THIS is not only the season of the movie "blockbuster," but also of the huge premiere and the ad blitz. "The Rock" got things started when I was in S.F. with a premiere showing for a select few at Alcatraz, where much of the action was filmed. It's also doing great business. While KSSK merely had its standard premiere showing Thursday of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," the Disney animated feature, the station's promotion director, Scott Mackenzie, was attending the L.A. premiere of the film the same night. Things were a bit different in Hollywood, with the "Hunchback" animation coming to life in the form of a stage show featuring the actors who did the voicing in the film, Tom Hulce, Jason Alexander, Demi Moore and Kevin Kline, appearing in full costume. A post VIP party Mackenzie attended featured 15th Century style Renaissance pupus ...AND have you ever seen more TV spots for a film than for "The Cable Guy"? After paying star Jim Carrey $20 million to do the picture, the studio is investing another bundle in making it a success, though they'd have to pay me to cross a street and see Carrey, a hopeless and to my mind unfunny actor, appear in anything ... On the other side of the coin, I finally got a chance to see Albert Finney starring in "The Dresser" on the A&E Channel Saturday night. Fortunately I'd never seen the film when I agreed to play that role in the Windward Theater Guild's production in 1985, or I might have had cold feet. He was at his absolute best, and I've seen him live in a number of things ranging from "Luther" opening night on Broadway to "MacBeth" at the National Theater in London to "Alpha Beta" on London's West End. Tom Courtney was also excellent in "The Dresser" film, though eight separate commercial interruptions did tend to break up any sustained tension ...
THE flier certainly caught my eye: "Do you know 10 people you'd like to spend the night with?" Jennifer Aniston would have to rank right up there, I mused as I read on. Turns out you're supposed to round up friends and form a relay team for the American Cancer Society's "Ultimate Overnighter," a 12-hour relay around (and a camp-out in) Kapiolani Park next weekend. One talent who's helping promote the fund-raiser is Pauline Wilson, the vocalist who appears in the "Relay for Life" public service announcements you may have heard. The former Seawind vocalist, who won at Grammy in 1979 for her duet with George Benson on "Friends," is herself a cancer survivor. She'll be singing on the KHON-TV morning show Wednesday and will be at the candle-lighting "Luminary Ceremony" Saturday night in the park as part of the "Overnighter." ... ONE localite who had more reason than most to follow the O.J. Simpson trial and aftermath is BHP's Andi Simpson. She attended USC at the same time as the "Juice" and since seating was alphabetized she often found herself sitting next to him. (When he was in class, that is.) ... Yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle contains a large article on same-sex marriage that's datelined Honolulu, and quotes several localites on the subject ...
mindedness attributed to them all by Borscht Belt comics - she's a great believer in chicken soup. Wong travels a lot, and in her world travels has found most room service menus offer only two soups - the soup du jour and then usually "a rich soup that is unappealing" to her, such as a French Onion. So she constantly fills out hotel critique cards suggesting chicken soup (with rice or noodles, preferably) would be a godsend to many travelers. After eight years of this, she finally got a response from David Wong (no relation) of the Kauai Marriott agreeing with her and assuring her it would be added to the menu forthwith ...
