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From: owner-movies-digest@lists.xmission.com (movies-digest) To: movies-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: movies-digest V2 #80 Reply-To: movies-digest Sender: owner-movies-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-movies-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk movies-digest Thursday, September 3 1998 Volume 02 : Number 080 [MV]Jim Carrey and his 'LIAR LIAR' Re: [MV]Jim Carrey and his 'LIAR LIAR' [MV] Movie News - 08/31/98 RE: [MV] Aliens II vs III [MV] REVIEW: NEXT STOP WONDERLAND [MV] Movie News - 09/01/98 [MV] Movie News - 09/02/98 [MV] Screen It Newsletter (September 3, 1998) [MV] Movie News - 09/03/98 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 22:27:38 +0800 From: "Yusheng" <gouys@public.hr.hl.cn> Subject: [MV]Jim Carrey and his 'LIAR LIAR' The movie 'liar' is so interesting that I laughed to tears+ACE-It's one of the best comic movie I have ever seen.Others include 'sisters'. could you tell me any Jim Carrey's new movies? or some your favovite comic movie that really funny? Thank u in advance+ACE- [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 10:13:37 PDT From: "Dennis Lively" <klively@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: [MV]Jim Carrey and his 'LIAR LIAR' Jim Carrey's latest movie was The Truman Show. It wasn't as funny as Liar, Liar or the Ace Ventura movies but it was still entertaining. I think he has a voice over part in the upcoming Simon Birch and is currently working on Walter Mitty and The Incredible Mr. Limpett due out next year. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 12:21:18 -0600 (MDT) From: The Reporter <gregorys@xmission.com> Subject: [MV] Movie News - 08/31/98 Leonardo DiCaprio has a month to rest (following his knee surgery last week) before facing his fans. The New York Film Festival kicks off Sept. 25 with Woody Allen's cynical take on star-infatuation, "Celebrity," and Leo and another of the movie's stars, Winona Ryder, will "definitely attend" the premiere screening and party, a source close to the movie tells The PEOPLE Daily. Asked what role DiCaprio plays, the source demurred but did allow: "This will be the first time you'll see Winona playing down and dirty -- and contemporary. No more bonnets." -=> * <=- More than 500 of the world's rich and famous flew to Juneau, Alaska, Friday for a "top secret" party thrown by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen for fellow billionaire Bill Gates. On hand were Candice Bergen, James Cameron, Debbie Reynolds, Dan Aykroyd and Jeff Goldblum, among others. Guests were whisked by bus from their planes to the Crystal Harmony, a 960-passenger cruise ship rented for an undisclosed price to cruise Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage. Before the cruise, some guests went shopping. Carrie Fisher bought a sweatshirt and a Russian lacquer box. Gates browsed but didn't buy at the Alaska Fur Gallery, although, reports the Associated Press, director Penny Marshall got so caught up buying furs that she delayed the ship's departure. -=> * <=- The vampire movie "Blade," starring Wesley Snipes, earned about $11.1 million last weekend, making it the No. 1 film for two weeks' running, according to studio estimates. (The flick's total to date: nearly $35 million.) Meanwhile, the ever-popular "There's Something About Mary," with an $8.8-million take this weekend, landed the No. 2 spot and brought its total box office to $116.7 million. "Private Ryan" came in at third with $8.3 million, while, in fourth place (after putrid reviews), "54," a rehash of Studio 54 days, earned about $6.6 million. Newcomer "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" made about $4.2 million. [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 19:00:51 -0500 From: "Xcontrol Ltda." <xcontrol@inter.net.co> Subject: RE: [MV] Aliens II vs III I agree with you...was terribly disappointing to see Riley fighting with "Mother" and "Baby". All the scary things we felt in Aliens were not present in Alien3, neither in Alien2. I hope Riley rest in peace on Earth where there is not a clone of Baby Alien. (Alien4???). David Diaz Xcontrol Ltda. Systems Integrators Calle 74 #15-80 Int. 2 Of. 521 Santafe de Bogota Colombia, S.A. - ---------- > De: greuel <greuel@eifel-net.net> > A: movies@lists.xmission.com > Asunto: [MV] Aliens II vs III > Fecha: Viernes 28 de Agosto de 1998 12:15 PM > > > > > I agree with bruce...I mean, guys, really, alien3 (alien resurrection > > as well for that matter) really really stinked. Alien was pretty good > > and I just loved Aliens... > > I'm surprised at all the raving about the 2nd Alien. I did not like it at > all. The idea about the first one was that there is a creature of utter > beauty. The beauty of perfection. The original alien is so highly > developed that only Ripley's wit can overcome it. In the 2nd they are > degraded to canon fodder. There are hundreds of aliens against about > 20 marines - and the only reason why the aliens can get their foot in > the door is because these marines are so dumb and stupid in their > macho behaviour, that they