Category: Movies

Portman: ‘Phantom’ Shoot Was Misery
Look closely at Natalie Portman’s face in “Star Wars: Episode I ó The Phantom Menace” and you’ll see her eyes are often red.
Portman told Premiere magazine that’s because she cried so much during filming. At 16, she said she was overwhelmed working 15-hour days for the “Star Wars” prequel, whose second installment will be released next week.
During the “Phantom” shoot, Portman said there was no one her age on the set and she needed a friend. She said she was miserable and thinks her performance as Queen Amidala suffered as a result.
The shoot for “Episode II ó Attack of the Clones” was a different story.
“It was one of the most fun movie experiences” of her life, Portman said.
Co-star Hayden Christensen, who plays Anakin Skywalker, is just two months older than 20-year-old Portman. And just in case, she brought some friends with her to the set.
“Star Wars: Episode II ó Attack of the Clones” has charity premieres on Sunday. It opens just after midnight Wednesday, early Thursday morning.

‘The Osbournes’ shoot scene for ‘Austin Powers in Goldmember’
Forget about Dr. Evil, Fat Bastard and Mini-Me, Austin Powers may have finally met his match in … Ozzy Osbourne?
Variety reports that some last-minute scenes were shot this month for “Austin Powers In Goldmember,” the third instalment in Mike Myers spy-spoof series.
The 11th-hour scenes will capitalize on the left-field popularity of MTV’s reality series “The Osbournes,” Variety reports. Myers himself will not appear in the scenes, but he told Variety the scene qualifies as “an extravaganza,” and was filmed at the now-famous Osbourne Los Angeles home.
The movie is scheduled for a July 26 opening. Myers told Variety the Ozzy cameo is just one of “many surprises” in the film.

IT SAYS “WIRED”, NOT “WIERD”
Blade Runner topping Wired magazine’s list of the top 20 sci-fi films ever made

HOORAY FOR HOLLY GOODHEAD
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” was voted the Best New York Film in an online poll sponsored by the Tribeca Film Fest. The Audrey Hepburn classic, which beat out runners-up Taxi Driver and Annie Hall, will be screened on the final day of the festival, May 12 at 8 p.m.

‘Star Wars’ Is King of Film Franchises
Its last installment proved a critical disappointment. Once the trendsetter on visual effects, it lost out in that category to an edgy upstart at the Academy Awards the last time around. Surrounded by fresh-faced film serials, it no longer holds clear claim as the year’s most anticipated movie.
“Star Wars” may have rusted a bit in the 25 years since Luke, Han, Leia and Obi-Wan blasted into theaters. Yet as “Star Wars: Episode II ó Attack of the Clones” arrives next week, George Lucas’ creation remains the Cadillac of film franchises, the surest sure thing that a blockbuster-minded movie industry can deliver.
Its previous chapters account for four of the top 13 grossing movies of all-time domestically. Fans camp out at theaters a month or more before a “Star Wars” film opens to be first in line to see it.
And consider “Star Wars: Episode I ó The Phantom Menace.” After waiting 16 years for the first prequel to the original trilogy, audiences almost universally found something to deride in “Phantom Menace,” a critical dud that sacrificed story to special effects and introduced the loathed buffoon Jar Jar Binks.
What other film franchise could produce a mediocre movie that disappoints the most loyal fans yet still rakes in more than $900 million worldwide and $431 million in the United States and Canada alone?
“Sure, the last movie was not what people hoped it would be,” said Barrie Osborne, a producer on “The Lord of the Rings” franchise and executive producer on “The Matrix,” which beat “Phantom Menace” on visual effects and two other categories at the Oscars for 1999.
“But I think everyone will want to see the new `Star Wars.’ It’s something we all grew up with, and the whole body of work is more powerful than any one of the films. This powerful, mythic story George originated way back still captures the imagination, and people want to see what happens next.”
In the past, “Star Wars” sequels or prequels clearly were the film events of the year. Given the record opening of “Spider-Man” and anticipation for this fall’s “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings” sequels, “Star Wars” now has heavy competition for the title of most hotly awaited movie.
Unlike the 3,000-theater-plus launches of today’s Hollywood, with its fixation on huge opening weekends, the original “Star Wars” premiered on just 32 screens on Wednesday, May 25, 1977. The procedure then often was to start slowly, letting positive buzz on a film spread as the release widened to more theaters.
It worked perfectly on “Star Wars,” which distributor 20th Century Fox expanded to 43 screens by that Friday, with the film grossing $1.55 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.
As it expanded, its total take during that initial run hit $221.3 million, the equivalent of about $560 million when the 1977 average ticket price of $2.23 is adjusted for inflation. “Star Wars” was such a phenomenon that it took in $101 million more in four reissues within just five years after its debut.
With the 1997 special-edition releases of the original trilogy, the first film ó officially called “Star Wars: Episode IV ó A New Hope” ó has totaled $461 million domestically, second to “Titanic” at $601 million.
Including all reissues, “Episode V ó The Empire Strikes Back” is No. 13 at $290 million, and “Episode VI ó Return of the Jedi” is No. 9 with $309 million.
With the hype on “Phantom Menace” as the first “Star Wars” chapter since 1983, some Hollywood analysts had thought it would do better than its $431 million haul. Many found the story weak and the characters and dialogue flat compared with the first three films.
“The other movies were about defeating the empire and overcoming evil and living for the greater good,” said Tariq Jalil, writer-director of “A Galaxy Far Far Away,” a documentary examining “Star Wars” fandom that hits video stores two days before “Attack of the Clones” opens on May 16.
“As far as I can tell, `Phantom Menace’ was about taxes, which doesn’t lend itself to great emotional attachment,” said Jalil, referring to that installment’s trade-war conflict.
For all the criticism, “Phantom Menace” obviously offered something that audiences wanted, said Rick McCallum, producer of the current “Star Wars” trilogy.
“When you look at the difference between films that gross $100 million and $200 million, once you’re over that $175-$200 million mark, people have to love your film. That is the only thing that drives it,” McCallum said. “I couldn’t be happier with our $431 million gross. It’s a major achievement.”
“`Star Wars’ is one of the surest bets there is,” said Bill Warren, a science-fiction expert whose books include “Keep Watching the Skies!: American Science Fiction Movies of the ’50s.” “Why do people go see John Wayne movies? They’ve got John Wayne in them. People see `Star Wars’ movies because they’re full of `Star Wars’ stuff. There’s a familiarity and affection for the material.
“All the new movie has to be is a little better than `Phantom Menace’ and people will go bananas.”

