Thursday, December 28, 2000

Holiday Moviegoers Hail New Hanks Movie

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Tom Hanks kicked sand in the faces of Hollywood heavyweights Mel Gibson, Nicolas Cage, Jim Carrey and Sandra Bullock as his new desert island drama ``Cast Away'' topped the Christmas holiday box office, according to studio estimates.

``Cast Away,'' starring Hanks and Helen Hunt, sold about $40.5 million worth of tickets for the Friday-to-Monday period across the United States and Canada -- more than the next two movies combined.

The top 10 contained three other wide new releases, while Taiwanese director Ang Lee's acclaimed martial arts film ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' jumped three places to No. 10 in its third weekend after boosting its screen count.

Reuniting with Robert Zemeckis, the director of 1994's ''Forrest Gump,'' Hanks plays an air-crash survivor stranded on a South Pacific desert island for four years, while his loved ones presume him to be dead and move on with their lives.

Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group Inc., is distributing the $85 million film domestically, while privately held DreamWorks has foreign rights. The film played strongly across all demographics, said Fox domestic distribution president Bruce Snyder, who had been hoping for a $30 million launch.

Last weekend's box office champion, the Mel Gibson romantic comedy ``What Women Want'' (Paramount), also co-starring Hunt, slipped to No. 2 with $21.5 million, taking its 11-day total to $70.1 million. Gibson plays a macho ad exec who is suddenly able to hear women's thoughts. Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc. .

Nicolas Cage's romantic comedy-drama ``The Family Man'' (Universal) opened at No. 3 with $15.2 million. Cage plays a single Wall Street banker who finds himself in a parallel universe where he's living in the suburbs married to his college girlfriend (Tea Leoni).

``Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas'' (Universal), starring Jim Carrey, fell one place to No. 4 in its sixth weekend, adding $15.0 million to the till. ``Grinch'' last week surpassed ``Mission: Impossible 2'' to become the biggest film of 2000, and its total now stands at $235.4 million. Universal Pictures is a unit of Vivendi Universal .

``Miss Congeniality'' (Warner Bros.), in which Sandra Bullock plays an FBI agent who goes undercover in a beauty pageant, opened at No. 5 with $13.8 million. Michael Caine co-stars in the comedy, which Bullock also produced.

The comedy performed ``phenomenally'' in exit interviews, according to Dan Fellman, the studio's president of distribution, with 93 percent of young females giving it a ``definite recommend'' rating. Fellman predicted the film would easily reach $100 million, a much-needed hit for the 36-year-old actress, hit-free since 1998's ``Practical Magic.'' Warner Bros. is a unit of Time Warner Inc. .

The modern-day thriller ``Dracula 2000,'' starring Jonny Lee Miller, opened at No. 7 with $7.8 million. The film was released by the Dimension Films banner of Walt Disney Co.'s Miramax Films unit.

The Mandarin-language ``Crouching Tiger'' grossed $4.0 million after widening to 141 theaters from 31 theaters. By contrast, each of the four new wide releases is playing at more than 2,200 theaters, with ``Cast Away'' at 2,780 sites.

The picture, which is racking up year-end ``film of the year'' nods, has grossed $6.9 million to date. It is released by Sony Pictures Classics, a unit of Sony Corp .

Other arthouse movies were entering the crowded field ahead of the Dec. 31 Oscar qualification cut-off, or taking advantage of the holiday crowds to expand their base.

``O Brother, Where Art Thou?,'' a period jailbreak comedy starring George Clooney and John Turturro, grossed $200,000 from five screens in New York and Los Angeles. It goes wide on Jan. 5, via Disney's Touchstone Pictures banner.

``The Gift,'' a supernatural thriller starring Australian Cate Blanchett as a tarot card reader wrapped up in a murder probe, grossed $12,000 on one Los Angeles screen. The Paramount Classics release expands nationwide on Jan. 19.

Miramax's ``Chocolat,'' a sweet fable starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, cooked up $1.3 million after expanding to 255 screens in the top 40 markets from eight in New York and Los Angeles.

Sony's ``Finding Forrester,'' starring Sean Connery as a reclusive novelist who befriends a young black prodigy, earned $51,000 from three theaters for the Friday-to-Sunday period. It expanded to 200 runs nationwide on Christmas Day.

