Interested in what teenage girls think about recent movies?
Of course you are.According to Sassy Magazine in its December/
January issue, a poll of 97,591 teenage girls revealed that "Dead Poets Society" is the movie that most "changed their outlook on life."
So if any of you teachers see girls climbing up on their desks, you know why.
As for the year's most popular film at the box office, "Batman" received mixed marks from these girls. It was voted "the movie they would most like to see destroyed." But Batman himself was also voted the movie character teenage girls would most like to marry.
The girls also didn't care much for "The Karate Kid, Part III" or "Ghostbusters II." But they did like "Beaches" and "Rain Man," which followed "Dead Poets Society" in popularity.
In addition they were asked which movies "most realistically portrayed teens." Chosen were "Say Anything" and "Dead Poets Society."
Movies that "make teens look like bimbos" included "She's Out of Control," "License to Drive," "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" and "Dream a Little Dream."
Movie producers take note.
- STEPHEN KING MOVIES seem to be almost as prolific as Stephen King books - and after "Pet Sematary's" success this year you can expect to see many more.
Next up are "Misery," directed by Rob Reiner ("The Princess Bride"), and one of the three short stories in "Tales From the Darkside: The Movie."
But King fans are perhaps a bit more anxious for another project that is "in development," a fancy phrase for "it looks good on paper but it won't be cheap," at Warner Bros. - "The Stand."
"The Stand," considered by many to be King's best work, is an 820-page epic about life in the near future after a deadly epidemic. King has been trying to boil it down to a workable screenplay for many years but has apparently given up. So another screenwriter was hired, and reportedly a solid screenplay has been turned in.
Whether "The Stand" will actually become a movie remains to be seen, but it appears to be closer than ever.
- SPEAKING OF HORROR FILMS, how about "Carnival of Souls"?
After all the buildup for this picture, it had better be good!
This, of course, is the 1962 horror flick, which some say may have inspired George A. Romero's classic "Night of the Living Dead."
It was filmed largely on the shores of the Great Salt Lake and received only middling release in theaters. Since then it's been a staple of late-night TV viewing in some cities and was largely forgotten until some enterprising soul saw something special in it and got it into theatrical re-issue on the art house circuit.
Now it's become a revived cult hit, with rave reviews from such national critics as Pauline Kael and Roger Ebert.
We've established here previously that it's on video, though no rental stores in town seem to have it. But no matter. If you have an interest, you'll be able to see it in just three weeks at Cinema in Your Face!
The theater is bringing "Carnival of Souls" in Jan. 5, and according to information from the distributor the film is 15 minutes longer than the video version.
Look for a review on that day to see if it's worth your movie-budget dollar.
- THERE WAS SPECULATION for a time that the Roger Rabbit cartoon "Tummy Trouble" would be held from video for a few years, until two or three such animated shorts could be gathered for a Roger Rabbit collection tape.
But now Disney announces that "Tummy Trouble" will precede "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" when that movie comes out on video March 16, just as it did in theaters.
The cassette will have a retail price of $22.99 and will have a rebate offer from Nabisco's "Bits" crackers - but no commercial will be on the tape.
Knowing Disney, however, look for a collection of the Roger Rabbit cartoons to come out after each one has been included on a movie tape. Those folks know how to get the most out of a sure thing.
- SPEAKING OF DISNEY, the enormous success of "The Little Mermaid" has just given more impetus to the animation department, and several upcoming projects have been announced.
In 1990 we'll have two new animated features, "The Rescuers Down Under," an Australian-set sequel to "The Rescuers," and "The Prince and the Pauper," with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto and Minnie in prominent roles.
In 1991 expect a new animated version of "Beauty and the Beast," no relation to the TV series, of course.
Also in production are "An Arabian Night," "Swan Lake" and "King of the Jungle."
- ANOTHER ANIMATED FEATURE due in the summer is "The Jetsons: The Movie," from Hanna-Barbera, and about the same time there will be six new "Jetsons" videos culled from television episodes of the "Jetsons" series.
- QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Kathleen Turner, co-star of Danny DeVito's "The War of the Roses," as told to Philip Wuntch of the Dallas Morning News:
"Danny is such a pushy little son-of-a-gun. He's so obnoxious, bossy, a real little tyrant. I like him better as an actor than as a director. But I still love him as a person. I'd do anything for him. In fact, I feel like I already have."