'MONEY TRAIN' CRIME NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT.Byline: Henry Sheehan Orange County Register A lot of press was given over to denunciations of "Money Train" late last month when a ghastly crime committed in the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of subways was linked to the movie. As happens in the film, criminals had squirted flammable liquid Generally, a flammable liquid means a liquid which may catch fire easily. In the USA, there is a precise definition of flammable liquid as one with a flashpoint below 100 degrees Fahrenheit. into a booth and set fire to it. The token seller was badly burned and died shortly thereafter. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. recent statements by New York law-enforcement authorities, however, the movie didn't inspire the killers in their deed, after all. According to published reports, police and district attorneys say that none of the three suspects in custody had seen the movie or knew what it was about; apparently one hadn't even heard of it. Nor, as it turns out, was the crime that rare. Early news reports said the last time someone had performed such an act was 10 years earlier. But according to police, nine times in the past five years, someone has squirted and set fire to flammable liquid in a token booth to rob it. So it seems that either the thieves and killers had come up with the idea on their own or heard about it on the street. There's a third possibility, too. Perhaps sometime during the previous five years they had seen reports of the toll-booth fires in one of New York's tabloid scandal sheets scandal sheet n. A periodical, such as a newspaper, that habitually prints gossip or scandalous stories. or on one of the city's sensationalized local newscasts. You know, the same newspapers and TV shows that played up the denunciations of "Money Train." Predictions, predictions,: The trade paper Variety has long been known as the "bible of show business." But there seems to have been some revisionism re·vi·sion·ism n. 1. Advocacy of the revision of an accepted, usually long-standing view, theory, or doctrine, especially a revision of historical events and movements. 2. at work in consecutive issues of Daily Variety last week. On Dec. 19, a front-page story headlined " 'Jumanji' Little Joy" held that, despite the fact that "Jumanji" had opened in the No. 1 box-office spot with a weekend take of more than $11 million, the picture produced "less than joyous results." Further, it maintained, "the only way (it could become) a holiday hit is by default." Yet on Dec. 20, Daily Variety's front page was graced with an even larger story headlined " 'Jumanji's' Roar: TriStar foresees steady climb." Loaded with quotes from Sony executives, this article contended "Sony ... execs said that its $11.1 million positions ('Jumanji') to perform well against such rivals as ... 'Toy Story' throughout the coming holiday season." Well, no one ever said prophecy was an easy business. Can't lose: Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas' commercial prospects would seem to have dimmed this year. The two ballyhooed and high-priced scripts he wrote for "Jade" and "Showgirls" produced nothing but box-office fizzle fiz·zle intr.v. fiz·zled, fiz·zling, fiz·zles 1. To make a hissing or sputtering sound. 2. Informal To fail or end weakly, especially after a hopeful beginning. n. . But don't worry about the prolific writer's bank account. According to Michael Fleming's Dish column in Daily Variety, the scribe scribe (skrīb), Jewish scholar and teacher (called in Hebrew, Soferim) of law as based upon the Old Testament and accumulated traditions. The work of the scribes laid the basis for the Oral Law, as distinct from the Written Law of the Torah. of "Jagged Edge" and "Basic Instinct" is on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of selling a four-page outline for a movie called "Trapped." The price? If it doesn't get made: $1.5 million. If it does: at least $3 million, with the potential of breaking $4 million. This isn't the first time for Eszterhas. "One Night Stand," which is in preproduction pre·pro·duc·tion adj. 1. Taking place or existing before production: preproduction planning. 2. , went for $2.5 million against $4 million. Just think if he had written two hits this year |
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