to recognize his<br />
child-like attachment to her.<br />
Well-intentioned though<br />
Trudy might be, her insensitivity<br />
comes across as cruelty.<br />
and that proves an insurmountable<br />
problem in the<br />
film. Thompson, who wrote<br />
Tim Burton's "Edward<br />
Scissorhands" and "The<br />
Nightmare Before Christmas" and adapted<br />
and directed "Black Beauty," is drawn to<br />
creatures who are outsiders, which is perhaps<br />
why Buddy and fellow chimpanzees<br />
are the most developed, empathetic characters<br />
here. Scottish actor Alan Cumming is<br />
the only human to bring any depth to his<br />
role, and the normally lovable Robbie Coltrane,<br />
as Trudy's extraordinarily tolerant<br />
husband, is flat and dull. Although beautifully<br />
shot and bearing first-rate production<br />
design, this Henson effort proves to be a sad<br />
disappointment. Jean Oppenheimer<br />
THE LOST WORLD:<br />
JURASSIC PARK •••^<br />
Starring Jeff Goldblum, Julianne<br />
Moore, Pete Postlethwaite, Arliss Howard<br />
and Richard Attenborough. Directed by<br />
Steven Spielberg. Written by David Koepp.<br />
Produced by Gerald R. Molen and Colin<br />
Wilson. A Universal release. Fantasy/adventure.<br />
Rated PG-I3for intense sci-fi terror<br />
and violence. Running time: 129 min.<br />
After "Jaws," Steven Spielberg publicly<br />
scorned the making of sequels as a "cheap<br />
camy trick." His decision to direct the inevitable<br />
"Jurassic Park" sequel himself, rather<br />
than assigning it to another filmmaker, was<br />
partly a protection against a cheesy followup<br />
to what is the biggest global blockbuster<br />
in movie history. Spielberg amply<br />
delivers the goods with Amblin<br />
Entertainment's "The Lost World: Jurassic<br />
Park," a beautifully crafted series of nightmarish<br />
set pieces with no other goal in mind<br />
than to scare and delight the audience. If the<br />
film ultimately seems more efficient than<br />
inspired, with less emotional and visceral<br />
impact than such classic Spielberg suspensers<br />
as "Duel" and "Jaws," its popular<br />
appeal vindicates his return to escapist entertainment<br />
following "Schindler's List."<br />
Perhaps it's a spillover effect of "Schindler's<br />
List" that makes this dinosaur movie much<br />
darker in look and feel than "Jura-ssic Park."<br />
"Schindler's List" cinematographer Janusz<br />
Kaminski gives 'The Lost World's" jungle<br />
scenes the subtly fantastic haze of Corot paintings.<br />
Spielberg makes no attempt to replicate<br />
"Jurassic Park's" awestruck contemplation of<br />
the majesty of prehistoric beasts, concentrating<br />
LOST WORLDS: The 1 925 silent version of<br />
Arthur Conon Doyle's tale fabovej, and Steven<br />
Spielberg's latest via Michael Crichton.<br />
inslcaU on unrcleiiiingly creepy and horrific<br />
images of genetic engineering gone awry.<br />
The unruly dinosaurs on Site B, the island<br />
where the beasts of Jurassic Park were<br />
bred, have far more interaction with the<br />
human characters than did their predecessors.<br />
Dinosaur creators Dennis Muren,<br />
Stan Winston and Michael Lantieri outdo<br />
themselves with astonishingly believable<br />
creatures moving and breathing with utter<br />
physical dexterity and abandon.<br />
The dialogue and structure by screenwriter<br />
David Koepp ("Mission: Impossible")<br />
substantially improve on Michael<br />
Crichton' s dull and perfunctoiy source<br />
novel. But, with the exception of the edgily<br />
heroic Malcolm (a returning Jeff Goldblum)<br />
and an enigmatic big-game hunter<br />
("Dragonheart's" Pete Postlethwaite), the<br />
characterizations remain stubbornly twodimensional.<br />
The film occasionally exhibits<br />
a winning strain of self-satire, as in<br />
Malcolm's running stream of ironic<br />
asides and an uproarious finale in San<br />
Diego that plays like a spoof of a 1950s<br />
monster movie. Joseph McBride<br />
ADDICTED TO LOVE ^^^<br />
Meg<br />
Starring Matthew Broderick,<br />
Ryan, Tcheky Karyo and Kelly Preston.<br />
Directed by Griffin Dunne. Written by<br />
Robert Gordon. Produced by Jeffrey Silver<br />
and Bobby Newmyer. A Warner Bros, release.<br />
Romantic comedy. Rated Rfor sexual<br />
content. Running time: 100 min.<br />
Revenge is Sweet and Hell Hath No Fury<br />
Like a Woman Scorned are popular cinematic<br />
themes these days. (See 'The First Wives<br />
Club" and "Waiting to Exhale" for other recent<br />
movies that would be apt to elicit an<br />
exuberant cry of "you go, girl!" from some of<br />
the more overenthusiastic audience members.)<br />
"Addicted to Love's" Maggie (Meg<br />
Ryan), the former fiancee of an exploitive,<br />
arrogant French waiter-tumed-restaurateur<br />
named Anton ("La Femme Nikita's" Tcheky<br />
Karyo), adds another colorfully vengeful archetype<br />
to film's pantheon ofjilted Jills. And<br />
Matthew Broderick plays simpy Sam, whose<br />
love of his Ufe, Laura ("Jerry Maguire's"<br />
Kelly Preston), left him for Maggie's Anton.<br />
Sam moves into an abandoned apartment<br />
next door to the paramours' residence<br />
to spy. On her quest to decimate<br />
her ex, the intimidatlA<br />
ing Maggie moves into<br />
Tj, Sam's spy hovel against his<br />
wishes but soon persuades<br />
him to join her in her devious<br />
plot to break up the happy<br />
couple. Wacky schemes<br />
ensue, and Sam and Maggie<br />
begin to bond while reveling<br />
in conspiratorial glee. Eventually,<br />
though, they must<br />
come to terms with the fact<br />
that what they thought<br />
would make them happy<br />
doesn't seem to be doing so.<br />
Ryan takes a refreshing<br />
90-degree turn from her<br />
usual screen persona as the<br />
aggressive yet cool, eclectically<br />
garbed, tough-as-nails Maggie<br />
(though there's sensitivity beneath), while<br />
Broderick' s perennial puppy-dog appeal<br />
and subtle sardonic delivery fit him perfectly<br />
into the role of Sam. And Karyo as<br />
Anton delves with relish into his role as an<br />
egomaniacal dictator-type who, through ascendingly<br />
outrageous humiliations, is reduced<br />
to being a painfully pathetic loser.<br />
Although ultimately predictable and in<br />
need of a wider array of^inventive revenges,<br />
"Addicted to Love" is fun, spirited and frequently<br />
clever. Christine James
on CD.KU^ RftVf»'i.-ir-i.'<br />
—<br />
—<br />
REVIEWS<br />
LA PROMESSE •^^^<br />
Starring Jeremie Renter, Olivier Gourmet<br />
and Assta Ouedraogo. Directed and<br />
written by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc<br />
Dardenne. Produced by Luc Dardenne<br />
and Hassen Daldoul. A New Yorker release.<br />
Drama. French-language; English<br />
subtitles. Unrated. Running time: 93 min.<br />
For more than 20 years, Belgian brothers<br />
Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne have been<br />
making documentaries together. Their subject<br />
matter has usually centered on the Leftist<br />
worker movements of the 1960s, their<br />
preference a directorial style admittedly<br />
"theatrical" and subjective. Now, moving<br />
away from the constraints of "reality, to<br />
which we were accountable," the duo has<br />
turned to fiction features. With "La Promesse,"<br />
their third, they've created a work<br />
of great emotional depth and impact that<br />
ironically draws much of its power from<br />
low-key, naturalistic performances captured<br />
with a shooting style more often associated<br />
with traditional documentary making.<br />
Set in the post-industrial limbo of a dead<br />
factory town, "La Promesse" follows 15-<br />
year-old Igor, a boy learning how to be a<br />
small-time hustler from his father Roger.<br />
Together they toil in the town ' s only growth<br />
industry: the exploitation of illegal immigrants<br />
by providing them with false papers,<br />
flophouses and off-the-books<br />
construction work. Igor's moral awakening<br />
comes with a covered-up accidental death<br />
of an African illegal. Igor must either betray<br />
his father or the promise he made to the<br />
dying man to look after his wife and infant.<br />
The Dardennes have written a compelling,<br />
believable script and have drawn excellent<br />
performances from mostly unknown<br />
or inexperienced actors. But the truly wonderful<br />
thing about "La Promesse" is how the<br />
film's style and structure seem spontaneous,<br />
almost casual, obscuring all the<br />
thought and work necessary to achieve that<br />
effect. The camera is always in just the right<br />
place, with many scenes shot in continuous<br />
handheld takes that move with and pan<br />
between actors in place of cutting. And the<br />
brothers have the courage to allow emotionally<br />
significant events to transpire in wide<br />
unbroken shots, often with a major character's<br />
back to camera. This type of approach<br />
could easily seem gimmicky in less skillful<br />
hands, but here it's an integral part of a<br />
remarkable achievement. Alex Albanese<br />
GRIND ^1/2<br />
Starring Billy Crudup and Adrienne<br />
Shelley. Directed by Chris Mentis. Written<br />
by Laura Lau and Chris Kentis. Produced<br />
by Laura Lau. A Castle Hill release.<br />
Drama. Unrated. Running time: 96 min.<br />
A worthless effort displaying egotism<br />
rather than talent, "Grind" is indeed a<br />
grind—torpid, bland, lifeless and hollow.<br />
PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED: JUNE. JULY AND AUGUST RELEASES<br />
In light of our continuing commitment to bring you reynews as early<br />
as possible, we now^ provide a reader guide to upcoming releases<br />
we've already critiqued. The alphabetical list below notes Hie issue<br />
of BoxoFFKE in vi/hicn the review appeared, gives its star rating, and<br />
provides updated distributor and release date informaHon.<br />
"Bandwagon" -k -kit 111: CFP, 8/15 ltd; see April 1997.<br />
"Bliss" ••••: Triumph, 6/6 ltd; see May 1997.<br />
"Box of Moonlight" **U2: rrimark, 7/25 NY, 8/8 LA; see Nov. 1996.<br />
"Brilliant Ues" •••: Castle Hill, 7/11 NY; see April 1997.<br />
"Differentfor Girls" ••: First Look, 8/15; see March 1997.<br />
"Dream With the Fishes" ••1/2: Sony Classics, 6/20 NY; see June 1997.<br />
"Fall" •••: Orion, 6/20; see April 1997.<br />
"Forever MoTjart" ••••: New Yorker, 7/4; see Jan. 1997.<br />
"For Roseanna" -kick: Fine Line, 6/18 NY; see March 1997.<br />
"The Full Monty" ie*kk: Fox Searchlight, 8/15; see April 1997.<br />
"Gabbeh"kkk: New Yorker, 6/25 NY; see Feb. 1997.<br />
"Guantanamera" •••1/2: CFP, 7/2; see April 1997.<br />
"Hamsun" if^ki/2: First Run. 8/6; see March 1997.<br />
"The Innocent Sleep" ••1/2: Castle Hill, 6/27; see June 1996.<br />
"In the Company of Men" ••1/2: Sony Classics, 8/8; see April 1997.<br />
"La Rencontre" ••: Artistic License, July; see March 1997.<br />
"Love Serenade" -k-kl/l: Miramax, 6/20 NY/IJi; see Aug. 1996.<br />
"Mon Homme" •••: Artificial Eye, August; see March 1997.<br />
"Mouth to Mouth" •••1/2: Miramax, 6/6 NY/IA; see Sept. 1996.<br />
"Paperback Romance" kkl/l: Goldwvn, 8/1; see May 1997.<br />
"The Pillow Book" •••: CFP, 6/6; see July 1996.<br />
"Shall We Dance?" kkkMl: Miramax, 6/27 NY/IA; see May 1997.<br />
"Temptress Moon" kkk 1/2: Miramax, 6/13; see May 1997.<br />
"Timothy Uary's Dead" ••: Strand, 6/6 lA; see May 1997.<br />
"Vlee's Gold" ••••: Orion, 6/13 NY/IA; see April 1997.<br />
"When the Cat's Away" ••••: Sony Classics, 6/20 NY; see Feb. 1997.<br />
Its worst aspect is the pretentious sensibility<br />
of writer/director Chris Kentis, who makes<br />
labored attempts to integrate existential elements<br />
in a simple film noir character study.<br />
Billy Crudup ("Sleepers") tries mightily<br />
to overcome the colorless role the script<br />
provides him, and he nearly succeeds. He<br />
plays an ex-con who moves in with his older<br />
brother (a one-note Paul Schulze) after<br />
being released from prison. Predictably, the<br />
parolee falls for his brother's wife (a pretty<br />
but vapid Adrienne Shelley) as he toils in a<br />
monotonous factory job when he's not drag<br />
racing. He gets into even more trouble when<br />
he partners with his brother and a crooked<br />
boss in a car insurance scam that goes awry.<br />
Already cursory narrative exposition is<br />
further damaged by a lack of character development<br />
and motivation and by a lack of<br />
chemistry between Crudup and Shelley.<br />
Kentis' helming is long on amateurish staging<br />
and slack pacing—and long on pauses<br />
that are supposed to be pregnant with meaning.<br />
His idea of alienation and ennui is to<br />
have the actors stare into space or to have<br />
scenes suddenly fade out, condemnably<br />
faux artistic daring. Dale Winogura<br />
RUDYARD KIPLING'S THE SECOND<br />
JONGL£ BOOK: MOWGLI & BALOO ir<br />
Starring Jamie Williams, Bill Campbell<br />
and Roddy McDowall. Directed by Duncan<br />
McLachlan. Written by Bayard Johnson<br />
and Matthew Horton. Produced by Raju<br />
Patel A TriStar release. Adventure. Rated<br />
PG for some mild adventure violence attd<br />
briefmild language. Running time: 90 min.<br />
In the past, Disney has released two versions<br />
of the Rudyard Kipling classic "Jungle<br />
Book." The first was animated, the latter<br />
five-action. But this live-action film is really<br />
more a prequel to the animated work,<br />
albeit without songs and talking animals.<br />
Set in the 1890s, this latest Kipling reworking<br />
opens with Mowgli (newcomer<br />
Jamie WiUiams) as a 10-year-old wild boy<br />
living with his wildlife family in thejungles<br />
of India. In a pitiful performance, Roddy<br />
McDowall ("Planet of the Apes") takes the<br />
pre-King Louie throne as King Murphy.<br />
Mowgli s jungle teacher, Baloo the bear,<br />
and his protector, Bagheera the panther, are<br />
back, but the filmmakers seem to overlook<br />
the fact that, as characters in a prequel, they<br />
need introduction. A supposition triat audiences<br />
will already be familiar with Mowgli<br />
& CO., given that this film is aimed at single-digit<br />
ages, is probably unwarranted.<br />
A simple plotline has two monkeys trying<br />
to kidnap Mowgli and bring him back<br />
to their king. A circus talent scout ('The<br />
Rocketeer's" Bill Campbell) also wants<br />
Mowgli, but the scout's quest requires the<br />
aid of Mowgli's uncle, who has his own<br />
hidden agenda. None of this has any dramatic<br />
zest; if not for the bumbling antics of<br />
the monkeys, there would be no relief from<br />
a long and lingering boredom the film endengers.<br />
Any adults along to accompany<br />
the kids will be put off bv the film's lowbudget<br />
low-techery, in which the closeups<br />
of actors and animals are superimposed or<br />
spliced together.— Dwayne E. Leslie
—<br />
REVIEWS<br />
THE FIFTH ELEMENT i^ic*<br />
Starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman,<br />
Ian Holm, Milla Jovovich and Chris<br />
Tucker. Directed by Luc Besson. Written<br />
by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen.<br />
Produced by Patrice Ledoux. A Columbia<br />
release. SF. Rated PG- 13for intense sci-fi<br />
violence, some sexuality and brief nudity.<br />
Running time: 125 min.<br />
— In his most recent films "La Femme<br />
Nikita," "The Professional" and now "The<br />
Fifth Element"—an index of filmmaker<br />