are wasy meat. The acid blood and the > intelligence of the Resurrection play no role whatsoever. And > Cameron started that "Mother" thing. While the idea is quite good - > mother alien vs. mother Ripley, he had to create a yet bigger alien. > Simply because the originals were no threat anymore. There is no > perfection in the 2nd alien. They can be killed by various means and > from every distance. The ultimate stand off by the two mothers are > ridiculous. Ripley with robot can beat mother alien? Doesn't really > sound convincing. > > Plus, while Scott's Alien had stunning visuals and Fincher at least > attempted them, I didn't find any of that in Cameron. Sure, he is great > on FX, but working with the camera or lighting is not his speciality > and that prevents him from making visually exciting films to a large > degree. <-- Look! It's a period! > > thomas > > > > --- > http://greuel.notrix.de/ - abomiNation > "One must still have chaos in one > to give birth to a dancing star" > Friedrich Nietzsche > > [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] > [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 21:23:31 -0600 (MDT) From: Scott Renshaw <renshaw@inconnect.com> Subject: [MV] REVIEW: NEXT STOP WONDERLAND NEXT STOP WONDERLAND (Miramax) Starring: Hope Davis, Alan Gelfant, Cara Buono, Jose Zuniga, Holland Taylor. Screenplay: Brad Anderson and Lyn Vaus. Producer: Mitchell B. Robbins. Director: Brad Anderson. MPAA Rating: R (profanity, adult themes) Running Time: 99 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw. "I don't believe in fate," says Erin Castleton (Hope Davis), the wistful heroine looking for love in NEXT STOP WONDERLAND, but _someone_ calling the shots on contemporary romantic comedy sure does. SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE became a huge hit introducing two destined lovers who only meet in the film's final scene; a few years later, 'TIL THERE WAS YOU also told a tale of lovers-to-be leading parallel lives until the closing credits start to roll. Earlier this year, SLIDING DOORS offered yet another speculative stab at how and why we meet our soulmates. Something in the zeitgeist has film-makers falling over themselves to convince us that Mr. or Ms. Right is out there, somewhere, just waiting for us to go to the right party or step on the right elevator. NEXT STOP WONDERLAND falls into that category, but only in the most nominal sense. It does follow the never-quite-converging lives of two discontented singles, these two in contemporary Boston. Erin is a nurse in the middle of the latest of a series of serial break-ups with her activist boyfriend (Philip Seymour Hoffman); Alan Monteiro (Alan Gelfant) is a 35-year-old former plumber trying to break with his working class background and become a marine biologist. The narrative follows each of them on the trials and tribulations of their respective lives, Erin dealing with responses to a personal ad placed for her by her mother (Holland Taylor), Alan fending off the advances of a fellow student (Cara Buono) while trying to avoid the wrath of his loan shark Frank (Victor Argo). The reason NEXT STOP WONDERLAND never feels exactly like a fated romance is that it feels so grounded in the simple reality of its protagonist. Hope Davis is an irresistable presence as Erin, a wannabe cynic whose romanticism bursts through in her love of her late father's poetry. It's as complete a female characterization as we've seen this year -- she's smart, clever, just vulnerable enough that you feel for her, just tough enough that you trust her. And it doesn't hurt that she anchors the best set-up in the script by Brad Anderson and Lyn Vaus, with a string of would-be suitors, each more unappealing than the last, leaving hilarious messages on the personal ad's phone line. Anderson directs with a 1990s Woody Allen vibe, complete with jump edits and hand-held camera work, yet the film never comes off as derivative of either the Allen oeuvre or other SLEEPLESS-style comedies. A character who grabs your interest can do that for a story. NEXT STOP WONDERLAND is always Erin's story, which makes Alan's half of the film a very long introduction to "the other guy." Gelfant is appealing in a low-key way, but he never gets the audience as emotionally invested in Alan's hopes and dreams as Davis does in Erin's. He also has to contend with a silly sub-plot involving a shady real estate developer (Robert Klein) with an axe to grind against the aquarium where Alan volunteers. The time wasted on Alan kidnapping a balloonfish and dealing with the buffoonish Frank could have been used to develop a relationship between Alan and his father, who casts a long shadow on Alan's aspirations. Everything involving Alan is secondary to everything involving Erin. The odd fringe benefit of this imbalance is that it takes the focus off the question that dogged other films employing this gimmick: why should we think these two people belong together? Our concern rests squarely with Erin; we want her to be happy, whether that's with Alan, the Brazilian charmer (Jose Zuniga) who catches her fancy, or even alone. The coda which has been added since the film screened at the Sundance Film Festival makes that concern even more central. The ending is no longer happy just because these two people meet, but because it looks like they could be happy together, and Davis's delightful performance invests us in her happiness. NEXT STOP WONDERLAND is a sweet and entertaining fairy tale not just because she finds Prince Charming, but because the one fate we care about -- Erin's fate -- is the only one the film is realy concerned with. On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 small wonders: 7. