Monday, 19 February 2001

Out of respect for the President's Day holiday, The Hot Button won't publish again until Tuesday. Have a nice holiday.

WEEKEND PREVIEW

Okay… it's going to be a very long column.

It occurred to me on Thursday afternoon that the L.A. Times did me and other entertainment writers a huge favor by giving us something interesting to ponder on what would be a slow week, except for the Oscar nods. You know, kind of like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition for movie journalists. Let's hope that they do it every year.

Miraculously, I suddenly became existent, if only as a guy who was "writing on the Internet last fall." Oddly, it seemed that King actually talked to everyone else who was mentioned in the column. Never called or wrote me. And he seemed to miss the point of the story he cites. Additionally, I took a shot from someone at The Hollywood Reporter, but it was a smack at me for screwing up the grammatical difference between "It's" versus "Its." Oddly, he didn't have anything to say about the substance of what I wrote. But later in the day, someone did… like I said, a long column today.

But let's start with the weekend ahead.

There are three new wide releases out today. You have Chris Rock in the Heaven Can Wait remake, Down To Earth. You have your Walt Disney big screen of their animated TV series, Recess, called Recess: School's Out. And you've got your even-hot-blondes-have-to-die-sometime romance with Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron (she's the blonde), Sweet November.

I skipped Sweet November out of a sense of self-preservation, though I hear that some people actually went along for the ride. Bully for them. I didn't think the original was much worth watching, unless you couldn't get a copy of Love Story… and even then, you were better off getting the hots for Ali McGraw in The Getaway or Goodbye, Columbus. (Did you realize, by the way, that Ali MacGraw has only made 10 movies in her entire career? God, such a movie star and so few movies!) What were they thinking when then decide to remake a mid-level movie that starred Sandy Dennis and Anthony Newley? Beats me. But it will probably do pretty well this weekend.

Down To Earth has the same problem as all Chris Rock movies… Chris Rock can't act. He is very funny and charming when he is doing jokes. But he is no Rodney Dangerfield when it comes to being a character. He's getting better, but the film suffers from his stiffness. It also suffers from the iffy directing skills of The Weitz Brothers, who put American Pie across very effectively. Somehow, they just can't turn the corner on some of the set pieces here. Pacing is just off. But the film is not without its charms and the idea of a black man in an old white man's body is amusing. Of course, it strains credulity to think that a beautiful, young, sincere woman is falling for an old rich man, even if he is possessed of Chris Rock's charm. Fortunately, the Weitz' never give us the shot of Regina King swapping spit with the old white guy.

Recess: School's Out is pretty much a TV show blown up. They didn't do a lot with the animation style to make it bigger for the big screen. But it is fairly entertaining, with lots of references that only the adults will get. The oddest of those is the shout of a woman stuck in a window, looking eerily like Marlon Brando as she should, "Get the butter!" Weird. But I took an 11-year-old and he liked the movie well enough. Don't take a date, unless you are 8.

In limited and exclusive releases, Pollock goes to 14 screens, Wildcat Women arrive(s) on 3 screens and on 1 screen each, The Price of Milk, Rhythm And Bayous and In China They Eat Dogs (Hey! I didn't name it!)

If you want to know how Oscar affects box office, start with the screen counts. Erin Brockovich seems to have slipped off screens last weekend and there is no re-release scheduled yet. Frankly, I didn't realize, so I haven't had a chance to ask. But I'm sure Universal will bring the movie back next weekend. DreamWorks has brought Gladiator back on 41 screens and Almost Famous as well, also on 41. Chocolat is adding another 337 screens this weekend. Traffic adds only 8. And Crouching Toger, Hidden Dragon adds 449.

Films that didn’t get the expected nominations are suffering as the big nominees thrive. What Women Want is off 558 screens. Thirteen Days loses 399. The Gift takes a 227 screen hit. Finding Forrester writes off 456 houses. And Cast Away loses a minimal 105 screens… but it also continues to be a hot title. Non-Oscar titles also are losing big, with Valentine off 705 screens and Save The Last Dance losing 454.

Finally, keep in mind that this is a holiday weekend. This should boost Sunday numbers.

WEEKEND GUESSTIMATES

1. Hannibal - 3238 venues – off 42 percent - $33.6 million
2. Down To Earth – 2521 venues – new - $17.3 million
3. Sweet November - 2268 venues – new - $10.2 million
4. Recess: School's Out - 2624 venues – new - $8.3 million
5. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - 1653 venues – up 10 percent - $5.9 million
6. The Wedding Planner - 2554 venues – off 39 percent - $4.7 million
7. Saving Silverman - 2467 venues – off 45 percent - $4.1 million
8. Traffic- 1742 venues – off 10 percent - $4 million
9. Chocolat - 1485 venues – up 18 percent - $3.6 million
10. Cast Away - 2249 venues – off 35 percent - $3.4 million

PAGE TWO: The Times Goes On