Roberts' ``Brockovich'' scores slim box office win
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Julia Roberts was queen of the North American box office for the second consecutive weekend,narrowly beating the new martial arts movie ``Romeo Must Die,'' according to studio estimates issued Sunday.
Roberts' legal drama ``Erin Brockovich'' (Universal) grossed about $19 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period, while ``Romeo Must Die'' (Warner Bros.) debuted with $18.6 million. Together, they accounted for half of all ticket sales of the top 12 films.
With the Academy Awards taking place Sunday evening, the two leading contenders for the best picture Oscar, ``American Beauty'' and ``The Cider House Rules'' each increased their hauls.
DreamWorks' ``Beauty'' pulled in $3.9 million, a 25 percent boost from last weekend, as it held
steady at No. 7. Its 194-day total stands at $108.4 million. ``Cider House'' (Miramax) fell one
place to No. 9, but increased its tally by 13 percent to $2.8 million. After 108 days in release, it
has grossed $49.7 million.
But their jumps were tiny compared to that for ``Boys Don't Cry'' (Fox Searchlight), which
surged 51 percent to $773,000, the most it's ever made in one weekend. The gender-bending
love story is competing for two acting Oscars, lead actress Hilary Swank and supporting actress Chloe Sevigny. After almost six months in release, it has grossed $7.9 million.
According to Exhibitor Relations Co., which collects the studios' data, the top 12 films this weekend grossed a combined $74 million, unchanged from last weekend, and up 24 percent from the year-ago period when Sandra Bullock's ``Forces of Nature'' remained at No. 1 with $9.4 million.
Two teen movies aimed at young women bowed with disappointing results, effectively cannibalizing the market. ''Here on Earth'' (Fox) opened at No. 5 with $4.6 million, followed by ``Whatever It Takes'' (Columbia) at No. 6 with $4.3 million.
``Romeo Must Die'' also siphoned off a broad cross-section of the moviegoing audience, thanks to its high-octane action, popular soundtrack and the presence of Hong Kong action hero Jet Li, and recording stars Aaliyah and DMX. Jet Li plays an ex-cop who battles waterfront corruption in the San Francisco Bay area.
``It's a full play for those who enjoy martial arts movies,'' said Dan Fellman, president of distribution at Warner Bros.
Since its release on Wednesday, the film has earned $25.1 million, about equal to its production budget. Its three-day per screen average of $7,043 was the highest in the top 10.
After 10 days in release, ``Erin Brockovich'' has earned $56.3 million. It dipped a reasonable 32 percent from last weekend.
The movie is based on the true exploits of a brassy single mother (Roberts) who gets a job at a law firm, stumbles upon a case of water contamination by a California utility and wins a record $333 million settlement for the victims.
The teen Grim Reaper thriller ``Final Destination'' (New Line) held steady at No. 3 with $7.1 million in its second weekend. Its 10-day total is $20.3 million.
``Mission to Mars'' (Touchstone) lost about half its audience for the second weekend in a row. This weekend, the critically maligned sci-fi drama fell two places to No. 4 with $5.8 million, bringing its 17-day total to $49.3 million.
Universal Pictures is a unit of Seagram Co. Ltd. (Toronto:VO.TO - news). Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema are units of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX - news). Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films are units of Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS - news). Twentieth Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are units of Fox Entertainment Group Inc. (NYSE:FOX - news). Columbia
Pictures is a unit of Sony Corp. (6758.T). DreamWorks SKG is privately held.
hate
About You/Taming of the Shrew, to Hamelt (Ethan Hawk)/Hamelt (Mel Gibson)/Hamlet(Keneth
Branagh)/ Hamelt(Laurence Olivier) to Romeo Must Die/Westside Story/Romeo and
Juliet, original thought is very lacking. Jet Li is a wonder to behold in
his martial arts films. Joel Silver has said that when they made Lethal
Weapon 4 with him, they had to slow down the film and tell Mr. Li to slow down a
bit so the camera could catch his moves and that Mel Gibson and Danny Glover did
not look like total saps trying to fight him toe to foot in the face. The
previews for this flick were pretty good establishing the plot and the fast
action karate sequences. The $18.6 million is a surprise as these type of
movies usually open below $10 million. Jet's rep is getting more over than
Jackie Chan. The other thing that gets this movie the mucho moolah is the
music contingent. DMX is a popular hardcore rapper, but he is not really
the focus of the preview, and if you blink, you will not even know he is in
it. However, the other singer, Aaaliyah, is a big part of the preview as
well. I have not followed her career that closely. I believe she sung the them
song from the animated movie, Anastasia. She looks good next to Li, so
their chemistry together looks to gel pretty well. The main focus of
the film is its action sequences with Jet Li flipping and floating over his
victims in Matrix like fashion. Because the fight scenes are so Blue/Red
pillish, I decided to hold back making an effort to see the movie. Romeo
Must die takes place in "normal" reality, but Li is doing
physics-defying stunts in the name of entertainment making the battles look
phony and taking the amazement out of them. If it was more realistic it
would make it more thrilling. In the Matrix, they had superpowers that
made them able to float in the air, but in RMD, Li does not. I saw the
making of the movie on HBO and I see all of the actors on wires and it just
depressed me. I have seen LI's Asian movies and they do that float fight
thing, but those are a different breed of film that exaggerates
everything. That type of style is not quite right for the American movie
crowd. Li could have done most of those stunts without the wires with just
less street magician tricks. Even with that criticism, movies are based on
fantasy, so just accept it and enjoy.
