For Immediate Release on Entertainment Drive
Released by Beck/Smith

'The Crow 2' Very Different from First Film
Hollywood -- July 8, 1996 -- "The Crow 2: City of Angels" will be significantly different than the 1994 "The Crow," reports actor Richard Brooks. Brooks, who played attorney Paul Robinette on the first three seasons of "Law & Order," is playing the sexy villain Judah Earl in the sequel to the cult film on which Brandon Lee met his death through an accidental shooting. Brooks says "The Crow 2" is "truer to the comics than the first one was. We really went back to the original to create that kind of wry humor. My character is the kind of villain who also has fun making witty comments at the end of everything." He also says "This film goes a little bit more into the subconscious world ...it's more like the world between life and death, kind of a no man's land without a sun, and a moon filled with people who are in limbo. The other film was more a revenge movie. We still have that revenge aspect in this one, but it's also a journey of all the characters who are trying to get to death -- which has been denied them." Vincent Perez plays the hero in "The Crow 2" and Brooks says "We ended up doing most of our own stunts...the fighting, climbing, swinging and all that stuff. The climax scene is going to be really outrageous." Brooks, who pumped up to be in shape for his role, says he enjoyed doing his own stunts. "It wasn't incredibly difficult." But he admits, "Sometimes I was like Are you sure I will be able to jump off this roof?'"

Melissa Manchester is Webber's Bread
Hollywood -- July 9, 1996 -- Melissa Manchester, who starts touring this week with the "Andrew Lloyd Webber -- Music of the Night" concert revue, tips that audiences will get a preview of the prolific playwright's latest musical offering. "I'm premiering one of the songs from his newest musical, "Whistle Down the Wind," which is opening next fall in England," says Manchester, who'll also be performing Webber's classic hits from "Jesus Christ Superstar," "Evita," "Cats,"and "The Phantom of the Opera." The veteran songstress first worked with Webber in 1987 during the national tour of his "Song and Dance" revue and says "they seemed to be sculpting this (the current tour) for me, which is very nice." The Grammy- Award winning artist expects to be on the road with "Music of the Night" through November; follows that with the "Colors of Christmas" tour with Roberta Flack, Aaron Neville and Peabo Bryson; is scoring Disney's "Lady and the Tramp 2"; AND is mounting a musical, "I Sent a Letter to My Love" in the Spring in Chicago. Whew! Because of all she has on her plate, Manchester is putting plans for her next album "on hold. I'd love to do a children's album and a Christmas album... But this stuff is so urgent right now and so invigorating, I just want to let this fly and see how far I can take it." It's taken several years for Manchester to get her musical ready to hit the stage. "Working in the theater is the slowest form of creativity...you take your time on the book, then you take time on the music, then you go through various workshops. But after all these years of writing pop music it's really satisfying to write more theatrical projects."

'Courage Under Fire's' Big Do
Hollywood -- July 10, 1996 -- Dennis Quaid, looking handsome and trimmer than he has in a while, seemed very pleased by the reception received by "Courage Under Fire" -- in which his wife Meg Ryan co-stars with Denzel Washington - at the premiere of the picture the other night. Both Quaid and Ryan are overdue for a hit, and from all indications, "Courage" will do it for Meg. At the party following the star-studded screening at Beverly Hills' Motion Picture Academy Theatre, the Hollywood elite were chatting about the breathtaking battle sequences in the film. Others were commenting that the film is really the first serious Best Picture contender for a 1997 Academy Award. Lou Diamond Phillips will certainly be a front-runner for Best Supporting Actor for his work in the Desert Storm saga. On the "fashion front," Quaid sported an unkempt, scruffy beard. Denzel decided to dress down -- wearing baggy sweat pants and a loose shirt at the dressy event. One possible advantage to his get up: it was impossible to notice if Denzel is still carrying the extra weight he gained -- poundage quite obvious in the film. Incidentally, the "Courage Under Fire" post-premiere bash was staged at the legendary Chasen's restaurant (closed for months and soon to be razed to make way for a grocery and drug store). Partygoers entered a huge rectangular open-ceilinged outdoor tent adjacent to the restaurant. The motif was tropical/desert style, appropriate for a movie about the Desert Storm Operation during the Persian Gulf War. Fourteen feet-tall lifelike faux palm trees encircled the perimeter of the tent, along with boulders, palm leaves and other desert foliage. Nine buffet tables were heaped with delicacies ranging from Chilean Sea Bass, Rock Shrimp, grilled lamb and arugula wrapped in pancetta to brie and mushroom quesadillas. Inside the restaurant were two more bars and several additional buffets, including one several feet long with a fresh cut flowers centerpiece that reached to the ceiling. All the tables were adorned with fresh roses. At the very back of the restaurant the film's stars Denzel Washington, Lou Diamond Phillips, Matt Damon and Director Edward Zwick held court, while security men insured that no undesirables trespassed into the inner circle. One of the desirables was "Friends" hearthrob Matt LeBlanc. Also at the premiere/party: "NYPD BLUE" TV star Sharon Lawrence, Byron Allen, Robert Guillame. And Peter Horton, who starred in Zwick's TV show ("thirtysomething").

