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No. 3

— 

December. 1997 3 

In 

OPENING CREDITS 

Hail and Farewell... 

order to be a writer, you have to believe in symmetry. Not 

necessarily that the world functions according to some grand 

organizing principle; there are as many fine writers whose 

work seeks to disprove that concept as there are those who 

choose to support it. But to write almost anything, you have to 

believe that conclusions can be drawn from the grand human 

chaos of living, that decipherable meanings are out there, waiting 

to be unearthed, and that things of both shadow and substance 

can be set down and communicated to others in some combination 

of hieroglyphs and type. The very act of setting pen to paper 

is, in its own way. ultimately an act of faith. 

Here at BOXOFFICE, we have arrived at a moment of carefijlly 

scripted symmetry—a moment involving not just the people 

who work here, but every one of you who read the 

information, opinions and verbal daydreams we provide. This 

issue marks the end of our 1997 production calendar, but it is 

also a bittersweet ending of another sort: my final issue as 

BOXOFFICE magazine's Editor-in-Chief. 

Conflicted as my own emotions are about leaving this wonderful 

organization and the even more wonderful people with 

whom I've shared the greatest creative adventure of my life so 

far, i t has been dawni ng on me for some time that other endeavors 

might be calling to me. It may have occurred to those of you who 

have lived through my four years as Editor-in-Chief that this 

magazine was in the hands of a fairly restless soul. My time at 

the helm has been one of incremental but quite dramatic change 

in the look, layout, format and content of this publication 

changes that were not the woric of a single individual, but of an 

entire staff that was willing to give its all to make BOXOFFICE 

what, for good or ill, was my view of the very best it could be. 

My vision of BOXOFFICE reached fruition about 1 8 months 

ago, when, thanks to the heroic efforts of Managing Editor Kim 

Williamson and Senior Editor Christine James, BOXOFFICE 

began what for me was an unprecedented and still uninterrupted 

mn of great issues—issues against which even an inveterate 

nitpicker like Ray Greene found it hard to lodge a single complaint. 

Once upon a time, I had a vision of where I'd like to see 

BOXOFFICE go to. Beginning last year, we arrived at my 

version of that destination, and so my primary efforts since then 

have been directed more at consolidating that achievement than 

at finding new aesthetic mountains to climb. 

I 

understand enough about the very talented people I woik 

with to know that their personal inclinations might easily have 

steered them toward destinations that are different and perhaps 

even superior to the one I chose to go to. Running 

BOXOFFICE has been an amazing learning experience for me 

on almost every front, and one of the things I've learned about 

myself is that consolidating gains—which is a necessary aspect 

of any executive position—does not seem to hold my interest in 

the very long run. I would appear to be less fascinated by the 

view from my idea of the summit than I was by the original climb. 

Put those two perceptions together and another perception 

slowly becomes bom: that my creative energies, which have 

been so bound up in BOXOFFICE all these years, have come to 

a moment of transition, and that the most intriguing and inventive 

possibility left to me might be to know when to stand aside. 

There could be no better hands to pass BOXOFFICE into than 

those of Kim and Christine, who came to us as excellent journalists, 

and then blossomed before my eyes into two of the finest 

writers and editors I have ever had the honor to know. I've 

worked hard during my time at BOXOFFICE, but that said, it's 

easy to overvalue the contributions of the man who comes first 

on the masthead. While I'm proud of so many of the things it 

was granted to me to do here, hiring Kim and Christine onto the 

BOXOFFICE staff was to me the most significant contribution 

I made during my BOXOFFICE career. 

Two other members of our full-time staff were co-workers I 

inherited from my predecessor: our National Advertising Director, 

Bob Vale, and his assistant, Linda Andrade. The Linda I will 

always remember was not only an amazingly competent worker 

able to solve a million crises with style, humor and aplomb, but 

a sort of unofficial muse to the rest of us—a source of constant 

encouragement and inspiration, a collaborator, a co-conspirator, 

a comrade in arms. 

Bob Vale, on the other hand, is the other half of the most 

sustained professional collaboration I have ever enjoyed— my 

mentor, when necessary; my adversary, where appropriate; and, 

underlying everything else, my dear and very close friend. Of 

the million precious memories I will take away with me, it occurs 

to me as I write this that the sound of Bob's booming laughter 

as he joked and jibed his way through a thousand thousand sales 

calls may be the most precious one of all. 

Four more people helped make my time at BOXOFFICE 

memorable: Morrie Schlozman, our gentlemanly and still-vital 

connection to this magazine's glorious past; Owen Campbell, ad 

consultant extraordinaire; Dan Johnson, that pleasant, laughing 

voice on the phone, holding the fort at our home office. And no 

farewell would be complete without acknowledging the enormous 

support of our publisher Bob Dietmeier, who was unstinting 

in his acknowledgement of the things that went right, and 

unwavering in his willingness to let us attempt things a less 

generous publisher might have balked at. The security of his 

commitment to this magazine and those who work for it was the 

connective thread of my time in the Big Chair. For that, Mr. D., 

and for your faith in me, you will always have my deepest thanks. 

My byline will continue to appear in BOXOFFICE from time 

to time, but an era, such as it was, has herewith come to a close. 

And so I take my seat in the bleachers with the rest of you, 

rejoining you on the other side of that mysterious frontier that 

separates the reader from the read. December is upon us. A 

moment of closure, but also of new possibilities. And while I 

may be personally moving toward other journeys, and am excited 

by all the prospects that movement represents, I leave 

BOXOFFICE with a heart almost too full for expression; I go 

forward, but with a fond, amazed, and permanent backward 

glance. 

It has been a privilege serving all of you. 

JÛ^J^-^J^ 

Ray Greene

RnxnmfT 

I 

I Love 

Love 

DECEMBER, 1997 VOL. 133 NO. 12 

ASIAN REPORT/CINEASIA 

UNQUOTE: One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to 

lose sight of the shore for a very long f/me.—ANDRE GIDE 

DOUBLE FEATURE: ASIAN REPORT/CINEASIA 

BOXOFFICE looks at emerging Asian marl

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The Sound of Yesteryear, 

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HOLLYWOOD 

UPDATES 

Jodie Foster's Egg Pictures has announced 

a slate of 14 pictures in various stages of 

development. Currently in production is 

"The Baby Dance," based on a play by )ane 

Anderson about an infertile couple who consider 

buying a baby from a poor family. 

Anderson is writing the screenplay and directing; 

the film will star Stockard Channing, 

Laura Dern and Peter Reigert. Also in the 

works at Egg is the Richard Loncrainehelmed 

"Jonathan Wild," a crime drama set 

in the 17th century that's being scripted by 

Don Macpherson ("The Avengers"); "Waking 

the Dead," a romantic drama starring 

Billy Crudup ("Without Limits"); "Keely and 

Du," based on a play by Jane Martin with the 

adaptation being written by Emmy-winning 

writer Theresa Rebeck (TV's "NYPD Blue") 

for director Betty Thomas ("Private Parts"); 

and the Al Pacino starrer "Investigation," 

which isbasedon a Paul Schrader screenplay 

that's an adaptation of the 1970 Oscar-winning 

foreign language film "Investigation of 

a Citizen Above Suspicion." To date. Egg has 

produced two films: 1 994's "Nell," in which 

Foster starred, and 1995's "Home for the 

Holidays," which she directed. Egg has a 

production deal with Polygram Filmed Entertainment; 

most of Egg's films will be distributed 

either through Gramercy or Polygram 

Films, the company's newly estabMshed 

wide-release distribution entity. 

Writer/director George Tillman and producer 

Bob Teitel have entered a two-year, 

first-look production deal with Fox 2000, 

which released the duo's current hit "Soul 

Food," the comedy/drama that cooked up 

surprisingly hot boxoffice receipts of $11 

million on its opening weekend. Tillman and 

Teitel will have an office on the Fox lot and 

will be developing projects for Tillman to 

write and helm and Teitel to produce. They 

may also become involved in producing 

other people's films. 

"Scream" scribe Kevin Williamson has expanded 

his previously announced pact with 

Miramax/Dimension to a multi-million-dollar 

film and television production deal that 

extends into the next century. The first project 

under the arrangement will be "Killing 

Mrs. Tingle," about a girl who will do anything 

to be valedictorian of her class. Williamson 

wrote the script and will make his 

directorial debut on the comedic horror/ 

thriller. Williamson's most recent scripting 

credit is the Columbia thriller "I Know What 

You Did Last Summer," and his much-anticipated 

follow-up to "Scream," whose 

title will be either "Scream 2" or "Scream 

Again," is due in theatres this month. 

In a related item, Miramax recently announced 

that a staggering marketing budget 

of $15-20 million has been allotted to promote 

the sequel to last year's surprise blockbuster, 

which grossed $103 million 

6 BoxomcE 

domestically. That figure is more than 

double the amount spent to promote the 

original. Talks are underway with several 

fast-food chains, with Taco Bell emerging 

at press time as the most likely promotional 

partner. 

"Scream 2" stars some of today's hippest 

talent, including Neve Campbell, 

Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Liev 

Schreiber, Sarah Michelle Cellar and Jerry 

O'Connell. The biggest mystery isn't who's 

the killer, but which of these hot young 

stars' characters will survive to headline 

"Scream 3," which Williamson is currently 

writing. 

John Cusack, currently starring in Warner 

Bros.' "Midnight in the Garden of Good and 

Evil," has signed a first-look deal with Castle 

Rock Entertainment to write, produce and 

star in films. The recent Buena Vista hit 

"Grosse Pointe Blank," which starred and 

was scripted by Cusack, was the first film 

from NewCrime Productions, which Cusack 

runs with Steven Pink and D.V. DeVincentis. 

(The partners in Crime are currently working 

with Caravan on a sequel to "Grosse 

Pointe Blank," the black comedy about a 

hit man who questions his career choice 

and decides to attend his high school 

reunion to get a perspective on life. Cusack's 

character, Martin Q. Blank, may choose a 

job as a corporate downsizer—eliminating 

people the non-prosecutable way— in the 

follow-up film). New Crime's new deal with 

Castle Rock reunites Cusack with Castle 

Rock topper Rob Reiner, the director who 

gave Cusack his first starring role in 1985's 

"The Sure Thing." 

Jane Campion, who won an Oscar for 

scripting "The Piano" (which she also directed), 

has inked a three-year, first-look 

pact with Polygram-based Propaganda 

Films. She'll write and produce projects for 

Propaganda through her production company. 

Big Shell Films, and one of her two 

next directorial efforts will be for Propaganda 

as well. Campion last helmed 

Gramercy's Nicole Kidman starrer "The 

Portrait of a Lady." Propaganda's recent 

features include Polygram's "The Game" 

and Buena Vista's "A Thousand Acres." 

London-based Heyday Films has 

signed scripter Darren Bailie to a threepicture 

deal for Warner Bros. Heyday 

head David Heyman, a former production 

executive at Warner, has a first-look 

deal with his former employer, under 

which Heyman is charged with seeking 

emerging British talent for the studio. The 

deal with Bailie is the first under the pact; 

acquired was the as-yet-unproduced 

scribe's spy thriller set in London, as well 

as the rights to two other screenplays. 

Mark Waters, writer/director of 

Miramax's black comedy "The House of 

Yes," has entered into a first-look deal with 

the studio. "Miramax has been extremely 

supportive with 'The House of Yes,' and I 

look forward to working on my next project 

with them," says Waters. That project will 

be "Strike," a modern-day version of 

Aristophanes' comedic anti-war themed 

play "Lysistrata" set in a small-town high 

school. 

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 

Ray Greene 

MANAGING EDITOR 

Kim Williamson 

SENIOR EDITOR 

Christine James 

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT 

Linda Andrade 

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS 

Karen Achenbacti 

Alex Albanese 

John Allen 

Bridget Byrne 

George T. Chronis 

Pat Kramer 

Ann Kwinn 

Wade Major 

Joseph McBride 

Michael Payne 

Lea Russo 

Shiomo Schwartzberg 

Jon Alon Walz 

EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT 

Melissa Morrison 

BOXOFFICE ONLINE WEBSITE ADDRESS: 

http://www.boxoffice.com 

email: boxoffice@earthlink.net 

FOUNDER 

Ben Shiyen 

PUBLISHER 

Bob Dietmeier (773) 338-7007 

NATIONAL ADVERTISING DIRECTOR 

Robert M. Vale (213) 465- 1 186 

ADVERTISING CONSULTANT 

Morris Schlozman (816)942-5877 

EAST COAST ADVERTISING REP. 

Mitchell J. Hall (212)877-6667 

WEST COAST ADVERTISING REP. 

Gwen Campbell (310) 792-9011 

BUSINESS MANAGER 

Dan Johnson (773) 338-7007 

CIRCULATION DIRECTOR 

Chuck Taylor (312)922-9326 

OFFICES 

Editorial and Publishing Headquarters: 

6640 Sunset Blvd., Suite 100, Hollywood, CA 

90028-7159(213)465-1 186, FAX: (213)465-5049 

Corporate: Mailing Address: P.O. Box 25485, 

Chicago, IL 60625 (773) 338-7007 

ift The 

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Circulation Inquiries: 

BOXOFFICE Data Center 

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Chicago, IL 60607 

(312)922-9326 

FAX: (312) 922-7209

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HOLLYWOOD 

REPORT 

CAMERON DIAZ 

"Bad" Girl 

MATTHEW BRODERICK 

Wins "Election" 

Bright LIgliU, Big Piggy 

"THE RUNAWAY |URY" This 

adaptation by Gregory Poirier 

("Rosewood") of John Grisham's 

novel, to be directed by Joel 

Schumacher ("A Time To Kill") 

will star Ed Norton ("The People 

Vs. Larry Flynt") as a man who 

manipulates his fellow jurors to 

vote his way on a precedent-setting 

tobacco liability ruling. 

Gwyneth Paltrow ("Great Expectations") 

also stars. (Warner) 

"PLUNKETT & MACLEANE" 

Jonny Lee Miller ("Trainspotting") 

and Robert Carlyle ("The 

Full Monty") star as highwaymen 

with hearts of gold in this 

comedy set in the 1700s. Liv 

Tyler ("That Thing You Do!") 

co-stars. Jake Scott, son of Ridley 

Scott, makes his directorial 

debut. (Distribution is to be set) 

"THE OTHER SISTER" 

Diane 

Keaton ("The First Wives Club") 

will star in this drama as the 

mother of a mildly mentally-retarded 

teenaged daughter who 

falls in love with a similarly 

handicapped classmate. Garry 

Marshall (helmer of "Frankie 

and Johnny") directs, co-scripts 

and produces. (Buena Vista) 

"I WOKE UP EARLY THE DAY 

I DIED" This film, based on a 

long-lost script by Ed Wood of 

"Plan 9 From Outer Space" 

fame, will star an eclectic ensemble 

cast including Billy 

Zane ("The Phantom"), Christina 

Ricci ("The Ice Storm"), 

Rosanna Arquette ("Deceiver"), 

Amanda Plummer ("Pulp Fiction"), 

Eartha Kitt ("Ernest 

Scared Stupid"), John Ritter 

("Sling Blade") and Sandra 

Bernhard ("Unzipped"). (Distribution 

is to be set) 

"IN DREAMS" Robert Downey 

Jr. will play a serial killer who 

kidnaps the daughter of a psychic 

woman. The mother then 

begins having dreams about the 

killerand must prove her visions 

are true if she is to save her 

child. Aidan Quinn and Annette 

Bening also star. (DreamWorks) 

"EUGENE ONEGIN" 

Ralph 

Fiennes will star and his sister 

Martha will make her directorial 

debut In this adaptation of the 

classic Russian verse novel of 

the same name. Liv Tyler ("Inventing 

the Abbotts") also stars. 

(Distribution is to be set) 

"VERY BAD THINGS" Christian 

Slater ("Julian Po") will play 

a groom whose life takes a drastic 

turn the day before his wedding, 

when bachelor party 

brouhaha results in the accidental 

death of a prostitute. Cameron 

Diaz ("My Best Friend's Wedding") 

plays the bride-to-be. In 

talks to join the cast are Jeanne 

Tripplehorn ("'Til There Was 

You"), Robert Patrick ("Terminator 

2"), Jeremy Piven ("Crosse 

Pointe Blank") and Jon Favreau 

("Swingers"). Peter Berg, a star 

of TV's "Chicago Hope," scripts 

and makes his directing debut. 

(Distribution is to be set) 

"ONE TRUE THING" Renee 

Zellweger ("Jerry Maguire") and 

Meryl Streep ("Marvin's Room") 

will star in this story, based on 

Anna Quindlen's novel, of an 

on-the-rise journalist (Zellweger) 

who comes home to help 

her father care for her terminally 

(Streep) . The daughter 

is later accused of giving her 

mother a lethal dose of morphine. 

(Universal) 

"RONIN" A Ronin is a Japanese 

term foramaster samurai. Inthis 

action drama, a group of former 

intelligence agents of different 

nationalities are recruited to 

carry out a dangerous mission. 

Robert De Niro ("CopLand") is 

in talks to star for director John 

Frankenheimer ("The Manchurian 

Candidate"). (UA) 

"MADELEINE" Ludwig Bemelman's 

classic children's books 

about the adventures of a Parisian 

schoolgirl will be brought to the 

bigscreen by helmer Daisy von 

Scherler Mayer ("Party Girl"). 

Frances McDormand ("Fargo") 

will play the headmistress of 

Madeleine's school. Nigel 

Hawthorne ("The Madness of 

King George") is in talks to play 

Lord Covington. (TriStar) 

"BROKEDOWN PALACE" Jonathan 

Kaplan ("Bad Girls") will 

direct this drama about two 

teenage girls ("The Rainmaker's" 

Claire Danes and "Cold Comfort 

Farm's" Kate Beckinsale) who 

take a trip to Thailand and are 

wrongfully sentenced to 33 years 

in prison for smuggling. (Fox) 

"AMERICAN NEUROTIC" 

Hugh Grant ("Nine Months") 

plays a man who seeks the help 

of a psychiatrist to cure him of 

his inability to commit to one 

woman. When he finally meets 

the monogamy-inspiring woman 

of his dreams, he discovers with 

dismay she's his psychiatrist's 

daughter. (Columbia) 

"ELECTION" This dark high 

school comedy will star Matthew 

Broderick ("Addicted to 

Love") as a teacher who hates 

the overachieving top candidate 

for school president ("Freeway's" 

Reese Witherspoon) and grooms 

another student to run against 

her. Alexander Payne ("Citizen 

Ruth") directs. (Paramount) 

"THE INTERPRETER" Robin 

Williams and helmer Chris Columbus, 

who worked together 

on the 1993 hit "Mrs. Doubtfire," 

will reteam in this comedy 

in which Williams will play an 

underqualified 

interpreter who 

inadvertently incites mayhem 

by mistranslating international 

negotiations of global importance. 

(Fox) 

"BOMBSHELL" Leonardo 

DiCaprio ("Titanic") is set to 

play Theodore Hall in this adaptation 

of Joseph Albright and 

Marcia Kunstel's book, which 

chronicles the events leading up 

to the Cold War. Hall was the 

genius teen biophysicist who 

was the youngest member of the 

team that developed the atomic 

bomb. He passed on highly 

classified information to the Soviet 

Union, purportedly because 

he felt the balance of 

power would decrease the 

likeliness of the weapon being 

used. (Distribution is to be set) 

"MATRIX" Keanu Reeves 

("Chain Reaction") and Lawrence 

Fishburne ("Event Horizon") 

will star in this thriller 

about a society enslaved by an 

alien raceof computers that use 

humans as an energy source. An 

underground group of hackers 

strive to combat technology. 

Andy and Larry Wachowski 

("Bound") will direct. (Warner) 

"BABE IN METROPOLIS" 

James Cromwell ("Star Trek: 

First Contact") will reprise his 

Oscar-nominated role as 

Farmer Hoggett in this sequel, in 

which everyone's favorite pig 

tries to save the farm from foreclosure 

by travelling to the 

States to vie for the cash prize in 

an American sheepherding 

competition. George Miller returns 

to helm. (Universal) 

ET CETERA: Patricia 

Arquette 

will be the point in a love triangle 

in the Woody Harrelson and 

Billy Crudup starrer "HiLo 

Country". ..Danny DeVito is in 

talks to direct and star in 

Universal's action/comedy 

"Mystery Men," about a group 

of second-rate superheroes with 

not-so-amazing powers. ..In the 

Fox comedy "High Boys and 

Low Boys," Chris Rock plays a 

street-smart guy on the run from 

the mob. He tries to hide out by 

getting a job with an antique 

dealer (Rupert Everett) but he 

finds that the curio world is even 

more crooked than the mob.

! 

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" 

Cover 

FAT 

CITY 

Asian Film's Reigning Top 

Gun CHOW YUN-FAT Blasts 

His Way into Hollywood 

With His English-Language 

"REPLACEMENT KILLERS" 

He 

by Shiomo Schwartzberg 

may be one of the biggest stars in the 

world, but Asian movie icon Chow 

Yun-Fat has yet to cracic the lucrative 

NcHth American market. That's set to change 

as he prepares for the imminent release of his 

first American action film, "The Replacement 

Killers," in which he stars as a conflicted hit 

man opposite Chinese-speaking American actress 

Mira Sorvino. 

Upon first meeting the handsome 42-yearold, 

one can't help but be struck by his movie 

star glamour. Wearing a white linen jacket, 

black pants and a silk tie, the urbane, polite and 

soft-spoken Chow prompts comparison 

to the cinematic royalty of olden days; 

the Cary Grant references that Chow's 

role in the John Woo-directed "Once A 

Thief evoked seem fully justified up 

close. Andjudging by the reaction ofthe 

crowds in the theatre where he appeared 

at The Toronto International Film Festival, 

Chow certainly has a star's gift of 

exciting people merely by his presence—although 

such reactions still surprise 

him in a hemisphere where he feels 

he doesn't really have that much audience 

cachet. 

"I'm glad that they give me a lot of 

support. I never think about the North 

American (public), but the people who 

have seen me in John [Woo's) films, they give 

me a lot of respect. I'm stunned when I walk 

into the theatre." 

CTiow Yun-Fat showed up in Toronto to 

present a retrospective showing of one of his 

favorite film.s—the fomiativc one, in fact, that 

inspired him to go him into acting. Thanks to 

his Woo collaborations—which include "The 

Killer," "A Better Tomorrow" and "Hard 

Boiled" the three Hong Kong productions that 

made Woo's name in 

America—Chow is 

thought of in the West as mainly an action star. 

But if "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" 

isn't a title you'd expect Chow to choose as 

one of his all-time favorites, you probably 

don't know the man and his background all 

that well. 

"Actually," says Chow, "my career started 

in 1974. 1 started out by working for TV stations 

for 14 years, a long contract." As a television 

actor, he played doctor/lawyer/dramatic 

roles, mostly in Hong Kong soap operas, on 

which he never picked up a gun. "I never, never 

*ln Hollywood, a lot of 

the audience and scriptwriters 

will stick to very 

physical or very logical 

ideas— they say, you 

cannot do that, "^ 

did action-hero types, like in 'A Better 

Tomonpow' or 'The Killer,' until in 1986 when 

I met John W(x) and made 'ABctter Tomorrow, 

Part One.' But the filmmakers who saw me 

first as a Hong Kong film idol holding two 

guns, Ihcy think of me as the action hero." Will 

he continue to be pegged solely as an action 

star? "It depends on the [performaiKC of! my 

first American movie," he says. "If the movie 

sales aune ixit goixl, then maybe I can do some 

comedy or drama." To prepare for that possibility. 

Chow numbers intense actors like Robert 

De Niro, Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando 

and Nicholas Cage among the performers with 

whom he'd like to co-star. 

The idea of working in Hollywood isn't as 

alien for Chow as one might think. "When I 

was a teenager [in Hong Kong] I saw a lot of 

Hollywood movies like 'The Longest Day,' 

'The Great Escape.' Mostly, I liked the war 

movies." Hong Kong barely had a movie industry 

then, a state of affairs that lasted until 

the 1970s, with the arrival of Bruce Lee and 

his Kung Fu movies. "After Bruce Lee, 

the whole market changed," Chow says. 

The Lee connection is an interesting 

one, since Lee was arguably the first 

Asian superstar to attract an American 

audience. Now Chow stands poised for 

his own pass at American staixkim, and 

he recognizes just how much is riding 

on his first American film. Though it 

feanires some strong action elements, 

"The Replacement Killers" promises to 

offer Chow a chance to display some of 

his considerable acting range: As a hit 

man who refuses to carry out a contract 

killing on a young child and ends up 

being hunted himself Chow will get the 

chance to play the kind of complex 

"good bad man" that made his Hong Kong 

films for Wtx) .such an intemational sensation. 

"The Replacement Killers" is. Chow admits, 

"absolutely" a test case for his chances of 

making it in the U.S. and Hollywtxxl. And he's 

veiy aware that his successor failure in the U.S. 

will impact other Asian actors who want to 

break into the American film industry. "I feel 

a little bit of pressure." he says. "I'm glad I'm 

the first one to take the bullet.

I 

1 across 

" 

npTPmhpr 10Q7 11 

But he also knows he can't really predict 

how "The Replacement Killers" will do at the 

U.S. boxoffice, something he could do in Hong 

Kong, where his name on the marquee pretty 

much guarantees a hit, as it does in all other 

Asian territories. "I do my best," he says. "My 

situation as an actor in foreign productions is 

totally different." 