Luc Besson's artistic success has been the<br />
amount of romantic frisson generated by his<br />
story. In his newest, in which a 23rd century<br />
taxi driver (Bruce Willis) must protect a<br />
young/old gamine (Milla Jovovich) who as<br />
the eternal and DNA-reincamated perfection<br />
of life is the world's only hope against<br />
an evil force, that success is more modest.<br />
Fortunately, a concomitant success index<br />
of Besson's ability to dazzle audiences with<br />
action pyrotechnics—has not lessened.<br />
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FARE "FIFTH": Luc Besson transports<br />
audiences to a 23rd
"<br />
1<br />
—<br />
would<br />
—<br />
—<br />
'<br />
SPECIAL FORMATS<br />
REVIEWS<br />
FOUR MILLION<br />
HOUSEGUESTS •••1/2<br />
Starring Charlotte Sullivan and<br />
C. David Johnson. Voice work by<br />
James Garner. Directed by Paul<br />
Cox. Produced by Mitey Cinema,<br />
Sally Dundas, Barbara Kerr and<br />
Lome Orleans. An Imax Corp. release.<br />
Documentary/drama. Unrated.<br />
Running time: 45 min.<br />
Format: IMAX 3-D.<br />
JUMPIN' JIMINY: A leaping spider<br />
(viewed via electron microscope) in<br />
IMAX's "Four Million Houseguests.<br />
Four million houseguests sounds like the<br />
kind of intrusion that could occur before a<br />
wedding or during a natural disaster. In<br />
this case, it's a new IMAX 3-D offering.<br />
This kind of movie can deliver at least two<br />
things: eye strain and hat hair. Its images<br />
are made three-dimensional via a relatively<br />
new technique: An infrared light is sent from<br />
36 transmitters at the top of the giant screen<br />
to sensors on audience members' 3-D<br />
gbsses. This sets off the "opening" and<br />
closing" of left and then right virtual shutters<br />
in the glasses. The shutter effect is created<br />
by liquid crystal lenses that become black<br />
and clear. Tnis, of course, all happens very<br />
quickly: 95 times per second.<br />
At a recent California screening at the<br />
Edwards IMAX 3-D Theatre at its Irvine 2<br />
Megaplex, director Paul Cox was on<br />
hand to answer the important questions of<br />
children in the audience, such as, "Where<br />
did you get oil that stuff?"<br />
"All that stuff" includes time-lapse photography<br />
of molding fruit, Schlieren photography<br />
revealing patterns of heat in the<br />
reptiles and insects changing color,<br />
air,<br />
and the star of the show: fantastic riigh (up<br />
to 40,000x) magnification, high-contrast<br />
black-and-white images from an electron<br />
microscope that made moths and spiders<br />
kjok like film noir actors. But the film conveys<br />
great sense of wonder and whimsy.<br />
Through the use of high-tech microscopes<br />
and low-tech mechanical toys, it encourages<br />
children and adolescents to explore.<br />
C^x reminds that "3-D goes in, not just<br />
out. It embraces you, brings you in."<br />
This movie deserves a tremendous<br />
kudos for its heavy use of synch sound<br />
and an emphasis on character over scenery.<br />
The director describes it as "a small<br />
film on a very large screen." The tone is<br />
purposeful, the movement unhurried. The<br />
movie's personae ore calm and caring.<br />
Contrasting his characters with others.<br />
Cox states, "So many people in films are<br />
not the kind of people I like to<br />
spend my life with." This is true enough.<br />
You just wish that one of these nice people<br />
would toss you on aspirin.<br />
Ann K'wmn<br />
MEXICO •••<br />
Narrated by Martin Sheen (in English)<br />
and Enrique Rocha (in Spanish).<br />
Directed and produced by<br />
Lorena M. Parlee. Written by Carlos<br />
Fuentes, Carlos Blanco Aguinaga<br />
and Lorena M. Parlee. A Sol films<br />
production. Documentary. Unrated.<br />
Running time: 43 min.<br />
Format: IMAX.<br />
Vivid and fast-moving, "Mexico" is a<br />
colorful montage exploding with color,<br />
music and legend. From the tall, futuristic<br />
skyscrapers in its modern cities to the<br />
3,000-year-old ruins of its ancient civilizations,<br />
"Mexico" weaves together the<br />
country's many diverse cultural aspects in<br />
presenting an elaborate 70mm mosaic. It<br />
was selected for Oscar consideration in<br />
1 995, and it was the first IMAX film chosen<br />
to screen at the annual Montreal fest.<br />
Technically, the film is a visual masterpiece:<br />
Award-winning documentary producer/director<br />
Lorena M. Parlee (who<br />
made Showscan's "Concerto for the<br />
Earth" and the Emmy- and CINE Golden<br />
Eagle-winning documentary "Ballad of an<br />
Unsung Hero") has assembled on impressive,<br />
internationally recognized team<br />
of feature and documentary filmmakers.<br />
Three cinemotogrophers contribute bold<br />
shots—veteran tMAX DP David Douglas<br />
("Blue Planet," "Rolling Stones: At the<br />
Max"), Oscar winner Haskell Wexler<br />
("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,"<br />
'Bound for Glory") and Ariel-winning<br />
Mexican cinematographer Alex Phillips<br />
("Evito," "Murphy s Law")—and James<br />
Neihouse provides beautiful, sweeping<br />
aerial photography. To that, composer<br />
Daniel Voldez {''la Bombo," "Zoot Suit")<br />
odds an original score of music integrating<br />
ancient rhythms with modern life<br />
sounds. Actor Martin Sheen provides a<br />
poetic recitation of Mexican novelist Carlos<br />
Fuentes' inspiring text.<br />
The result: "Mexico" is a gorgeous film<br />
to watch. For those unfamiliar with the<br />
country's sights, however, it falls short by<br />
failing to idientify many locations it fleetingly<br />
visits. In creating an aura of mystique<br />
about the country, "Mexico" has<br />
inadvertently contributed to keeping it in<br />
the dark. With the simple addition of titles,<br />
this film could be a useful vehicle in<br />
promoting the many resources that Mexico<br />
has to offer.—Pof Kramer<br />
His music here—as always, rather like assembly-line<br />
machinery come to life after<br />
hours and riffmg the night away—is so<br />
integral to the progression of each scene<br />
that one could imagine the script and the<br />
score being written at the same time, note<br />
after word, note after word. As for Besson,<br />
the talented Frenchman here stripmines<br />
rather than excavates his usual dark concerns.<br />
In "The Fifth Element," the blackest<br />
he gets is beige. Kim Williamson<br />
FATHERS' DAY ••l/Z<br />
Starring Robin Williams, Billy Crystal,<br />
Charlie Hojheimer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus<br />
and Nastassja Kinski. Directed by Ivan<br />
Reitman. Written by Lowell Ganz and<br />
Babaloo Mandel. Produced by Joel Silver<br />
and Ivan Reitman. A Warner Bros, release.<br />
Comedy. Rated PG-13for some sexrelated<br />
humor and drug references.<br />
Running time: 101 min.<br />
This farcical comedy, based on the<br />
French film "Les Comperes," is really — just<br />
a set-up for two star comedians "The<br />
Birdcage's" Robin Williams and "Forget<br />
Paris"" Billy Crystal—to riff and roll off<br />
each other while they steer moviegoers<br />
through a simple story about two very different<br />
men on the road together searching<br />
for a teenage runaway, Scott ("Boys'<br />
Charlie Hofheimer), who one of them might<br />
or might not have sired 17 years earlier.<br />
This is not the successful translation that<br />
"The Birdcage" (based on French film "La<br />
Cage aux Folles") was for Williams.<br />
"Fathers" Day" lacks the unique and classy<br />
mix of hilarious physical comedy churned<br />
with charmingly emotional sentiment. Williams<br />
and Crystal are funny, but the sheer<br />
nature of their personalities overwhelms<br />
this mild-mannered movie, and neither ever<br />
completely settle into his role.<br />
Director Ivan Reitman ("Junior") gets<br />
sidetracked by his stars and forgets to make<br />
the story believable, real or understandable.<br />
Nastassja Kinski ("Faraway, So Close!") is<br />
wasted in an inexplicable role as Collette,<br />
the former amour who sets the wheels in<br />
motion. Apparently, this mom is able to<br />
track down two long-lost lovers and set<br />
them on the trail of Scott, but she's completely<br />
incapable of even trying to find her<br />
son on her own; that's some kind of maternal<br />
parenting. No wonder "Fathers' Day"<br />
opened on Mother's Day. Susan Lambert<br />
BREAKDOWN •••1/2<br />
Starring Kurt Russell, J.T. Walsh and<br />
Kathleen Quinlan. Directed by Jonathan<br />
Mostow. Written by Jonathan Mostowand<br />
Sam Montgomery. Produced by Martha<br />
De iMurentiis and Dino De iMurentiis. A<br />
Paramount release. Thriller. Rated Rfor<br />
strong violence and terror, and for language.<br />
Running time: 95 min.<br />
The gutsv. cathartic "Breakdown" mercifully<br />
avoids the smug, arch quirkiness of<br />
such pseudo-thrillers as "Fargo" and "Lost<br />
Highway." As did such makers of classic<br />
"B^' movies of the 1950s like Phil Karlson<br />
and Don Siegel, writer/director Jonathan
—<br />
.<br />
Miami<br />
REVIEWS<br />
Mostow builds dramatic intensity and visceral<br />
suspense that plugs into contemporary<br />
paranoia over personal isolation and victimization.<br />
Allowing a bare minimum of<br />
genre hokum, he creates a nightmarish reality<br />
that grips even as it chills.<br />
In perhaps his finest f)erformance yet,<br />
Kurt Russell keenly expresses a range of<br />
emotion and involvement as Jeff Taylor, a<br />
caring husband driving through the American<br />
Southwest desert with his wife Amy (an<br />
assured turn by Kathleen Quinlan) one hot<br />
day. When their car suffers a breakdown<br />
miles from nowhere, a kind-seeming truck<br />
driver. Red Barr ("Sling Blade's" J.T.<br />
Walsh), offers to take Amy to the nearest<br />
diner so she can call for a tow. After they<br />
leave, Jeff manages to start the car again and<br />
drives to the diner, yet on arrival his wife is<br />
nowhere to be found. Found on the road<br />
ahead. Red denies ever seeing her.<br />
That's but the beginning of a cataclysmic<br />
series of ingeniously integrated plot twists.<br />
Aided by co-writer Sam Montgomery,<br />
Mostow maintains tension and terror within<br />
the banal yet bizarre scenario. Even though<br />
the film uses a conventional story structure,<br />
and some later contrivances are a bit too<br />
neat to believe, Mostow' s direction delivers<br />
every action setpiece and startling shock<br />
with finesse.<br />
Dale Winogura<br />
AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL<br />
MAN OF MYSTERY iridic<br />
Starring Mike Myers and Elizabeth<br />
Hurley. Directed by Jay Roach. Written by<br />
Mike Myers. Produced by Suzanne Todd,<br />
Demi Moore, Jennifer Todd and Mike<br />
Myers. A New Line release. Comedy.<br />
Rated PG-13 for nudity, sex-related dialogue<br />
and humor. Running time: 89 min.<br />
Skewering Bond films and '60s sensibilities<br />
seemed like the perfect construct for<br />
the talented and oft-anglophilic comic<br />
actor/scripter Mike Myers ("Wayne's<br />
World"). The high-energy film opens three<br />
decades ago, with Myers decked out as the<br />
ostentatiously garbed Austin Powers, a hipster<br />
superspy. Living out the sort of scene<br />
that exists only in musical films of the<br />
flower-power era. Powers and the youths of<br />
London spontaneously engage in a groovy<br />
dance number. This deliciously over-thetop<br />
send-up promises a high level of hilarity<br />
What follows falls short of that mark. The<br />
story: Dr. Evil (also Myers) escapes capture<br />
by having himself cryogenically frozen and<br />
shot into space; our champion altruistically<br />
has himself frozen as well, to protect a future<br />
generation from the villain's tyranny. Thirty<br />
years later. Evil returns, plotting to steal a<br />
nuclear weapon and hold the world hostage.<br />
For all of Myers' exuberance, masterful<br />
cheek and funny delivery of outdated vernacular,<br />
his writing just isn't up to the possibilities.<br />
Elizabeth Hurley ("Dangerous<br />
Ground") is cringingly unappealing as<br />
Myers' sidekick Vanessa; and Mimi Rogers<br />
as Powers' former partner (now Vanessa's<br />
mother) might look great in a leather Emma<br />
Peel bodysuit, but she can't maintain the<br />
English accent even for the few lines she<br />
has. The movie also doesn't go far enough<br />
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—<br />
—<br />
—<br />
FLASHBACK: JAA^f/A/JF 5, 1959<br />
What BOXOFFICE said about...<br />
A NIGHT TO REMEMBER<br />
[Because it looks unlikely James Cameron's "Titanic" will sail this summer, we<br />
thought we'd at least bring our readers a look at a four-decade-old retelling of the<br />
sea disaster itself then four decades past. In February 1959, Rank brought Walter<br />
Lord's book to the big screen memorably with "A Night to Remember." Notably,<br />
exhibitors were already worrying about another see disaster: TV.]<br />
One of the greatest catastrophes of modern<br />
times—the sinking of the "unsinkable" Titanic<br />
after it struck an iceberg in the Atlantic in<br />
1912—has been superbly recreated on film in<br />
almost documentary fashion by the Rank Organization.<br />
If heavily exploited, this two-hour feature<br />
should do fine business, particularly in key<br />
cities. Although Walter Lord's best-seller was the<br />
basis for an outstanding live TV show, plus a live<br />
repeat, a few seasons ago. Rank producer William<br />
MacQuitty maintains that these merely<br />
serve as trailers for this far more complete and<br />
frighteningly realistic film. After 40-odd years,<br />
this astonishing tale still has tremendous impact,<br />
especially for patrons who remember or had read<br />
or heard about the events of that awful night. The<br />
picture is splendidly directed by Roy Baker, and<br />
Eric Ambler's screenplay evenly divides the<br />
screen footage between the nautical side of the<br />
disaster and the human angle. The technical<br />
credits, including the sharp black-and-white<br />
photography and the special effects, could<br />
scarcely be surpassed. Kenneth More, who plays<br />
the heroic second officer, is the best-known player, but Laurence Naismith (as<br />
the Titanic's captain), Michael Goodliffe, Anthony Bushell and John Merivale<br />
all makes their scenes count. Frank Lawton and Harriette Johns co-star.<br />
EXPLOITIPS<br />
For local engagements, advertise for Titanic survivors, who could be honored guests<br />
and give interviews about that tragic night Bookshops will cooperate with window<br />
displays of Walter Lord's best-seller, and fashion shops might display ladies' styles of<br />
that era along with copy for the picture. Kenneth More starred in "Genevieve" and<br />
"Doctor in the Hoase" and is in the forthcoming "The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw."<br />
CATCHLINES<br />
A Picture You'll Never Forget..The True Story of the World's Great Sea Disaster—Brilliantly<br />
Told by Walter Lord in His Best-Selling Novel—Now Comes to the<br />
Screen...The Full, Fantastic Storj' of the Night the Titanic Went Down in an Icy Sea.<br />
with its fish-out-of-water time-waip mayhem,<br />
and though there are many hilarious<br />
moments (esjjecially those that parody the<br />
cheesier aspects of '60s spy flicks) just as<br />
