The Couch Potato Report - August 3rd, 2004
This week in The Couch Potato Report there's expectations.
Sometimes its better to have no expectations when you sit down to watch a movie.
Inevitably, if a there is a movie that you are excited to see because you like the premise, the director or the actor, you can't help but have expectations.
But every now and then the opportunity exists for us to have no expectations when watching a film.
Such was the case for me with the new video and DVD release HIDALGO.
HIDALGO is about a man and his horse that compete in a grueling desert race and before pressing play on the DVD I had no expectations whatsoever. I knew who was in it and I knew what it was about but I wasn't expecting anything from it.
The film stars Viggo Mortensen from THE LORD OF THE RINGS Trilogy AND the legendary Omar Sharif from Dr. Zhivago. If you don't expect very much going in, you might enjoy it. MIGHT enjoy it.
Had I had any expectations, would I have said that?
So you see, sometimes it pays to have no expectations.
Especially when there's a film that has both a premise and a star that you're excited about seeing.
That was the case with 13 GOING ON 30.
The talented and lovely Jennifer Garner from the TV show ALIAS stars in this film as a 13 year-old girl who wants to be a member of the very popular in-crowd. She doesn't want to be big or gown-up, necessarily, she just wants to be popular.
Through movie magic she gets sprayed with wishing dust on her birthday and wakes up 17 years later as someone who is very popular.
Time shifting films like this have endless ways to be interesting and comical. After all, how comfortable would you be waking up in a different era or time, or in a different body.
That premise has been often used in films over the years. Some, like VICE VERSA, LIKE FATHER LIKE SON, VICE VERSA and 18 AGAIN were mildly successful and FREAKY FRIDAY, both the original and the sequel, and Tom Hanks film BIG were very popular.
13 GOING ON 30 falls somewhere between all of those movies. Sadly, it just came across as a film that really, really wanted to be a female version of BIG. They even recycle the hand-raising joke, but they can't recycle the charm.
No, 13 GOING ON 30 is no BIG, which is what star Jennifer Garner and the filmmakers and the studio who released it have said it is.
What's worse is the fact that 13 GOING ON 30 is just no fun.
This movie should have been a blast!
As an actress, and what I know of her as a person, Jennifer Garner is perky, fun, and even epervescent.
But 13 GOING ON 30 isn't any of those things.
It is a standard romantic comedy that has no surprises and is predictable in every way.
Now, before you think I'm being too harsh on a film that is basically a very light, time shifting, body switching, light romantic comedy that no one should ever take seriously, let me admit to one thing.
I may have been disappointed in the film because of my own expectations.
Yes, I thought going in it would be a fun, modern day play on a great movie the premise.
Thus, the fact that it wasn't what I expected disappointed me.
I didn't, and don't hate the movie, but I was disappointed in it, because it wasn't what I expected.
Well, having admitted that, while I'm sure my high expectations are part of the reason I didn't care for 13 GOING ON 30, the film itself deserves more than half of the blame.
You might enjoy 13 GOING ON 30 more than I did, as long as you're NOT expecting it to be a female version of the film BIG.
Just think of 13 GOING ON 30 as a mildly comedic, predictable time shifting film and you won't be let down.
Either by your expectations or the movie itself.
13 GOING ON 30 and HIDALGO are both available now at your favourite local video store.
COMING UP IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT
KILL BILL: VOLUME 2 is the second half of Quentin Tarantino's film Kill Bill. Uma Thurman, Daryl Hannah and David Carradine star.
And
ALF * SEASON ONE is about the arrogant, furry alien from the planet Melmac who crashed into the Tanner family's garage. They agreed that he could live with them if he stayed hidden from the rest of planet Earth. They named him Alf, an acronym for "Alien Life Form" and the Tanners constantly had to bail him out of trouble.
ALF is one of my Mom's favourite television shows and I'll have more on it and KILL BILL VOLUME 2 in seven days.
For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next week on The Couch!
(FYI - As of the morning of Tuesday, August 3rd, I haven't seen HIDALGO yet. I'll be watching it on Tuesday afternoon and updating this column on Tuesday evening.)