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit Scott Renshaw's MoviePage http://www.inconnect.com/~renshaw/ *** Subscribe to receive new reviews directly by email! See the MoviePage for details, or reply to this message with subject line "Subscribe". - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 13:35:47 -0600 (MDT) From: The Reporter <gregorys@xmission.com> Subject: [MV] Movie News - 09/01/98 New Line Cinema's "Blade," starring Wesley Snipes carved up an estimated $11.1 million, down a moderate 35% from its surprisingly incisive debut. The gory actioner eviscerated two newcomers, Miramax's "54" and Warner Bros.'s "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," which bowed to just $6.6 million and $4.2 million, respectively. But the weekend grosses had box office mavens buzzing about a cut-up of a different stripe: Twentieth Century Fox's comedy "There's Something About Mary," which saw a remarkable gain of 14% to $8.8 million thanks to an addition of 215 screens. After nearly seven weeks in release, the R-rated Cameron Diaz-Ben Stiller film has accumulated $116.7 million and shows no signs of slowing. -=> * <=- With the hype of a blockbuster movie opening, video stores and other retailers prepared for the release of "Titanic" on video, set for 12:01 a.m. in every time zone Tuesday. The Blockbuster Video store in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, N.Y., planned to have an 8-foot ice sculpture of the Titanic on hand, while others planned to have employees in clothes from the period, and others were setting up music and food, giveaways and sweepstakes. The movie, which has already grossed more than $1.8 billion worldwide, is still playing in many theaters across the U.S., but retailers still expect the video to become a bestseller. -=> * <=- HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - A gang of grizzled Hollywood veterans consisting of Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne from New Line, the Weinstein brothers at Miramax and independent producer Saul Zaentz are collaborating on J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings," a prized literary property that has eluded filmmakers for years. New Zealand filmmakers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, the duo behind the disturbing picture "Heavenly Creatures," will transform Tolkien's epic to the screen. Jackson and Walsh are co-writing the pictures and producing them through their Wingnut Films banner; Jackson will direct. -=> * <=- HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Rapper/actress Queen Latifah, currently in production on the CBS miniseries "Mama Flora's Family," has joined the cast of "The Bone Collector," starring Denzel Washington. The Universal project is about a quadriplegic detective (Washington) who tracks down a serial killer with his partner (Angelina Jolie). Latifah will play the detective's nurse and confidant. Phillip Noyce ("The Saint") is directing the picture, which is slated to start shooting Sept. 10. Latifah will next be on the big screen in October with New Line's "Living Out Loud." Her other credits include "Set It Off" and "Sphere." [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 13:06:09 -0600 (MDT) From: The Reporter <gregorys@xmission.com> Subject: [MV] Movie News - 09/02/98 Ed Norton is not a gambler, he just plays one -- along with Matt Damon -- in the new movie "The Rounders." Both actors did research for their roles in New York poker clubs and even entered the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. They lost quickly. "Poker is not a game of chance," Norton says in the upcoming issue of USA Weekend magazine. "It's a game of psychology, strategy, math. When you sit with people who are better than you, you know you're outmatched." -=> * <=- Nicolas Cage is Hollywood's most muscular actor, according to a story in the new issue of the body-building magazine Flex. Listing Tinseltown's most buffed-up actors, Flex named (in order following Cage) Wesley Snipes, Mark Wahlberg, Cuba Gooding Jr., Brad Pitt, Kurt Russell (at 47, the eldest member of the team), Denzel Washington (despite his seldom revealing his body on screen, says the mag), Brendan Frasier, Daniel Day-Lewis and Russell ("L.A. Confidential") Crowe. -=> * <=- Not every actor gets to portray his father on film like Troy Garity is doing in "Abbie!," the story of '60s radical Abbie Hoffman. Garity is the son of Jane Fonda and onetime-radical-turned-California-state-senator Tom Hayden (his parents gave him the Garity surname so he wouldn't face the stigma of being a