many miss the mark. Christine James<br />
WARRIORS OF VIRTUE<br />
•••<br />
Starring Angus Macfadyen, Mario<br />
Yedidia, Marley Shelton and Chao-Li Chi.<br />
Directed by Ronny Yu. Written by Michael<br />
Vickerman and Hugh Kelley. Produced by<br />
Dennis Imw, Ronald Law, Christopher<br />
Law, Jeremy Imw and Patricia Ruben. An<br />
MGM release. Fantasy. Rated PGforfantasy<br />
action violence and some language.<br />
Running time: 102 min.<br />
Essentially a cross between "The<br />
Neverending Story" and "Teenage Mutant<br />
Ninja Turtles," "Warriors of Virtue" could<br />
be the most impressive Hollywood debut<br />
yet for a Hong Kong director, although<br />
lackluster writing and a needlessly muddled<br />
storyline somewhat tarnish the effort. Talented<br />
newcomer Mario Yedidia stars as<br />
Ryan, a standard-issue misfit adolescent<br />
whose fertile imagination propels him into<br />
a mystical world of martial arts and magic<br />
known only as the land of Tao. The once<br />
tranquil paradise, however, is threatened by<br />
an evil tyrant named Komodo (Angus<br />
Macfadyen) who supports his power by<br />
draining Tao's Lifespnngs to mine an element<br />
called Zubrium. Only one Lifespring<br />
remains, ju.st outside Komodo' s reach and<br />
guarded by the amazing Warriors of Virtue,<br />
aka Roo-Warriors. Nonetheless, the balance<br />
of power in Tao lies neither with the<br />
Roo-Warriors or Komodo, but with Ryan.<br />
Skillfully blending popular motifs from<br />
both Hong Kong and Hollywood fantasy<br />
films, director Ronny Yu ("The Bride Witn<br />
REVIEWS<br />
White Hair") and his mostly Hong Kong<br />
crew lend "Warriors of Virtue" an exquisite<br />
look and feel. Expert martial arts action in<br />
the best Hong Kong tradition and first-rate<br />
Hollywood special effects and makeup<br />
work together to create a magical adventure.<br />
Although the Warriors themselves<br />
lack the strong personality<br />
traits and humor of<br />
the Ninja Turtles, they<br />
make for more compelling<br />
onscreen characij<br />
ters, helping to divert<br />
attention from a surprisingly<br />
amateurish and<br />
cliched script. Occasional<br />
lapses into overly<br />
technical Chinese philosophical<br />
jargon, though<br />
distracting, are forgivable<br />
in view of the overall<br />
theme.<br />
Wade Major<br />
ROMY AND<br />
MICHELE'S HIGH<br />
SCHOOL REUNION<br />
•••*<br />
Starring Mira Sorvino,<br />
Lisa Kudrow,<br />
Janeane Garofalo and Alan Camming.<br />
Directed by David Mirkin. Written by<br />
Robin Schiff. Producedby Laurence Mark.<br />
A Buena Vista release. Comedy. Rated R<br />
for language. Running time: 91 min.<br />
Buena Vista's second high school reunion<br />
film in as many weeks, "Romy and<br />
Michele" is just as charming and quirky as<br />
"Grosse Pointe Blank," with a lighter yet<br />
equally witty script. Fun and funny are the<br />
adjectives that characterize the mood of the<br />
film (based on the stage work "The Ladies'<br />
Room," adapted by the playwright, Robin<br />
Schiff), with hilariously wmsome performances<br />
by Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow<br />
as the titular dimwit duet. Sorvino' s talent<br />
for amusingly odd vocal inflections (which<br />
helped get her that Oscar for "Mighty<br />
Aphrodite") is key to Romy's Valley Girl<br />
appeal; Kudrow's Michele may be<br />
"Friends'" Phoebe redux, but it works well<br />
in this tale of two nonconformist but<br />
slackerly misfits who fabricate glamorous<br />
lives to impress their former school nemeses.<br />
"Romy and Michele' s High School Reunion"<br />
is replete with audiovisual delights;<br />
with our heroines' outrageous fashion<br />
sense and a soundtrack jam-packed with<br />
'80s hits, the film captures much of the<br />
glamor and glitter indigenous to Me Generation-era<br />
offspring. Yet, in addition to<br />
bubbly baubles, there are some real gems<br />
in the script, and in the performances as<br />
well. With clever flashbacks and wacky<br />
dream sequences, there's never a lag in the<br />
movie's humor or its pace.<br />
If the film wants anything, it's probably<br />
more allusions to the last decade to sate the<br />
nostalgia of the target audience; more investigation<br />
into how everyone else's lives<br />
turned out; and more inventiveness regarding<br />
payback and karma. Christine James
—<br />
—<br />
—<br />
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REVIEWS IN BRIEF<br />
UNFORGOTTEN ••^^<br />
Narrated by Danny<br />
Aiello. Directed by Jack<br />
Fisher. Written by Stuart<br />
Warmflash. Proauced by<br />
Danny Fisher. A Castle Hnl<br />
release. Documentary.<br />
Unrated. Run time: 57 mm.<br />
A generation ago, before<br />
Special Olympics and community<br />
group homes, huge state-run<br />
institutions were society's way to<br />
core for, and deal with, the mentally<br />
retarded. In the massive<br />
buaget
Review Digest<br />
Genre key: (Ac) Action; (Ad) Adventure; (An) Animated; (C) Comedy:<br />
(D) Drama; (Doc) Documentary; (F) Fantasy; (Hor) Horror;<br />
(M) Musical; (My) Mystery; (R) Romance; (Sat) Satire;<br />
(SF) Science Fiction; (Sus) Suspense; (Th) Thriller; (W) Western.<br />
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Anaconda PG-13 (Col)
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BOXOFFICE<br />
June<br />
JULY<br />
(Current)<br />
Buena Vista<br />
(818)567-5000<br />
(212)593-8900<br />
Grosse Pointe Blank, 4/1 1, Com. R. 107 min,<br />
Dolby SR. SR-D, SDDS, Rat. John Cusack,<br />
Minnie Driver. Dan Aykroyd. Joan Cusack,<br />
Din George Armitage,<br />
Romy and Michele's High Sctiool Reunion.<br />
4/25. Com. R. 91 min, Dolby SR, SR-D. SDDS.<br />
Rat. Mira Sorvino, Lisa Kudrow, Janeane<br />
Garofalo. Elaine Hendrix.<br />
Din David Mirkin.<br />
Gone FIshIn', 5/30. Com. PG. 94 min. Dolby<br />
SR. SR-D. Rat. Joe Pesci. Danny Glover. Lynn<br />
Whitfield. Rosanna Arquette.<br />
Dir: Christopher Cain.<br />
Con Air. 6/6. Act/Adv. R. -112 min. Anamorphic.<br />
Nicolas Cage. John Malkovich. John<br />
Cusack. Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames. Colm<br />
Meaney. Dir: Simon West.<br />
Hercules, 6/14 excl. NY. 6/20 Chicago. 6/27<br />
wide. Ani. G. -91 min. Rat. Voices: James<br />
Woods, Danny DeVito. Tate Donovan. Susan<br />
Egan. Matt Frewer, Bobcat Goldthwait, Paul<br />
Shaffer. Dirs: Ron Clements, John Musker.<br />
Nothing to Lose. 7/16. Com. R. Flat Martin<br />
Lawrence. Tim Robbins. John C. McGinley.<br />
Glancarlo Esposito. Kelly Preston.<br />
Dir: Steve Oedekerk.<br />
George ol the Jungle. 7/18. Live Act. PG, Fla<br />
Brendan Fraser. Leslie Mann. Thomas Hayde<br />
Church. Dir: Sam Weisman.<br />
Columbia<br />
(310)280-8000<br />
Das Boot (1981 German reissue), 4/4, Dra,<br />
R, Jurgen Prochnow. Dir: Wolfgang Petersen.<br />
Doul)le Team (formerly The Colony), 4/4,<br />
Act, R, 93 min. Dolby A. SR, SDDS, Jean-<br />
Claude Van Damme, Dennis Rodman,<br />
Mickey Rourke. Dir: Tsui Hark.<br />
The Filth Element. 5/9, SF, PG-13, 127 min,<br />
Dobly A. SR. SDDS. Anamorphic. Bmce Willis.<br />
Gaiy Oldman. Ian Holm, Milla Jovovich. Dir Luc<br />
Besson.<br />
Buddy, 6/6, Com, PG, -90min. SDDS, Anamorphic.<br />
Rene Russo, Robbie Coltrane. Paul Reubens,<br />
Irma P. Hall. Dir: Caroline Thompson.<br />
Men in Black, 7/2. SF. PG-13. DoDy A. SR,<br />
SDDS. Hat Tommy Lee Jones, wai Smith.<br />
Linda Rorentino. Rip Torn, Dir: Bany Sonnenfel<br />
Air Force One (formerly AFO), 7/25. Act Dolbv<br />
A. SR. SDDS, Harrison Ford. Gary Otdman.<br />
(212)833-8500<br />
Anaconda, 4/1 1. Adv. PG-13. 90 min. Dolby A,<br />
SR. SDDS. Jon Voight. Jennifer Lopez, Ice<br />
Glenn Close<br />
Din Wolfgang Peterson.<br />
Cube. Eric Stoltz, Kan Wuhrer. Dir: Luis Llosa.<br />
MGIVI/UA<br />
(310)449-3000<br />
Warriors of Virtue, 5/2, Act/Adv, PG. 1 04<br />
min. DTS. Angus MacFadyen, Mario Yedidia.<br />
Marley Shetton. Chao-Li Chi. Dir: Ronny Yu.<br />
(212)708-0300<br />
Miramax<br />
(212)941-3800<br />
(213)951-4200<br />
Cos!, Com, 4/11 NY, LA. 100 min. Toni Collette.<br />
Barry Otto, Ben Mendlesohn. Ractiel<br />
Griffittis. Pamela Rabe. Dir Mark Joffe.<br />
Nlghtwatdi. 4/25 wide, Dra/Thr. Nick Nolle.<br />
Ewan McGregor, Patricia Arquette. Josti<br />
Brolin. Dir: Ole Bornedal.<br />
Chlldi«n of the Revolution. 5/1 NY/LA, Com. R.<br />
102 min. Rat. Judy Davis. Geoffrey Rush. Sam<br />
Neill.<br />
Din Peter Duncan.<br />
Brassed Off. 5/23 NY LA. Dra.R, 107 min,<br />
Dolby SR, Rat. Pete Postlethwaite. Tara Fitzgerald.<br />
Ewan McGregor. Dir: Mark Herman.<br />
Mouth to Mouth (Spain). 6/6, Com, R, Dolby<br />
SRD. Anamorphic. 110 min. Javier Bardem.<br />
Dir: Manuel Gomez Pereira. Squeeze. 6/13.<br />
Thr, R. Dir: Robert Patton-Spruill. Temptress<br />
Moon. 6/13. Dra. R, 115 min Gong Li. Din<br />
Chen Kaige. Love Serenade (Australia). 6/20.<br />
Com/Dra. R. 101 min. Miranda Otto. Dir: Shirley<br />
Barrett. Shall We Dani» (Japan), 6/27,<br />
Com. PG. Koji Yasuyo. Dir: Masayuki Suo.<br />
Mimic, 7/18 wide, SF/Thr. Mira Sorvino.<br />
Josh Brolin, Jeremy Northam, Charles<br />
Dutton<br />
Dir: Guillermo del Tore.<br />
Mrs. Brown, 7/18. Dra, PG. Judi Dench, Billi<br />
Connolly. Dir: John Madden.<br />
Seven Notes In Black (1 978 release as The<br />
Psychic, Italy), 7/25 NY/LA. Jennifer O'Neill<br />
Olr: Lucio Fulci,<br />
Austin Powers: International Man of<br />
New Line<br />
Mystery. 5/2. Com. PG-13. 88 min, Dolby SR,<br />
SR-D, SDDS, Anamorphic. Mike Myeis, Elizabetti<br />
Hurley. Mimi Rogers. Michael Yortt<br />
(310)854-5811<br />
Dir: Jay Roach.<br />
Trial and Error. 5/30. Com. PG-13. Dolby SR,<br />
(212)649-4900<br />
SR-D, SDDS, Anamorphic. Michael Richards,<br />
Jeff Daniels, Rip Torn. Charlize Theron. Dir:<br />
Jonathan Lynn.<br />
Paramount<br />
(213) 956-5000<br />
(212)373-7000<br />
Ttio SaM. 4/4, Act/Adv, PG-13, 117 min.<br />
Dolby SR-D. DTS, Anamorphic, Val Kilmer,<br />
Elisabetfi Shue, Rade Serbedaja.<br />
Dir: Pliillip Noyce.<br />
Breakdown. 5/2. R. 95 min. Dolby SR-D, Anamorphic.<br />
Kurt Russell. Kathleen Quinlan, J.T.<br />
Walsh. Dir: Jonathan Moslow.<br />
Night Falls on Manhattan. 5/16. Dra. R.<br />
Andy Garcia. Richaiti Dreyfuss. Lena Olin. Ian Holm<br />
Din Sidney Lumet. Til Tliere WasYoo, 5/30.<br />
Rom/Com, PG-13, 1 14 min. Jeanne Tripplehom.<br />
Dylan McDermott, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer<br />
Aniston. Dir: Scott Winant.<br />
Face/Of, 6/27. Act. Dolby SR-D. SDDS. John<br />
Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, GIna<br />
Gershon.<br />
Dir: John Woo.<br />
Titanic. RonVAdv Leonardo DiCaprio. Kate<br />
Winslet. Bill<br />
Gloria Siuan. Suzy Amis.<br />
Paxton. Billy Zane. Kathy Bates.<br />
Dir: James Cameron,<br />
Good Burger, 7/25, Com. Kel Mitchell. Kenan<br />
Thompson, Abe Vigoda. Din Brian Robbins<br />
TriStar<br />
(310)280-8000<br />
Jungle Book2. 5/2 ltd. Bill Campbell. Jamie<br />
Williams. Roddy McDowall. Dir: Duncan<br />
McLachlan.<br />
My Best Friend's Wedding, 6/27, Rom/Com,<br />
R, Dolby A, SR, SDDS Julia Roberts,<br />
Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, Rupert<br />
EveretL Philip Bosco, Olr: P,J, Hogan,<br />
(212)833-8500<br />
Inverting Die Mbals. 4/4, Dra, R, -120 min.<br />
Dolby SR. SDDS. Anamorphic. Liv Tyler, Joa-<br />
Sfiaail II: Cnilsa Control. 6/13. Act PG-13, 135<br />
-<br />
Out to Sea. 7/2. Com. PG-13, Dolby SR Flat<br />
(310)369-1000<br />
(212)556-2400<br />
quin Phoenix, Billy Cradup, Jenniter Connelly.<br />
Dir: Pat O'Comer.<br />
Volcano. 4/25. Act/Adv. PG13, -105 min.<br />
Doby SR. SRD. SDDS. DTS, Anamorphic.<br />
Tortimy Lee Jones, Anne Heche, Gaby<br />
Hodmann. Don Cheadte, John Coitietl.<br />
KeUhDavld.DlrMtekJaclsan.<br />
min, Dolby SR. SDDS. DTS. Anairmrphic.<br />
Sandra Bulock, Jason Patric. Willem Dafoe.<br />
Glenn Plummer. Temeura Morrison, Brian<br />
McCardle. RoyaleWatkins.<br />
Dir Jan De Boot.<br />
Walter Matthau. Jack Lemnx)n. Brent Spiner.<br />
Dvan Caimon. Elaine Stntcti. Hal Linden. Oonal<br />
O'Connen Alexandra Powers.<br />
Dir: Martha Coolidge.<br />
Universal<br />
(818)777-1000<br />
(212)759-7500<br />
That Old Feallng. 4/4. Com, PG-13, 103<br />
min. DTS. Bette Midler. Dennis Farina. Danny<br />
Nucci. Paula Marshall. Gall O'Giady.<br />
Dir Carl Reiner.<br />
McHale't Ni»y. 4/18. Com. PG, -101 min.<br />
DTS Tom Arnold. David Alan Grier, Dean<br />
Stockwell. Tim Cuny.<br />
Dir Bryan Sfiicer.<br />
The Lou WotU. 5/23. Adv. PG-13. -130<br />
min. DTS. Rat. Jeff Goldblum. Jullanne<br />
Moore. Vince Vaughn. Pete Postlethwaite.<br />
Artiss Howard. Richard Schiff. Peter<br />
Stormare. Vanessa Lee Chester.<br />
Dir: Steven Spielberg.<br />
A Simple Wish (lormerlv The Fairy Godmother).<br />
7/1 1 lent. Com, PG Mara Wilson,<br />
Martin Short, Kathleen Turner, Robert<br />
Pastorelli. Dir: Michael Ritchie<br />
Warner Bros.<br />
(818)954-6000<br />
(212)484-8000<br />
LnT(IM|riMMKMlln.«4 W. Ore.<br />
P613, 105 min. DTS. SopNe Mnwi. Sew<br />
Beaa Ma KirKlinar, Mhed Mom Or Btiran)<br />
Rose<br />
Mirtar « lan. 4/18. Thr. R. 106 min. DTS.<br />
Wesley Snipes. Diane Lane, Daniel Bnnjall.<br />
Olr<br />
Dwight H Little.<br />
FNw'iDay . b/9. Com. 101 min. Anamorphic<br />
Robin Williams. Billy Crystal. Natassja<br />
KinsW. Julia Louis-Dreyfuss.<br />
Dir Inn Reitman.<br />
MdkMloUM. S/23. Rom^m. R. 101 mia<br />
Doljy SR-0, DTS. FU Meg Ryan. Matthew<br />
BfDdeitck. Olr: Gilffln Dunne<br />
I RoMn, 6/20, Act/Adv. PQ-13,<br />
DTS. George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Alicia<br />
Sllverstone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Uma<br />
Thurman. Olr: Joel Schumacher.<br />
WM America. 7,'2. Adv. PG, 1 07 min. Dolby SB,<br />
SW). Joreflian Taylor llxinns, Dir: BUI Dean<br />
Comm. 7/11. Thr. DTS. Jodie Foster. Matthew<br />
McOonaughey. John Hurt Dir. Robert Zemedds.<br />
Conspiracy Dieoiy. 7/25. Ttir. DTS Mel Gith<br />
son. Julia Roberts. Patrick Stewart.<br />
Dir: Richard Donner<br />
187. 7/30. Dra. R. DTS Samuel L. Jackson.<br />
Kelly Rowan, John Heard. Dir: Kevin Reynolll
August September Forthcoming<br />
FEATURE CHART — JULY 1 997
KM)<br />
BOXOFUCE<br />
3<br />
3<br />
5<br />
7<br />
BOXOFFICE Independent Feature Chart JULY 1997<br />
JUNE<br />
Castle Hill<br />
212-888-0080<br />
End of Summer, Dra, Jaqueline<br />
Bisset. Dir: Linda Yellen. 6/1 3 NY<br />
Innocent Sleep. 6/27<br />
CFP<br />
212-995-9662<br />
The Pillow Book, Dra, 1 26 min.<br />
Vivian Wu, Ewan McGregor. Dir:<br />
Peter Greenaway. 6/6<br />
Cinema Parallel<br />
410-442-1752<br />
To Have (Or Not), Dra, NR, 93<br />
min. Dir: Laetitia Masson.<br />
Cinema Village Features<br />
212-431-5119<br />
Mondo Plympton, Ani. Dir: Bill<br />
Plympton.<br />
Fine Line<br />
212-649-4800<br />
For Roseanna, Com, PG-13, 99<br />
min. Jean Reno, Mercedes Ruehl.<br />
Dir:PaulWeiland. 6/18NY<br />
Head Above Water, Dra/Com,<br />
PG-13, 92 min. Harvey Keitel.<br />
Dir:Jim Wilson. 6/20 ltd<br />
Kino Intl.<br />
212-629-6880<br />
M (1931 German re-issue), Dra,<br />
99 min. Dir; FriU Lang. 6/13<br />
Legacy<br />
213-467-3700<br />
Wedding Bell Blues, Com.<br />
Paulina Porizkova, llleana Douglas.<br />
Dir: Dana Lustig. 6/1<br />
Leisure Time Features<br />
212-267-4501<br />
Twisted, Dra, 100 min. Dir: Seth<br />
Michael Donsky.<br />
Manga<br />
415-975-5405<br />
Tetsuo: Body Hammer. Dir:<br />
Shinya Tsukamoto.<br />
New Yorker Films<br />
212-247-6110<br />
