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Anna and the King<br />
Two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster ("Contact") and Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun Fat ("The Corruptor") star in this historical<br />
rendering of the true story of the relationship between the King of Siam and British governess Anna Leonowens in 19th-century<br />
Thailand, largely based on Leonowens' own diaries. Bai Ling ("Wild, Wild West") co-stars. Andy Tennant ("Ever After") directs as<br />
well as scripts with "Double Impact's" Steve Meerson and Peter Krikes and "Ever After's" Rick Parks. Lawrence Bender ("Jackie<br />
Brown") and Ed Elbert produce. (Fox, 11/24)<br />
Expioitips: Fox was unable to secure permission to shoot in Thailand from the Thai government because the script— even after<br />
revision— vi^as "insufficiently respectful to the Thai monarchy." Fox had by that time pretty much settled on Malaysia anyway and<br />
proceeded to pump an estimated $23 million into the Malaysian economy— just $8 million over Foster's unprecedented salary for<br />
the film.<br />
tive program that includes singing lessons<br />
with the drag queen next door. Philip<br />
Seymour Hoffman ("Happiness") co-stars as<br />
the man in the dress. De Niro and Jane<br />
Rosenthal ("Analyze This") also produce.<br />
(MGM, 11/24)<br />
Expioitips: in the spirit of the movie's<br />
themes, encourage your patrons (male<br />
and female) to come to the movies<br />
dressed in drag, giving out discount<br />
coupons for the best dressed. Held from<br />
October.<br />
Tumbleweeds<br />
Tony award winner Janet McTeer and<br />
Kimberly Brown (TV's "Guiding Light") star<br />
in this tender drama as a perpetually<br />
divorced mom and her daughter who refuses<br />
to run anymore. Gavin O'Connor directs<br />
and produces as well as scripts with Angela<br />
Shelton, who based the story on her own<br />
life experiences. (Fine Line, 11/24 NY/LA,<br />
1 2/1 exp, 1 2/24 exp)<br />
Expioitips: Picked up at Sundance after a<br />
20-hour negotiation session, "Tumbleweeds"<br />
earned two-and-a-half stars in BOXOFFICE's<br />
April 1 999 issue, which stated, "A slight but<br />
likable movie, 'Tumbleweeds' wouldn't be<br />
much without the byplay between McTeer<br />
and Brown. As it is, the believable and moving<br />
mother/daughter bond they create makes<br />
for uniquely enjoyable (if not compelling)<br />
viewing.<br />
2 by 4<br />
Jimmy Smallhorne writes, directs and<br />
stars in this drama about a construction<br />
foreman whose normal exterior belies his<br />
cross-dressing tendencies. Terry McGoff<br />
and Fergus Tighe script; Virginia Biddle<br />
and John Hall produce. (Strand, 11/24<br />
NY)<br />
Expioitips: Declan Quinn ("Leaving Las<br />
Vegas") won the best cinematography<br />
award at Sundance '98 for this pic.<br />
Ride with the Devil<br />
Skeet Ulrich ("Chill Factor"), Tobey Maguire ("Pleasantville") and pop star<br />
Jewel in her feature film debut star in this coming-of-age historical drama about<br />
a young Missouri man and his band of misfits who become entangled in the conflict<br />
along the Kansas-Missouri border during the Civil War. Ang Lee ("The Ice<br />
Storm") directs a script by frequent Lee collaborator James Schamus; Ted Hope<br />
("Happiness"), Robert F. Colesberry ("The Devil's Own") and Schamus produce.<br />
(USA, 11/24 NY/LA, 12/10<br />
exp, 12/17 exp)<br />
Expioitips: Originally set<br />
up at Universal, the studio<br />
and start-up USA Films<br />
struck a deal to maximize<br />
the pic's Oscar chances.<br />
Universal will foot the<br />
prints and advertising bills<br />
while USA staffers lend the<br />
title their considerable<br />
crossover expertise. The<br />
$35 million picture is New<br />
York production company<br />
Cood Machine's most<br />
expensive to date.<br />
NOVEMBER UNDATED<br />
Scrapple<br />
Tyro filmmaker Christopher Hanson<br />
writes and directs this '70s stoner comedy<br />
about a Colorado ski bum, who's<br />
trying to sell his stash to fulfill his<br />
dream of having a house in the country,<br />
and his pet pig. Geoffrey Hanson stars<br />
and produces; George' Plamondon<br />
writes and produces. (Indican,<br />
November undated)<br />
Expioitips: there's a bit of trivia:<br />
"Scrapple" is a breakfast hash concocted<br />
from unusable leftover bacon scraps.<br />
Karussell<br />
llona Ziok directs this documentary<br />
about Jewish entertainer Kurt Gerron, who<br />
was forced to entertain in exchange for his<br />
life in a Dutch concentration camp during<br />
World War II and whose Nazi-funded "The<br />
Furhrer gives the Jews a City" helped convince<br />
the Red Cross that the Holocaust was<br />
not happening. (Seventh Art, November<br />
undated)<br />
Expioitips: Create awareness ot<br />
Gerron's work by hosting a discussion<br />
panel headed by members of a local university's<br />
film and wodd history departments<br />
and showing clips from the cabaret<br />
director's films.<br />
Pants on Fire<br />
•<br />
li<br />
Writer-director Rocky Collins casts virti<br />
al unknowns for his comic melodrama<br />
about an extramarital affair between two<br />
teachers and the repercussions it has on<br />
their lives. Christy Baron, Harry O'Reilly,<br />
Neil Maffin and Karen Young ("Joe the<br />
King") star. Steve Apicella produces.<br />
(Shadow, November undated)<br />
Expioitips: Maine-based Shadow picked<br />
up this pic this spring after it had won the<br />
audience award for best screenwriting at<br />
the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival.<br />
Held from September<br />
26 BoxomcE
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