Child's Play
Sure, our nation's capital has had its share of Jerry Springer-style moments lately, but the connection was made even stronger March 11, when Neil Abramson, best known for directing the talk-show host in Ringmaster, screened a version of his documentary, Soldier Child, for members of Congress. Abramson was inspired by a news report to make Child, which focuses on Ugandan children who were kidnapped and forced to fight in the regional conflict — a far cry from the raunchy antics of Ringmaster. Well, maybe not that far — the auteur sees a link between the two films: ''Ringmaster is definitely a social commentary, and there are echoes of the same themes in Soldier Child.'' It's unlikely that the D.C. audience noticed. ''No one said anything to me,'' says Abramson, who plans to approach Meryl Streep to star in a feature version of Child. ''But that's probably because...hardly anyone saw [Ringmaster].''
— Jessica Shaw
Cage Heat
Judging from his $20 million paychecks and the big openings of his last four movies, Nicolas Cage would appear to be at the top of his game. But some of his colleagues think the Oscar-winning actor is history. In December, Sean Penn was quoted in The New York Times Magazine saying, ''Nic Cage is no longer an actor.... He could be again, but now he's more like a...performer.'' Earlier this month, Nick Nolte told USA Today: ''Nic's gone.... [He] was this marvelous actor.... Then, bam!'' And in a radio interview, Stephen Baldwin called Cage ''ugly.'' (He recently backpedaled, stating ''I just don't enjoy his movies.'') Cage's response? ''He feels that actors have enough to contend with as far as the critics are concerned,'' says his spokesperson Annett Wolf. ''Therefore, fellow actors shouldn't critique one another.''
— Rebecca Ascher-Walsh
