The Forum lives! by MATTHEW HAYS Remember that plan to turn the Forum into a massive entertainment centre? That plan that everyone said wouldn't work? That 30-screen cinema which will undoubtedly flood the moviegoing market is back in the news this week, as the folks behind the project are unveiling many of their long-term plans for the "Forum Entertainment Centre." Among them: a Showmax cinema--that's a 500-seat, six-story-screened viewing spot for big-screen-format movies. This would all be good news if we got to see the latest special-effects-laden movie there, but unfortunately, we're going to be stuck with the usual sports/nature/education stuff we've been gagging on at the Old Port Imax for years. But Showmax CEO Linda Nelson, in town from California to pump up the project, insists things are getting better for big-screen-format movies. "We're going to be getting away from documentaries and educational fare," she reports of the cinema, which will open its doors in late 1999. "We're going to be much more commercially oriented. With dramatic-type pieces." Nelson says a Star Wars-like movie is being shot in big-screen format, as well as a doc on local heroes Cirque de Soleil. (But please, we beg you, no more nature documentaries or lame-o films about kids travelling to New York for the first time!) As for the over-saturated-market argument, Nelson insists the Forum Entertainment Centre, which will also house a 30-screen regular-run cinema, won't pose too daunting a threat to the city's other cinemas. Has Nelson heard the rumours I have, that indeed some clever people in California are making a porn movie for the big-screen format? "I haven't heard that. If they are, we won't be showing it. This is a family-oriented cinema." Joaquin Phoenix and Vince Vaughn, who were so great together in Return to Paradise, again combine their talents for David Dobkin's directorial debut, Clay Pigeons (opens Friday, October 9). Phoenix plays a small-town chump who finds himself covering up for a slutty and nutty girlfriend after she murders her last boyfriend. Before anyone can say "The Last Seduction" Phoenix finds himself in all sorts of compromising positions. The cast's shining performances can't quite make up for the fact that we've all been here and done this a few too many times before. Where's John Dahl when you need him? Vidéographe's far-reaching lineup of videos, the ninth annual Quinzaine de la Vidéo continues at the Cinématheque Québécoise until Thursday, October 15. See repertory listings for showtimes. The 11th annual Image&Nation Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, which wrapped last week, was a huge success, report the organizers. Audiences were so responsive to the screenings of More Tales of the City that there will be two additional opportunities to see it this Saturday, October 10. The celebrated Armistead Maupin sequel miniseries, most of which was shot in Montreal, will play at 1 p.m. and rerun at 6 p.m. in Concordia's J.A. de Sève cinema. The winner of the first annual Bell Mobility Image&Nation People's Choice Award is Gods and Monsters, the James Whale biopic starring Sir Ian McKellen. matt_hays@babylon.montreal.qc.ca