Tuesday,  August 22, 2000

Jennifer Lopez tops at box office with ``The Cell''

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - ``The Cell,'' a new psychological thriller starring Jennifer Lopez, grabbed the honors at the North American weekend box office, while Spike Lee's concert film ``The Original Kings of Comedy'' opened at No. 2, according to studio estimates issued Sunday.

``The Cell'' (New Line) grossed $17.2 million for the Friday- to-Sunday period, and ``Kings of Comedy'' (Paramount) $11.7 million. The weekend's other new wide release, the low-budget Japanese import ``Godzilla 2000'' (Columbia), opened at No. 11 with $4.6 million.

Columbia's invisible man thriller ``Hollow Man,'' which had ruled the box office for the previous two weekends, fell to No. 7 with $6.1 million, taking its 17-day total to $61.7 million.

Overall ticket sales slid for the fourth consecutive weekend. Tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. reported the top 12 films grossed $88.7 million, down 8.2 percent from last weekend and down 35.5 percent from the year-ago period, when ''The Sixth Sense'' topped the charts for the third weekend.

``The Cell'' played mostly to moviegoers under 35, and equally to men and women, said David Tuckerman, president of distribution at Time Warner Inc.-owned New Line. Reviews were mixed, but he said audiences were drawn by the film's inventive storyline and stunning visuals.

Lopez plays a scientist who literally gets inside the brain of a serial killer (Vincent D'Onofrio) via an experimental neurological technique. It marked the feature directing debut of Tarsem Dhandwar, a music video and commercials director who goes by his first name. He is perhaps best known for shooting the R.E.M. video ``Losing My Religion.''

As a footnote, ``The Cell'' marks the fifth consecutive No. 1 film starring a scientist or professor. ``Hollow Man'' was preceded by ``Nutty Professor II: The Klumps,'' ``What Lies Beneath'' and ``X Men.''

Lee's ``Kings of Comedy'' features four black comics, D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, Bernie Mac and Steve Harvey. The $3 million film was shot in four days on digital video and blown up to 35mm. The film's audience was 80 percent black, a spokeswoman for Viacom Inc.-owned Paramount said.

The film also won honors for the highest screen average in the top 10, or $13,813 from just 847 theaters across the United States and Canada. ``The Cell `` posted the second-highest average with $7,134 from 2,411 theaters. With the exception of ''Kings of Comedy'' all top 10 movies were playing at a minimum of 2,200 theaters.

``Godzilla 2000,'' the 23rd installment in the Japanese killer lizard franchise, played mostly to very young children, said a Columbia spokesman, who predicted the film would be profitable for the studio, with a haul in the $15 million-$20 million range. Columbia is a unit of Sony Corp.

Rounding out the top five were the Warner Bros. pair of ''Space Cowboys'' at No. 3 with $9.9 million and ``The Replacements'' at No. 4 with $7.5 million, and DreamWorks' ``What Lies Beneath'' at No. 5 with $7.1 million.

After 17 days, ``Space Cowboys'' has grossed $54.2 million, ''The Replacements'' $23.7 million after 10 days and ``What Lies Beneath'' $123.7 million after 31 days. Warner Bros. is also a unit of Time Warner, while DreamWorks is privately held.

Universal's sixth-ranked ``Nutty Professor'' sequel passed the century mark on Friday, with its $6.4 million weekend taking the total to $104.4 million. Universal is a unit of Seagram Co. Ltd.

DreamWorks' ``Chicken Run'' passed the century mark on Monday and its $101.9 million haul takes it past ``The Prince of Egypt'' ($101.2 million) to rank as the studio's best performing animated feature.

In its third weekend of release, Fine Line's British dope comedy ``Saving Grace,'' starring Brenda Blethyn, expanded to 254 screens from 35 screens, and took in $1.03 million. It widens to upward of 700 screens on Sept. 1. Fine Line is also a unit of Time Warner.

New releases next weekend include the Burt Reynolds mob comedy ``The Crew,'' the cheerleader comedy ``Bring it On'' and the Wesley Snipes thriller ``The Art of War.'' REUTERS

The top 10 movies at the box office

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the top 10 movies at the North American box office for the Aug. 18-20 weekend, according to studio estimates collected Sunday by Reuters. Final data will be issued Monday.

