The Michigan Daily - Monday, December 7, 1998 - 9A Charm teigns * 41*M Ali S stor King of the World David Remnick Random House Perhaps Muhammad Ali is not the greatest American of the past 40 years. Perhaps a man who influ- enced so many aspects of our lives - from the way we see skin color, to what we expect to hear from our celebrities, to the 'way we insult one and other - was just a needless bag of hot air. Perhaps all the hype and media attention should not have been wasted on the loud-mouth Nation of Islam convert. And perhaps the pope's not Catholic. In "King of the World," David Remnick, the new editor of The New Yorker magazine, exam- ines the dynamic and iconoclas- tic history of the man who start- :e out in the world as Cassius .ZCay The title comes not from ta~mes Cameron, but from the champ himself. After defeating odds-on-faorite Sonny Liston, 'A i proclaimed himself the king of the world" and told all the sports writers who thought he was full of bull to eat their r words. No need to wonder about who 'would win in a fight between Leonardo DiCaprio and him for -fill dibs on the throne. -Always rambunctious and *rely the conformist, Ali's life 7 comes out of its corner punch- ing at all who get in its way. Remnick's poetic prose help keep the champ's unparalleled spirit alive and fighting. Remnick begins the story by giving some background on the two heavyweight champions who immediately preceded Ali: the respectful if not damaged Floyd Patterson and the under- handed bad boy Liston. Patterson's sad and tragic story tells of a insecure New York boy who turns to boxing for a cathartic hobby. His tale is not flawless: He looses fights, cries at his defeats and secludes himself from the rest of the world when times are tough. Liston's life is not as emo- tional. The ex-con Mafia puppet had few scruples about partici- pating in a fixed fight or being jerked around by as many "thumb-breakers," as Remnick puts it, as could get a hand in his pot. The characters of the mob- sters are no less dynamic than the boxers. Kingpin Frankie Carbo, a.k.a. Jimmie the Wop, comes to life along with his enemies from other families including Albert "Tick Tock" Tannenbaum and Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, to name a few. But it is Muhammad Ali who steals the show. He says in an interview in 1970 "they don't look at fighters to have brains. They don't look at fighters to be businessmen, or human or intel- ligent. Fighters are just brutes that come to entertain the rich white people." With this, Ali is set up as the opposite of all American boxing champions. He resents the powerful whites ruling the sport and brings his politics - involving Elijah Muhammad and Malcom X - into the ring and into all press conferences. He is a busi- nessman, an intelligent human and could not be further from a brute. Remnick documents his rise to king-hood as Homer relates the tale of a Spartan hero. From pre-fight interviews to promo- tional radio spots with profes- sional wrestler Gorgeous George, Ali always has a quick, sassy remark that gets the press talking, the opponents enraged Crucial timing makes or breaks film success Los Angeles Times "Bug's;' a film with strong reviews and word of HOLLYWOOD - Was Friday the right day to mouth that was aimed for the same demographic as release "Psycho"? Universal Pictures, which bun- "Babe." It was no contest: "A Bug's Life" racked up gled its choice of date for "Babe: Pig in the City" is a record $46.5 million over the five-day betting it hasn't made the same mistake twice. Thanksgiving weekend, while "Babe" staggered to a Even before Universal launched a hip ad cam- lowly fifth-place showing at $8.5 million. paign designed to attract young moviegoers, it tried Although "Rugrats" easily bested "Enemy of the to gain a competitive edge by securing the best pos- State" on the previous weekend, "Enemy" had such sible release date for "Psycho." Universal decided on good word of mouth that it did almost as well in its Friday for two good reasons: "Scream" and "Scream second week as its first, putting it on a pace to top 2," two hugely successful teen horror films that were $100 million by year's end. released in early- to mid-December. "We thought that 'Rugrats' had a lot more Whether a film is a hit, especially in a packed hol- drive in the marketplace than 'Babe,' so we put iday season, is closely tied in to one of the most 'Bug's Life' up against the weaker of the two arcane of all Hollywood arts - the jockeying for movies," explains Disney Chair Joe Roth, who opening-day release dates. Picking the wrong date describes himself as a "big believer" in the can almost destroy a film before it opens, as the impact of release dates. "Babe" sequel illustrates. A rival studio marketing executive was more For the outside world, the first sign that "Babe" blunt: "When Disney moved 'Bug's Life' to I was in trouble came on Nov. 16,,when Universal Thanksgiving you knew 'Babe' was in trouble. It abruptly canceled the film's Los Angeles premiere, was like watching a lion go in for the kill against a saying "Babe" director George Miller was still at wounded lamb. It was a classic example of how a ; work completing the movie. But as far back as mid- good release date can help a movie -and how a bad September, industry insiders sensed that Universal's release can really hurt a movie." talking pig sequel, which arrived in theaters Nov. 25, Universal is hoping to stage a comeback with was headed for the slaughterhouse. "Psycho," director Gus Van Sant's much-debated re- In a little-noticed series of shifts, Paramount creation of the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock horror classic. Pictures moved its Thanksgiving film, "The Rugrats Following the lead of Hitchcock, who made I Movie," up a week to Nov. 20. Responding to that, reviewers see the film in the theaters, Universal Disney Studios made two moves. First, it