Hayden or a Fonda). Hayden was, along with Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and others, a member of the Chicago Seven, who interrupted the 1968 Democratic convention. "I'm very proud to play my father," Garity, 25, told the Los Angeles Times. "My father literally risked his life to make ... the world a better place for me to grow up in." -=> * <=- Charlton Heston doesn't think Robert De Niro and Jack Nicholson do a very good job of picking their parts. Heston, who played Moses and Ben-Hur in the '50s, says he recently spotted DeNiro in a restaurant and told him it was imperative that he stretch himself by doing Shakespeare. DeNiro's response? He seemed a little irritated, said Heston. "It's ridiculous for an actor that good to keep playing Las Vegas hoods," Heston told New York's Daily News. As for Nicholson, Heston says that with the exceptions of "A Few Good Men" and "Five Easy Pieces," Nicholson's characters are essentially the same. -=> * <=- A San Francisco man was hospitalized early Tuesday after an assailant pummeled him to the ground, kicked his head and attempted to steal his new video copy of the movie blockbuster "Titanic," reports Reuters. A police spokesman said the two men, who apparently knew each other, were both at a Blockbuster video store on the first night that "Titanic" went on sale. The 19-year-old victim was treated for an eye injury, while the assailant, aged 22, was arrested and could be charged with aggravated assault, the spokesman said. -=> * <=- NEW YORK (Variety) - Proving once again that bad guys finish first, "Your Friends and Neighbors" was the most popular limited-release film in New York and Los Angeles in its second weekend. Writer-director Neil LaBute's take-no-prisoners battle of the sexes won $109,278 in a total of six theaters. "Slums of Beverly Hills," Tamara Jenkins' story of a teenage girl coming of age on the fringes of 90210, came in second, collecting $94,423 from seven theaters. "Next Stop Wonderland" pulled into third place. Brad Anderson's romantic comedy of Boston singles looking for love, collected $77,182 from six theaters. -=> * <=- HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - After three years, negotiations for DreamWorks' move to a grand seaside location near Los Angeles International Airport are all but dead. At the heart of the matter are divergent visions between the studio and the project's developer over who will control the proposed entertainment, media and technology campus. DreamWorks had always intended to run its own studio, with its own soundstages, but Playa Capital, which took over the Playa Vista site last October, wants to control at least some of the facilities. "This is about competing concepts of what the campus will be like," said an insider who asked not to be identified. -=> * <=- NEW YORK (Variety) - Almost 25 years after the "Rumble in the Jungle" between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, fists are still flying among people involved with that boxing tourney. The duo who produced and promoted the 1974 festival and prize fight in Zaire, are expected to announce as early as Tuesday a $50 million lawsuit against the parties involved with the 1996 documentary, "When We Were Kings." Lloyd Price and Hank Schwartz filed a suit with the New York State Supreme Court against Polygram Filmed Entertainment, Mercury Records and the director and producers of the film. The filing contends director Leon Gast and producer David Sonenberg fraudulently got control of film and recordings of the event. -=> * <=- NEW YORK (Variety) - Proving once again that bad guys finish first, "Your Friends and Neighbors" was the most popular limited-release film in New York and Los Angeles in its second weekend. Writer-director Neil LaBute's take-no-prisoners battle of the sexes won $109,278 in a total of six theaters. "Slums of Beverly Hills," Tamara Jenkins' story of a teenage girl coming of age on the fringes of 90210, came in second, collecting $94,423 from seven theaters. "Next Stop Wonderland" pulled into third place. Brad Anderson's romantic comedy of Boston singles looking for love, collected $77,182 from six theaters. -=> * <=- CHICAGO (Reuters) - The most successful movie ever, seemed on its way Tuesday to becoming the most successful home video ever, as "Titanic" fans across the United States stayed up late and waited in line to be among the first owners of the video. "Titanic" videos went on sale at 12:01 a.m. in each time zone across the U.S. and indications from early sales suggested "Titanic" could top Walt Disney Co.'s "The Lion King," which reportedly sold around 30 million copies, as the best- selling home video ever. "It's really going well," said Bob Gerhinger, Blockbuster Video's marketing manager for the Northeast. "It's exceeding all my expectations for people showing up." [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 15:53:55 -0400 (EDT) From: reviews@screenit.com Subject: [MV] Screen It Newsletter (September 3, 1998) Welcome to the Screen It! Newsletter (September 3, 1998). This week at the movies, an action/adventure yarn, a period drama, and a 1997 Russian film that