THURSDAY, JULY 5, 2001

Spielberg's ``A.I.'' leads U.S. box office

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES(Reuters) - Director Steven Spielberg returned to the top of the North American box office Sunday with his first movie in three years, ``A.I. Artificial Intelligence,'' a science-fiction drama originally developed by late filmmaker Stanley Kubrick.

``A.I.'' (released by Warner Bros.) grossed an estimated $30.1 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period, pushing last weekend's champion, ``The Fast and the Furious'' (Universal) to No. 2 with $20 million. Eddie Murphy's ``Dr. Dolittle 2'' (Fox) fell to No. 3 with $15.4 million in its second weekend. Final data will be released Monday afternoon.

With a reported budget of $100 million, ``A.I.'' stars 13-year-old Haley Joel Osment (''The Sixth Sense'') as a robot boy programmed to love. Unable to find complete acceptance from his human family or fellow machines he begins a quest to find out where he truly belongs. The film also stars Jude Law and Frances O'Connor.

Despite its kid-friendly PG-13 rating, ``A.I.'' played mainly to moviegoers aged over 25, according to Warner Bros. distribution president Dan Fellman. The studio, a unit of AOL Time Warner Inc., is splitting any profits with DreamWorks SKG, the privately held studio co-founded by Spielberg.

Fellman added that moviegoers were drawn to the movie by the strong reviews and out of curiosity about the Spielberg/Kubrick collaboration. Kubrick had prepared extensive storyboards and discussed his pet project with Spielberg before his fatal heart attack in March 1999.

Spielberg's last film, ``Saving Private Ryan,'' debuted at No. 1 with $30.6 million in June 1998. Kubrick's posthumous release, ``Eyes Wide Shut,'' bowed at No. 1 with $21.7 million in July 1999, boosted by stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

BOUNCING ``BABY BOY''

This weekend's top 10 contained two other new releases. Director John Singleton's ``Baby Boy'' (Columbia), an urban drama starring Tyrese Gibson, opened at No. 5 with $8.6 million. Since its Wednesday bow, the film has grossed $11.7 million.

The teen romance ``Crazy/Beautiful'' (Touchstone), a tale of forbidden love starring Kirsten Dunst, debuted at No. 8 with $4.5 million. The low-budget urban comedy ``Pootie Tang'' (Paramount), based on a skit from ``The Chris Rock Show,'' opened at No. 12 with $1.6 million.

Columbia Pictures is a unit of Sony Corp. Touchstone Pictures is a unit of Walt Disney Co. Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc.

The top 12 films grossed $115.9 million, down 14 percent from last weekend, and down 7 percent from the year-ago period when ``The Perfect Storm'' opened at No. 1 with $41 million.

After 10 days in release, ``The Fast and the Furious'' has grossed $77.8 million. The street racing film, which stars relative unknowns Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, cost a modest $38 million to produce. Universal is a unit of Vivendi Universal.

``Dr. Dolittle 2'' has pulled in $51 million, also after 10 days, and should end up with about $100 million, predicted Bruce Snyder, president of distribution at Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group Inc. Murphy's first ''Dolittle'' film finished with $144 million in 1998.

``Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' (Paramount), starring Angelina Jolie,'' fell one place to No. 4 in its third weekend with $9.8 million, taking its 17-day total to $101.2 million. As with ''The Fast and the Furious,'' ``Tomb Raider'' lost 50 percent of its audience from last weekend, the biggest slide in the top 10.

This weekend likely marks the last time ``Pearl Harbor'' will feature in the top 10. Disney's World War Two epic fell two places to No. 9 with $4.4 million. After six weekends, the film has grossed $179.4 million, and box office observers believe it will struggle to reach $200 million. REUTERS

Monday July 2 6:31 PM ET

The top movies in North America -- June 29-July 1

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the June 29-July 1 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

Title Gross Gross

1. A.I. Artificial Intelligence .......... $29,352,630 $

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  29,352,630

2. The Fast and the Furious .......... $20,054,890

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $77,869,960

3. Dr. Dolittle 2 .......... $15,812,072

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $51,426,543

4. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider .......... $10,212,454

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $101,605,316

5. Baby Boy .......... $8,606,403

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $11,688,196

6. Atlantis: The Lost Empire .......... $8,285,689

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $58,437,005

7. Shrek .......... $7,707,203

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $228,142,129

8. Pearl Harbor .......... $4,722,956

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $179,731,614

9. Crazy/Beautiful .......... $4,715,060

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $4,715,060

10. Swordfish .......... $4,342,757

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $60,833,507

NOTE: ``Pootie Tang'' opened at No. 12 with $1,506,233.