1 (+) The Cell ....................... $17.2 million

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $17,200,000

2 (+) The Original Kings of Comedy ... $11.7 million

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $11,700,000

3 (2) Space Cowboys .................. $9.9 million

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $54,200,000

4 (3) The Replacements ............... $7.5 million

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $23,700,000

5 (6) What Lies Beneath .............. $7.1 million

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $123,700,000

6 (5) Nutty Professor II: The Klumps . $6.4 million

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $104,400,000

7 (1) Hollow Man ..................... $6.1 million

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $61,700,000

8 (4) Autumn in New York ............. $5.7 million

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $21,200,000

9 (8) Coyote Ugly .................... $5.0 million

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $43,800,000

10 (7) Bless the Child ................ $4.9 million

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $18,100,000

NOTE: Last weekend's position in parenthesis. + - new release. ``Godzilla 2000'' opened at No. 11 with $4.6 million.

``The Cell'' is released by New Line Cinema, and ``Space Cowboys'' and ``The Replacements'' by Warner Bros., both units of Time Warner Inc.

``The Original Kings of Comedy'' and ``Bless the Child'' are released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc.

``What Lies Beneath'' is released by DreamWorks SKG, which is privately held.

``Nutty Professor II: The Klumps'' is released by Universal Pictures, a unit of Seagram Co. Ltd.

``Hollow Man'' and ``Godzilla 2000'' are released by Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp.

``Autumn in New York'' is released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.

``Coyote Ugly'' is released by Touchstone Pictures, a unit of Walt Disney Co. REUTERS

JOHN L.:  A whole lot to cover this week.  I have 3, count them, 3 full reviews of the newest movies released this weekend.  Lopez, Harvey, and Murata were all up in my area.  It is the dog days of Summer and these are not the best crop of movies that Hollywood has to offer, but I have yet to see anything in months that could be considered the best.  Jennifer Lopez is trying to establish herself as an actress after having some success as a pop singer.  Spike Lee tries to have mainstream hit after bombing out for the last several years.  The Toho movie company in Japan is trying to bring back the good name of Gojira after the makers of "The Patriot" bastardized the King of Monster's name in 1998.   Now, it's on with the reviews.

THE CELL - FULL REVIEW

Serial killers in movies are a strange lot.  They think they are committing the perfect crime and that they will never get caught, but they always screw up in ways that if people in real life acted like that, there would be no real serial killers.  The Cell is another example of a serial killer who has no idea how to get away with his crime.  Vincent D'Onofrio plays the psycho who kidnaps women and then leaves them in a small room where he eventually floods it until they drown.  The police, lead by Vince Vaughn catch up with him, but not before Vinnie D. runs out of his asprin and has an aneurysm and falls into an irreversible coma.  However, there is a girl still missing and the cops know that he tortures his victims for a couple of days before they die, but D'Onofrio is the only one who knows where she is and he ain't talking.  In comes child psychologist, Jennifer Lopez, who is working on this new therapy of entering the mind of coma children and experiencing their inner mind/world in hopes of leading them back to normal.  If Lopez can enter, the killer's mind, maybe she can find out where the latest victim is being held.  Okay, that plot sounds sort of stupid, but it gives the makers the excuse to show off a lot of special effects and fancy outfits.  Up to this point the movie is okay, not great.  After seeing the previews, I am just waiting for Lopez to do her mind trip.  