Director David Mamet's Hollywood satire ``State and Main'' pulled in $592,000 from 72 screens ahead of its Jan. 12 expansion on 500 screens. Julian Schnabel's ``When Night Falls,'' a biopic about Cuban novelist/artist Reinaldo Arenas, earned $84,000 from eight screens in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It widens to the top 10 markets on Jan. 12. Both are released by Time Warner's Fine Line Features unit.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the December 22-25 Christmas holiday weekend, according to studio figures released Tuesday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Four-day Cumulative

1. Cast Away ..........  $39,852,075 

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $39,852,075

2. What Women Want .......... $21,632,466 

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $70,199,545

3. The Family Man .......... $15,104,055 

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $15,104,055

4. How The Grinch Stole Christmas .......... $14,728,460 

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $235,119,990

5. Miss Congeniality .......... $13,853,686 

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $13,853,686

6. The Emperor's New Groove ..........  $9,571,198 

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $24,212,108

7. Wes Craven Presents:  Dracula 2000 .......... $8,636,567 

 BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $8,636,567

8. Vertical Limit .......... $5,700,000 

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $38,400,000

9. Dude, Where's My Car? .......... $5,648,536 

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $24,591,612 

10. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon .......... $3,695,485 

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $6,533,541

Reuters/Variety REUTERS

JOHN L.:  There are a lot of new movies this week, so let's get right to it.

CAST AWAY - FULL REVIEW

Tom Hanks is one of a very few actors whose name alone can open a film to over $20 million.  Julia Roberts is on a role, but former guarantees like Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, Jim Carrey, and Adam Sandler have had major stumbling blocks over the last couple of years.  Tom, Mel, and Jim however came back strong with some big movies, while Adam failed with his latest.  Hanks started out as just a goofy guy on a strange sitcom then became a romantic comedy lead with Splash, and then was counted out when Bonfire of the Vanities bombed.  For several years, it looked like Hanks would end up like Peter Scolari, but then 2 things happened.  "A League of Their Own" and "Philadelphia."  Ever since those two movies, Hanks has had hit after hit after hit.  Critics compare him to Jimmy Stewart, when they should keep him separate and compare future stars to Tom Hanks.  He has his own identity and should not be compared to other performers of the past. When people go to the video store and say, I want to see a Tom Hanks movie, that is all you have to say, plot is irrelevant.   Over the last year, Hanks has not been looking that well.  Some people thought he was sick, but no, he was preparing himself for the filming of his new hit film, Cast Away.  This movie is about a Federal Express worker who is the sole survivor of a plane crash and ends up stranded on a deserted island.  His survival is the focal point of the film.  If he can get off the island, what will the world be like?  Would he be able to adjust to clean living again after licking wet leaves, eating live fish, and sleeping on sticks.  Cast Away asks the question, would you want to spend a long period of time stranded on an island with Tom Hanks.  If you like him, then this movie is for you.  Most people enjoy his work, so you will probably like the movie.  I don't want to give too much of the plot away, even though the preview showed the entire film except for maybe 2 plot points.  I will say this.  The movie is good as a Robinson Crusoe concept and a survival film. The plane crash scene is well shot and very dramatic.  I hate plane crash moments in film only because plane crashes freak me out in real life.  Hanks is excellent as a guy trying to make it in impossible odds.  He is funny and sympathetic at all times.  He also has his trademark speech bits like his "there's no crying in baseball" as he discusses the importance of getting a package to its destination as quickly as possible.  Hanks will probably get another Oscar nomination for this movie.  However, the movie will probably not get much in plot structure accolades.  It seems that the writer did not know where to go with this.  Our hero lands on the the beach and through very contrived means figures out how to survive.  Then the film jumps way ahead in time skipping over much of the events and other problems he might have had like wild animals. insects, lack of food, lack of shelter, keeping fires lit when it rains almost everyday, and the fact that there are no other humans around for 1000s of miles.  The movie sets up some basic obstacles and I guess they figured that it would be boring to keep repeating those over and over again, so the movie just jumps ahead to the payoff.  The driving force behind Hanks' character is to return to his girlfriend, played by what seems to be the only actress in Hollywood these days, Helen Hunt who is now in her fourth film since October and is in 2 movies in this week's top 10.  Hunt's role is significant, but fairly small.  There was no time to develop her or her relationship with Hanks before he is spearing fish.  Other events that could have been fleshed out, especially the final half hour, are just touched upon.  The movie is nearly 2 and a half hours, but it needed to either be edited down or expanded.  This movie could have worked better with another half hour of time to really focus on the mindset of the Hanks character and the people in civilization who think he is dead.  There really was not enough time to make this movie better.  A TV miniseries during May Sweeps probably would have been pretty good.  Part one is the development of the loved ones at home and the crash.  Part two is trying to survive on the island.  And part three is the rescue or death of the main character.  Six hour, 3 part program right there.  The movie has the three acts, but they just don't really add up to much.  When the movie ends, it's like, ehh, thought so.  No real surprises.   Hanks is excellent even though he plays the same character in every movie but different.  I guess he has found his niche as an actor. Give 'em something different, but keep it the same.  Instead of jumping ahead like they did, maybe a ten minute musical montage of his life on the island would have helped.  I recommend the movie, but it could have definitely been stronger than it is.  Final Review:  3 stars out of 5; 6 1/2 out of 10; B-; thumbs up.  Helen Hunt needs to take some time off, that's all I'm saying.

