Film: Rushes

IN THE wake of the Columbine massacre, MGM lost no time last week in recalling all video copies of its four-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio film The Basketball Diaries. In the film - already cited in a separate teen- shooting damages suit - DiCaprio, wearing a black trenchcoat, is depicted shooting a teacher and pupils as part of a dream sequence. The two suspects in the Colorado shootings were said to be members of a gang called the Trenchcoat Mafia. "We are going to attempt to get as many of these videos off the shelf as possible," an MGM spokesman told the Wall Street Journal. "We think it's the responsible thing to do under the circumstances." Responsible? Maybe. Legal? Afraid not. The studio believed it had acquired the rights to The Basketball Diaries when it bought the PolyGram film library in January. It turns out, however, that MGM won't strictly own the title for some time yet.

AS IF the cashpoint screen wasn't already home to scenes of unspeakable horror and tension, holes-in-the-wall in several US cities are to show movie trailers. ATM technology is up to the job, apparently, and the business interests involved figure that the trailers will, at the very least, have a captive audience. More to the point, the trailers will only play while the cashpoint is processing your request and, it is claimed, will not add to transaction times.