The day the movies died. ATIn.
ns i e m l p to e u n l d n
i n .n g to st a n:
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sotutlodwtunrn
by Natalie Kresen
staff writer
Imagine Tom Cruise washing
your windows or Julia Roberts
teaching your theater class. It seems
like remedial labor for top-budget
movie stars like these, but after May
2, 2001, they may just be fishing
through the want ads as talk of a
strike now looms over the Holly
wood elite.
According to industry insiders, it
is very likely that the Writers Guild
of America (WGA), the American
Federation of Television and Radio
Artists (AFTRA), and members of
the Screen Actors
Guild (SAG), will
prepare to walk out
on projects begin
ning in May of next
year. Once mem
bers' contracts ex
pire, the combined
unions plan to nego
tiate with film and
television studios
on issues of greed
and lost backend
payments from
cable and video in
the 1980 s. These
are the same issues
currently fueling the
unions' strike
against advertisers,
who have turned to
nonunion labor to
keep up
"Foreign, home
video, cable,
Internet, these will
all be huge issues
again, things could
get very, very ugly.
And the sense
around town is that
these strikes will happen," says ex
ecutive director of the Producers
Guild of America ( PGA) Vance Van
Petten. Others agree, saying the
strikes will take place because
screenwriters are "incredibly mili-
Surviving the
music
by Susan Taylor
staff writer
Didn't you just love Survivor?
Were you one of the millions of
people who tuned in every Wednes
day night at eight? Who would he
voted off this week? B.B? Sonja?
Jenna? Sean? Well good news!
Now, thanks to the Survivor origi
nal soundtrack, you can go back to
the island and relive your favorite
memories and castaways!
The album starts out with an ex
tended version of the show's main
theme, "Ancient Voices." The origi
nal title version is also included.
There are other songs from the show
featured on the album like. "Mud
Bath" and "Buzzed." Of course
"Tally the Vote" from the tribal
Movies
Along Came
a Spider
Remember
the Titans
Ring of Fire
Girlfight
9/29
* release date is 10/3
tarn - and SAG is extremely disor-
ganued
What will happen to the entertain
ment business if this strike really
does happen? Get ready for major
changes in television. Extra epi
sodes of shows are being filmed
right now, but once they run out, all
that could he left are reruns and lots
of "starless, scriptless shows,"
writes Daniel Fierman of Entertain
ment Weekly.
Reality programming may he
come even more lucrative for net
work giants. FOX of course will
remain strong with shows like
COPS and Beyond Belief as well
Television and film stars will both feel the pinch if the strike does take place next May.
Jennifer Aniston (left) could lose her Friends, The West Wing (right) will be im
peached, and Jennifer Lopez (top) could be trapped in a cell of unemployment.
as a host of other shows in the
genre. ABC and NBC have com
missioned other reality program
ming such as Mole and Chains of
Love, respectively. But fledgling
netlets like the WB will most defi-
councils is also included. There are
a few original songs like "Snake
Island," "My Tribe," "Voices of
Heaven," "Gold," and "The Strong
Will Survive. - In total, the album
includes nineteen songs, fourteen
original. It sounds almost like the
Riverdance soundtrack—without the
dancing. Inside the album booklet
are thumbnail photographs of all the
castaways with their titles under
neath.
In addition to T-shirts, hooks, and
other trinkets from the TV show, the
Survivor soundtrack is one of the
more popular items to commemo
rate this summer's hottest show.
Maybe with the soundtrack,
America will be safely occupied
until Survivor 2 premieres in Janu
ary.
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New
Keleas
Video*
The Bachelor
Sleepy Hollow
Special Edition
nitely suffer. Even if they order
more episodes Aio Co wk,
Huffy the Vampir, Slrnc r or 1-eiie
ih . the show stars often use down
time to mo And without re
ality TV or nev.s shows. there isn't
much left for the \VII to air.
The \N't3 might get tt , retain some
of its stars for shooting episodes,
however, it the film industry fol
lows suit with a strike of its own .
Hollywood is scrainhlinil to finish
as many movies as ro, , ,ible he lore
June 30th 42001 hecair-e man ‘, ac
tors may not he v,kokin ,, , attet this
date. "As a result. tentpoles like
Alen in Black 2„hananli 2, and the
Batman have been wiped nil
production slates until the labor di
putes are resolved," write, I :ierniall
Once the new movies run out, au
diences will he introduced to loads
of European, Australian and FiTlish
Smacked Down
by Katie Gabe)
editorial page
Finally, the Rock came hack it Pins
burgh! This past Tuesday the WWI'
brought their women expliiitin. heer
drinking, arse kicking all around i.iood
fun hack to the 'l3urr!li.
Starting the evening oft.stitching
the taping of the newly added MTV
show, Sunday Night heat, the intiliein
began. Wrestlers that would never
make it to the main event ainused the
crowd until it was time for the pyro
technics and phone booth brawling to
begin.
Smackdown started off the same
way that it alsays does: loudly. After
the smoke from the explosions cleared,
it was time for some wrestling. The
Commissioner, Mick Foley, came out
to speak of the newly returned Stone
Cold Steve Austin's bad boy behavior
the past week, and to try to put the
kibosh on his antics.
The crowd favorites came out to
beat the crap out of cacti other one af-
Music*
Duncan Sheik
"Phantom Moon-
Greenday
"Warning"
Lenny Kravitz
Greatest Hits
Radiohend
Films and films without the actors
that they have come to love and ad
mire. Broadway will become a
more popular place for Hollywood
talent, and books will be more com
monly used if the networks cannot
satisfy consumers with their new
shows.
"I don't get the sense that people
remember how awful the last strike
was," an anonymous executive said.