Chow breaks through in the U.S., he will 

Ifbe following in the footsteps of at least one 

major Hong Kong film personality: his old 

friend Woo, a director who is among the hottest 

in Hollywood on the strength of last summer's 

blockbuster hit "Face/Off' and its predecessor 

"Broken Arrow." Given how close the two 

men are, it seems natural to wonder why Chow 

wasn't featured in those earlier Woo hits. According 

to Chow, Woo would have been taking 

needless risks by using an actor like Chow who 

is little-known in America before Woo himself 

was hilly established in Hollywood. "This is a 

very sensitive political question. Mostly, I have 

to thank John Woo. John Woo brought my 

name to international [attention], so more or 

less, people who know John Woo know me. 

There are always some difficulties about the 

politics of the studios. They won't allow Woo 

[the freedom to choose his cast on] an $80 

milUon budget. He's just a small kid in this 

market." 

Now that he's made his own American film 

debut. Chow has noticed other interesting differences 

between the American production 

system and that of Hong Kong. "Hollywood is 

totally different fk)m the Hong Kong style," 

Chow says. "Our working schedule [on 'The 

Replacement Killers'] was very systematic, 

everything fixed, you cannot change a line 

anytime. In Hong Kong, you shoot 20 hours 

and 40 hours straight. Here, they make sure it's 

12 hours a day. [The Hollywood system] is 

much better, physically, for actors. In Hong 

Kong, you can [be shooting] four or five films, 

all at the same time!" 

Budgetwise, the $28 miUion "Replacement 

Killers" towers over the average $1.2 miUion 

Hong Kong action epic. (Hong Kong budgets 

can go up to $6 miUion "if they belong to the 

Jackie Chan level," adds Chow.) 

In general. Hong Kong actors are far more 

likely to do their own stuntwork than are their 

American counterparts. Chow did attempt to 

do most of his own stunts in 'The Replacement 

Killers:" "More than 80 percent of the time, 1 

tried to do it myself." But unions and the film's 

stunt coordinator often decreed otherwise; 

Chow estimates that he finally got to do only 

about half his stunts in the finished fihn. 

He is basically happy with how he comes 

in 'The Replacement Killers," "except 

my Enghsh. At tte very beginning, I was so 

afraid of the pronunciation, so I took great 

care." For Chow, the trade-off was that concentrating 

on the mechanics of the English 

language occasionally deflected him in his 

search for his character's "anguish" over his 

plight in the film. Co-star Sorvino (who has a 

degree in Chinese culture) helped a lot, especially 

as she and Chow could speak Mandarin 

to each other. "I'm glad that I had the privilege 

to work with her formy first American movie," 

Chow says, "because she never made me feel 

nervous at all. We had fun on the set, we talked 

a lot because sometimes Quentin [Sorvino's 

boyfriend, Quentin Tarantino, an acknowledged 

Chow Yun-Fat fan] would come to the 

set and say hello to everybody." 

Chow's new experiences in the American 

industry do excite him, though he says he could 

hve without the current fixation on a film's first 

Chow insists his relationship with Fuqua was 

rewarding. "He's a very nice man, a very 

talented director. He gave me a lot of freedom 

to influence my character. And 1 

also got involved 

in developing the script. I talked a lot 

to the scriptwriter." Chow took a hands-on 

approach to fleshing out his character, who was 

initially more generic. "More or less, I tried to 

get a sense of this guy, his own [reality as] a 

killer who is from China. His background, very 

SURE AS SHOOTIN': A Woo-like face-off from "Tlie Replacement Killers. 

weekend take at the boxoffice. "I think the 

problem is the [emphasis the] studio will put 

on the numbers, how much you get back from 

the market," he says. And while Hollywood 

may be physically easier for actors, it restricts 

the kind of films they can star in, feels Chow. 

"Hong Kong movies are not about reality, 

we're talking about fantasy. Mostly, in Hollywood, 

a lot of the audience and scriptwriters 

will stick to very physical or very logical 

ideas—they say, 'you cannot do that.' In Hong 

Kong, we're so iiree, we can do a drama with 

action and comedy together, we can do comedy 

with action and romance together, we can 

mix it together But here, action is action, 

romance is romance. Hong Kong movies try 

to attract different kinds of audiences, so they 

put every ingredient in the soup." 

Chow chose the part of the hit man in 'The 

Replacement Killers" because it differed from 

the run-of-the-mill scripts he was being offered 

by Hollywood. "In the last few years, my 

[American] agent and my manger tried to set 

up a lot of different roles for me. But usually a 

lot of studios sent me the same [type of] scripts, 

with me as the gangster of Chinatown, the big 

brother. This is not the way to do it. So fortunately, 

my producer Max Baer proposed a 

different kind of script [which became 'The 

Replacement Killers' ]. I had to do this character—ît 

seemed like a very good role formy first 

American movie." 

Choosing to work with a first-time director 

as he did with Antoine Fuqua on 'The Replacement 

Killers' ' may have seemed risky, but 

clearly, is very Chinese, he's a soldier from 

before his Ufe of crime." 

Unlike most of his Hong Kong roles, in 

'The Replacement Killers," Chow doesn't get 

the girl. "It's not a romance, more of a buddy 

[relationship], no sex scenes, no kissing. It's 

very clean," says Chow with a laugh. 

Depending on the performance of 'The 

Replacement Killers," Chow may next 

star in a new version of "Anna and the 

King" (the drama on which Rodgers and 

Hammerstein's "The King and F' was based) 

or in a Hollywood movie directed by Woo. The 

Woo project is being developed under the tide 

"King's Ransom;" Chow describes it as acaper 

comedy in the vein of Woo's "Once a Thief." 

Recent reports of a declining boxoffice for 

indigenous productions in Hong Kong worry 

him. "The market is dying because the production 

is worse, we don't have a top writer, 

director. We need some new blood, including 

new stars." The home market matters gready 

to Chow because, unlike other Hong Kong 

luminaries such as Woo and director Tsui Hark 

("A Chinese Ghost Story"), both of whom 

have left the territory, Chow has no intention 

of emigrating from Hong Kong now that it has 

returned to Chinese rule. "We still have our 

freedom of speech, the economy is picking up 

faster than under the British, and the filrn 

market is picking up fk)m this summer. I think 

[unless] you make a very serious film that goes 

against the communist party, things will be 

fine."

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MAD" MAN 

BOXOFFICE A/wm Tom Matthews 

Becomes A "City'^-fied Screenwriter 

The 

by Bridget Byrne 

Tom Matthews (center) is flanked by wife Ram 

and producer Arnold Kopelson on the set of "Mad City. 

web page is up," Tom 

Matthews remarks, noting 

one sure sign that "Mad 

City," the movie for which he 

wrote the screenplay, is indeed a 

reality. 

Like many a writer who has 

toiled for years in hopes of seeing 

his credit up there on the silver 

screen, Matthews has often been a 

doubting Thomas. His anxieties 

were compounded by his 

firsthand 

knowledge ofjust how Hollywood 

functions. His insight was 

gleaned from studying movie production 

at film school and then 

working as a publicist, a film critic 

and a film business magazine editor 

In fact, Matthews worked at 

this very publication for six years, 

rising in the ranks from associate 

editor to managing editor before 

leaving BoxomcE in 1991 to 

pursue his screenwriting dreams 

fijll-time. 

Were Matthews still with 

BoxomcE, he might have been 

either reviewing the latest Warner 

Bros, movie or interviewing stars 

like Dustin Hoffman and John 

Travolta or director Costa- 

Gavras. But he escaped the mad 

city of LxK Angeles, so instead 

he's on the phone ftwm his home 

in Wauwatosa, in his native Wisctxisin, 

expressing mild surprise 

that his boyh

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16 BOXOFHCK 

I 

I 

JANUARY 

TRAILERS 

Welcome to our winter of content. 

And what a lot of content there is. 

It's a new year, and it's a new era for exhibitors and 

audiences. During the 1 990s, the studios have begun in 

some earnest to do what theatre folks and theatregoers 

have long wanted: to make the movie business a 12- 

month business. So 1 998 opens with great expectations. 

And, of course, with "Great Expectations," the first 

weekend's only new release. A sign of the times, however, 

the following frames are full of studio and big-indie 

fare. Perhaps too full, or too full unadroitly: Unlike this 

iast November, in which no opening film went head to 

lead with .another new release for the same demographic 

on the same weekend, this month looks more 

contentious. The 1/9 weekend is one example, with 

"Senseless," "Wag the Dog" and "Welcome to Woop 

Woop" each after all or parts of the comedy crowd. 

Seven days later, the thrillers "Fallen" and "Desperate 

Measures" and the action/drama "Hard Rain" all go 

after similar demos in their attempts to maximize returns 

over v^hat for some moviegoers is a three-day weekend 

(Jan. 1 9 being Martin Luther King Day). The 1/23 frame 

seems to be Distaff Days, with the pop-umentary "Spice 

World," romance drama "Courtesan" and romantic 

comedy "Still Breathing" appearing to favor the female 

moviegoer and give the male-trending 1/16 trio a second 

weekend of free play. Then it's the male set that 

returns to the fore at month's close, with actioners "Firestorm" 

and "Deep Rising" going head to head with each 

thriller "Incognito" and detective drama "The Magic Hour." 

Will those qreat expectations be realizedr Well, it 

might not be harmful if this-here month, as in Dickens' 

story, had some sort of guardian angel looking after it. 

aspiring artist Finn Bell 

("Gattaca's" Ethan Hawke), 

whose life is invaded by a dangerous 

convict named Lustig (Robert 

De Niro), the beautiful but icy 

Estella ("The Pallbearer's" 

Gwyneth Paltrow) and an old, 

crazed eccentric, Nora Dinsmoor 

("GT. Jane's" Anne Bancroft). 

Chris Cooper ("Lone Star") and 

Hank Azaria ("The Birdcage") co- 

" 

JANUARY 2 

Great Expectations 

ian novel follows the journey of 

star. Alfonso Cuaron ("A Little 

Princess") directs; Mitch Clazer 

("Three of Hearts") scripts; Art 

Linson ("The Edge") produces. 

(Fox, 12/31 ltd, 1/1 6 wide) 

Exploitips: Last year's big literary 

adaptation— "The Crucible, 

This contemporary retelling of 

Charles Dickens' classic Victor- 

also from Fox— underperformed 

ticket and Oscar expectations, 

and that was with the august Daniel 

Day-Lewis in the lead. Although 

Hawke in comparison 

might recall a certain vice-presidential 

tongue-lashing ("I knew 

Jack Kennedy..."), perhaps his 

teaming with Paltrow and the 

contemporary setting will pull the 

necessary twentysomething 

crowd, especially given that this 

is the week's sole debut. Cuaron 's 

touch was near-perfect directing 

"A Little Princess," though that's 

a salable credit only with the few 

who saw it. Despite the "Great 

Expectations" temporal update, a 

bookstore tie-in 

could aid with 

distaffand collegiate types. 

Dark City 

JANUARY 9 

Originally a Fox project (and 

aka "Dark Empire"), this futuristic 

thriller stars Rufus Sewell ("Cold 

Comfort Farm") as a man who is 

wanted for murders he can't remember. 

He soon learns that his 

memories and his life as he knows 

it (and those of other people's) are 

artificial creations. William Hurt, 

Kiefer Sutherland and Jennifer 

Connelly also star. Alex Proyas 

("The Crow") directs, and he 

scripts with Lem Dobbs ("Kafka") 

and David Coyer ("The Crow: 

City of Angels"); Andrew Mason 

produces. See our June 1997 

issue Sneak Preview. (New Line, 

1/9 on 1,600 screens) 

Exploitips: Previously a summer 

and then fall release, "Dark 

City"—at least for weekend 01— 

ran count on the dependable SF 

crowd, which could be pulled by 

the filmmakers' various "Crow" 

credits, especially Proyas'. Unlike 

its previous dates, which slated it 

against direct genre competitors 

"Kull the Conqueror" and 

"Cattaca," the 1/9 frame gives 

"Dark City" its key demo to itself 

Senseless 

In this Penelope Spheeris ("The 

Little Rascals") comedy, a cashstarved 

collegian ("The 6th 

Man's" Marlon Wayans) works 

four jobs but still can't pay his 

bills. He agrees to be in a university 

medical experiment supposed 

to heighten his senses, 

which it does—but then starts 

causing bouts when one or another 

of his senses fail, leading to 

comic interludes. David Spade 

and Rip Torn co-star. David 

Hoberman and Eric L. Gold produce. 

(Miramax, 1/9 wide) 

Exploitips: This looks to have 

urban audiences to itself and it 

could add to its exclusive mix the 

less demanding among comedy 

audiences (the good-timey type 

who is unlikely to sample, for example, 

the arthouse mirth of 

"Welcome to Woop Woop"), so 

highlight Spheeris' "Wayne's 

World" credit, even Ifa bit dated. 

"Wag the Dog," which has star 

power, could cut into this one's 

mainstream ticket take. 

Wag the Dog 

In this satire, a White House 

adviser (Robert De Niro) and a 

Hollywood producer 

(Dustin 

Hoffman) conspire to stage a war 

in order to take the public's focus 

off the president's scandalous dalliances. 

In their efforts, they fabricate 

a hero—who turns out to be 

a mentally deranged soldier. 

Anne Heche ("Volcano"), Woody 

Harrelson, Denis Leary, Willie 

Nelson and Kirsten Dunst co-star. 

Barry Levinson directs; Hilary 

Henkin ("Romeo Is Bleeding") and 

David Mamet ("The Edge") script; 

Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro 

and Barry Levinson produce. (New 

Line, 1/9 after 1 2/24 NY/LA bow) 

Exploitips: Although this De 

Niro/Levinson ("Sleepers") reteaming 

arrives care of New Line, 

placing the distributor— which 

alsoopens "Dark City "this date— 

in competition with itself, more to 

the point genre- and demo-wise 

are "Senseless" and "Welcome to 

Woop Woop. " Highlight the 

high-profile talent involved with 

this "Canadian Bacon" variant to 

help separate it from the comedy 

pack; unlike the lower-brow 

Miramax release and higherbrow 

Goldwyn, "Wag the Dog" 

could draw both crowds. 

Welcome to Woop Woop 

III ihls ( oiiicdv 

" 

(.ik.i he Hig 

Red") based on a Douglas Kennedy 

novel, an American con 

man ("That Thing You Do!'s"

U':^

exec produces; former Turner Pictures and Columbia 

head Dawn Steel produces with Chuck 

Roven. See photo, p. 16. (Warner, 1/16) 

Exploitips: At one time a possible Arnold 

Schwarzenegger title on the New Line schedule, 

this supernatural thriller seems more in 

the mold of Washington's "Virtuosity" ($24 

mil. domestic) than, say, "The Pelican Brief" 

($101 mil.). But sophomore helmer Hoblit 

made the thinly scripted "Primal fear" play 

larger onscreen and at the ticket counter ($56 

mil.), and the supporting cast here backing up 

the wide-drawing Washington is quite strong. 

Emphasizing the Denzel presence and Hohlit's 

credit could pay decent dividends. 

The Boxer 

A once-promising fighter returns home after spending 1 3 years in a British 

rison, only to find nis city of Belfast now a place full ofhatred and desolation, 

nle returns to the ring, determined to find a way out of the legacy of despair, 

and he rekindles a romance with his former lover ("Breaking the Waves'" Emily 

Watson), who now has both a husband who's himself in prison and a feenaged 

son that she is raising. In a creative reteaming of four "In the Name of the Father" 

principals, Daniel Day-Lewis stars, Jim Sheridan directs, Sheridan scripts with 

Terry George, and Sheridan produces with Arthur Lappin for Hell's Kitchen Prods. 

(Universal, 1 /9/98 wide after 1 2/26 ltd bow) 

Exploitips: The prestige project "In the Name of the Father" pulled just $24 

million for Uni after a 12/93 opening, and that was with Emma Thompson 

aboard. And that was $10 million better than the Sheridan/Day-Lewis "My Left 

Foot" managed with a best-picture Oscar. Although Day-Lewis did draw $74 

million for The Last of the Mohicans, " most likely "The Boxer" is a title an 

exhibitor can book with and for pride, knowing it'll pull select serious audiences. 

By mid-February, when Oscar might come calling with noms, ticket-sales percentages 

will be swinging into exhibitors' favor. 

Desperate Measures 

In this suspense thriller, San Francisco police 

officer Frank Connor ("Night Falls on 

Manhattan's" Andy Garcia) must find a bone 

marrow donor for his dying son. The one 

match is a vicious murderer, Peter McCabe 

("Multiplicity's" Michael Keaton, inachangeof-pace 

role), who has plans of a more nefarious 

nature in mind. When McCabe makes the 

hospital a battleground by trying to use it to 

escape to freedom, Connor must both pursue 

Johnathan Schaech) Is forced to hide out in an 

isolated Australian town named Woop 

Woop. Rod Taylor ("The Time Machine"), 

Noah Taylor ("Shine") and Paul Mercurlo 

("Strictly Ballroom") co-star. Stephan Elliott 

("The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the 

Desert") directs; Michael Thomas (Miramax's 

upcoming "B. Monkey") scripts; Finola 

Dwyer produces. (MGM/Goldwyn, 1/9 ltd) 

Exploitips: Aussie entries have long seemed 

particularly palatable to American audiences 

(e.g., "My Brilliant Career," "Muriel's Wedding"), 

but to attract crossover moviegoers 

here it's playing up the participants' "Shine," 

"Strictly Ballroom" and (especially given the 

genre) "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of 

the Desert" credits that should help make the 

sale. Given the Coldwyn lineage, one might 

expect most mainstreamers to opt for "Senseless" 

or "Wag the Dog" while the more serious-minded 

arthousers try... 

Good Will Hunting 

Matt Damon ("The Rainmaker") stars as 

Will Hunting, a remarkably bright but defiant 

young man from South Boston whose only 

nope to avoid a pending jail sentence is therapist 

Sean McCuIre (Robin Williams, in 

"Dead Poets Society" mold), a former college 

professor with an admiration for Hunting's 

emotional struggles. Stellan Skarsgaard 

("Amistad"), Ben Affleck ("Chasing Amy") and 

Minnie Driver (also in this month's "Hard 

Rain") co-star. Gus Van Sant ("To Die For") 

directs; thespians Matt Damon and Ben 

Affleck also handle scripting chores; Lawrence 

Bender ("Jackie Brown") produces. 

(Miramax, 1/9/98 wide after 12/5 NY/LA bow) 

Exploitips: Given its close ties to Bender, 

Miramax— which has been accused of a seewhat-sticks 

release approach— seems to be 

providing this full support; the distributor says 

it changed the exclusive bow from 12/25 to 

12/5 to heighten Oscar awareness. Also, 

Williams' presence plus the choice of release 

pattern suggest the distributor expects strong 

coastal response to help persuade midlands 

auds to try out Van Sant product. If Coppola's 

"The Rainmaker" has been a hit, the Damon 

name should be a young-crowd pull. 

Fallen 

JANUARY 16 

After the conviction and execution of a 

serial killer that had been apprehended by 

two Chicago detectives, a new series of murders 

done in the late killer's peculiar style 

begins. Even as suspicion falls on one of the 

detectives, he works to unravel the mystery, 

only to come face to face with a surprising 

adversary: a fallen angel. Denzel Washington, 

John Goodman, Donald Sutherland and 

Embeth Davidtz ("The Gingerbread Man") 

star. Gregory Hoblit ("Primal Fear") directs; 

Nicholas Kazan ("Dream Lover") scripts and 

and—for his son's sake— protect the killer. 

Brian Cox and Marcia Gay Harden co-star. 

Barbet Schroeder ("Before and After") directs, 

and he produces for Mandalay with Susan 

Hoffman (Schroeder's "Single White Female") 

and the "Tin Cup" duo, Lee Rich and Gary 

Foster; David Klass, Henry Bean (Garcia's 

"Internal Affairs") and Neal Jimenez ("Anaconda") 

script. (TriStar, 1/1 6) 

Exploitips: Schroeder's recent efforts 

haven't been blockbusters— a commodity 

that the talented Garcia also still lacks. The 

family/peril narrative, as variously used in the 

likes of "Ransom," "Cape Fear" and "The 

Hand That Rocks the Cradle," can be the 

genre's strongest, however, and as such those 

elements in the storyline should be played 

up— especially given that the mainstream 

demos being targeted here will also have two 

other high-profile entries from which to 

choose: "Fallen" and "Hard Rain." "Desperate 

Measures" was held by the studio from an 

overcrowded August 1997 date. 

Half-Baked 

In this comedy, three hapless young men 

take desperate measures of their own to spring 

their friend from jail. Harland Williams 

("RocketMan"), Dave Chappelle ("The Nutty 

Professor"), )im Breuer (TV's "Saturday Night 

Live") and Guillermo Diaz ("Girls Town") star 

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more Mayberry than Manhattan, so repeat 

business for "Hard Rain"— originally slated 

with Rachel True ("The Craft") and Laura for 5/2/97— will depend more on plot and 

Silverman. Tamara Davis ("CB4") directs; character than did, say, "Twister" or the upcoming 

Neal Brennan and Dave Chappelle script; 

"Godzilla. "Still, it's worthwile to em- 

Robert Simonds ("Happy Cilmore") produces. 

phasize the various makers' "Speed" credits. 

(Universal, 1/16 wide) 

Have a bit of Wall Drug promotion fun and 

Exploitips: As currently accoutered, the 

offer ticketbuyers free water. 

1/16 frame is a packed one. "Half-Baked," 

however, faces only Miramax's "The Mighty" 

in genre competition. Given its storyline, and Star Kid 

with Peter Chelsom directing and Sharon Aka "The Warrior of Waverly Street," this 

Stone starring, "The Mighty" could draw long-on-the-schedule children's sci-fi adventure 

older, even as "Half-Baked" grabs the young 

tells the story of a 12-year-old boy 

male set at the multiplex. 

("Jurassic Park's" Joseph Mazzello) who finds 

a cybersuit. When he puts it on, he is thrust 

Hard Rain 

into a virtual-reality world and becomes involved 

in the efforts of a friendly alien nation 

This disaster/crime thriller, aka "The striving to do good and evil beings intent on 

Flood," follows a Midwestern sheriff ("ID4's" 

Randy Quaid) who must evacuate the residents 

destroying mankind. Corinne Hohrer ("The 

Bridges of Madison County"), Joey Simmrin 

of a small town when torrential rains ("Nine Months") and young Japanese super- 

threaten to flood the area. Meanwhile, an star Yumi Adachi co-star. Manny Coto ("Dr. 

armored car breaks down and the driver Giggles") directs and scripts; Jennie Lew 

("Broken Arrow's" Christian Slater) is stranded Tugend (the "Free Willy" and "Lethal 

and soon surrounded not only by thigh-high Weapon" trios) produces. (Trimark, 1/1 6) 

waters but by gunmen. Morgan Freeman 

Exploitips: Although it's yet to have its 

("Kiss the Girls") and Minnie Driver ("Crosse 

breakout success, Trimark continues to try to 

Pointe Blank") co-star. Mikael Salomon (who 

define itself as a wide-ranging maker of films 

helmed "A Far Off Place") directs; Graham 

for families, mainstream auds and arthousers. 

Its last for the young types, the 1 994 

Yost ("Speed") scripts; Mark Cordon (also 

"Speed"), Gary Levinsohn ("The Real 

Sissy Spacek fantasy "Trading Mom, " found 

McCoy") and Ian Bryce (yet another "Speed"- 

no boxoffice magic, but in production coinage 

"Star Kid" represents Trimark's biggest 

er) produce. See the Sneak Preview in our 

April 1997 issue. (Paramount, 1/1 6 wide) 

outlay to date. The distributor had earlier 

Exploitips: Watching surface water swirl by 

isn't quite the thrill of watching a whole tornado 

tear through, and the low-key setting is 

planned a fall 1 996 rollout, then March and 

then August 1 997, and at one time— before a 

similar plan led to a $3 million writeoff on 

"Meet Wally Sparks " — it hadseta$14 million 

P&A budget to back "Star Kid. 

Tlie Real 

Rap stars LL Cool J and Snoop Doggy Dog 

star with Bokeem Woodbine ("Jason's Lyric") 

in this drama about a young man raised in the 

'hood who, wanting to make a new life for 

himself after exiting prison, finds his luck 

heading south again. Darin Scott ("Tales From 

the Hood" writer/producer) makes his directing 

debut; Peter Heller ("Hotel de Love") produces. 

(Live, 1/16; could go late month) 

Exploitips: Expect heavy male turnout in 

urban areas, especially if released for MLK 

Day, even if likely to be a lighter draw in the 

suburbs. The key selling point is the presence 

of the rappers in the cast. Recently refinanced 

Live— like Cramercy— plans to periodically 

release urban-drawing fare along with its 

more mainstream efforts. 

Tlie Mighty 

In this imaginative comedy/drama, two 

outcast boys—Maxwell Kane, a giant, slowwitted 

boy, and Kevin, a tiny, sickly but superintelligent 

child—team to face fights with 

local hoods and also adventures both mythical 

and real. Sharon Stone, Kieran Culkin, 

Gillian Anderson (TV's "The X-Files"), Harry 

Dean Stanton and Gena Rowlands co-star. 

