By DONALD PORTER
Standard-Examiner staff
PARK CITY -- Denzel Washington said he was tired. And he had reason: He worked until 5:30 a.m. Saturday on an all-night shoot in Philadelphia, then he hopped a plane to Utah for a full-day's slate of activities at the Sundance Film Festival.
Washington was at the festival to receive the second annual Piper-Heidsieck Tribute to Independent Vision award. Last year's recipient was actor John Turturro.
"I'm not really an award person," Washington said. "But I wanted to come up here and see what it's like. And I wanted to talk to Robert (Redford, the Sundance Institute's founder) about some ideas I have."
Washington spent the evening in Park City when he could have attended the Golden Globe Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. He had been nominated as best actor for his work in "Malcolm X." Washington is a familiar face at the movies, having been seen in films such as "A Soldier's Story," "The Mighty Quinn," "Mo' Better Blues" and "Mississippi Masala." He's received Oscar nominations for "Cry Freedom" and "Glory," and won an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor for the latter.
“The great hope is now (with) these little 8mm video recorders and stuff coming out, some people who normally wouldn't make movies are going to be making them. And suddenly one day some little fat girl in Ohio is going to be the new Mozart, you know, and make a beautiful film with her father's little camcorder. And for once the so-called professionalism about movies will be destroyed forever and it will really become an art form."
--
Francis Ford Coppola,
"Hearts of Darkness"
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| Robert Rodriguez |
By DONALD PORTER
Standard-Examiner staff
It's the stuff dreams are made of: Robert Rodriguez, a film student on break from studies at the University of Texas in Austin, borrowed a silent film camera and some sound gear, took along his writing partner/lead actor, $9,000 and a few props, and in two weeks' time made a quickie action film, "El Mariachi," in the border town of Ciudad Acuna, Mexico.
Now, however, Rodriguez jokes that his movie is "The Little Film That Could." In an unprecedented move, Columbia Pictures is giving the $7,000 film -- yes, Rodriguez came in $2,000 under budget -- a limited national release in 52 theaters in late February. The film is currently playing in competition at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, and was a hit at festivals in Telluride, Colo., and Toronto.
By DONALD PORTER
Standard-Examiner
PASADENA, Calif. -- Tonight's the night ABC executives finally find out whether they'll be taking credit or laying blame.
At issue: their plan to schedule "Murder One" against NBC's hit "ER." Will anyone watch the legal serial? Or is the "ER" habit too hard to break? Having aired it for three weeks in "NYPD Blue" 's 9 p.m. Tuesday slot, ABC is hoping those who tuned in on that night will follow the show to Thursdays at 9 p.m., where it's going head-to-head with "ER." ("Murder One" airs locally on KTVX Channel 4.)
The network apparently has a deep commitment to the show, having ordered a full season's worth of episodes: 23. That's an unusual step, since a network typically orders between six and 13 episodes, on the theory that if the show fails, the network isn't out a full season's expense.
By DONALD PORTER
Standard-Examiner
Mary Tyler Moore was making no bones about why she's co-starring on the new CBS drama "New York News" -- admitting that her decision had as much to do with location as love for the project.
"It's going to be shot in New York City," Moore said at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif. "I live in the city ... and I was not interested in interrupting my life any more than that.
"It's wonderful to be part of a huge ensemble. It's not going to be falling on my shoulders, the responsibility for this show. I'll be one of many who are happily going to be doing our very best."
By DONALD PORTER
Standard-Examiner
PASADENA, Calif. -- At the Winter Press Tour, it's sometimes easier to gauge stardom by who shows up, and who doesn't: Those who do make an appearance need the press to bang the drum for their show, and those who don't make an appearance are doing just fine without the nation's TV critics.
Well, make an exception for Jerry Seinfeld, sort of, who showed up just long enough to announce that, indeed, the phenomenally popular "Seinfeld" will be returning for yet another season in the fall. It's a bit of a surprise, since rumors have been rampant for months that this season was likely the show's last.
"This year we have suddenly been having a lot more fun than I think we thought we were going to have," Seinfeld said. "And, as a result, we've decided to continue the show into next season."
By DONALD PORTER
Standard-Examiner
PASADENA, Calif. -- Lea Thompson is not a professional cartoonist, but she plays one on TV.
In "Caroline in the City" (Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. on KSL Channel 5), as a matter of fact, the NBC sitcom about a successful cartoonist who can't seem to find any matching prosperity in the romance department.
"I do like to draw, yeah," Thompson said at the Summer Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif. "I do cat cartoons. I always did, since I was a little girl." But, she explained, her cat doodles will never be available for public scrutiny.
Thompson, best known as a movie actress from films like "Back to the Future" and "Howard the Duck," is but one of a few female film stars who has taken TV work over the past year; the others include Cybill Shepherd ("Cybill"), Nancy Travis ("Almost Perfect") and Elizabeth McGovern ("If Not for You," rest in peace). Thompson attracted the attention of NBC programming chief Warren Littlefield after appearing in "The Substitute Wife," a made-for-TV movie co-starring Farrah Fawcett. After toying with several ideas, Thompson and Littlefield settled on "Caroline in the City." Thompson said her reasons for migrating to the small screen are many.
By DONALD PORTER
Standard-ExaminerPASADENA, Calif. -- Andrew Clay is the first to admit his career was in the commode.
"I couldn't get a dog-food commercial three years ago," the comedian-turned-actor said. "Maybe it was something I said, I don't know."
Of course it was something he said. His unemployment was due to a lot of things he said: about women and about non-whites, mostly. Andrew "Dice" Clay was a pariah in the entertainment business -- probably the first, and surely the most prominent -- entertainer to suffer significantly from the wrath of the so-called Political Correctness movement.
(It should be noted, however, that even without a p.c. movement, Clay's stand-up routines were so outrageous, so offensive, that there would have been a loud and sustained outcry.)