I will say that the best thing so far is the technique D'Onofrio uses to catch his victims.  He is a tricky devil.  The other part was Lopez wearing the shirt and no pants while looking in the refrigerator.  If you look real close, you Lopez fans get a glimpse of a thong.  Lopez also had been wandering around a kid's head, but it was pretty barren and dull.  For some reason, Lopez needed to ride a horse on the Tatooine set from Star wars to help a kid wake up from a deep sleep.  When inside the killer's head, it becomes one of the director, Tarsem's music videos.  In the real world, the killer is sort of mousy, but in his mind he is like a god or demon lord.  Lopez wears fancy outfits to counter his actions, but she seems to be pretty helpless through must of the film and really does not do much except look nervous.  When she finally comes around to facing D'Onofrio on his own terms, it becomes abrupt and somewhat pointless.   This movie is being criticized for being too violent and suggestive and almost got an NC-17 rating.  Let me tell you, this movie is not as violent as the plot tries to make you think.  It is disturbing in some parts, but mostly when the killer embarks on his self torture/sexual pleasure thing.  He has about 8 hooks in his back and he hangs naked over one of his recently drowned victims and I guess he has sex with the corpse.  You never see what he actually does because nowadays it is more frightening to suggest violence and leave things up to your imagination.  In other words, the writers and director could not figure out how to show it or they ran out of money.  A girl is shown drowning and shaking in her death throws and that can be bothersome to people.  The other thing is this dream/maybe real sequence where the killer is pulling the intestines out of a guy and rolling it like spaghetti on a fork.  This freaked people out in the theater, but since the victim knew they could not be hurt because they were in a dream world, the terror was diminished.  The movie is not very scary and not very violent as it was advertised and that was disappointing.  Also, Jennifer Lopez almost becomes a secondary character to Vince Vaughn who when it is all said and done came off as the best character and had the most impact on the outcome of the film.  By the end you might even think Lopez was not needed at all to begin with.  When it did end, I just sat there and said, ehh.  What was the point.  If you saw the preview, you saw most of the cool outfits and they were okay especially the big purple cape thingie D'Onofrio wore when he sees Lopez the first time.  That is the big "where do you come from" line.  The plot does not become that engaging, and the movie just becomes an excuse to look at more CGI and matte painted backgrounds along with green screen special effects.  The acting is fine though for what the actors are given.  Vaughn comes off the best,. Donofrio is a very good actor who has impressed ever since he went nuts in "Full Metal Jacket," and he is very good with playing a disturbed guy with a god complex who likes extreme piercings.  Lopez is adequate, but not great.  She was better in "Selena" and "Out of Sight."  You always know you are looking at Lopez and not a psychologist.  Too much pop singer and fly girl still left over to take her serious yet.  However, Miss Lopez, possibly soon to be Mrs. Lopez-Daddy-Coombs is very attractive and easy on the eyes to look at.  Her Puerto Rican accent is still very prevalent and she is constantly trying to suppress it, but it still creeps out.  This movie opened well because it had a good preview that established the plot and what was to happen.  It looked interesting, and is to some extent but not something that will stay with you for a very long time.  It does rip off "Silence of the Lambs" a bit, but they are still more different than similar.  Some press said it was similar to "The Matrix," but that is not the case at all.  The movie is okay, but I cannot fully recommend it.  See it if you have nothing to do or are a fan of any of the lead actors.   Final Review:  2 stars out of 5; 5 1/2 out of 10; C; thumbs down.  Visually interesting, but little plot substance.   Watch out for albino dogs.

