The Hot Button by David Poland

Monday, 16 November 1998

WEEKEND REVIEW

The Waterboy got to be No. 1 at the box office this weekend, with an estimated $25.2 million, but it doesn't get to be the big story. That dishonor goes to Meet Joe Black. The nearly three-hour film got ganged up on and beaten on Friday like no movie has been beaten since Godzilla. Scratch that. Godzilla didn't get this much abuse from critics (more on that below). Third place with $15.6 million still keeps Brad Pitt at the very top of the pile with Cruise, Hanks and Gibson as superstars who can open anything, no matter what the critics say. In second place, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer managed $17.5 million. The number seemed shockingly low, considering the film's $6.6 million Friday, which for all intents and purposes suggested a near-$20 million weekend. But the film dropped on Saturday, while films usually go up 20 percent or more. This Friday-to-Saturday drop is usually a very bad sign, though it has become a Sony tradition, especially with Jennifer Love Hewitt. Can't Hardly Wait did it three straight weeks when it opened. The title of the only other new film, Disney's I'll Be Home For Christmas, looks prescient. It should be on home video shelves by Christmas. (A slight exaggeration.) The film did only $4 million It won't get past $10 million.
The rest of the Top 10 consists of holdovers. The Siege fell 40 percent to $8.3 million on its way out of Dodge. Antz (in fifth with $4.2 million) and The Wizard of Oz (in eighth with $3.3 million) both proved that their strength is with the little ones, the only films that more than doubled their Friday grosses on Saturday. Pleasantville dropped just 27 percent to $4.1 million and a $32 million total and continues to play like L.A. Confidential, but will the film get the same kind of support form critics' groups come December? The kind of support that keyed the film's Oscar run and financial comeback. I think not. Likewise, Living Out Loud seems to be getting lost in the shuffle despite lots of great reviews. New Line will try its luck with the third film in its Oscar-hopeful troika, finally widening out American History X next weekend. I'm not real hopeful there either. Look for mostly acting nods come Oscar time. (For those of you who hate my Oscar stuff, come back tomorrow for some new thoughts.) Finally, Rush Hour managed to beat out Practical Magic for the 10 spot based, apparently, on a strong Sunday estimate, as Practical Magic was ahead of Rush Hour on both Saturday and Sunday. Both films landed somewhere around $2 million.
THE GOOD: I saw You've Got Mail over the weekend. Any of you who are hoping for a dud at the box office will be sorely disappointed. I'd say that it's Sleepless in Seattle plus one on the "Did you like it?" scale. What that means will vary for different people. I didn't really like Sleepless. I found it cloying and too clever for my own good. I enjoyed this film much more, though it's still just a frothy romantic comedy. Here's the pull quote: "If you liked Sleepless in Seattle, you'll love You've Got Mail!" But in this case, I think it really is true. I went to the movie junket on Saturday and got some news from Mr. Hanks. Yes, The Green Mile is three months behind schedule and he is a bit tired of being in that prison. Yes, he is planning on doing Dino next year. And yes, he will actually lose 40 pounds on a medically supervised weight loss plan for the second half of Robert Zemeckis' The Castaway. And Tom likes Robin Williams in Patch Adams for the Best Actor Oscar.
THE BAD: OK. I did not see The Prince of Egypt. This is my pre-commentary warning. But DreamWorks screened the film for participants of their upcoming junket and the word is not as good as DreamWorks had originally hoped. In one group of a half-dozen experienced junketeers, the film was knocked for being too confusing for kids, shortened to the point of distraction and slow. Then there was the biggest possible knock of all this time of year: not a remote possibility for a Best Picture Oscar nod. It's still too early to make a true judgement. And this is only one group. The same group in which half the members think Gods and Monsters has a chance at being nominated all over the place. (Bzzzt!!! Wrong! Maybe one nod for Sir Ian.) But DreamWorks will have to pull a Moses on a small red sea of negativity.
