Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 2

section unicago inbune, luesday, May 19, 1998 Hevrdejs TT1 CONKLIN HMO. rV 1 rh' 1 Nt 1 :1 Frasier's' dad happy to make move to I Seinfeld territory he news that NBC plans to move "Frasier" into the coveted Thursday evening slot vacated by "Seinfeld" caught cast member John Mahoney, in rehearsals Monday at Steppenwolf Urn wondering whoU win the "Ragtime" vs. "Lion King" battle for best musical take note: "Ragtime" got top musical honors from the Drama Desk Awards. Law review: Chicago heavyweight boxer Andrew Golota, a native of Poland, has gained international fame with two disqualifications for hitting Riddick Bowe below the belt Saturday, he'll gain his personal attorney for possible litigation when wife Mariola graduates from Loyola's law school. Pol Watch: Ex-President George Bush, keynoting a dinner honoring Henry and Monlka Berts of the Rehab Institute of Chicago, will stay through Wednesday night for a Peter Fitzgerald fundraiser in the Union League Club.

Bush, following Bob Dole, is the second major political figure to endorse Fitzgerald's U.S. Senate candidacy. Passages: Chicagoan Elissa Bassler of the Day Care Action Council of Illinois was named one of Redbook's "Amazing Women of 1998" for helping persuade Illinois legislators to allocate a huge chunk of change for child care Tuesday birthdays: Nora Ephron, 57; David Hartman, 63; Dusty Hill, 49; Grace Jones, 46; Pete Townshend, 53 Literacy Chicago's celebrity book auction Wednesday in the Fairmont Hotel, chaired by best-selling author Scott Turow, will have a poster from the film "Horse Whisperer" signed by Robert Redford and the cast for sale. Stay tuned: Early reports have widow Barbara Sinatra getting Frank's real estate, including a Malibu beach house, Beverly Hills estate and a beer distributorship. The kids will get the singer's music catalogue.

EAVESDROPPING "I don't listen to him because I'm on the air at the same time. Plus, I have an education." Radio host Don Imus, on rival Howard Stern's talk show 7 me gcHgaiiiuan uuumia uucs some Taney stepping ana a 101 or 1 destruction as it stomps through the streets of Manhattan in the new, 2'A-hour film opening for the holiday weekend. 'Godzilla' lays an egg; does this surprise you? here, by surprise. 'Tm shocked, but very happy," he told us. "I thought there was no way in hell they'd move us from Tuesday." Frasier's" Tuesday night slot will be filled by, "Just Shoot Me." Mahoney plays dad Martin Crane to sons Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) and Niles (David Hyde Pierce).

The Oak Park native has one jtear left on his "Frasier" contract He didn't have long to talk he was in rehearsals for a Monday evening reading of Kurt Vonnegut's "The Soldier's Tale" and will be on stage Tuesday in "The Man Who Came to Dinner. He's back: Ex-Bear Dick Butkus, another familiar face on TV, is joining NBC's Saturday morning comedy series, "Hang Tjme," next fall He plays the coach of a high school boys basketball team whose best player is a girL 'This whole thing came up in a hurry, and it's going to work out well," Butkus told us. Dick's TV credits include a Starring role on "My Two Dads" as well as guest spots on such shows as "Rich Man, Poor Man," "Growing Pains," "Night Court" and "MacGyver." This new gig may mean his AP photo Famous daughter: Fashion designer Stella McCartney, daughter of Paul and Linda, narrates an anti-fur video that will be sent to members of the fashion industry. i football announcing days are on the shelf for a season. Rolling 011 the river: Dave Carlson has been busy making a TV documentary "Chicago Filmmakers on the Chicago River," interviewing Andrew Davis, Harold Ramis, Michael Mann, among others while cruising the river on everything from a tugboat to a canoe about their careers.

He expects to complete the project this fall, but already has this gem in the can: a chat with Mayor Richard Daley conducted on a police marine boat. Stage lights: Here's proof Arlington International sees its future in entertainment: The Big Apple Circus just signed a five-year deal with the site Tony watchers Review Fooo DEPAUL UNIVERSITY'S NAPERVILLE CAMPUS BRINGING NATIONALLY RANKED UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS TO THE HEART OF DUPAGE COUNTY. By Gary Dretzka Tribune Staff Writer Squish, squish, squish. "Aargh." Squish. "Aargh." It's not Shakespeare, but, through 44 years and 22 films, this kind of stuff has worked perfectly well for fans of "Godzilla." So, too, has the monster even in its cheesiest and least-inspired incarnations.

So, how do you screw up "Squish" and By spending more than $100 million on marvelous special effects, another $50 million on a brilliant marketing campaign, and, then, forgetting to invest any money on a logical script. That's how. Not that it matters. It's probably safe to assume that most of the people planning to rush to their local megaplex this week to see "Godzilla" won't actually miss hearing engaging, finely honed dialogue. Thus, it's not worth wasting a great deal of space taking cheap shots at something that clearly was an afterthought in the minds of the movie's creators, Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin.

Because it opens on a record screens, the movie which, at 2 hours and 15 minutes, is quite a bit longer than Godzilla's tail (to borrow a 'Phrase) almost certainly will set a holiday box-office record. That will happen with or without the approval of the nation's critical community. What's impressive about the new "Godzilla" is what always has been of foremost importance to the series the fire-breathing lizard his own self. And, here, we are presented with a monster formidable enough to take on New York City. Big, buff and bodacious, he's so cool he can even reproduce himself or herself.

Turns out, Godzilla's a hermaphrodite. Consistent with the mythology, this giant lizard is a mutant byproduct of nuclear radiation. As the only member of its species to have survived a bomb test in French Polynesia, Godzilla must assume male and female reproductive functions to maintain the lineage. Why Godzilla feels compelled to travel all the way to Manhattan to lay its eggs is a mystery not clearly explained in the script, but, like any Sinatra fan, the monster probably thought, "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere." So, it was off to New York, New York, where like the Knicks the creature lays a lot of eggs in Madison Square Garden. It's fun to watch Manhattan being taken apart by Godzilla, but, of course, it can't last.

Typically, a dogged military official (Kevin Dunn) butts heads with a scientist (Matthew Broderick) as to the most effective way to deal with the tourist from hell. Always happens. Then in what also is becoming a genre cliche an ambitious and cute reporter (Maria Pitillo) manages to upset everybody's apple-! cart, before finding a way to make the world safe for the 1st Amendment. This time, she does it with the help of French cops. Don't ask.

The highlight of the movie comes when all those eggs hatch in Madison Square Garden, and dozens of lizards who resemble the raptors in "The Lost World" emerge ready to rumble. It's a hoot and a half. It wouldn't be fair to give away too much more of the plot, but, suffice it to say, "Aargh" and "Squish." Apart from all the slammin' and jammin' by Godzilla, Emmerich and Devlin creators of "Independence Day" throw in plenty of pop-culture references. "Godzilla," despite its PG-13 rating, seems perfectly fine for most family members. It probably would have benefited from a 20- to 30-minute trim and, certainly, a smarter script, but the special effects truly are amazing.

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