took "A decided not to screen the film for critics. The strate-i Bug's Life," which had been slated to open Nov. 20, gy also allows the studio to minimize the impact of and pushed it back to Nov. 25, where it would go up any negative reviews, which could affect opening 1 against "Babe." Second, it moved "Enemy of the weekend box office.' State" up to Nov. 20, pitting the Will Smith-starring Until recently, the first half of December was con- thriller up against "Rugrats." sidered a movie graveyard, since filmgoers were The result was a disaster for "Babe." Instead of thought to be too busy attending holiday parties orl going up against "Enemy," which was geared to an Christmas shopping to make time for movies. The older audience, "Babe" was matched against rules changed in 1996 when Miramax hit the jackpot sh bounces 'roun in cowitesy of Universal Pictures The release date of "Babe: Pig in the City" may have been the reason for its box office demise. with "Scream." What Miramax discovered was that one key seg- ment of moviegoers wasn't busy shopping: young males, who made up the bulk of the original "Scream" audience. That's why the two studio films that are in wide release in early December are both movies whose primary audience is young men: "Psycho" and "Star Trek: Insurrection," which opens Friday. To ensure it had this weekend to itself, Universal wasted no time in planting its "Psycho" flag on Dec. 4. The last thing Universal wanted was any competi- tion for its "Psycho" date. In the first week of July, even before filming began, the studio ran a teaser trailer in thousands of theaters announcing the film's release date. Universal knew "Psycho" would be preceded by several teen thrillers, including "Halloween H20" and "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" "Since it was impossible to come out first, our basic objective was to make it appear that we were first in the marketplace, even if was just having the first trailer out," explains "Psycho" producer Brian Grazer. Universal kicked off its campaign with a series of MTV-style ads that ran Sept. 10, aptly enough, on the MTV Video Awards. It also blanketed urban areas with billboards showing the silhouette of a woman in the shower, with the tag: "Check in. Relax. Take a shower." It's telling that the one piece of hard information, the billboards offered wasn't the title, but the film's release date: "Coming December 4th." Each year studios stake their opening-date claims earlier and earlier. This Thanksgiving, New Line ran a teaser trailer announcing that it would open its "Austin Powers" sequel, "The Spy Who Shagged Me," on June I1, 1999. Warner Bros. took out full- page trade ads this summer staking out the 1999 July 4 weekend for "Wild Wild West." Disney just claimed Thanksgiving 1999 for "Toy Story 2" "The reason to do it early is to give pause to your competitors, to make them think, 'Do I really want to be on that date against you?"'says Roth, who put "Armageddon' on July 4, 1998 - more than a year in advance of its release. The Phish Book Richard Gehr and Phish Villard Loring Air Force Base was the place where, in the summer of 1997, Phish jammed for 65,000 roaring fans at per- formances dubbed the Great Went. Band member Trey Anastasio described the show as "a weekend of throwing away all my worries and indulging myself in Phish fantasy- land." This sum- mertime jamboree is just one of the many points covered in "The Phish Book." The book follows band members Anastasio, Jon Fishman, Mike Gordon and Page McConnell from their New Year's Eve 1996 Boston show to their 1997 end-of-the-year blowout at Madison Square Garden. Phish fans will relish the access to the band that the book gives them. Colorful photos bounce off the pages giving readers a bright look at the everyday happenings of the band on tour. Author Richard Gehr com- bines his narration with interviews from all four band members to create a behind the scenes look in the aquari- um. Gehr traces the roots of Phish back to its humble Vermont beginnings in the early 1980's. One defining moment was when the band performed "The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday," a.k.a. "Gamehendge," Anastasio's work to fulfill his senior requirement at Goddard College. From this point the band began a gradual climb to their popularity with several albums, including "Junta," "Hoist" and "Billy Breathes" and through voracious tour- ing around the world. Gehr describes the tireless wandering, explaining "Phish makes touring itself another element in an alchemical .e a.reaction achieved by combining moment, materi- al, and audience." Alchemy aside, the band seems to satisfy and build nuch of its fan base through cross country tours across the nation and certain special shows such as Halloween and New Year's Eve. One of the book's strong points is the backstage photos of the band before, during and after shows and in the recording studio. Photos such as the one of Fishman snoozing on a couch in France are priceless for fans. Bassist Gordon shows up in a photo montage displaying the awkward boy's development from geek to gorky superstar (Don't believe it? Check out the scuba getup on p. 99). Another interesting picture is the full frontal nude spread of more than 1,100 riled-up audience members at the Great Went. The photo was submit- ted to "The Guinness Book of World Records" as the largest nude photo in the world but was turned down as it was deemed indecent for young eyes. Bummer. In the book, many of the greatest photographs are poorly labeled, which may leave non-Phish followers scratching their heads at what they see. In general, the book is enjoyable but it may go a little deep into certain stories for non-Phish fans. Basically, this "Phish Book" is about as enjoyable as an unexpected "Buffalo Bill" at a concert or the much beloved killer "Hood." 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