CBC-TV documentary lets viewers listen to Mulroney audio tapes
TORONTO (CP) - It's one thing to read them.
But it's quite another to actually hear the words of Brian Mulroney in those audio tapes compiled by author Peter C. Newman and which formed the basis of Newman's provocative summertime book The Secret Mulroney Tapes: Unguarded Confessions of a Prime Minister.
On Monday night, CBC-TV airs a feature-length documentary version, and for the first time Canadians will actually hear the former PM in all his profanity-laced glory, usually in phone calls to Newman in which he appears to be trying to dictate his own place in history while summarily denouncing his political rivals.
"I was a fly on the wall for the conversations," says producer-director Mike Sheerin about listening to the tapes early this past summer. "It creates a mood. It's theatre of the mind, even though it's television."
The listener is struck first by the breadth of the obscenities, not always provoked by passion but clearly a staple of the rhetoric of a private personality far different from the public one.
But Sheerin doesn't think Mulroney swears all that much, or that it's a big deal.
"He uses it to punctuate certain sentences here and there. I do that. ... It's just sort of normal talk."
The former prime minister displays a loathing for members of the parliamentary press gallery, who trigger the strongest obscenities during the 90-minute film.
Beyond that, the tapes prove equally remarkable for revealing Mulroney's apparent disdain for his opponents, from Pierre Trudeau to Jean Chretien, and even for his own party colleagues, from Joe Clark to Lucien Bouchard, who he insists did not quit the Tory cabinet in 1990 as history has recorded.
"I fired him," Mulroney says bluntly, although the revelation was not included in Newman's book. Sheerin doesn't know why except that Newman may simply have forgotten with the mountain of material he had to work with.
The sound clips, chosen from hundreds of hours of phone calls and in-person interviews taped over two decades, are married to relevant newsreel clips of the day, interspersed with on-camera comments by Newman himself. There is no narration.
Sheerin says he befriended Newman two years ago when he was producing a CBC Life & Times biography on him. He was one of only a handful of people who were aware at the time that Newman was working on his book, and that led to Sheerin assembling this companion documentary in secrecy under the rather melodramatic code name Project X.
"I don't feel I betrayed Brian Mulroney," Newman declares in the film, conceding, however, that he was seen as the prime minister's "pet journalist."
But when the book was published in September, news reports said Mulroney felt devastated and betrayed, and that he had been unaware he was being taped in most of his conversations with Newman. The phone calls were supposed to be off the record, said Mulroney's spokesman Luc Lavoie.
Mulroney was not planning any legal action over the book, Lavoie said at the time. And last weekend he said Mulroney would be unlikely to comment on the tapes.
Sheerin says the friendship between the two men soured in 1995 when Newman wrote a book that was harsh on Mulroney's legacy.
At 76 and his reputation established, Newman himself may not care that he comes across in the documentary as a fawning yes man to the leader of the country, there to apply salve to his political wounds during late-night phone calls that Newman insists were not off the record.
Still, in terms of the traditional media-politician arm's-length relationship, there's something unseemly about the Newman-Mulroney relationship as it evolves on tape.
"Mr. Newman? The prime minister is on the line ..." the voice of the PMO operator says, and from there it's Brian and Peter and evidence of an intellectual cosiness that went back for decades.
Sheerin says it's an oral history as told by Mulroney and there's no attempt to portray a black hat or a white hat.
"This isn't a political film. This is a character film. We don't judge at the end of the day. The viewer will have those biases and judgments already.
"I don't think it's going to change your opinion, at least it's not designed to change your opinion of Brian but just to get a better sense of who he was as a character, as a human being."
On Tuesday Newman was served with a statement of claim from Conrad Black alleging that the writer libelled him in his 2004 book Here Be Dragons.
Sheerin says no attempt was made to contact Mulroney for the documentary due to the secret nature of the project, but he does not expect any legal challenges against himself or Newman for broadcasting the tapes.
Top 25 DVDs
Peter Travers from Rolling Stone magazine picks the year's best
It's official. Thanks to DVDs, the wow factor has passed from the multiplex to the home. Movie attendance in 2005 is down eight percent. Why? Because fans want to show off their home-theater systems with DVDs, especially the ones packed with bonus features. Here's the pick of the crop.