Peter Chelsom (the success d'estime "Funny 

Bones") directs; Charles Leavitt ("Sunchaser") 

and Rodman Philbrick adapt Philbrick's 

novel; Simon Fields and Jane Startz produce. 

(Miramax, 1/1 6 wide after 1 2/1 9 NY/LA bow) 

Exploitips: One critic called "Funny 

Bones " "extraordinarily strange, "and this one 

sounds not all that ordinary also. From the 

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the West, " Miramax has wanted to establish 

a family label; even more than with Miramax's 

recent "Wide Awake," the question 

here seems to be whether the distributor 

wants to pull children to stories about children 

or adults to stories about children. 

Spice World 

JANUARY 23 

Aka "The Spice Girls Movie" and "Spice 

The Movie," this musical comedy mockumentary 

stars pop music's sassy, all-female and 

perhaps flavor-of-the-minute British group the 

Spice Girls in a story about a group of girl 

singers aiming to make their live debut. Richard 

E. Grant ("Jack & Sarah") co-stars. Bob Spiers 

(still better known for the Brit TV export "Absolutely 

Fabulous" than for his Disney "That Darn 

Cat" remake) directs; Brit sitcom writer Kim 

Fuller scripts; Uri Fruchtmann and Barnaby 

Thompson produce for Polygram's Londonbased 

Fragile Films. (Columbia, 1/23) 

Exploitips: when Sony acquired North and 

South American rights at Cannes, SPE topper 

John Calley said the Spice Girls "had reached 

a unique point in their career." That point 

includes just one#l tune in America, though 

four have been chart-toppers in the U.K., with 

an album— only their second — slated for 

Christmas release. Expect the strongest response 

from those too young to know 

Bananarama, especially the young-girl Tiger 

Beat crowd. Tie-ins with music stores are 

naturals, as are cross-promos with your local 

MTV-carrying cable operator (MTV now catering 

to the teeny- and preteeny-bopper set). 

Courtesan 

Catherine McCormack (most recently in 

"Loaded," but better known for "Braveheart") 

and Moira Kelly (ditto for "Entertaining Angels" 

and "The Tie That Binds") star in this 

romantic period drama—aka "The Honest 

Courtesan," "Venice" and "Indiscretion"—set 

in 1 6th-century Venice, about a poor but beautiful 

woman (McCormack) who seeks power 

to win the man she loves (Rufus Sewell, also 

in "Dark City"). Jacqueline Bisset co-stars. 

Marshall Herskovitz ("Jack the Bear") directs; 

Jeanine Dominy ("Incognito") adapts the novel 

by Margaret Rosenthal; Ed Zwick ("Courage 

Under Fire"), Marshall Herskovitz, Sarah 

Caplan, Arnon Milchan and Michael Nathanson 

produce for New Regency. (Warner, 1/23) 

Exploitips: Romance dramas play best with 

the distaff set, and period efforts draw older, 

so this has only indirect debut-day competition 

(from "Spice World" and "Still Breathing"). 

The studio originally had slated this for 

a Christmas limited release and January expansion— 

Christmas 1 996 and January 1 997, 

that is. But it's still true that bookstore tie-ins 

should be especially effective, given more 

bookstore patrons are women than men. 

Four Days in September 

This Portuguese-language film tells the 

story of young Brazilians—including an inflexible 

rebel leader (Fernanda Torres), a 

zealot-in-training (Calo junqueira), an innocent 

(Claudia Abreu) destined to be hardened 

by experience, and an idealist (Pedro Cardoso)—who 

kidnap an American ambassador 

("Mother Night's" Alan Arkin) as a way of 

protesting the policiesof their country's military 

regime. Bruno Barreto ("Carried Away") 

directs; Leopoldo Serran scripts; Lucy Barreto 

produces. (Miramax, 1/23 NY/LA) 

Exploitips: Our Berlin fest critic (June 1 997 

issue) gave this Producoes Cinematograficas 

LC Barreto production a commendable three 

stars, citing Barreto's storytelling prowess, 

calling the kidnapping operation "thrillingly 

rendered. " But the reviewer said that characterization 

tends toward types, and "the connections 

with larger themes that make a good 

movie a great one are missing. Most of the 

time, the film comes off as a very well-made 

and well-acted TV cop drama set in a tropical 

locale." A demo plus: This is the date's only 

new foreign-language or serious art fare. 

Still Breathing 

In this romance, a young Texas street performer, 

Fletcher ("George of the jungle's" 

Brendan Eraser), and a professional con artist 

from Los Angeles named Roz ("Little City's" 

Joanna Going) manage to overcome their differences 

and fall in love thanks to Fletcher's 

psychic ability and a case of mistaken identity. 

Ann Magnuson, Lou Rawls and Michael 

McKean co-star. James F. Robinson directs 

and scripts, and he produces with Marshall 

Persinger. (October Films, 1/23) 

Exploitips: New Universal division October 

acquired this after its Seattle-fest appearance, 

which generated a citable best-actor 

kudos for Eraser. In a I l/2-star review (Oct. 

1 997 issue), however, our Seattle critic called 

this film "an unwanted suitor striving to make 

us like it, " citing a lack of sparks between the 

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22 BoxorncE 

No. 202

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Response No. 95

24 BOXOFHCK 

two players and Robinson's quirky direction 

andplodding pacing. Still, for couples looldng 

for a date movie over the holiday weekend, 

"Still Breathing" is the only choice. 

Deep Rising 

JANUARY 30 

In this action/thriller creature feature set in 

the South China Sea, a cruise ship becomes a 

chamber of horrors for hijackers led by Hanover 

("Geronimo: An American Legend's" Wes 

Studi) and for the passengers, including John 

Finnegan ("The Phantom's" Treat Williams), 

after a monster from the depths invades the 

vessel. Famke Janssen ("GoldenEye") co-stars. 

Stephen Sommers ("Rudyard Kipling's The 

Jungle Book") directs and scripts; Laurence 

Mark ("Jerry Maguire") and John Baldecchi 

("Gunmen") produce. (Buena Vista, 1/30) 

Exploitips: If not outside then inside theatres, 

this January seems more like summer, 

what with male-trenders like "Fallen," "Desperate 

Measures" and "Hard Rain" trying to 

dominate the multiplexes. To separate this 

from the competition, emphasize the action 

and creature elements. Originally a fall 1 997 

release, 

"Deep Rising" was moved to February 

and now advanced to 1/30, where (unless 

one exits) it faces a direct demo battle with... 

Firestorm 

Former football star and current NFL commentator 

Howie Long ("Broken Arrow") stars 

in this action/adventure about Jesse Graves, a 

smokejumper who, in the middle of fighting 

a forest-fire inferno, comes upon escaped 

convicts disguised as fellow firefighters. As a 

friend and mentor ("Courage Under Fire's" 

Scott Glenn) tries to find him. Graves must 

outsmart the criminals' cunning leader 

("Palookaville's" William Forsythe) and rescue 

an innocent hostage ("Blown Away's" 

Suzy Amis). Cinematographer Dean Semler 

(Oscar winner for "Dances With Wolves") 

makes his directing debut; Chris Soth and 

Graham Yost (also "Hard Rain") script; Tom 

M. Hammel, Matthew Weisman and Joseph 

Loeb III produce. (Fox, 1/30) 

Exploitips: This might move into February 

and thus evade the actioner-vs. -actioner conflict 

with "Deep Rising. " If it doesn't, play up 

the genre but also the presence of Long, who 

is well-respected by the ticketbuyers most 

likely to attend: the males who watch Sunday 

sports and don't care that much about 

cinematic pedigree. Although football season 

is over by opening day, earlier cross-promos 

with your local Fox TV outlet could draw on 

the Long following and build awareness. 

The Magic Hour 

Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene 

Hackman and Stockard Channing ("The First 

Wives Club") star in this contemporary delective 

story set In Los Angeles. Reese 

Witherspoon ("Fear"), Giancarlo Esposlto 

("Fresh") and James Garner co-star. Newman 

reteams here with his "Nobody's Fool" success 

d'estime creators: writer/director Robert 

Benton (who co-scripts with Richard Russo) 

and producers Arlene Donovan and Scott 

Rudin, who's on a winning streak for his 

studio. (Paramount, 1/30 ltd) 

Exploitips: This has "well-made" stamped 

on it, given the talents before and behind the 

camera. This could also trend toward more 

mature audiences, given Newman's (and 

Benton's) established reputation with that 

demo. Emphasize those strengths and expect 

audience support to take a couple weekends 

to build (whether booked for the limited bow 

or the later expansion), given that mature 

moviegoers aren't frequent first-nighters. 

Incognito 

An art forger decides to make one final 

copy and then go straight. When his associates 

frame him for stealing the "original" artwork, 

he must flee for his life. Jason Patric 

("Speed 2: Cruise Control"), Irene Jacob 

("Othello") and Rod Steiger star. John Badham 

directs; Jeannie Dominy (this month's "Courtesan") 

scripts; Morgan Creek head James G. 

Robinson produces. (Warner, 1/30 wide) 

Exploitips: "Incognito" is of a genre that 

Morgan Creek likes ("White Sands, " "Trial by 

Jury," "Diabolique"), but it's one the production 

company hasn't cracked. Despite recent 

casting missteps, Patric and Jacob can deliver 

onscreen; the question is, can Badham^ His 

1 1/95 "Nick of Time" grossed $8 million, and 

his four films before that averaged just $26 

million. Warner held this from a I0/3I date, 

when it faced less studio-fare competition. 

Tempting Fate 

Aka "Shakespeare's Sister," an allusion to 

Virgi nia Woolf s essay about gender inequality, 

this drama tells the story of afeminist writer ("12 

Monkeys'" Madeleine Stowe) who with her 

husband (William Hurt) consults a priest 

("Hamlet's" Kenneth Branagh) about marital 

troubles. Romantic complications ensue. 

BIythe Danner and Neil Patrick Harris ("Starship 

Troopers") co-star. Lesli Linka Glatter 

("Now and Then") directs; Rick Ramage scripts; 

Ted Field, Scott Kroopf and Diane Nabatoff 

produce for Interscope. (Gramercy, 1/30) 

Exploitips: Originally a fall title, "Tempting 

Fate" now has the 1/30 weekend to itself in 

terms of arthouses, the more likely venue for 

this fare. In "The Magic Hour's" limited markets, 

however, "Tempting Fate" will face that 

competition. To maximize specialized turnout, 

emphasize the Branagh name; although 

controversy is said never to hurt, one might 

expect some grievances to be aired by the 

same Catholic groups that recently contested 

the TV series "Nothing Sacred, " about a priest 

who questions his faith. 

JANUARY UNDATED 

Bulworth 

In "Bulworth" (a tentative title; the project 

was initially called "Tribulations"), a wealthy 

U.S. senator (Warren Beatty) is in danger of 

being killed but, tired of life, sees no reason 

to avoid the hit that's been planned by a 

friend— until, that is, the senator meets a 

beautiful African-American woman (Halle 

Berry) from South Central Los Angeles. When 

he tries to call off the killing, he discovers his 

friend has vanished. Paul Sorvino, Oliver 

Piatt, Jack Warden and Don Cheadle co-star. 

Warren Beatty also directs, scripts and produces. 

(Fox, Jan. undated) 

Exploitips: This might not be as dramaladen 

as the description implies; early Fox 

materials depict the predicament thus: "He 

must frantically seek out the only one who can 

call off the killer in a hair-raising comic 

chase." So expect something more akin to 

"Heaven Can Wait" (which Beatty co-helmed 

and co-scripted) than to "Reds" (which he 

directed and co-scripted). Although Beatty 

directed 7 990's "Dick Tracy" and produced 

and directed I994's "Love Affair," that he 

handles all four key chairs here indicates a 

personal involvement that, as with "Reds," 

portends promise. Besides making another 

title change. Fox could move this to February. 

Goodbye, Lover 

in this black comedy/thriller, family members 

scheme to inherit a $4 million insurance 

policy. Patricia Arquette("Flirting With Disaster") 

stars as the wife of one brother and 

mistress to another. Ellen DeGeneres ("Mr. 

Wrong") co-stars as a detective on a case of 

possible murder. DermotMulroney("My Best 

Friend's Wedding"), Don Johnson and Mary- 

Louise Parker co-star. Roland Joffe ("The Scarlet 

Letter") directs; Ron Peer scripts; Arnon 

Milchan daughter Alexandra, who heads the 

more indie-oriented Regency Vision, produces 

with Patrick McDarrah, Joel Roodman 

and Chris Daniel. (Warner, Jan. undated) 

Exploitips: The coming-out episode of 

DeGeneres' TV series "Ellen" likely raised her 

profile with moviegoers or at least replaced 

bad memories of "Mr. Wrong. " Likewise, one 

wouldn't highlight Joffe's last credit, the 

much-derided "Scadet Letter, " but his older 

hits (e.g., "The Killing Fields ") are ofthe wrong 

genre. So go with the gals— Arquette and 

DeGeneres— and target the month's underserved 

distaff clientele. 

Kundun 

Directed by Martin Scorsese, this drama 

recounts the life of the current Dalai Lama 

from his childhood through the Chinese invasion 

and on into his time in exile. Tenzin 

ThuthobTsarong, Kunga J. Tenzin and Tenzin 

Gyalpo star. Melissa Mathison (best known 

for "E.T.") scripts; Barbara De Fina (Scorsese's 

"Casino") produces. (Buena Vista, widens 

mid-)an. after 1 2/25 ltd bow) 

Exploitips: Unless this delivers a goodhearted 

emotional wallop (hardly the Scorsese 

signature) that transcends America's 

"Tenzin" resistance to stories of other cultures, 

this looks to be a domestic prestige item 

for the studio and exhibitors, working best in 

select-site and high-profile bookings. 

Hurricane Streets 

In this drama (aka "Hurricane"), Brendan 

Sexton III ("Welcome to the Dollhouse") stars 

as a poor 15-year-old living with his grandmother 

who falls for a young Latina and 

dreams of a better life. Isidra Vega, Jared 

Harris ("I Shot Andy Warhol") and L.M. Kit 

Carson ("Running on Empty") co-star; Morgan 

J. Freeman directs and scripts, and he produces 

with Gait Niederhoffer and Gill Holland. 

5ee the Sneak Preview in our Sept. 1 997 

issue. (UA, Jan. undated) 

Exploitips: This garnered three Sundance 

awards: best director, best cinematography.

ResDonse No. 2 

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Scream 2 

Wes Craven continues to raise his career 

and the horror genre from the dead with this 

sequel to the original blockbuster "Scream." 

The characters played by continuing cast 

members Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, 

the original 12/12 frame and now plans a 

3,000-screen debut (the company's largest 

ever), backed by event-picture ad spending 

and national cross-promos. Even if, as competing 

distributors charge, Miramax has 

cooked the numbers on the $ 1 03 million gross 

it claims for "Scream, " the first entry in what 

Dimension hopes is a franchise was a wonderment 

to behold: grossing $6.4 million on its 

12/20 opening (with "Beavis and Butt-head 

Do America" doing $20 mil.), then rising to 

capture another $9 million on weekend #2 

and $ 1 million the next. What other screamer 

has done thatf Having that presold base, combined 

with a lack ofdemo competition, should 

promise to make this a huge opener. 

Exploitips: This 40-minute film, which represents 

the largest simultaneous IMAX release 

ever, will bow at more than 150 theatres 

worldwide, both in 3-D and 2-D, depending 

on the venue technology. It's probably the 

grandest large-screen effort since 1995's 

"Wings ofCourage, " the first fiction film made 

using IMAX's then-new 3-D system. The benefits 

ofthe release timing are obvious; not only 

Liev Schreiber and David Arquette are reunited 

two years later when they find some 

secrets from the past are better left forgotten. 

Jerry O'Connell ("Jerry Maguire"),Jada Pinkett 

("The Nutty Professor") and Sarah Michelle 

Cellar ("I Know What You Did Last Summer") 

co-star. All four back from the original, Wes 

Craven directs, Kevin Williamson scripts, and 

Cathy Konrad and Marianne Maddalena produce. 

(Miramax/Dimension, 12/12 wide) 

Exploitips: At least in part in response to 

rough-cut screening results, Miramax says, it 

returned this from a replacement 1/9 date to 

The IMAX Nutcracker 

E.T.A. Hoffmann's much-adapted classic 

story of a young girl who stumbles into an 

enchanted kingdom ruled by a wooden prince 

now makes it to the giant screen. This contemporary, 

mostly non-ballet version of the fairy 

tale incorporates Tchaikovsky's noted score, 

performed by England's Bournemouth Symphony. 

Miriam Margolyes ("Balto") and newcomers 

Lotte Johnson (as the girl) and 

Benjamin Hall (as the Nutcracker Prince) star. 

Christine Edzard, a Parisian whose background 

is in costume design, writing and/or 

directing for the likes of "Little Dorrit" and 

"Tales of Beatrix Potter," handles all three 

tasks here; Olivier Stockman and Lome Orleans 

produce. (Imax Corp., 1 1/26) 

is this a holiday classic for the holidays, but 

the target audience— families — are looking 

for activities over the Thanksgiving and Christmas 

breaks, and theatre operators can expect 

heavy interest from elementary schools in 

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and audience. Our reviewer (April 1997 

issue) gave it three stars, calling it "a boy's 

coming-of-age story on the order of '400 

Blows'. "This will likely play best at arthouses, 

though its "Romeo and Juliet" element could 

draw mainstream youths. Held from fall. 

Afterglow 

Nick Nolte ("Nightwatch") and Julie Christie 

star in this drama about the intertwined 

personal lives of two Montreal couples. Lara 

Flynn Boyle and Jonny Lee Miller ("Trainspotting") 

co-star. Alan Rudolph directs and 

scripts; former Rudolph mentor Robert Altman 

produces for Moonstone. (Sony Classics, 

mid-Jan. exp after 1 2/25 NY/LA bow) 

Exploitips: The casting could draw both 

younger and older moviegoers of the select 

variety— of the select variety because of the 

Rudolph name. Rudolph for some is a taste 

never to be acquired; for others he's a leading 

arthouse light. For the latter, Rudolph will be 

the draw; look for positive fest and coastal 

notices to back this month's expansion. 

The Blackout 

After a movie star (Matthew Modine) kicks 

his addictions, he begins to have nightmares 

that he killed someone during a blackout. 

"Betty Blue's" Beatrice Dalle and ubermodel 

Claudia Schiffer co-star as old and new 

girlfriends; Dennis Hopper plays a sleazy 

filmmaker. Abel Ferrara ("The Funeral") directs, 

and he scripts with Maria Hanson and 

Christ Zois; Edward R. Pressman and Clayton 

Townsend produce. (Trimark, Jan. undated) 

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Exploitips: Our Cannes critic (July 1997 

issue) gave this just a 1/2-star review. The 

complaints: the screen-friendly Modine isn't 

believable as an addict; the women characters 

are one-dimensional; and Ferrara 's pacing 

is slack and his direction melodramatic. 

Still, one can play up the Ferrara name with 

the moregrindyarthouse-goers, and Schiffer's 

presence should draw extra media attention. 

Suicide Kings 

In this black comedy, four collegians nab a 

retired mobster (Christopher Walken) to help 

them. Denis Leary ("Wide Awake"), Jay Mohr 

("Picture Perfect"), Henry Thomas ("Legends 

of the Fall") and Sean Patrick Flanery ("Powder") 

also star. Peter O'Fallon directs; Wayne 

Rice and Gina Goldman script; Rice produces 

with Morrie Eisenman. (Live, Jan. undated) 

Expioitips: if the ensemble here strikes 

sparks with the twentysomething crowd, this 

could build word of mouth in a way that "8 

Heads in a Duffel Bag" did not. Our Toronto 

reviewer (Oct. 1997 issue) gave this three 

stars, citing Walken's energetic turn and certain 

intriguing twists in the narrative. Live held 

this from a Sept. 1 997 bow. 

The Tango Lesson 

Filmmaker Sally Potter ("Orlando") recounts 

her romantic involvement with Argentine 

tango dancer Pablo Veron and her 

multicontinental efforts to make a film about 

the Latin dance. Christopher Sheppard (also 

"Orlando") produces. (Sony Classics, Jan. undated 

exp after 11/1 4 NY & 1 2/25 LA bows) 

Expioitips: Potter's challenging "Odando" 

grossed a good $7 million take in 1 993, and 

highlighting that credit could draw arthouse 

audiences. Though "Odando" would hardly 

have filled the bill, "The Tango Lesson"— 

rated a promotable PC (for brief language and 

some violent images)— might allow exhibitor 

outreach to local art programs. 

Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life 

Via stock footage, rare photos, taped interviews 

and film clips, writer/director/producer 

Michael Paxton documents the life of author/social 

theorist Ayn Rand, who wrote 

"The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged." 

Sharon Cless narrates. (Strand, Jan. undated) 

Expioitips: Our 1996 Telluride critic (3/97 

issue) gave this 3 1/2 stars, calling it "a vivid 

testament." Bookstore tie-ins are a natural. 

Fallen Angels 

This 1995 Wong Kar-wai film (a sort of 

epilogue to "Chungking Express") stars Hong 

Kong pop star Leon Lai as a tough yet sensitive 

hitman, Michelle Reis as the cool woman who 

organizes his schedule, Karen Mok as a platinum 

blonde that he desires and Kaneshiro 

Takeshi as a young mute man. Chen Yi-cheng 

produces. (Kino, Jan. undated) 

Exploitips: This Cantonese-language film is 

likely to draw the same admirers, if in lesser 

number due to distributor, as attendees of the 

Miramax release "Chungking Express. " Cite 

that film and Wong's newer "Happy Together, 

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Rasponse No. 472

SPECIAL REPORT: Asia 1997 

SUNRISE, 

SUNSET 

Internationally Acclaimed Abroad, Taiwanese 

Film Faces Trouble at Home by Karen Achenbach 

Taiwanese film industry is ro- 

and on the rise 

Thebust internationally, 

but in Taiwan it's referred to 

as "The Sunset Industry" because it appears 

to be sinking. Taiwanese directors 

are producing innovative films that win 

awards, acclaim and boxoffice abroad, 

but they can't find an audience at home. 

Instead, the local boxoffice is dominated 

by Hollywood blockbusters and Hong 

Kong escapist fare. 

In contrast to the approximately 400 

foreign films released last year in Taiwan, 

there were only 15 domestic features. 

With little room to compete 

commercially, innovative Taiwanese 

filmmakers have been aggressively producing 

quality "art" films to great success 

around the world, but to little effect 

at home. "It has become a saying [in 

Taiwan] that winning an award means 

your film is not interesting to watch be 

cause it's serious," says Taiwanese film 

critic and scholar Robert Chen, who has 

written a book about the New Taiwanese 

Cinema and teaches film in Taiwan. 

Fu Syou-ling, a young Taiwanese filmmaker 

now working in the United States, attributes 

the seriousness of Taiwanese "art" 

cinema to the history of the island itself. "Starting 

in the 1980s there were a lot of changes in 

Taiwan. Martial law had been rescinded and 

there was an economic boom, along with a new 

democracy movement. People started to reflect 

about their political past, and Taiwanese 

movies became almost personal." 

Taiwan's political past needed to be reflected 

upon becaase the island had never been 

allowed to have a national identity. Taiwan's 

original aboriginal populations were colonized 

primarily by the Chinese. The Chinese ceded 

the island to Japan for 50 years of occupation 

during which time Japanese was made the 

official language. After Japan suircndered to 

the Allies at the end of World War II, the 

Nationalist Chinese government Kxik over and 

Mandarin became the ofTicial language. When 

native Taiwanese rebelled in 

1947, National- 

DIRECT ACCESS: Taiwanese director Wang Shaudi. 

ists massacred as many as 20,000 people 

(known as the 2.28 Incident because the event 

occurred on Febmary 28, 1947). In the '50s, 

during a period called Taiwan's "White Terror," 

Nationalists persecuted and killed suspected 

communists. Only when martial law 

was rescinded in 1987 did a new democratic 

movement take hold and the Taiwanese were 

finally free to be Taiwanese. 

TOs led to serious filmmaking about social 

and political issues that won international attention 

beginning in the 1980s. Edward Yang 

("The Terrorists") and Hou Hsiao-hsien, 

whose "City of Sadness" addressed the 2.28 

Incident, lod this Taiwanese New Cinema, 

followed in the '90s by films like Wan Jen's 

heartbreaking tale of White Terror betrayals, 

"Super Citizen Ko." 

Today Taiwanese audiences apparently reject 

any kind of introspection, even though 

new films fcxrus on life in m

distributed in Taiwan was about US $S69 

million. Only 2.5 percent of that is Taiwanese 

product—about US $ 1 .7 million." 

no surprise then that Taiwanese commercial 

film companies refuse to 

It's 

support 

Taiwanese directors. Instead, they invest in 

co-productions with Hong Kong and Mainland 

Qiina. Some films that audiences identify 

as coming from the Mainland ('Temptress 

Moon," 'To Live," "Farewell, My Concubine") 

were produced in Hong Kong and financed 

by Taiwanese companies. These 

Taiwanese co-productions are often shot in 

China, where production costs are least expensive. 

