With all the films that were listed in Friday's Weekend section as scheduled to arrive in theaters over the next eight weeks, the last thing we should complain about is titles that were left out.
But some glaring omissions deserve explanation, most notably "Old Gringo," the Jane Fonda-Gregory Peck western that is almost a year late now.Will we ever see that frequently announced movie in Salt Lake City? Well, it depends entirely on our urban moviegoing cousins to the east and west.
If "Old Gringo" makes money in New York, Los Angeles, etc., where it opens this month, it will surely show up in other cities around the country. If not, look for it on video in January.
Similarly, the much-touted "Family Business," a crime comedy with Dustin Hoffman, Sean Connery and Matthew Broderick, is without a firm release date as we go to press.
Then there's "Erik the Viking," a Monty Pythonesque Viking comedy, and "Return of the Musketeers," the sequel to Richard Lester's mid-'70s "Three Musketeers" and "Four Musketeers," with Richard Chamberlain, Oliver Reed, Michael York and Frank Finlay back in the saddle, so to speak. Both films were supposed to be summer releases. But they never appeared and still remain unscheduled.
The same goes for "Heart of Dixie," a civil rights drama set in 1957, with Ally Sheedy, Phoebe Cates and Virginia Madsen; "Miami Blues," a crime drama with Alec Baldwin and Fred Ward; "Gross Anatomy," a May-September romance in a first-year med student setting, with Christine Lahti and Matthew Modine; a remake of "Lord of the Flies," about schoolboys stranded on a desert island; David Cronenberg's horror film "Nightbreed"; the black comedy "Penn & Teller Get Killed," starring the magic/comedy team (which was trashed by critics at last week's Telluride Film Festival); "The Fabulous Baker Boys," starring Jeff and Beau Bridges as lounge piano players with Michelle Pfeiffer as their singer; and two films that were well-received at this past January's United States Film Festival in Park City, the out-of-competition "The Big Picture," with Kevin Bacon as a fledgling filmmaker, and the grand prize winner, "True Love," a comedy-drama about a young couple preparing for marriage. Both are opening in major urban markets this month, but they may or may not make it here.
Christmas films, a whole other category, will be discussed sometime in November.
-CINEPOSIUM '89 BEGINS late next week, the seven-day annual gathering of the Association of Film Commissioners International, being held this year in Park City.
Participants will hear from Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, as well as director Arthur Hiller ("See No Evil, Hear No Evil," "The In-Laws," "Love Story"), who is president of the Directors Guild of America.
In addition to "taking meetings" and getting tips from one another on such topics as "Problems with Safety on a Set," "How to Get and Keep Good Press" and "What Other States/Locales Are Doing," commissioners will take in some of Utah's most scenic spots - in Deer Valley and Sundance as well as Park City.
They'll even see a movie - "A Dry White Season," with Donald Sutherland, Susan Sarandon and Marlon Brando.
-DISNEY HAS BEEN in the news quite a bit in recent months, but two announcements in the past two weeks should have made the company's stock tingle a bit.
Disney is the only studio to have three movies in the summer's - and possibly the year's - top 10: "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids," "Dead Poets Society" and "Turner & Hooch."
And, as everyone no doubt knows by now, Disney has also acquired Jim Henson and his Muppets - excluding Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster, etc., which are the exclusive property of "Sesame Street." That means Mickey, Goofy and Donald will be side-by-side with Kermit, Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear, among others.
In addition to the expected TV, movie and live show possibilities, Disney promises to use the Muppets in the Disneyland and Disney World theme parks.
This seems like a natural blending of talent, one that is less surprising because it happened than that it took so long.
But you have to wonder what's next. Shelley Duvall taking "Faerie Tale Theatre" to Disney? Ralph Bakshi taking "Mighty Mouse" to Disney?
Or even Don Bluth, Disney defector, returning to the fold for "American Tail, Part II."
Hey, if Bugs Bunny can appear in a Disney movie - "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" - anything can happen.
-IF YOU'RE LOOKING for a comedy to rent on video, how about a Sylvester Stallone picture?
No, not "Rhinestone." A comedy.
Back in 1973, three years before "Rocky," Stallone starred in a picture called "Rebel," which was a drama - until now. It has been re-edited with a goofball soundtrack - a la Woody Allen's "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" - as "A Man Called . . . Rainbo."
The release date is listed as Aug. 6, so it should be available. Whether it's funny is another question.
But you have to credit the guys who did this spoof with honesty. The press release for the film notes:
"It's just (our) way of making a film starring a major actor without having to pay the usual price."
-QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Director Arthur Penn, whose work includes "The Miracle Worker," "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Little Big Man," speaking this past week at a symposium on film violence during the recent Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colo., as reported by John Hartl of the Seattle Times:
"I feel I've been lobotomized. A whole side of the human experience is being ignored. I want to break through the conventions. I wish movies could be far more amoral and far more sexy."
-QUOTE OF THE WEEK II: Rob Reiner, director of "When Harry Met Sally . . ." asked in a Us magazine interview (the Aug. 7 issue) if he would ever have a nude scene in one of his films:
"To be perfectly honest, I'm completely embarrassed by the idea of directing anybody in a nude scene. I can never ask an actress to take her clothes off."
-QUOTE OF THE WEEK III: Kim Cattrall, co-star of "Porky's," "Mannequin" and the upcoming "Return of the Musketeers," asked by Bud Scoppa for a Us magazine interview (in the Aug. 21 issue) about her nude scenes in "Masquerade" and "Midnight Crossing," explaining that the latter film's director used a body double to add nudity after she had left the production:
"That (`Midnight Crossing') is not me. What I did in `Masquerade' I didn't find offensive. But the kind of nudity that I hear is in `Midnight Crossing' was not necessary."