1. Star Wars III Revenge of the Sith
Even a Jedi mind meld couldn't convince me that Revenge of the Sith -- the sixth and last entry in George Lucas' Star Wars saga -- is anything but a corporate product with the warmth of stainless steel. That is, until the last half-hour, when Lucas remembers what he started in 1977 with A New Hope and lets messy human emotions invade his cold digital universe. It's enough to make Sith one of the best DVDs of the year. What makes it the very best, besides a resplendent DVD transfer, is its standing as the last in a landmark series: Finally, we can watch all six Star Wars films in chronological order. If that means we must begin with the juvenilia of The Phantom Menace and end with those damn cuddly Ewoks from Return of the Jedi, so be it. If that means we have to endure hearing Hayden Christensen's wooden Anakin Skywalker discuss his dull marriage to Padme (a Stepford-ized Natalie Portman), it's still worth the price. As Anakin loses his limbs and his conscience and takes on the evil mantle of Darth Vader, Sith takes hold. Suddenly we're connected to a saga that began when Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) joined with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) to defeat the Death Star. Lucas' grand dream transformed pop culture into pop art. With apologies to Rob Zombie, who insists Lucas peaked with his first volley, I think 1980's The Empire Strikes Back is the best of the bunch. This is the one with Darth Vader telling Luke (in the powerful tones of James Earl Jones), "I am your father" -- the line that sends a slam-bam space adventure into Freudian hyperspace. The moment is doubly shattering after you watch the Emperor (the great Ian McDiarmid) work over Luke's daddy in Sith. Watch all thirteen hours of the Star Wars sextet, and the light dawns: This is what Lucas had in mind all the time.
Hot Bonus: A unique documentary, "Within a Minute," details every element it took to produce a mere forty-nine seconds from the light-saber duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) on the lava planet Mustafar.
Killer Scene: As Anakin nearly melts in lava, only to be put back together, Frankenstein style, by the Emperor, Lucas intercuts Padme giving birth to the twins Luke and Leia. It's a link to genuine feeling at last.
2. War of the Worlds
Any complaints you had with Steven Spielberg's update of H.G. Wells' 1898 alien-invasion novel at the multiplex -- no bonking, too much Dakota Fanning, the sap-happy ending -- disappear when you take it home in this double-disc Limited Edition. Unlike the campy 1953 film rendition with its primitive Martians, Spielberg's War is set in a real world seized by a terrorist attack. Tom Cruise aces the role of divorced dad Ray Ferrier, a New Jersey dock worker and all-around screw-up with his daughter (Fanning) and his teen son (Justin Chatwin). So when huge, hostile alien Tripods rise out of the ground during an electrical storm and start laying waste, Ray grabs the kids and runs. That road trip, by car and foot, inspires Spielberg to create extraordinary images of a frayed family in a frayed civilization. The 9/11 parallels are unmistakable as the next threat comes without reason or mercy. Spielberg's technical mastery, especially with the Tripods -- aliens as nasty as E.T. was sweet -- is evident in every frame of this superior transfer.
Hot Bonus: The inside dish about the creation of the Tripods is film-geek nirvana. Cruise keeps jawing about how he and Spielberg are buddies, but one off-camera moment shows the director looking clearly annoyed as his playful brat of a star punches him in the arm while he's trying to set up a shot.
Killer Scene: For state-of-the-art FX and digital rumble, you can't beat the Tripods busting out from the ground, not from the air, where the cliche would put them.
3. King Kong
The king of creature features took forever to find its way to DVD as Warner worked on the black-and-white restoration (it could still use improvement) and Kong freak Peter Jackson, whose 2005 remake reflects a fan's passion, prepared his "Production Diaries." You can buy the two-disc edition of King Kong with a great collection of lobby cards, or a two-disc set including The Son of Kong and Mighty Joe Young -- all done by the same special-effects team. But the joy is seeing the 1933 original, complete with Max Steiner's classic score and once-censored scenes, such as the love-besotted Kong daintily pulling off Fay Wray's clothing with his hairy paw.