Will Britain's recent handover of Hong 

Kong to China effect the local industry? Chen 

says no. 'The local commercial film companies 

don't really worry about the handover 

because their money is already there." Chen 

adds, "Maybe what [the Hong Kong handover 

raises is] worries about censorship. The day 

might come when the Chinese government 

will try to regulate what should and should not 

be produced. But that day hasn't come yet." 

Incredible as it sounds, all of this leaves 

leading Taiwanese filmmakers—from premiere 

director Hou Hsao-hsien ("City of Sadness." 

"Dust in the Wind"), whose films 

defined a nation reasserting its identify after 

successive occupations, to the new sensation 

Tsai Ming-liang (known for his gritfy urban 

youth dramas "Rebels of the Neon God," 

"Vive I'Amour" and "The River")—dependent 

upon government funds. 

"The only sponsorship available for 

filmmakers is from the government fund," 

asserts Chen. The Government Information 

Office (GIO) has a yearly competition to 

award seed grants for films. This year they'll 

offer nine films about $345,999 each, fypically 

one-half to one-third of the total budget. The 

filmmakers must raise the rest of the money 

and align with a production and distribution 

company to receive the grant. 

The fund comes in part fkim a tax on 

boxoffice receipts, about 50 cents fi-om every 

$ 1 0. Deciding which films get chosen is ajury 

composed offilm artists and film scholars, plus 

producers and distributors, most of them from 

the very production companies that supply the 

rest of the budget money. 

This creates some conflicts. The producers 

and distributors lobby for films with commercial 

potential, while the scholars and film artists 

aiûe for more serious work. In addition, 

some producers don't add the GIO seed money 

to a film's budget, but use the money to cut 

their risks, according to Free China Review 

Magazine, which covers the Taiwanese business 

scene. 

Huang has been lucky enough to win seed 

money grants for four of her films. As for 

finding matching funds, for two films she went 

to the Nationalist Chinese-owned Central Motion 

Picture Company (CMPC), the oldest and 

biggest film company and distributor in Taiwan. 

They provided the two-thirds matching 

funds, and Huang signed over all the rights to 

the films. 

she 

However, 

and director 

Wang were 

responsible for 

marketing, promotion, 

even 

distribution. 

Local distributors 

do not want 

Ta i wanese 

films, "so they 

are not active," 

going throuyli 

the existins: 

distributors, 

and even with a 

distributor, 

the 

theatres are a 

problem. 

Chen 

FOREVER MINE: A neo-realist image from "Yours and hAine," one example of ttie 

kinds of indigenous art-house product being created in contemporary Taiwan. 

says Huang. "I 

do all the promotion 

work 

myself." But 

independently 

produced films 

cannot be 

shown in theatres 

without 

explains, 

"You need to pay up front to a theatre, 

to guarantee they will play the film. And then 

if your film is not as successful as suspected, 

the theatre has the right to pull it, with no 

money back." 

"Even though you have an agreement to 

show certain times and days, the theatre will 

pull you out" if your numbers are low, says 

Huang. She and Wang Shaudi opened "Yours 

and Mine" against "The Lost World: Jurassic 

Park," though they were warned against it, but 

"there is just no space between the big American 

films, so we put ours out on that weekend. 

After one week they took our film out of the 

multiplex which was playing three 'Lost 

World' prints, and played afourth 'Lost World' 

in our theatre." 

Filmmakers 

find new solutions. "After 

the theatrical release of 'Yours and 

Mine,'" says Huang, "we had a second 

run of the movie in a bookstore that had a small 

theatre, and the result came out better than the 

theatres. After that, we were approached by 

one [chain] that is willing to show our film in 

their theatres in a very good district." 

Filmmakers often screen without charge in 

cultural centers and classrooms like Chen's at 

the universities. It's a survival strategy: Directors 

desperately need to win back the Taiwanese 

audience. Take the case of "Ah Tsong," a 

19% film directed by Chang Zhou-gi about a 

rural youth in a type of ghost dance ceremony. 

The film made back its costs with international 

awards before it was shown in Taiwan. At that 

point, the director had two choices: screen for 

iree in order build an audience, or try a theatrical 

release. If Chang screened for free, he'd 

lose no money, but he decided to release theatrically. 

He spent US $ 1 03,448 for the theatre, 

plus costs for copies and promotion. "Ah 

Tsong" got low attendance, was pulled from 

the theatre, and Chang lost the money. 

There is only one bankable director in Taiwan, 

Chu Yan-peng, who remakes popular 

Hong Kong or Hollywood films and draws a 

younger audience. (Surprisingly, he also applies 

for government seed grants, though he 

doesn't need the money.) Of the 15 domestic 

features Taiwan released last year, 10 were 

funded by GIO seed money. The other five 

came from Chu Yan-peng. 

Today there is virtually no export market for 

Taiwanese films except for international film 

festivals. If a film does well, there are subsequent 

sales to TV stations and art cinemas 

abroad. So filmmakers frequently seek international 

cooperation. Hou Hsiao-hsien received 

Japanese capital for "Cify of Sadness" 

(which won the Golden Lion at 

Venice in 

1995), and for "Puppetmaster." 

Ang Lee, the one breakout Taiwanese director, 

found American producers. Lee went to 

film school in the U.S., and has lived there 

since 1978. His first film, "Pushing Hands," 

started with a Taiwanese (GIO) grant, but was 

produced by James Schamus and Ted Hope of 

New York's Good Machine, and only distributed 

in Asia. "The Wedding Banquet," "Eat 

Drink Man Woman" (Lee's last Taiwanese 

production) and "Sense and Sensibilify" followed. 

Lee's latest film, "The Ice Storm," has 

been called the best film of 1 997 by influential 

critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. 

Chen hopes for validation ofthe local industry. 

"Most of the directors in Taiwan chose to 

make art oriented films and to make a record 

in the history of cinema. When I write another 

book on Taiwanese cinema, I'll write about 

Hou Hsaio-hsien, I'll write about Edward 

Yang. I'll write about 'The River' and Tsai 

Ming Liang. I won't write anything about 

[populist director] Chu Yan-peng. He will be 

forgotten after several years." 

December, 1997 31

32 BoxoFncE 

SPECIAL REPORT: CineAsia 1997 

THE ENVOY 

MPAA President Jack Valenti Receives CineAsia 's 

First-Ever International Distinguished Service Award 

by Melissa Morrison 

Valenti has seen a lot in 

Jack 

his life. As a decorated combat 

pilot, he flew B-25s from 

Italy during Worid War U. As a 

pressman riding in the infamous 

1963 Kennedy motorcade in 

Dallas, he witnessed one of 

America's most soul-rattling 

events. As part of LBJ's administration 

fOT three years, he had a 

balcony view of one of the most 

tumultuous decades in American 

history. When he joined the Motion 

Picture Association of 

America in 1 966 as its head, he 

oversaw industry history, establishing 

a rating system, presciently 

launching a worldwide 

anti-piracy movement, and expanding 

the now 75-year-old 

organization's reach into the 

realms of home video, television 

and, most recently, cyberspace. 

Valenti, who along with the 

MPAA will receive CineAsia's 

debut International Distinguished 

Service Award in Singapore 

on Dec. 3, says he has made history by 

always keeping an eye on the ftiture. 

"My greatest achievement? I survived," he 

told BOXOFFICE in a recent interview. "I'm 

not jdcing. I think survival is not an inconsiderable 

as.set. I've survived, becau.se I've tried 

to move with the times and not be rigid with 

my judgments. We're always looking to the 

future. I 

don't want to be like a Bourbon king 

of France with eyes in the back of my head... 

I'm really not so obsessed with the past as I 

am 

fascinated with the future." 

The Wild West of the World Wide Web is 

his latest frontier, namely its polenlial to 

illicitly lran.smit movies and videos across 

cyberspace as easily as cattle rustlers thieving 

on the open range. Valenti upged Congress on 

Sept. 16 U) protect intellectual property by 

ratifying two treaties negotiated in late 1 996 in 

Geneva by the World Intcllctlual Pn)pcrty 

Organization. 

"It's the biggest i.ssue around the world," he 

says of piracy. "It's a cancer in the belly of our 

PRESSING THE FLESH: Jack Valenti and friend. 

business. It's like a virus that flies around the 

world; and it's endemic everywhere which 

means we must be vigilant." 

Asia—with roaring economies such as 

Taiwan's and China's, and its teeming Chinese 

and Indian populations—has major entertainment 

corporations salivating. But it poses an 

industry threat along with iLs promise. As 

Valenti told Congress, "In China, in Russia in 

Italy, in scores of other countries, video pirates 

steal more than $2 billion of our intellectual 

property each year." 

The MPA (the internationally focused offshoot 

of the MPAA) has made progress reining 

in pirates. In June, it signed an agreement with 

Chinese customs to pmtect copyrights. In 

March, two undercover MPA officials helped 

bust a Malaysian factory, where 3(),(KX) pirated 

video CDs were seized. In 1996, the MPA 

participated in 515 similar raids. 

Bui Valenti intends to address a more brotherly 

topic when he accepts his award in Singapore. 

"I'm going to be talking 

about the community of 

filmmaking," he says, "because 

1 think the grammar of film is 

the same in any language, the 

actors are just speaking a different 

language on screen. The 

structure of film, the storytelling 

is the same, which is why the 

community of filmmaking 

leaps beyond borders. 

"When people wake up in 

morning, they don't say, 'Let's 

see a Japanese film,' or 'Let's 

see a Chinese film.' They say. 

What's on that's good'?"" 

But even though the MPAA's 

mandate is to make the world's 

markets more accessible to 

American entertainment, 

Valenti plans to reassure his audience 

that Hollywood doesn't 

want cultural hegemony in 

Asia's blooming markets. 

"What America .strives for is not 

to be number one, but number 

two in those countries—number 

two in China number two in Korea The people 

in those countries want to see movies in 

their own language first." 

In describing his plan for how to lure local 

audiences to homemade films. Valenti plans to 

hit a refrain familiar to anyone who's followed 

the public pronouncements of this avid free 

marketeer: "Government cannot cause good 

movies to be made." he says. "In fact, it can be 

a barrier to good film. The artist doesn't want 

to be cabined, cribbed and confined behind 

artificial barriers erected by governments operating 

under the defunct mythology that they 

can somehow cause every film coming out of 

that country to be loved by everybody." 

Read 

"defunct mythology" as prohibitive 

tiixes and cultural protectionism 

that limits the exhibition of other 

counuies' movies, videos and TV programs. 

Speak those words in Asia though, and they 

could also could refer to the censorship policies 

of countries such as China China's Min-

istry of Propaganda has long stifled artists 

whose woric doesn't jibe with the communist 

government's values, but it cracked 

down harder just before Deng Xiaoping 

died in 1996, when it canceled the film 

version of popular novelist Wang Shuo's 

comedy, "An Awkward Life," for example, 

and refused to release Chen Kaige's 1 9% 

Cannes-exhibited film 'Temptress Moon" 

domestically. More recently, the summer 

return of Hong Kong from British to Chinese 

hands has put the former colony's 

frenetic film industry on guard. 

Such issues, however, don't keep 

Valenti awake nights. "There's censorship 

boards in every country in the world," he 

says. 'They're in the European Union, in 

Latin American countries, Canada, Australia—many 

countries in Asia have government 

intervention in television and 

film. I'm not pointing a finger at China. It's 

in illustrious company. My point is, in most 

countries, governments intervene in one 

way or another in television, home video 

and cinema arenas." 

The areas of censorship and the fiê 

market may soon overlap. The films 

"Seven Years In Tibet," which ojjened in 

October and stars Brad Pitt, and Martin 

Scorsese's "Kundun," which opwns on 

Christmas Day, both bring attention to 

China's 

1950 invasion of Tibet and the 

subsequent Chinese oppression of Tibetan 

Buddhists. The latter film prompted the 

Chinese to chill Disney, the company that 

made "Kundun," with a threat against conducting 

any of its mega-business in the 

most populous country in the world. 

On this topic, the normally voluble 

Valenti doesn't have much to say. 

"I don't want to get into that," he says. 

"My guess is no one wants to see film 

restricted, but China is a sovereign nation—it 

has a right to do whatever it thinks 

is good for people." Besides, "we only had 

10 pictures shown in China last year. Out 

of 160 pictures, only 10." 

As for the industry's future, the man who 

believes his MPAA legacy is one of facing 

forward has no idea. "I haven't the foggiest," 

he says. "Bill Gates can't tell you 

where we' 11 be in four or five years. It's Uke 

a roulette table. Our companies are investing 

in four or five years, placing bets." 

The advent of digital transmission will 

have an impact on how people around the 

world receive and choose their entertainment, 

as will the World Wide Web, that 

much he knows. But he can't predict what 

kind of an impact all this will have. 

"People thought movies would be obliterated 

by cable, but last year more people 

went to movies than in the past 40 years," 

he says. 'That's with surfing the Web, 

satelhte, cable, television— people are still 

going to movies in greater numbers. 

"The answer is in the human condition. 

People don't want to be chained to an 

electronic box, they want to have a social 

experience. They still say, 'Let's go to a 

movie and get a pizza after.'" MH 

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CINEASIA '97 

Singapore International Convention and Exiiibition Centre 

Singapore • December 3-5, 1997 

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3 

8:00 a.m.-S:30 a.m. Breakfast (Sponsor: ITT) 

8:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m. Technical Seminar: "Upgrades." Moderator: Russell Scott, ITT 

10:00 a.m.- 12 noon Screening: Columbia/TriStar Intl. 

12:30 p.m.-2:00 p.m. Luncli (Sponsor: Columbia/TriStar Intl.) 

2:00 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Trade Show and Coclitail Party (Sponsor: Sony Cinema Products) 

5:30 p.m.-7:30p.m. Screening 

7:45 p.m.-8:45 p.m. Welcoming Cocktail Party (Sponsor: Eastman Kodak) 

9:00 p.m.-l 1:15 p.m. Welcoming Dinner, Awards Ceremony and Keynote (Sponsor: Coca-Cola) 

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4 

8:00 a.m.-8:45 a.m. Breakfast 

8:45 a.m.-10:15 a.m. Seminar: "An Overview of the Asian Film Industry" 

10:30 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. Screening: Warner Bros. Intl. 

12:30 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Trade Show and Lunch (Sponsor: Warner Bros. Intl.) 

4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. Screening: Buena Vista Intl. 

6:30 p.m.-8:45 p.m. Screening and Product Reel: Buena Vista Intl. 

9:00 p.m.-l 1:00 p.m. Dinner (Sponsor: Buena Vista Intl.) 

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5 

8:30 a.m.-l 1:00 a.m. Trade Show 

1 1:00 a.m. -1 p.m. Screening : United Intl. Pictures 

l:00p.m.-2:30 p.m. 

Lunch (Sponsor: United Intl. Pictures) 

2:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Screening: United Intl. Pictures 

5:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Screening: 20th Century Fox Intl. 

9:00 p.m.-l 1:00 p.m. Farewell Dinner (Sponsor: 20th Century Fox Intl.)

SPECIAL REPORT: CineAsia 1997 

FIRST "RATE 

A BriefHistorical Summary of the Rise of 

Jack Valenti, CARA and the MPAA 

rr 

by Jon A. Walz 

CineAsia's first-ever Lifetime 

Achievement Award 

will be given to one ofthe 

most deservingfigures this magazine 

can think of: 

the MPM's 

legendary Jack Volenti. Valenti's 

accomplishments and influence 

almost defy description; during 

his 30year career, itcanhonestly 

be said that virtually no one involved 

with thefilm industry has 

had greater, perhaps even comparable 

irûence. 

Because of the breadth of 

Valenti's achievements, we felt a 

bit of historical perspective was 

calledfor So here, with our best 

regards, is a thtmhnail sketch of 

the Volenti 's legacy— or ot least 

his legacy sofar One thing those 

ofus who cover the screen trade 

know by heart is that, when 

you 're talking about an energetic 

achiever like Jack Volenti, anything 

you have to say will always 

be at least one step behind 

While the 

Motion Picture 

Association of 

America, orMPAA, is 

best known as the originator and custodian of 

the movie—and now, television—ratings system, 

its legacy of promoting and protecting the 

U.S. film industry as a collective dates back to 

well before synchronized sound invaded Hollywood, 

Grdumans Chinese Theatre was constructed 

or the Academy Award was even 

conceived. Today, the organi/ati(xi's mandate 

has been broadened to include such duties as 

congressional and other governmental lobbying, 

drafting international treaties specific to 

the U.S. motion picture industry. a)llecting 

royalties, and detecting and eliminating film 

piracy. 

The organization is funded entirely by fees 

paid by its seven members, the major studio 

releasing companies: Buena Vista. MGM. Paramount. 

Sony. Fox, Universal, and Wamci 

Bros. The studios are required to submit cveiy 

film, trailer, and print advertisement to an independent 

division of the MPAA. called the 

Classification and Ratings Administration, or 

CARA. for rating or approval. In return, the 

MPAA works to guarantee that all films and 

advertisements are acceptable to general audiences 

in every community in the nation. 

CARA, which is headed by Jack Valenti, 

president of the MPAA, and William F. 

Kartozian, president of the National Asstx;iation 

of Theatre Owners, is not an approval 

board like its predecessor, the Production Code 

Administration, or PCA. Under the stalwart 

hand of Valenti's predecessor. Will H. Hayes, 

content of the memberstudios' films was either 

"appn wed" or "disapproved" by the PCA. The 

PCA's reign lasted from the late 'Jih until the 

advent in l%8 of the new ratings system, 

which was fought for and designed under the 

guidance of Jack Valenti. 

As movies in the '50s and 

'60s began to reflect a new, 

gritty 

realism—exposing the 

public for the first time to language 

and sexual content previously 

deemed inappropriate 

—parents and parental groups 

began to complain that their 

children could potentially be 

exposed to objectionable content. 

Iconoclastic filmmakers 

like Otto Premingerled acharge 

against the PCA's authority with 

films like the sexually-chargedfor-its-time 

"The Moon is Blue" 

(1953) and the drug-themed 

'The Man With the Golden 

Arm" (1955). Both films dealt 

with "forbidden" subjects and 

were released successfully 

without the PCA's seal of approval—the 

first significant 

cracks in the Code's authority. 

In the 1960s, the Production 

Code Administration quickly 

fell 

victim to the pace and energy 

of the times. Audiences 

fervently supported a new, aggressive 

wave of cinema which 

empowered filmmakers over the studios. As 

the studios became mortally hobbled by an 

inability to anticipate changing audience 

tastes, landmark films by dynamic young directors 

began to slip into relea,se. 

In 1966, the double-blows of Mike Nichols' 

"Who's Afraid of Vii^ginia Woolf?" and Michelangelo 

Antonioni's "Blow-Up" raised 

many eyebrows—including the government's. 

"Woolt^' was chastised for fiaunting such scandalous 

(for the time) dialogue as "screw" and 

"hump the hostess." The foreign-made "Blow- 

Up," meanwhile, became the first studio release 

to contain nudity. The ratings system had 

yet to be created, but Valenti was able to 

negotiate slight concessions from Warner 

Bros., which released "Woolf," and from 

MGM, which had acquired "Blow-Up." 

Valenti would later write that he really dicbi't

am 

don't 

feel it right for grown men to sit around a 

studio discussing ways to remove the word 

"screw" from an accomphshed motion picture. 

Victorious in his quest to replace manditory 

PCA censorship with voluntary 

MPAA labeUng, Valenti's ratings plan 

went into effect on November 1 , 1 968. All 

film releases from MPAA member companies 

were required to carry one of four 

MPAA rating codes: "G," "M" (soon 

changed to "GP" and later "PG"), "R," and 

"X." Additionally, any film created or released 

outside the aegis ofMPAA member 

companies could submit itself for ratings 

consideration. 

The "PG-13" category 

was added in 1984, and 

"X" was replaced with 

"NC-17" in 1990. The 

MPAA edict—to "provide 

advance information to enable 

parents to make judgments 

on movies they want 

their children to see or not 

to see"—has been widely 

embraced over the past 30 

years and, according to various 

polls, seems to serve 

parents well. 

MPAA ratings are 

exclusive to releases 

in the 

United States. An international 

lobbying division of 

the MPAA, called the Motion 

Picture Association (or 

MPA) works to ensure an 

open, non-restrictive marketplace 

for American entertainment overseas. 

As a demonstration of its influence 

under Valenti, the MPA has earned the 

nickname "the little State Department" for 

its willingness to immerse itself in tough 

negotiations on behalf of its members. 

Founded in the aftermath of World War 

n, during a time when anti-U.S. trade restrictions 

were pummeling the country, the 

Motion Picture Export Association of 

America (the name was shortened to Motion 

Picture Association in 1994) works to 

"reestablish American fihns in the world 

market, and to respond to the rising tide of 

protectioiusm resulting in barriers aimed at 

restricting the importation of American 

films." Today, the MPA's duties have 

grown to include liaison duties, the drafting 

of treaties, and the direction of worldwide 

anti-piracy efforts. 

Under Jack Valenti's guidance, the combined 

MPAA/MPA has become a vital, 

pro-active force protecting every constituent 

of the American motion picture industry. 

It's a high standard of accomplishment, 

and with the recent explosion of such advances 

as digital media, video-on-demand 

and direct satellite transmission, Valenti 

and the MPAA's most important work 

could very well lie ahead. 

MM 

BLAST FROM HIS PAST 

Jack Valenti on the State of Film Content, 1970 

Thefollowing bylined article was authored by Jack Valentifor our issue ofJuly 20, 1970. It 

originally appeared under the tide "Are Walls Crumbling Down?" 

Themes 

for children: A homosexual episode between two 13-year-old boys... A girl's 

first menstruation... An unwanted pregnancy. Are the walls crumbling down? Can't 

you hear the wails of defamers of the movies? "Obscene and decadent... lurid and 

demoralizing... the ratings system is a fraud..." 

But wait. These aren't movie themes at all. Not movies. ..not really? No, not movies at all. 

These are themes of recent new books tor children. Children are buying them. All ages are 

welcome. No problem, no trouble, no restraint.. .just 

pay at the cash register as you go out. 

Is there any criticism in the press, any flood of censorship 

and classification bills introduced in 

spelled out? 

legislatures? Do newspapers or radio or television refuse 

advertisements for these books for children? If there's a 

ripple, the rumbling hasn't been picked up by my ears. 

Now, I haven't read the books and I don't condemn 

them. I point a finger. I think that writers and 

publishers should give children and young people a 

more accurate view of life, if parents choose for their 

children to read these books. 

But imagine if the three themes were in movies, were 

emphasized in movie advertisements. How many persons 

would have waited to see the movies before blasting 

the film business? It seems to me to be an 

imperishable rule that you are best qualified to denounce 

the movie that you haven't seen. And not just 

one film but all films, and the motion picture industry 

people to boot. When you see a film you have 

and its 

to undergo the agony of knowing what you're talking 

about. 

Let us suppose some more. Suppose the movies are 

rated R or X. How many advertisements would be 

there anyone who needs the answer to be 

refused? Is 

I think that movies, like books, in drawing on life and man's experiences, should give a 

more honest view, too. I contend that the comparison with books does not stop there. I don't 

think there should be a double standard, one for literature, another for the screen. I believe 

that the same criteria of judgement should apply to both. It mangles truth to maintain that 

what is permissible for a child in a book is impermissible for a child in film. 

It could reasonably be said, I believe, that, if anything, harsher judgements could be made 

about books. A youngster reads a book alone. Alone, he can become in imagination prey 

to visions and distortions stirred by the reading. A child sees a movie in a theatre in the 

company of peers and grownups. Any impressions from the screen are filtered and softened 

by a feeling of closeness and security arising from this comfortable association. 

Again, I am not here to pin devil's ears on book publishers. I am for book publishers... 

and I am for motion picture producers. Really, if anyone should entertain the slightest doubt, 

it is the parent that I have in mind. I for parents and I am for movies, too. I think, though, 

that just as double vision is not good for driving an auto, it is not good for looking upon 

movies. A parent, I feel, should view a movie in the same light as he does a book. Is it suitable 

for my child? Is the theme treated with taste and decency, with reasonableness and 

respectability? Is my child mature and settled enough to understand and cope with it? 

If these questions should perplex a parent, and I think they should, I have a suggestion. 

Make a companion of the motion picture rating system and let it serve as a guide. It will not 

provide all the answers for every parent and every child, but it is the best place to start that 

I know. 

1 968 have 

Parents who have followed the ratings since the system began on November 1 , 

had plenteous numbers of films from which to choose. More than two-thirds of all 

films 

rated in this period have been in the unrestricted categories: G and GP, all ages. The figures 

are 479 G- and GP-rated films out of a total of 71 

rated through June of this year. 

Aside to readers in the industry: These are some of the things I say when I 

talk to parents. 

I find, far more often than not, that we can come to a common meeting ground where reason 

and reasonableness rule. Perhaps more of us should engage in dialogues with parents... and 

with patrons^ It's a way to stop walls from crumbling down.—^Jack Valenti

SPECIAL REPORT: Asia 1 997 

SIXTH SENSE 

China's Independent "Sixth Generation" Takes 

Risks and Makes Art for Today's Asia 

The 

films of Communist 

China's newest group 

of directors, the socalled 

"Sixth Generation." 

could be mistaken for independent 

films ft-om any capitalist 

country. Their plots are 

filled with rockers, abortions, 

homosexuals, adulterers, tiny 

apartments in dirty cities—all 

dangerously taboo topics to 

Chinese bureaucrats. But to 

young filmmakers, these arc 

important portrayals of life in 

China today, particularly of ^ 

Beijing's urban youth, who, 

after seeing the hopes of their 

generation crushed at Tiananmen, 

live with tightening government 

restrictions while 

being exposed to western 

products, information, and 

trade. And talk about independent: 

Because it's the only 

way to get their "taboo" films 

made, filmmakers work 

government's studio system 

where to do so is illegal. 

China numbers each distinct 

group of its 

filmmakers by generation. Zhang Yimou ('To 

Live"), Chen Kaige ("Farewell, My Concubine"), 

and Tian Zhuang-zhuang ('The Blue 

Kite") are of the Fifth Generation, members of 

the Beijing Film Academy's first graduating 

class in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution—the 

blackest period in modem Chinese 

hi.story, during which vast purges of Chinese 

society were mounted in the name of purifying 

the Communist body politic of Western and 

other anti-communist ideas. Merc children 

who fled into the countryside during that infamoas 

peri(xl of Maoist oppression, ttxlay the 

Fifth 

Generation filmmakers make films of 

their experiences—films often critical of the 

Cultural Revolution, as well as the policies it 

fostered. 

Sixth Generation dircclors, on the other 

hand, arc generally defined by five interlock- 

by Karen Achenbach 

FROZEN OUT: The director ot the allegorical "Frozen" goes by the Chinese term lor 

"No Name" to avoid suppression from the Chinese regime. 

outside 

in 

the 

a country 

ing factors. One, they are usually the inheritors 

of the legacy ofthe Cultural Revolution, rather 

than actual participants in its events. Two, they 

graduated in 1989—the yearof the Tiananmen 

massacres. Three, as former students, they 

were suspect within China's "official" film 

indastry because of Tiananmen. Four, they 

wanted to make films immediately, so they 

chose to make independent, though illegal, 

films. And five, they regard the films of the 

Fifth Generation as not radical enough, and 

want to make new films to show the truth of 

Chinese society today. As Berenice Reynaud, 

a scholar and critic specializing in Chinese 

films, puts it, "For the last two or three years, 

I would say that the term 'independent cinema' 

in China and the term 'Sixth Generation' have 

been synonymous." 

I 

n August, L.A. audiences saw the U.S. 

premiere of "Frozen," a recent Sixth (jcneration 

independent film. Made without 

government knowledge, smuggled out of 

China, and put through postproduction 

in Rotterdam, 

"Frozen" was directed by the 

anonymous Wu Ming (Chinese 

for "No Name") and 

screened in "Electric Shadows 

'97: A Pan-Asian Film 

Festival," presented by the 

UCLA Film and Television 

Archive in association with 

the Los Angeles County Museum 

of Art. Wu remains unnamed 

because, if 

discovered, he could be permanently 

banned from 

filmmaking in China. 

Feng Xun, a Chinese national 

and producer of "Frozen," 

describes her 

generation: "In the old days 

people had to work for five or 

six years to gain the experience 

before they're allowed 

to direct. Some young people 

couldn't wait, so they went 

ahead and made independent films by themselves, 

which brought some of them bad luck. 

They were 'frozen,' which means the [government-controlled] 

studio—and labs—will not 

sponsor you to make any film in the future." 

"Frozen" focuses on a Beijing perfonnance 

artist so upset by the state of things that he ends 

up dead. For his last perfonnance, he melts 

chunks of ice with his Ixxly heat. The artist is 

a muscular 20- something with a laconic drawl 

and post-modem ennui. Thai he appears Westernized 

to Westerners and a spoiled brat to 

older Chinese is of a piece with what China, a 

deeply divided country, is experiencing today. 

Charles Ruas, author, critic, and a Fulbright 

China, explains: 

Scholar who has taught in 

"Most Western experimental art acts against a 

known value in the culture. With artists in 

Communist China the idea for the experiment 

doesn't come faim within, it comes from outside, 

and it comes from the west." 

Ruas sees this gravitation by younger Chinese 

artists to models from the West as an

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" 

unintended consequence of the Cultural Revolution, 

which imprisoned, tortured and/or executed 

an entire generation of Chinese artists, 

writers and philosophers, as well as millions 

from other walks of life. "They were all punished, 

banished and killed," says Ruas. "All. 

Anyone with any skill. Not just intellectuals 

and artists, but elementary school teachers, the 

garbage man, the policeman, anyone who had 

FRESH PRODUCE: Producer Feng Xun accompanied a print of the controversial 

Sixth Generation feature "Frozen" during its LA. debut 

a specific function was attacked. People used 

[the Cultural Revolution] to exact vengeance 

on their neighbors or on people they didn't like, 

and the whole society went out of control." 

How out of control did China become during 

the Cultural Revolution? According to 

Ruas, French sociological teams described evidence 

of ritual cannibalism in many outlying 

villages. "You'd expect communities to be 

able to hold together, but they had been disintegrated 

by the extremity of the violence to the 

level of this horrifying, barbaric, pre-civilization 

ritual." 

After Mao died in 1976, people were 

brought in from the countryside and put back 

into their old apartments and old jobs, right 

beside the citizens who had informed on them 

to the government. Their attackers were unpunished; 

some had been even been promoted 

for their "service." 

The government policy was to forget the 

Cultural Revolution ever happened. This 

meant that films criticizing the Revolution 

were banned. Today, that ban extends to films 

criticizing any part of Chinese society. 

leading Sixth Generation director 

China's 

is Zhang Yuan. His 1990 debut film, 

"Mama," was hailed as the first Chinese 

independent movie since 1949. A semi-documentary 

about a mother and her retarded son, 

"Mama" was smuggled out of China. The next 

three of Zhang's films were officially banned: 

the 1993 rockumentary "Beijing Ba.stards." 

1994's "The Square" (about Tiananmen), and 

the 1996 documentary "Sons." 

Zhang's new film, "Eiast Palace, West Palace," 

is based on the tnniblc Chinese AIDS 

clinics have finding men who will admit to 

being homosexual. It was made with French 

co-producers, who screened the movie at 

Cannes despite Chinese govemment prohibitions. 

In retaliation, Zhang's passport was 

seized. Because of this and similar incidents, 

China has instituted regulations to control all 

film negatives on foreign co-productions in 

order to secure the government's power to 

censor Chinese fihns, or to prohibit them from 

screening at festivals, 

no matter who 

owns the copyright. 

In addition, new 

campaigns against 

what is euphemistically 

called "spiritual 

pollution" have 

been initiated 

campaigns Zhang 

fears could make directors 

avoid certain 

topics. 

Except that 

those topics, by their 

appeal in the West, 

bring in the hard currency 

China's film 

industry needs. 

According to 

Reynaud, China's 

push toward 

privatization has 

meant that "in the 

last two or three years, the situation has 

changed. It is still illegal to make movies 

outside of the [government-financed] studio 

system, but the studios can no longer afford to 

produce movies." The studios are allowed to 

make a certain quota of films per year, so they 

sell quotas (essentially, permission to make a 

film) to independent production companies 

throughout China, including 20 to 30 foreign 

co-producers per year—foreigners who often 

want films dealing in the very sensationalized 

topics the Chinese govemment 

wants banned. 

The.se 

movies are made using none 

of the snidio's resources, but 

they retain the studio stamp. 

This means the studio can refuse 

to distribute the movie 

on the Chinese mainland, 

which makes investors very 

leery. 

But all 

of China is in conflict 

between socialist control 

and capitalist reward. Despite 

govemment regulations and 

censorship, there is a thriving 

underground for banned culture. 

According to some, the only requirement 

to stay clean with the law is enough money to 

bribe ycxir way out of UDuble. 

"The younger generation peddles cigarettes 

and leather jackets or Nikes to make quick 

money." says Ruas. But Ruas warns that the 

present Chinese govemment is run by "brutish 

hardliners" who have "eliminated all dissent 

from Tibet, from China, even eliminating people 

as innocuous as union organizers" and 

people working to fund Chinese social security 

or put an eight hour cap on workdays. According 

to Ruas, in today's China, nearly any social 

activity can be judged as seditious if it is seen 

as blocking the government's interests in competing 

in the global business economy. 

Money talks in filmmaking too. Tian 

Zhuang-zhuang's 'The Blue Kite" (seen on 

U.S. cable in 

1997) was a studio-made film, 

but he shot a script different than the one the 

studio approved. As a result, Tian was blacklisted, 

forced to resign from the studio where 

he'd worked for 10 years, and banned from 

film work in China for five years. Yet one year 

later Tian was at the Beijing Film Studio, 

overseeing production there because the studios 

respond to the market, and his film had 

found an audience in the west. 

With approximately 18 Film Studios in 

(Thina, annual domestic production is between 

150 and 200 features, though boxoffice is 

dominated by foreign films. In 1994, the Ministry 

of Radio, Film and Television decided to 

import 1 

overseas films a year for "boxoffice 

sharing" including 'The Fugitive" and "True 

Lies." (Of the high-profile U.S. titles the Ministry 

imported, only "Forrest Gump" flopped. 

The Chinese thought the passive Gump was 

not heroic.) 

In 1996, foreign films accounted for 70-80 

percent of China's total boxoffice revenues. 

Meanwhile, the mainland's domestic industry 

is failing, due in part to a reluctance to distribute 

much of the domestic product. 

If the govemment's Film Bureau continues 

to ban films, foreign investors may withdraw 

from China. The international market can only 

sustain one or two independent Chinese films 

a year, which means foreign co-productions 

have to get a return on their investment in 

China itself. 'The market [for Chinese-language 

films] is in China," says Reynaud. "So 

if [the Film Bureau] keeps films from being 

distributed in China, it means that the Fihn 

Bureau is going to kill the Chinese film industxy, 

and everybody's very 

"For the last two or 

three years, I would 

say that, in 

China, the term 

independent cinema* 

and the term 'Sixth 

Generation have 

' 

been synonymous. 

worried about that." 

The Sixth Generation, 

commonly perceived as 

being less political than the 

Fifth, is taking economic 

action by staying outside 

the official industry. "Once 

you start working within 

the studio system, they 

have you," says Reynaud. 

'They give you the money 

or they don't give you the 

money. They release your 

film or they don't release 

your film. If you're totally 

illegal [like the Sixth Generation directors], 

they won't put you in jail. They'll take your 

passpcirt away, but then they have to give it 

back at some point. If you're totally illegal, 

they have no hold over you. Ofcourse, it's also 

a difficuh life." 

"I'd prefer to choose a more comfortable 

and nomial way of making films," says producer 

Fen Xun. "But if they [the Film Bureau] 

still place us in this position and restrict our 

ftieedom, then I hope to continue to make 

independent films." 

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I Love 

Hi^^S?S9 

REVIEWS 

December 1997 

MONTREAL FEST/ 

DAY AND DATE: DEC. 19 

THE WINTER GUEST •^•1/2 

Starring Emma Thompson and 

Phyllidalaw. Directed by Alan 

Rickman. Written by Sharman 

Macdonald and Alan Rickman. 

Produced by Ed Pressman, Ken 

Upper and Steve Clark-Hall. A 

Fine Line release. Drama. Rated 

R for language and brief sensuality. 

Running time: 106 min. 

Screened at Montreal. Opens 

12/19 ltd. 

Tnough stateside 

audiences were introduced 

to British 

actor Alan Rickman 

via his bad-guy turn 

in "Die Hard," the 

British actor is really 

a serious sort, 

as 

shown by his 

more existential 

turns in "An Awfully 

Biq Adventure" and 

"Michael Collins." 

So it's likely little 

surprise to arthouse-goers 

that 

Rickman in his fea- ICKSTOKM: /-Vw^^ 

ture directing debut 

brings to the screen o work with terrific 

cast work and a certain haunting quality 

yet one that leaves audiences wRh fewer 

answers than questions, the most basic 

being, who is the winter guest? 

This adaptation of Sharman 

Macdonald's play follows four pairs of 

people in a Scottish seaside hamlet on 

a winter day so cold the sea has frozen. 

Although a decent amount of time is lent 

to recounting the escapades of two truant 

boys along the shore, two old biddies 

taking the bus to a funeral and two 

teenagersTalling and then notfalling into 

precarious love, the main focus is on a 

depressed woman (Emma Thompson! 

whose self-involved nusband has died 

and on her mother (Thompson's real-life 

mom, Phyllida Law), who tries to rile her 

daughter into a 

new way of existence 

but more 

often than not simply 

riles her. 

Rickman 

brought the 

has 

cloistered 

stage play to 

vibrant life throughout 

the tiny town, 

and his work with 

the actors is universally 

superb; there 

is not a false note 

struck 

omonq the 

company. That 

said, the close-in 

s "The Winter Guesi. work via dialogue 

between the characters 

and the resolute feeling of hidden 

symbolism hovering above the proceedings 

make this, like "An Awfully Big Adventure," 

a pleasurable sit only for 

moviegoers who like the microscopism 

of introspection. Except for a careful reticence 

in telling his tale of people living 

on a land closed off by ice, Rickman 

makes nary a slip. 

Kim Williamson 

ificiKiîf 

OUTSTANDING 

*••* VERY GOOD 

••* GOOD 

•• FAIR 

* POOR 

(no stars) BOMB 

REVIEWS 

Aaron's Magic Village R-186 

Critical Care R-181 

Ttie Devil's Advocate R-182 

Eye of God R-182 

Gang Related R-1 84 

Know What You Did 

Last Summer R-182 

III Gotten Gains R-180 

You, I Love You Not R-181 

Kiss the Girls R-186 

A Life Less Ordinary R-181 

The Locusts R-186 

The Matchmaker R-1 86 

Most Wanted R-1 85 

Napolean R-1 85 

Playing God R-184 

RocketMan R-184 

Wishmaster R-186 

ASIAN EXTRA 

Frozen R-1 75 

Two Punks R-1 75 

Yin and Yang: Gender 

in the Chinese Cinema R-1 76 

Yours and Mine R-1 78 

DAY AND DATE: 12/19 

The Winter Guest R-174 

SPECIAL FORMATS 

X-Wing Vs. Tie Fighter R-1 78 

FLASHBAC K: 1946 

Great Expectations R-180 

PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED 

Coming films already reviewed ... R-1 76 

REVIEW DIGEST 

Our monthly release overview ... R-186 

Hit our 

website each 

Friday for 

the latest 

in breaking 

reviews!

— 

— 

December, 1997 (R-175) 43 

ASIAN EXTRA 

ELECTRIC SHADOWS FEST '97 

"Electric Shadows '97: A Pan-Asian Film Festival, " held this past August 

at UCLA in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 

provided a look at the creative hotbed that is new Asian cinema. Below, we 

review four of the offerings, including two that will be seeing stateside 

release in 1998. BOXOFFICE also previously reviewed three other significant 

titles shown at Electric Shadows: Park Chul-soo 's "Farewell My 

Darling" (March 1997 issue), TsaiMing-liang's "The River" (June 1997) 

and Oguri Kohei 's "The Sleeping Man " (April 1997). "Films produced in 

Asia... have moved from highly specialized venues, of interest to only a 

handful ofcinephiles, into the mainstream of internationalfilm production 

and the cutting edge ofcinematic innovation, " says Robert Rosen, director 

of UCLA 's Film and Television Archive. His comment is borne out below. 

FROZEN ^^1/2 

Starring Jia Hongshen, 

Ma Xiaoqing, 

Bai Yu and Li Geng. 

Directed by Wu Ming. 

Written by Pang 

Ming and Wu Ming. 

Produced by Xu Wei 

and Shu Kei. An International 

Film Circuit 

release. Drama. 

Mandarin -language; 

English subtitles. Not 

approval, was based on a real artist who 

later killed himself, and has some of the 

most exceptional cinematography coaxed 

out of 16mm film. 

Although it's wonderful that young Chinese 

filmmakers are making gritty, semidocumentary 

urban tales, this one is 

interesting only because it's not the usual 

fare from the mainland. A featured (not 

lead) character has the most dynamic scene, 

an extremely funny sequence during which 

he attempts to convince psychiatric doctors 

that his friend, not he himself, is the one 

who needs their help. Another noteworthy 

element is performance artists shown eating 

soap; one would hope they are acting, but 

they aren't. Karen Achenbach 

TWO PUNKS ^^^1/2 

Starring Osawa Takao, Dankan, 

Kataoka Reiko and Aoyama Chikako. Directed 

by Aoyama Shinji. Written by 

Kaneko Shoji. 

Produced by Kai Naoki, 

Nagasawa Katsuaki and Okagawa 

Akimoto. A There's Corporation, Tokyo 

production; no stateside 

distributor set. 

Action/drama. Japanese-language; 

English 

subtitles. Not 

yet rated. Running 

time: 99 min. 

Written by the late 

Kaneko Shoji, who 

liked to depict the 

yakuza as imperfect 

and troubled, "Two 

Punks" ("Chinpira," a 

1996 Japanese production) 

is a touching 

"Donnie Brasco"-like 

story of an ambitious 

country kid getting 

yet rated. Running 

time: 99 min. 

A depressed young 

artist eventually decides 

to do a performance 

art piece 

himself to Tokyo and 

wherein he melts 

hooking up with an 

blocks of ice with his 

older yakuza associate 

body heat (he's not 

(Osawa Takao), 

acting) until he becomes 

co-producer Feng who's 

COOL WOMAN: "Frozen Xun. 

not a "made" 

hypothermic. 

guy. Played by rising 

This 1997 Chinese 

star Dankan, the 

film, which was shot guerilla-style in China 

because it's illegal to make a film without 

young mover is an original character who 

behaves against every expectation and continually 

surprises. The yakuza also notice 

his unusual responses, and he benefits. 

This is Aoyama Shinji's third film, a 

deceptive work that quietly weaves an 

emotional web that by film's end captures 

viewers completely. The two men are 

bookies that appear more like slackers. 

The younger, seen in present time at the 

beginning of the movie and then in flash- 

scattered pieces 

backs, recites a poem in 

throughout: "Under the gold and silver 

neon waves," "Tokyo the capital of glory," 

"Yakuza isn't the only life," "Beauty is not 

only for women." 

Aoyama builds with interesting sound 

techniques: a yakuza chief on acid is 

stabbed in a pachinko parlor, and as he 

staggers until dead all sound stops. The 

film's score is an outstanding solo guitar by 

famed rock guitarist Makato Ayuakawa. 

Good-looking men in nice suits, the pieces 

of poem ("skyscrapers, tombstones"), some 

memories, many actions, the guitar score 

all these move the story forward without 

noticeable intensity until the sudden and 

brutal confluence of all the elements. Al- 

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though plot weakness due to having the 

characters make simply stupid moves diminishes 

the logic of the ending, its power 

is irrefutable. The whole of the young man' 

life has been expressed, including a precious 

lesson and its tremendous cost. And 

it is unclear whether he will survive the 

sadness of knowing that he didn't understand 

the value of something before it was 

destroyed. Karen Achenbach 

YIN AND YANG: GENDER IN 

THE CHINESE CINEMA iîîî^ 

Starring John Woo, Tsui Hark, Ang 

Lee, Chen Kaige and Leslie Cheung. Directed 

by Stanley Kwan. Written by Edward 

Lam. Produced by the British Film 

Institute. A Miramax release. Documentary. 

Mandarin- and Cantonese-language; 

English subtitles. 

Not yet rated. 


This 1997 Hong Kong production, the 

latest installment of the British Film 

Institute's "Cenentary of Cinema" TV series, 

is an invaluable record of the world's 

premier Asian directors as they talk about 

their filmmaking in interviews organized 

around the question, "Are Chinese movies 

intentionally homoerotic?" Stanley Kwan, 

a gay male director from Hong Kong, has 

a topic that international audiences love to 

debate, plus scenes from Hong Kong action, 

Taiwanese gay punk, and kung fu 

movies of all types. Fifty years of Chinese 

cinema is reviewed, but the draw is to see 

and hear these giants, a too-rare and infinitely 

repeatable pleasure. 

Surprising pieces of information include: 

Until the '50s, Chinese cinema gave top 

billing only to women; and a certain female 

actress in the '50s and '60s who played the 

man in a famous screen couple off the 

screen lived with her co-star. The director's 

mother makes a profound impression when 

asked about society's disapproval of her 

son: He's gay, he's successful, and he takes 

care of her—they deserve a good life. 

Miramax reportedly will release a dubbed 

version in 1998. Karen Achenbach 

PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED: NOVEMBER/DECEMBER/JANUARY FILMS 

The alphabetical list befow notes the issue of BOXOFFICE in v/hkh our 

revieyfif of an upcoming film appeared, gives its star rating, and 

provides nevfly updated distributor and release date information. 


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Starring Bai 

Bing-bitig, Gu 

Baoming, Hsih 

Li-jing and Lin 

Cheng-sheng. 

Directed and 

written by Wang 

Shaudi. Produced 

by Huang 

Liming. A Rice 

Film Intl. production; 

no stateside 

distributor 

set. Comedy. 

Mandarin and 

Hokkien language; 

English 

subtitles. Not yet 

rated. Running 

time: 114 min. 

This Taiwanese 

production (aka 

"My Insanity" 

and "Things That 

Drive Me and 

You Crazy") is an 

intriguing look at 

modern Taipei 

through the misadventures 

of an 

interweaving 

bunch of its citizens. 

A trio of 

punk kids with 

dyed red and yellow 

hair steal cars 

and set up teenage 

girls for kidnap by 

gangsters; a rich 

surgeon (famed 

comedian Gu Bao- 

HIS AND HERS: Scenes from "Yours and Mine. 

ming) thwarts 

thieves as well as 

he schemes. Also 

starring rock 

singer Hsih Lijing 

and filmmaker 

Lin Chengsheng, 

the film 

moves like episodic 

TV, though 

its themes are 

more serious and 

current: loneliness, 

poverty, 

and fear of crime. 

Most amusing is 

the surgeon's 

desperate plea to 

his daughter, just 

back from L.A., 

to speak Mandarin, 

please! 

the 

Before 

film's release in 

Taiwan, female 

lead and noted 

talk-show host 

Bai Bing-bing's 

teenage daughter 

was kidnapped 

and murdered in 

an extortion attempt. 

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event's similarity 

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the second most 

kidnappings in 

the world. (Singapore 

has even 

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Achenbach 

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FLASHBACK: APRIL 5, 1947 

What BOXOFFICE said about... 

GREAT EXPECTATIONS 

[Made in 1946 by England's Rank/Cineguild and then imported by Universal- 

International, David Lean's "Great Expectations" was Oscar-nominated for best 

picture, script and direction and won for cinematography 

and art direction. 

A contemporary version from Fox 

opens limited this Dec. 31 and goes wider in January. 

Here's what BOXOFFICE said about Lean's work.] 

A reasonably faithful screen adaptation of the Charles 

Dickens classic that captures all of the flavor and much 

of the warmth and charm of the literary original, "Great 

Expectations" is a well-acted, superbly photographed 

period piece. It will add prestige to the Universal-International 

program, even if it will require strong selling 

to offset its lack of marquee names. Its audiences will be 

drawn chiefly from the oldsters with fond memories of 

Pip's adventures and from the students and younger 

readers of Dickens' works. Because director David Lean 

has lingered fondly over many scenes and introduced 

countless subsidiary characters, the footage is overlong, 

meaning average audiences could find it slow-moving. 

SELLING ANGLES: 

Except for two members who have a following in art theatres—John Mills, who 

played in "In Which We Serve," and Valerie Hobson, recently in "The Years 

Between" and other British films—the cast is lacking in marquee power. Concentrate 

on the Charles Dickens angle by arranging tieups with bookshops for displays 

of this and other works by the famous author. Put window cards or display boards 

in public libraries or in school reading rooms. 

REVIEWS 

ILL GOTTEN GAINS 1/2 

Starring Djimon [Hounsou], Akosua 

Busia, De'Aundre Bonds and Clabe 

Hartley. Voice by Eartha Kitt. Directed, 

written and produced by Joel 

Ben Marsden. A Spats Film 

release. Drama. Notyet rated. 


Sadly, "111 Gotten Gains" is 

an amateurish and often unintentionally 

comical treatment 

of the African slave trade. Resembling 

nothing less than a 

"Saturday Night Live" parody 

of Steven Spielberg's upcoming 

"Amistad," this $2 million 

black-and-white production 

will beat Spielberg into the 

marketplace but won't cause 

him to lose any sleep. 

Set on a clipper anchored 

off the Guinea Coast of Africa 

in 1869, "111 Gotten Gains" 

chronicles a rebellion by African 

captives against pirates who have 

seized them in violation of international 

laws forbidding slavery. Debuting filmmaker 

Joel Ben Marsden destroys any sense of 

period versimilitude, however, by filling 

his script with 1990s slang and profanity. 

His storytelling style is crude and pretentious, 

but Ben Kufrin's striking, high-contrast 

photography gives the film a veneer of 

professionalism. 

Joseph McBride 

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Response No 40 ResDonse No. 238 

I 

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REVIEWS 

CRITICAL CARE ••• 

Starring James Spader, Kyra Sedgwick, 

Helen Mirren and Albert Brooks. Directed 

by Sidney Lumet. Written by Steven S. 