Gabbeh, Dra, 75 min. Abbas<br />
Sayahi, Hossein Moharami. Dir:<br />
Mohsen Makhmalbas. 6/25 NY<br />
Orion Classics<br />
310-282-0550<br />
Ulee's Cold, Dra, R, 1 1 3 min.<br />
Peter Fonda, Patricia Richardson.<br />
Dir: Victor Nunez. 6/1<br />
Orion Pictures<br />
310-282-0550<br />
Fall, Rom/Com. Star/Dir: Eric<br />
Schaeffer, 6/20<br />
Roxie Releasing<br />
415-431-3611<br />
The Last Time I Commited Suicide,<br />
Dra, 92 min. Thomas Jane,<br />
Keanu Reeves. Dir: Stephen Kay.<br />
Sony Classics<br />
212-833-8851<br />
Dream With the Fishes, Dra, R, 96<br />
min. David Arquette. Dir: Finn<br />
Taylor. 6/20<br />
when the Cat's Away (France),<br />
Dra/Com, R, 95 min. Garance<br />
Clavel. Dir: Cedric Kapisch. 6/20<br />
Strand<br />
310-395-5002<br />
Timothy Leary's Dead, Doc, 80<br />
min. Dir: Paul Davids. 6/5 LA<br />
Contempt (1963 reissue). Dir:<br />
)ean-Luc Godard. 6/27 NY, 7/4 LA<br />
Late Bloomers, Rom/Dra, 1 04 min.<br />
Dir: Julia and Gretchen Dyer. 6/27<br />
LA, Houston, 7/18 NY<br />
JULY<br />
Artistic License<br />
212-265-9119<br />
La Renconter (France), Dra, 80<br />
min. Dir: Alain Cavalier.<br />
Castle Hill<br />
Brilliant Lies. 7/1 1 NY<br />
CFP<br />
Guantanamera, Com, NR, 124<br />
min. Dirs: Thomas Gutierrez Alea<br />
and Juan Carlos Tabio Rey. 7/2<br />
First Look<br />
310-855-1199<br />
Alive and Kicking (aka Indian<br />
Summer). Jason Flemyng, Antony<br />
Sher. Dir: Nancy Meckler. 7/25<br />
Fox Searchlight<br />
310-369-4402<br />
Star Maps, Dra, 90 min, R, Dolby<br />
SR. Dir: Miguel Arteta. 7/23 ltd<br />
International Pictures<br />
212-925-0404<br />
Love's Debris, Doc, 120 min.<br />
Featuring Anita Cerquetti. Dir:<br />
Werner Schroetrer. 7/23 NY<br />
Live<br />
818-778-3174<br />
The Winner, Thr, 89 min. Rebecca<br />
DeMornay, Frank Whaley.<br />
Dir: Alex Cox.<br />
New Yorker Films<br />
Forever Mozart, Dra, NR, 84<br />
min. Madeleine Assas, Frederic<br />
Pierrot. Dir: Jean-Luc Godard. 7/4<br />
Orion Classics<br />
This World, Then the Fireworks.<br />
BillyZane, GinaGershon. Dir: Michael<br />
Oblowitz. 7/1 8 NY, LA<br />
Strand<br />
Latin Boys Go To Hell. Irwin<br />
Ossa, John Bryant Davila. Dir: Ela<br />
Troyano. 7/25 NY, LA<br />
Theafilm<br />
213-368-1778<br />
Dirty Weekend. Lia Williams,<br />
Sylvia Syms. Dir: Michael Winner.<br />
7/1 1 ltd<br />
Trimark<br />
310-314-3040<br />
Box of Moonlight, 107 min. John<br />
Turturro, Sam Rockwell. Dir: Tom<br />
DiCillo. 7/25 NY, 8/8 LA<br />
Triumph<br />
310-280-8059<br />
Masterminds (formerly Smart<br />
Alec), Act/Com. Patrick Stewart.<br />
Dir: Roger Christian.<br />
AUGUST<br />
Artificial Eye<br />
212-255-1922<br />
Mon Homme (France), Com/Dra,<br />
95 min. Anouk Grinberg. Dir:<br />
Bertrand Blier.<br />
CFP<br />
Bandwagon, Com/Mus, NR, 103<br />
min. Kevin Corrigna, Lee Holmes.<br />
Dir: John Schultz. 8/15 ltd.<br />
Sunday, Dra, 93 min. David<br />
Suchet, Lisa Harrow, Jared Harris.<br />
Dir: Jonathan Nossiter. 8/22<br />
Cinema Parallel<br />
Talking To Strangers (reissue). 8/2<br />
First Look<br />
Different for Girls, Rom/Com, 97<br />
min. Rupert Graves. Dir: Richard<br />
Spence. 8/1<br />
First Run<br />
212-243-0600<br />
Hamsun (Norway). 1 60 min. Max<br />
Von Sydow. Dir: Jan Troell 8/6<br />
Fox Searchlight<br />
The Full Monte, Com, -95 min,<br />
R, Dolby SR, Flat. Robert Carlyle.<br />
Dir: Peter Cattaneo. 8/15<br />
Goldwyn<br />
310-282-0550<br />
Paperback Romance (formerly<br />
Lucky Break), Rom/Com. Anthony<br />
LaPaglia. Dir: Ben Lewin. 8/1<br />
Napoleon, Ani, G, 82 min. Voices:<br />
Adam Wylie, Bronson Pinchot. Dir:<br />
Mario Andreacchio. 8/8<br />
Gramercy<br />
310-777-1960<br />
How To Be a Player, Com. Bill<br />
Belamy, Lark Voorhies. Dir: Lionel<br />
Martin. 8/15<br />
Kit Parker<br />
800-538-5838<br />
Coffy (1973 reissue), Dra, R, 91<br />
min. Pam Grier, Booker<br />
Bradshaw. Dir: Jack Hill. 8/29 NY<br />
Live<br />
Dirty Dancing (1987 reissue), 97<br />
min. Patrick Swayze Dir: Emile<br />
Ardolino.<br />
Northern Arts<br />
413-268-9301<br />
Soul in the Hole, Doc. Dir: Danielle<br />
Gardner. 8/8 NY,LA, Sept<br />
exp<br />
October<br />
212-539-4000<br />
Career Girls, Dra. Katrin Cartlidge,<br />
Lynda Steadman. Dir:<br />
Mike Leigh.<br />
Sony Classics<br />
In the Company of Men, Dra.<br />
Aaron Eckhart, Matt Malloy. Dir:<br />
Neil La Bute. 8/8<br />
Strand<br />
Nights of Cabiria (1957 Italian<br />
reissue), Dra, 110 min. Giulietta<br />
Masina. Dir: Federico Fellini.<br />
SEPTEMBER<br />
CFP<br />
Dra, 94 min. Andrew Mc-<br />
Stag,<br />
Carthy, Mario Van Peebles. Dir:<br />
Gavin Wilding.<br />
Dreamworks SKG<br />
818-733-7000<br />
The Peacemaker, Act/Adv.<br />
George Clooney, Nicole Kidman.<br />
Dir: Mimi Leder. 9/26<br />
Fox Searchlight<br />
Intimate Relations, Dra, 99 min,<br />
R, Dolby SR, Flat. Dir: Philip<br />
Goodhew. 9/5<br />
Ice Storm, Dra, Dolby SR, Flat.<br />
Kevin Kline, Joan Allen. Dir: Ang<br />
Lee. 9/27<br />
Cousin Bette, Dra. Jessica Lange,<br />
Bob Hoskins. Dir: Des McAnuff.<br />
Gramercy<br />
Going All the Way, Dra. Jeremy<br />
Davies, Ben Affleck. Dir: Mart<br />
Pellington. 9/19<br />
The Matchmaker, Com. Janeane<br />
Garofalo. Dir: Mark Joffe.<br />
Greycat<br />
702-737-0670<br />
David Searching, Com/Dra, 1 03<br />
min. Anthony Rapp. Dir: Leslie<br />
Smith.<br />
Live<br />
Suicide Kings (formerly Boys<br />
Night Out), Thr. Christopher<br />
Walken, Sean Patrick Flanery.<br />
Dir: Peter O'Fallow.<br />
Manga<br />
Gravesend, Dra. Dir: Sal Stabile.<br />
Northern Arts<br />
Withnail and I tl')87 British reissue).<br />
Com, 105 min. Richard E.<br />
Grant. Dir: Bruce Robinson.<br />
October<br />
Kicked in the Head. Linda<br />
Fiorentino, Michael Rapaport.<br />
Dir: Matthew Harrison.<br />
Orion Pictures<br />
The Locusts, Dra. Kate Capshaw,<br />
Ashley Judd. Dir: John Patrick<br />
Kelley. 9/12<br />
Crimmal Intent (formerly Gang<br />
Related), Dra, R. Tupac Shakur,<br />
Jim Belushi. Dir: )lm Kous. 9/1
BOXOFFICE Independent Feature Chart JULY 1997<br />
Sony Classics<br />
The Myth of Fingerprints, Dra.<br />
Noah VVyle, Julianne Moore, Roy<br />
Schneider. Dir: B. Freundlich. 9/9 NY<br />
OCTOBER<br />
Fine Line<br />
Gummo, Dra. Chloe Sevigny. Dir:<br />
Harmony Korine. 1 0/3<br />
Goldwyn<br />
Welcome to Wood Woop (formerly<br />
The Big Red), Com. Jonathan<br />
Schaech, Rod Taylor. Dir:<br />
Stephan Elliott. 10/3<br />
Gramercy<br />
Bean, Com. Rowan Atkinson.<br />
10/24<br />
Live<br />
Wishmaster, Hor. Dir: Robert<br />
Kurtzman.<br />
IVIanga<br />
Tokyo Fist, Act. Dir: Shinya<br />
Tsukamoto.<br />
New Xorket Films<br />
Deep Crimson, Dra, 114 min.<br />
Daniel Gimenez, Marisa Paredes.<br />
Dir: Arturo Ripstein. 10/6<br />
Northern Arts<br />
MIdaq Alley (Mexico), Dra, 1 40<br />
min. Salma Hayek, Ernesto<br />
Gomez. Dir: Jorge Pons.<br />
Orion Pictures<br />
Best Men (formerly Independence),<br />
Dra. Dean Cain, Drew<br />
Barrymore, Luke Wilson. Dir:<br />
Tamra Davis. 1 0/24<br />
Sony Classics<br />
Fast, Cheap & Out of Control,<br />
Doc, 79 min. Dir: Errol Morris.<br />
Ttieafilm<br />
James Dean: Race With Destiny.<br />
Casper Van Dien, Robert<br />
Mitchum. Dir: Mardi Rustam.<br />
10/3<br />
Trimaric<br />
Eve's Bayou, Dra. Samuel L. Jackson,<br />
Lynn Whitfield. Dir: Kasi<br />
Lemmons. 10/17<br />
Chairman of the Board, Com.<br />
Carrot Top. 10/24<br />
FORTHCOMING<br />
Artificial Eye<br />
The Mother and the Whore<br />
(France, 1973), Dra, 210 min.<br />
Dir: Jean Eustache. Fall<br />
Happiness (France), Com, 1 02<br />
min. Michel Serrault. Dir: Etienne<br />
Chatiliez.<br />
Artistic License<br />
Riding the Rails, Doc. Dirs: Michael<br />
Uys, Lexy Lovell.<br />
Cabin Fever<br />
203-622-3449<br />
The Elevator, Com. Martin Sheen.<br />
The Secret Agent Club, Act.<br />
Cinema Village Features<br />
Cartoon Noir, Ani. Fall<br />
Dove<br />
310-786-1600<br />
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,<br />
CorrVSF, 92 min. Douglas Adams.<br />
Dir: Neil Davies.<br />
Dreamworks SKG<br />
Mousehunt, Com,/Ani. Nathan<br />
Lane, Lee Evans, Christopher<br />
Walken, Vicki Lewis. Dir: Gore<br />
Verbinski 11/14<br />
Amistad (formerly Mutiny), Dra.<br />
Matthew McConaughey, Anthony<br />
Hopkins, Morgan Freeman. Dir:<br />
Steven Spielberg. 12/12 ltd, 12/19<br />
exp<br />
Ants, Ani. Voice: Woody Allen<br />
Blue Vision. Dir: Neil Jordan.<br />
Deep Impact. Tea Leoni, Elijah<br />
Wood. Dir: Mimi Leder.<br />
El Dorado: City of Gold, Ani. Dir:<br />
Will Finn.<br />
Paulle: A Parrot's Tale. Dir: John<br />
Roberts.<br />
The Prince of Egypt, Ani. Voices;<br />
Val Kilmer, Steve Martin, Martin<br />
Short. Dirs: Simon Wells, Steve<br />
Hicker and Brenda Chapman. '98<br />
Saving Private Ryan, Dra. Tom<br />
Hanks, Ed Burns. Dir: Steven<br />
Spielberg. '98<br />
Filmopolis<br />
310-914-1776<br />
In a Strange City. Winston Chao,<br />
Kuei-mai Yang. Dir: Chi Yin.<br />
Fine Line<br />
Winter Guest, Dra. Emma<br />
Thompson, Phylidda Law. Dir:<br />
Alan Rickman. Fall<br />
Deconstructing Harry, Com.<br />
Woody Allen, Kirstie Alley. Dir:<br />
Woody Allen.<br />
Didier (France). Alain Chabat.<br />
Dir: Alain Chabat.<br />
Girl Talk, Dra/Com. Troy Beyer,<br />
Rand! Ingerman. Dir: Troy Beyer.<br />
The Legend of the Pianist on the<br />
Ocean, Dra. Tim Roth. Dir:<br />
Giuseppe Tornatore.<br />
Letters of Love (Japan) (formerly<br />
Love Letters), Dra, 1 1 6 min. Miho<br />
Nakyama. Dir: Shunji Iwai.<br />
The Sweet Hereafter, Dra. Ian<br />
Holm. Dir: Atom Egoyan.<br />
Tears of Julian Po, Dra. Christian<br />
Slater, Robin Tunney. Dir: Alan<br />
Wade.<br />
First Look<br />
Mrs. Dalloway, Dra. Vanessa<br />
Redgrave, Rupert Graves. Dir:<br />
Marleen Gorris. Fall<br />
Slaves to the Underground, Dra,<br />
92 min. Marisa Ryan, Jason Bortz.<br />
Dir: Kristine Petersen. Fall<br />
Keep the Aspidistra Flying,<br />
Dra/Com. Richard E. Grant, Helena<br />
Bonham Carter. Dir: Robert<br />
Bierman.<br />
The Other Side of Sunday (Norway),<br />
Dra. Bjorn Sundquist. Dir:<br />
Berit Nesheim.<br />
First Run<br />
Forgotten Silver. Mock Doc.<br />
Dirs; Peter Jackson, Costa Botes.<br />
Project Grizzly, Doc. Dir: Peter<br />
Lynch.<br />
Six O'clock News, Doc. Dir; Ross<br />
McElwee.<br />
Fox Searchlight<br />
Oscar & Lucinda. Ralph Fiennes.<br />
Dir: Gillian Armstrong. Nov<br />
Hard Men (UK), Dra. Vincent<br />
Regan. Dir: J. K. Amalou. '97<br />
Polish Wedding. Claire Danes,<br />
Gabriel Byrne, Lena Olin. Dir:<br />
Theresa Connelly. '98<br />
Goldwyn<br />
1 Love You... Don't Touch Me,<br />
Com, 86 min. Maria Schaffel. Dir;<br />
Julie Davis.<br />
Gramercy<br />
The Big Lebowski. leff Bridges,<br />
John Goodman, Steve Buscemi.<br />
Dirs: Joel and Ethan Coen. Nov<br />
Body Count, Act. Ving Rhames,<br />
Forest Whitaker, David Caruso.<br />
Dir: Robert Patton Spruill. '98<br />
Land Girls. Gwyneth Paltrow,<br />
Catherine McCormack. Dir:<br />
David Leland.<br />
Shakespeare's Sister. Kenneth<br />
Branagh, Madeleine Stowe.<br />
Gurney Releasing<br />
212-838-2929<br />
Follow the Bitch, Com. Melissa<br />
Lechner. Dir: Julian Stone.<br />
International Pictures<br />
The Knowledge of Healing, Doc,<br />
90 min. Dir: Franz Reichley.<br />
Legacy<br />
Leading Man. ]on Bon Jovi.<br />
Live<br />
Critical Care, Dra/Thr. James<br />
Spader, Albert Brooks. Dir: Sydney<br />
Lumet. Nov<br />
No Way Home, Dra. Tim Roth.<br />
Dir: Buddy Gioviazzo. '98<br />
iVIovleworid Ent.<br />
510-244-5590<br />
The Killing Kind, Dra. Kirk Harris<br />
The Lost Woman. Jennifer Rubin<br />
New Yorker Films<br />
Beaumarchais (France), Com,<br />
100 min. Fabrice Luchini. Dir;<br />
Edouardo Molinaro. 12/19<br />
October<br />
Year of the Horse, Doc. Featuring<br />
Neil Young and Crazy Horse. Dir;<br />
Jim Jarmusch. Fall<br />
Condo Painting, Doc. Featuring<br />
George Condo. Dir; John Mc-<br />
Naughton. '98<br />
Hearts and Minds, Thr, R, 105<br />
min. Danny Keogh, Patrick Shai.<br />
Dir: Ralph Ziman. '98<br />
Three Seasons, Dra. Harvey Keitel.<br />
Dir; Tony Bui. '98<br />
Orion Classics<br />
Storefront Hitchcock, Concert<br />
Doc. Robyn Hitchcock. Dir: Jonathan<br />
Demme. '98<br />
Orion Pictures<br />
Best Men (formerly Independence),<br />
Dra. Dean Cain, C)rew<br />
Barrymore, Luke Wilson. Dir:<br />
Tamra Davis. 1 0/24<br />
Music From Another Room,<br />
Com. Brenda Blethyn, Jennifer<br />
Tilly, Martha Plimpton, Jeremy<br />
Piven. Dir; Charles Peters<br />
Stella Does Tricks. Kelly Macdonald.<br />
Dir: Coky Giedroy.<br />
Seventh Art Releasing<br />
213-845-1455<br />
The Long Way Home, Doc. Dir;<br />
Mark Jonathan Harris.<br />
Things I Never Told You,<br />
Rom/Com. Lili Taylor, Andrew<br />
McCarthy. Dir: Isabel Coixet.<br />
Shadow Distribution<br />
La Petite Apocalypse (France),<br />
Com/Dra, 110 min. Pierre Arditi.<br />
Dir:Costa-Gavras.<br />
Sony Classics<br />
Men With Guns, Dra. Federico<br />
Luppi, Mandy Patinkin, Kathryn<br />
Grody. Dir: John Sayles.<br />
Tango Lesson. Dir: Sally Potter.<br />
Strand<br />
Full Speed, Dra, 85 min. Elodie<br />
Bouchez. Dir: Gael Murel. Fall<br />
La Sentinelle (France), Thr, 144<br />
min. Emmanuel Salinger. Dir:<br />
Arnaud Desplechin. Fall<br />
Self-Made Hero (France), Dra.<br />
Matthieu Kassovitz. Dir: Jacques<br />
Audiard. Fall<br />
The Tit and the Moon (Spain),<br />
Com, 92 min. Biel Duran. Dir:<br />
Bigas Lunas. Fall<br />
Tara Releasing<br />
415-454-5838<br />
Mushrooms (Australia), Com, 93<br />
min. Julia Blake, Simon Chilvers,<br />
Lynette Curran. Dir: Alan Madden.<br />
Theafilm<br />
Madam, the Grass Is High. Dir:<br />
Delbert Mann. Nov ltd<br />
Trimark<br />
Bombshell, Thr. Henry Thomas,<br />
Frank Whaley. Dir: Paul Wynne.<br />
Prairie Fire, (vlatasha Henstridge.<br />
Warrior of Waverly Street, SF.<br />
Joseph Mazzello. Dir: Manny<br />
Coto.<br />
Zeitgeist<br />
212-274-1989<br />
Anthem, Doc. Dir:ShaineeGabe!<br />
and Kristin Hahn.<br />
Conspi rators of Pleasu re (<br />
Czech),<br />
Com. Dir: Jan Svankmajer. Fall<br />
Fire (India), Dra. Shabani Azmi.<br />
Dir: Deepa Mehta.<br />
My Sex Life... or How I Got Into<br />
An Argument (France), Com. Dir:<br />
Arnaud Desplechin.<br />
July, 1997 101
THE BOXOFFICE<br />
HOME RELEASE CHART<br />
JULY 1997<br />
HOME VIDEO<br />
RQfASEDATE
)<br />
1<br />
.<br />
<strong>Boxoffice</strong> Magazine<br />
presents<br />
NovieRme's Noviegoer Activity Report<br />
Forthe Month of April 1997<br />
MovieFone® (777-FILM^) and its sister service, MovieLink" Online, are now the single largest source ofmovie showtime information in the country,<br />
providing information to over 12 million moviegoers each month. ThefoUowing information represents the most reque.^ted theatres and exhibitors on MovieFone.<br />
Top 10 Exhibitors & Theatres<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
4<br />
5<br />
6<br />
7<br />
8<br />
9<br />
10<br />
Ejdklbitor<br />
Most Requested Exhibitors<br />
United Artists<br />
Sony<br />
Cineplex Odeon<br />
AMC<br />
General Cinema<br />
Century<br />
Cinemark<br />
CinAmerica<br />
National Amusements<br />
Regal<br />
Total Requests<br />
676,325<br />
584,914<br />
565.844<br />
539,183<br />
360,439<br />
208,517<br />
165.298<br />
138,520<br />
134,185<br />
111,202<br />
Last HoBlb's<br />
Rank<br />
1<br />
3<br />
2<br />
4<br />
5<br />
6<br />
7<br />
9<br />
8<br />
10<br />
Most Requested Tlieatres<br />
, .„ ^,<br />
Last Month's<br />
Rank Market Theatre TMalReguttls Rank<br />
1 NY Sony Lincoln Square 47,395 1<br />