Hot Bonus: The "lost" spider-pit sequence is restored and serves as another tribute to the stop-motion animation genius of Willis O'Brien.
Killer Scene Kong atop the Empire State Building, putting down Wray after one last romantic sniff and swinging at fighter planes that shoot him down. Or did they? As the last line insists, "It was beauty killed the beast."
4. Batman Begins
A two-disc Deluxe Edition of the prequel that grounds the Batman legend in reality. Memento director Christopher Nolan shows us what rich kid Bruce Wayne (a terrific Christian Bale) was doing before he put on Bat drag, accessorized with lethal toys and learned to kill like a vigilante. Gotham looks lived in, not art-directed, and Bale creates a hero of haunted fire.
Hot Bonus: The ninety minutes of bonus materials on the Deluxe Edition is heaven for comic-book geeks, even if you have to suffer through a lame Jimmy Fallon parody from the MTV Movie Awards.
Killer Scene: The birth of the Batmobile. Bruce asks if it comes in black, and whoosh, we're off.
5. Sin City: Recut and Extended
Don't bother with the earlier DVD. This two-disc, unrated, balls-out Deluxe Edition is the keeper. It makes your eyes go boing. Shot by director Robert Rodriguez in black and white with the occasional splash of color, the film captures the dazzling monochrome of Frank Miller's graphic novels. There are three overlapping stories, and Bruce Willis and Clive Owen do fine by theirs. But Mickey Rourke is flat-out sensational as an ex-con with a Frankenstein jaw line.
Hot Bonus: I loved being able to access the three tales separately.
Killer Scene: Rourke waking up next to a dead hooker and vowing to send a soul "screaming into hell."
6. Cinderella Man
If there's any justice, DVD will rescue this rousing drama from shocking box-office indifference. Director Ron Howard does justice to the true story of James J. Braddock (a brilliant Russell Crowe), the washed-up Irish boxer from New Jersey whose comeback gave hope to Depression-era America.
Hot Bonus: Fascinating material on the real Braddock.
Killer Scene: Braddock going a punishing fifteen rounds against the brain-crushing heavyweight champ Max Baer (Craig Bierko).
7. The Big Lebowski
This Achiever's Edition, complete with a bowling towel, is a hoot. But the prize in this Coen brothers 1998 goodie is still Jeff Bridges as the potbellied, ponytailed, pot-smoking Dude. He bowls with his buddies until kidnapping, erotic art and German nihilists intervene.
Hot Bonus: The Coens speak. As usual, the info they offer is useless. As usual, it's hilarious.
Killer Scene: A hood pees on the Dude's rug, forcing its removal and saddening the Dude: "That rug really tied the room together."
8. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Director Tim Burton and star Johnny Depp take Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka for a twisted ride. The colors on the two-disc DVD are tempting and toxic. Dahl would approve.
Hot Bonus: A segment on how Burton turned actor Deep Roy into dozens of Oompa-Loompas.
Killer Scene: The nut-sorting.
9. Saw: Uncut Edition
Maybe it takes seeing the scare-free sequel to appreciate the original. So grab the new two-disc DVD and watch a pair of strangers (Cary Elwes and Leigh Whannell) get trapped in a dungeon by a killer who wants to see them saw off their body parts to escape. First-time director James Wan and screenwriter Whannell have a way with splatter. Better duck.
Hot Bonus: There's an Easter Egg hidden in the "Dissection" bonus feature starring the evil puppet.
Killer Scene: The surprise ending holds up to repeat viewings.
10. Oldboy
Korean movies rarely get wide distribution in the U.S., so the DVD is a great chance to catch this explosively exciting revenge drama from Park Chanwook. Choi Min-sik is a hell-raising wonder as Oh Dae-su, a skirt-chasing "oldboy" who is locked in a hotel room for fifteen years. His release sets off a series of rampages that spray the screen with blood and shocking secrets.
Hot Bonus: Director's commentary that is fierce and funny. It seems all the suspects on Oh Dae-su's list are the names of the director's filmmaking colleagues.