'Nutty Professor' Originally Set for Martin Lawrence
Hollywood -- July 11, 1996 -- Def Pictures head honcho Russell Simmons reveals that Eddie Murphy's "The Nutty Professor" was initially going to be a vehicle for comedian Martin Lawrence. Simmons, who created HBO's Def Comedy Jam series, which Lawrence used to host, is co-exec producer on "The Nutty Professor." He says "I'd been wanting to make this movie for five years...It was going to be Def Comedy Jam Presents 'The Nutty Professor' and Martin Lawrence was talking about it with me and we were getting all excited. Then I told (Imagine Entertainment head) Brian Grazer the idea and the next day he called me and said Do you want me to get the rights and we do it together?'" Simmons says, "Once Brian got involved things just steamrolled. The next thing I know it was Eddie in the lead. And of course, the chance to work with Eddie Murphy was a big deal for me. I've known him for many years, but never got a chance to work with him. It all just sort of came together." Simmons upcoming Def Pictures slate is full. He has "The Funeral" with Christopher Walken, Isabella Rossellini and Annabella Sciorra upcoming for release in October; "Gridlock" with Tupac Shakur and Tim Roth is just about to wrap shooting; and in August he starts filming "How to Be A Player" with former MTV host Bill Bellamy in the lead role. "It's a comedy about a guy who just cannot stay monogamous... kind of like a Ferris Bueller's Day Off,'" says Simmons.

'Hoodlums' Hoods Not Glamorized Says Director Duke
Hollywood -- July 12, 1996 -- Do not expect romanticized movie gangsters when the Laurence Fishburne-starrer "Hoodlums" opens at a theater near you. The feature is in production now, in Chicago, with director/actor Bill Duke at the helm. Speaking of himself and Fishburne, who are coproducing the picture, Duke tells this column, "One of the things we're insisting on is that it does not romanticize these guys, and does not romanticize killing. If someone is gunned down, we're going to show it in relatively graphic terms. We will show these gangsters' brutality." The gangsters involved: "Bumpy" Johnson (Fishburne), Dutch Schultz (Tim Roth), Lucky Luciano (Andy Garcia), etc., in the saga that focuses on Johnson. "He was a folk hero in Harlem -- still is, in fact. He has been referred to as The Robin Hood of Harlem," says Duke. "He realized that without keeping money in the black community, the depression would affect the community even worse than it did. So he went up against Schultz" -- and the two fought for control of the numbers racket in Harlem. "He gave money to churches, and when families were kicked out on the street, he'd help them out and pay their rent. Yet he was also a monster." Duke also finds Schultz a fascinating character. When other white mobsters "ignored Harlem, feeling there was nothing to be made from Nigger pennies,' he went in and took advantage, and it was only later that Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano realized they had been missing a vital area...We didn't want to do a typical mobster casting, we didn't want to be right on the nose with these men. For Schultz, we wanted an actor who could deal with the contradictions in the man -- an old style mobster, one of the few Jewish mobsters, and very proud of the fact he was a Jew."

Copyright (c) 1996 Beck/Smith Ent.


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