was one of the nominees for Best Foreign language film at this year's Oscars. On home video, just two releases hope to swim through "Titanic's" wake -- one comes from a White House scandal best seller, while the other is a twist-filled, steamy thriller. PLEASE NOTE: The new movie reviews WILL NOT be publicly posted until LATE Thursday night (EDT) to comply with the studios' wishes/demands. Next week, reviews of "Rounders" (Matt Damon, Edward Norton), "Simon Birch" (Joseph Mazzello, Ian Michael Smith) and other new releases. __________________________________________________ NEW MOVIE REVIEWS FOR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4TH: "FIRELIGHT" (1997) (Sophie Marceau, Stephen Dillane) Drama: A woman (Marceau) takes a governess position with a wealthy man (Dillane) where for the first time she meets her child that she secretly bore for him many years earlier. Wonderfully displayed but perhaps a bit too slow and somber, the film features some great, but restrained performances from its leads. The R rating comes from sexual encounters and brief profanity. (Limited Release) http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/firelight.html __________________________________________________ "KNOCK OFF" (1998) (Jean-Claude Van Damme, Rob Schneider) (R) Action/Adventure: As Hong Kong undergoes transition back to Chinese control, a businessman (Van Damme) uncovers and tries to stop a terrorist conspiracy. Not screened for the press -- after all, can you help but roll your eyes when you hear that the terrorists' bombs are being hidden in bootleg blue jeans -- we can't tell you anything about the film until we've seen it. The R rating comes from continuous violence and brief language. (National Release) (Coming Soon) http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/knock_off.html __________________________________________________ "THE THIEF" (1997) (Vladimir Mashkov, Misha Philipchuk) (R) Subtitled Drama: A woman and her son (Philipchuk) take up with a Russian soldier (Mashkov) who turns out to be a common thief in post WWII Russia. One of the nominees for Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Oscars, this is an intriguing picture that ultimately falls apart in its rushed and disjointed ending. The film gets its R rating for some sexuality, nudity and subtitled profanity. (Limited Release) http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/the_thief.html __________________________________________________ NEW VIDEO REVIEWS FOR TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8TH: "PRIMARY COLORS" (1998) (John Travolta, Adrian Lester) (R) Drama: An idealistic young man (Lester) joins a southern governor's (Travolta) campaign for the presidency and must deal with the issues of less than reputable campaign practices and allegations of the governor's sexual improprieties. Unable to capitalize on -- and perhaps hurt by -- the current White House scandals, this big budget film only managed to gross around $39 million domestically despite its all-star lineup. Extreme profanity and some sexual references earn the film its R rating. (http://www.screenit.com/movies/1998/primary_colors.html) __________________________________________________ "WILD THINGS" (1998) (Matt Dillon, Kevin Bacon) (R) Suspense/Thriller: A detective team (including Bacon) tries to discover whether there's more than meets the eye regarding two high school students who've accused their guidance counselor (Dillon) of raping them on separate occasions. Like a "good" trashy novel, this is the sort of twisting film that you can't help but guiltily watch, and may get a kick out of doing so. Grossing around $30 million domestically, the film gets its R rating from extreme profanity, sexual encounters and nudity, and violence. (http://www.screenit.com/movies/1997/wild_things.html) __________________________________________________ Do you find the Screen It Website useful? If so, contact your local newspaper, TV or radio station, or favorite magazine and ask that they do a story about our site so that others in your community or country may benefit from this information. Contact information can be found at the following address: http://www.screenit.com/press.html __________________________________________________ Remember, before you and/or your kids see it, buy it , or rent it, make sure that first you Screen It! Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents http://www.screenit.com __________________________________________________ Since we respect your privacy and time, we'll always keep these messages brief and we'll never sell or give your e-mail address to anyone. If at any time you no longer wish to receive these updates, simply let us know at reviews@screenit.com and we'll remove you from our list. [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 14:38:19 -0600 (MDT) From: The Reporter <gregorys@xmission.com> Subject: [MV] Movie News - 09/03/98 Dennis Rodman, who underwhelmed moviegoers in his feature debut "Double Team," is in France shooting the Sony Pictures action-comedy "Simon Sez," reports Variety. The basketball bad boy plays an Interpol agent who must rescue