Reuters/Variety REUTERS

John L.:  Who wins and loses at the box office is such a weird thing.  A movie like A. I. can make $30 million and be considered a mild disappointment, but a movie like Baby Boy makes $8.6 million and is considered a mild hit.  The only sure thing is that "Pootie Tang" has Pootie Tanked at the box office.  You see, no one knew or really cared who Pootie is.  I may have seen the Pootie Tang sketch on the Chris Rock show once, but I didn't let it stick with me.  Stanley Kubrick's love child known as A.I.: Artificial Intelligence opened better than any other Kubrick movie ever made.  However, it is around 6th place in terms of Steven Spielberg flicks.  I have a full review of this big time collaboration.  Baby Boy also gets the full review treatment in this report.  John Singelton's one track mind is at it again with his follow up to Boyz in the Hood.  Kirsten Dunst is still able to make poorly received movies because she has Spiderman coming out next year, and that will be a monster at the box office. Crazy/Beautiful had a tough road to travel to reach the teen audience it craved.  More analysis later. 

A. I.:  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE - FULL REVIEW

The ending of A. I. is a mess, so let's get that out of the way right now.  If you can accept how the last 25 minutes of this movie plays out, then you will most likely enjoy what you have seen before.  I won't go into too much detail about what happens, but the movie  seemed to want to end on a more upbeat ending than how it could have ended an hour and 45 minutes into the film.  Most reviews that have been negative of A. I. say it fell apart here, and they are correct.  But, if the movie had ended where the critics wanted it too, everyone would have felt just as cheated.  Before I get into the overall movie, I will say this about how the ending could have been fixed.  The dramatic downer ending that basically becomes an in film cliffhanger would have worked better without the Ben Kingsley narration and just a one line blurb about what had just happened.  The voice over sounds like the movie is over and when it does not end, the audience becomes restless and does not want to accept what happens next.  When these final 6 scenes or so occur they play like a deleted scene sequence on a DVD or a test screen worthy ending to satisfy the people who fill out review cards.  For the ending to be more emotional, it needed to have a stronger beginning.  So, let's look at what this movie is about and then do the necessary ritual of kissing the ass of Haley Joel Osment who seems to be unable to do wrong in the eyes of the public.  A. I. was the brain child of Stanley Kubrick.  He has been fascinated with the story of a wooden boy who wants to be a real boy know as "Pinocchio."  In fact that one story is the basis of much of robotic science fiction.  Every robot wants to act like an imperfect human.  Robots, androids, meccas, whatever you want to call them can do all sorts of neat physical and mathematical things, but emotions always wrecks havoc on their programming.  For some reason, they feel that if they become human, everything will be okay.  As it usually turns out, they are right and wrong at the same time.  Kubrick got the idea to make Pinocchio into a sci fi tale from reading Brian Aldiss' short story "Supertoys Last All Summer Long" about a robot child trying to please his mummy enough so that she will love him.  That short story is the basis for the first third of the current movie.  Kubrick died before he could make this film, but before he passed away, he handed the directorial reigns over to Steven Spielberg.  Spielberg has made a good movie on its surface and to some extent to its more subtle parts.  Osment plays David, an android child who has been bought by a couple who has a real son in a cryogenic coma.  The father is excited to try out this new thing, but the mother is very reluctant to accept this fake boy over her incapacitated real child.  The whole movie then becomes David trying to figure out how to be loved by his mother.  The problem comes when the mother is supposed to come around to loving David and Spielberg forgets to put in the scene that is the catalyst to this emotional jump.  One moment she is thinking about taking him back to the robot making plant, and then the next she is crying because David called her mommy.  The actual moment of bonding is needed to make the rest of the movie work.  Since it is not there, you have to just accept that the mother has fallen in love with her new toy.  This quest for a mothers love leads David to the outside world where he meets all sorts of different robots and people, including the male prostitute, Gigolo Joe, played by Jude Law.  Their adventures together are interesting but not all that exciting especially when they enter the Flesh Fair which is the most Kubrickian section of the film and also the most disturbing.  This fair is the section of the movie that even the ones who enjoy the overall film say they did not like.  While all these wild things are going on, there is a Jimminy Cricket type character known as Teddy.  Teddy is the best thing in the film, even though he creeped me out at first, but I learned to enjoy his antics.  Teddy follows David and Joe around the world on David's quest to become a real boy so his mommy will love him.  He also gives out advice and other little warnings when danger is around.  When the movie is over, you won't be debating the final fate of David, you will say "what about Teddy?"  The plot of this movie was supposed to be a big secret, but it pretty much plagiarizes the Pinocchio story down to the Blue Fairy.  More originality would have helped.  Haley Joel is a great actor and does an excellent job here.  His robot mannerisms are very subtle but effective enough to show that you are not looking at a real human being.  His android laugh is pretty strange to hear.  Frances O'Connor plays the mother in search of a son, and she is very good as well.  O'Connor is an up and coming actress that we might hear more of in the future.  I enjoyed her work in "Bedazzled" where she played the object of Brendan Fraser's affections.  This role is somewhat similar because both characters are part of the obsession of another.  Jude Law is fine as Joe, but he doesn't do much more than have his hair turn blonde just before he seduces a lonely woman.  He just has to stay out of the way while Osment does his thing.  I am a little sick of the robot wanting to become human story.  Just once I would like to see a robot embrace its robotity without having to destroy the world.  But no, that breaks the rules of science fiction.  "Bicentennial Man" with Robin Williams as an android trying to be accepted as a human is very similar to A. I.  That movie bombed because people are sick of the same android plot.  A. I. does nothing different here either.  The point in the movie when David may have found his answer, but can't stop asking the question, is very powerful, but if it had ended there, it would have been a disappointment.  The film continues a bit too long to get to where it wants to go.  Because of the multiple endings, A. I.: Artificial Intelligence is not as smart as it wants to be.  I am going to recommend the movie because it is well acted and the effort is there to make something thought provoking. Also, I can't give a thumbs down to a movie that has a character like Teddy.  Final Review:  2 1/2 stars out of 5; 6 out of 10; B-; thumbs up.  More time spent on the family relationship in the beginning and less on the choose your own adventure ending, and this movie could have been one of the best of the year.

