Friday, 21 May 1999

And as expected, Star Wars: Episode One -- The Phantom Menace blocked out the sun above Hollywood. $28,542,349. One day, one night. $9,610 on one day. Hide the record books. Star Wars: Episode One -- The Phantom Menace is everything the box office can handle. I expect a one day number starting with a "4" on Saturday. (More in Box Office Extra.)

What's the point of previewing the rest of the weekend? It's Star Wars for breakfast, Star Wars for lunch and Star Wars for dinner all around the nation. Sure, there's Trekkies, the documentary about "Star Trek" obsessives that is the second best comedy of 1999 to date. But how many "Star Trek" lovers won't be in line for Star Wars? Heck, you can even go meet the director at the 10:15 show of Trekkies if you can get to the Mann's Santa Monica in Southern California. You ain't gonna run into George Lucas at The Chinese tonight. In tribute to the Star Wars hype, here is a link to the Trekkies site that will let you know every screen where you can see that film this weekend.

Or you could go see The Love Letter, which is so low profile that people standing on line for Star Wars may think to themselves, "What is an old Jamie Lee Curtis movie that we didn't want to see in the first place doing at this theater?" That's until they say, "Damn it! Six hours until the next show with available tickets? Is Jamie Lee Curtis naked in that Love Letters thing? Kate Capshaw?! Oh yeah, I remember Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom! Is Harrison Ford in this one, too? Tom Selleck? You know, he was supposed to play Indiana Jones but they wouldn't let him out of his "Magnum P.I." contract. You've heard that? Okay, I'll just wait for The Phantom Menace."

Besieged will be out in a few select theaters. It's Bernardo Bertolucci's version of a Mike Figgis movie and that's not all bad. But it is a tiny, quiet, intimate movie. And no, Thandie Newton isn't naked much. In fact, it's a little like Last Tango in Paris without the sex, except that you don't get the fireworks that come from Brando's screen presence. David Thewlis is very good and so is Ms. Newton, but all-in-all it felt a bit like Bertolucci's goal was more about relaxing his demanding visual standards (even the walls are unpainted, though it does fit the story) to let it just hang loose. I have a feeling that I will have a hard time changing the channel when this one shows up on the movie channels, but I also have a feeling that I might feel a little empty after taking 2 hours of my day (not to mention $7-$9.50 out of my pocket) to catch this one in the theater. The Loss of Sexual Innocence comes out next weekend. You might want to wait for that.

Box office estimates, screen counts and more in Box Office Extra, available here after noon, e.s.t.

And today's Good, Bad & Ugly will be given over to you, the readers, who have sent in your Star Wars experience. There are a lot more than three great experiences that have been sent in, so I'll be trying to find a way to deliver more to you in the next week or so. Keep sending in those personal perspectives. (And for those of you who are sending my links to your sites so I can read your comments, write me something a little more personal is you want a ROTD slot. I will give your URL, but as part of a great, personal story.)

THE GOOD: This reader racks up the happy points: "My family and I get there a half hour before the movie started and it is already packed before the theater was ready for the audience. We got our seats and waited about 25 minutes for the movie to start. We see the usual previews and what not. Then, when we see the 20th Century Fox logo and Lucasfilm LTD appear on the screen, the audience was cheering. They also cheered when STAR WARS appeared on the screen, at the end of the big lightsaber battle near the end, and at the very end, with some cheers here and there. I had a smile on my face from beginning to end. For me, it lives up to the hype that the media has made about the film, and also will survive the media backlash that has occurred since the media decided to trash the movie after they knew they couldn't go anywhere with it. I can't believe how someone could not love this movie. It is a fine addition to the Star Wars saga. In fact, I didn't have a single problem with the movie. It has some of the best action and special effects sequences I've ever seen on a movie. I'm surprised that some critics have been saying this movie has no heart, because that is a lie. I loved the new relationships between Jake Lloyd, Liam Neeson, and Natalie Portman. Sure some people will be pissed that Ewan McGregor didn't get enough screen time, but I think that was intentional. He's still a young jedi, and he still didn't have the experience to go out on his own his own. I didn't have a single thing to complain about. I even loved Jar Jar Binks."

M.I.T., The "Millennium" Gets Abused
and Someone Dislikes Me, He Really Really Dislikes Me!