the kidnapped daughter of an old associate. He teams up with two monks (played by standup comics John Pinette and Ricky Harris) who happen to be computer geniuses. -=> * <=- In movie casting news, Variety reports that Fox 2000 is developing an untitled May-December romance in the vein of "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" as a vehicle for Blair Underwood and Diana Ross. -=> * <=- Robert Redford, who played the latter half of the titular outlaw team in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and uses the Sundance name on his Utah-based Sundance Enterprises, Sundance Film Festival and Sundance Institute, plans to start a chain of Sundance movie theaters -- with one of them to be in Fort Worth TX. But theaters owned by Ed Bass already are named Sundance, so Redford's attorneys contacted him to say they wanted the Sundance name. Bass took Redford to federal court, claiming he had used the Sundance name in Texas since at least 1981. (Redford started his Sundance Institute in 1980.) Under an agreement, the Bass brothers can use the Sundance name on movie theaters in 13 counties in Texas and Oklahoma, including the Fort Worth area. Redford can use it anywhere else. -=> * <=- CELEBRATED: By actor Roddy McDowall, the 30th anniversary of the release of "Planet of the Apes," with a visit Monday to the Bronx Zoo. McDowall's appearance was also intended to call attention to the zoo's exhibit of Western lowland gorillas, which are an endangered species. -=> * <=- HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - With less than a week to go before the end of the summer moviegoing season, Disney and 20th Century Fox have each broken, for the first time, the $500 million domestic box office mark for the period. Since May 15, Disney's Buena Vista Pictures has rung up more than $534 million from its six summer releases; Fox's seven seasonal issues have amounted to nearly $504 million. Through the weekend, the summer overall is up about 11% from last year, and is just shy of $2.5 billion - another box office record. This is the first year that two studios have surmounted the $500 million-plus landmark during the summer season. -=> * <=- VENICE, Italy (Reuters) - The world's oldest film festival goes back to good old showbiz traditions this year as dazzling celebrities jet into the Italian lagoon city of Venice and plot-driven stories compete for its Golden Lion prize. Stars in dinner jackets and gowns will gather on Venice's ritzy Lido for a gala opening night Thursday that was to have been blessed by a now-ill Sophia Loren, who wins a special award celebrating her career. Loren has said the Golden Lion means more to her than a lifetime achievements Oscar. Sans Loren, the 55th Venice Film Festival is still certain to get off to a dramatic start. -=> * <=- NEW YORK (Variety) - Since directing the critically acclaimed noir drama "L.A. Confidential," every studio has been vying to get Curtis Hanson's next film. The victor might well be Paramount, which is negotiating to have Hanson direct Michael Douglas in "The Wonder Boys," an adaptation of a Michael Chabon novel. Hanson has also been in serious talks about another project, "Family Man" starring Nicolas Cage for Universal. But Cage is booked to star for Martin Scorsese in "Bringing out the Dead." No deal has yet been set. In "The Wonder Boys," Douglas will play the author of a wildly successful novel who's trying to write another but is feeling the crushing weight of the first success and having trouble getting started. -=> * <=- SANTA FE, N.M. (Reuters) - The famous Wild West movie town of Cook Ranch in northern New Mexico went up in smoke after a planned explosion on a blockbuster movie starring Kevin Kline and Will Smith ran out of control. The explosion Tuesday at Cook Ranch, a small town about 20 miles south of Santa Fe which was made for filming movies, was planned as part of a stunt sequence for the Warner Bros. movie "Wild Wild West." But an unexpected gust of wind spread the blaze to adjoining buildings, causing far more damage than intended. Neither Smith nor Kline were on the set at the time. -=> * <=- ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - Walt Disney World has been targeted by Southern Baptists, animal-rights activists and anti-homosexual groups, but the biggest protests have come from fans of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, which Disney officials said Wednesday would soon join the ash heap of history. One of the Walt Disney Co.'s worst-kept secrets has been its plan to scrap the 27-year-old Fantasyland ride in favor of one featuring Winnie the Pooh. Disney officials confirmed Mr. Toad would be closed next Monday. Many of the ride's fans, who have picketed the park weekly since the rumor of Mr. Toad's demise last April, consider the ride a treasured memory of childhood that they enjoyed revisiting as adults. [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ End of movies-digest V2 #80 *************************** [ To quit the movies-digest mailing list (big mistake), send the message ] [ "unsubscribe movies-digest" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ]