The Column Without a Name!
November 24, 1998

"It rode out from the desert into a small town, only to have some local goons come gunning from it.  It wouldn't have any of it, and gunned them down before they could even draw their pistols.  It then set up shop in town, awaiting the goons' friends, who were sure to arrive--with a lust for revenge!"

Shot of Old West-esque post office wall: "WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE: THIS COLUMN"

The reward for naming this column could be a whole gaggle of unsold Batman and Robin video tapes, perfect for making rewritable again with a strip of scotch tape.  cleaning up around the kitchen and bathroom. Seriously folks, we are looking for a new name for this column. Please submit your suggestions to Deadpool directly. If we pick your title, you'll be rewarded. With what?!? Well... we've almost decided on what it'll be...

Star Wars News

Before we start, let's talk about next year's Phantom Menace trailer insanity. We were scooped some news on the next wave of publicity for Episode One from our friend 'Movies': "We were told that all trailers are to be sent back on January 12.  If we did not send them back we would not get the next trailer.It will take about a week for Fox to get them and another week or so for Fox to get the trailer to the theatres.  That is the last week of January.  Superbowl week, which may just kick off the next phase of advertising."
That would make a lot of sense.
 

"The Phantom Menace" Trailer

"Every generation has a legend..."

And so it began... For how long have we been dreaming about this one? Finally it arrived! I decided not to work in the afternoon in order to catch the trailer. Many people left after the first showing. I stayed along with a few die-hard SW fans thru 3 hours of Meet Joe Bored. I'm still mesmerized by the trailer. So beautiful, so wonderful, so spectacular, et cetra...

Anyway, the trailer puts an end to a large number of rumors... SPOILERS!!!!

-The Pod Race. Clearly seen in the trailer in a scene involving Anakin, his pod and a big-ass stadium going crazy...hummm I wonder why they're cheering?

-Darth Maul and the Double-Bladed Lightsaber. Again we not only see his ugly face but Lucas couldn't keep the cool weapon a secret until next May.

-Queen Padme Flees Her Castle. Portman's only line of dialog comes from a scene where she is on Tatooine talking with Qui-Gon Jinn. Hummm I wonder what the heck is a Queen doing there??? Could she be hiding?

-The death of Shmi Skywalker. OK -- it's just my hunch but the "Will I ever see you again?" speech clinches it for me.

END SPOILERS

"Joshua" -- "The Prince of Egypt" sequel???

We've received this concerning the POE straight-to-video film: "I believe your informant could be right about the POE sequel, but it would not involve Joseph.  He probably means 'Joshua', the book of the bible right after Deuteronomy, at the end of which Moses dies and passes power on to Joshua. It would make sense.  Joshua makes an intresting story; mainly how the Isrealites kicked butt and took over a good deal of the promisted land."[Scoop provided by 'Neuracnu Coyote'.]

I've also heard rumors of a script called Promised Land, which deals with the events following the death of Moses and the fall of the city of Jericho. We'll have more details soon enough...

Crowe back at work!

Oscar nominated writer/director Cameron Crowe is finally working on something. He's the mastermind behind Singles and Jerry Maguire and the creator of the catchphrase "Show me the money". He's prepping an as-yet untitled film with Brad Pitt. The script has been well guarded and we have no details concerning the plot of this project. Is it a comedy? Hopefully. Pitt showed signs of  great comedic skills in Meet Joe Black. Crowe could easily turn Pitt's role into an Oscar-caliber performance, I'm sure.
 
A Request to Anyone in the Biz...

I'm still hoping to conduct some email interviews with people working in various areas of filmmaking. While I would love to interview screenwriters or directors, I'd also like to speak with special effects people, editors, musicians and those involved with how movies are developed, produced and marketed. I'm thinking of a '20 questions' type of format for the interview, and if you want to be kept anonymous for fear of industry reprisals I can accomodate that. I'm looking to get the story behind the movie-making experience out and into the open. If that interests you email me at my address below and I'll be in contact.
 

Stay Tuned...

That's All Folks...

Jean-François Allaire (a.k.a. 'Deadpool')
deadpool@corona.bc.ca.
Contributing Content Writer
Coming Attractions


Jean-François Allaire is a 19 year old aspiring writer. Surfing the internet by night and stalking the streets of Montreal by day, he's always on the prowl for news from the set. J-F is a major contributor to Coming Attractions, always pushing himself to look for that story that needs to be told. If you work behind the scenes on a film production and you're just another name in the credits (or no credit given), and you feel that nobody cares, well guess again... Feel free to send him your funny, strange, and heart-warming set stories. Hell... he may even interview you!

Previous issues of Deadpool's column are also available.