THE UGLY: Your movie has an obvious flaw and one of the biggest stars in the world above the title. So guess what? It's time for critical pile-up. Yes, Martin Brest, you and Meet Joe Black get to be on the bottom of the pile-up. Your movie is too long, so, despite many good qualities, every critic (and columnist) in America is going to pile on! Who will be the most clever of our species? "Meet Joe Bland." "You'll need Joe to stay awake." "Met him, couldn't stand him." "Meet Joe Black and meet him and meet him and meet him." "Joe Black vs. The Volcano, the movie that wouldn't stop spewing its low-wattage love story." And so on and so on and so on. The film and the people involved didn't deserve such a fate. Am I saying that the film deserved a $100 million run? No. I don't consider that my call. That's your call, but those of us who use the word journalist to describe our role in this game (the title rarely fits) are supposed to attempt some level of objectivity. Hype and anti-hype are two sides of the same slimy coin and payback is a bitch, right? But we are supposed to be above the personal and petty. Then again, personal and petty sells better than accurate and fair, doesn't it? The mob mentality in this industry always embarrasses me, whether for the positive or the negative. This weekend it was Mob Joe Black.
THE CHAT: The week's chat will be footloose and guest-free. But it will be coming to you straight from New York City, the city that never stops chatting. Wednesday, 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
HAPPY TRAILERS TO YOU: I saw The Mod Squad trailer, and the most interesting thing about it was that it makes almost no references to the old show, not even using the theme music to make a connection with the retro-audience. I am buying it. The trailer for Shakespeare in Love does not bode well for that film, though you can't really blame the trailer-makers. It feels like they took the parts that seemed saleable and threw them together professionally. Just something about Ben Affleck in olde England that feels about as real as Bruce Willis with blond hair. And there's some trailer coming out tomorrow from some movie. I can't remember it's name. Hmmm. Click here for extravagant amount of detail. And the ROTD spots also pick up the thread.
BAD AD WATCH: Why in God's name is Elizabeth running ads with the likes of Paul Wunder, Mike Cidoni and non-reviewer George Pennacchio in its print ad? I'll tell you why. Because Janet Maslin has lost her freaking mind! That's why. She has taken to reviews that don't bother addressing the filmmaking, but more often the filmmakers. While critics like Pauline Kael chose victims and favorites in the past, they still had consistency. Reading Ms. Maslin has become a journey into the unknown every time out. It's time for Ms. Maslin to retire to an Op-Ed column, just as Time theater critic Frank Rich did when he lost his mind.
READER OF THE DAY: Two sides of a very popular coin in ROTD today. First, the prosecution, in the e-mail of ImNotGerman: "Scared understates (my feelings) a bit: I'm not talking about Saddam or an international terrorist, but about Harry Knowles. After reading his site during the last few days (I always have the feeling I miss something if I don't, even though I always discover I wouldn't have missed anything after reading it), I think Harry finally managed to transform from the über-geek he already was to a total maniac. I mean, Harry's love for movies always seemed to be on a slightly unusual level, but after reading that Star Wars coverage during the last few days, and especially today, I just thought to myself that can't be true! If that's really the kinda reaction Star Wars Ep.I causes with some people, it would maybe be better to keep it in the closet forever. I just can't believe there are really people out there who would do this kinda things for a movie! Man, they should maybe think about it and get a life!"
On the flip side, a letter written to three netizens by Ben David: "Harry and Garth and David -- I live here in Phoenix and on Tuesday night Arizona Mills is going to show the trailer for Star Wars. The problem is the stupid $^#&% are putting it before the films that LucasFilm specifically said no to. I Still Know What You Freaking Did Last Summer. I know whole families that were going to bring their kids to The Waterboy to see the trailer. Look at the site. It specifically says The Waterboy. AM doesn't give a crap. I need anyone with any connections to LucasFilm whatsoever to call the theater and demand them to put it before The Waterboy. Heck, any fan should call them repeatedly. That is where it was supposed to be. George Lucas said he designed this film so that all ages could enjoy its splendor, not have to theater hop or sit through a horror film with their parents. Here is the number for the theatre (602)820-0387. Please. This is of so much importance it's not funny and it will also hurt Lucas. If this doesn't work out, like Psycho, they could decide to never do it again, please I want my little brother TJ to see this trailer. Please. You're our only hope."

E ME: Which side of the Star Wars saga do you fall on? This is going to be a hot button topic for the next seven months. So start complaining now, either way. Do you care?