News 20.11.1997
News 25.12.1997
News November 1997
Face/Off US box office June 16 - July
17
Face/Off was fourth with $ 77.3 millions (3 weeks). Men in Black was the
number one, it got more than $50 million per week. Face/Off did quite well,
about $25 million per week. Hercules seems to be falling. Under the line
there's films like Con Air, Contact ($31.2 in one week), The lost World and
Speed 2,.This is top 5 B.O. in US:
US BOX OFFICE
- Men in Black ($153.1) (3 weeks)
- Batman & Robin ($101.0) (4 weeks)
- My Best Friend's Wedding ($88.2) (4 weeks)
- Face/Off ($77.3) (3 weeks)
- Hercules ($71.5) (5 weeks)
Face/Off in Finland October 3!
Face/Off came to Finland in October 3rd with 20 copies. This is some
comments from Finnish Newspapers and magazines:
- Ultra-violent fairytale for adults, 120 minutes lesson in photography
and filming hard action.
- Great action film - if you can stand the violence.
- As an action director John Woo is one of the best in the world. His
camerawork is something unbelieable. Story in Face/Off is nonsess but as
an action movie it is near perfect. Just like main actors this film is
complexive and very alive, absolutely not a faceless movie.
- It seems thaw John Woo has a deeper understanding of Shakespeare. But
he hides it under big inferno of blood, fire and explosions.
- John Woo was in Helsinki Film Festivals 1993, he was just arrived to
Hollywood then. Now he made his first Hollywood movie which cames near
his Hongkong masterpieces.
- After the film you may ask: Who am I? Do you know me?
- Extremely good photography. With this film Woo takes control in
Hollywood. Now murder games and terror from Hong Kong films takes the
control over Hollywood.
- Total action movie...
Film Critics revieving Face/Off
Helena Ylänen |
Helsingin Sanomat |
4 |
Antti Lindqvist |
Katso |
4 |
Tapani Maskula |
Turun Sanomat |
2 |
Mats Johnson |
Göteborgs-Posten |
3 |
Derek Malcolm |
The Guardian |
3 |
|
AVARAGE |
3,2 |
First weekend -3.-5.10- for Face/Off in Finland was
not bad at all. In Helsinki (capital of Finland) it was second just after
Bean. Face/Off was was also in all biggest cities in Finland but I don't
have info from any other cities but Helsinki.
HELSINKI, Finland; movie goers
Name (last week) |
Finnish name |
(movie goers) |
Bean (1) |
Bean |
(5613) |
Face/Off (-) |
Face/Off -kahdet kasvot |
(5150) |
The Full Monty (-) |
Housut pois |
(2881) |
My best friend's wedding (3) |
Kuka sanoo tahdon |
(2244) |
Lost World - Jurassic Park (2) |
Kadonnut maailma |
(2066) |
Men in Black (5) |
MIB - Miehet mustissa |
(1154)
|
Kolja (-) |
Kolja |
(908)
|
Donnie Brasco (6) |
Donnie Brasco |
(874)
|
'Pekko and sleepwalker' (4) |
Pekko ja unissakävelijä |
(874)
|
Juloratoriet (-) |
Jouluoratorio |
(908) |
The 8th film 'Pekko' is Finnish and 10th is Swedish.
Second weekend -10.-12.10- for Face/Off in Finland
was not bad at all. In Helsinki (capital of Finland) it was second just
after Bean. Face/Off was was also in all biggest cities in Finland but I
don't have info from any other cities but Helsinki.
HELSINKI, Finland; movie goers
Name (last week) |
Finnish name |
(movie goers) |
Contact (-) |
Viimeinen yhteys |
(7505) |
Bean (1) |
Bean |
(4539) |
Face/Off (2) |
Face/Off -kahdet kasvot |
(3122) |
The Full Monty (3) |
Housut pois |
(2679) |
Lost World - Jurassic Park (5) |
Kadonnut maailma |
(1719) |
My best friend's wedding (4) |
Kuka sanoo tahdon |
(1670) |
Men in Black (6) |
MIB - Miehet mustissa |
(968)
|
Kolja (7) |
Kolja |
(949)
|
Nothing to lose (-) |
Ei mitään menetettävää |
(946)
|
'Pekko and sleepwalker' (8) |
Pekko ja unissakävelijä |
(787) |
The 10th film 'Pekko' is Finnish.
Bullet in the Head in Finland October 17!
Bullet in the Head hits the big screens in Finland! Unbelieable! And it
is Uncut version. It got certification K-18, so it won't be released on
video. It would require very heavily cuts for video. Lenght at cinema: 130
minutes.
News December 1997
Face/Off LD
Face/Off LD (from Paramount Retail Price: US$39,98) should be available now.
I'm still waiting for ot but releasing date was December 23. The LD is
Letterboxed (2.35:1), AC3 (Dolby Digital) sound, closed captioned, CLV.
Running time is 140 minutes so it seems to be the same version released, It
was said that Woo would like to put back maybe 9 minutes of material, and
maybe change the end a litle too, remove the facetrade scene in the end. But
it looks like this did not happen.
Golden Ring Award for John Woo
John Woo got Golden Ring Award from the Asian American Arts Foundation in
San Francisco. After receiving the award, he intimated, "Two things scare
me in life: One is having an interview in front of the camera; the other is
getting an award. I have a speaking problem - and I don't even speak well in
my own language." He also revealed that he frequently gets by using only
two words: "Action" and "Cut." Face/Off
Edited
Released version of Face/Off has been said to be Woo's cut. He put his name
on it. He willignly cut out a few scenes of fluff. The MPAA objected to 3
shots and Woo trimmed them.
Paramount says the violent footage totalled less than 10 seconds. Had the
MPAA not liked the film, it would have been cut more (it does make a
difference). There will NOT be a director's cut because Paramount doesn't do
that AND... Woo is very happy with the version we saw, (is he or maybe he was
told to say that).
In a recent interview in Impact Magazine, Woo stated that he would like to
reinsert some nine minutes or so in the upcoming laserdisc version, though.
But we will see when Face/Off Laser Disc comes out in December 23/24.
Suggested retail price $39.98 US.
Hard Boiled soundtrack
Seems that Hard Boiled soundtrack is very hard to find in USA but also here
in Finland. I just got information that Footlight Records still has it listed....you
can look over their listings at www.footlight.com
Hard Boiled and Killer on DVD
From Hollywood Reporter. Criterion releases it's first titles in February.
They are The SEVEN SAMURAI (Great Akira Kurosawa classic), THE LADY VANISHES,
AMARCORD, COCTEAU'S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE 400 BLOWS AND GRAND ILLUSION.
Soon after those will be the release of A NIGHT TO REMEMBER and John Woo's HARD
BOILED and THE KILLER.
They are not abandoning laserdisc. The DVD's will contain at least as much
supplemntal material as the equivalent LD's but will sell from $29.99 -
$39.99. There will be no special editions exclusive to DVD.
Face/Off trailers. Face/Off
trailers. You can download them here.
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