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8 • The Red and Black / Finals • Monday, August 13, 1990
Dead Movies’ Society
Fickle filmgoers fail to find
this summer’s blockbuster
All flash, no fun: “Robocop 2” was just one symptom of
the summer’s ailing film industry
By NOEL MURRAY
Entertainment Writer
An overview and commentary on
the summer’s big flicks.
Here we are, almost to the end of
the summer of 1990 and one nag
ging question remains — where’s
the big movie? Where’s the film
that defines the summer, the way
“Batman" did last summer?
Remember last summer?
A weekend didn’t go by without
some new movie defying expecta
tions and breaking box office re
cords. First it was “Indiana Jones
and the Last Crusade,” then
“Batman,” then “Honey I Shrunk
the Kids” (faring better than any
Disney flick ever has), then “Lethal
Weapon 2.”
The whole thing was incredible.
It was impossible to open a news
paper without reading about
America’s renewed love affair with
the movies — out of the video
stores, into the theaters, and blah-
diddyblahdiddyblah.
Unfortunately, the obsession of
the media was with the numbers,
not the quality.
The real story of last summer
was the enormous success of
smaller films, such as “Do the
Right Thing,” “Dead Poets So
ciety," and “sex, lies, and video
tape.” These were movies that
proved you could have an original
style and still pack the theaters.
“Do the Rignt Thing” and “sex,
lies, and videotape” routinely did
better per-screen business than
“Batman,” showing on fewer
screens. But does Hollywood learn
the lessons taught by money
making quality pictures? Nah, give
’em the blockbuster. Which brings
us to this summer.
This summer, we have been
inundated with expensive action
pictures, all trying to be “Batman.”
‘Total Recall” leads the pack of box
office receipts ($124.5 million, at
last count), followed by “Dick
Tracy” (99.1), and “Die Hard
2”(87.75) ... but where’s the me
gahit? None of these qualify. Total
Recall” has only made half as much
money as “Batman." What hap
pened?
What happened was that Holly
wood tried to manufacture a fervor
that just wasn’t there. Explosions
and car crashes and shootings are
all well and good, but it’s easy to
get bored with the same basic
movie week after week. When
there’s a pack of similar candi
dates, the vote is divided, so to
speak.
However, there has been some
fair stuff out there.
“Dick Tracy” was an intriguing,
good-looking picture, better than
the hype that preceded it. Total
Recall” offered a unique look at di
rector Paul Verhoeven’s dark ob
sessions. “Die Hard 2,” despite its
testosterone silliness, had its share
of thrills.
Most of the movies, though,
didn’t aim high enough. “Robocop
2” was all flash and no fun. “Days
of Thunder” never even got up to
cruising speed. The Adventures of
Ford Fairfane" will have to wait ’til
video (Diceman’s best forum) be
fore it sees any money.
The excitement on the street is
for slightly less brash films, like
“Ghost” ($51.4 million so far) and
“Flatliners.”
Therefore, with the summer
“season” almost over, I predict Au
gust’s big hits will be “Presumed
Innocent" ($11.7 million in its
opening weekend), Spike Lee’s
“Mo’ Better Blues,” and David
Lynch’s ‘Wild at Heart.”
Expect all three of these movies
to end up in the top ten of the
summer when all is said and done.
The people who are spending their
six bucks at the theater today are
essentially the same people who
are keeping Mr. Lynch’s off-beat
Twin Peaks” on television. The
public is ready for original enter
tainment, not films with sequen
tial numbers at the end.
This, if anything, explains the
sputterance of “Die Hard 2,” "Ro
bocop 2,” “Back to the Future III,”
“Days of Thunder,” “Navy SEALS,”
and “Dick Tracy.” This also ex
plains the immense popularity of
“Total Recall” and “Pretty
Woman,” two fairly unique motion
pictures. Maybe the American
public is getting picky.
Again, it’s difficult to say, be
cause the summer is not yet over.
Hollywood could be due for some
creative rethinking. Then again,
“Young Guns 2” could break all box
office records and completely skew
my predictions. Personally, Tm
pulling for Spike and Lynch.
Sutnene*
tyefvujia,
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