Page 18 - CR31R.pdf

Pleasure medal on the chest of Charlies Angels?). But
Producers And Cinemas Stroll surely not as the basis of a diet.
Up A Bland Alley
The local art-house scene remains largely barren, mostly
due to the over-development of luxury cinemas. With all
those new seats to pay for. it's too expensive for most op-
Written by Lynden Barbe1:
erators to take a risk on edgier films. Again, there is a
Reprinted from "Outtakes"
woeful lack of competition. In Perth, what was the last
The Weekend Australian. 30/1212000
remaining independent, Luna, is now owned by its former
competitor, Palace Cinemas - which is 50 per cent owned
by corporate giant Village Cinemas.
The year kicked off brightly with a spray offresh and origi-
nal US films- from Magnolia, The Insider and Three Kings
In the mid-80's the Swedish film, My Life As A Dog, was
to Being John Matkovich and American Beauty.
snapped up by Dendy Films and became a long-standing
box-office earner. Contrast with another excellent Swed-
Soon afterwards, the Australian film industry, previously
ish film about adolescence, Show Me Love (F. .. ing A mal),
accused of being out of touch with audiences, racked up
which has only just opened in Sydney and Melbourne (other
several domestic hits in Choppe1; Looking for Alibrandi,
states follow) after being cold-shouldered by the established
The Wog Boy an The Dish, while veteran film-maker Paul
art-house distributors for at least 18 months.
Cox delivered one of his finest films, Innocence. None-
theless, 2000 was a worrying year. Box office was down
We're at the bottom of a cycle. The main cinema and dis-
by 4 per cent in Australia - part of a global phenomenon.
tribution companies have swallowed most of the risk-tak-
In the US, chain aficr cinema chain declared bankruptcy,
ing independents - not just cinemas but also US produc-
while art-house trade was down by 14 per cent. Mired in
tion companies- resulting in a blandly middle-of-the-road
overly expensive stars, creative timidity and an increas-
scene. But there are still a few brave souls out there, such
ingly trashy sensibility, Hollywood lost its way, failing to
as Niche Pictures. which released Tim Roth's tough The
supply enough films that the public wanted to see.
War Zone. It will be joined by others. Nothing in the film
industry is forever. The strength of Asian film-making
Following I 0 years of frenzied multiplex building. Aus-
proves that creativity in the cinema is well and truly alive.
tralia's Village Cinemas is now talking about closing cin-
~or evidence sec Crouching Tige1: Hidde11 Drago11, opcn-
emas. If local cinema chains have escaped bankruptcy,
it's because: (a) they keep a bigger share of box office gross rng on January 5 and backed. interestingly, by a Holly-
wood studio, Columbia.
receipts than virtually any other country; (b) Hoyts and
Village Roadshow/Greater Union share cnonnous concen-
trated power (this year even opening a joint cinema in
Sydney's CBD); and (c) diversification into such areas as Letter To The Editor
radio and theme parks (in Village's case) and tourism
and hotels (Greater Union's owner, Amalgamated Hold-
ings).
As a former magazine editor myself, I know how much
work goes into each issue of the magazine, but to see
The 90's multiplex boom was successful in attracting stead-
CinemaRccord reach 36 pages of very interesting mate-
ily bigger audiences for several years. but at some point
rial is in it sci fa record.
the desire to squeeze the smaller competition from the
market took over from rational business sense. Whether
CinemaRccord maintains its integrity and standards with-
we are seeing the beginning of a lengthy downturn in the
out any subsidy other than the support of its members.
film business or merely a hiccough remains, of course. to
This is quite an achievement.
be seen.
Maintaining historical records of theatres and cinemas has
Children's films are one area where Hollywood seems to
been happening for the last twenty years throuoh various
~e getting it right, Three of the year's most entertaining . 0
JOurnals. and CinernaRecord and CATHS have been a part
Items were Chicken Run (in which DreamWorks wisely
of that process for the last decade.
let the British Aardman team do their magic with mini-
mum interference), Toy StOIJ 2 and Stuart Little. All of
I note also that CATHS membership is increasing rapidly.
these were solid earners.
All this is due to the hard working group of people on
your executive, and the strong bonds maintained through
The adult films were more of a worry. Where were they'?
your cohesive membership.
T~e wave of brave films that ushered in the year quickly
dned up. True, there was Curtis Hanson's so-so The Won-
Such a group does not exist in Sydney. or tndeedanywhere,
der Boys and a couple of enjoyable geme pictures in Gladi-
that comes remotely ncar CATHS. Keep up the good work.
ator and Erin Brockovich. But in the main, Hollywood
prefers its adult audiences to nurture the adolescent within.
Jan Ha11son. Lithgow NSW
This is sometimes tine (may I be pennitted to pin a Guilty
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