Analyses of the movie marketplace points to an interesting phenomenon: High-profile movies are continuing to do well year-to-year in the U.S. and overseas - this past summer, for example, the top 10 movies registered at the same level as in '04.

It's only in relatively recent years that Hollywood became the playground of multinational corporations which regard movies and TV shows as a minor irritant to their overall activity.

Though gay lifestyles have certainly moved into the open, there's little evidence that society has become more open in its basic attitudes or that entertainers should feel cozy in emerging from the velvet underground.

That's how you get surprises, because what movies are all about is surprises.

It really hasn't been demonstrated at any level by any major corporation that it can nurture what is euphemistically called creativity.

Study the public behavior of top stars and you can detect a keen attentiveness to brand value.

We're going to see a very, very commercial kind of picture-making.