Schwartz. Produced by Steven S. Schwartz 

and Sidney Lumet. A Live release. Satire. 

Rated Rfor language and a scene of sexuality. 


The essential callowness that audiences 

have come to associate with James Spader 

characters doesn't provide a strong central 

heartbeat to support "Critical Care, ' Sidney 

Lumet' s scathing assault on modem medicine, 

but nevertheless this Live/Village 

Roadshow/ASQA co-production gradually 

finds its own strong lifeline, establishing a 

tone and momentum that prove successful. 

Spader plays Dr. Ernst, an ambitious young 

medic who, because of a lack of care and an 

absence of caring, and due to his urge to 

dally with a teasing blonde (Kyra 

Sedgwick), finds himself swept into a 

nightmare: the ethical void of contemporary 

critical-care medicine. 

As Dr. Ernst is learning his morality lesson, 

the script cuts cruelly and sharply to the 

cold heart of reality and finds bleak and 

crazy humor in exposing the horrifying 

hypocrises that bind society ' s notions of life 

and death. Helen Mirren ("Some Mother's 

Son"), as the practical but true nurse, as 

always gives a sterling performance, and 

Albert Brooks ("Mother") is subtle as a 

mercenary old sot. Bridget Byrne 

I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU NOT ••• 

Starring Jeanne Moreau, Claire Danes 

and Jude Law. Directed by Billy Hopkins. 

Written by Wendy Kesselman. Produced 

by Joe Caracciolo Jr., John Fiedler and 

Mark Tarlov. A CFP release. Drama. Unrated. 


In the coming-of-age "I Love You, I Love 

You Not," Claire Danes is Daisy, a shy 

student in a posh private school who occasionally 

feels like an outsider because of her 

Jewish lineage. In typical teen fashion, 

Daisy is infatuated with the school's 

Golden Boy, Ethan (Jude Law); though she 

can't even bring herself to speak to him, he 

notices her glances and begins to court her. 

Nana (Jeanne Moreau), the loving, wry 

grandmother whom Daisy visits each weekend, 

is a true confidante to her beloved 

granddaughter. In turn. Nana shares with 

Daisy the hardships she suffered as a girl 

during the Holocaust. Nana's younger self 

in these scenes is played by Danes, further 

illustrating the identification between the 

two. Daisy is haunted yet fascinated by 

these accounts, representing her own struggle 

to accept her heritage and herself. 

It's a simple yet elegant and authentic 

portrait of the delicate emotions of a delicate 

girl, and of how her grandmother 

teaches her to embrace an aspect of herself 

she once viewed with shame, strengthening 

her. Moving performances are given by 

Moreau and Danes. Christine James 

A LIFE LESS ORDINARY V^^ 

Starring Ewan McGregor, Cameron 

Diaz and Holly Hunter. Directed by Danny 

Boyle. Written by John Hodge. Produced 

by Andrew MacDonald. A Fox release. 

Romance. Rated R for violence and language. 


The first Hollywood feature by the 

human hat trick (Boyle-Hodge-MacDonald) 

that came up with the edgy and hilarious 

junkie comedy "Trainspotting" doesn't 

even come close. The plot of "A Life Less 

Ordinary" is, actually, quite ordinary. Robert 

(Ewan McGregor), sporting a Bay City 

Rollers haircut, is fired as a janitor and 

retaliates by kidnapping the boss' spoiled 

daughter, Versace-clad Celine (Cameron 

Diaz, with an unconvincing snarl), who 

winds up having to give the hapless Robert 

how-to' s. Meanwhile, two angels (Holly 

Hunter and Delroy Lindo) must make the 

pair fall in love or face censure from the 

ultimate Boss. Who'd have thought the 

1983 Olivia Newton-John/John Travolta 

"Two of a Kind" would be such an influence 

on these maverick filmmakers? 

In fact, a lot of "A Life Less Ordinary" has 

been done elsewhere, usually to better effect. 

A karaoke scene ("My Best Friend's Wedding" 

redux) in a rural bar becomes a '30sstyle 

dance number; hello, Dennis Potter. 

BuUets fly with comic-book abandon; nods to 

(Juentin T. The one original thing is Hunter's 

turn as a fierce angel. Melissa Morrison 

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Although cancer is a very grown-up disease, 

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each year when they're diagnosed with one of its 

deadly forms. 

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REVIEWS 

THE DEVIL'S 

ADVOCATE ^•^ 

Starring Keanu Reeves, Al 

Pacino, Charlize Theron, Jeffrey 

Jones, Judith Ivey and 

Craig T. Nelson. Directed by 

Taylor Hackford. Written by 

Jonathan Lemkin and Tony 

Gilroy. Produced by Arnon 

Milchan, Arnold Kopelson 

and Anne Kopelson. A 

Warner Bros, release. Thriller. 

Rated Rfor sexuality, nudity, 

violence and language. Running 

time: 152 min. 

Despite the obvious pitfalls 

associated with casting Keanu 

Reeves as an attorney, "The 

Devil's Advocate" actually 

manages to serve up one of the 

season's juicier entertainments, 

a conventional fantasy/thriller 

executed with 

unconventional panache and 

anchored by dazzling performances 

from Al Pacino and 

Charlize Theron. 

Audiences able to stay with 

the film through an overlong 

introduction (nearly 90 minutes) 

will find their efforts rewarded 

in the latter hour as the 

masks are drawn away and the 

sinister and even satanic plottings 

of law firm founder John 

Milton (Pacino) are revealed. 

The good news about Reeves 

is that, though he is still predictably 

bad and horribly miscast, 

he's not intolerable. 

With the exception of a 

cheap, derivative post-climatic 

tag and a penchant for letting 

dialogue scenes drag on, 

scripters Jonathan Lemkm and 

Tony Gilroy have respectably 

adapted Andrew Neiderman's 

novel, giving director Taylor 

Hackford the chance to vigorously, 

if bombastically, exercise 

his highly stylistic sensibilities.— 

Wade Major 

KNOW WHAT YOU DID 

I 

LAST SUMMER ••• 

Starring Jennifer Love 

Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr. and 

Sarah Michelle Cellar. Directed 

by Jim Gillespie. Written 

by Kevin Williamson. 

Produced by Neal H. Moritz, 

Erik Feig and Stokely 

Chaffin. A Columbia release. 

Horror. Rated R for strong 

horror violence and language. 


Scripter Kevin Williamson 

("Scream") avoids the sophomore 

slump by building on the 

best of that first film s hallmarks: 

blenderizing the funny 

and the scary. "I Know What 

You Did Last Summer" does it 

, 

more successfully than its \ 

monosyllabic predecessor, as 

when a schlocky beauty pageant 

is crosscut with a murder. 

And like "Scream," this new 

entrant features a dewy cast 

sucked right off TV (including 

the "Scream" star Neve 

Campbell's fellow "Party of 

Fiver" Jennifer Love Hewitt), 

the tweaking of horror-film 

cliches, and the obligatory 

pop-cuhure references. Overall, 

it's a successful formula, 

but sometimes the seams show. 

The m.o.: Hook-wielding 

fisherman guts his human 

catch. The excuse: Four teens 

have a hit-and-run; fearing for 

their futures, they toss the victim 

into the sea. A year later, 

former honor student Julie 

(played by Hewitt and her 

breasts) comes home from college 

with pasty skin and bad 

grades; ber best friend, dishy 

beauty queen Helen (Sarah 

Michelle Cellar and her 

breasts), has given up her acting 

dreams and works behind 

the perfume counter. Their exbeaus 

(Freddie Prinze Jr. and 

Ryan Phillippe) are also failures. 

And now someone's terrorizing 

them about the 

previous summer's events. 

The galoshes-wearing killer 

isn't as scary as "Scream's" 

costume goblin; in fact, he 

looks like the logo for 

Fisherman's Friend throat 

lozenges. But the film has 

some good thrills and good 

jokes. You'll shriek, you'll 

laugh. Melissa Morrison 

EYE OF GOD •^ 

Starring Martha Plimpton, 

Hal Holhrook, Kevin Anderson 

and Nick Slahl. Directed 

and written by Tim Blake Nelson. 

Produced by Wendy 

Ettinger and Michael Nelson. 

A Castle Hill release. Drama. 

Rated R for violence, language 

and depiction of abortion. 


A small-town diner waitress 

("Beautiful Girls'" Martha 

Plimpton) has been waiting for 

years to meet a prisoner with 

whom she has been corrernding: 

a man (Kevin Anson, 

of TV's "Nothing 

Sacred") who, unbeknownst to 

her for some reason, is incarcerated 

for brutally killing his 

pregnant wife. They meet, fall 

m love, and marry quickly 

and she becomes pregnant. 

Hal Holbrook (^'The Firm") 

has a lovely role as a moral, 

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REVIEWS 

world-weary cop. but writer/director Tim 

Blake Nelson's visually ambitious yet dramatically 

benign and sickeningly tragic 

story of a romance between a right-wing 

religious zealot and a woman who long ago 

rejected God fizzles because he—like many 

directors on the independent scene—substitutes 

cool camera stuff and exotic editing 

for dramatic substance. Jon A. Walz 

PLAYING GOD •• 

Starring David Duchovny, Timothy 

1 Hutton and Angelina Jolie. Directed by 

Andy Wilson. Written by Mark Haskell 

Smith. Produced by Marc Abraham and 

Laura Bickford A Buena Vista release. 

Drama/thriller. Rated Rfor strong graphic 

violence, gore, pervasive language and some 

drug use. Running time: 94 min. 

David Duchovny ("Kalifornia," but better 

known from TVs "The X-Files") plays 

Eugene, a de-licensed surgeon who becomes 

a doctor for maniacal crime boss 

Raymond ("French Kiss'" Timothy 

Hutton), in part for the money and in part 

for the proximity this allows to Raymond's 

beautiful girlfriend Claire ("Foxfire" s" Angelina 

Jolie). From the onset, this action/drama/thriller 

is as lackadaisical as its 

star's notoriously mellow delivery. 

The protagonists are not particularly 

sympathetic or endangered, and the villain 

is not very convincingly intimidating. 

"Playing God," amid wanton bloodletting, 

tries to be introspective and philosophical, 

but it's about as engaging in that respect as 

its denouement involving car chases and 

bumbling cops. Christine James 

ROCKETMAN ififMZ 

Starring Harland Williams, William 

Sadler, Jessica Lundy, Jeffrey DeMunn 

and Beau Bridges. Directed by Stuart 

Gillard. Written by Craig Mazin and Greg 

Erb. Produced by Roger Birnbaum. A Disney 

release. Comedy. Rated PG for language, 

crude humor and thematic elements. 


Computer programmer Fred ("Down 

Periscope's" Harland Williams) has a fantasy: 

to be an astronaut. Suddenly, he gets 

his chance. Together with the woman ofhis 

dreams. Mission Specialist Julie ("The 

Stupids'" Jessica Lundy), Commander 

Overbeck ("Solo's" William Sadler) and a 

chimpanzee, Fred heads to Mars. 

"RocketMan" is humorous at the beginning 

and then matures along the way. Although 

the Caravan production is 

continually enlivened by some genuinely 

funny moments, those splashes of humor 

begin to overshadow the film's theme. Yet 

Williams' brand of humor and timing show 

he has, if not the right stuff, at least the right 

stuffing. Dwayne E. Leslie 

GANG RELATED ir-k 

Slurniiti Janus Helushi, Tupac Shakur, 

Rochon, James Earl Jones and Den- 

Quaid. Directed and written by Jim 

Kouf. Produced by BradKrevoy, Steve Stabler 

and John BertolU. An MGM/Orion

—— 

REVIEWS 

release. Drama. Rated R for strong language, 

some violence and a scene with 

nudity. Running time: 106 min. 

Cops Divinci ("Race the Sun's" James 

Belushi) and Rodriguez ("Gridlock'd's" 

Tupac Shakur) use impounded narcotics 

and Divinci 's girlfriend Cynthia ("Waiting 

to Exhale 's" Lela Rochon) to lure drug 

dealers to their last deal and the duo' s profit. 

All is going fine until one of their chalk 

outlines is an undercover DEA agent. 

The toughness of language and abuse of 

authority his role involves fits Belushi, but 

the late Shakur spends most of his time 

brooding; the chemistry between them isn't 

there. Instead of being dirty cops, Belushi 

and Shakur seem more like henchmen 

working for the mob. Dwayne E. Leslie 

MOST WANTED ^^1/2 

Starring Keenen Ivory Wayans and Jon 

Voight. Directed by David Glenn Hogan. 

Written by Keenen Ivory Wayans. Produced 

by Eric L. Gold. A New Line release. 

Action/drama. Rated R for violence and 

language. Running time: 99 min. 

That one-man band, movie star/comedian/talk-show 

host Keenen Ivory Wayans, 

has jumped into new terrain—that of 

screenwriter—with "Most Wanted." His 

script for this political conspiracy thriller is 

hardly complex, ricocheting as it does between 

just-the-facts terseness and rather labored 

one-liners, but it keeps its plot 

moving. The actors must deal with cardboard 

characters, but they have fun. 

As the star and protagonist, set up to be 

killed by apparently everyone he encounters, 

Wayans has the size and ease to make 

his mundane action hero watchable. Aiding 

is music video alum David Glenn Hogan in 

his feature debut. Bridget Byrne 

NAPOLEAN ^^1/2 

Voices by Jamie Croft, Carole Skinner 

and Casey Siemaszko. Directed by Mario 

Andreacchio. Written by Michael Bourchier, 

Mario Andreacchio andMark Saltzman. 

Produced by Michael Bourchier and Mario 

Andreacchio. An MGM/Goldwyn release. 

Adventure. Rated G. Running time: 82 min. 

Occasionally charming and endearing 

family fare, "Napolean" is a fairly diverting 

live-action fantasy, fatally damaged by a 

stop-and-go narrative and a plain, straightforward 

visual style that misses the essential 

magic and imagination. There is much 

that's clever and creative in Mario 

Andreacchio's direction, but he crosses the 

line from innocence to infantilism. 

The story, which Andreacchio co-scripts, 

concerns a curious puppy (voiceover by 

Jamie Croft) named Napolean; he drifts 

away from home in a balloon-driven basket 

and experiences both harrowing and amusing 

aclventures in the Australian wilds. 

Friendly companions on the quest include a 

wise-cracking parrot. The animals are adorable, 

but they have more cuteness than character. 

For the intrepid child in all, "Napolean" 

is too much like a lengthened novelty 

short to work fully. Dale Winogura 

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— 

December. 1997 55 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS BRIEFS 

PACIFIC OVERTURES 

NOTES FROM THE PACIFIC RIM by Kim Williamson 

LEAD STORY: 

HONG KONG—THE FIRST HUNDRED DAYS 

HONG KONG— "There's a lot of anticipation and worr)' and frustration about the [Hong Kong] 

situation," filmmaker Tsui Hark told BOXOFFICE for our last CineAsia issue (2/97), just months 

before the territory ' s June 30 handover by the British to the Chinese. Added producer Terence Chang, 

"The Hong Kong film industry is not very healthy at the moment. In fact, it's never been worse." 

Golden Harvest vice president of production Tom Gray and Film Library Group president Alexandra 

Sun also shared their concerns about increased censorship of artistic expression and about the 

slackening success of the Hong Kong movie industry. 

One hundred days after the beginning of Chinese rule, in an October speech widely carried on the 

region's broadcast and cable outlets and itself perhaps an acknowledgment that the world is watching 

the new government. Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-Hwa said that Hong Kong has "a 

first-class infrastructure, a sound legal framework, and an administration that upholds intellectual 

property, freedom of publication, and privacy of communication. All these serve to protect creative 

expression and encourage the growth of these industries." 

During the two-hour address. Tung said he plans to establish a film services office that will promote 

film production and location shooting in Hong Kong. Local filmmakers have complained that they 

face constraints on location shooting that foreign filmmakers, thanks to assistance lent such visitors 

by the tourism authority, do not. To further build a bridge between hometown moviemakers and city 

hall, Tung said, broadcasting secretary Chau Tak-hay will now also chair a film services advisory 

committee whose aim is "to promote dialogue between the industry and government." 

Boxoffice results for the week ending October 1 provided a miu-ket snapshot. Fox International's 

"Volcano" at HK$7.7 million ($996,222) was the #1 film and outdrew its nearest local competitor 

by 2 to 1. but five of the top 10—including Golden Harvest's "We're No Bad Guys," Mandarin's 

"Eighteen Springs" and Jade City's "Railway Rats"—were not Hollywood fare. By comparison, eight 

of Japan's top 10 draws for the week were American-made, as were nine of Australia's. 

NEW HK HEADACHE: PREMIERES ON PPV 

HONG KONG—Local exhibitors who resisted booking "The 

Gate of Heavenly Peace" earlier this year because the Chinese 

political drama was also being sold for pay-per-view TV airings 

now have a worry that American circuit bookers have kept in the 

back of their minds since MGM (in)famously debuted 1 

983 's "The 

Pirates of Penzance" in theatres and on PPV. Four Miramax titles 

"Basquiat," "Chasing Amy," "The Crow: City of Angels" and 

"Swingers"—will have simultaneous runs in theatres and on Wharf 

Cable TV's Cineplex platform, the PPV service offered by Hong 

Kong's monopoly pay TV network. Unlike the stateside experiment, 

in which PPV pricing was higher than that of theatre tickets, 

the Hong Kong scenario calls for the films to cost the same 

HK$50 ($6.47)—regardless of large- or small-screen venue. Peter 

Tsi, who oversees Wharfs PPV operations, said he expects that 

boxoffice will not be affected due to planned PPV cross-promotions 

and because the films are not having a wide release. (Only 

certain United Artists theatres have booked the Miramax offerings.) 

NEXT UP: NICHOLSON NOTES? 

TOKYO—Noted for its capitalization of the commercial real 

estate industry to the tune of $20 billion, Japanese investment house 

Nomura Asset Capital Corp. has announced it will establish a fund 

of up to $1 billion to finance entertainment ventures via a variant 

of "Bowie Bonds," named after the $55 million worth of 10-year 

notes (purchased earlier this year by Prudential Insurance Co. of 

America) that are backed by singer David Bowie's EMI catalog 

and future revenues. Led by Ethan Penner, the company's Nomura 

Capital Entertainment Finance division will pool large numbers of 

music and film loans into diversified portfolios (to be repaid with 

future library revenue). Penner' s plan would also allow a 

producer's percentage of a film's gross to be leveraged. Bear, 

Steams & Co. and CS First 

Boston are other financial 

institutions entering this 

dawning market. 

CHINA: BROUGHT 

TO YOU BY... 

BEIJING—With 

its 

distribution of "Dante's 

Peak," monopoly film importer 

China Film has 

joined selected regional 

distributors in the practice 

of attaching advertisements 

to movies. The 

practice will continue, on 

a revenue-sharing basis, 

with the small number of 

Hollywood titles allowed 

into the country via China 

Film, which operates a circuit 

of more than 300 theatres 

in 15 cities. 

KISSING LIGHTS 

UP MALAYS 

KUALA LUMPUR— 

The Malaysian movie 

market continues in an expansion mode, but electricity bills at the 

new theatres might grow larger than expected. Tanjong Golden 

Village recently opened a 10-plex in Selangor outside Kuala Lumpur 

and has announced a 13-screener for the Kuala Lumpur City 

Centre, and new exhibition entrant Mega Pavilion is projecting it 

will have 70 screens in the nation by the year 2000. Meanwhile, 

though, local authorities in Kota Baru have ordered the northeastern 

town' s two moviehouses to keep their auditoriums lit while movies 

are being shown to "prevent immoral acts like kissing, cuddling 

and other activities," says Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, chief minister 

of the Kelantan state. The Kelantan government, dominated by 

members of a fundamentalist Islamic party, already require exhibitors 

to cover pictures of bare-headed women on one-sheets. 

AUSSIES VENTURE UP ABOVE 

SYDNEY—The Hoyts circuit will open a 12-plex at South 

London's Bluewater shopping center in early 1999. Like homegrown 

competitor Village Roadshow, Hoyts is targeting Europe for 

Its expansion plans, which include a five-year forecast for 150 

screens in the United Kingdom and 160 screens in Germany. Of 

the $190 miUion raised in two recent public offerings by Hoyts, 

almost $75 million will be devoted to global growth. Hoyts currently 

operates about 1 ,220 screens in the Americas and Australia; 

topper Peter Ivany foresees 3,000 screens by the new century. 

DO YOU HAVE AN EXHIBITION-RELATED 

NEWS ITEM ABOUT THE ASIA-PACIFIC 

MARKET? E-MAIL US CARE OF 

boxofflce(§earthlink.net

56 BoxomcE 

EXHIBITION 

BRIEFINGS 

LOEWS, CINEPLEX 

CONFIRM MERGER PLANS 

Lawrence]. Ruisi, 

president and CEO ofLCE. 

Sony Corp. of 

America and 

Cineplex Odeon 

have announced 

an agreement to 

merge Sonyowned 

Loews 

with Cineplex to 

create the world's 

largest theatrical 

exhibition com- 

|iany. The combined 

company 

will be named 

Loews Cineplex 

Entertainment (ICE) and will have 2,600 

screens in 460 locations in North America. 

According to Sony, anticipated revenues 

from the combined entity will amount to approximately 

$1 billion annually. Sony Retail 

Entertainment will own 51.1 percent of LCE's 

shares (representing 49.9 percent of the voting 

shares); Universal Studios will own 26 percent 

subsequent to a cash contribution of 

$84.5 million; the Charles Rosner Bronfman 

Family Trust will own 9.6 percent; and 

Cineplex Odeon shareholders will own 1 3.3 

percent. Cineplex Odeon shares will be exchanged 

for shares in LCE at closing. It is 

estimated that the total number of shares in 

the combined company will be 452 million. 

The transaction is expected to close in approximately 

six months. 

Lawrence ). Ruisi, currently president of 

Sony Retail Entertainment, has been named 

president and chief executive officer of LCE. 

"We are very excited about what we have set 

in motion with this combination, creating a 

company with significant growth capacity 

and the opportunity to enjoy substantial cost 

savings and operating efficiencies," said Ruisi 

in a prepared statement. "Using our expertise 

in designing, building and operating successful 

theatres, coupled with our significant cash 

flow and full access to capital markets, LCE 

will be able to aggressively participate in the 

dramatic changes taking place in the U.S. and 

Canadian marketplace, as well as pursue the 

many lucrative oppwrtunities which exist in 

International markets." 

Allen Karp, Cineplex Odeon's president 

and chief executive officer, will serve as chairman 

and chief executive officer of Cineplex 

Odeon Canada, the Canadian operating subsidiary 

of LCE. "I am proud to have seen this 

merger through to fruition for the benefit of 

ourcompanyand its shareholders," said Karp. 

"Additionally, this combination will benefit 

the Canadian film industry in that Cineplex 

Odeon has a long and proud history of supporting 

{Canadian production], and I am delighted 

that LCE is committed to continue that 

tradition." 

The merger of the two exhibition giants will 

give LCE a key presence in 22 states, including 

major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, 

CINEASIA EXTRA: SNiMil DEVICES ACQUIRES 

PANASTEREO LINE FROM AUSTRALIA'S RAIOEK 

; 

a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 1 1 

SMART 

Devices Inc. of Atlanta, 

sound monitor. 

The transaction includes exclusive 

parts. 

Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Washington D.C. 

and Houston, as well as a leading position in 

Canada, particularly in Toronto, Vancouver 

and Montreal. LCE's corporate headquarters 

will be in New York, with Canadian headquarters 

in Toronto. 

Ga. has announced the acquisition 

of the Panastereo product 

line from Raidek Pty. Ltd. of Sydney, 

Australia. The product line includes the 

THX-approved Panastereo cinema stereo 

processor, the new^ly-developed 

Panalogic computer-based booth automation 

system, and a high-power booth 

manufacturing rights along with current 

production stock and replacement 

SHOWEST ANNOUNCES CHANGES 

FOR '98 CONVENTION 

ShoWest '98, which will be held March 

9-12 at Bally's Hotel in Las Vegas, will be 

making some changes this year in response to 

delegate feedback. Attendees at last year's 

convention found that the jam-packed schedule 

didn't allow for enough time to visit all the 

booths, so the trade show hours will be extended. 

The trade fair will run from 2 p.m. to 

6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10; from 10 

and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, 

March 12. Additionally, there will be a Trade 

Fair Exhibitors Only desk in the Trade Fair 

office, to allow those with booths to expedite 

their badges, have questions answered and 

get information without standing in line. The 

Trade Fair Office will open at 7 a.m. on 

Monday, March 9, so badges can be obtained 

before move-in begins at 8 a.m. And a new 

Ambassador Program will put more people on 

the trade show floor to answer conventioneers' 

questions, expedite problem solving and provide 

general information. For more information 

about ShoWest, call 310-657-7724. 

CENTURY'S RAMPING UP IN RENO 

San I rancisco-bdsed Century Theatres is 

constructing a 16-plex at Park Lane Mall in 

Reno, Nev., as part of a redevelopment plan 

for the area. The 70,000-square-foot theatre, 

due to open this spring, will be all-stadium 

seating with love seats, and will have digital 

sound on all screens. According to Century, 

the Park Lane Mall is situated at one of 

Reno's busiest intersections, with a daily 

traffic count of approximately 55,000 cars. 