Killer Scene: At a sushi bar, Oh Dae-su chomps down on some live, wiggling squid. Yuck.
11. Crash
Racism collides with its targets during one thirty-six-hour period in Los Angeles. Director Paul Haggis and co-writer Bobby Moresco weave many stories (too many) into the narrative. But the rage sticks, as do the emotions underlying it. Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Terrence Howard, Thandie Newton and Sandra Bullock head a standout cast.
Hot Bonus: Potent commentary from Haggis and Cheadle.
Killer Scene: Newton and Howard being shaken down by cops Dillon and Ryan Phillippe.
12. The Val Lewton Horror Collection
What a bonanza. Five discs that cover nine movies from the criminally underrated Val Lewton, a producer of scare flicks (Cat People, The Leopard Man, I Walked With a Zombie, The Seventh Victim, The Ghost Ship, The Curse of the Cat People, Isle of the Dead, The Body Snatcher, Bedlam) from the Forties, which can hold their own against the best of today's imitations.
Hot Bonus: A doc on Lewton's legacy, Shadows in the Dark.
Killer Scene: The deserted indoor pool in Cat People.
13. Astaire and Rogers: The Collection Vol. 1
Watch Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in five musical gems (Top Hat, Swing Time, Follow the Fleet, Shall We Dance and The Barkleys of Broadway) if you want a definition of poetry in motion.
Hot Bonus: Commentary by Astaire's daughter, Ava, adds just the right personal touch.
Killer Scene: "Never Gonna Dance," from Swing Time, is the most erotic dance number in which the team ever participated.
14. Titanic
Since 1997, fans of the Oscar-winning Best Picture, which grossed $600 million to become the biggest box-office success of all time, had to be content with a single-disc DVD with no extras. Now director James Cameron -- the self-proclaimed "King of the World" -- has opened the floodgates with a three-disc Special Collector's Edition that looks and sounds as perfect as digital technology will allow. Titanic junkies will be able to utilize a branching feature that allows you to access "making of" features at the exact moment the scenes occur on-screen. Cameron offers audio commentary, and so does a much welcome and much sassier Kate Winslet. Leonardo DiCaprio has once again distanced himself from the epic that made him both a star and a victim of teen idolatry. (Can you blame him?)
As for the movie itself, you know the story: DiCaprio and Winslet fall in love. The ship sinks. He dies. She lives. And Celine Dion sings about a heart that will go on and on. No one cares anymore that Cameron's poet's eye for spectacle is almost blinded by his tin ear for dialogue. Titanic is simply the greatest romantic epic since Gone With the Wind, and everyone with a DVD player is going to own this Special Edition.
Hot Bonus: They are all hot -- especially if seeing a deleted scene of Leo and Kate playing tonsil hockey under a shooting star turns you on -- but I could have done without the nine-minute alternate ending.
Killer Scene: The ship goes down. Rank out the love story all you want, but the film's technical achievement is monumental. And the sequence with the drowned bodies floating like ghosts in the night is truly haunting.
15. Airplane!
The "Don't Call Me Shirley!" Edition supersedes the old DVD and reminds you why this 1980 parody of disaster flicks is timelessly wacky. On a flight from L.A. to Chicago, nearly everyone is poisoned by their fish dinners. PASSENGERS CERTAIN TO DIE! reads one remarkably timely newspaper headline. You are certain to laugh.
Hot Bonus: Deleted scenes crack up the film's three directors.
Killer Scene: Peter Graves is a riot as a pederast pilot. ("Joey, do you like gladiator movies?")
16. The Wizard of Oz
Long available on DVD, but never like this dazzling digital reproduction of the original Technicolor. Many claim this classic looks better than it did in 1939 -- the new clarity reveals a never-before-seen pimple on Judy Garland's lip and maybe a few drunken Munchkins.
Hot Bonus: A newly restored transfer of the 1925 silent version of Oz starring Oliver Hardy.
Killer Scene: The simplest. Garland by a haystack -- in glorious black-and-white -- singing "Over the Rainbow" to Toto.
