The Expositor from Brantford, Ontario, Canada • 36

Entertainment PACE D2 SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 6 1997 FA STlT RAC fcV I Olv I WSl More videos present movies in original widescreen images John McKay THE CANADIAN PRESS Tl any videophiles IXI it or just still get itwantit Recant fy available on widescreen video format is Apollo 13 starring Tom Hanks (left) Kevin Bacon and Bill Ally Walker tion A real sleeper Hard Eight (CTS) Although Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel Jadc-son have major pans relatively unknown Philip Baker Hall who steals the film with a subtly charismatic turn as an aging Vegas mobster with a soft heart He takes two down-and-outers under his wing and shows them how to survive in the world of professional gambling (die lurid tide actually refers to a particularly gutsy card-game move) performance lingers long after the film ends It would be great if somebody took a chance and gave this guy his own TV series Also new cm video: Kolya (Alliance) Sub-titles get in die way of the high emotions in this Czech Oscar winner as best foreign language film It sounds sappier than ft really is with its story of a roguish musician who marries a much-younger Russian girl out of political convenience and then is left in charge of her little boy when she splits The two braid of course in a grandpa-grandson kind of way but not quite the Hollywood-style happy ending viewers may be used to Rosewood (Warner) Director John Singleton (Boyz the Hood) unearthed this little-known story about an all-black community in 1920s Florida that was completely destroyed by white racist vigilantes after a black man is suspected of rape The usual stereotypes are here as a decent white man Don Voight) and a black out-of-towner (Ving Rhames) join forces to try and combat the hatred Hollywood Safari (Sullivan Entertainment) A family film from Toronto-based Sullivan about a trained mountain lion that escapes from a movie set and is mistaken for a danger- But someone must be after the Big Picture because more and more movies are coming out on VHS in the letter-boxed format which has been standard issue on laser disc for years Clbe new Digital Video Discs provide the option of widescreen or pan-and-scan versions) Letterboxed videos allow viewers to see the entire widescreen film image on their TV screens with narrow blade bars at top and bottom that some find distracting but without any of the footage being chopped off to fit the small screen Universal is releasing another batch of letterboxed tapes this month including of all titles Alfred 1960 chiller Psycho Not generally thought of as a widescreen picture ft should be interesting to see Hitch's original composition for such classic scenes as the shower murder (a preview copy was unavailable) Other titles include Out of Africa and The Deerhunter which have also been digitally remastered in THX for enhanced picture and sound And List Apollo 13 Water-world Dragonheart and The Frighten-ers The series is also being made available in new foil packaging Columbia TriStar meanwhile offers Mary Frankenstein Bram Dracula (a must-see for Francis Ford widescreen composition) as well as Dr Strangelove The American President A Few Good Men and Glory Those who remain skeptical might consider Da The Last Supper (a Cinemascope image if ever there was one) Would they prefer to see the whole image on th eir TVs albeit smaller with black bars top and bottom or do they want their square screen filled but with a couple of aposdes lopped off on either end? Key to Tulsa (PolyGram) So what happened to this one? It has a terrific cast that includes Eric Stoltz James Spader Mary Tyler Moore James Coburn Michael Rooker and Deborah Unger (who made such an impression as Spader's sultry wife in Crash) The plot recalls Fargo relocated south to Oklahoma with that dash of Pulp Fiction that most trendy movies these days cannot help but emulate Yet this film has been almost invisible Stoltz comes from money but has a bad relationship with die mother who holds the pursestrings Through boredom more than anything else he finds himself being reluctantly drawn into a dangerous blackmail plot involving a hometown heavy The finale is wrapped up a bit too tidily but the journey is a cinematic thrill-ride with wonderful characteriza- Here are die most popular videos for die week ending Sept 2 based on sales and rentals in Canada supplied by Jumbo Video IUL 11 m-inn By Cheryl Lavin Birthday: Aug 25 1961 Birthplace: I was bom in Tullahoma Term and raised in Santa Fe NM Occupation: Actress Currant home: Los Angeles Calif Marital status: Married to TV executive John Landgraf Chfldren: Pm expecting any minute Working on: I play Dr Sam Waters on NBC-TVs The last good movie I saw: I stay home to watch: and The book I've been reading: Prayer for Owen Meeney" by John Irving Magazines I read: Vanity Fair is fun and I lode at the pictures in fashion magazines Favorite pig-out food: Brownies Nickname: Ally is a nickname for my real name Allene Favorite performer: Frank Sinatra Favorite childhood memory: Riding my horse at my ranch in New Mexico Prized possession: My wedding and engagement rings I just got them Personal heroes: Lucille Ball Eleanor Roosevelt Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria People always think I'm: Meg Ryan I wish I could stop: Worrying I worry about everything I've never been able to: Play poker very well I'm better than anyone else when it comes to: Getting into trouble My fantasy is: Tm raising a family writing and helping children and animals The wont advice my mother ever gave me: a degree in biology" I was going to be a biochemist The one thing I cant stand: Rude people If I could change one thing about rnyselh Td have nicer toes People who knew me in high school thought I was: A geek The worst time in my life: had a lot of worst times but I try to forget about them If I weren't an actress I'd be: A writer written one script that sold and Td love to write children's books or else Td be doing something with children and animals If I've learned one thing in Dfe: that I know anything The three words that best describe me: Silly tenacious exhausted European film makers go 1 1 Peak Universal Studios 2 The Own Colum- bia TriStar 3 Murder at 1600 Warner 4 Metro Touchstone 5 Donnie Brasco Columbia TriStar 6 The Relic Paramount 7 