Banner Graphic, Volume 17, Number 225, Greencastle, Putnam County, 26 May 1987 — Page 3

ssl million fiasco

'lshtar' offkey at box office, too

c. 1987 N.Y. Times News Service HOLLYWOOD Five months late and $23 million over its original budget, “Ishtar” finally arrived at 1,100 theaters over the weekend. Ana faltered. Starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman, the ssl million comedy about two bad songwriters and the CIA drew disappointing reviews and $4.3 million at the box office, a figure far below hoped-for returns on a megabudget movie. In comparison, “The Gate,” a horror movie about three boys who find the gate to hell in their backyard, sold more than $4.2 million worth of tickets. The producers of “The Gate” were ecstatic, since the movie cost only $4 million. First-weekend box-office results are critical, not only because they are studied carefully by exhibitors, but also because a studio spends the most money on advertising and promotion, and usually gets its best return. For example, Columbia spent $8 million on advertising, prints, promotion and publicity on “Ishtar.” Furthermore, with “Beverly Hills Cop II” opening this week and a torrent of summer movies close behind, “Ishtar” has little chance of rebounding, according to executives at other studios. Although no movie can be pronounced dead until after the second weekend, which indicates whether audiences are recom-

'Project X' marks a spot in your heart

Editor’s note: Gordon Walters is professor of romance languages at DePauw University, where he teaches a variety of courses in film, including History of Film and Film Criticism. He has written on film for “Magil’s Survey of Cinema: Foreign Film,” and is a regular contributor to “Cinema Annual.” Walters’ reviews will appear in the BannerGraphic on a regular basis.

By GORDON WALTERS Banner-Graphic Film Critic To poke fun at “Project X” would be tantamount to slinging mud at a Christmas tree or exposing the Easter Bunny as a fraud. While in many ways the film is something of a cartoon, a Disney film without Disney, only the most dastardly of Scrooges could fail to accept what “Project X” is getting at or not be moved by touching scenes of man’s inhumanity to his simian cousins. The movie’s introductory rolling legend informs us immediately that “Project X”’s story was inspired by actual experiments performed by U.S. government agencies upon animals. Since we are suspicious, especially these days, of secret government shenanigans, the film’s writer, Stanley Weiser, already has us in his corner. INDEED, THROUGHOUT “Project X” Weiser plays familiar, evocative chords upon us: The underdog individual against the rules of the System; sensitive youth against crass maturity; unfeeling humans (military types, no less) against vulnerable, loveable, cuddly animals which, at bottom, are more admirable in there simplicity and primitive values than their physically upright predators. The acting of the humans in “Project X” is unspectacular (everybody in the cast knows that they’re going to be up-staged anyway), but Matthew Broderick, fresh from his success in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” gamely plays Jimmy Garrett, a young airman stationed in Florida. Jimmy is an aspiring pilot, but he has gotten himself grounded because he took a girlfriend and some champagne on an unauthorized flight. Jimmy is transferred, as punishment, to a facility on the Air Force base where highly classified work called the “Experimental Pilot Performance Project” is taking place. Behind the facade of the jargon title of the project is the training of chimpanzee’s - man’s closest genetic relative, we’re told - to control, by means of television apparatus, simulated flight patterns. AIRMAN GARRETT, as does the viewer, quickly becomes attached to his crew of little cadets, and in particular, to Virgil (stunningly played by Willie), a chimp which (or whom) he has inherited by mistake (or by means of a callous plot) from Terry McDonald (Helen Hunt). Terry, as a

mending it to their friends, the Hollywood joke mill has already dubbed the movie “Warrensgate.” The reference is not to political scandals but to Michael Cimino’s “Heaven’s Gate,” the $36 million box-office disaster of 1980 that was supposed to shock Hollywood into a permanent moratorium on profligate spending. How did a movie that was scheduled to cost S2B million go so wildly over budget? How could such extraordinary talents as Beatty who also produced the film Hoffman, and Elaine May, the writer and director, make a movie that became the butt of such phrases as: “Colossally dunderheaded” (Hollywood Reporter); “A halfbaked comedy that somehow turned into a runaway ego trip” (Daily News); “a piffle with a S4O-million-plus price tag” (Los Angeles Herald Examiner)? Yet some critics found charming moments: Janet Maslin of The New York Times, for example, although acknowledging “a good deal of monotony” added: “The best is funny, sly, cheerful and here and there even genuinely inspired.” The stars of “Ishtar” appeal to older audiences, who are influenced by critics. “We did very good business in Los Angeles,” said Columbia’s president of distribution, James Spitz. “But it was a disaster of major proportions in Chicago. When Siskel and Ebert got through

