Friday, 23 February 2001

WEEKEND PREVIEW

Okay, 2 new wide releases this weekend. I've seen neither. And I'm guessing that I am lucky. The column may be a little short today. As I ran out of my apartment at 6 a.m. to catch a plane to Florida, I idiotically forgot my laptop power cord as I threw every other electronic device known to man into my bag and ran out. I didn't realize until after all the electronic stores in Boca Raton had shut their doors. So I'm writing against a ticking clock. If I don't get done in time, Bruce Willis makes another Die Hard movie co-starring Chris Rock and with Brett Ratner directing. Better hurry.

Monkeybone is a movie that would probably be getting a lot more play if it was any good because, given the premise and the players, it either has to be a real miss or quite brilliant. Some might say that Henry Selick's James & The Giant Peach fell in the middle of those categories, but then again, it had a well-loved, clearly drawn story from which to work.

I am willing to embrace the idea of a career comeback for Kevin Costner. The concept of that revival coming in his portrayal of an Elvis-impersonating bad guy works for me too. But, apparently, the movie does not deliver on the exciting possibility of a career revival back to overdrive for a career that continues to run in third gear, right at the speed limit, despite a lot of jeers. If you want to know how much Warner Bros. believes in this project, all you have to do is look at the ads. They have Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell and all we really get is explosions and sneers. If the movie had anything going for it, they'd be selling more than sizzle. But if anyone disagrees, feel free to write in and, given that I haven't seen the film, I'll be happy to run your defense.

As for Oscar movies, we have the rarest of situations in this modern age. One of the Best Picture nominees is not only out of theaters and in video stores, but Erin Brockovich premiered on pay cable services in the last week. It seems to me that this may become an advantage, as if Oscar voters are in any way like me, they will find themselves compelled to watch the film every time it passes by their channel-surf. Gladiator is not on cable yet, but it is out on DVD and video and isn't likely to get much of a re-release unless it wins. The other three Best Picture nominees, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Traffic and Chocolat are all likely to remain in the Top Ten as we head into the voting home stretch.

Also new in theaters this weekend is The Last Resort, on 14 screens and both The Kite and Vatel hit 1 screen each.

As for the story that Sony Classics undercounted screens last weekend to make Pollock's per-screen a little shinier than it really was… insert way overused line from Casablanca here.

Finally, I'm doing the guesstimates based on what I believe will be reported on a couple of these films. I don’t really think that either The Wedding Planner or Chocolat numbers are likely to be too firmly grounded in reality based on recent weeks.

WEEKEND GUESSTIMATES

1. Hannibal – 3292 venues – off 45 percent - $16.3 million
2. Down To Earth – 2521 venues – off 40 percent - $10.3 million
3. 3,000 Miles To Graceland - 2545 venues – new - $8.7 million
4. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - 1749 venues – off 8 percent - $8.1 million
5. Recess: School's Out - 2630 venues – off 30 percent - $7 million
6. Monkeybone - 1722 venues – new - $6.4 million
7. Chocolat - 1844 venues – up 10 percent - $5.4 million
8. Sweet November - 2268 venues – off 50 percent - $4.9 million
9. Traffic- 1753 venues – off 25 percent - $4.7 million
10. The Wedding Planner - 2064 venues – off 30 percent - $4 million

THE GOOD: Taylor Hackford, who was quoted earlier as stating that he didn't know that Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan were "doing the dirty" on his Proof of Life set – HA! – is now blaming the relationship for the movie's failure in America. Well, it didn't help. But it might have, had the movie been any good at all. Unfortunately, a bad movie combined with an unpleasant real life story is box office poison. But a great movie that has an ugly backstory can be true marketing honey.

THE BAD: Bryan Singer has a real shot at being the kind of director who has tributes paid in his honor a generation from now. But not if he makes Battlestar Galactica. Sorry. I know all you Richard Hatch junkies are out there salivating, but not only has the former TV star had his name supplanted by an irritating self-promoter who managed to con his way on to staying stranded on an island longer than anyone else, but he was never really anything but a mediocre Star Wars knock-off in the first place. Want to do a Space 1999 movie? That might be interesting. But much as I loved watching BG. when I was TEN, I outgrew it by the time I was 13. SWAT has infinitely more to play with than this thing. And so, despite the fact that he may turn it into a great movie franchise – the less it has to do with the TV show, the better – I have to say, "Please don't do it!!!" (Geez! I can't even come up with a series tag line to make a bad pun about!)

THE UGLY: After Life is one of the best movies you have never seen. Rent it, buy it, see it. It's available on DVD and I promise you will at least enjoy this film and will likely love, love, love the film… even with the subtitles. That said, the news that Amy Heckerling might be the person behind an English-language remake of the film makes me… how do you say in America?…. SICK!!!! I'm not even going to hold Heckerling's feet to the fire for the disaster that was Loser. Everyone deserves a miss now and again. But After Life is a beautiful, delicate, introspective piece and Amy Heckerling does brash with occasional poignant introspection. Worse, she loves teens. I guess the obvious choice for this remake was Penny Marshall, who walked this thin line with Big very successfully, though she still leans towards too much schmaltz for this particular project. So Heckerling is a woman, she has done remakes, officially and not, of literary material…. So she can do it, right? I fear not. I fear that what we will get is a more smart ass version of the Breakfast Club… except they are dead. Phil Kaufman should be remaking After Life. Martin Brest should be remaking After Life. Agnes Varda should be remaking After Life. Im Jarmusch should be remaking After Life. (Of course, this is all contingent on the idea that a great film NEEDS to be remade in English at all.) But Amy Heckerling? Oy!!!

KIND OF APOLOGY: Turns out that Ain't It Cool ran, according to mail I received, the offending letter mentioned in "Just Wondering" yesterday before the other unnamed outlet. Of course, last I checked, Ain't It Cool was still saying that they weren't journalists, so…

BAD AD WATCH: I got this e-mail from a friend… a silent friend… and I'll just let her… or him…do the honors:

"When you do your weekend preview, if you feel like taking a well-deserved cheap shot at 3000 Miles to Graceland, you might want to point out that Kevin Pollack's name is misspelled in the opening and closing credits, as well as on the back of the press folder and the ad in the New York Times today (Thursday) as Kevin "Pollak"."

Here's this week's BIG LIST OF PULL QUOTES.

READER OF THE DAY: This e-mail came from Dubai: "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" opened February 21, 2001 in the United Arab Emirates in a superb English-language version subtitled in Arabic.

The English soundtrack matches the movements of the actors' mouths so closely that it appears almost certain that this version was actually shot in English.

I may be wrong. However, if this is indeed the case...

Is Columbia Pictures cynically keeping this English version hidden away until after the Academy Awards?

And more to the point...

Should Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon still be considered eligible for Best Foreign Language Film?"

E ME: There is no question that Ang Lee made the film in Mandarin quite on purpose and bucking all odds. They certainly did not re-shoot the picture both ways. But it is interesting in terms of a marketing issue. Me? I think that Best Foreign Language Film is a put down to this groundbreaking (in overall form and function, not the stunts alone) film. What do y'all think?