Just when you think Hollywood has run out of ideas, they stay in place and prove you right. Nicholas Cage is back and is playing Jack Campbell, a guy who gets to see what life would be like if he had married David Duchovny's wife. Don Cheadle plays the angel with the power to alter time and reality and show what a wonderful life Cage could have had with Tea Leoni. You see, the Jack Campbell character is a rich business man. He said he would be back for Leoni in a year, but it has turned into 13 and she is now a distant memory. His glimpse into an alternate world has him less successful financially, but more successful as a human being, or family man if you will. The question becomes, if he likes this other reality, can it become permanent, or will he return to his rich lifestyle with a poor life? Who cares? I say. This movie is only getting the audience it is because of Cage's celebrity status. The plot is a ripoff of the It's a Wonderful Life gimmick as well as various "One Life to Live" May Sweeps plots. Since the Clarence the Angel trying to get his wings story is so well loved, Hollywood loves to remake it. The twist here is that unlike George Bailey, Jack Campbell may not want to go back to his real life. It seems that the Campbell character may touch more lives as a tire salesman than a Wall Street super freak. I like the Jimmy Stewart original like everyone else, even though it is manipulative and contrived. The ending was good with the brother and the daughter. However, these what if plots work in a certain Twilight Zone type of way, but it is so absent of anything that could ever happen, I just don't take it seriously. It is tolerated because it is a movie fantasy and it is not supposed to be truthful. But, these films are taken way too seriously like they could exist, or we as people should rethink sudden choices and maybe wonder what would have happened if I had turned right instead of left or picked B instead of D or kissed instead of groped, sung instead of cursed, walked instead of drove, slept instead of read, peed instead of crapped, belched instead of farted, emailed instead of phoned, painted instead of traced, contacts instead of glasses, Playstation 2 instead of Dreamcast, MSN instead of AOL, IMac instead of PC, Nader instead of Gore, and on an on. Choices and fate are a weird thing. You never know what the right one is until after the decision has been made. Hindsight is much more than just an ABC news magazine. Sometimes you do get a second chance, but the first chance still happened unlike in the movies or books, or video games where you get multiple lives in case you screw up. The old cliche is true. You don't get a second chance to make a first impression. I don't know how this movie ends, but if they do a bit where he returns to his time and decides to look up Leoni and sees that she is living with Gillian Anderson and they both have a kid sired by Stephen Stills then this movie just might be worth my time.

Sandra Bullock is back again this year with her FBI agent as a beauty pageant contestant trying to catch a terrorist who has threatened to wreak havoc the Miss United States show. Bullock is the only female FBI agent good looking enough to pose a beauty contestant even though her sugar, spice, and Venusian ways are somewhat lacking. This movie is an excuse to put the pretty cute Bullock into hot outfits like evening gowns and bikinis. Hey, no problem here. However, SB is known more for her facial features than her voluptuous form. This movie was supposed to help Bullock regain some of her box office clout she had with "While You Were Sleeping" and to some extent, "The Net." But, the previews and the plot make this movie seem very formulaic and somewhat beneath the status of Bullock who is getting around $12 million. I think a lesser known actress at a lower wage could have actually helped make this movie more profitable. This is the type of role maybe a Denise Richards could have done or Kirsten Dunst (in 5 or 6 years). Bullock has played a cop before in Demolition Man, and maybe should have played her version of Clarice Starling straight in an action/detective story. The problem is, it is difficult to take Bullock seriously in dramas because she is so flighty and giggly all the time. Her girl next door image has hurt her career. Her last movie, 28 Days, suffered because she went the alcoholic route when people prefer her as a party girl who should be able to hold her liquor. Meg Ryan learned this too with "When a Man Loves a Woman," and did not get any box office love. Bullock looks like someone that cannot believe they make movies for a living and that their career is a fluke. Too many people saw Speed and kissed her bum, but now they don't want to see her at all. It's too bad since I do like her because she seems so easy going and friendly. It will take a lot more time before the mass audience accepts a harder edge.