Gordon Walters

graduate student in psychology at the University of Wisconsin, had spent years working with Virgil, and had developed a relationship of love and trust with the chimp. The plot thickens when Garrett finds out what the chimps are really up against. Once the cute little fellows become proficient at “flying,” they are taken off to a mysterious chamber where they are, in effect, fried by exposure to high levels of radiation. The point of all this, as the project’s chief, Dr. Carroll (Bill Sadler), explains, is to determine how well a human pilot will complete his mission in the event of atomic war. Well, Jimmy, Terry and the chimps ultimately become mad as hell, and they aren’t going to take it anymore. Terry flies to Florida, and together with Jimmy -- who could spend the rest of his life in a military prison on several counts of mutiny -- is determined to put a stop to further inhuman treatment of the laboratory animals. SO FAR, THE STORY of “Project X” is believable enough, but the film’s crisis and conclusion, while irresistibly charming, inventive and comical, stretches the limits of credibility. No matter. By the time we have reached the end of the film, we have seen enough anthropomorphic close-ups of the humanoid chimps’ faces which bear expressions of unquestioning devotion and terrible agony that we’re in the mood to punch out anybody within sight who’s wearing a lab coat or Air Force blue. Which isn’t really quite fair, in all honesty. Dr. Carroll adequately articulates his position as a scientist burdened with an ugly but strategically necessary assignment. But “Project X” isn’t calculated to appeal to the mind; Weiser, director Jonathan Kaplan and cinematographer Dean Cundey go straight for the heart. And, after seeing “Project X,” even the most hardened, cynical moviegoer will find it difficult to look any animal in the eye without seeing unmistakable signs of empathy and kinship. *** “Project X” is currently playing at Ashley Square Twin Cinemas in Greencastle.

with the movie, nobody and I mean nobody came to see it. ” Sources inside and outside Columbia, who asked not to be identified, draw a portrait of a movie that was never under the studio’s control. “Ishtar” began production in October 1985 and finished in March 1986. The locations in Morocco were difficult and expensive. The 94-day shooting schedule was not out of line for a major movie, but it was excessive for a supposedly small comedy. There is little correlation between the cost of a comedy and its boxoffice success. “The Jerk” cost $4 million and earned Universal $44 million. Why was the movie not closed down when it went over budget? “If an executive pulls the plug on a project he authorized, he is announcing to the world that he has erred in his judgment,” said David Chasman, a longtime studio executive. “And it’s never clear-cut,” he added. “They sink in quicksand a little at a time. If they muddle through, the failure becomes the producer’s failure. The villain is not the importunate star but the irresolute, weak, and indecisive executive. Artists aren’t supposed to be responsible. Executives are supposed to make shrewd judgments. ”

SAVE 40%-50% STAIN RESISTANT CARPETS

STAIN RELEASE SOUP COLOR SAXONY 100% Advanced Generation Nylon carpet g with 3M’s all new Stain Release Anti-Stain | ; ?■ System. Most common household stains can V\. ■ JV A ■V-■ now be easily removed, even after sitting ■’kt' • overnight or longer. \ g J M Choice of 8 outstanding colors, both ■■■/.& ■ "--k ; M Wm earth tones and decorator accent colors. ■ ■m ' 1 IK ISr WmSSr • Scotchgard treated to resist soiling as well as BImIhIM ■ ~W m " ~mlM ■ stains. MB. j m V IS S Year Wear Warranty. I I ■■■ I m SQ.YD. SAVE ON OUR ENTIRE ASSORTMENT || II I IB I wItMRADmNG OF STAIN RESISTANT CARPETS ss&sssgs 1 !!™ »»-•»—»- |\ #r EG . price-23.msq.yd. REG. $26 99 SG YD SQ.YD REG. $24.99 SQ.YD SQ.YD. M SAVE 5 0 SAVE 41VHEAVT STAIN- SAVE 46%-MEAVT ANSO V MM W ■' BUARD CUT A LOOP WORRY FREE CUT A LOOP REG. $23 99 SQ.YD *l3 SO YD REG *31.99 SQ.YD. 16? 0 A ain, ieaA US 23l" e ßoulevard Mall eß^r

