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WEEKEND US BO FOR 13-15 NOV 1998: WATERBOY THRASHES two potential hits
Archive on US congressional elections - and the crime wave sweeping Bankstown
NSW - THE POLICE STATE
"I think that, apart from places in Northern Ireland... and in other parts of war-torn countries, I've never seen anything like this in my career."
And thus began an orchestrated attempt by the Commissioner and the police service to quite incredibly, ask for more police powers. Backed up by the frenzied coverage of the Print and Television media (who are fed their info by police), the police commissioner seems to use every single outbreak of violence as a further tool to get police powers that in the end result - cover up for sloppy police work - and encourage corruption and misuse by overzealous officers. Many might naively and unwisely say thatthat the Police Commissioner (or the police bureaucracy) did not actively encourage these extra powers. Well, let me quote a few things. The attorney General, Jeff Shaw said that the shooting at Lakemba "however terrible, should not usher in draconian and anti-democratic laws... I don't think it should precipitate calls for massive expansion of police powers for example," But the following day (as reported in the Telegraph), Mr Ryan in a joint conference with the Premier outlined all the new powers he wanted and, the premier, when asked if he'd support the Commisioner said that police would be: "given anything they needed" to help solve crimes.
"Peter's Power" as the Telegraph calls them (I wonder who leaked the story), allow for police to erect roadblocks and search vehicles (before they used to have to get a warrant - there was some actual accountabiliuty in the process of police work). Police will also be able to ask and get identification of drivers and their passangers if they suspect the car has been used in a "serious" crime. The definition of "serious" crime and how a person becomes a "suspect" is highly ambiguous (for example, if I were driving in the vicinity of the serious crime, a roadblock had been installed, and the police stopped me instead of the car infront of me, why? Why would they suspect me over the car infront of me? Could appearance be part of the underlying criteria?). Even if you do nothing wrong, do not commit any crime, you will be fined 5000 dollars if you refuse to surrender to these police powers. So, if you object on the grounds that they are with holding your right to be in public and to be uninterrupted by police harrassment, then you can be fined or go to jail for 12 months.
The question that begs to be asked therefore, is WHEN Do the POLICE POWERS STOP? When will the community say "enough". We've had in the last four years, the blatantly undemocratic "Parental Responsibility Act". We all said: that's ok, because youth crime is out of control (rather than saying "youth unemployment" is out of control - or rather than saying there's a shortage of services for young people - because those problems are too hard to fix up, so instead we apply undemocratic laws). Then they pass those "Knife Laws". We say, excellent go ahead - search anyone you like in the middle of the street - if you don't have a knife on you, what's to worry about? And now, the roadblock and car search rules. The Police Commissioner said it himself - he thinks Crime here is like that in Northern Ireland - so he obviously believes the policce should have the same powers here aas they have there. The next step is obviously check points when you enter the south western regions. If it weren't so tangible (what other police powers can they pass?), it would be a great joke. Sydneysiders should wake up and smell the coffee. There is no crime problem engulfing this city. It is localised mainly in areas where police are severely understaffed and where police stations have been closed by the Carr Governemmnt. I for one, will not be voting for either major party (NSW politics has become for me like watching a sick rendition of anything you can do, I can do better (ie. more undemocratically)), and if the Democrats promise to oppose any new "police state" measures, they have my vote in both the lower house and the upper house.
When you hear people say "if you're doing nothing wrong, what's to worry about", please correct them - ask them what is the problem of installing cameras everywere?: on the streets, in public toilets, inside buildings, inside all of our houses, inside our bedrooms. Having someone stand over your back while you do your work or walk in public is intimidating and unreasonable - if there were enough police employed and they were exercising their powers as they are now, we'd all be feeling intimidated (certain segments of the population - ie Aborigines - are accustomed to this) and oppressed. But then again, if there were enough police, these powers introduced over the last four years, would be unnecessary and unwarranted, because crime itself would be much lower - and the force wouldn't need powers to cover up for mistakes they make under the enormous stress they currently face.
WATERBOY FLOODS AMERICA IN AMAZING BOX OFFICE RESULT
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Adam Sandler has had a meteoric rise in his box office standing ever since the Wedding Singer. His previous films Billy Madison grossed a total $25.5M; Happy Gilmore, $38.6M; and Bulletproof; $21.2M. The 80.2 million dollars of the Wedding Singer introduced Sandler's unique humour to a larger and more mainstream audience. Who ever would have thought that the Waterboy would actually DOUBLE the first week figures of the Wedding Singer (apart from 'the skinny dude')? |
Grossing an estimated 39.4 million dollars in the first weekend, by the end of its run, Waterboy should have made more money than all his previous films combined (in three weeks, wedding singer tally will be surpassed). In Mr Showbiz's box office challenge, I sold the Waterboy at 26 million, because I thought it would gross 25 million max in the first weekend (since the competition calculates first 2 weekends, I intend for a 1.5 X return - and I thought Waterboy wouldn't deliver that return - the return now will be around 2.5 X). How monumentally wrong was I, even though my 25 million max figure was higher than what everyone else thought.
With this opening, Adam Sandler probably approaches (and in box office terms - escalates) the pre eminent position of Jim Carrey in the cinematic comedy world. To put it into perspective - this is the second highest opening for Disney after the 40.8 million dollars for the Lion King. Even Ace Ventura - when nature calls, opened with 37.8 million at the height of Jim Carrey's fame (actually - he still hasn't gone down from his height). The figure is made even more amazing when comparing it to the 36.1 million Armageddon made on the Independence Day weekend. This weekend was a non-holiday weekend and was opening against another strong film (The Siege - which made a strong 14-15 million dollars this weekend). This movie has also saved Disney from an embarrassing post-summer season (people, if I had money - I'd purchase shares in Disney immediately - A Bug's Life and Enemy of the State are to follow), where Holy Man flopped and I think Mafia too was made by them. The movie is also a phenomenal result for the director, Frank Coraci, who was also director of the Wedding Singer. By the end of the year, Coraci will have grossed his bosses 250 million dollars. The screen average for the Waterboy was over 14 thousand dollars. The usual is around 5 thousand for a no 1 film. This means that many were turned away from theatres, and coupled with an 80% approval rating from exit polls (80% will reccommend it to others), the film will not drop that much next week (maybe to 30 million).
The box office was up 32% on last year this weekend. If this amazing run of record debuts continues into thanksgiving day weekend, A Bug's Life is a sure bet to get over 40 million dollars, and Babe II is another possible hit.