New Tunage
Here are the new CD Releases for Tuesday, August 3, 2004:
AL JARREAU Accentuate the Positive (Verve)
ASHLEY MACISAAC Hi How Are You Today (Linus Entertainment)
ASHLEY MACISAAC Fine Thank You Very Much (Linus Entertainment)
ASHLEY MACISAAC Fiddle Music 101 (Linus Entertainment)
ASHLEY MACISAAC Close to The Floor (Linus Entertainment)
BRIAN KENNEDY Live In Belfast (Curb)
CHERIE I'm Ready (Atlantic)
CRIME MOB Crime Mob (Warner)
DAMIEN RICE B-Sides (Warner)
DIANE CHASE The Ride (Spinmusic)
ELVIS COSTELLO Almost Blue (Rhino)
ELVIS COSTELLO Goodbye Cruel World (Rhino)
ELVIS COSTELLO Kojak Variety (Rhino)
GILBERT BECAUD 100 Chansons D'Or (EMI)
HANK WILLIAMS JR. & MIKE CURB Classic Songs Volume 2 (Curb)
HOLE Pretty On The Inside (Virgin)
JACK SCOTT The Best Of (Curb)
JAMELIA Thank You (EMI)
LEE GREENWOOD All Time Greatest Hits (Curb)
LORETTA LYNN All Time Gospel Favorites (Time Life)
MEGADETH MD45: Craving (Capitol)
MEGADETH Youthanasia (Capitol)
MEGADETH So Far, So Good, So What (Capitol)
MEGADETH Countdown to Extinction (Capitol)
MEGADETH Cryptic Writing (Capitol)
MEGADETH Peace Sells But Who's Buying (Capitol)
MEGADETH Risk (Capitol)
MEGADETH Rust In Peace (Capitol)
MORGAN HERITAGE Full Circle (VP)
PHOENIX Alphabetical (Virgin)
RAMSEY LEWIS TRIO Time Flies (Narada)
RANDY TRAVIS The Very Best Of (Rhino)
SOUNDTRACK - MOVIE Princess Diaries 2 (Disney)
STARWOOD If It Ain't Broke, Break It (Metal Blade)
TERROR SQUAD True Story (Universal)
TG SHEPPARD Greatest Songs (Curb)
THE BLUE ALARM Astronauts and Angels (Maple Nationwide)
THE MIKE CURB CONGREGATION The Best Of (Curb)
THE MIKE CURB CONGREGATION Best Of Inspirational (Curb)
THE PARIS SISTERS The Best Of (Curb)
THE RAPTURE Is Live And Well In New York City (Mercury)
TIFFANY VILLARREAL Tiffany Villarreal (Universal Records)
VARIOUS (SPORTS) Inside X: The Evolution of Skate (Warner)
VARIOUS ARTISTS Z103.5 Summer Rush 2: The Experience (SPG Music)
VARIOUS ARTISTS Retro Remixed (Hi-bias Records)
VARIOUS ARTISTS Addikted Session 2: House (EMI)
WINSTON Passengers (Maple Nationwide)
Looking for a hot date
Consumers should brace themselves for an all-out DVD feeding frenzy this holiday season. With more than 30 theatrical blockbusters coming to DVD in the last three months of this year, not to mention special editions and gift sets, shelf space will be at a premium.
Fahrenheit 9/11, the first documentary to break the $100M barrier, arrives on DVD just in time to allow for a pre-election viewing.
That means consumers had better buy their favorites as soon as they come out, or else they might be gone.
Indeed, the summer's only half over, but already studios are jockeying for prime DVD release dates for the fall. And picking the right date, studio executives say, has become almost as tricky as it is in the theatrical world, where dates are locked down months in advance and distributors will do everything to avoid butting heads with a mega-hit such as Spider-Man 2.
"Dating is incredibly critical, and the best dater wins, for the most part," says Mike Dunn, president of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, whose big fourth-quarter DVDs include the Star Wars trilogy (Sept. 21), The Day After Tomorrow (Oct. 12), Dodgeball, Garfield and I, Robot.
Fourth-quarter dates DVDs are typically released on Tuesdays are filling up fast, but studios are jockeying for position so they don't step on each other's toes.
"Many other guys make up policies—they decide to go earlier with everything, or later — but we don't do that," Dunn says. "You've got to look at the film and at the audience."
Holiday shoppers, take note: The DVD dating game is not without its potential pitfalls, for consumers and studios alike.
If studios release their hot titles early to allow for maximum exposure, they might already be off store shelves by Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that marks the traditional start of the holiday buying rush.
If they send their DVDs to stores right before Christmas to take advantage of the impulse buyer, there might not be enough shopping days left for their title to find its stride.
