Hollywood’s old guard is about to be overtaken. This year’s Oscar list is likely to be filled with a new generation of movie-makers. – The Sunday Times (UK) 01/02/00
Category: media
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF A FILM
The screen version of Otto Preminger’s “Porgy and Bess” starred a Who’s Who of 1950s-era black American actors. Released against the backdrop of the insurgent civil rights movement, the film sparked considerable controversy during its initial run and eventually disappeared from the public eye. Why is that? – CultureFront 01/00
HOLLYWOOD HANDS OUT
The LA movie industry has gathered 40,000 signatures in three months on a petition to California governor Gray Davis asking for tax credits for the movie business. Credits will help keep more movie productions from leaving LA, backers say. Variety
“GEE – THIS WILL MAKE BEETHOVEN”
Walt Disney was said to have said after watching the original “Fantasia.” Now there’s an update – here’s a blow-by-blow description. – Toronto Globe and Mail
- A disappointment Chicago Tribune 01/09/00
- Wonderful followup. Miami Herald 01/04/00
- Not just a film, an event. National Post 12/31/99
- Sensory overload. San Francisco Chronicle 12/31/99
- Entertaining update Louisville Courier Journal 01/04/00
- More remakes on the way. San Francisco Examiner 12/31/99
- Previously: The compositions that are about to die salute you: A “Fantasia” to induce the cold sweats. Financial Times 12/23/99
- THE PROBLEM WITH “FANTASIA 2000” No longer a collaboration of equals” as was the first version, writes Norman Lebrecht. London Telegraph 12/22/99
- ATTRACTIONS AND IRRITATIONS: Disney’s new “Fantasia 2000” revives old arguments. New York Times 12/21/99 (one-time registration required for entry)
- “FANTASIA 2000” DEBUTS AT CARNEGIE HALL: “Hey,” shrugged Disney chief Michael Eisner, accepting handshakes after it was done, “I go for the emotion.” Los Angeles Times 12/20/99
SERIOUS OVERBUILDING
It’s been a record year for movie admissions. Yet theater owners are bleeding red ink after a binge of theater-building. The 24-screen mega-plexes have led to the over-screening of America. Philadelphia Inquirer
HD CINEMA
The world’s first high definition portable movie projector gets a formal debut tonight in a concert by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. CBC
MOVIE MANIA
“Record box office receipts, the best attendance in four decades and one of the most diverse lineups in a long time. Even that prescient kid from The Sixth Sense could not have foreseen the year Hollywood had.” (AP) Detroit News
ARMY
Universal gives $100,000 to hard-core fans of Andy Kaufman to run their own rogue marketing campaign to promote movie about the comedian’s life. Washington Post
OF SHEEP AND DOGS
Millions of Brits will tune in this week to a throwback of a kinder gentler BBC program. “Strangely, it’s not boring,” said Paul Latham, spokesman for the Countryside Alliance, speaking fondly of a show in which spectacularly taciturn shepherds compete to see whose dog can most neatly herd some sheep into a pen. BBC
MINE IS LONGER THAN YOURS
Movies are getting longer in the belief that longer is weightier. It’s a sign of the growing clout of directors. USA Today