Monday, 2 February 1998

WEEKEND REVIEW
The seventh week of Titanic has come and gone and there's not an iceberg in sight. Blues Brothers 2000 and The Replacement Killers seem as likely to pass the $20 million mark next weekend as Titanic is of dropping below it. That is, not very likely. Great Expectations' opening was just OK, with a reported $9.9 million. Word-of-mouth won't be great either. Spice World only dropped two spots to fourth with $7 million. I can't find anyone willing to say a nice word about the girls, but their film must be considered a success. If you were worried about which new action film you wanted to see less, America votes for (or is that against?) Deep Rising, buying $4.6 million in tickets compared to $5.8 million for Desperate Measures.

MILESTONES: Titanic passed the $300 million mark, causing industry pundits to project that it will likely to become the highest grossing film ever. One girl here in Hollywood has already made her 45th voyage on Titanic and she told the theater staff as she entered this Sunday, "I'm just getting started."

MILLSTONES: Deceiver, second film by the much-hyped Pate Brothers, was in limited release this weekend. Two critics appearing on NPR showed the ultimate enthusiasm for the film, pronouncing that it will prove to be one of the very worst films of 1998.

JUST WONDERING: If you asked me what I thought of Great Expectations and I told you that it was really visually beautiful, would that be like describing someone that I want you to date blindly as "really interesting with a good sense of humor?"

READER OF THE DAY: "Half Baked is the worst I have ever seen, worse than any Jim Carrey movie, worse than sitting alone and being made to eat crap. I want someone to tell me that they actually enjoyed this movie. I am EMBARASSED that I even saw it." -- Nancy C.

A REASON TO E-MAIL: Well, if you want to tangle with Nancy, go ahead. Tomorrow is News Day at The Hot Button.