Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
AT THE JAWS OF THE TEMPLE OF DOOM: In his directing career, Steven Spielberg has created a fantasy shark, a fantasy swashbuckling adventurer, many fantasy aliens, fantasy rampaging dinosaurs and a fantasy world in which women find a 16-year-old-looking Leonardo DiCaprio irresistible.
In Spielberg's next movie, however, these will be dwarfed by the fantasy world he has created for corporate America and the trend known as product placement: Almost 40 nationally known businesses paid thousands of dollars each to get their products featured in a fabricated airport terminal with no guarantee they will end up in the film's final cut.
Aaron Gordon, president of entertainment marketing firm Set Resources, told the Hollywood Reporter that the movie, called The Terminal, involved the largest number of brands spending the largest amount of money creating their own sets for a movie production.
The Terminal is about an Eastern European man, played by Tom Hanks, stranded at New York's JFK airport after a war breaks out in his tiny country, invalidating his passport. So he makes the airport his new home.
Burger King told the Reporter it knew of a scene that was shot in which the main characters were eating Whoppers, but many of the other businesses contacted at least pretended not to know what their status was in the movie, due out next month.
They should check out the cast list on the movie Web site IMDB.com. Among the characters listed Wednesday were a Burger King worker; a Brookstone store manager; Cliff, the Discovery Store manager; a Swatch store manager; a Starbucks employee; and SoundWorks Dave.
THE LATEST IN POLITICS: California's problems are not so overwhelming for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that he can't take some "me" time. He is sending his lawyers after an Ohio bobblehead doll company he says is using his image without his permission.
His lawsuit, reported by the Associated Press, says Schwarzenegger's image holder, Oak Productions Inc., doesn't allow unauthorized projects. The company, Ohio Discount Merchandise Inc., makes bobbleheads of political figures, and co-owner Todd Bosley says the Governator is "no different than any other politician."
Go ahead. Tell him that to his face.
This is the second time in three months Schwarzenegger has sued over an image issue. In March he got an Oregon brewing company to cease and desist with its Governator Ale, which had a muscular man pumping iron on the label. (Bottles were up for bid on eBay on Wednesday. And a bunch of Arnold bobbleheads.)
Sharon Fink can be reached at 727 893-8525 or fink@sptimes.com