Tarantino isn't the only filmmaker eschewing political correctness for laughs. In As Good as It Gets, Jack Nicholson's bigoted obsessive-compulsive assures his injured gay neighbor (Greg Kinnear), "You'll be back on your knees in no time." Such jokes--rampant in the film, along with the epithets "fag" and "queer"--had gay audiences groaning. And women were heard to gasp at Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry when his character refers to a woman as a "world-class meshuggener c--t." Though, as one witness observed, "It wasn't as offensive as watching him kiss Elisabeth Shue."
PARENTING ISN'T EASY
During holiday seasons past, kiddie fare like Aladdin and Toy Story had enough adult appeal to achieve blockbuster status. This year, without a new Disney cartoon in theaters, parents who attended children's movies with their offspring were in for a rude shock. "This Christmas I saw Mr. Magoo, Mouse Hunt, and Home Alone 3 with my 6-year-old son," moans one father. "What bothers me is not so much that I didn't enjoy them, but I got the feeling that my son wasn't enjoying them either. He seemed much more interested in eating candy, eating popcorn, and drinking soda." SEASONAL SCANDAL
While movie distributors wooed audiences with ads boasting their films' Golden Globe nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (eight for Titanic, six for As Good as It Gets), The Washington Post blew the lid off the not-as-rehabilitated-as-it-looks HFPA, alleging that many of its active members boast dubious qualifications (some aren't actually journalists), seldom attend screenings, and appear to be co-opted by studios bearing gifts. (Could those three nods for The Boxer have been helped along by the duffel bags and picnic baskets Universal sent to voters?) Even the president of the organization admitted to the Post that nearly half of its 82 members "are there by virtue of having been there a long time."
THE POSTMAN
And the buzz on Kevin Costner's postapocalyptic adventure is...well, we'll tell you later. We're still trying to track down the guy who's seen it.
(Additional reporting by Daniel Fierman and Gregg Kilday)