2 BO SonyCheri 31,337 2<br />
3 NY Sony 19tti St. East 30.229 9<br />
4 BO Sony Assembly Square 29,559 6<br />
5 LA AMC Century 14 26,197 3<br />
6 BO Sony Copley Place 26,023 8<br />
7 LA GCC Beverly Connection 25,099 25<br />
8 PH UA Riverview Plaza 24,088 4<br />
9 NY Sony Village 7 24,059 16<br />
10 NY CO Worldwide 23,797 13<br />
IMal<br />
Requests<br />
New York<br />
1,113,744<br />
Los Angeles<br />
587,949<br />
Dallas<br />
508,017<br />
San Francisco<br />
312,709<br />
Miami<br />
281,533<br />
Boston<br />
263,332<br />
Philadelphia<br />
261,321<br />
Chicago<br />
205,547<br />
Phoenix<br />
196,975<br />
Toronto<br />
159,837<br />
Houston<br />
149,361<br />
San Diego<br />
117,215<br />
Rank<br />
Theatre (# screens)<br />
Most Requested Theatres Per Screen<br />
Total<br />
RequM^<br />
1 CityCin 86th St. East (2) 14,081<br />
2 UAEast(1) 6.547<br />
3 COZiegfeld(l) 6,360<br />
1 GCC Avco (3) 20,753<br />
2 CinAm Bruin (1) 6,891<br />
3 GCC Beverly Connect. (6) 25.099<br />
1 AMC Highland Pk (4) 7,079<br />
2 Granada Movie Grill (1<br />
1 ,747<br />
3 GCC Northpark 1 & 2 (2) 3,207<br />
1 BIm Regency I<br />
(1) 5,385<br />
2 BIm Regency II (1) 4.994<br />
3 Century Geneva D-l (4) 12.442<br />
1 Cobb Kendall (9) 14,667<br />
2 Cobb Miami Lakes (10) 16,143<br />
,^,„ GCC Riviera (4) 6,223<br />
1 SonyCheri (4) 31,337<br />
2 FEI Somerville(l) 3,821<br />
3 Sony Nickelodeon (5) 17,699<br />
1 UASameric(4) 16,171<br />
2 Cinemagic 3 at Penn (3) 10,494<br />
3 UA Cheltenham (8) 22,063<br />
1 Village North (1) 2,393<br />
2 Sony Webster Place (8) 12.333<br />
3 Sony Pipers Alley (4) 5.695<br />
1 Century Glendale 9 D-l (9) 17,723<br />
2 Hark Cine Capri (1) 1,710<br />
UA Christown Mall (6) 8,028<br />
1 Famous Uptown (3) 7,043<br />
2 Famous Eglinton (1) 1,984<br />
3 Famous Plaza (2) 3.768<br />
1 CO River Oaks Plaza (12) 12,267<br />
2 Landmk River Oaks (3) 3,052<br />
3 CO Spectrum (9) 9,014<br />
1 Pacific Grcssmont Trolley (8) 5,393<br />
2 Pacific Cinerama (6) 3,916<br />
3 UAHorton Plaza (14) 7,821<br />
Top 3 Actively* Requested Theatres:<br />
'Caller specifically requested theatre<br />
Exhibitors »m BhmanMdTheams<br />
Carmiu Cannice Onentas. be<br />
CmAffl<br />
Q»fQxi<br />
Cd<br />
CfMnsnca TY«aB«s, LP<br />
OtyOrmnas<br />
Qrwflto Oaeon Qxp<br />
Cote<br />
Dksn<br />
Ftmoutt<br />
FEl<br />
GCC<br />
Qeneni<br />
Hark<br />
W^MOOO<br />
Cot»'nie^«s<br />
OcKnson T))uires<br />
Famous Ptay«n<br />
FQTheaVM<br />
QensmOn*<br />
Qei<br />
HadonsTTwans<br />
Ho*y»wo(lThMtfBa<br />
Last Month's<br />
Rank<br />
35<br />
2<br />
1<br />
4<br />
13<br />
8<br />
7<br />
5<br />
13<br />
28<br />
23<br />
7<br />
1<br />
3<br />
1<br />
6<br />
5<br />
2<br />
6<br />
3<br />
2<br />
6<br />
7<br />
2<br />
1<br />
7<br />
4<br />
5<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
12<br />
14<br />
11<br />
Total<br />
Requesb<br />
Denver<br />
94,903<br />
Kansas City<br />
93.845<br />
Atlanta<br />
92,950<br />
Seattle<br />
80.442<br />
Minneapolis<br />
75,555<br />
Cleveland<br />
64,667<br />
San Antonio<br />
51,589<br />
Las Vegas<br />
51,043<br />
Rank<br />
1<br />
2<br />
.§.-<br />
Washington, D.C. 1<br />
46,529<br />
Sacramento<br />
41,104<br />
Detroit<br />
40,803<br />
Tampa<br />
31,252<br />
CO Worldwide<br />
New York, NY<br />
Undnic<br />
InnmlW<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
Thealre (# screens)<br />
AMC Tiffany Plaza (6)<br />
UA Continental (6)<br />
CinAm Olde Town (14)<br />
Dksn Cinema (6)<br />
Dksn Glenwood (4)<br />
AMC Oak Park Plaza (6)<br />
UATara(4)<br />
Carmike Exchange (3)<br />
AMC Galleria (8)<br />
COSouthcenter(l)<br />
Landmk Metro (10)<br />
CONorthgate (1)<br />
UA St. Anthony Main (5)<br />
Landmk Uptown (1)<br />
Mann MN Highland (2)<br />
Sony Cedar (2)<br />
GCC Ridge Park Sq. (8)<br />
GCC Parmatown (5)<br />
Total<br />
Requests<br />
Last Month's<br />
Rank<br />
Act III Westlakes (9)<br />
Act 111 Bandera (6)<br />
Act III Rolling Oaks (6)<br />
Century Las Vegas D-l<br />
UA Showcase (8)<br />
Century Cinedome (12)<br />
CO Uptown (1)<br />
CO Embassy (1)<br />
COAvalon(2)<br />
Century Century 21 (2)<br />
Century Complex (12)<br />
Century Sacramento D-l<br />
MJR Main Art (3)<br />
Star Lincoln Park (8)<br />
AMC Southland (4)<br />
Carmike Univ. Collect.<br />
Muvico Palm Hartxjr (10)<br />
AMC Horizon Park (4)<br />
2,630<br />
3.852<br />
7,826<br />
6.251<br />
4.059<br />
5.609<br />
2,414<br />
1.313<br />
3,214<br />
777<br />
7.598<br />
716<br />
2,774<br />
511<br />
996<br />
1,387<br />
5,494<br />
3,092<br />
5,053<br />
3,253<br />
3,089<br />
4,832<br />
4,474<br />
6,158<br />
1,256<br />
734<br />
1 ,<br />
55j5,«a;fejL«4i»Bi<br />
1,282<br />
7,330<br />
2,999<br />
931<br />
2,415<br />
1,194<br />
1,954<br />
3,091<br />
1,199<br />
5<br />
11<br />
4<br />
4<br />
1<br />
2<br />
1<br />
9<br />
3<br />
18<br />
10<br />
4<br />
2<br />
1<br />
1<br />
2<br />
8<br />
4<br />
1<br />
7<br />
12<br />
7<br />
6<br />
2<br />
3<br />
1<br />
7<br />
2<br />
9<br />
2<br />
20<br />
2<br />
4<br />
'<br />
(6)<br />
(6)<br />
(6)<br />
Sony Lincoln Sq.<br />
New York, NY<br />
landoHih TtaMM Corp.<br />
Hatin Ukimipais<br />
3. UASheepshead Bay<br />
Brooklyn, NY<br />
PxSk<br />
Reg*<br />
Sony<br />
Sbr<br />
SvpSsv<br />
UA<br />
Pac^K Theatres<br />
RegiOcfnas<br />
Sony Theatres<br />
Looks-Slv Thaaass<br />
Suoer Savai Ormnu<br />
UnMdJMmThattreCRUt
1 be<br />
NATIONAL<br />
NEWS<br />
MO' MONEY FOR THE MOVIES<br />
The first quarter profits for 1 997 are in and<br />
the results, with the exception of Viacom,<br />
look good across the board, making it official<br />
that this was one banner first quarter for the<br />
movies. Sony Corp. increased revenues more<br />
than 1 ,000 percent over last year's disappointing<br />
first quarter returns, posting $99.5<br />
million in profit, thanks to strong boxoffice<br />
from "Jerry Maguire," "Anaconda" and "The<br />
Fifth Element." Sony Pictures Releasing continues<br />
to look strong with the upcoming "Men<br />
In Black," "My Best Friend's Wedding" and<br />
"Air Force One." News Corp.'s profits were<br />
up 38 percent for the quarter ending March<br />
31 with $291 million profit, which is credited<br />
to the boxoffice success of subsidiary 20th<br />
Century Fox's reissue of the "Star Wars" trilogy.<br />
It was the weakest quarter for the Walt<br />
Disney Company, who still exceeded many<br />
analysts' estimates and rose 63 percent over<br />
last year's first quarter results to earn $333<br />
million in profit, with the help of "Ransom,"<br />
subsidiary Miramax's "The English Patient"<br />
and the home video release of "Toy Story."<br />
Time Warner Inc. posted $35 million in profit<br />
despite its heavy debt. Viacom Inc. showed a<br />
net loss of $ 1 8.7 mi II ion, brought down by the<br />
Blockbuster Entertainment unit and a less than<br />
blockbuster performance from Paramount,<br />
which showed a cash flow decline of 25<br />
percent. Seagram Co.'s corporate earnings for<br />
the quarter more than doubled, posting $27<br />
million in profits despite the fact that<br />
Universal's hit "Liar, Liar" was released too<br />
late in the quarter to help, though it will<br />
certainly boost next quarter's profits.<br />
Among exhibitors, first quarter profits were<br />
well up from last year which is due, insiders<br />
say, to the industry becoming a 12-month<br />
business instead of a seasonal one. Regal<br />
Cinemas Inc. posted a $8.5 million profit, up<br />
85 percent from last year. AMC Entertainment<br />
Inc.'s earnings were up 1 7 percent to $8.2<br />
million. Cineplex Odeon Corp. showed $2.1<br />
million profits against last year's $7.2 million<br />
in losses. Cinemark USA Inc.'s first quarter<br />
profits more than doubled from last year's<br />
$2.5 million up to $5.1 million, thanks in part<br />
to the addition of just over 220 screens added<br />
last year.<br />
GIANT-SCREEN GIANTS SETTLE<br />
OUT OF COURT<br />
Large-format companies, Imax and<br />
Showscan ceased rattling sabers at each other<br />
in May when they agreed to settled all<br />
litigation<br />
between them, one month before the first<br />
lawsuit was scheduled to begin. The settlement,<br />
which remains undisclosed, is not expected<br />
to have a financial effect on either<br />
company. The string of lawsuits first began in<br />
February 1996 when Imax filed suit against<br />
Showscan, charging copyright infringement<br />
over similarities between Showscan's<br />
Showmax and Imax's own large-format camera<br />
and projection systems.<br />
Showscan, in turn, filed their own complaint<br />
against Imax for violation of Federal<br />
anti-trust laws. Then again this February,<br />
Showscan filed suit in U.S. District Court,<br />
seeking to have the trademark of Imax Corp.<br />
canceled because "Imax" had become a generic<br />
term. Showscan's newly appointed<br />
CEO, Dennis Pope, was said to be instrumental<br />
in negotiating the settlement between the<br />
two large-format companies.<br />
POLYGRAM'S GAME FOR A NEW<br />
DISTRIBUTION COMPANY<br />
They've been working on the move for<br />
years, but finally. Polygram Filmed Entertainment<br />
unveiled a new film distribution company.<br />
Polygram Filmed Entertainment<br />
Distribution, that would work alongside PFE's<br />
Gramercy Pictures to release motion pictures.<br />
Andy Fogelson was named president of the<br />
new unit by PFE president Michael Kuhn.<br />
William Soady has been named president of<br />
distribution and Peter Graves comes in as<br />
president of marketing. Kuhn looks for<br />
Polygram's distribution entity to emulate the<br />
success of such distribution companies as<br />
Miramax or October.<br />
Polygram already distributes its own films in<br />
foreign markets, including France, Australia<br />
and Canada. Company sources say the $900<br />
million in annual revenues from its 400-title<br />
film library should maintain more than enough<br />
financial strength to carry a domestic distribution<br />
division, but industry insiders say it would<br />
take several years of releasing 10-12 wide release<br />
pictures before the new distributor wou Id<br />
have a shot at the majors. Gramercy Pictures,<br />
which released last year's "Fargo," will continue<br />
under president Russell Schwartz as an<br />
autonomous entity. The first release for Polygram<br />
Distribution will be "The Game," a<br />
David Fincher ("Seven") helmed thriller starring<br />
Michael Douglas and Sean Penn.<br />
LEED ON AT TRISTAR AS<br />
COLUMBIA LOSES JOSEPHSON<br />
ExM VP Chris Lee's move up to president<br />
of production at TriStar Pictures makes him<br />
the first Asian American to ever hold that high<br />
a rank at a major studio. As the top executive<br />
at TriStar, Lee is effectively replacing the former<br />
president of TriStar Pictures, Robert Cooper,<br />
who resigned in May after less than a year<br />
on the job.<br />
Lee oversaw "Jerry Maguire" said he will<br />
continue to oversee TriStar's "Godzilla" and<br />
"Starship Troopers" even as he takes on his<br />
new responsibilities. Lee started as a script<br />
reader and worked his way through the ranks.<br />
He was also the executive on "The Fisher<br />
King," "Philadelphia" and "Legends of the<br />
Fall." The installment of Lee ends speculation<br />
that Sony Pictures Entertainment was planning<br />
to merge Columbia and TriStar into one<br />
entity, since SPE president and COO John<br />
Calley had already integrated the story and<br />
business affairs units into one entity.<br />
Insiders say Calley never got along with<br />
Cooper, who was brought in by former SPE<br />
head Mark Canton to TriStar last summer from<br />
HBO Pictures. When Canton left last year and<br />
Calley was appointed in November, Cooper<br />
became frustrated with Galley's very handson<br />
approach that didn't allow Cooper to operate<br />
autonomously. Rumors say Cooper may<br />
land at PolyGram or DreamWorks.<br />
Meanwhile, Columbia Pictures president<br />
of production Barry Josephson, who was rumored<br />
to be a likely candidate to replace<br />
Cooper, will leave before his contract is up<br />
October 1 . He may end up with a producing<br />
deal at Sony. His position will not be filled, as<br />
Columbia Pictures president Amy Pascal will<br />
take over Josephson's responsibilities. Josephson<br />
was considered one of the last executives<br />
with strong ties to the former Canton regime,<br />
as he was the first hire by Canton. Josephson<br />
was responsible for overseeing such big-budget<br />
action films as "Bad Boys," Money Train,"<br />
"Anaconda," The Devil's Own" as well as this<br />
month's "Men In Black" and "Air Force One."<br />
UNIVERSAL'S BACK TO THE BANK<br />
Universal Studios Inc. recently sealed a<br />
$1.1 billion, biggest-deal-of-its-kind, threeyear<br />
film financing agreement with Citibank<br />
j<br />
(Citicorp Securities), the very financial institu- !<br />
tion that structured a similar $1<br />
billion deal<br />
last year with 20th Century Fox. The money<br />
will go to financing 1 2-20 films per year (up<br />
to 60 films overall). Since the financing facility<br />
will be an "off-balance sheet" for Universal,<br />
the debt won't show up on parent company<br />
Seagram Co. Ltd.'s balance sheet.<br />
Universal is just one of many major studios<br />
looking for ways to pay for the high cost of<br />
filmmaking without having to delve into the<br />
pockets of its parent company. The off-balance-sheet<br />
financing uses the anticipated<br />
value of the future films, packaged together,<br />
as a kind of bond or stock offering. The bank(s)<br />
or investors buy into units of the entire group<br />
of films rather than any one film. This way the<br />
studio doesn't have to go to the parent company<br />
but still gets to make movies, and the<br />
investors share in the film's profits but don't<br />
need to put all their eggs in one film basket.<br />
The off-balance-sheet financing is becoming<br />
a popular strategy that many studios are looking<br />
into for possible financing. Time Warner Inc.<br />
may line up a similar deal with Chase Securities<br />
to provide funds to its New Line Cinema.<br />
IS POPCORN INCLUDED?—MOVIE<br />
THEATRE ADMISSIONS RISE TO $9<br />
They say if it happens in New York, it's only<br />
a matter of time before it happens everywhere<br />
else in the country. If that's true, then moviegoers<br />
across the U .S. wi 1 saddened to hear<br />
the price of an evening at the movies is on its<br />
way up. The Sony Lincoln Square multiplex<br />
in New York City recently upped their prices<br />
to an all-time high of nine dollars per ticket,<br />
a cost that is more than twice the national<br />
average for a trip to the silver screen.<br />
Of course. New York is still better off than<br />
Japan, where a movie ticket goes for the<br />
equivalant of $ 1 5, but for American exhibitors<br />
three questions come to mind: Is it a sign of<br />
times to come? How much of that nine smackers<br />
do the exhibitors get to keep? And, most<br />
importantly, for that price, who can afford a<br />
night at the movies? But not all is lost—while<br />
New Yorkers may have to shell out the big<br />
bucks for their trip to "The Lost World," the<br />
price for a movie ticket in America still averages<br />
out to a mere $4.41 .