like
Access Hollywood and Vanity Fair like to say are the stars of tomorrow.
Unfortunately no one cares about them today. The biggest star is the Helen
Hunt look alike, Leelee Sobieski. She seems to have a promising career
with roles in Deep Impact, Joan of Arc, and to some extent Eyes Wide Shut.
All she needs to do is play a dysfunctional daughter of Helen Hunt and she might
just past Natalie Portman on the hot young starlett ladder. Chris Klein is
also trying to make a movie career as well. He was good in American Pie as
the jock with the heart of gold and is trying to repeat that romantic part in a
more serious way with this flick. Where's the apple pie? Josh
Hartnett is more famous for his horror movies like Halloween H2O and the
Faculty. He has a strange Matt Dillonish look that makes him hard to take
on screen. However, if they ever do get famous like Oscar nominations or a
$150 million film, they will look back on this romantic triangle as a moment in
history. This movie's preview was way too sappy and dull looking.
Any average teen television drama looks to surpass this movie. This may
attract the female lovestruck set, but it will be hard to get the boyfriends to
show up for this. Next time guys add a serial killer or internet porn.
something that is successful usually ends in disaster. Imitation of things
that suck, but made better can be successful. Imitation of something that
is good and the imitation is good as well can mean success on video and
cable. The preview does not show any actors that stick out as "oh, I
think I know that guy/girl." It has a lot of guys looking to get laid
by pretty high school girls and it does have guys looking for internet
porn. Hmm, not very original. It seems that every month must have a
film about guys trying to score with the head cheerleader of the high school and
learning that head cheerleaders suck and the mousy girl is the one to get with
who becomes super hot when she takes off her glasses and lets their hair
down. Just like real life. Sports guys and the cheerleader girls are
always the focus of these movies and it has become annoying because most people
never become those things. It is somewhat depressing to watch. I
think all of these movies are made by guys that could not get laid in high
school and this is their revenge. See the makers of Freaks and Geeks.
Another teen comedy lost in the hay.
fascinating
and if played a little straighter could have become a mainstream classic.
However, the formula that the movie goes by makes it a bit sensational.
Seven people get off a plane before it crashes, but they soon realize that they
WERE supposed to die on that plane so the coincidences of death try to finish
the job. What happens is characters become victims of haunted water, live
wires, kitchen knives, vodka, buses, electrical signs, moving trains, and rusty
hooks. The movie also has a sick sense of humor. There is a sick bit
that happens on the plane, and there is a song that plays several times death is
about to creep up on a "suspecting" victim. Also, the lessen
learned is that water is a great conductor of electricity. The actors are
all pretty
good, but they do sound silly sometimes when they try to figure out what is
going on, and the reaction to the guy who realizes the plane was going to crash
is quite unbelievable when people shun him when they should be kissing his
butt. There are several suspenseful set pieces and there is one scene that
if you get the DVD of it you will rewind a 100 times just to see how they did
it. Another part that is great is the one scene with Tony Todd as the
mortician. His last 2 lines come out of nowhere and will go down as one of
the best lines of the year. The movie has only a few scary scenes since
the 90s type of humor with the horror is all through the film. But some of
the deaths are spectacular and the special effects are good especially during
the plane crash dream sequence. However, there is one scene where you know
one character is about to get damaged because he suddenly looks like he is
standing in front of a blue screen to set up his death special effect.
James Wong, the director, is famous for his psycho X-Files episodes like
"Home" about the inbred brothers with their amputeed mother living
under her bed. That episode is so strange they don't even air it in
syndication. Devon Sawa is a good actor. He is now 2 for 2 in my
book. I liked his work in Idle Hands, a very underrated movie, and he is
good in this film. He will probably never get any respect, but he is
really good in these 
offbeat
movies. Ali Carter plays the caring girl who becomes enamored with the guy
who saved her life. She is strange in the movie, but she was the best part
in Varsity Blues with her whipped cream bikini. Much respect there.