BABY BOY - FULL REVIEW

John Singleton wants us to know that black people living in the hoods of Los Angeles and the various inner cities across the country are in trouble.  There are drugs, guns, criminals, poverty, violence, lots of sex wanted and unwanted, and liquor stores. If Singleton was a white man, some of his movies would be considered racist in their portrayals of African Americans.  In Baby Boy, we have the story of Jody, played by Tyrese Gibson, who is 20 years old and still living with his single mom.  Jody does not want to grow up and take responsibility of his own life even though he has 2 kids by 2 different women.  His brother was kicked out of the house and he was promptly killed.  Jody is afraid that he will end up like his brother if he leaves.  However, even though his mother loves him, she wants him to go out and make something of himself on his own.  Also, she wants to get her groove on with her new boyfriend, Melvin, played by Ving Rhames.  Melvin is an ex-con just released from prison, and he is not the right man for Jody's mom.  Melvin believes he is the right man, and if Jody gets in his way, then Jody is going to have problems.  Down the street is Yvette who is the mother of Jody's son.  Jody really loves her more than the mother of his daughter.  If Jody can get his act together, he might even marry her and settle down, but there is a problem.  Rodney used to go with Yvette, and he wants her back now that he is out of prison.  What is a brother to do?  The basic drama of Baby Boy is pretty good.  The movie flows well and is never dull and somewhat funny much of the time.  Jody has nightmares about dying in the street and we follow him through his story to see if that is just a dream or a premonition.  Tyrese, of MTV and music fame is good as Peter Pan, the boy who never grows up.  He pretty much has the 2 basic expressions down that every first time actor has.  Big grin when he is happy, and a stone face glare when he is sad.  He has good scenes with Yvette, played by Taraji Henson, especially their sex scenes, but his best moments are opposite Ving Rhames as Melvin.  Rhames is the best actor in the film and the most experienced.  His Melvin is not just a potential beater of Jody's mom, but a guy who has seen too much in his life to be disrespected by a punk kid.  Melvin could have been one note and uninteresting, but he is a well rounded character that is not all that he appears to be.  The one note characterization goes to Snoop Doggy Dogg as Rodney.  Snoop is not an actor and he proves it here in this movie.  He just plays a variation on the characters he plays in his music videos, except a bit more sadistic.  Fortunately, his role is not that big that it hurts the movie.  I am a fan of Snoops music, and it was hard to watch him here and not go "hey that's Snoop" every time he showed up on screen.  Ice Cube has nothing to fear here.  The expression baby boy comes from a psychologist who said that the black man has been treated like a child for years as a way to keep him down.  For example, a black man calls his friends his "boys" and his home his "crib."  I guess the psychologist has never heard of wiggers.  Like I said, I enjoyed the drama of the movie.  What hurts the film is its language.  Almost every scene has a variation on the word "nigga" being used.  It has become accepted use by black people to call each other nigga as a form of endearment or jive talk.  It was a way to diffuse the hurtful use of the more aggressive word "nigger" used by racists and Los Angeles policemen.  Nigga is used so much in this movie that I think it is said more than "the."  This can be a little unsettling to hear especially for the white audiences that are afraid to go to the cineplex to see this movie.  That is sort of sad.  I personally laugh at the comedic use of the "N-word" and cringe at its poor use.  It is used comedically in this film, and no white person utters it in any form. In fact, I don't believe there were any white people in this movie at all.  At least none with any speaking roles.  The cursing in the movie is pretty extreme as well. Most people curse in real life, but the extent in this movie of the eff word and its many permutations is a little extreme.  If Singleton wants to show the plight of the hood to a broader audience than to people that are living it, then he may need to tone down what is said.  As it is presented here, if this is supposed to represent some form of real life, it is not going to get any sympathy from those who could help change things.  Watch the news for reality.  This movie has a basis in what is going on in real life, but it is still just a movie.  Not all black people act like the ones portrayed in this film.  Overall, I did like the movie despite it being a little low on the dialogue quality scale.  Final Review:  3 stars out of 5; 6 1/2 out of 10; B; thumbs up.  