EVENING 7:00 Q MATLOCK (2 hrs.) CB PRIMENEWS (1 hr.) CB RIPTIDE O 2 LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE CD ® YOUNG REBELS B CB ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT GD MOVIE ★★ "Fire with Fire” (1986, Drama) ‘PG-13’ (1 hr., 44 min.) O 2 CBS NEWS CB LIME STREET © 3® WEST 57TH (1 hr.) 3D LIVING TOMORROW © 3D JEOPARDY! 3D NASHVILLE NOW (1 hr., 30 min.) 69 NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT 2 ANNE OF AVONLEA: THE CONTINUING STORY OF ANNE OF GREEN GABLES 2 MOVIE ++V2 "Vision Quest” (1985, Drama) 'R' (1 hr., 47 min.) 2 EVENT OF THE DAY (3 hrs.) 2 NBA BASKETBALL Playoffs, © 69 700 CLUB (1 hr.) 3D © NOVA An examination of three strategies in the battle aaainst AIDS © WHO'S THE BOSS? Samantha tries out for the girls’ basketball team. (R)(ln Stereo) g © 2 MOVIE ★★Vi 2 "Salem’s Lot” 7:30 B (B NEWLYWED GAME B (2 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES © AROUND LONDON © ® WHEEL OF FORTUNE ® SIGNATURE Interviewed: prize fighter Joe Frazier. © INDIANA BUSINESS WEEKLY © GROWING PAINS 8:00 CB LARRY KING LIVE (1 hr.) CB BOXING (2 hrs.) O 2 SCARED STRAIGHT! 10 YEARS LATER Updated profiles of prison inmates and juvenile delinquents who were featured in “Scared Straight!,” the Emmy and Academy Award winning documentary designed to keep youths away from crime. Host: Whoopi Goldberg. (2 hrs.) CB 3D 700 CLUB (1 hr.) a CB WHO’S THE BOSS?

Today's TV listings

a 2 WEST 57TH (1 hr.) CB REGIS PHILBIN SHOW (1 hr.) © 3D 1987 MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT 3D JOURNEY INTO THAILAND © 3D MATLOCK © MOZART INQUEST © NOVA An examination of three strategies in the battle against AIDS @ MOVIE ★★ l /2 “Fun and Fancy Free” (1947, Comedy) (1 hr., 13 min.) © © LESTER SUMRALL TEACHING 2 © FRONTLINE g (1 hr.) © MOVIE "Cracked Up" (1987, Drama) Ed Asner, James Wilder. 8:30 CD MOVIE ★★★ "Orchestra Wives” (1942, Musical) George Montgomery, Glenn Miller. (2 hrs., 30 min.) B CB GROWING PAINS 3D CHANGING WORLDS 3® NEW COUNTRY Featured: Jennifer Warnes. (In Stereo) © © ACCORDING TO THY WORD 9:00 O YOU ARE THE JURY Viewers render the verdict in this re-enactment of an actual case in which the skipper of a yacht (Adrian Zmed) is accused of murdering his millionaire boss (Robert Mandan). CB CNN NEWS (1 hr.) CB ® TO BE ANNOUNCED a CB MOVIE "Cracked Up" (1987, Drama) Ed Asner, James Wilder. CD BROTHERS B 2 1987 MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT CB DR. RUTH SHOW Guest: actress Barbara Eden. (1 hr.) 3D ANIMALS OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST 3D CROOK AND CHASE © FRONTLINE g (1 hr.) 2 HITCHHIKER © © LESEA ALIVE (1 hr.) 2 © PRESIDENCY AND THE CONSTITUTION © ® 808 NEWHART 9:15 2 LEFTY The true story of one-armed gymnast Carol Johnston (nicknamed "Lefty” by her coach), who seriously injured her knee weeks before the National Championship, and her battle back to success.

May 26,1987 THE BANNER GRAPHIC

2 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL Atlanta Braves at St. Louis Cardinals. (Tape Delayed) (2 hrs., 30 min.) 9:30 CB ® CELEBRITY CHEFS CD BEST OF BIZARRE CB NFL’S SUPERSTARS BOD Lilly. 3D ANIMAL WONDER DOWN UNDER 2 UPTOWN COMEDY EXPRESS 2 NEWS (1 hr.) © 2 TAXI 10:00 O © 2 © 3® NEWS (B MONEYLINE CB ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR CB ® HARDCASTLE AND MCCORMICK CD MOVIE ★★ 1 /2 “Sweet Liberty” (1986, Comedy) ‘PG’ (1 hr., 46 min.) CB INSIDE THE PGA TOUR CB MOVIE ★% “A Separate Peace” © NEW TECH TIMES © © YOU ARE THE JURY 2 © NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT © LEADERSHIP OF TERRE HAUTE © 2 LATE SHOW 10:30 O TONIGHT SHOW Host: Johnny Carson. Scheduled: actor Michael Keaton. © 2 MASH 2 MOVIE ★★Vi "Mr. Belvedere Goes to College” (1949, Comedy) (1 hr., 23 min.) 2 MOVIE ★★★ "Desert Bloom” (1986, Drama) ‘PG’ (1 hr., 46 min.) 2 MAGNUM, P.l. 2 © THIS OLD HOUSE © NIGHTLINE g 11:00 CB NEWSNIGHT (1 hr.) CB DRAGNET © 2 JEFFERSONS CB © BURNS AND ALLEN CB MOVIE ★★★V! 2 “I Was Monty's Double" (1959, Drama) John Mills, Clifton James. (2 hrs.) O CB © 2 © 3D NEWS CB FRENCH OPEN RECAP © 2 T.J. HOOKER © 2 MOVIE ★★ , /2 "Beach Blanket Bingo" (1965, Comedy) Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello. (2 hrs.)