FEATURES 54 The 'Philadelphia' Experiment
BY JESSE GREEN
You may not remember your first war film. Or your first love story. But Philadelphia
is most definitely (if not quite defiantly) the first mainstream AIDS movie. Writer
Ron Nyswaner says he and director Jonathan Demme were striving for something that
was "not solemn,. not dull, not a disease-oriented, issue-oriented, lecturing
kind of movie that would preach to the converted." Are you listening, Oscar?
62 'Blue' Belle
BY ANTHONY REILLY
She has a shyness that hides her strength, but there's no role that won't surrender
to Blue star Juliette Binoche.
66 Steven's Choice
BY JOHN H. RICHARDSON
After completing Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg could have simply set up shop
in his accountant's office, tallying the grosses. Instead, he flew to Poland for
the most ambitious project of his dazzling career: Schindler's List, the tale
of a complex man who saved 1,100 Jews
while openly cavorting with the Nazis. For Spielberg, Liam Neeson's portrayal
of Schindler evokes memories of the late Steve Ross. "If Schindler were alive
today," the director says, "he would be running Time Warner."
74 Willing
BY VERONICA CHAMBERS
Parents may not understand what royally Fresh rapper turned actor Will Smith is
doing in Six Degrees of Separation, in which he plays a gay con artist. Then again,
maybe even he's not sure: "I waited till they gave me my check to tell them
that I wasn't going to do what the script called for."
79 The Blue Screen
BY JOHN H. RICHARDSON
With an assortment of MacGuffins and ragamuffins strewn about, the Mystery, the
movie, and the mayhem come to—what else?—a slow-mo finale. To quote
Max Fischer, "I don't care who kills who. I've got a movie sneaking in Culver
City." DEPARTMENTS
21 In the Works
BY ELIZA BERGMAN KRAUSE
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Well, you might ask Alec Baldwin,
who's now starring in The Shadow.
24 Rushes
EDITED BY HOLLY MILLEA
This month, as Wyatt Earp rides into Tombstone, a panel maps racial fault lines
in Hollywood. And even as we inventory cinematic body parts, Michael Madsen puts
away his razor.
35 California Suite
BY CORIE BROWN
Barbet Schroeder gets stuck at Columbia, a new kid shows pluck at Paramount, and
Arnold Schwarzenegger bucks a lawsuit from those pesky Pumping Iron investors.
39 Independents
BY J. HOBERMAN
"If I think of an old calendar, I think of George Bush," jabs Clinton
campaign whiz James Carville in The War Room. A brief history of behind-the-scenes
political documentaries.
43 Rear Window
BY David DENBY Deborah Kerr's most famous movie moment may have been rolling in the surf with
Burt Lancaster, but her lasting appeal lies in the strength of her "niceness."
45 If You Ask Me
BY LIBBY GELMAN-WAXNER
From lace table linen to lithium: The Age of Innocence and Mr. Jones get shrunk
by Libby and Dr. Cole-Natbaum.
46 On the Set
BY RACHEL ABRAMOWITZ
What attracted Oliver Stone to Le Ly Hayslip's life story, seen in Heaven and
Earth, the (possibly) final installment in his Vietnam trilogy? "She's like
my counterpart. She's a mirror image, all the things that could have happened
to me if my soul had been a woman's."
65 Readers Poll Ballot
Vote early and often for your faves in the 7th Annual Readers Poll.
87 Home Guide
To hell with grad school. Here's what we really need: a VCR clinic. Plus, Ted
Casablanca stalks Woody Allen, and the How-to Guru extols the joys of fatherhood. OTHER
16 LETTERS
18 CALENDAR
94 CLASSIFIEDS
96 FILMOGRAPHIES