And if they come out with their hot titles in October and November, they might find everyone else had the same idea and they're competing against three or four other blockbusters.
"I think everyone, given their druthers, would like a date for themselves," says Bob Chapek, president of Buena Vista Home Entertainment. "But there's such an embarrassment of riches this fourth quarter that every single street date is going to be taken."
Here's a look at summer movies already slotted for release. (All dates are subject to change):
September
21
Mean Girls, Paramount
Star Wars, Fox
October
5
Fahrenheit 9/11, Columbia TriStar
12
The Day After Tomorrow Fox
19
Van Helsing, Universal, Garfield, Fox
26
White Chicks, Columbia TriStar
Also expected in October
The Notebook, New Line
The Stepford Wives, Paramount
November
23
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Warner
Also expected in November
Shrek 2, DreamWorks
Spider-Man 2, Columbia TriStar
Troy, Warner
Expected in December
Dodgeball, Fox
I, Robot, Fox
The Terminal, Warner
Anchorman, DreamWorks
The Chronicles of Riddick, Universal
Back in the Leather Again
The Sydney Morning Herald talked to Ben Affleck recently and he let slip that he'll be appearing in the DAREDEVIL spinoff ELEKTRA. "They haven't even told me what it is," he said. "I guess it's some kind of fantasy - I shouldn't say fantasy. It's a dream sequence."
RECOVERING
Apple Computer and Pixar chief Steve Jobs recuperating from successful surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his pancreas, according to a company-wide email that went out on Sunday. He's expected to be back on the job next month.
Bana the Next Bond?
Will the next 007 be Bana, Eric Bana?
If you believe Britain's News of the World newspaper, the Aussie actor is the top pick of producers to succeed Pierce Brosnan as the martini-swilling superspy.
Bana, best known in the U.S. for his starring roles in last year's The Hulk and this summer's Troy, is reportedly in negotiations to star in the 21st James Bond film, slated to begin shooting this year.
"Eric is the guy they want, but he has a reputation for being demanding," the tabloid quotes an unnamed insider privy to the talks. "[Producers] want to modernize Bond and turn him into a youthful, suave and modern hero to compete with the likes of Spider-Man and Keanu [Reeves] in the Matrix."
The Bana-as-Bond headline got huge play over the weekend, making headlines on both sides of the Atlantic. But while the News of the World has stood by its story, MGM spokesman Eric Kops would only say Monday that the story "is not true." He declined further comment.
MGM, which distributes the Bond films, and Britain's Eon Productions, which produces the flicks, have traditionally been tight-lipped about the franchise, refusing to address speculation on the films until the publicity machine was ready to crank.
If the story pans out, Bana would become the sixth actor to play the gadget-loving, babe-bedding secret agent, following in the footsteps of Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Brosnan--and the second to hail from Down Under after George Lazenby (which may not be a good thing, since Lazenby's stint lasted only one film).
Until Sunday's story, Bana's name wasn't among those in the mix for the new Bond. Instead, the producers' short-list was said to include Clive Owen, Jude Law, Ewan McGregor, Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom and little-known Scottish actor Gerald Butler, who actually had a bit part in the 1997 Bond caper Tomorrow Never Dies.
Although Brosnan's Bond days have reportedly been numbered for some time, the rumor mill went into overdrive last week after the 51-year-old actor told Entertainment Weekly that he was done.
"That's it. I've said all I've got to say on the world of James Bond," the Irish-born thespian told EW. "Bond is another lifetime behind me."
Of course, a Bond should never say never again.
Some believe that Brosnan is merely bluffing for a bigger paycheck. His publicist has yet to confirm that Brosnan is done Bonding and didn't comment on the Bana report.
Although producers supposedly want to go younger, Brosnan's Bond was the most lucrative. His four 007 films--1995's Goldeneye, 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies, 1999's The World Is Not Enough and 2002's Die Another Day--have grossed a combined $1.4 billion in global ticket sales; Die Another Day was the highest-grossing Bond flick ever, raking in $413.9 million worldwide.
But Brosnan hasn't been happy with the direction of the series and has chided producers in the press for playing it safe with the character.
"They don't know what to do," he said recently. "They don't know how to move on--a sense of paralysis has set in."
Brosnan even nominated Quentin Tarantino--who's expressed an interest in directing a Bond film--to reinvent the franchise with a new version of Casino Royale (which was originally adapted in 1967 as a spoof starring Peter Sellers and Woody Allen).