Absolute Power Warner 8 Crash New Line 9 Scream Alliance 10 Fools Rush In Columbia TriStar Hollywood shown at Cannes in May Only its slim budget of under $4 million gives the film and others like it a chance of breaking even And while Ullmann may boast that her 1995 Kristin Lavransdatter was so popular that it pushed back the Norwegian release of Apollo 13 local films get less than three per cent of total admissions in Norway GLOBAL VILLAGE In a global village perhaps inevitable that moviemaking should narrow its sights to one shared America-led vision And as die careers of such men as the Czech Milos Forman (Amadeus) Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons) and Lasse Hallstrom (Once Around) have shown not every European director loses out when he sets Ids horizons on the United States What is being lost many feel are die more personal idiosyncratic films that put Europe in the vanguard during the prime of Frenchmen Eric Rohmer and Jean-Luc Godard Czechoslovakia's Jiri Menzel and Carlos Saura Such esthetics live on in the work of Mike Leigh (Secrets and Lies) among others But these days a young English filmmaker is far likelier to think Hollywood than to film die detail and texture of daily life that distinguish 1 Star Wan Trilogy Special Edition 20th Century Fox 2 Mary Poppina Limited Edition Disney 3 Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition Widescreen 20th Century Fox4 Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin Disney 5 Cats Dance Warner 6 Fun and Fancy Free 50th Anniversary Edition Disney 7 Spawn (Uncut HBO 8 Romeo and Juliet 20th Century Fax 9 Jungle 2 Jungle Disney 10 Dune MCA Universal Allen has always wished he were Ingmar Bergman and Martin Scorsese worshipped English directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger But now younger European directors are emulating the high-octane Hollywood tradition where special effects are big and money is bigger have a smaller country than America It is good to show them we can make a good big movie French director Luc Besson has said His $90-million US The Fifth Element was panned critically but proved commercially potent after opening the 50di Cannes Festival in May Indeed European directors shared significantly in this summer's American blockbusters Con Air was directed by Englishman Simon West And the other midair action leviathan Air Force One was the work of Germany's Wolfgang Petersen who long ago forsook artier homegrown fare like Das Boot for the Hollywood big time of In the Line of Fire and Outbreak Big movies good or not are what play across Europe and elsewhere people would rather see an American than a national said Liv Ullmann the Norwegian film star who has moved into directing in recent years Her third film Private Confessions from a script by Ingmar Bergman was Robert Slater By Matt Wolf ASSOCIATED PRESS London Think of European heyday and images flood in: Italian neo-realism the French new wave or brooding Scandinavian works with pain so intense they induce a star-ding esthetic pleasure Talk European cinema today and you might as well say American Hollywood films dominate die market as never before with many blockbusters earning more money outside die United States than at home been a shift in icons: Woody RathBi ti Soutfnm criHcs Ah Fores Ons i Ss Conspiracy Theory Cop Land ilJm evhk iforuun ALL Jano Hoodlum It to Mimic Money Talks Mm Brown Shot So Lowy Tho MM taUu rwtlngt Horn UsKouor Amman mnooumSun Commy 'MsmUt Edmonton Journal TbrontoStar OUnm CUm and mo fttattaaf OmuOt In (McGraw-Hill) Robert Slater tells the Inside story of Hollywood's controversial power broker who rose from the mail room at WHBam Morris to head CAA the most powerful entertainment agency to run The Walt Disney Company What is the genius that allowed Michael Ovitz to rise so far so fast? He knows how to use power and he understood how to create the illusion of power before he actually had in For instance when he started CAA he bought Jaguars for all die co-founders to tool around Hollywood They looked successful before they were And then he has a powerful presence When he enters a room he takes over He really developed the technique of packaging where an agent brings die stars die writer and die director to a studio and make them take all the parts if they want any to a new leveL Does he take responsibility Cm1 the fact that has produced some awful movies? No He would say that not responsible for die quality of movies His job is to get the deal for his clients not make the movies And been responsible for many good films like because he corralled all the best actors and actresses Is he loved or hated in Hollywood? Both Hoflman loves him Newman calls him la combination of a barracuda ami mother He is arrogant he would shove deals in people's faces he did business in a threatening manner He would say to people: "I can't give you Tom Cruise HI give you Val But sometimes he give them anyone He lasted only 14 months at Disney What happened? A tell you he was never given the opportunity to run the company cm a day-to-day basis as he was promised parity true but he walked into a situation that was untenable foam the start Many people at Disney deeply resented him And he had never operated as a team player At CAA he was an autocrat What is he doing now? Regrouping and planning on opening a new business soon He say what it is but I would guess it will be big with lots of money behind it It will lode a hide like a studio but it will also rival the big entertainment conglomerates love to outdo Disney David Caruso up to old tricks ASSOCIATED PRESS NewYork And for good reason TATorking with David Caruso who made a less-than-graceful exit from ABCs NYPD Blue didn't get any easier on his latest TV series Paul Haggis executive producer of new CBS series Michael Hayes said he was very worried about working with his star I told (friends) I was doing this show I got a comments like in for ft and Xook Haggis said went in with a feeling of got off to a bumpy start David and I I think David was understandably nervous about how he would return to TV and 1m wanted everything Haggis said things have worked out and settled Caruso left his role as Det John Kelly on NYPD Blue three years ago and went on to star in the box-office flops Kiss of Death and Jade He stars as a federal prosecutor in his new series 'T- i I 1 1 is.