The other guy in the movie, Seann Scott, who played Stifler in American Pie is
the comic relief and the only guy in the movie that has any real reactions to
the events. For example, Sawa's character saves his life and he treats him
like a near deity like anyone else would. Chad Donella is one of the most
sympathetic people in the movie and if you are trying to remember where he is
from he was on an episode of X-Files in which he played a disturbed cannibal who
just wanted to be loved. It was called "Hungry" and the whole
episode was told from his point of view. He has an annoying voice, but a fairly
decent actor who is good in Final Destination. And one last thing about this
film. This movie is somewhat revolutionary in that there is no demon,
monster, or stalking masked killer. The killer in this movie is the
abstract notion of fate. Watching the previews or reading a summary of the
movie you might think that there is a Grim Reaper type figure running around
like in that Ingmar Bergman flick. Nothing like that happens. You never
see any image or form of a being or entity causing these mishaps. No point
of view shot, just the random things that can occur that can lead to
catastrophic occurrences. It's a neat way to go with the story and that
dose of reality makes the movie a bit better than the average Scream rip-off
fare we are all used to. Final Review: 3 stars; 8 out of 10; A-;
thumbs up. High recommendation for anyone in the mood for a good teen
horror flick.
Oscars, and the character that Lucas thought would be the next Chewbacca or R2D2
of the series, Jar Jar Binks gets worst supporting Razzie. I agree. Binks
was not developed well in Phantom Menace and his annoying actions were never
replaced with some heroic act to make him tolerable. Heather Donahue's
acting in Blair Witch was very disturbing. If I was lost in the woods with
her, I would have gladly stood in a corner waiting for Elly Kedward to
disembowel me. Denise Richards is one of the hottest women in the history
of film, but she was a bit worse than Terri Hatchers turn as a Bond girl in
Tomorrow Never Dies. Richards has potential because she is hot, so she too
will be back. The other winners are typical Razzie nominees, but I do have
my pick for worst movie of the century and that is definitely David Lynch's
Eraserhead, a movie so bad that I have vowed that I will never say a movie is
worse than that no matter what.
Beatty
never had a chance. Her heterosexual role was no match for the cross dresser.
The most ironic moment of the Oscar show happened during Swank's acceptance
speech when her husband, Chad Lowe, showed that boys DO cry. Angelina
Jolie just won an Oscar for playing a looney. Works every time, but judging by
her outfit and her questionable relationship with her brother, it was not much
of a stretch. She is in line to play Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider
movie. Looks like she will be back next year at Oscar time for sure.
She should also look into doing Addams Family 4 since she seems to have the
Morticia look down pretty well. Warren Beatty may be a Irving
Thalberg winning director, but he needs to learn about editing. Michael
Caine's speech was nice, but if I was a losing nominee I
would be pissed. Don't say how everyone is a winner and you are honored to be in
such great company, and you don't deserve this award. Just say thank you
and get the hell off the stage. Best moment was when the movie King Gimp
won for Documentary Short Subject and the subject of the film got so excited he
fell out of his wheelchair. That was the most honest moment on the show
and it was fun to see. I am not goofing on his cerebral palsy because he showed
that he may be disabled, but he has feelings like everyone else. Cool
moment. The Blame Canada song was performed well, even though Robin
Williams' voice seemed to be a bit whorse. I almost thought it would win
the award, but I forgot, Disney never loses this category. Hey, Academy,
it's the same damn song every year!! Oh, as an extra aside, the best
dressed at the show was South Park creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone who were
wearing Jennifer 
Lopez's
2000 Grammy dress and Gwen Paltrow's Oscar dress from last year
respectfully. Life's a drag. Billy Crystal is good and all and very
comfortable in his role as host. However, next time either do the live
medley or the jumping in and out of movie clips bit. A half hour of you
vamping is a bit much. Pedro Almodovar had the best speech just because
they literally had to drag him off the stage. Best line was by
Roberto Benigni had the best line about wishing he was a dog so that he could
wag his tail in the joy that felt at being at de Oscar. I am not a big fan
of the man who killed the Pink Panther movie franchise, but he can be funny in
his Italian sillyness. The Matrix was the biggest winner of the night by
winning all four of the awards it was nominated for defeating Phantom Menace in
all of its excess. Matrix did have some different things that I agree were
worthy of the Oscar award. Phantom Menace was good, but it took away from
the story and was more distracting than other ILM produced movies. The
overall show was good, but as usual too long. They have to cut out those
pointless tributes and production numbers. They could easily cut 30 to 45
minutes out of that show. And the last thing is Willie the garbage man who
found the missing Oscars in the dumpster. He is the true mack daddy with
that top hat he was wearing like he had never dressed up before in his
life. "Nobody is taking my hat goddamnit!" What a
wonderful night for Oscar.
