Did you see the March issue of Premiere magazine, with either Jude Law or Julianne Moore posing sensuously on the cover? (It's that TV Guide thing, the same issue with multiple covers, as if we're going to be fooled into picking up an extra copy.) In the words of the magazine's editor in chief, it was a "special issue . . . devoted to sex in movies."
And it was tastefully titled, "Lust horizon." Hustler couldn't have done better.Wow! What an original subject . . . unless anyone reads Entertainment Weekly or Movieline or dozens of other magazines that tackle the same subject with each and every issue.
Then, the April issue of Premiere came along, and there was Sandra Bullock on the cover, in a pose meant to be shocking to fans of her goody-goody, girl-next-door image. Bullock is curled up in a corner half-naked, and the headline says, "Sandra Bullock tells the girl next door to get lost."
Now, I am not unsympathetic to Bullock's desire to stretch as an actress, to play something different on the big screen than the sweet innocent who is caught up in difficulties set in motion by outside influences. Think "Speed," "While You Were Sleeping," "The Net". . .
But her post-"Net" films, in which Bullock has played anti-"cutesy" characters, have not exactly taken the box office by storm. Think "Forces of Nature," "Practical Magic" and the one nobody saw, "Gun Shy."
In the end, it probably doesn't matter whether Bullock plays a sweet young thing or a serial killer . . . if the script and director are good. But there she is, trying hard to swing that image the other way. And Premiere is there to help.
The cover of Premiere's May issue is more subdued: Ashley Judd with a come-hither look but remarkably covered up. Of course, there's that headline -- "The devil in Ashley Judd."
But inside the magazine is a letter from a reader, complaining about the magazine's recent tendencies toward the sensational. The letter-writer, a 30-year-old family man living in Manhattan, complains about Premiere's propensity for foul language in interview stories, along with "marginal T&A, as if your photographers are reminded that the actress has just turned 'legal,' " and specifically citing young Leelee Sobieski, who posed provocatively for pictures in a recent issue.
What I found most interesting about this final letter on Premiere's letters-to-the-editor page (subtly titled, "Going Postal") was the response from the editor:
"Been to the movies lately? The fact is, movies deal in provocative language and themes, and the people who make these movies often have colorful vocabularies. We keep the use of so-called four-letter words to a minimum, but in the relatively infrequent cases in which these words appear, we feel they are necessary to convey the reality of the industry we cover." (The sexy teen photos were not addressed.)
Now that Premiere has explained its motives, I feel so much better.
Add to this a bit of a brouhaha over the magazine going out to people who did not ask for it, and it becomes clear that a lot of people are concerned about the show-biz/media trend toward sex, sex, sex.
The latter came about when the 800-plus-page catalog, "Movies Unlimited" (and its accompanying Web site, www.moviesunlimited.com), which is unquestionably the most complete, up-to-date source for movies and TV shows available on video, decided to give its frequent customers a bonus -- a free subscription to Premiere magazine.
And guess which issue of Premiere kicked off this surprise subscription, arriving in the mailboxes of unsuspecting video consumers? That's right, the March "Sex in the movies" issue.
Movies Unlimited received so many complaints and requests to cancel the free subscriptions that the video company's general manager sent out letters to its customers, apologizing and explaining its good intentions.
Given the way Premiere's editor responded to a concerned reader, it's obvious the magazine itself doesn't give a hoot. And perhaps he's right to say that Premiere should "convey the reality" of the movie industry.
Especially since Premiere is every bit as arrogant and smug as Hollywood itself.
Feature editor Chris Hicks may be reached by e-mail at hicks@desnews.com