Blood & Gore and Children's Tales (March 2002) The 74th Annual Oscars Ceremony will be taking place on March 24th in the spick-splinter new Kodak Theatre. Whoopi the whole night at the 2002 event. Check out your favorite items from the Official Oscar® Site at www.oscar.com. Things, however, will be far from quiet in the Shrine Auditorium down the road where, only four days later, a special edition of "E.T. The Extra-Terrestial" is to enjoy a special premiere there on March 28th with a 100 strong orchestra under the baton of conductor John Williams. Please keep your cell phones off, no matter what the little alien says. Hope you have a good time at the gala reception afterwards. I will be the green one under the tables. (If you don't make it to L.A. for the special version, it will also be available without Mr. Williams on the same day at various cinemas throughout the world.) The "18th Festival of the Fantastic Film" will be taking place in five locations around the Leidseplein in Amsterdam starting on the 10th of April and running until the 17th. This is the fifth occasion (during the past eighteen years) that this event will be extended from its usual weekend format and will last a full eight days this time around. Lots of thrills and chills for those who want to cry out bug-eyed at whatever may they may discover happening onscreen (or off, for that matter). Chase your entrails down to the box office of Bellevue Cinerama, which will begin selling tickets on March 30th at 12:00 (daytime, not the witching hour) for the special all-night "Weekend of Terror". Regular tickets (one-offs, ten-trips, or passports) for all other events will become available starting on April 4th at Theatre de Balie box office on the Leidseplein. Further info available at www.filmevents.nl. Announcement has been made of the "Joris Ivens North American Tour" during which 13 of the Dutch cineast's masterworks will be screened throughout the United States and Canada. The project is funded by The Dutch Culture Fund, HGIS (a program under the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs), the Dutch Ministry of O, Culture and Science, the Consulate General of New York and the Consulate General of France. More information regarding this event will be available in April's BUZZ. Principle photography began February 18th on "Pietje Bell" ("Petey Bell"), the new children's film from writer/director Maria Peters, with an all-star Dutch cast alongside newcomers Quinten Schram and Frensch de Groot (chosen from among 1200 auditioning children). Two years ago, director Peters' film "Kruimeltje" ("Little Crumb"), likewise based upon a children's book and Dutch classic by author Chris Abcoude, managed to pull in a cinema attendance of almost one and a half million visitors (N.B.- the biggest score for a Dutch feature film in Holland during the past decade). Audiences can expect a November premiere. (As was the case with "Kruimeltje", it should arrive just in time for Christmas!) Dutch director Johan Nijenhuis, maker of the Dutch hit "Costa" (about a bunch of attractive and well-built youths working as promoters for clubs at a sunny vacation resort, has completed casting for his upcoming feature film "Volle Maan" ("Full Moon"). Once again, as in his previous film, the main roles will be portrayed by a number of familiar faces from the Dutch soap circuit (Georgina Verbaan, Cas Jansen, Daan Schuurmans, Ellen ten Damme) while several others (such as Lieke van Lexmond and Edgar Wurfbain) will be leaving their illustrious TV roles behind for the first time in order to pursue a cinema career. The story of seven graduates drifting toward the crossroads of their lives, this upcoming film follows their personal development after final exams as they embark on a sailing trip in order to find the secretive Full Moon Party. One after the other, each makes decisions that will immensely influence their lives. Scheduled release date is October 10th. Installations, video, soundscapes, objects and drawings from a variety of Flemish artists will be continuing at De Brakke Grond in Amsterdam under the titles of "Where I", "Where II", and "Where III", taking place respectively from February 15th through March 17th, March 22nd through April 14th, and April 19th through May 12th. Official openings on First Fridays (i.e. March 22nd and April 19th) at 18:00. (P.S. - Closed for the Queen's birthday.) "Where" will U B? The choice of director Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, Rush Hour 2) for the new Hannibal Lector film "Red Dragon" may seem a strange one, but only time will tell. After Jonathan Demme's beautifully structured "Silence of the Lambs" and Ridley Scott's horrifying thriller "Hannibal", it appears as if the production company may be aiming for a fast-action thriller-diller. (Maybe a kind of action-packed prequel?) Nevertheless, say what one may, Anthony Hopkins will once again be return to portray the role of Lector (a definite plus point), joined this time by Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Emily Watson, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Another hopeful sign is that Ted Tally (who adapted "Silence of the Lambs" for the screen, has also laid his hand to this version of "Red Dragon". (All you Lector aficionados and various other red-meat eaters may recall that Michael Mann once filmed the novel under the title of "Manhunter." One wonders how much more blood and gore will be on the tabletop in the upcoming version.) Are we all crazy at TGH or has something gone terribly wrong this year with the shortlisting for Best Director at the Oscars®? Nobody can seem to find the name of Baz Luhrman on the list and surely he, along with Peter Jackson, have made two of the major contributions to film history this past year. Is there a problem with having two mates from Down Under on the same list? Incomprehensible! (Any American should realize that Australia is not the same as New Zealand, anyway.) The trailer for the new Ali G* movie has been sent back for editing as a result of friction created among the British advertising standards board due to the comedian praising a certain part of Queen Elizabeth's anatomy. This version will not be seen on TV. A representative of the Independent Television Committee said, "We don't ban ads, but we do set the code." *Ali G, an English comedian who poses as a white rap artist, is perhaps a character still unknown to wider American audiences, despite the fact that such artists as Madonna have appeared on his TV show in the past. © 1994-2006 The Green Hartnett