Producers were not exactly stirred by the suggestion.
Assuming producers sort out the Bond situation soon, the still-untitled Bond 21 should hit theaters sometime in 2005.
Halle Berry criticizes women's obsession with beauty and youth
LONDON (AP) - It's not easy being gorgeous. Halle Berry should know.
"Beauty? Let me tell you something - being thought of as a beautiful woman has spared me nothing in life," she said. "No heartache, no trouble. Love has been difficult. Beauty is essentially meaningless and it is always transitory."
At a news conference Monday to promote her new movie, Catwoman, the 35-year-old Berry criticized the obsession with beauty and youth that she said prompted some to get plastic surgery.
"Personally, I'm really saddened by the way women mutilate their faces today in search of that," said Berry, who won an Oscar for Monster's Ball. "There is this plastic, copycat look evolving and that's frightening to me. . . . It's really insane and I feel sad that's what society is doing to women."
Catwoman co-star Sharon Stone said she and Berry, who have both recently split with their husbands, found while working together that they had a lot in common.
"In life it's not important how you fall, but how you get up," she said. "I think both of us have fallen in public and both gotten up in public. Neither of us have tried to pretend we're perfect."
Cruise Turns Deadly in 'Collateral'
LOS ANGELES - It had to happen. Tom Cruise has fallen out of Hollywood's good graces and joined the ranks of the industry's unsavory characters. He's gone gray and grizzled. That blinding, boyish grin, his trademark the last two decades, now is reserved for moments of morbidly twisted humor.
Cruise has transformed from hitmaker to hitman in "Collateral. It's his first turn as an all-around bad guy, a contract killer who hijacks a taxi and forces the driver (Jamie Foxx) to ferry him from hit to hit on a one-night spree across Los Angeles.
It's a major sea change when an era's biggest leading man turns to the dark side after playing the action hero, the dashing romancer and the crusader for justice.
But the 42-year-old Cruise shrugs it off as just another make-believe soul that grabbed him.
"I really dug the story and dug the character. I just choose roles where I go, 'OK, this is interesting, I've never played this before,'" Cruise said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"I look for characters that I feel are going to be challenging. This is definitely right out there. A very, very complex character, playing this anti-social personality."
Though he has earned three Academy Award nominations, Cruise has yet to rise to the level of peers such as Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington and Sean Penn as serious actors. "Collateral" is a reminder that Cruise has more depth and willingness to go to dark places than his heroic turns would imply. But, as Cruise points out, it's not like everyone he's played before is a candidate for sainthood.
"If you look at it, I really play a lot of different kinds of characters," Cruise said, and he chooses them for their creative appeal, not to fit the mold of his public image.
"I don't look at things in the third person. I'm me. I don't know how to go, `What are people going to think?' I don't live my life like that. I live in terms of, I like this material. Can I make it work?"
In "Collateral," Cruise does make it work, bolstered by a tremendous foil in Foxx's frantic cabbie, plus nice support from Jada Pinkett Smith as a prosecutor and Mark Ruffalo as a cop on his trail.
Cruise's killer Vincent, with salt-and-pepper hair and scruffy beard, stalks the night with absolute bravado and amorality. He's a perversely likable villain akin to Washington's corrupt cop in "Training Day" or Anthony Hopkins' serial killer Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs."
In Cruise's words, Vincent is "rough trade in a good suit."
"If Tom had played this guy a couple other times, I wouldn't have been enthused about the notion of it," said "Collateral" director Michael Mann ("The Insider," "Ali").
"But I hadn't seen him do anything like this character, and I know he could, there's no doubt about it. So it presented itself as a great opportunity to have Tom play it, and it's such a complex character in his incarnation of him."
No stranger to gunplay in movies, Cruise had to learn a whole new style of handling firearms, training with live rounds on a police firing range for the first time. Mann had him repeat the art of assembling a gun and snapping off rounds until the weapons became another appendage of his body and the action became second nature, Cruise said.
He also had to get into the head space of a professional killer, doing mental drills to case out targets and bystanders, memorize details and study locations for their layouts and exits.
"Just looking at life from that perspective everywhere you are," Cruise said. "You get in a room like this, you go, all right, I've got three points of egress, and I know the second I walk in, you're facing here, OK, and no one's around there. This is the way these guys think.