EXHIBITION PIONEER PASSES AWAY<br />
James Edwards Sr. dies at age 90<br />
Edwards Sr., founder and chairman<br />
James<br />
of the nation's 13th-largest theatre chain,<br />
passed away at his Newport Beach, Calif,<br />
home on April 26, 1997, at the age of 90.<br />
Emblematic of the dynamic personality that<br />
characterized his career, he was launching a<br />
boat into thechannel water behind his Newport<br />
Island home when he was felled by a heart attack.<br />
It all began in 1930. With America in the<br />
Depression, Edwards reopened a bankrupt<br />
moviehouse, the Monterey in Monterey Park, a<br />
town in which he resided near Los Angeles. "I<br />
paid 20 percent of the gross for the lease, which<br />
was pretty stiff," he recalled to BOXOFFICE for<br />
our Edwards 65th anniversary story (Nov. 1995<br />
issue). Always an innovator, Edwards set an<br />
audience conduct code ("We had a choice to<br />
make; keep the kids, or make the theatre a place<br />
that families would enjoy") and built a cry room<br />
for mothers and infants.<br />
The circuit grew; by yearend<br />
1 996, Edwards Theatres<br />
Circuit—now based<br />
in Newport Beach—had<br />
527 screens at 90 sites,<br />
with a year-end 1998<br />
forecast for 750 screens.<br />
"Maybe it was just plain<br />
stubbornness" is how Edwards<br />
explained his suc-<br />
"When [my wife]<br />
cess.<br />
Bernice and I didn't even<br />
have money to buy food,<br />
we kept hanging on. We<br />
both felt the movies were<br />
just the greatest source of<br />
entertainment."<br />
Born November 23,<br />
1 906, in downtown L.A.'s<br />
'T'^-t.<br />
Boyle Heights section, Edwards was raised in<br />
the San Gabriel Valley, attended Alhambra<br />
High and was running his first theatre at age<br />
23. His family was always a key component in<br />
the Edwards equation. Today, four generations<br />
of Edwards are involved in the business. Bernice,<br />
his wife of 64 years, was his partner at<br />
home and at work, and his children now head<br />
the company. Son James Edwards III is president<br />
and chief operating officer; daughter Joan<br />
Edwards Randolph is senior executive vice<br />
president and chief financial officer; another<br />
daughter, Carole Ann Ruoff, is assistant treasurer;<br />
grandson Don Barton is vice president<br />
and general sales manager; and great-grandson<br />
Brian Barton checks theatre operations.<br />
"This is a family business," says Marcella<br />
Sheldon, James Edwards Sr.'s secretary almost<br />
from day one. (Sheldon joined the company in<br />
1 932; she describes that time this way: "I was<br />
the only employee he had." The company now<br />
has 2,400 staffers.) "He has established a<br />
strong foundation that will live on."<br />
Edwards created his chain based on a philosophy<br />
of making people happy and having<br />
fun doing it. "He stood at the door and greeted<br />
people when they came in, and he asked them<br />
on the way out how they'd liked the picture,"<br />
Sheldon says. But he was also a sawy businessman.<br />
In a move predating the modern multiplex<br />
era, Edwards put two screens into a single theatre<br />
in Alhambra in 1939. "He had a little storeroom<br />
there," Sheldon recalls, and after its<br />
transformation the Alhambra became a "Dual
;<br />
EXHIBITION<br />
BRIEFINGS<br />
CINEMARK'S FIRST BRAZIL SITE<br />
Cinemark International, a subsidiary of<br />
Cinemark USA Inc., opened its first Brazilian<br />
multiplex. The Cinemark 12 Shopping Collnas<br />
in Sao Jose dos Campos opened its doors<br />
in May. Cinemark plans to build a total of 1 70<br />
screens in 1 5 theatres in Brazil by the end of<br />
1998. Newly announced are the Cinemark 1<br />
Tambore in Sao Paulo; the Maxi Shopping 1<br />
in Jundiai; the Novo Shopping 1 5 in Ribeirao<br />
Preto; the Shopping Uberlandia 10 in<br />
Uberlandia; and the Central Plaza 15 in Sao<br />
Paulo. In the Sao Paulo Metropolitan area,<br />
Cinemark is also building the SP Market 1 1<br />
the Santo Andre ABC Plaza 1 0; the Interlagos<br />
10; the Tatuape 8; the Aricanduva Shopping<br />
Leste 14; the Eldorado Jardins 5; and the<br />
Panamby 16; and in Rio de Janeiro, the Barra<br />
da Tijuca 1 2. Several of these theatres will have<br />
stadium seating, which will be a first for Brazil.<br />
EDWARDS TO BUILD<br />
18NEWMEGAPLEXES<br />
Edwards Theatres Circuit Inc., which<br />
opened three new megaplexes in April, has<br />
unvei led plans for construction to begin on 1<br />
new megaplexes in Southern California<br />
within the next 1 2 months. Each will offer DTS,<br />
Dolby and SDDS sound systems; high-back<br />
chairs; stadium-style seating; and loveseats.<br />
Edwards currently operates 560 screens in 89<br />
SoCal locations. The chain is projected to<br />
have 750 screens by the end of 1 998.<br />
MARCUS EXPANDS GROWTH PLAN<br />
Milwaukee-based Marcus Theatres plans<br />
to accelerate its growth plan in Wisconsin,<br />
Illinois and Michigan. "Two years ago we<br />
announced plans to double the size of our<br />
circuit from 200 to 400 screens by the year<br />
2000," says Bruce J. Olson, president of Marcus<br />
Theatres. "After a 32 percent expansion<br />
In our screen count last year, which was far<br />
and away the largest in company history and<br />
the second highest growth rate among the top<br />
40 theatre circuits in the country, we're confidently<br />
raising our goal for the year 2000 to<br />
500 screens." The initial goal of 400 is anticipated<br />
to be met by the end of 1 998. Marcus<br />
currently operates 297 screens in Wisconsin<br />
and Illinois, and has begun retrofittingexisting<br />
theatres with stadium seating.<br />
AMC COLONIZES IN TEXAS<br />
AMC will build a 24-screen, 5,000-seat<br />
megaplex, due to open in December, at the<br />
First Colony Mall in Sugar Land, Texas. Its<br />
"enhanced moviegoing environment" will<br />
offer stadium-style seating with 46-inch spacing<br />
between rows; loveseats with extra-wide<br />
retractable cushion cupholders; and AMC's<br />
exclusive High Impact Theater Systems<br />
(HITS), including Torus compound curved<br />
wall-to-wall screens and SDDS sound systems.<br />
81<br />
SHOWMANDISER PROMOTION OF THE MONTH<br />
Extraterrestrial personages were out in 'force' to promote the re-release of "Star<br />
Wars" at Cortland, N.Y.'s Plaza Theatres. Plaza owner Sam Mitchell of SjM<br />
Entertainment and manager Dave Wayman convinced local businessmen Bill<br />
Cleary and Joe Balas to dress up as Darth Vader and the iarge-craniumed creature<br />
pictured above, respectively, to celebrate the intergalactic festivities. The Force was<br />
truly with the Plaza on opening night, when the theatre sold out every single<br />
showing of the sci-fi classic.<br />
REGAL'S NET INCOME<br />
INCREASES 78 PERCENT<br />
Regal Cinemas president and chief executiveofficer<br />
Michael Campbell announced that<br />
the company's net income increased 78 percent<br />
for the quarter ending April 3, 1997, with<br />
total revenues increasing 40.6 percent. "Regal<br />
had an outstanding start to 1997, producing<br />
financial results for the first quarter than exceed<br />
expectations," says Campbell. "In addition<br />
to the continued substantial expansion of<br />
screens in operation and increased operating<br />
efficiencies, our results benefitted from a<br />
strong slate of films, which generated record<br />
first quarter results for the industry. "Campbell<br />
adds that Regal's screen count grew 26.6<br />
percent to 1 ,325 screensat 1 59 locations from<br />
1 ,047 in 1 35 locations at the same time last<br />
year.<br />
Regal recently announced several new upcoming<br />
builds, including a 22-plex in<br />
Warrington, Pa.; a 16-plex in Willoughby,<br />
Ohio; a 1 2-plex in Hampton, Va.; an 1 8-plex<br />
in Henrietta, N.Y.; and an 8-plex in Morganville,<br />
N.J.<br />
LOEWS OPENS 1 8-PLEX<br />
IN STAFFORD, TEXAS<br />
Loews Theatres (formerly Sony) has opened<br />
an all-stadium seating 1 8-plex, the Loews<br />
FountainsTheatre, in Stafford, Texas. Referred<br />
to by Loews as a "modern-day movie palace,"<br />
the Loews Fountain combines the grandeur of<br />
"golden era" moviehouses with the latest in<br />
technologies and amenities. The theatre<br />
showcases the Loews "Star" design, featuring<br />
a huge art deco-styled lobby with a dramatic<br />
arched glass atrium ceiling. Each auditorium<br />
will range from 200 to 700 seats, with total<br />
seating for 4,800. The Fountain will anchor<br />
Stafford's Fountains On The Lake retail center,<br />
located on Fountain Lake Drive.<br />
CINEPLEX BREAKS GROUND<br />
ON CHICAGO PLEXES<br />
Toronto-based Cineplex Odeon and its<br />
Chicago-based development Inner City Entertainment<br />
broke ground on the first of three<br />
new multiplexes to be located in Chicago's<br />
inner-city communities. The theatres mark the<br />
continuation of Cineplex's plans to build<br />
state-of-the-art complexes in urban areas<br />
across the United States. "(We're makingj a<br />
pledge to not only bring entertainment to the<br />
community, but also to provide employment<br />
for its residents," says Allen Karp, president<br />
and CEO of Cineplex. Over 400 permanent<br />
and part-time jobs will be available through<br />
the three developments. All three sites will<br />
open in late November.<br />
CENTURY BITES INTO<br />
ORANGE MARKET<br />
Century Theatres, headquartered in San<br />
Francisco, has broken ground in on its Stadium<br />
Promenade 25 in Orange, Calif. The<br />
multiplex will anchor a 1 79,000-square-foot<br />
retail entertainment center developed by<br />
Syufy Enterprises (Century's parent company).<br />
The theatre will be all-stadium seating, with<br />
the latest in sound and presentation technologies.<br />
Its architectural character is described<br />
as being reminiscent of the art deco style of<br />
the '30s and '40s, with dramatic lighting and<br />
tall vertical palm trees gracing the facade. The<br />
Stadium Promenade is slated for a Thanksgiving<br />
opening.
7<br />
—<br />
—<br />
GOODRICH: BAY CITY ROLLERS<br />
Goodrich Quality Theaters Inc., which<br />
operates 136 screens in Michigan, Indiana<br />
and Illinois, will add two screens to the Bay<br />
City 6 Theatre located in Grand Rapids,<br />
MIch.'s Bay City Mall. According to Carrie<br />
Suntken, Goodrich's marketing manager,<br />
the theatre is being expanded due to an<br />
increasing demand for more first-run films.<br />
"With the expansion, we will bring an even<br />
greater opportunity for the Bay City area to<br />
see hit films at a convenient location," says<br />
Suntken. The Bay City 8 is scheduled to<br />
re-open this fall. Other Goodrich theatres<br />
currently being built include the Kalamazoo<br />
10 in Oshtemo, Mich.; the Portage<br />
9 in Portage, Ind.; and the<br />
Kendall 10 in Oswego, III,<br />
MUVICO GOES TO TOWN<br />
WITH RENOVATIONS<br />
Muvico Town Center, located<br />
in Boca Raton, Fla., has reopened<br />
after undergoing major<br />
renovations. Thechanges include<br />
a brand new facade, lobby, concessions<br />
stand, state-of-the-art<br />
boxoffice, and new restrooms.<br />
The re-openi ng weekend celebrations<br />
included live music in the<br />
lobby and face painting and balloon art for<br />
kids. Also recently renovated was Muvico's<br />
Hialeah 14, which received a new art deco<br />
facade, as well as upgrades throughout the<br />
lobby area. Ft. Lauderdale-based Muvico<br />
has 61 screens throughout Florida, with 1 1<br />
screens being built in the Southeastern United<br />
States, the Caribbean and South America.<br />
ONE BILLION PEOPLE DISCOVER<br />
"HIDDEN CITY"<br />
An estimated one billion people will see<br />
"Hidden City," a two-minute trailer that its<br />
producers hope will promote awareness and<br />
inspire action to protect the world's coral<br />
reefs. The trailer premiered at the AMC Century<br />
14 in Los Angeles, and will be shown<br />
on more than 5,000 screens in the U.S. and<br />
Canada. The trailer was produced by Earth<br />
Communications Office (ECO), a non-profit<br />
coalition of organizations and individuals<br />
within the entertainment industry working<br />
'together to promote environmental awareness<br />
and responsible action. Kodak was one<br />
of ECO's initial sponsors in 1 991 when they<br />
created their first environmental awareness<br />
trailer, "Wonderful World," and since then<br />
Kodak has donated all of the film each year<br />
to produce thousands of prints.<br />
SHOWMINDER<br />
Remember to save the following dates:<br />
Cinema Expo, June 29-July 2, RAl, Amsterdam.<br />
Call 21 2-246-6460. ..Mid-Atlantic<br />
NATO Seminar-Reunion, July 10-11, Harbor<br />
Court Hotel, Baltimore, Md. Call (757)<br />
722-5275. .Australian Movie Convention,<br />
Aug. 1 3-1 6, Royal Pines Resort, Cold Coast,<br />
Australia. Call 011-617-33-56-5671...<br />
ShowSouth, Aug. 19-20, Callaway Gardens<br />
and Resort, Pine Mountain, Ga. Call (770)<br />
455-8988... ShowEast, Oct. 20-23, Trump<br />
Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, N.J. Call 21 2-246-<br />
6460... CineAsia, Dec. 3-5, Singapore International<br />
Convention and Exhibition Centre.<br />
Call 212-246-6460.<br />
Q&A<br />
DREAMWORKS<br />
DATABASE ANALYZES<br />
PLAY PATTERNS<br />
entertainment industry moguls Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenbergand David<br />
WithCeffen at the helm, it's no wonder that DreamWorks is already known for being<br />
a studio that pushes the envelope, even before it's released its first film (which<br />
will be "The Peacemaker" this September). Mark Christiansen, who beads up DreamWorks'<br />
distribution operations, tells <strong>Boxoffice</strong> about the company's latest innovation: a computer<br />
program that can instantly analyze how a genre of film performs in a given region, state, city<br />
or theatre.<br />
BoxoFFrcE: Describe the electronic delivery system that you're involved<br />
with pertaining to boxoffice figures.<br />
MARK CHRISTIANSEN: We do receive electronic boxoffice feeds—<br />
everyone does, of their own numbers, from EDI. It's much easier to sort<br />
through the data when it's on a computer as opposed to when it's on a<br />
couple hundred pages of paper. The electronic delivery of the figures is<br />
not a new technology. We have put in some new systems which use that<br />
electronic feed much more than anyone's used before.<br />
<strong>Boxoffice</strong>: Can you tell me about the system?<br />
CHRISTIANSEN: It's a system (that DreamWorks designed] which<br />
allows the salespeople to use historical data to see how theatres play<br />
certain types of films. So you can look up and see how a particular theatre<br />
plays action films, or how they play animated films, so that you can make<br />
a decision as to which theatre you might want to play on a particular kind<br />
of film you have for sale.<br />
<strong>Boxoffice</strong>: Regarding the small mom-and-pop theatres that may not<br />
have great clout or draw, do you make any provisions for them?<br />
CHRISTIANSEN: This [program] does show what the theatre can do dollar-wise, but we<br />
don't look at it that way on a particular genre. It shows how a theatre performs percentage-wise.<br />
So whether we're looking at a very high-grossing theatre or a very low-grossing theatre, it will<br />
still show whether that theatre tends to over-perform [or under-perform] for its own level on<br />
a particular genre. So if it's a guy who generally grosses $1 ,000 a week, but when he plays<br />
animated films, he grosses $2,000 a week, it'll show that this guy's over-performing on<br />
animated film by 100 percent.<br />
<strong>Boxoffice</strong>: Is this an example of how DreamWorks plans to re-invent industry standards?<br />
CHRISTIANSEN: (Laughs] I don't think we're trying to re-invent industry standards. Historically,<br />
the distribution companies all had local branches, and in each local branch, the local<br />
branch manager knew about the theatres. He'd been to the theatres, he knew the people who<br />
owned the theatres, he—he or she—knew how that particular theatre might pert'orm on a given<br />
product. Now, we only have two offices. We have New York and Los Angeles. And we may<br />
not have anyone in this office who's ever been to Billings, Montana. So what we're trying to<br />
do is to find a way to get an insight into markets that we don't [otherwise] have, because we<br />
don't have someone who's physically in that area to go see that theatre. We're trying to give<br />
ourselves more information about a market, so that we can target our movies to the theatres<br />
that it makes the most sense for them to play. And this is something that's good for both the<br />
distributor and the exhibitor. It certainly doesn't make sense for an exhibitor to play films that<br />
don't tend to pert'orm well in their theatre. And conversely, it doesn't help us to place our film<br />
into a theatre that will under-perform on a product if there's another theatre available that<br />
tends to over-perform on the product.<br />
<strong>Boxoffice</strong>: What are some of the other innovations that you're involved with?<br />
CHRISTIANSEN: DreamWorks was envisioned from the very beginning as a company that<br />
would make maximum use of all new technologies, and that goes from production to<br />
distribution to accounting—anything you want to look at within DreamWorks. We're definitely<br />
trying to use the latest technology to push forward what's currently being done.<br />
<strong>Boxoffice</strong>: What are some other things DreamWorks does differently as a studio?<br />
CHRISTIANSEN:There's a genuine teamwork philosophy at DreamWorks, and I would say<br />
that the boundaries between departments are less defined at DreamWorks than they are at<br />
some other companies.<br />
<strong>Boxoffice</strong>: There aren't official job titles at DreamWorks. What is that meant to convey?<br />
CHRISTIANSEN: What it's meant to convey is that anyone within this company can have<br />
something to say, and it shouldn't matter what their rank is within the company. That shouldn't<br />
dictate how much weight we give to a particular idea. Where I've seen that really come into<br />
play is when you're in a meeting, anyone at that meeting can put an idea out on the table, and<br />
since they are not a senior vice president or a director or a manager—they don't have a title<br />
no one says, "Well, I think we should really pay attention to that, because that person has a<br />
