It's extremely rare for low-budget foreign films to catch on with American audiences. Most that are lucky enough to get distribution in the States spend a few poorly attended weeks in the art houses, then quietly disappear. <I>The Full Monty</I>, a British film about a group of unemployed Sheffield steel workers putting together a "Chippendales"-type revue, has done just the opposite.
<I>Elliot Gould, Nina Van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Henry Gibson. Directed by Robert Altman. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1. Dolby Digital (English, French). 112 minutes. 1973. MGM Home Entertainment 1003775. R. $19.90.</I>
<I>Tony Shalhoub, F. Murray Abraham, Shannon Elizabeth, Matthew Lillard, Rah Digga. Directed by Steve Beck. Aspect ratio: 1.85:1(anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1 (English, French). 91 minutes. 2001. Columbia 22083. R. $24.98.</I>
Video stores decked out like ships, replicas of the doomed ocean liner carved from huge blocks of ice, memorabilia priced off the chart---it was all part of the seemingly endless hysteria surrounding James Cameron's <I>Titanic</I> as the first video copies hit the street last week. Stores remained open late to serve eager fans, who waited in long lines to buy the film when it went on sale at 12:01 am, Tuesday, September 1. According to Bruce Apar, editor of <I>Video Business</I> magazine, "Inarguably, <I>Titanic</I> is the biggest video event in years. This is the kind of marquee title that gets people into the stores to buy other titles as well."
Enough DVD movies have been sold this year to compile a top-ten list. <I>VideoScan</I> reports that <i>Twister</i>, the big-budget thriller in which no-name actors chase tornadoes and get chased in turn by tumbling barns and flying cows, was the best-selling DVD through November 30. The film, on disc, is hugely popular; a surplus of spectacular visual effects apparently compensates for its mediocre acting, clunky dialog, and almost total lack of story.
Early indications don't look promising for <A HREF="http://www.circuitcity.com/">Circuit City</A>'s pay-per-view alternative as the DVD/Divx war begins to heat up in earnest. Recently, a neutral, informative <A HREF="http:www.abcnews.com/sections/tech/dailynews/divx980917.html">introducti... to Divx by Chris Stamper appeared on the ABC News website. Stamper's story included an opportunity for readers---who, presumably, had read the piece and were now reasonably well-informed about Divx---to vote on whether or not they would spend $449.99 for a Divx player.
Actor George C. Scott was found dead at his home in Westlake Village, California, on Wednesday, September 22. Medical examiner Dr. Janice Frank said the 71-year-old film star died of an abdominal hemorrhage. Scott had been in ill health in recent years; Frank characterized his demise as "a natural death."
The film community is mourning the death of actor Richard Harris, who passed away Friday, October 25 at London's University College Hospital, where he was being treated for Hodgkin's disease. He was 72.
A strike next year by the <A HREF="http://www.sag.org/">Screen Actors Guild</A> (SAG) is not likely, according to a recent statement by the organization's president, William Daniels. "I'm optimistic that we can work something out with the industry," Daniels told reporters after a meeting with industry heavyweight Lew Wasserman at Universal Studios on Wednesday, August 23. Wasserman, the former head of MCA, is now a consultant at Universal, and is known throughout the industry as a shrewd negotiator and dealmaker.
Madeline Kahn, the comic actress whom Mel Brooks described as "one of the most talented people that ever lived," died in Manhattan on Friday, December 3, of ovarian cancer. She was 57.