Spider-Man Lifts Sony
Pacino, DeNiro "Greatest"
November 2004 Movie News
Spidey Lifts More Than Bad Guys: That's right, it looks like Sony Corp., which owns Columbia Pictures, got a boost from Spider-Man 2 and reported a 61% profit last quarter. Its net profit was around 53 billion yen (or about $500 million dollars). Thanks, web slinger! If you weren't sure before you can be as confident that there will be a Spider-Man 3 as the sun rising tomorrow morning.
"You talkin' to me??!": Well, yeah.Al Pacino and Robert De Niro have been awarded "Greatest Living Movie Stars" by the top British magazine Empire. At least 10,000 people took part in this poll. As a fun note, while De Niro always seems to play Italian mobsters, he is actually 3/4s Irish!
On The Political Front: Okay, so I'm going with the flow and sticking in some politics this month. In the same poll as related above, President Bush managed to win the top screen villain award, for his "scary" appearance in Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. He beat out Alfred Molina (who played Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2) and even Leatherface of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Go figure!
Ogre on Stage!: It looks like Shrek will be lumbering across Broadway soon. DreamWorks Animation and the top director Sam Mendes will be teaming up to bring our favorite anti-hero to the stage in Shrek - The Musical. Anyone want front row seats when he begins to sing?
No Movie For You!: Little Rhode Island is definitely the wallflower left to the side without a dance partner. Absolutely no filming of any kind have taken place in this small state for at least 3 straight years, from 2002 on. Hopefully someone will take pity and bring some Hollywood sparkle to town. (I toss this in because I am currently playing City of Heroes, the wonderful superhero multi-player online game, and that is set in Rhode Island. So at least they have some virtual fame!)
Bizarre Sex: The creators of the movie Team America: World Police managed to convince the suits of the MPAA to change the rating from NC-17 to R. Apparently the sex scene between puppets was enough to offend young sensitivities, at least according to MPAA watchdogs. This is another example, in a long line, of the total worthlessness and complete politics behind the movie rating system, in my opinion. But you have to find humor wherever you can in this world!