THE ORIGINAL KINGS OF COMEDY - FULL REVIEW

I love stand up comedy, especially dirty foul mouthed comedy.  I have HBO and Showtime and they show stand ups all the time.  I have seen the old Richard Pryor, George Carlin, and Eddie Murphy bits over and over again and can recite many of their routines by heart.  I was never a big Lenny Bruce fan even though many people like to kiss his ass.  Jackie Mason, Henny Youngman, Milton Berle, Sam Kinison, Steven Wright, the great Steve martin, even old Andrew Dice Clay stuff has always made me laugh.    Chris Rock and Dennis Miller are also modern guys that can still go when it comes to funny as hell stand up routines.  All of these guys are the true kings of comedy and should be revered for their past achievements in comedic entertainment.  I have seen Murphy, Clay, and the late Sam Kinison in person.  I feel that I am a fairly good judge of what is funny when it comes to a guy standing in the middle of a stage with a microphone and a stool.   I have heard of the Kings of Comedy comedy tour focusing on 4 of the top stand ups out there today.  It is the most successful show of its kind ever and was a very good subject for a movie to show people who were not lucky enough to get a show in their area of the country.  Steve Harvey, D. L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, and Bernie Mac are all funny guys who I have seen perform many times.  All of them are on various tv sitcoms mostly on the W.B. or UPN networks.  Harvey is most famous for his self titled show and his Showtime at the Apollo hosting duties.  Hughley is probably the most famous since he had a fairly successful ABC sitcom which is now moving to UPN this season.  Cedric is a costar on the Steve Harvey show and was last seen in "Big Momma's House."  Bernie Mac shows up on "Moesha" every once in a while but is more famous for his movie rolls especially the one in "Friday" where he played the pastor  with female problems.  These guys also happen to be black, or African-American as the pc crowd like to call them.  This is significant because it is the focus of much of their comedy routines.  According to them black people are lazy, cowardly, always looking for a fight, hate kids, and like music made before 1980 that focused more on love than guns and violence.  White people, according to the kings of comedy 2000 are brave, hard working, afraid of black people, afraid of conflict, and when they become cops are all racists.  Asians and hispanics need not apply tonight.  This might seem a little racist and off putting by many, but what they are doing is pointing out the extreme stereotypes associated with the two races and how silly they are.  All races are made up of all types of people, but it is the goofy ones who are funny to talk about and that is where the humor comes through.  These things are stereotypes because they are based somewhat in truths.  Society has pigeonholed the races into these categories and it is up to individuals to break free from them and become their own persons, but many if everyone experiences these things no matter what race they are and that is why you can laugh at the jokes.  When Steve Harvey says that no black band would have played on while the Titanic sank is true. In fact, any white band with sense would have jumped on a life boat too and the joke is realizing that the Titanic band were really stupid and should have jumped the hell off that ship when they had the chance.  When Hughley says that he knows that he has to watch out if he pulls out his wallet in front of cops so they don't think it is a gun is true.  A man was shot several times when the police thought he was pulling out a pistol.  A tragic event happened, and the cops were exonerated but to protest.  It is not really funny but in a dark way it is in an effed up kind of way.  Whites can laugh at that too or think about how horrible a situation it was making them think about the fears blacks have about the cops seeming thinking that all black people are criminals while ignoring white people who could be just as guilty.  They realize that police ineptness is not just going to affect blacks and other minorities, but them as well.  Cedric talks about how white people when going to a movie or a concert hope that no one is in their seats when they get to the show to avoid conflict.  Black people are more confrontational and would say "I wish someone would be in my seat."  This too is funny, because it is true that some, and maybe more blacks than whites, who knows, but some people do wish that someone would try to take what's there just to kick their ass for trying.   Making it racial ads the edge to it and also makes you question your own beliefs a bit.  Bernie Mac does talk about how blacks and whites are the same but different but most of his act, which is extremely funny is more universal with his rants on bad kids, no account relatives, and sex.  These are classic comedy routines, and Mac tells some great stories, my favorite being the one about the kid trying to get on a school bus.  If you see the movie, Bernie Mac's school bus joke is the one you will try to tell your friends but fail miserably at because it only works when you have the proper timing.  It is the best joke in the movie.  All four main performers are excellent and very funny.  I laughed through the whole thing.  I'd have to say that Steve Harvey was the funniest with his best bit being the Titanic riff and the bad rappers on the Apollo show.  He also does this bit about old school music that is not really funny, but interesting and you get to see the crowd stand up and dance and act stupid.  Hughley has the most socially conscious routine about police brutality and everyone getting along.  If I had to pick the weakest one, his spot was probably it, but he is still very funny.  I had not seen Cedric the Entertainer's act before, and his was very funny especially this one bit that rips on the Matrix.  He also dances around the stage a bit and is funny in his movements.  Bernie Mac had the more traditional, "Def Comedy Jam" routine about sex and what the word  mother effer really means.  He also has the bug eyes that stick out like Roger Rabbit and that alone will make you guffaw.  As I said before, he told the best "joke" in the film.  Spike Lee directed this concert film and he pretty much stays out of the way and airs everything pretty straight.  There is a little bit of backstage action, but the movie focuses almost exclusively on the stage performances.  More stuff on the putting together of the show or the backstage interaction between the comics would have been interesting but I believe the way it was put together was the right way to do it.  This is a great movie folks.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and cannot recommend it enough.  If you are offended by cursing and explicit dialogue then stay away.  This is not for you.  But if you like to laugh, think a bit, and have a good time at the theater then check this movie out.  The crowds for this movie have been 80% black.  I think the crowd for Autumn in New York in Boise, ID was about 98% white, and the one in East L.A. was about 63% black for the Patriot, and the one in Chinatown in San Francisco was about 99% Japanese for Godzilla 2000.  Very silly statistics.  White people seem to think they should be afraid to see TOKOC, or are not allowed.  Not true.  The movie is for anyone who wants to see it.   The black specific humor only comes around if you don't understand the impact and love blacks have for their music that whites may not have heard a lot of while they were listening to Elvis and the Beatles.  These guys are funny, but they are not the Kings of Comedy.  The classic guys like Pryor, Carlin, Murphy, and Martin are still the best ever.  However, they are 4 of the best ones out there. Final Review:  4 stars out of 5; 8 1/2 out of 10; A; thumbs up.  One of the best films of the year.  No joke.