high rank," or "That person is an assistant—we don't care what they have to say."<br />
<strong>Boxoffice</strong>: And it's not confusing?<br />
CHRISTIANSEN: No, I don't think it's confusing at all. The way that we say what jobs we<br />
have is that we define what we do. So I don't have a title, but when anyone asks me what I<br />
do, I say I'm the head of operations for distribution.<br />
<strong>Boxoffice</strong>: What would you say is your main focus at present?<br />
CHRISTIANSEN: We're trying to put together a good system to support the sales department<br />
in their efforts to get the DreamWorks films out into the market. Christine James<br />
Iiilv 1007 in7
INTERNATIONAL NEWS BRIEFS<br />
EUROVIEWS<br />
European News Notes by Melissa Morrison<br />
LEAD STORY: ITALY'S QUALITY QUOTAS<br />
ROME—Two major Italian movie funders, Mediaset and RAI, have announced<br />
plans to up their respective budgets for film production. Mediaset, the media group<br />
of business kingpin (and former Italian Prime Minister) Silvio Berlusconi, said that it<br />
will dedicate 10 percent of its advertising revenues to boosting its own film and TV<br />
production. The announcement by one of Italy's most powerful private media enterprises<br />
is welcome news in a country where film production is suffering from the<br />
withdrawal of traditional state subsidies. In 1995, production fell to a postwar low of<br />
75 films, totaling investments worth $153.5 million. Mediaset's contribution is expected<br />
to total $150 million annually, about two-fifths of which would goto cinema<br />
productions. The announcement could pave the way for similar commitments from<br />
the private sector, which is regarded as the Italian industry's savior, and was welcomed<br />
by the country's deputy prime minister, Walter Veltroni. Veltroni is regarded<br />
as a cinema supporter who wants to boost private investment with tax breaks as a<br />
replacement for government subsidies. Mediaset's announcement comes as the Italian<br />
Parliament considers a law that would require national TV networks to allot 30<br />
percent of their production and acquisition budgets for European movies and programs.<br />
Mediaset's Managing Director Carlo Bernasconi criticized government-imposed<br />
quotas, saying they would drive down the quality of productions. State<br />
broadcaster RAi announced a few weeks later that it would increase its budget for the<br />
production of films and TV programs, tipping the balance of its resources away from<br />
the acquisition of outside productions. A spokesman said the broadcaster would do<br />
so with the intention of replacing American fare with Italian and European programs.<br />
Like Mediaset's proclamation, RAI's announcement was also seen as an attempt by<br />
a media company to avoid government controls by setting its own guidelines.<br />
POLYGRAM GRABS LOAN, CARLTON REORGANIZES<br />
CANNES—There were deals aplenty at the recent Cannes Film<br />
Festival as it' s considered the place for companies to announce their<br />
latest goings-on. In an agreement that marks a first for the European<br />
Investment Bank (EIB), PolyGram has been granted an $80 million<br />
loan to partially finance films produced under the PolyGram Filmed<br />
Entertainment label. According to EIB's statement, the financed<br />
films will be "targeted to the general-interest and family entertainment<br />
market" and will be lensed primarily in the European Union.<br />
It is the first loan of its kind to the film indu.stry . Brian Unwin, EIB<br />
president, said the aid was to promote Europe's entertainment<br />
mdustry and "enhance its international competitiveness." Poly-<br />
Gram recently scored big with the Oscar-winning "Fargo." Upcoming<br />
titles include "Welcome to Sarajevo" and the next Coen<br />
brothers' film, "The Big Lebowski."<br />
Meanwhile, Carlton Film Distributors (CFD), which was formeriy<br />
Rank Film Distributors (RED) before Carlton Communications<br />
paid out $ 107 million for the distribution arm, cut back a third<br />
of its staff—some 20 jobs off the roster. George Helyer, CFD' s new<br />
managing director, who used to be the number two man at RED,<br />
said he was happv with the changes. Insiders say Carlton Communications<br />
is now looking to acquire Rank's Pinewood Studios.<br />
GROWTH SPURTS<br />
BUDAPEST—Cinema-expansion news from opposite sides of<br />
the continent: Hungary's lead as the former East Bloc country with<br />
the most multiplexes widens with the announcement that major<br />
distributor/exhibitor Budapest Film plans two more like its pioneering<br />
Corvin cinema. A new, private offshoot of the formerly<br />
state-owned company has been set up to attract foreign investment<br />
to finance the new complexes. Budapest<br />
Film invested $3.6 million<br />
into the Corvin last September,<br />
converting an existing theatre from<br />
1,100 seats to 1,500 and outfitting<br />
it with six screens and Dolby<br />
sound. As a result, admissions in<br />
the Hungarian capital have risen 25<br />
percent since 1995 to 125,000. The<br />
Corvin was the first of a string of<br />
multiplexes, including one by Intercom<br />
(the country's largest distributor),<br />
Australia's Village<br />
Roadshow and Canada's Cineplex<br />
Odeon. The latter two companies<br />
have announced plans to build additional<br />
cinemas in the country.<br />
(Budapest Film itself will undergo<br />
a transformation: In January, its<br />
distribution wing, which is municipally<br />
owned, will become a<br />
wholly private company.)<br />
Over in London, Virgin Cinemas<br />
has announced it will accelerate its<br />
expansion plans in 1997, devoting<br />
$54.9 million to fixing up and<br />
building new theatres, rather than<br />
the $31 million it had originally<br />
intended to spend. The change was<br />
inspired by an especially good<br />
1996, in which the company reported a 90 percent increase in<br />
operating profits, for a total of $21.5 million. Virgin plans to build<br />
20 new multiplexes by 2000.<br />
CLEAN CARS AND DIRTY DEALINGS<br />
ST. PETERSBURG—Victor Sergeyev, the new head of renowned<br />
Russian studio Lenfilm, is trying to scrub up business by<br />
launching (of all things) a chain of car washes, while stunning the<br />
country with his film about government corruption. The car-wash<br />
business is meant to restore income to the studio, which hit its<br />
financial and creative nadir last year, producing a single film. State<br />
funding has been slashed, and Lenfilm' s production services for<br />
foreign productions (the bread-and-butter of post-communist studios)<br />
have been usurped by such foreign competitors as the Czech<br />
Republic's Barrandov Studios. Lenfilm will build 20 car-wash<br />
machines on St. Petersburg's outskirts, and should attract a lot of<br />
business since the city's governor announced that driving a dirty<br />
car within the city would now be against the law. The State Auto<br />
DO YOU HAVE AN EXHIBITION OR FEATURE<br />
FILM RELATED NEWS ITEM ABOUT THE «<br />
EUROPEAN MARKET? M<br />
CONTACT MELISSA MORRISON IN CARE OF THE<br />
PRAGUE POST AT: NA PORIC1 12,<br />
115 30 PRAGUE 1 , CZECH REPUBLIC<br />
email: tomeUs@bohem-net.cz
iiiiv. igg?<br />
ifiQ<br />
Inspectorate, GAI, will receive a portion of<br />
the profits in return for its officers directing<br />
dirty cars to the machines. The studio hopes<br />
to earn $2 million annually—same as its<br />
current budget—from the side business, for<br />
which it took out a $3 million loan. Some<br />
would argue that Russia's government<br />
should devote itself to cleaning up its politicians<br />
rather than its cars. Sergeyev's justreleased<br />
film "Schizophrenia" draws a<br />
startlingly bleak picture of the new Russia<br />
with its story of a former KGB officer who<br />
carries out hits on prominent figures. The<br />
film's veracity has been ensured by its main<br />
consultant, Alexander Korzhakov, himself<br />
a former KGB officer as well as President<br />
Boris Yeltsin's former bodyguard. The plot<br />
is reportedly based on a true account by a<br />
Russian mafia godfather.<br />
SAVED BY THE BELL<br />
MADRID—Spain is another European<br />
country grappling with the threat of reduced<br />
government funding for film productions.<br />
Most recently, the Culture Ministry narrowed<br />
the subsidies available to movies by<br />
requiring that a film generate at least<br />
$350,000 in boxoffice receipts before it can<br />
qualify for a subsidy, up 67 percent from the<br />
former requirement. The plan also lowers<br />
the ceiling for subsidies, which can compose<br />
no more than one-third of a film's<br />
budget, from $ 1 .4 million to a little over $ 1<br />
million.<br />
Some good news, however: The<br />
country's telecom behemoth, Telefonica, is<br />
considering investing in local productions<br />
as a way of smoothing the film sectors'<br />
opposition to the perceived competition of<br />
digital TV, which should be launched in<br />
Spain by the summer. Telefonica, which is<br />
a semi-public company, has had discussions<br />
with producer Andres Vincente<br />
Gomez's Lola Films, as well as other companies.<br />
Telefonica's representative in the<br />
talks is producer Pedro Perez, a former head<br />
of the Spanish producers federation,<br />
FAPAE. According to Telefonica, the<br />
telecom would create a financing and sales<br />
operation similar to that operated by the<br />
media group Prisa. And on the wholly private<br />
end of the spectrum, at least one production<br />
and financing company, Sogetel,<br />
has pumped up its commitment to films. So<br />
far this year, Sogetel has co-production<br />
plans with six different entities, as well as a<br />
commitment from broadcaster Tele 5 to<br />
fund three of its films in the next two years.<br />
SHORT TAKE<br />
HAMBURG—Ten European countries<br />
will band together to promote their films<br />
around Europe, an example of lightweights<br />
and middleweights teaming up to battle a<br />
champion heavyweight—America. Film<br />
export federations from the United Kingdom,<br />
Austria, Germany, France, Switzerland,<br />
the Flanders half of Belgium, the<br />
Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and Italy<br />
have establishecl the European Film Promotion.<br />
The organization will be based in<br />
Hamburg and its board will consist of president<br />
Claudia Landsberger of Holland Film,<br />
Bruno Barthemy of Unifrance, and Christian<br />
Dorsch of the German Export Union.<br />
The union seeks to promote members' films<br />
collectively at international festivals.<br />
Q&A:<br />
ANICA'S ALBERTO<br />
FIORETTI ON<br />
ITALIAN CINEMA<br />
Italy's ANICA (National Association for the Cinematography and Audiovisual<br />
Industry) has a challenge tougher than a two-day-old biscotti<br />
ahead of it.<br />
The trade association for movie producers and distributors,<br />
as well as others in the audiovisual industry, is facing one of the bleakest<br />
periods for Italian cinema. Production in 7 995 reached a postwar low of 75<br />
films. Although that number improved by 24 films in 1 996, domestic films<br />
got only 20 percent of Italy's market. Abroad, the figures are even worse.<br />
Italian exports are below 2 percent elsewhere in Europe and even lower in<br />
the United States, according to a 1996 study. The slashing of government<br />
funds for promotion abroad is one reason. Others say that, except for the<br />
occasional "11 Postino, " the Italian industry hasn 't returned to the days when<br />
lira rained down upon the glory of Federico Fellini and Michelangelo<br />
Antonioni. Alberto Fioretti, ANICA's foreign-department representative,<br />
discusses what his organization intends to do about it.<br />
That's why we are<br />
now discussing a<br />
joint promotion<br />
between Italy and<br />
France. That could he<br />
a good idea, because<br />
in some countries<br />
if you go alone,<br />
you are lost.<br />
not the minister for<br />
<strong>Boxoffice</strong>: How is ANICA dealing with Italian cinema's low period?<br />
ALBERTO FIORETTI: ANICA works with the government department for<br />
movies and discusses from the point of view of the producer how to improve the new<br />
low. As you know, we have some problems selling Italian films abroad, because, as<br />
everywhere, the Americans are powerful in distribution. So we try to improve<br />
distribution abroad. Our minister<br />
now is<br />
money, he's the minister for the<br />
culture, Mr. (Walter) Veltroni,<br />
and he's starting a new formula<br />
for promoting Italian film<br />
abroad. That's why we are now<br />
discussing a joint promotion between<br />
Italy and France. That<br />
could be a good idea, because in<br />
some countries if you go alone,<br />
you are lost.<br />
<strong>Boxoffice</strong>: You say the<br />
American distribution machine<br />
is the reason Italian<br />
films have trouble with distribution<br />
abroad?<br />
FIORETTI: They make a lot<br />
of good pictures, and the people<br />
are used to the American style.<br />
So every country—like France,<br />
like us. like Germany—finds<br />
some difficulties in promoting<br />
and distributing film in foreign<br />
countries. Even in markets where we're usually successful, like South America<br />
[because of similarities in language], we have some problems now, because even<br />
these countries are used to American films.<br />
<strong>Boxoffice</strong>: How else do you plan to improve distribution abroad?<br />
FIORETTI: We .still continue to attend all the festivals—Beriin. Cannes. Moscow—and<br />
make a couple of Italian promotions. Maybe we have to use more media<br />
promotion, to do something in television, to improve the forum for promotion.<br />
<strong>Boxoffice</strong>: Italian film has a good reputation in the United States. What<br />
caused the decline of popularity of Italian films in the United States and<br />
elsewhere?<br />
FIORETTI: I read something in the States where they say there is no more Fellini.<br />
But that's not true. The problem is to educate the audience to go to see an Italian film.<br />
Maybe there is a chance, because the people are grow ing tired of the usual American<br />
film with the violence. I don't say that all the American pictures are like that, becau.se<br />
many are very good, but the people now maybe would like to go see more European<br />
film. That's important also for the country identity, the cultural identity.<br />
<strong>Boxoffice</strong>: How Mould you characterize Italian cinema right now?<br />
FIORETTI: From the cultural point of view, it is good. It starts again in a new<br />
direction. The number of films is down from before. Before we made 100, 150<br />
features. Now we are making 65 or 70 features. So the quantity is down, but the qualitv<br />
is good. The last success is "II Ciclone" [directed by Leonardo Pieraccioni]. which<br />
made probably 50 billion lira in our state.<br />
^n
The Leader<br />
in<br />
Exhibit Freight Logistics<br />
vUBITIQA/<br />
International • Import<br />
^^ui^^<br />
Accommodations<br />
Services<br />
Travel
s<br />
INTERNATIONAL NEWS BRIEFS<br />
PACIFIC OVERTURES<br />
NOTES FROM THE PACIFIC RIM by Susan Lambert<br />
LEAD STORY:<br />
FUNDING AND OTHER (NARROWLY AVOIDED) CATASTROPHES<br />
SYDNEY—^The Australian film industr)' breathed a collective sigh of relief when the new<br />
federal budget was unveiled in May and. despite rumors of impending cuts, the funding for film<br />
held strong. The budget for the 1997-1998 fiscal year allocates AU$1 15 million (S89.7 million)<br />
for the film and television production industry which is under current subsidy levels of AUS 1 40<br />
million (US$109 million), but the majority of the cuts affect television and not film subsidies.<br />
Concern over potential budget cuts was so high that the Australian film industry was fighting<br />
back well before the budget was due. A group of Australia's key industry leaders and top talent<br />
wrote a letter to Prime Mmister John Howard in April to lobby in support of funding for the film<br />
industry. Signatories to the letter included notable actors, actresses, producers and directors as<br />
well as representatives from the directors, writers, editors, composers and cinematography guilds.<br />
Then a delegation, which included director Gillian Armstrong, actress Judy Davis and producer<br />
Jan Chapman, among others, met with Sen. Richard Alston, federal arts minister, to lobby for<br />
support of the industry.<br />
The lobbying seemed to do its job. Australia's main funding agency. Film Finance Corp., will<br />
maintain a budget of AU$48 million (US$37.4 million) until 2001 . Outgoing FFC chief executive<br />
John Morris was pleased with the stability four years of committed funding would bring. The<br />
Australian Film Commission will receive AU$1 1.5 million and Film Australia, a documentary<br />
producer, will receive a guaranteed AU$5 million per year until 1999. when the government hopes<br />
to privatize the organization.<br />
Meanwhile, exhibition in the land down under is also holding strong. Village Roadshow<br />
upgraded its popular Frankston, Victoria fourplex to an eight-screen theatre for a cost of AU$6<br />
million (US$4.7 million). Competitor Hoyts Cinemas opened an eight-screen complex in<br />
Booragoon, near Perth, on June 17. and announced a 12-screen (to be expanded to 16 screens) build<br />
in Wettierill Park (the western district of Sydney), which Hoyts expects to open in July of 1998.<br />
<strong>Boxoffice</strong> revenues seem to be<br />
on the rise, at least in China's two<br />
largest markets: Shanghai reported<br />
$31 million in boxoffice revenues<br />
last year, and Beijing reported receipts<br />
totalling $14 million. And<br />
the domestic film industry has received<br />
a great shot in the arm with<br />
the success of "Days Without the<br />
Hero," a drama about a martyred<br />
soldier, which earned record<br />
boxoffice (4.4 million yuan/<br />
US$530,000) for a domestic fihn.<br />
Meanwhile, Shanghai-based<br />
consortium Smile—a partnership<br />
with local Chinese investors, Kuala<br />
Lumpur-based South Malaysian<br />
Industries and UCI—opened its<br />
first mulitplex in Chuongquing.<br />
The five-screen, 1,218-seat, stateof-the-art<br />
complex premiered with<br />
"Dante's Peak" and features a<br />
Showscan Dynamic Motion Simulator.<br />
And this month, the venture<br />
expects to open a six-screen, 1,500<br />