GETTING BULLISH
Cathy Moriarty-Gentile is reteaming with her “Raging Bull” costar Robert De Niro in “Analyze That.” It’s director Harold Ramis’ sequel to the hit Warner Bros. movie “Analyze This.” Moriarty-Gentile will play a Mob widow.

‘Spider-Man’ Heads Toward Error Record
Comic book hero “Spider-Man,” the Columbia Pictures film which is breaking box office records in the United States, seems heading toward a new record — but this one is for mistakes.
Fans have so far spotted 77 continuity errors, the most flaws identified in an opening weekend, according to Web site www.movie-mistakes.com.
The mistakes, cataloged in full on the Internet site, include disappearing rucksacks, clothes that are dirty one minute and clean the next and smashed windows that self-repair.
Jon Sandys, who runs the Web site, said the number of mistakes could be a symptom of the movie’s popularity.
“It’s obviously possible that it’s got a higher than average number of errors, but huge numbers of people are going to see it and that makes for lots of pairs of eyes checking every inch of the screen,” he told the Independent newspaper on Wednesday.
The current number of errors puts “Spider-Man,” which took $114 million in its opening weekend, at number nine in www.movie-mistake.com’s top 10 of error-ridden films.
“The Matrix” is the current record holder with 146 errors, followed by “Titanic” with 135 and “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” with 113.

‘Spider’ Sequel Set for May 2004
A “Spider-Man” sequel is already in the works, after the film broke box office records in its $114 million opening weekend.
“Spider-Man 2” will hit theaters in exactly two years: May 7, 2004. Stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst will reprise their roles as Spider-Man and girlfriend Mary Jane in the sequel, and filming is scheduled to begin early next year.
“Spider-Man,” based on the popular comic book series created by Stan Lee, has broken several box office records since its release Friday.
On Saturday, “Spider-Man” posted the best single day gross in history, with more than $43.5 million. The film took only three days to hit the magic $100 million mark, also a record. And with a take of more than $31,500 dollars per screen, it boasts the biggest per-screen average in history for a movie in wide release.

Thoughts From Someone I Trust
Even though I have yet to see “Star Wars- Episode II: Attack Of The Clones” I have read the book. A friend of mine has actually seen the movie and this is what he had to say:
“I hated it.
Bored the living fuck right out of me.
The romance was shit. Lucas stole from The Fifth Element, The Matrix,
Gladiator and even the fucking Sound of Music.
It had one – count them, ONE! – good scene.
Damnit, I watched 10 minutes of the original Star Wars on tv last night and,
while I know nostalgia is a big part of it, that 10 minutes was more
enjoyable than this new piece of shit.
Crapola my friend, crapola.”
Wow, that’s harsh! But I still can’t wait to see it