"It was devastating. Businesses
went under. People lost their homes.
Who wins if this happens?" Holly
wood sulked before? The average
moviegoer may not have noticed,
hut Hollywood has a rather long his
tory of strikes. In December
of 1952 to February of 1953,
SAG led a strike over filmed
television ads. From March to
April of 1960 actors took con
trol and led a strike against
movie residual payments. The
1980 s saw a number of strikes,
the first of which was from
July to October of 1980 when
SAG and AFTRA demanded
residual from home videos.
Years went by without any
problems in Hollywood, and
then in 1987 the walkouts be
gan again. In June and July of
1987, the SAG striked over the
salaries and amount of work
given to cartoonists. At the
same time the WGA de-
manded money "over pieces of
home video and pay-TV pies."
In 1987 the Directors Guild of
America had its first industry
wide strike over TV and movie
residuals. The last one came
in March of 1988 in August of
the same year, when the WGA
pushed for higher residual
payment and more control
tifth
Over scripts
('mainly, Hollywood jetsetters
are preparing for the worst. Mara
Brock A k I, creator of Girlfriends on
the WB. says "I have my applica
tion in to he a bagger. - Will that be
paper of plastic?
ter another. Lita defended her Women's
I'h:unpionship, promptly tearing apart
Jacqueline with the yummy Hardys
cheering her on ringside.
The trash-talking Tazz tried to beat
up Jerry "the King" Lawler with the
help of new bad-guy Raven. However,
Jericho came out to tell 'Raisin' and
Liz/ to "shut the hell up" and get out
ii the ring. A battle ensued, and Tazz
and 'Raisin' walked away victorious.
The most exciting event of the night
was, by far, the main event. Who
thought that The Rock and Triple H
would ever team up again? Well they
did to try and 'lay the smack down' on
their current enemies, Kurt Angle and
('hris Benoit. Unfortunately, in the end,
it was the underdog tag team that
walked away with the win.
A special thank you goes out to the
most electrifying man in sports enter
tainment, The Rock, for sticking
around after the taping to pump up the
crowd in Pittsburgh. Next time let's just
hope that it doesn't take them 8 months
to come hack again!
DVD*
Rocky Horror Picture
Nightmare Before
Snow Day
Show
Christmas
Sic' Em
FID
by Deanna Symoski , gr:
Generation?
Talkin' bout the
lost decades of music
In light of what I've been hearing lately from music lovers, I thought
maybe it would be a good idea to start brushing up on some of my late
1960 s lingo, so here goes: "Peace, man." "Flower Power!" "Far out!"
Okay, so that's all I really know, but I'll be sure to study up if The Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame's 10 Greatest Songs list is truly accurate. It seems
the list, which contains nine songs released between 1965 and 1971, is
supposed to be a fair survey of music appreciation. But there is a glaring
absence in this compilation--a few measly years called the seventies,
eighties and nineties.
I'm a bit concerned about this black hole in the vortex of music, so I
decided to take a closer look at this list.
First, I considered the source. The voters on that poll all have something
in common—their age. As any of us would do, they pinpointed the
soundtrack to the important part of their lives, when the world was
changing, and they were old enough to change with it. These songs served
as background music during a tumultuous political era when the Vietnam
War was raging and JFK was becoming a memory.
But all music belongs on the soundtrack to some era, none more or less
Important than another whether it's the flapper 20s when Capone shot up
the streets or the crooners of the 40s when the end of World War 11 gave
birth to a whole new generation. There was Disco in the 70s, which came
as backlash to the heavy ballads of earlier years, and whatever it is exactly
that the 80s spawned. Every decade combines to write crucial chapters in
the country's history. To say that this six-year period held the "greatest"
songs is to ignore the poignancy of every generation before and after.
Especially after. I've heard numerous comments that suggest Rock and
Roll, especially the folk music of this six-year stretch, was the last
inventive variation on music. It was the last wave of ingenuity, causing all
others since to recreate the sounds they are too feeble-minded to make new.
Yes, electric guitars were innovative, hence their staying power, but then
came along the use of synthesizers and turntables. And now is the point
where you run screaming heresy because 1 have just compared Dylan, The
Doors and Lennon to rap.
Rap, however, is the most recent wave of musical change, and the
messages are no less potent than those sung about in times of war or a
changing political climate. With no Vietnam or clearly defined points of
controversy, perhaps genius was forced to be born out of our internal
conflicts.
Like the songs listed, modern music emphasizes self-reflection, but for
reflection's sake. Few are political statements, but rather a confession of
insecurity amidst a world too uninterested to notice. Some of the greatest
songwriters ever emerged from this period. But to revere them all as
legends simply because they existed at that time does a disservice to
musicians everywhere. Certainly the climate of the era was conducive to
poignant music, but that doesn't mean that if we aren't at war, the music
suffers. On the contrary, the music becomes more creative because its
writers must search deeper for their souls. And the songs that emerge in
the process of self-discovery are just as significant as those that finish the
journey. They are just harder to find.
Sifting through the avalanche of crap in the music industry in order to
find those "great" songs is a task few choose to undertake. We rely on time
to make legends of our music. Or we wait until a group tells us these were
the best songs. Maybe the Hall of Fame's list wasn't of the "greatest"
songs, maybe they were just the most convenient. We know they're
"great" because we hear so much about them, and someone once wrote that
they were. But if time and a generation's consensus are what make legends
out of songs, it's no wonder modern pioneers like Run DMC, the Beastie
Boys or Nirvana fail to make these lists. Perhaps we are not yet far enough
removed to realize the impact they have made by the messages they send
or the musical talent they possess. Someday, when we stop ingesting the
traditional definition of "great," we just might make legends of our own.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2000
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