seat cinema in Wuhan. Next up will<br />
be the refurbishing of a Huxi entertainment<br />
center in Shanghai.<br />
MOVIES R US<br />
TOKYO—Businessman Den Fujita (chairman of toy retailer<br />
Toys R Us Japan) has teamed up with United Cinemas International<br />
(UCI—the Paramount/Universal international joint venture) in a<br />
partnership to develop and operate multiplex theatres in Japan. The<br />
first project is scheduled to open next February in Sapporo, Japan'<br />
northernmost major city. The 12-screen, 2,987-seat Sapporo Factory<br />
Cinema will be built around an existing screen that was part of<br />
an IMAX theatre. UCI and Fujita (who also holds a 50 percent stake<br />
in Blockbuster Japan's video store chain and 2,()00 Japanese<br />
McDonald's franchises) are reportedly each investing $2 billion<br />
yen ($16.7 million). The Fujita/UCI venture hopes to develop 20<br />
multiplexes with 200 screens in Japan over the next five years.<br />
Separate from the Fujita deal, UCI (one of four foreign multiplex<br />
companies operating in Japan) has plans to open a 2,456-seat<br />
nine-plex in Kanazawa in September. They have had record attendance<br />
at Otsu in western Japan where they opened a multiplex last<br />
November. The boom of multiplex building in Japan is expected to<br />
boost the number of screens from approximately 1 ,800 to well over<br />
2,000 by the year 2000.<br />
CHINA MOVING INTO MODERN AGE<br />
SHANGHAI—Jiangsu-based Yangtze Film Co. recently acquired<br />
rights for computer ticketing software from film importer<br />
China Film for 300,000 yuan (US$37,500). The move ushers<br />
theatres in China's Jiangsu province into the modem-day. The<br />
system will be installed in 50 theatres by the end of this month, with<br />
plans for 100 theatres to be outfitted by the end of 1997. The<br />
ticketing software will enable moviegoers to purchase tickets for<br />
shows at any of the networked theatres and allow accurate and<br />
timely boxoffice revenue figures—which is often difficult to come<br />
by in China where underreporting to avoid taxation is rampant.<br />
HARLEY'S HIGH HOPES FOR NEW ZEALAND FILM<br />
WELLINGTON—Ruth Hariey, the new CEO of the New Zealand<br />
Film Commission, says New Zealand, which produced such<br />
filmmakers as Jane Campion ("The Piano"), Peter Jackson ("Heavenly<br />
Creatures") and Lee Tamahori ("Once Were Warriors"),<br />
should try to increase its film output to six titles per year with help<br />
from foreign investments of both money and market endorsements.<br />
The local film industry currently gets about US$6 million annually<br />
in public funding, which is divided up between usually three to four<br />
features. Since the breakaway successes of the early '90s, few New<br />
Zealand films have followed the critical and commercial results of<br />
"The Piano," Heavenly Creatures" and "Once Were Warriors."<br />
Hariey, who was appointed to head New Zealand's chief funding<br />
agency in April, hopes that their two new films at Cannes can help<br />
turn that around: "The Ugly," a thriller about a serial killer by Scott<br />
Reynolds who just completed a second New Zealand feature,<br />
"Heaven" (Miramax is distributing in the United States), and a<br />
twisted twentysomthing comedy, "Topless Women Talk About<br />
Their Lives," by Harry Sinclair. What can also help the local<br />
filmmakers is the good news that New Zealand boxoffice is on the<br />
rise. For the first quarter of '97 (ending April 30), boxoffice results<br />
are reported at NZ$38.7 million (US$26.7 million) which is a 31<br />
percent increase over the same period from last year. 1996 first<br />
quarter results were NZ$29.5 million (US$20 million).<br />
DO YOU HAVE AN EXHIBITION-RELATED NEWS<br />
ITEM ABOUT THE ASIA-PACIFIC MARKET?<br />
E-MAIL SUSAN LAMBERT IN CARE OF<br />
boxoffice@earthlink.net<br />
July, 1997 111
"<br />
,<br />
.<br />
ROBERT L. POTTS ENTERPRISES<br />
n<br />
Over 25 Years<br />
Simple and Proven<br />
Film Handling Equipment<br />
201 E. Sangamon, Ste. 110<br />
Rantoul, IL 61866<br />
217-893-0443<br />
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING<br />
RATES: $1 .00 per word, minimum $25, $15 extra<br />
for box number assignment. Send copy with check<br />
to BoxoFFicE, P.O. Box 25485, Chicago, IL 60625,<br />
at least 60 days prior to publication.<br />
BOX NUMBER ADS: Reply to ads with box numbers<br />
by writing to <strong>Boxoffice</strong>, P.O. Box 25485,<br />
Chicago, IL 60625; put ad box number on letter<br />
and in lower-lett corner of your envelope.<br />
HELP WANTED<br />
Platter Systems<br />
Self-Programming and<br />
Film-Feed Fail-Safe Available<br />
LET THE GOVERNMENT FINANCE your new or existing<br />
small business. Grants/loans to $500,000. Free recorded<br />
message: (707) 448-0201. (RN7)<br />
MANAGER AND MANAGEMENT TRAINEE positions<br />
are available. We are people-oriented and believe that<br />
excellent customer service and state-of-the-art technology<br />
are the keys to success in the movie theatre/swap<br />
meet industry. We offer a wide variety of benefits,<br />
competitive salaries and opportunities for professional<br />
growth. Join our team as we expand in California,<br />
Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and beyond. If you<br />
are looking for growth and opportunity, have the ability<br />
to prepare, monitor and achieve budgetary goals, and<br />
have the enthusiasm and the ability to manage/motivate<br />
people, now is the time to let us hear from you! Theatre/Swap<br />
or other management experience required<br />
and some college helpful. Send your resume and salary<br />
requirements to Century Theatres and Swaps, Attn;<br />
Human Resources—Job Code lutGR1096, 150 Golden<br />
Gate Ave., San Francisco, CA 94102. No faxes or<br />
phone calls please.<br />
\ikr
San<br />
.<br />
FAX<br />
.,<br />
Y..I., inn-T<br />
.<br />
ADVERTISER INDEX<br />
Action Lighting 113<br />
Automaticket/Hurley Screen Corp. . 91<br />
Caddy Products 70<br />
Christie Incorporated C-2<br />
Cinema Cleaning Systems 83<br />
Cinema Consultants & Services ... 69<br />
Cinema Film Systems Inc 33<br />
Cinema Supply Co 93<br />
Cinevision Corp 61<br />
Cy Young Industries Inc 95<br />
Deep Vision 3-D 105<br />
Dolby Laboratories Inc 15<br />
EIMS Inc 27<br />
Electronic Creations Inc 113<br />
Equipment, Etc 105<br />
Glassform 91<br />
Gold Medal Products Co 29<br />
Hadden Theatre Supply Co 73<br />
International Cinema Equip. Co. ... 53<br />
JBL Professional 5<br />
Kinetronics Corp. (USA) 95<br />
Kneisley Electric Co 79<br />
Largo Construction Inc 79<br />
Lavi Industries 23<br />
Manutech 77<br />
Maroevich, O'Shea & Coghlan Ins. . 93<br />
Mars Theatre Mgmt. Systems 47<br />
National Cinema Service Corp 76<br />
National Cinema Supply Corp 39<br />
National Ticket Co 73<br />
ORC Lighting Products 37<br />
OSRAM SYLVANIA 25<br />
Odell's 86<br />
Odyssey Products Inc 55<br />
Peavey Electronics Corp 21<br />
Permlight Technology 63<br />
Pike Productions 42<br />
QSC Audio Products Inc C-3<br />
Ready Theatre Systems 91<br />
Ricos Manufacturing Co 17<br />
Robert L. Potts Enterprises 112<br />
Sega GameWorks L.L.C 3<br />
Shovi/South 71<br />
Smart Theatre Systems 7, 43, 45<br />
Soundfold International 83<br />
Stein Industries Inc C-4<br />
Strong International 59<br />
TSM Trade Show Marketing 49<br />
TWI 110<br />
Ultra-Stereo Labs Inc 31<br />
Unique Screen Ad Productions .... 9<br />
Willming Reams Animation Inc. ... 87<br />
Windjammer Barefoot Cruises .... 93<br />
soundheads, new two-year warranty—in stock. Westar<br />
precision projector parts for Westar, Century, Westrex,<br />
Cinecita, RCA, Simplex or Monee projectors. Free catalog.<br />
Trades accepted. International Cinema Equipment.<br />
Internet: tittpV/www.iceco.com. Ptione (305) 573-7339;<br />
fax (305) 573-8101. Email: ICECO@aol.com.<br />
EQUIPMENT WANTED<br />
VINTAGE TUBE TYPE AMPS, woofers, drivers, tioms,<br />
parts, from Western Electric, Westrex, Altec. Jensen, JBL,<br />
EV, Tannoy, Mcintosh, Marantz. Phone David at (818)<br />
441 -3942, P.O. Box 80371 , IVIarino. CA 91 1 18-8371<br />
WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE: We will purchase Century<br />
projectors or soundheads, new or old, complete or incomplete,<br />
for cash. Also interested in XL and SH-1000. Call<br />
(502) 499-0050. Fax (502) 499-0052, Hadden Theatre<br />
Supply Co., attn. Louis.<br />
We will buy or trade for used/new equipment on any<br />
projector/soundhead/platter/lamphouse/console/speake<br />
rs/lens and concession equipment. We can remove or<br />
pick up anywhere in the U.S. or overseas. Call us at (303)<br />
298-8077 or fax (303) 296-4080. Tankersley Enterprises,<br />
P.O. Box 2039, Denver, CO 80201.<br />
WE WILL PURCHASE used theatre equipment. Consignments,<br />
outright purchases, trades, what have you? There<br />
is only one INTERNATIONAL CINEIVIA EQUIPMENT<br />
COMPANY at one location in the USA. International Cinema<br />
Equipment Co., (305) 573-7339, fax (305) 573-81 01<br />
Email ICECO@aol.com.<br />
THEATRES FOR SALE/LEASE<br />
COUNT YOUR MONEY ON THE BEACH!! Award-winning<br />
Florida Gulf Coast theatre now for sale. Serving an<br />
affluent, year-round, niche market, theatre has virtually no<br />
competition. An area landmark for over 50 years, located<br />
on valuable beach area property, theatre is a mix of classic<br />
architecture and backstage modernization. Call orfax now<br />
for fact sheet. Ask for Ms. Cruz at (813) 360-6697, or fax<br />
(813)360-5154.<br />
San Diego. CA. Well-established discount theatre. Twin<br />
screens. Contact Jill Thompson, CCIM, (619) 621 -9052.<br />
THEATRES WANTED<br />
Several of our clients are seeking to buy or lease multiscreen<br />
theatres in the eastern U.S. Call toll free: Theatre<br />
Confections Inc.. (888) 271-0858.<br />
DRIVE-IN CONSTRUCTION<br />
DRIVE-IN SCREEN TOWERS Since 1945 Selby Products,<br />
Inc., P.O. Box 267. Richfield. Ohio 44286 (216)<br />
659-6631 .<br />
800-647-6224.<br />
SCREEN TOWERS INTERNATIONAL New, used, transplanted,<br />
complete tower service. Box 399, Rogers, TX<br />
76569. Phone: 800-642-3591.<br />
THEATRE SEATING<br />
8,000 USED IRWIN Citations from $25, American Stellar<br />
M35s from $20, American highback deluxe rockers from<br />
$27.50, Wakefield self risers from $20, thousands of<br />
bargains. Photos available. International Cinema Equipment,<br />
(305) 573-7339, fax (305) 573-8101.<br />
"ALL AMERICAN SEATING" by the EXPERTS! Used<br />
seats of quality. Various makes, American Bodiform and<br />
Stellars from $12.50 to $32.50. Inwins from $12.50 to<br />
$30.00. Heywood & Massey rockers from $25.00. Full<br />
rebuilding available. New Hussey chairs from $70.00. All<br />
types theatre projection and sound equipment. New and<br />
used. We ship and install all makes. Try us! We sell no<br />
Junk! TANKERSLEY ENTERPRISES P.O. BOX 2039.<br />
2100 Stout Street, Denver, CO 80201 Phone: 303-298-<br />
8077 Fax: 303-296-4080.<br />
ALLSTATE SEATING is a company that is specializing<br />
in refurtjishing, complete painting, molded foam, tailormade<br />
seat covers, installations, removals. Please call for<br />
pricing and spare parts for all types of theatre seating.<br />
Boston, MA. Phone (61 7) 268-2221 , (617) 268-701 1<br />
"BOOSTER B. SAURUS" Child booster seats. Call Cy<br />
Young Industries Inc. at 800-729-2610.<br />
CHAIRS—NEW & USED. 3000 used chairs in stock,<br />
$7.50 and up. Seat covers, $3.50 and up. Foam pads.<br />
Cupholder annrests. HAYES EQUIP & SUPPLY, P.O.<br />
Box 593866, Orlando, FL 32859. (407) 857-6810.<br />
ON-SITE UPHOLSTERY and replacement covers. Parts<br />
available for many chairs. Our "Bakers Dozen" gives you<br />
13 covers for the cost of 12. Nationwide service. Free<br />
samples made up. Call Complete Industries for pricing.<br />
(800) 252-6837.<br />
SEAT AND BACK COVERS: tvlost fabrics in stock.<br />
Molded cushions. Cy Young Industries, 800-729-2610.<br />
SEATS CLEANED on site, $1.56-$2.36 per seat (coast<br />
to coast). Call (800) 879-231 1 , 24 hours, for brochure and<br />
informatbn. The Carpet Cleaner, P.O. Box 1 54, Osceola,<br />
MO 64776.<br />
USED AUDITORIUM CHAIRS: Choose from a large selection<br />
of different makes and models and colors, American<br />
Stellars and ln«in Citations competitively priced,<br />
shipped and installed. ACOUSTIC SOUND PANELS AND<br />
CUSTOM WALL DRAPERIES available in flameproofed<br />
colors and fabrics, artistic or plain. CINEMA CONSUL-<br />
TANTS & SERVICES INTERNATIONAL, Inc. P.O. Box<br />
9672, Pittsburgh, PA. 15226. Phone (412) 343-3900. Fax<br />
(412)343-2992.<br />
SERVICES<br />
ALTEC, JBL, E.V. SPEAKER RECONING: Factory authorized<br />
service, fast turnaround. We stock diaphragms<br />
for popular theatre drivers. Cardinal Sound & Motion<br />
Picture Systems Inc. Dealer inquiries welcome. (301)<br />
595-8811.<br />
FRONT END INSTALLATION with frames, motors and<br />
masking tracks. Call Cy Young Industries, 800-729-2610.<br />
SOUND/DRAPING FABRICS IN STOCK. All new selection<br />
of fabrics. Installation on brackets available, or sewn<br />
in pleated drapes. Call Cy Young Industries Inc., 800-729-<br />
2610.<br />
DIRECT IMPORTERS MANUFACTURERS<br />
ACTION<br />
TOLL FRtb "^<br />
CANADA & LS.aI<br />
800-248-0076<br />
Response IMo.<br />
: Box Office "97<br />
I<br />
Ticketing & More...<br />
Windows '95 Based<br />
Microsoft Access Database<br />
Concession Sales & Inventory<br />
State Of the Art -Reliable<br />
18 Years Experience<br />
Custom Developnnent<br />
Satisfaction Guaranteed<br />
Electronic Creations, Inc.<br />
, Ph (61 9) 480-1 002 Fax (619) 480-6830<br />
Response No. 203<br />
SOUNDFOLDS & CURTAINS cleaned and fireproofed on<br />
site $.20-$.40 per hung sq. ft. (coast to coast). Call (800)<br />
879-2311, 24 hours, for brochure and information. The<br />
Carpet Cleaner. P.O. Box 154. Osceola, MO 64776.<br />
ULTRAFLAT. REFLECTORS: Why buy new when you<br />
can have it restored? "Hopeless" cases restored to brightriess.<br />
Call your dealer or ULTRAFLAT, 20306 Shennan<br />
Way, Winnetka, CA 91306. (818) 884-0184.<br />
http://www.cris.com~Ultraflt<br />
WE REPAIR AND SUPPORT the most widely used ticketing<br />
and concession systems. Our prices are approximately<br />
50% less than our competitors. Our customers<br />
include 30% of the top 50 circuits and many independents.<br />
Ask about our themial printer service. System Operating<br />
Solutions. Call (800) 434-3098.<br />
"WHILE THE THEATRE SLEEPS" On-site reupholstery.<br />
Top fabrics, molded seat cushions and "State of the Art'<br />
Cy Young cuphoWers. Cy Young Industries, 800-729-2610.<br />
MISCELLANEOUS<br />
8 to 35MM EDUCATIONAL, Adult, Exploitation—all subjects.<br />
Features, shorts. Buy/sell any size collection. Archives,<br />
Box 10672, Oakland, CA 94610. Phone/fax<br />
510-268-0811.<br />
BUYING ACADEMY AWARD OSCARS. We sell, too.<br />
We're a top source for collectors of rare Academy Award<br />
statues—the ultimate Hollywood collector item. Our free<br />
report explains the Oscar market and the investment potential<br />
of this fiekJ. Call (423) 265-5515, or write Jon Warren,<br />
2401 Broad St., Dept. B., Chattanooga, TN 37408.<br />
MOVIE POSTERS BOUGHT AND SOLD, All eras, types<br />
wanted. Paying top dollar or will take on consignment.<br />
Free search service locates posters you want. Sample<br />
catalog $5. Collecting Hollywood, 2401 Broad St., Dept.<br />
B, Chattanooga, TN 37408. Phone (4223) 265-5515 to<br />
discuss your needs.<br />
MOVIE POSTERS WANTED: HIGHEST PRICES PAID<br />
FOR LOBBY CARDS, 1-, 3- AND 6-SHEETS, WINDOW<br />
CARDS, BANNERS, GLASS SLIDES. Dwight Cleveland,<br />
P.O. Box 1 0922, Chicago, IL 6061 0-0922. (312) 525-91 52<br />
or fax (312) 525-2969.<br />
MOVIE POSTERS WANTED! I pay top dollar for vintage<br />
material. John Hazelton. 235 Horton Highway, Mineola,<br />
NY 1 1 501<br />
.<br />
Call toll-free 1 -800-CAGNEY4.<br />
MOVIE POSTERS WANTED: No collection too large or<br />
too small! Immediate cash payments! Top prices for vintage<br />
material! Call toll free: 1 -800-213-8431<br />
WE NEED YOUR HELP!! TOP. (Theatre Operating Procedures)<br />
newsletter. Our goal is to unite, inform, entertain<br />
and educate all theatre management worldwkle. Only with<br />
your help can we make this happen! We need your input on<br />
operation tips, good and bad customer experiences, inspiring<br />
stories, funny stories, why you are proud of your tfieatre,<br />
or any stories related to our profession. Fax it all to our<br />
special 24-hour fax idea hotline: (248) 738-1672. For subscription<br />
informatksn, please fax your name and address to<br />
the number above, or write to T.O.P. Entertainment, 4217<br />
Highland Rd., Suite 188, Waterford, Ml 48238-2165.
IN ANY LANGUAGE, IT'S<br />
KNOWLEBGE YOU CAN USE<br />
BULK RATES AVAILABLE! SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES: CALL<br />
•<br />
/a ~.^l.7.'^T. ^^<br />
KENNIS DIE U KUNT GEBRUIKEN<br />
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QbC Professional Amplifiers supply power<br />
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In fact, QSC Audio is the largest supplier of professional<br />
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industry, Legendary reliabilrty, awesome performance,<br />
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Opiional aaeisay apabitity optimizes amps<br />
ror fc-ompfcotion otscreen channek, protects<br />
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Audiences demand the most powerful<br />
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Coll 714-754-6175 for valuable details,<br />
A tew of the oilier theoter chains teotiiring QSC Power Amplifiers: Allen Theolres, Asso(ioted Theatres,<br />
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The Powef Behind The Pictufes,<br />
Lucasfilm and THX are trademartts cA Lucasfilm. Ltd.<br />
The Powef BeNnd The Ptctures* is a trademark of QSC Audio Products, Inc<br />
"QSC" and the QSC logo are registered with the U.S. Patent Office.<br />
QSC Audio Products, Inc. 1675 MacArlhur Blvd., Costa Mesa. CA 92626-144<br />
PH (714) 754-6175 FAX (714)754-6174 E-mail: into@qscaudio.com<br />
QSC WorldGroup BBS: (800) 656-6003 or (714) 666-7569
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Concession Stands. Box Offices, Popcorn Poppers, Butter Dispensers. Popcorn Warmers,<br />
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V.<br />
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CALL: 516-789-2222 • FAX: 516-789-8888