"Just looking at the moral code, looking in terms of what I know about life, he's the antithesis of who I am and how I feel about people and humanity," Cruise said.
Though his marriage to Nicole Kidman broke up three years ago, Cruise sounds as much the doting family man as ever when he mentions their two children.
He places much of the credit for his longevity in Hollywood with the Church of Scientology, founded by L. Ron Hubbard. His faith in the church is so strong that he launches unbidden into a harsh, five-minute condemnation of psychiatry as a destructive pseudo-science, a belief espoused by Scientology.
Cruise readily drops the subject to resume discussing Hollywood matters, particularly his next project, a third "Mission: Impossible" movie. Director Joe Carnahan recently departed the sequel, citing creative differences with the filmmakers, which include Cruise and partner Paula Wagner as producers.
The movie originally had been scheduled for release next May, but distributor Paramount pushed it back to late June, a date that would be hard to make now. Cruise has not yet settled on a new director, and shooting, which was supposed to begin in early autumn, has been delayed for at least a few weeks.
"I will definitely make `Mission: Impossible.' No question, I am going to make it. I really love making those movies," Cruise said. "It's just a matter of who and when, but I'm definitely going to make it."
Cruise also hopes to reteam with Mann for "The Few," a film biography of Billy Fiske, an American pilot who fought with the British before the United States' entry into World War II. It will be a return to the air for Cruise, who rose to superstardom playing a daring aviator in "Top Gun" and is a licensed pilot and stunt-flying enthusiast.
Also in the works is a reunion with Steven Spielberg, who directed Cruise in 2002's sci-fi thriller "Minority Report." The two plan to collaborate on an update of H.G. Wells' Martian-invasion tale "The War of the Worlds."
Cruise also is thinking ahead to his personal future after his three-year relationship with Penelope Cruz, his co-star in "Vanilla Sky," ended early this year.
"I'm looking," Cruise said with a hearty laugh. "Nothing official, nothing official. ... I really am the kind of guy who's going to get married again. But if I meet a girl, I'm not going to marry her next week. But I really do love relationships, but nothing, nothing official."
July Box Office Record Hangs on Spidey
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Thanks largely to the sensational ticket sales for "Spider-Man 2," July receipts at the North American box office reached record levels, surpassing the $1.3 billion mark for the first time.
"Spider-Man 2" picked up $335.8 million, marking the first time a film grossed more than $300 million in July. And unlike July 2003, where aggregate box office sales hit a record high but admissions were lackluster at best, this year's estimated ticket unit total breaks a long-standing record for the month.
The national box office tally in July was $1.32 billion, up a solid 10% from the $1.2 billion generated in July 2003, which was the previous high for the period. In July of last year, Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" and Warner Bros. Pictures' "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" were the box office leaders.
Since ticket-price inflation has been minimal in the past year, the higher grosses have translated into more attendance. Estimated admissions last month came in at a record 213 million -- up 6% from last year's 200.7 million.
The new high in admissions was up less than 1% from the previous record for the period, which was 212 million, registered in July 1994. That was the summer of Paramount's "Forrest Gump" and Disney's "The Lion King," two films that went on to gross more than $300 million each during their runs -- an unprecedented achievement at the time.
It was a very top-heavy month at the box office as the blockbusters drew the lion's share of the wealth. The aggregate for the 10 was a record $978.6 million, a hefty 12% higher than last year's $874.6 million. The sizzling-hot month was driven more by new product than holdovers, with six of the top-10 debuting during the survey period.
Projections for box office and admissions come from The Hollywood Reporter's national survey, which this year comprised the five weeks ending July 29.
After Sony's "Spider-Man 2," two films battled it out for the second spot, with Lions Gate's "Fahrenheit 9/11" just edging out 20th Century Fox's "I, Robot," with $106.2 million (of its cumulative $106.3 million) and $104.7 million, respectively. The fourth slot went to DreamWorks' "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" with $75 million, followed by Universal's "The Bourne Supremacy" with a stout $74.7 million in seven days.
New Line's "The Notebook" ($65.6 million) was next, with Fox's "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" ($61.8 million of its $110.5 million total) and Sony's "White Chicks" ($60.2 million of a cumulative $67.7 million) following. In the ninth slot was DreamWorks' "The Terminal" ($47.5 million of its $75.4 million take to date), followed by Disney's "King Arthur" ($47.1 million) to round out the top 10.