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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 1999)
e Blttalion A GGIELIFE ^Page^Mliur^da^^ebruar^^^W iding off into the sunset *J Vundance shows off new talent, style in independent films CITY, Utah (AP) — The locals c>i1l them [’IBs: Peoplein Black. Bentstheco"- Every year they arrive, clad in Bater ack and armed with cell phones, H|H's and attitude, ready to do bat- Film Societ)!, Hollywood style, in this moun- - theater Co'in ski resort. IBie Sundance Film Festival end- ■ nd.aclas;:! last weekend, and PIBs went )me, some with movie deals, some ithput. Some moments in the 'ock band, i iow: Be OVERCOMING ADVERSI a t i ve band, is TY AWARD It wasn’t among the honors m<jed out last Saturday night, but re lust couldn’t ignore what the akers of American Movie had to go roligh to get their documentary ild. During the Jan. 26 screening, ece 5 of the movie theater’s venti- tion system broke loose and fell ito the audience, which included any studio executives looking to " "jssibly buy the film. Brree people were hurt, none se ne rMera/. 3usl y- __ man , -imie to the show-business ethic, . , , t .. te screening went on. In the end, .my Pictures Classics paid $800,000 G, / t the movie, the true-life comedic agent to e 0 0 j- a man 0 b se ssed with mak- 77, was the y the Earth red to space scovery last fc> X atThel sents the cc* eater sc, is playingci ing independent films. BIGGEST DEAL THAT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN THAT BIG Depending on whom you talk to, Miramax either did or didn’t spend $2.5 million for Happy, Texas, a hi larious tale of two escaped convicts who wander into a small Texas town, only to be confused with be ing a gay couple hired to help train the town’s little girls for a beauty pageant. Sources close to the acquisition deal insisted that Miramax spent only $2.5 million in cash, plus agreed to a generous cut of the box office if the movie does well. Some of Miramax’s rivals said the studio couldn’t have gotten off that cheaply and suggested Miramax — burned before with big Sundance ac quisitions that didn’t meet expecta tions — was playing loose with the facts to save face. Miramax denied that. And all the filmmakers would say was that Mi ramax didn’t have the top cash offer, but they were impressed with the studio’s commitment to market and distribute the movie. It’s expected to arrive at theaters later this year. COMING TO THEATERS ... Other deals struck in the snowy ski resort above Salt Lake City did n’t generate any controversy — nor that much money. All were in the $1 million range or below, peanuts compared with the $6 million to $10 million transactions the festival has seen in the past. Among the deals: Artisan Enter tainment picked up the creepy hor ror film The Blair Witch Project for a little over $1 million. Fine Line Fea tures paid $1 million for one of the best movies at the festival, the moth er-daughter road picture Thmble- weeds, and $400,000 for one of the funniest, the boy-meets-boy gay sex comedy Tick. In addition to getting American Movie, Sony Pictures Classics paid what sources said was the “low six figures” for Tlvin Falls, Idaho about Siamese twins. Rogue Pictures, a division of Octo ber Films, picked up Kill the Man with Luke Wilson (price unknown), while October got the festival’s Cen terpiece Premiere movie. Sugar Town with Rosanna Arquette and Ally Sheedy, for $1.25 million. FACES TO WATCH The best performances at Sun dance came from a young Canadi an actress, Sarah Policy, in two films. She played the awkward young woman living with a much ALLY SHEEDY older photographer in Guinevere’ and the teen-ager having a truly bad night in the Gen-X actioner Go. Another standout, though in much different fare, was Steve Zahn as the none-too-bright escaped con vict who finds himself teaching a bunch of 5-year-old girls how to prepare for a beauty pageant in Happy, Texas. Zahn won a special prize at Sundance for his perfor mance. Other performances offered new looks at familiar TV faces including: Jean Smart of “Designing Women” as the steely mother in Guinevere, Tori Spelling of “Beverly Hills 90210” as the high-strung actress in “Trick,” and Barbara Barrie of “Sud denly Susan” as the brittle middle- aged teacher in Judy Berlin. HOW BOUT THAT STEVEN SPIELBERG, INDIE GUY Normally, the independent film scene is associated with your out law directors with fashionably hip goatees, overextended credit cards and lots of that independent vision thing. You don’t normally think Steven Spielberg. But actress Laura Dern, who was honored at the festival, singled out the box-office king as being as indie-minded as the next PIB on the block. restaurant Crawfish S Beer! EVERY THURSDA Y NIGHT! BOILED CRAWFISH $3.99/lb. Student ID required 50<t Drafts § 99<t Margaritas only w/purchase of an entree Student ID required 268-5333 3 I 7 College Ave. • Old Albertson’s Shopping Center ok lie wing habits bridging race issue • 55-yearmd ^pw YORK (AP) — By standard television and his 2- Tieasurements, “The Steve Harvey Show” isn’t 1 hit. Last week it ranked 101st on the Nielsen Deen wori ^ e( ii a Research list of 132 prime-time pro as along the ?r J lls _ Wunong African-American audiences, who reti - though, the WB’s Thursday night comedy is the st month. p 0 p U i ar show on the air. Nick Taylor.