17. Office Space
They're calling this DVD a "Special Edition With Flair!" Whatever you call Mike Judge's 1999 cult comedy hit about office politics and too-long-suppressed rage at the boss, the new disc has eight deleted scenes to up the fun quotient, which was already high.
Hot Bonus: Judge leads the cast down memory lane in a documentary retrospective.
Killer Scene: Can anyone forget Milton and the Swingline stapler or the way the boss (Gary Cole at his smarmiest) asks his employees, "So, what happening?"
18. Rize
Here's a documentary from photographer David LaChapelle that explodes with color and vitality on DVD. The subject is krumping, a hip-hop dance phenom so kinetic that the frames of the film seem speeded up (they're not). Started in South Central Los Angeles in 1992, the year of the Rodney King riots, krumping became an expression of sex, anger, need, competition and cultural identity. It's all eye-popping.
Hot Bonus: Extended dance numbers that really kick in.
Killer Scene: The Battlezone krump competition.
19. The 40-Year-Old Virgin
How do you resist a DVD that allows you repeated access to a virginal office drone (a big shout-out here to Steve Carell) as he wakes up with morning wood and pees in his own face, talks to his collectible action figures and fakes macho with his co-workers (Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Romany Malco)? You don't.
Hot Bonus: Know how I know the deleted scenes on this disc are funny? I can't stop watching them. Proof positive that Carell and director Judd Apatow are top writers. It's one joke stretched hard, but it doesn't break.
Killer Scene: Carell getting the hair yanked off his chest with hot wax. He did it for real. Yikes.
20. The Devil's Rejects
Scuz has never looked this defiantly appealing on DVD. Thank director Rob Zombie for getting us to wallow in the fun and fright of psycho clown Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig) and his satanic serial-killing family on their torture/killing spree through the back roads of Alabama.
Hot Bonus: Zombie gives good audio commentary, but the second disc on this set is a two-and-a-half-hour documentary, 30 Days in Hell, that could serve as a course in indie filmmaking.
Killer Scene: Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" playing over the blood-soaked finale.
21. 7 Men From Now
You've probably never heard of Budd Boetticher, a great director who is ripe for rediscovery after the DVD release of this lean, mean 1956 film starring Randolph Scott as an ex-sheriff out to avenge his wife's murder.
Hot Bonus: The Special Collector's Edition is the first Boetticher Western ever on DVD.
Killer Scene: Scott's first kill is as chilling as any in Unforgiven.
22. No Direction Home: Bob Dylan
Director Martin Scorsese catches the young Bob Dylan in the act of inventing himself. The result is a two-disc DVD documentary -- made up of home movies, concert clips and fresh interviews -- that is worthy of a time capsule.
Hot Bonus: A feature that allows you to go directly to the musical moments in the film.
Killer Scene: With 1965's "Like a Rolling Stone," Dylan goes electric and shocks his fans.
23. Pickpocket
Nobody restores classic films to DVD glory like Criterion, which outdoes itself with Robert Bresson's hugely influential 1959 film about a Parisian thief (Martin LaSalle, superb) who lives through his obsession with the art and sin of crime.
Hot Bonus: The cast and crew are interviewed about Bresson, whose comment ("I'd rather that people felt a film before understanding it") cuts to the heart of his unsparing directing style.
Killer Scene: It's impossible not to think of Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver as LaSalle practices putting on the faces he will wear when attempting to commit a crime.
24. Gladiator
On this bonus-crammed three-disc package you get the Best Picture Oscar winner in an extended version with about twenty minutes of deleted scenes. Let critics whine about the digitalized battle scenes. It works, and Russell Crowe in the title role has never been better.
Hot Bonus: Ridley Scott remains a model for how to do director's commentary. And this time he's joined by Crowe. Plus, the "making of" doc is a lulu.
Killer Scene: Crowe in the ring with the tigers is the kind of moment that makes your home-theater system sit up and roar.
