Across the movie blogs today, you’ve probably seen news of the sad passing of Hollywood super-producer Laura Ziskin, who lost a long battle with breast cancer over the weekend. Most of the obituaries have her name welded to the word “Spider-Man” in their headlines — certainly, her revival of the franchise in 2002 remains the most profitable work of her career. Still, that superhero franchise is hardly the only thing we owe her: also on her producing résumé are two films that shaped the careers of their female stars, “Pretty Woman” and “To Die For,” while industry legend has it that she was a key champion of “Fight Club” in the face of dismayed execs. One credit of hers I haven’t seen mentioned too often, however, is the 1987 Roger Donaldson thriller “No Way Out” — a remake, but one of my favorite pulp pieces of its era, and a reminder of what a terrific movie star Kevin Costner was back in his pre-Oscar prime. The trailer doesn’t really flatter the film, but if you’ve never seen it, let this be your excuse.
Tag: Pretty Woman
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THE LONG SHOT: Popular mechanics
“My God, they’ve thrown in everything but the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”Quoted by writer Anthony Holden in his gossipy history “The Oscars,” this was one publicist’s dismayed response to the 1990 Academy Award nominations, which included such unusual concessions to popular (as opposed to critical) opinion as a Best Picture nomination for “Ghost” and a Best Actress nod for Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman.”
I remember this year well – I was eight years old, and it was the first Oscar race I followed in detail from burbling Christmas hype to the ceremony itself, digging up and scrapbooking all the press and TV coverage I could find.
And from what I recall of my fledgling research, the unnamed publicist above wasn’t alone in her discontent. In particular, the “Ghost” nomination attracted levels of critical scorn even higher than those usually reserved for the Oscars – the common line being that the Academy had sold out to commerce rather than art, and that the sky would be falling at any given moment.
Does this situation sound at all familiar?
It should do. Though it was a response to an outcome rather than a possibility, the kvetching over the 1990 nods more than slightly resembles the panic that set in among certain pundits and fans alike (including, admittedly, yours truly) when the switch to 10 Best Picture nominees was announced in June.