^ fc’ s one example of how African-Americans ! ),IM ' nts ' and whites differ in what they watch. / E ncl - ■ |y new study, however, shows the races may be finding more common ground as networks S name Jo a better job putting together multiethnic ^ D U hng the last three months of 1998, six Tows ranked among the 20 most-watched se- iN (AP)—Kf jes in both African-American and white id best actor lonieS) accorc }jng to the study by TN Media, an ndon Critics l( j ver tising buying firm, mance inast^Jhey were “ER,” “60 Minutes,” “Monday 3 O'Neill’s I sjight Football,” “Touched By an Angel,” RfPD Blue” and “The CBS Sunday Movie.” rises the P aft ®wo years ago, the two races had only this season. ‘Monday Night Football” in common as a fa- Cusackwon norite show. r Lady of SI^HThe three entertainment series on the re- r best direcK jent list have multiethnic casts, which is be- eth and F/i# joining a more frequent practice, Stacey Lynn, • best play rice president of broadcast research at TN Me- and the Roy 8 7 viva I of ica/. « romisingpWj r-old Rebec# Sal.” tics' Circle $ of leading K nine theater dia, said. Younger networks that tried to establish themselves by appealing to an African-Ameri can audience — Fox, the WB and UPN — have recently broadened their appeal, she said. CBS is now the top-rated network among both African-Americans and whites after sev eral years in which Fox had the largest claim on the black audience, the study said. CBS’s ratings are remarkably similar for both races. That may be because CBS’s shows appeal to an older audience and many of the African- American-oriented programs on other networks are aimed at young people, Lynn said. “At some point, there is a lot of common ground, and age is one of those things,” she said. The WB and UPN still have significantly higher ratings among African-Americans. So far, the WB is doing a much better job than its rival in broadening its audience with out alienating African Americans, Lynn said. NBC is having the most difficult time at tracting an African-American audience. NBC Entertainment President Scott Sassa said last month the network needed to do a better job reflecting the country’s diversity instead of con centrating on wealthy, white city-dwellers. Ezra Continued from Page 3 Ezra purchased a building themselves and transformed it into Fudge Studios. With the combination of a new studio, pro ducer and a new drummer, Travis McNabb, the band has created asound promising to please the hardcore Ezralites as well as aver age listeners. Bassist Tom Drummond said in a press re lease he thinks Better Than Ezra is an example of a band with albums that do not keep a con sistent sound, but instead set out to inspire. “There are a lot of bands who feel like they started writing music ... that sounded one way and feel like they are supposed to write an al bum that still sounds like their first record,” Drummond said. “You should write music that inspires you.” Better Than Ezra will perform at Rodeo 2000 as post-party entertainment for Delta Sigma Phi’s Miss Greek A&M pageant this Fri day. Stretch Princess, a trio from England, will open for Better Than Ezra. Jeremy Newton, di rector of the Miss Greek A&M pageant and a senior management major, said the concert is primarily a charity event and not just another Greek event. “Really and truthfully, it’s a great event that benefits a great charity,” Newton said. “The Delta Sigs aren’t out to turn a profit for them selves. They’re out to benefit the battered women of Brazos Valley. ” Proceeds from the concert will be donated to Phoebe’s Home, a battered women’s shelter.. STARTS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5! Check Local Listing For A Theatre Near You fou learn > cal resonn fe. JOHN J. KOLDUS III FACULTY/STAFF ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Recognizes an outstanding faculty/staff member for his or her interest in student growth, education and unity through student organization work. Any student, student organization, faculty, or staff member may nominate. For more information or an application, contact Jane Bailey, MSC Directors Office, 845-1914. Nominations due Monday, February 15 th , 1999, p.m. at MS 1237 or delivered to Jane Bailey #223 MSC. MUSI ClH E AR □ ! Send your tunes to America’s only nationally broadcast unsigned artist show. Put your songs in 5 million households. No contracts! No strings! No fees! Just send a DAT or CD with Bio to: Music Choice Unsigned 414 Eagle Rock Ave Suite 300 West Orange, NJ 07052 Sorry, nothing will be returned. ress The Texas A&M University Career Center presents... for in interviewing uccess February 4 7 p.m. 159 Wehner Make sure you know what is “suitable” to wear to your on-campus interviews, Both men’s and women’s clothing will be discussed. Presenters are: lassie Boultinghouse, ‘90, Foley’s David Shellenberger, The Suit Club 2 lucky Ags will each receive a FREE interview suit - other great door prizes will be given away! 845-5139 aggienet. tamu. edu/cctr