25. March of the Penguins
Why argue with the multitudes who have turned this small, magnificently photographed documentary about the emperor penguins of Antarctica into a giant hit (it grossed an astounding $77 million)? They never saw the early version of the film, presented at the Sundance Film Festival, in which the penguins talked about falling in love -- in French, yet. Before the film's commercial release, director Luc Jacquet wisely replaced the mushy stuff -- more like Disney wish fulfillment than nature's plan -- with sturdy narration from Morgan Freeman. The result is the popular favorite for the year's best documentary. The smart money is betting that Academy voters can't resist a cute waddle.
Hot Bonus: A look at how they got all those amazing shots. Cinematographers Jerome Maison and Laurent Chalet really earned their pay.
Killer Scene: After the penguins hatch their eggs, they watch their chicks confront the perils of starvation and attack birds, and then face death from leopard seals. That's what I call uplifting family entertainment.
Ferrell, Heder Skate to 'Glory'
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com)- If there's anything funnier than figure skating terminology like "lutz" and "salchow," then it's bound to be the results of Will Ferrell and Jon Heder attempting to perform a triple lutz or a triple salchow.
Ferrell and Heder are in talks to co-star in "Blades of Glory," a figure skating comedy set up at DreamWorks.
Josh Gordon and Will Speck are making their feature directing debuts on "Blades," which will be produced by Ben Stiller and Stuart Cornfeld of Red Hour Films.
The comedy focuses on a pair of skating rivals who are banned from singles competition after a brawl at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Savvy gents that they are, they recognize that they haven't been banned from doubles and they decide to pair up.
According to the industry trades, Heder ("Napoleon Dynamite") and Ferrell ("Night at the Roxbury") would play those mismatched rivals. Will Arnett ("Arrested Development") and Amy Poehler ("Saturday Night Live") are in place as the pairs rivals of the other rivals.
Oscar's Penguin Domination?
It's shaping up to be the year of the penguin at the 2006 Academy Awards.
The shortlists in the Feature Animation and Documentary Feature Oscar categories have been released, with the penguin-centric 'toon Madagascar and doc March of the Penguins making the initial cut in the respective races.
Madagascar, the celeb-laden DreamWorks pic that has banked $193 million domestically since its opening in May, has some stiff competition in the animation category.
Among its high-profile, big-money-making competitors are the Zach Braff-voiced Chicken Little, the Robin Williams vehicle Robots, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, the twisted take on Little Red Riding Hood tale Hoodwinked (due out Dec. 23) and the clay-animated Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which has been tabbed the early favorite by the Internet oddsmakers. The Wallace & Gromit shorts have already accounted for two Oscars.
The other films jockeying for a nomination are Gulliver's Travel, Howl's Moving Castle, Steamboy and Valiant.
The Best Animated Feature award has been around for five years, and at least eight films must pass muster in order for the category to be activated.
To qualify, a film must be a minimum of 70 minutes, contain more than 75 percent animation and utilize one of three styles: traditional cel drawing, stop-motion or computer-generated animation. The film must also open theatrically in Los Angeles prior to Dec. 31. Of the 10 'toons announced Thursday, three will ultimately vie for Oscar when nominations are unveiled Jan. 31.
Meanwhile, while March of the Penguins was passed over by France for consideration for Best Foreign-Language Film, the U.S. version, featuring narration by Morgan Freeman, is among the favorites for Best Documentary.
The feel-good flick, which has grossed a staggering (for a documentary) $77 million domestically, will face off against another feel-good flick, Mad Hot Ballroom, about underprivileged Manhattan kids learning to dance. Also making the cut were the critically acclaimed Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Murderball, which follows a violent sport played by wheelchair-bound athletes. All told, 82 documentaries were deemed eligible, and 15 of those will compete to be one of the five finalists.
The other remaining contenders are: After Innocence, The Boys of Baraka, Darwin's Nightmare, The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Favela Rising, Occupation: Dreamland, On Native Soil: The Documentary of the 9/11 Commission Report, Rize, Street Fight, 39 Pounds of Love and Unknown White Male.
While there were no major snubs in the Animated Feature race, there were a couple of eyebrow-raising omissions in the Documentary field, notably Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man, about an animal-rights activist's fatal encounter with the bears he loved, and the dirty joke-dropping The Aristocrats.