To relocate to this prime site. Century will 

be closing its smaller facility across the 

street, a theatre Century has operated for 25 

years that was expanded over time from one 

to 1 1 screens. "We had the opportunity to 

expand at the site again, but preferred Park 

Lane," says Century president and CEO Raymond 

Syufy. "The property is centrally lo- 

Panastereo products will be manufactured 

entirely in the U.S. beginning 

January 1 998. New options to the stereo 

processor, such as the "Circle Surround" 

six-channel DSP matrix, 

Panalogic automation integration and 

other features will be incorporated into 

the product at that time. 

Raidek will stock processors and 

spares for customers in Pacific Rim 

countries, and will also maintain warranty 

repair facilities in Sydney. SMART 

has been a stockholder in Raidek Pty. 

^Ltd. for over a year. 

cated and the opportunity to be situated next 

to restaurants, retail shops and other forms of 

entertainment is what we're looking for." 

Other Reno-area builds in the works for Century 

include another 16-plex and a 14-plex. 

Century currently operates 500 screens at 60 

locations in five western states. 

HOYTS' SHOPPINGTOWN SPREE 

Hoyts Cinemas Corp. has opened a 10-plex 

in ShoppingTown Mall in Syracuse, N.Y., a 

market in which the circuit now operates 55 

screens. In celebration of the new theatre, 

Hoyts hosted a special fundraiser to benefit 

Camp Good Days and Special Times, Inc. A 

reception was held which included a silent 

auction and a screening of the "The Peacemaker." 

Some of the items auctioned off included 

a "Peacemaker" movie poster 

autographed by stars George Clooney and 

Nicole Kidman and director Mimi Leder. Also 

up for bidding was a season pass entitling the 

holder and a guest to attend movies at any of 

Hoyts' theatres. 

BANK INVESTMENT PAYS OFF 

The Bank Street Theatre in New Milford, 

Conn., has reopened after extensive renovations. 

Over half a million dollars was invested 

to transform the 70-year-old, three-screen art 

deco theatre into a state-of-the-art complex. 

Every system, wall surface and fixture was 

either replaced or dramatically upgraded, according 

the Bank Street Theatre's owner and 

operator, Steven "Rocky" Barry. Auditoriums 

one and three were equipped with Dolby 

Surround, while auditorium number two features 

both Dolby and DTS systems. New highbacked 

chairs with cupholder armrests were 

installed in all three cinemas, as well as new 

drapery, carpeting and paint. The screen sizes 

have been increased in two auditoriums to 

stretch to 20 feet wide. The lobby was also 

remodeled to include a game and party room, 

and the exterior's art deco black and white 

glass facade has undergone restoration. 

The renovations also uncovered two architectural 

features of the building not seen by 

the public in over 50 years; In the lobby, a 

previously-covered decorative terrazzo stone 

floor has been restored, and a pressed tin 

ceiling with soffit lights has been revealed 

underneath the marquee.

. 

had 

YOUNGQUIST FORMS BIRTCHER 

CONSTRUCTION SERVICES 

Andrew Youngquist, former president of 

Birtcher Construction Ltd. (now known as 

MBK Construction Ltd.), has announced the 

formation of Birtcher Construction Services. 

The new company, based in Irvine, Calif., 

focuses solely on construction and management 

services for the theatre industry. )im 

Lefler, also formerly of MBK, is senior executive 

vice president, and is in charge of the 

firm's stadium seating retrofitting division. 

Birtcher Construction Services has recently 

signed construction agreements with Pittsburgh, 

Calif.'s Brenden Theatre Corp.; 

Chicago's Kerasotes Theatres; and 

Shulman Theatres in Texas. The 

firm currently has more than 200 

screens under construction. 

DRIVE-IN DELIRIUM 

BoxoFFicE received several letters 

in response to an item we 

published a few issues back reporting 

on the debut of "Drive-In 

Speaker," a newsletter devoted to 

ozoners. Most respondents simply 

wanted to express their gratitude 

for our attention to the subject of 

drive-ins, a form of exhibition 

whose decline in screen numbers 

is made up for by the passion of its enthusiasts. 

Donald C. Brown jr. pointed out another 

resource for drive-in fans called 

"Update," a publ ication of the Drive-ln Theatre 

Fanatic Fan Club in Baltimore; and Lawrence 

and Debrean Loy, authors of "Films, 

Food & Fun: A Guidebook to Operational 

U.S. Drive-ln Theatres," also wrote to extol 

the D.I.T.F. Fan Club, mentioning that Good 

Morning America recently aired a drive-in 

segment in which the club was featured. The 

D.I.T.F. Fan Club can be contacted at P.O. 

Box 1 8063, Baltimore, MD 21 220-01 63;the 

Loys' book can be ordered by writing to P.O. 

Box 607, Germantown, MD 20875. And the 

Drive-ln Speaker's D.B. Lounder has announced 

a new address: 62 Kensington Rd., 

P.O. Box 7001 , Kensington, CT 06037-7001 

MOVIEFONE PHONES IN RESULTS 

MovieFone has announced that a record 

performance for the company was reached 

this past summer. The interactive phone service, 

which provides callers with movie listings 

and over-the-phone ticketing, 

reportedly received 21 million calls during 

exhibition's hottest season. MovieFone's 

service covers 30 major markets and more 

than 1 2,000 screens. 

SHOWMINDER 

CONVENTION CALENDAR 

Remember to save the following dates: 

ShoWest, March 9-12, 1998, Bally's Hotel 

and Casino, Las Vegas, Nev. Call 31 0-657- 

7724...ShowCanada, May 10-14, Victoria, 

British Columbia. Call 416-969-7057 

. . .Cinema Expo, June 1 5-1 9, 1 998, Amsterdam. 

Call 21 2-246-6460...Australian Movie 

Convention, August 18-22, Royal Pines Resort, 

Gold Coast. Call 011-61 7-33-56-5671 

...NAG Expo, Sept. 15-18, Radisson Twin, 

Odando, Fla. Call 312-236-3858. 

CINEASrA EXTRA: ROBERT ROSEN AND 

UCLA BRING ASIAN CINEMA TO U.S. 

American 

audiences today are familiar with films like Zhang Yimou's "Raise 

the Red Lantern" and Chen Kaige's "Farewell, My Concubine," but few 

realize that one reason these mainland Chinese films are now part of our 

filmgoing experience is 

because the UCLA Film and Television Archive and its 

director Robert Rosen helped bring Chinese filmmakers to the attention of the tiim 

community in the United States. 

The Archive is the world's largest library of motion pictures and broadcasting 

materials outside the Library of Congress, and actively screens, preserves and restores 

film and TV treasures. Located in America's moviemaking capital, the Archive takes 

pains to keep Hollywood aware of films from around the globe. 

For more than a decade, Rosen has been involved in 

foregrounding Asian cinema starting at a time when Asian 

filmmaking as a whole was viewed as very marginal. In the 

1 980s, Rosen made frequent trips to China at the invitation 

of the China Film Association. This was after the Cultural 

Revolution, during the Great Liberalization, and before 

Tiananmen Square. Rosen recalls, "It was a period of great 

effervescence—first, because there were two generations of 

young filmmakers, and second, because the Fifth Generation 

[which came of age after the Cultural Revolution] were very 

experimental in their approach, though their movies were 

not met with great favor by the film bureau and had no 

popular distribution in China." 

Chen Kaige's first film, "Yellow Earth," was one example. 

"That movie was made at a tiny studio out in the provinces, 

with a dirt floor sound stage, and yet they made this wildly experimental movie," 

Rosen marvels. 

Another film Rosen discovered was "The Black Cannon Incident" directed by 

Huang Jian-xin. "I was told informally that foreigners weren't going to see this," 

Rosen explains. "So when I asked at the Film Bureau they said there were no prints 

in Beijing, the only print was in Xi'an." (Xi'an, inland southeast from Beijing, is said 

to be the origin of culture because the Ming Dynasty ruled from there, and it is the 

site one of the approximately 18 government-controlled film studios in China.) 

Rosen traveled to Xi'an to see the film, loved it, and understood the prohibition. "It 

was really a film about China's paranoid, xenophobic fear of foreigners," Rosen 

explains. "Although completed in '85, it has still not been released to the Chinese public." 

Later, at a banquet in Xi'an with the director of "Black Cannon," Rosen promised 

that within a year, "Black Cannon" and the director would be in Los Angeles. 

Everyone thought that would be impossible because the film was not in distribution 

and the government didn't want it seen by foreigners. But a year later, in January 

1987, Rosen had the film and its director in Los Angeles. Rosen accomplished this 

by meeting in L.A. with the China Film Industry's head of international distribution. 

"I told him I had good news and bad news. The good news was I seen eight 

films that will play internationally, that represent the directors of the future, that will 

win prizes at international film festivals, and that will make Chinese cinema an 

international cinema. The bad news is they are none of the films you want to 

export." 

The Chinese didn't want to export these films because they were "art" films that 

wouldn't do well in China, and because some of the films were controversial. Rosen 

persisted, offering to tour the films in major U.S. cities, to pay with foreign currency 

(a big enticement at the time), and to guarantee international recognition for these 

movies. "And I got them!" Rosen exclaims. "The film series was hugely successful. 

This was the first major screening in the United States of the New Chinese Cinema 

and many of the directors we showcased began to create films that were now in 

wide distribution." Highlights included directors Tian Zhuang-zhuang ("The Blue 

Kite") and Xie Fei ("A Girl from Hunan"); the American premiere of "The Black 

Cannon Incident"; and "Yellow Earth," directed by Chen Kaige(nowa U.S. resident) 

and photographed by Zhang Yimou, the two Chinese directors most familiar to 

American audiences today. 

It was something Rosen felt very proud about doing. He concludes, "The history 

of motion pictures for a hundred years has been the result of an unceasing dialogue 

among national cinemas, where each one has been influenced by the other, directly 

or indirectly. The differences in viewpoint and the differences in style ultimately 

work to the best interests of everyone, of world cinema as a whole, and American 

cinema in particular." — Karen Achenbach 

Dprpmhpr IQQ? S7 »

BOXOFFICE 

September October November 

DECEMBER 

(Current)

FEATURE CHART — DECEMBER 1997 

January '98 February '98 Forthcoming 

Deep Rising, 1/30, Act/Thr, S-35, Treat Williams, 

Famite Janssen, Wes Studi, Dir. Stephen 

Sommers.

60 BoXOFFICE 

' 

BOXOFFICE Independent Feature Chart DECEMBER 1997 

NOVEMBER 

Artistic License 

212-265-9119 

Other Voices, Other Rooms. Dir: 

David Rocksavage. 11/7 NY 

Avalanche 

212-265-9119 

Nick and Jane, Rom/Com, 95 

min. Dir: Richard Mauro. 1 l/14exp 

Capitol Entertainment 

301-564-9700 

Autumn Sun (Argentina), 

Rom/Dra, 103 min. Norma Aleandro, 

Federico Luppi. Dir: 

Eduardo Mignogna. 

CFP 

212-995-9662 

Sick: The Life and Death of Bob 

Flanagan, Supermasochist, Doc. 

Dir: Kirby Dick. 1 1/8 NY/LA 

Live 

818-778-3174 

Critical Care, Dra/Thr. James 

Spader, Albert Brooks, Kyra 

Sedgwick. Dir: Sidney Lumet. 1 1/7 

Northern Arts 

413-268-9301 

Hugo Pool, Com, 93 min. Robert 

Downey )r., Sean Penn. Dir: Robert 

Downey Sr.. 11/7 NY/LA 

Midaq Alley (Mexico), Dra. 

Salma Hayek. Dir: Jorge Eons. 

Withnail and I (1987 reissue, 

U.K.), Com, 105 min. Richard E. 

Grant. Dir: Bruce Robinson. 

October 

212-539-4000 

Kiss or Kill, Dra/Thr, 96 min. Matt 

Day, Frances O'Conner, Chris 

Haywood. Dir: Bill Bennett. 

DECEMBER 

Artificial Eye 

212-255-1922 

Beyond the Clouds, Dra. Dir: 

Michaelangelo Antonioni. 12/25 

NY, Jan. exp 

The Mother and the Whore 

(France, 1973), Dra, 210 min. 

Jean-Pierre Leaud. Dir: Jean Eustache. 

12/12 

Dreamworks SKG 

818-733-7000 

Amistad (formerly Mutiny), Dra. 

Matthew McConaughey, Anthony 

Hopkins, Morgan Freeman. 

Dir: Steven Spielberg. 12/10 LA, 

1 2/1 2 NY 

Mousehunt, Com/Ani. Voices: 

Luchini. Dir:EdouardoMolinaro. 

12/19 

Underground, Dra, 128 min. 

Miki Manojiovic, Lazar Ristouski. 

Dir: Emir Kusturica. 

Sony Classics 

Ma Vie en Rose, Com, 89 min. 

Michele Laroque, Jean-Philippe 

Ecoffey. Dir: Alain Berliner. 12/25 

NY/LA 

Strand 

Office Killer, Hor. Carol Kane, 

Molly Ringwald. Dir; Cindy Sherman. 

1 2/3 NY, 1 2/5 LA, 1 2/1 2 SF 

Zeitgeist 

212-274-1989 

Will It Snow for Christmas? 

Dominique Reymond, Daniel 

Duval. Dir: Sandrine Veysset. 

1 2/1 7 NY 

JANUARY '98 

Fine Line 

212-649-4800 

The Sweet Hereafter, Dra, R. Ian 

Holm, Robert Lantos, Sarah 

Polley, Bruce Greenwood. Dir: 

AtomEgoyan. 11/21 NY/LA 

First Look 

310-855-1199 

Slaves to the Underground, Dra. 

Dir: Kristine Petersen. 1 1/14 NY 

Gramercy 

310-385-4400 

Bean, Com, 87 min. Rowan Atkinson. 

Dir: Mel Smith. 1 1/7 

Greycat 

702-737-0670 

Parallel Sons, Rom/Dra, 93 min. 

Dir: John G. Young. 

International Film Circuit 

212-691-0770 

Every Little Thing (France), Doc, 

105 min. Dir: Nicolas Philibert. 

Frozen (China), Dra, 90 min. Dir: 

Wu Ming. 

International Pictures 

212-925-0404 

The Knowledge of Healing, Doc. 

Tanzin Gyatso (Dalai Lama). Dir: 

Franz Reichley. 11/5 NY 

Island Digital Media 

415-275-5405 

Tokyo Fist. 

Kino 

212-629-6880 

Happy Together (Hong Kong), 

Dra/Kom, 94 min. Leslie Cheung. 

Dir: Wong Kar-Wai. 1 1/14 exp 

Kit Parker 

800-538-5838 

Nucha Vol III, CunVDra, 95 min. 

Luisito Marti, Raul Carbonel. Dir: 

Angel Muniz. 1 1/13 exp 

LIVE Entertainment's "Suicide Kings. 

Phaedra 

310-478-3308 

Bollywood Cinema Series (India), 

Collection of five films. 

Sony Classics 

212-833-8851 

The Tango Lesson, Dra. Dir: Sally 

Potter. 11/14 NY/LA 

Spats Films 

213-469-6660 

III Gotten Cains, Dra. Djimon 

Hounsou, Akosua Busia. Dir: 

Joel Marsden. 11/14 LA/NY/ 

Chi/SF 

Strand 

310-395-5002 

Full Speed (aka Toute Vitesse) 

(France), Dra, 85 min. Elodie 

Bouchez. Dir: Gael Morel. 

The Mouse, Dra. John Savage, 

Angelica Torn. Dir: Dan Adams. 

Trimark 

310-314-3040 

Eve's Bayou, Dra. Samuel L. Jackson, 

Lynn Whitfield. Dir: Kasi 

Lemmons. 1 1/1 7 exp 

Turbulent Arts 

415-552-1952 

Never Met PicatM, Dra. Dir: Stephen 

Kijdk. 1 1/28 

Nathan Lane, Lee Evans. Dir: 

Gore Verbinski. 1 2/25 

Fine Line 

Deconstructing Harry, Com. 

Woody Allen, Kirstie Alley, Judy 

David, Richard Benjamin, Billy 

Crystal, Robin Williams. Dir: 

Woody Allen. 12/12 NY/LA/Tor, 

1 2/24 exp, 2/6 wide 

The Winter Guest, Dra. Emma 

Thompson, Phyllida Law. Dir: 

Alan Rickman. 12/19 NY/LA/Tor 

First Run 

212-243-0600 

O Amor Natural, Doc, 76 min. 

Dir: Heddy Honigmann. 12/31 

Fox Searchlight 

310-369-4402 

Oscar and Lucinda, Dra, R, 131 

min. Ralph Fiennes, Cate 

Blanchett. Dir:Gillian Armstrong. 

12/31 NY/LA 

Gramercy 

The Big Lebowski, cTra/Com. Jeff 

Bridges, John Goodman, Steve 

Buscemi. Dir: Joel Coen. 12/25 

NYAA, 1/1 6 exp 

New Yorker 

212-247-6110 

Beaumarchais: The Scoundrel 

(France), Com, 1 00 min. Fabrice 

Castle Hill 

212-888-0080 

A Further Gesture, Dra, 96 min. 

Stephen Rea. 1/30 ltd 

First Run 

Arguing the World, Doc, 107 

min. Dir: Joseph Dorman. 


Hard Men (U.K.), Dra. Vincent 

Regan, Ross Boatman, Lee Ross. 

Dir: J.K. Amalou. 

Two Girls and a Guy, Com. Robert 

Downey Jr., Natasha Wagner, 

Heather Graham. Dir: James 

Toback. 1/30 

Gramercy 

Tempting Fate (formerly 

Shakespeare's Sister), Dra. Kenneth 

Branagh, Madeleine Stowe, 

William Hurt. Dir: Leslie Linka 

Clatter. 1/30 

Island Digital Media 

General Chaos: Uncensored Animation, 

Ani. Dir: (Various). 

Kino 

Fallen Angels, Thr. Leon Lai, 

Karen Mong, Michele Reis. Dir: 

Wong Kar-Wai. 

Live 

The Real, Dra. LL Cool J, Snoop 

Doggy Dog, Bokeem Woodbine. 

Dir: Darin Scott. 1/6 

Suicide Kings (formerly Boys 

Night Out), Dra/Thr, 107 min. 

Christopher Walken, Henry 

Thomas. Dir: Peter O'Fallow. 

October 

still Breathing, Kom, 109 min. 

Brendan Eraser, Joanna Going, 

Ann Magnuson. Dir: James F. 

Robinson. 1/23 ltd 

Phaedra 

Gonin Oapan), Act, 104 min. 

Takeshi Kitano. Dir: Takashi Ishii.

2 

December, 1997 61 

1 

BOXOFFICE Independent Feature Chart DECEMBER 1997 

Sony Classics 

Afterglow, Rom/Dra. Nick Nolle, 

Julie Christie. Dir: Alan Rudolph. 

Strand 

La Sentinelle (France), Thr, 144 

min. Emmanuel Salinger. Dir; 

Arnaud Desplechin. 

Toute Vitesse. Elodie Bouchez. 

Trimark 

The Blackout, Dra. Matthew 

Modine, Dennis Hopper. Dir: 

Abel Ferrara. 

Star Kid (formerly Warrior of 

Waverly Street), SF. Joseph 

Mazzello. Dir: Manny Coto. 1/16 

FEBRUARY '98 

Artificial Eye 

A Summer's Tale (France), 

Rom/Com. Dir: Eric Rohmer. NY, 

exp in March 

CFP 

Junk Mail, Com. Robert 

Skjaerstad. Dir: Pal Sletaune. 

Love and Death on Long Island, 

Dra. John Hurt, Jason Priestley. 

Dir: Richard Kwietniowski. 2/27 

First Look 

Mrs. Dalloway, Dra, 97 min. 

Vanessa Redgrave, Rupert 

Graves, Michael Kitchen. Dir: 

Marleen Gorris. 2/20 

First Run 

Paul Monette: The Brink of 

Summer's End, Doc. Dir: Monte 

Bramer. 2/6 


Polish Wedding, Dra. Claire 

Danes, Gabriel Byrne, Lena Olin. 

Dir: Theresa Connelly. 2/20 

International Film Circuit 

Mother and Son (Germany/Russia), 

Dra, 73 min. Dir: Alexander 

Sokurov. 2/4 

Live 

Tarzan & Jane, RonVAdv. Casper 

Van Dien. Dir: Carl Schenkel. 

2/27 (tentative) 

Polygram 

310-385-4000 

The Borrowers, Fam. John Goodman. 

Dir: Peter Hew/itt. 

The Gingerbread Man, Thr. Kenneth 

Branagh, Embeth Davidtz. 

Dir: Robert Altman. 

Sony Classics 

Nil by Mouth, Dra. Kathy Burke, 

Edna Dore. Dir: Gary Oldman. 

Strand 

Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life, Doc. 

Dir: Michael Paxton. 

The Mummy. Alison Elliot. Dir: 

Michael Almereyda. 2/13 

Nighte of Cabiria (Italy, 1957 reissue), 

Dra. Dir: Federico Fellini. 

MARCH '98 


Paulie: A Parrot's Tale. Tony 

Shalhoub, Gena Rovi'lands. Dir: 

John Roberts. 3/20 


Cousin Bette, Dra. Jessica Lange, 

Elisabeth Shue, Bob Hoskins. Dir: 

Des McAnuff. 3/20 

Slums of Beverly Hills. Alan 

Arkin, MarisaTomel. Dir:Tamara 

Jenkins. 

Gramercy 

Long Time, Nothing New, 

Dra/Rom. Lauren Holly, BIythe 

Danner, Jon Bon Jovi, Edward 

Burns. Dir: Edward Burns. 

Sony Classics 

A Friend of the Deceased 

(Ukraine), Dra/Thr. Alexandre 

Laza. Dir; Vyacheslav 

Krishtofovich. 

Men With Guns, Dra. Federico 

Luppi. Dir: John Sayles. 

APRIL '98 

Live 

The Substitute 2. Treat Williams, 

B.D. Wong. Dir: Steven Pearl. 4/3 

Polygram 

Barney's Great Adventures, Fam. 

Trevor Morgan, Diana Rice, Kyle 

Pratt, George Hearn, Shirley 

Douglas. Dir; Steve Gomer. 

MAY '98 

Gramercy 

what Rats Won't Do (U.K.), 

Rom/Com. Natascha McElhone, 

lames Frain. Dir: Alaistair Reid. 

Live 

The Second Arrival, SF. Patrick 

Muldoon, Jane Sibbett. Dir: Kevin 

Tenny. 5/8 

JUNE '98 


Saving Private Ryan, Dra. Tom 

Hanks, Ed Burns, Tom Sizemore, 

Matt Damon. Dir: Steven 

Spielberg. 6/1 

Gramercy 

clay Pigeons. Janeane Garofalo, 

Vince Vaughn. Dir: David Dobkin. 

FORTHCOMING 

Artistic License 

Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day, 

Dra. Dir: Christopher Munch. 

Cinema Village 

212-431-5119 

Cartoon Noir, Ani, 85 min. 

Dove 

310-786-1600 

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 

Com/SF. Douglas Adams. 


Antz, Ani. Voices: Woody Allen, 

Danny Glover, Sylvester Stallone. 

Dir: Eric Darnell, Larry Guterman, 

Tim Johnson. 1999 

El Dorado: City of Gold, Ani. 

Voices: Kevin Kline, Kenneth 

Branagh, Rosie Perez, Armand 

Assante. Dir: Will Finn, David 

Silverman. 1999 

Keeper. 

Neanderthal. 

The Prince of Egypt, Ani. Voices; 

Val Kilmer, Steve Martin, Ralph 

Fiennes, Martin Short, Sandra 

Bullock. Dir: Brenda Chapman, 

Steve Hickner, Simon Wells. 

Nov. '98 

Shrek, Ani. Voices: Chris Farley, 

Janean Garofalo, Eddie Murphy. 

Dir; Kelly Asbury, Andrew Adamson. 

1999 

Small Soldiers. 

Untitled Neil Jordan (formerly 

Blue Vision, In Dreams). Annette 

Bening. Dir: Neil Jordan. Fall 

1998 

Fine Line 

Didier (France). Alain Chabat. 

Dir: Alain Chabat. 

Esmeralda Comes by Night (Mexico), 

Com. Maria Rojo. Dir: Jamie 

Humberto Hermosillo. 

Girl Talk, Dra/Com. Troy Beyer, 

Randi Ingerman, Page Brewster. 

Dir; Troy Beyer. 

The Legend of the Pianist on the 

Ocean, Dra. Tim Roth. Dir: 

Giuseppe Tornatore. Sept. '98 

Passion in the Desert, Dra. Ben 

Daniels, Michel Piccoli. Dir: Lavinia 

Currier. May 

Pecker. Edward Furlong. Dir; 

John Waters. Aug. '98 

Red Violin. Samuel L. Jackson. 

Dir; Francois Girard. 

When I Close My Eyes (Japan) 

(formerly Love Letter, Letters of 

Love), Rom/Com, PG, 116 min. 

Miho Nakayama, Etsushi 

Toyokawa. Dir; Shunji Iwai. 

Wild Man Blues. 