GODZILLA 2000 - FULL REVIEW

I voted Godzilla 1998 the worst movie of that year.  It was awful on many levels let alone bastardizing the good name of the famous green king of the monsters.  I was offended and depressed. CGI had struck its ugly head again and failed.  I want my rubber suit and paper mache buildings.   Japan realized that Devlin and Emmerich had screwed up so they decided to make another real Godzilla movie with rubber suit and all.  Godzilla had last been seen in 1985 in Godzilla 1985 and that was a movie worse than the Matthew Broderick one.  Previews for G2K made it look very cool and exciting and Big G seemed to be back and ready to save Tokyo from an alien menace bent on destroying the world.  I was so psyched when I saw the preview the first time.  My childhood is full of memories of watching old Godzilla movies on Saturday afternoons.  I could not get enough of them.  I did not care about the bad dubbing and worse special effects. Godzilla shot fire out of his mouth and fought big ugly creatures to the death.  Nothing was cooler than watching Godzilla rip off Mecha-Godzilla's head, or Godzilla teaching his son how to blow fire and only smoke rings coming out, or those two little Japanese pixies chanting "Mothaaaraaaa" over and over again.  It has been a long time since I have sat down and watched one of these but my memories were still strong.  Godzilla 2000 is old school and stays pretty close to the traditional monster who gets shot at by the Japanese military until a bigger and badder threat comes along that only Godzilla can destroy.  This threat this time come in the shape of a big rock that becomes a silver space ship with a death ray, which becomes a squid (?), which becomes a traditional Ultra-Man type monster villain with a head that looks suspiciously like the American movie of 2 years ago.  G2K is not a great movie and not one of the better Godzilla movies, but it is much better than the last two released stateside.  This one focuses a bit too much on the badly dubbed Japanese humans trying to study Godzilla or destroy him.  The villain has a great dubbed voice and delivers some classic lines that had the audience rolling.  Godzilla is not in much of the middle part of the picture, but when he comes back in the last 20 minutes or so, he rules and his fight with the alien monster is quite good and somewhat innovative.  The last line of the movie is very stupid and gets a groan from the audience, but I dug it and found it funny.  Whoever owns the Tokyo Construction Company must be the richest person in all of Asia with all the destruction Godzilla causes.  It will take them years to repair the damage.  It probably would have been cheaper to let the alien control everything.  I am a little upset that this movie did not do better than 11th place this week.  I think many thought it was a sequel to the Devlin/Emmerich movie and decided to pass or they are just not into the campy effects of classic Godzilla.  I am old school, and I loved it.  G2K is not great, but is watchable for fans of the traditional series.  Final Review:  2 1/2 stars out of 5; 6 out of 10; C+; thumbs up.  Can't wait for the sequel.

REST OF THE TOP 10 IN 10:

1.    Space Cowboys is holding on to its spot pretty well, but is doubtful to cross that $100 million mark.

2.    It would be neat if the real space program was as busy as it is in these Hollywood movies.

3.    The Replacements is not doing to well at the box office.

4.    Keanu Reeves is a star whose name can bring attention to a film, but not necessarily lots of cash.

5.    What Lies Beneath is another in a long list of films that I thought would bomb but become very successful.

6.    The Klumps waddled past the $100 million mark helping secure Eddie Murphy works again as one of the top paid actors in Hollywood.

7.    Hollow Man is starting to fade away from the top 10.

8.    Winter is coming for the makers of Autumn in New York.

9.    Coyote Ugly was not pretty enough to become a break out sleeper hit.

10.    Basinger continues to not have a blessed career in movies.

This week, there  was finally a casting decision for the leads in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."  I have read the first 3 Harry Potter novels and was there to get the fourth book at midnight.  I am a little old for the series, but I still find the stories fun reads.  Here is the picture of the actors cast to play Harry, Ron, and Hermione.  I think they look good.  We shall see in a year or so when the movie comes out to most likely record breaking box office.  Get your tickets early you muggles.

Young actor Daniel Radcliffe (C) has been named as the young actor who will play Harry Potter, in the upcoming film adaptation of the popular books by J.K. Rowling with newcomers Rupert Grint (R) and Emma Watson (L) taking on the roles of Ron and Hermione, Harry's best friends at Hogwarts, Warner Bros. Pictures announced August 21, 2000. Radcliffe, Grint and Watson are seen in this undated publicity photograph from Warner Bros. REUTERS/Warner Bros.

Burt Reynolds and Wesley Snipes try to get people to see their respective movies next week. I don't see "The Crew" making any money next week and will be very fortunate to make the top15 let alone the top 10.  Snipes' "Art of War" has a famous title, and may be somewhat entertaining, but it's preview is too predictable and too similar to Wesley's "U.S. Marshalls" movie.  That similarity may hurt the movies box office. Also next week I will have my full review of the Summer series "Survivor."  I will give my take on all 16 contestants, the host, the producer, the hype, the internet, and if the winner of the million dollars was worthy, and if not who should have one.  I will talk about my favorite people on the island and my least favorite.  It should be fun, and if you missed the "Survivor" show, it will be rerun on consecutive nights in about a month on CBS while NBC is showing the Olympics.