Last year, The Incredibles beat out Shark Tale and Shrek 2 in the Animated Feature category. Born Into Brothels was named Best Documentary Feature.
And if the prognosticators are correct, expect to see the tuxedoed birds waddle down the red carpet at the 78th Annual Academy Awards Mar. 5, 2006, at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.
All hail king 'Harry' the fourth
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - With the fourth " Harry Potter" film opening across North America Friday, the beloved franchise doesn't show any sign of losing momentum.
Energized with an older-skewing PG-13 rating and excellent reviews, Warner Bros. Pictures' "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is set to open in the same phenomenal $85 million-$90 million range as its predecessors.
From "Four Weddings and a Funeral" director Mike Newell, the film is sure to decimate everything in its path, including Sony's lackluster "Zathura" and Walt Disney Pictures' "Chicken Little," which has enjoyed two "Potter"-free weeks atop the box office. Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox will try its luck with the Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line."
"Goblet of Fire" will open in more theaters (3,858) than any other "Potter" film. The fourth installment, which essentially follows Harry Potter's transformation into adulthood, also boasts the second-longest run time (156 minutes) and the first theatrical appearance of much-talked-about villain Lord Voldemort ( Ralph Fiennes).
Starring Daniel Radcliffe, now 16, as Harry, the film deals with such themes as death and teenage love. The story is set primarily during the Triwizard Tournament, a competition that pits Harry against three young challengers and a slew of dangerous tasks. Rupert Grint and Emma Watson reprise their roles as Harry's pals Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, respectively. Miranda Richardson joins the cast as Rita Skeeter, a nosy journalist out to get Harry.
"Goblet of Fire," like the first three "Potter" films, also will be shown in Imax theaters. The first film, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," directed by Chris Columbus, opened to $90 million in 2001, while the second, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," bowed to $88 million in 2002. The third and only film to be released in the summer, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," opened in June 2004 to $94 million. Directed by Alfonso Cuaron, "Azkaban" was the best-reviewed of the three.
Hoping to attract "Potter's" aging readership, "Goblet of Fire's" more sophisticated PG-13 rating could boost grosses.
Fox's "Walk the Line," meanwhile, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the late Man in Black, has most been compared to Universal Pictures' Oscar-winning Ray Charles biopic "Ray," which opened to $20 million in October 2004. Also rated PG-13, "Line," which focuses on Cash's early career and his love affair with June Carter ( Reese Witherspoon), might not be as widely accessible as "Ray." Industry insiders peg the film's opening in the $18 million-$20 million range. James Mangold ("Cop Land") directs.
Universal Pictures will rerelease its box office disappointment "Cinderella Man" in five theaters as a reminder to Oscar voters. From director Ron Howard and starring Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger, the well-reviewed film generated $62 million when it bowed in early June.
In limited release, Sony Pictures Classics will open Neil Jordan's "Breakfast on Pluto." Starring Cillian Murphy as an Irish transvestite who is arrested after the bombing of a London disco, the R-rated "Pluto" aims to shock as much as Jordan's "The Crying Game" did in 1992.
Triumph the Dog to Perform on TBS Special
NEW YORK - Triumph the Insult Comic Dog doesn't just bark out zingers and smoke cigars — he worries about global warming. So the R-rated hand puppet will be one of the performers for TBS' two-hour "Earth to America" special 8 p.m. EST Sunday.
Robert Smigel, the heavy hand up Triumph's behind, recently talked to The Associated Press in character, explaining that this isn't the first time he's been politically active. He says he's also very passionate about "declaring cats second-class citizens."
Organized by Larry David's wife, Laurie David, the program will also feature Will Ferrell, Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robin Williams and Leonardo DiCaprio among others.
The special is being taped in Las Vegas, which is also the home to a big comedy festival this weekend.
Smigel, 45, has distinguished himself among his comic brethren with not just Triumph (a character born on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien") but with his "TV Fun House" cartoons on "Saturday Night Live."
Smigel's (and Triumph's) shining moment, however, was likely outside the Ziegfeld Theater in New York before the release of "Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones" in 2002. His berating of the fans still reverberates.
Even now, Triumph says, "When the nerds see me, they go running."