1996 Year

Those who think the movie industry will get runaway costs under control in 1997 should think again. Studio honchos readily admit they're addicted to "event pictures"--the buzz words of 1996--and have no intention of kicking the expensive habit any time soon. They figure their energies and resources are better risked on hugely exploitable films like "Independence Day" that can generate megaprofits worldwide than on mid-size ones where returns are minimal at best.

Another year, another record, with the 1996 domestic box office totaling $5.8 billion, almost 9% over 1995. Two special-effects-driven vehicles--"Independence Day" and "Twister"--dominated the year, heading a Top 10 list that, in contrast to 1995's family-oriented mix, contained five big-budget action films.

Recessions don't just end, they peter out. 1996 in the San Fernando Valley was a case in point: Optimism abounded, but genuine economic growth remained elusive and many business people had to be content with hopes of a recovery on its way--though not, apparently, in any hurry. "Everyone is expecting a recovery . . . but it's not showing up," said Shirley Svorny, economics professor and director of the new Center for the Study of the San Fernando Valley Economy at Cal State Northridge.

As chairman of the Walt Disney Studios, Joe Roth is responsible for production, marketing and distribution of Walt Disney, Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures, but there is more. Roth also oversees Miramax Films, the mighty monarch of the independent world, which means he is the person Harvey Weinstein talks to when he wants to spend $20-something million to make "The English Patient." Roth, 48, has even directed a few films himself, most notably "Coup de Ville."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average zoomed well above the 6,000 level, "irrational exuberance" be damned. Shaquille O'Neal leaped cross-country and signed a $121-million contract to play the post for the Lakers. The movie "Independence Day" did a nice $306-million gross and still counting, thank you. A federal panel recommended that the Consumer Price Index be slashed by 1.1%. And Clinton beat Dole, 379 electoral votes to 159.

In the late 1960s and 1970s, after destroying all the abstract paintings he had made since the 1950s, John Baldessari began using words, photographs, charts, maps, film and video to question American culture's established expectations about art. His work was pivotal to the international emergence of Conceptualism, the movement in which an emphasis on art as a language of ideas replaced the traditional importance of art as a material object.

I built a bridge I took the stand I clutched my pen In my right hand. I broke the story Of the Army rapes I secretly made Those Texaco tapes. I slipped the White House Some major bucks I went out with Bill For an Arch Deluxe. I showed Tiger Woods A new way to putt I went on "Rosie" I kicked "ET's" butt. I called the First Lady a liar I made a deal With Jerry McGuire. I went to Hebron Saw peace on the skids I couldn't save Those Scottish kids.

Oh, how we partied. But as the year comes to a close once again, your Social Climes writers hang up our tuxes and leopard print mini-dresses. We contemplate what we have seen much too much of in recent months: the bodyguards, the martinis, the peekaboo belly buttons. We swear off herb-crusted roast beef and horseradish mashed potatoes catered by pricey restaurants and served in tents with chandeliers. We become lost in reminiscence.

What kind of year was it for jazz? Call it a rebuilding year, a period in which some interesting trends began to emerge, with the most intriguing developments taking place, appropriately, in the live-performance arena. Here are the combined Top 10 players, places and developments of the year. First, the players: 1.