POOTIE TANG - FULL REVIEW

Uhh, I didn't think I was going to see this movie since I had never really seen the sketch on the "Chris Rock Show" about a swinging cat who is too cool for words. Lance Crouther plays the title character and is as funny as he can be given the material.  This movie bombed right out of the gate because not enough people knew what this movie was about and not enough cared to find out. Another thing that hurts the film is that it did not have enough of a story to sustain its 80 minute running time.  The joke here is that Pootie is a crime fighter who has his own language.  He says things that seem to be english, but sound more like gibberish.  This one joke is sort of funny.   I did laugh when he says his catch phrases and what makes it funny is that everyone understands everything he says.  There are no double take or "whatchoo talkin' bout Willis" stares. Crouther is endearing as Tang and does a good job.  Chris Rock plays multiple roles including Pootie's father and later, Pootie' best friend.  Rock is okay in the movie, but he is still looking for a purpose as a big screen actor.  Wanda Sykes as Pootie's love interest is the best thing in the film.  She sort of narrates the movie as a Greek Chorus.  She tells the audience what is going on and how she will eventually have to rape Pootie if he does not sleep with her willingly.  Robert Vaughn shows up as Dick Lecter the owner of all that is wrong with the world. His businesses supply the malt liquor, fast food hamburgers, and overly expensive tennis shoes that are hurting the neighborhoods.  Pootie is telling the kids to eat right and don't drink which is causing Lecter to lose money.  He has to get Pootie to be his spokesman, or he will go out of business.  So it is Pootie vs Lecter.  This movie could have played better as a television special or pilot.  Rock should have produced this as an HBO movie and it could have been more successful and accepted by the people who had actually seen the character of Pootie Tang before.  There was not enough of an audience to release this as a motion picture.  The movie is only an hour long if you take out all of the superfluous musical interludes.  This movie opened out of the top 10 and made less than $2 million.  However, it only cost $3 million to make, so it won't be a complete disaster.  A good DVD could be made of this that could have a Pootie Tang dictionary to translate all of his dialogue, or even have a dubbed track that has everyone speaking in Pootietangese and have Pootie speaking in straight english.  Sort of like what they did on the "Galaxy Quest" DVD where there was a track where the whole movie was spoken in the language of the aliens.  As it is now, Pootie Tang is too much of a one joke movie to really appeal to the masses.  The joke as a 5 minute sketch on late night television is funny, but for 75 minutes, it can be somewhat boring.  Better luck next time.  Final Review:  1 1/2 stars out of 5; 4 1/2 out of 10; C-; thumbs down.  

This report is very late this week so no Rest of the Top 10 in 10, and next week is my big mid summer review so I will make up for it then.  It will also have full reviews of Scary Movie 2 and Kiss of the Dragon.  Bye for now.