First Look 

The Other Side of Sunday (Norvtfay), 

Dra, 104 min. Bjorn Sundquist, 

Hildegunn Riise, Maria 

Theisen. Dir: Berit Nesheim. 

This is the Sea, Dra. Richard Harris, 

Gabriel Byrne, John Lynch. 

First Run 

Didn't Do It for Love, Doc, 80 

min. Dir; Monika Treut. 

April/May 


Ship of Fools (aka Shooting Fish), 

Dra/Com. Tony Shalhoub, Stanley 

Tucci, Isabella Rossellini. 

Dir; Stanley Tucci. 

Gramercy 

Vmg Rhames, 

Body Count, Act. 

Forest Whitaker, David Caruso. 

Dir: Robert Patton Spruill. 

Elizabeth I, Dra. Geoffrey Rush, 

Cate Blanchett. Dir; Shekhar 

Kapur. 

The Hi-Lo Country. Woody 

Harrelson, Billy Crudup. Dir; Stephen 

Frears. 

I Want You, Rom/Dra. Rachel 

Weisz, Alessandro Nivola. Dir: 

Michael Winterbottom. 

Land Girls, Dra. Gwyneth Paltrow, 

Rachel Weisz. Dir: David 

Leiand. 

Photographing Fairies. Peter 

O'Toole. 

Plunkett and Macleane, Act/Adv. 

Robert Carlyle, Liv Tyler, Jonny 

Lee Miller. Dir: Jake Scott. 

Greycat 

A Gun for Jennifer, Thr. 

Gurney 

212-838-2929 

Follow the Bitch, Com. 

213-467-3700 

The Leading Man, Dra. Jon Bon 

Jovi. Dir: John Duigan. 

Live 

Joyride. Benecia Del Toro. 

The Breakup. Bridget Fonda. 

October 

The Apostle, Dra. Robert Duvall, 

Miranda Richardson, Farrah 

Fawcett. Dir: Robert Duvall. 

Condo Painting, Doc. Dir: John 

McNaughton. 

Hearts and Minds, Thr, R, 105 

min. Dir: Ralph Ziman. 

The Naked Man, Com. Michael 

Rapaport, Rachael Leigh Cook. 

Dir: J. Todd Anderson. 

Orgazmo. Trey Parker. Dir; Trey 

Parker. 

Three Seasons, Dra. Harvey Keitel. 

Dir: Tony Bui. 

24/7. Bob Hoskins. Dir; Shane 

Meadows. 

Untitled Todd Solondz. 

Polygram 

What Dreams May Come Robin 

Williams, Annabella Sciorra, 

Cuba Gooding Jr. 

Shadow 

207-872-51 1 

La Petite Apocalypse (France), 

Com/Dra, 110 min. Pierre Arditi. 

Dir; Constantin Costa-Gavras. 

Shooting Gallery 

212-431-6759 

illtown, Dra. Michael Rapaport, 

Lili Tyalor. 

Trimark 

Bombshell. Henry Thomas, Frank 

Whaley. Dir; Paul Wayne. 

Zeitgeist 

Murders and Murders. Yvonne 

Rainers.

Boston 

180,615 

Chicago 

162.818 

Phoenix 

147,854 

Houston 

127,349 

Torotrto 

103,185 

Kansas City 

79.210 

1 Sony Cheri (4) 20,722 

2 FEISomerville(l) 2,920 

3 Sony Nickelodeon (5) 12,379 

1 CO Broadway (1) 2,231 

2 Village North (1) 1,510 

3 Sony Webster Place (8) 10,433 

1 Hark Cine Capri (1) 1,355 

2 Century Glendale (9) 8,435 

3 UA Christown Mall (6) 6, 1 34 

1 CO River Oaks Plaza (12) 1 0, 1 09 

2 GCC Point Nasa (6) 3.51 

3 Dollar Cleariake (8) 4,496 

1 Famous Plaza (2) 3,213 

2 Famous Eglinton(l) 1,552 

3 Famous Yorkdale (6) 6,126 

1 Dksn Glenwood (4) 3,001 

2 AMC Crown Center (6) 4,087 

3 Dksn We8lglen(12) 7,616 

7 

) 

Boxoffice Magazine 

presents 

NovieFOne's Moviegoer Activity Report 

For the Month of September 1997 

MovieFone^ (777-FILAf) and itx sister service, MovieLink* Online, are now the single large.st source ofmovie showtime information in the country, 

providing information to over 12 million moviegoers each month. Thefolbwing information represents the most requested theatres and exhibitors on MovieFone. 

Top 10 Exhibitors & Theatres 

Most Requested Exhibitors 

Most Requested Theatres 

Last Month's 

^^^^,^ 

Rank Eihlbitor 

lotal Requests Rank 

Rank Narket Theatre Total Requests Rank 

1 

United Artists 

474,036 

1 

1 NY Sony Lincoln Square 41,430 1 

2 AMC 

464,955 

2 

2 LA AMC Century 14 29,866 2 

3 Sony 

424,394 

4 

3 NY Sony 19th St. East 22.709 15 

4 Cineplex Odeon 

418,689 

3 

4 BO SonyCheri 20.722 12 

5 General Cinema 

245,485 

5 

5 NY SonyOrplieum 19,749 9 

6 Cinemark 

145,143 

7 

6 Ml Cobb Palace 18 19,013 6 

7 Century 

141,333 

6 

7 NY CO Worldwide Cinemas 17,737 11 

8 Mann 

108,348 

12 

8 PH UA Riverview Plaza 17,365 3 

9 

National Amusements 

99,165 

9 

9 PH UA Cheltenham 17,223 4 

10 Regal 

98,826 • 

10 

10 LA CO Beverly Center 16,950 13 

Most Requested Theatres Per Screen 

TMal 

Total Last Month s Total 

IMal Last Month's 

Requests Rank Theatre (# screens) Requests Rank 

Requests Rank Theatre (# screens) Requests Rank 

New York 

1 SonyAstor(l) 7,655 

1 

Atlanta 

1 UATara(4) 1,605 

10 

741,746 2 Sony Tower East (1) 6,406 

39 

74,349 

2 AMC Galleria (8) 2,915 

1 

3 CO Coronet 1 & 2 (2) 8,653 

2 

3 North Springs (2) 709 

17 

Los Angeles 

1 MannNationai(l) 5,395 

1 

Seattle 

1 Landmk Egyptian (1) 1,413 

21 

519.200 

2 San LosFeli2(1) 3,733 

8 

74,167 

2 Act III Mountlake (9) 8,469 

3 

3 CO Century Plaza (4) 13.527 

14 

3 CO Northgate(l) 798 

6 

Dallas 

1 Granada Movie Grill (1) 1,356 

3 San Diego 

1 Landmk Cove (1) 617 20 

399,817 

2 AMC Highland Park (4) 4,814 

1 

73,499 

2 Mann Cinema 21 (1) 534 

2 

3 AMC Forum (6) 6,823 

2 

3 The Vogue (1) 439 

3 

Miami 

1 AMC Kendall T&C (10) 14,004 

1 Denver 

1 UA Continental (6) 3,272 

7 

249,958 

2 GCC Riviera (4) 4,968 

10 

70,501 

2 Landmk Esquire (2) 1,066 

32 

3 Cobb Miami Lakes (10) 11,570 

5 

3 AMC Buckingham (6) 2,660 

2 

San Francisco 1 BIm Royal (1) 4,154 

3 

Minneapolis 

1 Lankdmk Uptown ( 1 1 1 33 

10 

, 

211,041 

2 BIm Regency (1) 3,059 

11 

57,755 

2 GCC Shelard Park (5) 2,352 

t 

3 BlmAlhambra(l) 2.879 

18 

3 C0Edina(4) 1,824 20 

Philadelphia 

3 

Nashville 

Carmike Belcourt Twin (2) 1 ,379 

14 

1 Cinemagic (3) 9,598 

1 

185,768 

2 UASameric(4) 11,633 

55,725 

2 Carmike Hickory (8) 5,363 

2 

1 

3 UA Cheltenham (8) 17,223 

2 

3 Carmike Lion's Head (5) 2,689 

4 

1 

2 

7 

9 

1 

3 

3 

1 

1 

7 

8 

e 

2 

1 

11 

3 

Las Vegas 

49,678 

Cleveland 

47,567 

Washington, DC 1 

1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

44,973 2 

San Antonio 1 

3 

39,211 2 

Detroit 

33,851 

Sacramento 

3 

1 

2 

3 

28,583 2 

t 

3 

Gold Coast Twin (2) 1,193 

UA Showcase (8) 4,279 

Century Cinedome (12) 5.616 

Regal Severance (8) 4.228 

General Southgate (3) 1,439 

GCC Parmatown (5) 1.941 

CO Uptown (1) 1,319 

CO Embassy (1) 871 

CO West End (4) 1,649 

Act III Mission D-l (4) 1.928 

Act III Rolling Oaks (6) 2.703 

Act III Embassy (14) 6.059 

Star Taylor (10) 2,640 

Star Lincoln Part* (8) 1 ,645 

NAOeait)om(e) 1,459 

Century Century 21 (1) 1.005 

Century Sacramento D-l (6) 2,356 

UA Market Square (6) 2,267 

Ton lop i3 Haiveiy Arffivoiv* DoailPCfPd Kequesiea ThpatrPS' ineaires. CO 1 • 

^^^ ^^^^^ ^y New York, ny Daiias,-D< 

Y;.tj7

Congratulations 

'ackValenti 

ON RECEIVING THIS YEAR'S 

CineAsia 

A NEWS CORPORATION COMPANY

; 

(707) 

64 RoxnmcE 

Suite 

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING 

RATES: $1 .00 per word, minimum $25, $15 extra 

for box number assignment. Send copy with check 

to BoxOFFiCE, P.O. Box 25485, Chicago, IL 60625, 

at least 60 days prior to publication. 

BOX NUMBER ADS: Reply to ads with box numbers 

by writing to Boxoffice, P.O. Box 25485, 

Chicago, IL 60625; put ad box number on letter 

and in lower-lett corner of your envelope. 

ADVERTISER INDEX 

Action Lighting 44 

Automaticl

FAX 

lliilil 

December, 1997 65 

WESTAR QUALITY CINEMA EQUIPMENT, PARTS 

AND ACCESSORIES. Westar multicoated projection 

lenses available from slock. 50, 55. 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 

90mm fully guaranteed $450; Westar 35mm splicers, 

heavy duty, S295; Westar projectors & soundheads, new 

two-year warranty. Westar precision projector parts for 

Westar. Century, Westrex, Cinecita, RCA, Simplex or 

Monce. Free catalogs and price lists. Trades accepted. 

See us on the Internet at http://www.iceco.com or email; 

ICECO@aol.com. Phone (305) 573-7339, fax (305) 573- 

8101. 

WILL TRADE: YOUR THEATRE SEATS FOR OUR 

USED THEATRE EQUIPMENT. Great condition at great 

prices. Platters, projectors, lamphouses, complete prewired 

stereo racks and much, much more. Premier Seating 

Co. Inc., 800-955-SEAT, fax (410) 686-6060, e-mail: 

pseating @ aol.com. 

EQUIPMENT WANTED 

PURCHASE OR TRADE: For your used theatre equipment, 

concession equipment, theatre seats. Ask about 

our storage facilities and our financing program. Premier 

Seating Co. Inc., 800-955-SEAT, fax (410) 686-6060, 

e-mail: pseating@aol.com. 

VINTAGE TUBE TYPE AMPS, woofers, drivers, horns, 

parts, from Western Electric, Westrex, Altec, Jensen, 

JBL, EV, Tannoy. Mcintosh. Marantz. Phone David at 

(818) 441-3942. P.O. Box 80371, San Marino, CA 

91118-8371. 

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE: We will 

purchase Century 

projectors or soundheads, new or old, complete or incomplete, 

for cash. Also interested in XL and SH-1000. Call 

(502) 499-0050. Fax (502) 499-0052. Hadden Theatre 

Supply Co., attn. Louis. 

WE WILL PURCHASE your used theatre 

equipment. 

Consignments, outright purchases, trades, what have 

you? There is only one INTERNATIONAL CINEMA 

EQUIPMENT COMPANY at one location in the USA. 

(305) 573-7339, Fax (305) 573-8101. Website: 

http;//www. iceco.com. 

SOFTWARE 

TICKETING SOFTWARE for IBM-PC. Complete software 

package designed for independents and small circuits. 

Point-Of-Sale ticketing for 1-12 movies with daily and 

weekly reporting system. Now in use at over 60 theatre 

locations in the U.S. Use your own IBM compatible. We 

have inexpensive thermal printers, automated cash drawers 

and pole displays. Software from $399. Printers from 

$499. Call (615) 790-7797 for free demo or download now 

on our website at senslblecinema.com. 

THEATRES FOR SALE/LEASE 

CALIFORNIA'S KERN RIVER VALLEY and Lake 

Isabella. Only theatre for entire area. Outstanding climate, 

recreation, schools. Clean, neat, efficient, with terrific 

picture and sound. Turnkey. Call Dennis at (760) 376- 

6910 (theatre), or (760) 376-3605 (home). 

DRIVE-IN CONSTRUCTION 

DRIVE-IN SCREEN TOWERS Since 1945 Selby Products. 

Inc.. P.O. Box 267, Richfield, Ohio 44286 (330) 

659-6631 . 800-647-6224. 

SCREEN TOWERS INTERNATIONAL New, used, transplanted, 

complete tower service. Box 399, Rogers, TX 

76569. Phone: 800-642-3591. 

THEATRE SEATING 

"ALL AMERICAN SEATING" by the EXPERTS! Used 

seats of quality. Various makes. American Bodiform and 

Stellars from $12.50 to $32.50. Irwins from $12.50 to 

$30.00. Heywood & Massey rockers from $25.00. Full 

rebuilding available. New Hussey chairs from $70.00. All 

types theatre projection and sound equipment. New and 

used. We ship and install all makes. Try us! We sell no 

Junk! TANKERSLEY ENTERPRISES, P.O. Box 36009. 

Denver, CO 80227. Phone (303) 716-0884; fax (303) 

716-0889. 

ALLSTATE SEATING is a company that is specializing 

in refurbishing, complete painting, molded foam, tailormade 

seat covers, installations, removals. Please call 

for pricing and spare parts for all types of theatre 

seating. Boston. MA. Phone (61 7) 268-2221 , (617) 

268-7011. 

AUDITORIUM SEATING SPECIALIST. New installations, 

rebuilds, repairs and reasonable rates. Bob, (970) 

224-1 147. Perfection Seating Inc., 295 Lone Pine Creek 

Drive, Red Feather Lakes, CO 80545. 

"BOOSTER 8. 

SAURUS" Child 

booster seats. Call Cy Young Industries 

Inc. at 800-729-2610. 

CHILD BOOSTER SEATS: Molded 

plastic, large quantity in stock, multiple 

colors available, will not deteriorate like 

boosterbags. Premier Seating Co. Inc., 

800-955-SEAT, fax (410) 686-6060, e- 

mail; pseating@aol.com. 

FINALLY, AN ALTERNATIVE TO ON- 

SITE UPHOLSTERY: Call us about our 

new upholstered backs and cushions 

by mail program. More cost-efficient 

than on-site upholsterers, fast turnaround, 

quality controlled incur 40,000 

sq. ft. state-of-the-art factory. Premier 

Seating Co. Inc., 800-955-SEAT, fax 

(410) 686-6060, e-mail: pseating@aol.com. 

ON-SITE UPHOLSTERY and replacement 

covers. Parts available for many 

chairs. Our "Bakers Dozen" gives you 

1 3 covers for the cost of 1 2. Nationwide 

service. Free samples made up. Call 

Complete Industries for pricing. (800) 

252-6837. 

SEAT AND BACK COVERS: Most fabrics 

in slock. Molded cushions. Cy 

Young Industries Inc., 800-729-2610. 

SEAT FOAMS: All makes/all models, 

fast turn-around. Premier Seating Co. 

Inc., 800-955-SEAT, fax (410) 686- 

6060, e-mail; pseating@aol.com. 

SEATING FOR SALE: 8,000 used 

Irwin Citations from $25; American 

Stellar M35s from $20; American Highback 

Deluxe rockers from $27.50; 

Wakefield self-risers from $20. Photos 

available. International Cinema Equipment 

Co. Inc. Phone (305) 573-7339, 

fax (305) 573-8101. 

SEATS CLEANED on site, $1.56- 

$2.36 per seat (coast to coast). Call 

(800) 879-2311, 24 hours, for brochure 

and information. The Carpet 

Cleaner, P.O. Box 154. Osceola, MO 

64776. 

SEATS FOR SALE, excellent condition, 

Stellars and Massey. Call (301) 

949-4761. Fax (301) 949-4763. 

THEATRE SEAT AND BACK COV- 

ERS: Large in-stock fabric inventory, 

fast turn-around, competitive pricing at 

any quantity. Premier Seating Co. Inc., 

800-955-SEAT, fax (410) 686-6060, e- 

mail: pseating@aol.com. 

? UNnEDSmTES 

POSW-iCRVKE,. 

101 H. Wabub lit 60601 

Statsment of Ownership, Management, and Circulation 

« *W«li 0*ca ^ f,M««i ffWfoMM 

6640 Sur>««t Blvd.. Ste 100, Hollyvood. CA 900Ji-;ii9 

Robert L. Dietaclar, 203 R. Uabaah Ava., Chlcaga, llltâol* 6060) 

la; Craana, 6660 Sunsac Blvd., Ita. 100. Hollraoml. CA 9002B-T1J9 

Kla Wmiauon. 6640 Sunaci Blvd., Sta. 100. HoUrvtrad . CA 90026-71^9 

tobart L. Dlctaalai 

aiaawaw, 

Oiavlii M il a 

P% taaa 9f3*. Sananoa. i«vr*(ig 

THEATRE SEAT RECONDITIONING: 

Total or partial theatre seat restoration 

in our 40,000 sq. ft. state-of-theart 

factory, featuring sandblasting, 

powder-coating, and in-house upholstering. 

Restore your seats or purchase 

from our inventory. Ask atsout 

our in-house financing program. Premier 

Seating Co. Inc., 800-955- 

SEAT, fax (410) 686-6060, e-mail: 

pseating@aol.com. 

THEATRE SEATS WANTED: Will buy/trade for surplus 

and unwanted theatre seats, all makes and models. Premier 

Seating Co. Inc., 800-955-SEAT, fax (410) 686- 

6060, e-mail: pseating@aol.com. 

USED AUDITORIUM CHAIRS: Choose from a large selection 

of different makes and models and colors, American 

Stellars and Irwin Citations competitively priced, 

shipped and installed. ACOUSTIC SOUND PANELS AND 

CUSTOM WALL DRAPERIES available in flameproofed 

colors and fabrics, artistic or plain. CINEMA CONSUL- 

TANTS & SERVICES INTERNATIONAL, Inc. P.O. Box 

9672, Pittsburgh, PA. 15226. Phone (412) 343-3900, Fax 

(412)343-2992. 

SERVICES 

ALTEC, JBL, E.V. SPEAKER RECONING: Factory authorized 

service, fast turnaround. We stock diaphragms 

for popular theatre drivers. Cardinal Sound & Motion 

Picture Systems Inc. Dealer inquiries welcome. (301) 

595-8811. 

FRONT END INSTALLATION with frames, motors and 

masking tracks. Call Cy Young Industries Inc. 800-729- 

2610. 

MY 50TH YEAR with M.P.M.O., Local 249, Dallas, TX!! 

Call me, "Pinky" Pinkston, to rebuild your Century, Simplex 

projector and soundhead. Also, intermittents. 

Pinkston Sales and Service, Rt 1, Box 72H, Sadler, TX 

76264. Or call (903) 523-4912. 

ciiiipii»iiaib,aa

M, RnYnmrF 

The lEis IPicture 

The 

auteur theory pioneered by a maverick group of French 

film critics back in the 1950s opened up a lot of ground for 

American filmmakers. Basing their methodology on a group 

of journeyman Hollywood directors whose worta had never received 

any serious evaluation previously, these writers, almost all of 

whom worked for the legendary Cahier du Cinema under editor 

Andre Bazin, devised a way to look at a body of work (the French 

word oeuvre is still used for this type of approach) and to declare 

"authorship" (in French "auteurisni") when unifying genius could 

be discerned. The impact of the Cafe'er critics, whose ranks included 

future filmmakers Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, elevated 

directors like Hitchcock, Kurosawa, Howard Hawks and Orson 

Welles into the 

upper rank of 

world artists. 

A side effect 

of auterism 

was a new type 

of creative 

bond between 

actors and directors. 

Auteurism 

made it 

possible—in 

some cases, desirable—to 

locate 

the director-artist's 

presence inside 

his woilc It became 

almost 

inevitable 

that 

if "authorship" 

was now to be 

conferred on 

filmmakers, 

the best ofthem 

would claim it 

in part through forming specialized relationships with UiIlmu. 

Just as James Joyce had Steven Daedelus as his literary double, 

Godard had his Jean-Paul Belmondo, Fellini his Marcello 

Mastroianni, Scorsese his Robert De Niro, Kurosawa his Toshiro 

Mifune. In the aftermath of auteurism, collaboratioas between 

directors and particular actors who could be viewed as standing in 

for the filmmaker's moral and aesthetic concerns took on an added 

layer of meaning, an extra dimension of import and seriousness. 

Though this "doubling" approach wasn't new (John Ford's decades 

of collaboration with John Wayne spring to mind), the auteurist 

critics devised the methodology which helped astute observers to 

find hidden subtexts in the.se specialized collaborations—collaborations 

which, more often than not, were accomplished enough to 

live up to all that analytical heat. 

Such 

a collaboration was the one between director John Woo 

with his favorite Hong Kong actor. Chow Yun-Fat, in the late 

1 980s and early '90s. In his native country. Chow's stardom 

like De Niro's, Belmondo's and Mastroianni's—transcended his 

relative handftil of Wcx) appearances: As one of Asia's topmost 

boxofflce attractions, he (x;cupied (and still holds) a ptwition with 

Asia's audiences similar to the one held by Mel Gibson or Tom 

Cruise in the U.S. But it was Chow's Woo titles—especially "A 

Better Tomorrow" (Woo's 1986 Hong Kong breakthrough), "The 

Killer" (perhaps the bestfilm noir made anywhere since the 1 940s), 

and "Hard-Boiled" (the torqued-up actioner that launched Woo's 

U.S. career)—which sealed Chow's persona for millions of moviegoers 

all over the world. 

— 

It has gone almost unnoticed in the U.S. that Woo—one of the 

hottest directors in the industry in the aftermath of back-to-back 

blockbusters "Broken Arrow" and "Face/Off'—is actually a very 

serious-minded and thematically consistent director Like Hawks', 

Woo's best films revolve around loyalty; like Ford, he believes in 

the mythos of the heroic loner; like the American noir directors of 

the 

1940s, his heroes move through a corrupt world, trying (and 

often faihng) to keep some little social or spirinjal comer of it safe 

Ikim harm. "The Killer"—Woo's best film to date—is an instructive 

case in point: In it, a dispassionate hitman accidentally blinds a 

bargirl during an execution gone wrong, and then discovers he has 

a conscience when he tries—and fails—to atone for his sins against 

her. 

title character in 

"The Killer," 

just as he stood 

at the moral 

center of each 

of Woo's best 

Hong Kong 

features with 

the exception of 

the 

little-seen 

"Bullet in the 

Head." As an 

icon. Chow's 

reputation 

Chow Yun- 

Fat played the 

preceded 

him (and 

Woo) within 

the American 

movie business: 

The 

shades, the 

dustcoat, the 

unapologetic 

cigarette and 

Chow's ambidextrous way with a pair of guns, have been showing 

up in dozens of American movies since the early 1 990s—films by 

everyone ftt)m Quentin Tarantino at one end of the spectmm to 

Roger Christian at the other. 

Despite their many imitators, what no one has captured about the 

Woo/Chow collaborations is something ineffable—an indescribable 

but essential quality that words can't quantify but which, during 

the fibns' very best moments, was writ large upon Chow's quicksilver 

changeling face. Where Jackie Chan remains Hong Kong's 

ultimate acrobat ofphysical space. Chow represents something quite 

different but ultimately as impressive: in Woo's hands (and in 

Chow's intermittent collaborations with Tsui Hark and Ringo Lam), 

he became the Hong Kong cinema's gymnast of emotion, an actor 

capable of Schwarzenegger-like physical heroism, but with a sease 

of moral and psychological intensity worthy of a Chinese Olivier. 

American moviemaking has already been invigorated by John 

Woo's presence in Hollywood. With "The Replacement Killers," 

Chow 'i'un-Fat is poised to follow his mentor's lead by making his 

American movie debut. While it's doubtful that most moviegoers 

will understand the ftill significance of that fact—Chow, like Woo 

before him, has been positioned relative to his most marketable 

feature, the fact in this case that he looks great with a gun—this is 

nevertheless a moment for celebration on at least two fronts. A great 

filmic artist is about to arrive for the first time in mainstream 

American moviehouses. And perhaps more importantly. Woo and 

Chow are now operating again in relative proximity, which makes 

some sort of future collaboration ;ill but certain. May their ftiture 

projects together be fruitful and multiply. Ray Greene 

—

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Boxoffice-December.1997

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