I love the old Universal Studios monster movies of the past. The Wolfman, the Mummy, and Frankenstein all rule their domain. However, the most popular movie monster villain seems to be the vampire, especially the big dog himself, Dracula. Bela Legosi, Max Schreck, Christopher Lee, Frank Langella, George Hamilton, and Gary Oldman have all played various editions of the dark prince to much success. Now, we have Wes Craven, the creator of 2 of the most annoying film series of all time (A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream) with his take on Dracula in the year 2000. This movie has all the shape shifting, neck biting, vampire whore cleavage, dumb crypt crooks, bad Romanian accents, blood, blood, smoke, dirt, but sadly no Sara Michelle Gellar or even Kristy Swanson. Every new vampire movie tries to put a different spin on the old tale. Sometimes the cross doesn't hurt, the sun can be blocked, garlic is eaten, stakes must be wood not formica, and even though Dracula disentigrated, he still can come back for the sequel. This new movie tries to explain Dracula as being based on a true story, but not necessarily the old Vlad the Impaler one. This Drac goes back much much further. Could Dracula really be that old school villain, Judas Iscariot? This movie tries to explain this strange twist. Hmm, that may have been a spoiler. Personally, I have no respect for the vampire story. There are way too many means to kill a vampire and it makes him or her a punk. Holy water, sunlight, cross, stake through the heart, etc seem to just come about too easily for people trying to stop the bloodsucking. Everytime I see Dracula brag about how being a creature of the night kicks ass, I laugh. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a well loved show, but in one of the latest episodes, Buffy is surrounded by 5 vampires and dispatches them all effortlessly in less time it took me to type this sentence. Vampires are all rep and no substance. Because of these weaknesses, the vampire history is never consistent and writers are always trying to work their way around the limitations. Wes Craven's Dracula 2000 is not going to be successful because the whole vampire mythology sucks, and no one cares. Buffy is a show loved by many, but it's still not getting Friends' ratings. Anne Rice is the only one that has made them interesting, but have you seen Interview with a Vampire II: Vamire Lestat in theaters yet?

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is slowly creeping up as a big foreign film success story. It is getting accolade upon accolade from the people who have seen it. I learned about this film months ago, and was somewhat excited to see it because it shows Chow Yun Fat in a hand to foot to hand to sword fighting style that he is not known for. Mr. Fat usually has the two guns in his hand and is flipping in slow motion as he falls out a window overlooking a dove nest. Another reason I was excited about this film is because Michelle Yeoh is in it, best known as James Bond's sidekick in "Tomorrow Never Dies" and Jackie Chan's buddy in "Supercop." I have seen both of these actors in other things and enjoy them, mostly when they are dubbed or subtitled. Both have fan bases in the United States, but their English speaking roles have not been well received by the American masses, especially Chow's. Chow is still not that fluent in English and it hurts his acting in his American movies, and it seems Hollywood is not giving Yeoh much of a chance just because she is a woman since she speaks better English than she does Chinese or Mandarin. Jackie Chan has success when his movies are filmed in English, but the dubbed ones never take off here in the U.S. So, when it was time to release CTHD, the marketers were worried that no one would go see it since the movie was subtitled. Asian dubbing has been goofed on for years, and many people hate having to read movies, and with a movie like Crouching Tiger with so much action going on, you risk missing dialogue when you are trying to see people fly through the air, or you miss the kick to gut while trying to read "oof." What happens then is that the movie is given to the art house crowd first to get a reaction and see if it should go wider. Well, the movie is on 141 screens an made $3.6  million this weekend. I think it is time to add about a 1000 more spots. I live in an area that never gets these movies when they come out. It drives me crazy when that happens. This movie is also based on the Jane Austen novel, Sense and Sensibility, but I don't think that fact will bring in the chop socky crowd who might be eyeing this film for the future. As soon as it gets to my neck of the forest, I will see it. Hopefully, that will be befor Best Buy is selling the DVD for $24.99.

