4 - Wednesday, August 31, 1988 - North Shore News TO RETURN for 2 moment to Martin Scorcese’s The Last Temptation of Christ. There just aren’t that many movies you start thinking about a week after you've scen them. At least, not that many Anwrican movies. And the fact is that the vast ma- jority of movies Canadians get to see are American movies. Not all of them come from Hollywood. Some are shot in New York. A few are even shot in Van- couver. But they alf share a certain shallowness. It is embarrassing, frankly, to see a movie like Short Circuit {f, shot entirely in Toronto without once showing the CN Tower, with a big scene in front of the old city hall, festooned with American flags. In fact, the scene was a mass swearing-in ceremony for new American citizens. That image was a bit unnerving, I must say. A plot by anti-free traders? My point isn't specifically that swallowing a lot of crass, commer- cial American movies is bad for us, although it is bad for us, Bad in the way that bad drugs are bad. The point is, the screers of our country — indeed, the world — are filled with Yankee junk. But none are so overloaded as ours. Only four per cent of the screen time in Canada is taken up by Ca- nadian movies. Add a few per- centage points more for foreign (.e., non-American) stuff, And that’s it. ae ED oe WI £o ® strictly The rest is, if not entirely Hollywood itself, entirely accor- ding to the Hollywood Formula. This is why it doesn’t matter if you go to see Aliens or Willaw or Die Hard or Who Framed Roger Rab- bit? eae. TR Teese gToss an awesome amount of money inno time at all. Most in- vestments ake decades to give a decent return. That's why money continues to get invested in movies. Otherwise, money would go into apartments, One Hollywood Formula movie ts structurally just the same as the next. They have virtually interchangeable parts. You can almost think of them as 747’s, rather than motion pictures. The logos and colors change but nothing else.’”’ You are watching the same movie! One Hollywood Formula movie is structurally just the same as the next. They have virtually inter- changeable parts. You can almost think of them as 747s, rather than motion pictures. The logos and colors change, but nothing else. European movies often do not follow this formula. But European movies don’t make anywhere near so much money. Also, they are frequently boring — at least toa North American viewing au- dience’s sensibility, programmed as it has been for so long by Hollywood. A Formula movie is like a for- mula racing car. If built right, us- ing state-of-the-art techniques, it can speed off to the box office and It costs roughly as much to make a movie as it does to build an apartment block. With an apart- ment block, you've got revenue coming in forever, Why do some- thing foolish like put money into movies? The Bronfman family, while patronizing the cinema arts, never- theless doesn’t invest in movies. Movies just aren't considered serious investments, They’re for the ‘romantics and glory- seekers.” Investors, like stars, like direc- tors, fike everybody, are looking for the big pay-off. And when a sleek Hollywood special roars across the finish line breaking box office records on all sides, there are few payoffs bigger. Insiders will tell you movie- WJ f ue making iso"tan art, is a science. If so, it's a sloppy science, like its weirdling brother, economics. But it is close enough fo a science for engineers 10 be involved, more so than artists. It is a truism that the accoun- tants have taken over the boar- drooms of all the big studios, just as they have the networks. And since they dictate who gets money to make movies and who doesn’t, it matters if (he first thing they in- sist upon is a Formula script. And that’s why the movies all seem the same. They are. This, without doubt, was part of the appeal of The Last Temptation of Christ, Tt wasn't Formula! The fact that it is making moncy is good news, indeed. For any time a movie makes money without having followed the Formula, there is just slightly more of 4 chance that somebody else might gel to make a non-Formula movie, too. 1 had an opportunity to ask director Martin Scorcese whether he had done any of the things big American directors are supposed to do to make his movie financially successful, and his wonderfully blunt, straightforward answer was: “No. And after seeing it, it fascinates me more than all the Formula movies I’ve seen all summer put together. There is a message here. I'm sure, Maybe even a miracle of sorts. A breath of fresh cinematic air, it was. @ Fitness for Hydro sale burns NV alderman NORTH VANCOLIVER City Ald. Frank Morris is angry with the way the provincial government adopted legislation to dispose of the Gas Division of B.C. Hydro (Bill 45) without prior consultation. Noting that the city learned of Bill 45's adoption through the media and did not receive any of- ficial notification until more than two weeks afterwards, Morris convinced council to ‘advise the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources that it takes strong exception to the fack of communication and consultation demonstrated in the passage of Bill 45 and request that the government examine and restructure (its) communication systems so as not to repeat this performance in the future."* Council adopted an amendment by Ald. Barbara Sharp proposing that the provincial government “provide the municipalities with (its) amendments to such com- munication systems."’ Morris said he believes due pro- cess is important and should not only occur ‘‘but be seen to occur.”” He acknowledged that council might not have wanted to get into the gas distribution business, but pointed out that the city had the rights to acquire ownership of all or part of the gas distribution systems within its municipal boundaries. “Damnit all, we had a right to consultation and that’s what burns my butt,’’ Morris said angrily. ‘*t1 is especially disappointing when you consider the minister respon- sible is a minister representing the North Shore.” mature adult BEGINNERS SHAPE-UP PROGRAM. Lose 10-17 pounds in the next 4 weeks with personalized instruction. Heated Indoor Swimming Pool! 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