REST OF THE TOP 10 IN 10:

1. Mel Gibson is still riding high doing his Kreskin impersonation on women.

2. Helen Hunt may do the What Women Want sequel as a house wife who loses her husband in a plane crash, her son to a school bully, and is sexually harrased by her gynecologist while posing naked for her gay friend who accidentally dropped his hair dryer in Helen's tub while she was taking a bubble bath.

3. The Grinch is officially the number one film of the year 2000.

4. The Grinch is the first movie to get that honor since Batman Forever jobbed out to Toy Story in 1995.

5. The Grinch also has a good chance of making the top 20 on the box office all time list.

6. The Emperor's New Groove is holding steady and may not be the total bomb it started out to as.

7. Emperor may turn out to be David Spade's most successful post-Farley movie to date.

8. Vertical Limit refuses to fall off the face of the box office top ten cliff.

9. Dude, Where's My Car is on it's way to making a decent profit.

10. Dude, Where's My SUV, however, does not seem to be in the works.

VIDEO NOSE PICK OF THE WEEK:

PRINCESS MONONOKE - FULL REVIEW:

Princess Mononoke was one of the most successful movies ever in Japan. Over here in the U.S, nothing. A lot of money was spent on getting Gillian Anderson, Billy Bob Thorton, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Claire Danes, and Billy Crudup to dub their voices to the japanimation epic. Pokemon is a huge success here in the Americas and it as weaker animation than the average Beavis and Butthead cartoon. A better animated, better characters, and a better told story in the Japanese style should be cash money. It was not. Not many people saw the movie in the United States theaters, so like myself, I had to wait for the video release. I bought into the hype, and when Princess Mononoke came out on DVD, I snatched it up sight unseen. How bad could it be? I am a fan of the manga style of animation in Akira and Wicked City, so I was sure I would enjoy this tale of a young warrior whose arm is injured in battle giving him a Tatarigami curse that will soon kill him unless he can somehow find a cure. While on his search, Ashitaka, meets up with several different characters with their own agendas like Lady Eboshi (voice of Minnie Driver) who wants to take over the forest from the animals, Gonza (voice of Billy Bob Thorton) as the elderly thief who should not be trusted, and Princess Mononucelosis herself (Claire Danes) who has been raised by wolves and defends the forest from the evil human invaders. This all sounds exciting and moving and interesting, and it is even if the movie could have been called Ashitaka instead. The movie has the trademark overly violent Japanese cartoon action with beheadings and various other forms of bodily dismemberment, the environmental protection message, the strong female characters, and the same male lead facial features that all japanimation seems to have. There are plenty of action sequences, social commentary, various degrees of good and evil, talking animals, and on the DVD the Japanese vocal track with the literal English subtitles that differ from the Amercanized dubbing. This movie is not the end all be a whole lot that it has been hyped as. Even though there are many action set pieces, the movie is leisurly paced and may turn off some viewers. Also, the Monoke character is the most unlikable in the film. Part of it is Danes' poor vocal acting, and the other is you never really get involved in the Princess' plight. The movie is really about Ashitaka and Eboshi. Princess M. is supposed to be this hard edged wolf girl, but by the end she is pleading for the help of the male hero like every other story. Instead of kicking some ancient evil incarnate butt, she is becoming its lunch. Since the title character is not that great, it hurts the film. Ashitaka and Eboshi carry the film to a recommendation from me. It is probably my favorite Minnie Driver role. Her British accent is used well here and with her naturally deep voice, it helps get the Lady over as a threat when needed. Billy Crudup (Almost Famous) does well with his job, but is a litlle too laid back. The facial animation on Ashitaka when his arm hurts is good though and helps when Crudups vocals don't always work. This movie is a definite rental, but don't buy it unless you have seen it already and really liked it. There are better animated movies from Japan, but this one is adequate enough. The animation, the overall story of protecting the environment, Ashitaka's life quest, Lady Eboshi, The Wolf, Boar, and Forest Gods, the evil force, and Toki's cleavage are all things I recommend. The Princess herself might interest some, but I did not enjoy her. Final Review: 3 stars out of 5; 6 1/2 out of 10; B; thumbs up. It would be nice if one day the Japanese animators would learn more than just 4 different types of human faces.

That is all for this week and this year. Next week will be my year in review and usual look at the weekend's top ten box office leaders. If I really get on the ball, I might even finally get my media influence report posted. The year 200 did not have a lot of great movies, but there are some obvious choices for worst movies of the year, most of which I will probably own on DVD in the coming weeks. Bye for now.