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American Morning

Voice of the People

Aired January 13, 2003 - 08:51   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Let the award season begin, The People's Choice Awards, honoring favorites in TVs, movies and music, kicked things off last night. The fans voted "Spider-Man " and the first "Lord of the Rings" movie as the last year's best. At the same time, "The Lord of the Rings" sequel fell from the top spot at the weekend box office. And "Just Married" Debuted at number one, followed by "The Two Towers," "Catch Me If You Can," "Two Weeks Notice" and "About Schmidt."
Leah Rosen from "People" magazine joins us now. What happened over the weekend? Is that a little bit of a surprise, "Just Married" topped out "Lord of The Rings"?

LEAH ROSEN, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, what it shows is the strength of that primary moviegoing audience, teenagers and young 20s. "Lord of The Rings" had been there three weeks, and for the first time in a while, you had a movie aimed at teenagers, young audiences, and clearly, this proves the Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy are a powerful combination in the box office.

ZAHN: It's funny, because my 13-year-old went yesterday with a whole gang of teenagers, and I was like, why do you guys want to go see this movie? I guess because of that?

ROSEN: Well, it's a movie that critics really dislike, basically, but that audience, it's aimed at them, they know it, and they wanted to see it.

ZAHN: Now, "Adaptation" and "Antwone Fisher" went nationwide this week, and we're going to show on the screen now, they came out in ninth and 10th place, which is not surprising, is it?

ROSEN: They did well. It's a slow rollout. It means they are not going to be runaway hits. I mean, it's not like everyone in America was saying I have to "Antwone Fisher" and "Adaptation" this weekend, but they're going to do OK is sort of what's showing, but neither one appears to be a breakout hit, and neither one is becoming a film that everyone in America feels they need to talk over the water cooler.

ZAHN: Do the run-up now to the Golden Globes and the Oscar, I'm hearing an awful lot about "Chicago."

ROSEN: I think if I had to put money down right now, it looks like "Chicago: looks like it is the Oscar picture to beat. It goes national in two weekends on Super Bowl weekend; it will be in theaters all across the country. Right now, it is in about 350 theaters. ZAHN: That is a smart strategy, isn't it?

ROSEN: It's called platforming, and what you're trying to build is word of mouth, which indeed they're doing successfully. It is doing very well at the box office. It was number six this weekend, though it's only in 350 theaters.

ZAHN: Did you enjoy it, because I loved it?

ROSEN: I love "Chicago." I just think it's so fabulously cynical, and those musical numbers are smart and work well.

ZAHN: And these women were divine, weren't they? How about Richard Gere tapdancing?

ROSEN: Richard Gere, who knew, song and dance man -- or trying to be that.

ZAHN: He had that wonderful grin throughout the picture. Let's talk about the people's choice awards last night. Any big surprises?

ROSEN: Not really. The People's Choice are sort of one of these ersatz awards shows, where you kind of go, what's this one about? Well, "Spider-man," "Lord of The Rings," yes, they're very popular. Neither one -- these are not movies you are going to see at Oscar time. The People's Choice are kind of fun, we all love it, but these are not movies you are going to see at Oscar Time. The People's Choice are kind of fun, we all love it, let's give them some nods, but they're not the ones in the end the critics are probably going to for.

ZAHN: So Diane Lane got the nod. Now, she is also getting a lot of good buzz for Golden Globes and for Oscar for her role in "Unfaithful."

ROSEN: She won the New York Film Critics' poll, and those awards were last night, and she was very cute when she got up and won last night. She says, I could be peaking, I hope not, but I am going to enjoy the moment.

ZAHN: Daniel Day Lewis also got a big award?

ROSEN: Right, he won for best actor for "Gangs of New York," and Martin Scorcese, his director, introduced him, and he was very charming, a man of few words, puts his acting on the screen.

ZAHN: Anything I've read about how he got himself into the performance. I guess he just got into the character and would not communicate with anybody?

ROSEN: When Daniel Day Lewis is working, you have to call him by his character's name. Daniel Day Lewis disappears; only the character exists.

ZAHN: "Joe Millionaire," final thought on him before we take a break here? ROSEN: Must-see embarrassing TV. I mean, this has become the water cooler show. All of America is into these reality series, and this "Joe Millionaire" is the one right now.

ZAHN: I love that, neither Joe nor millionaire.

ROSEN: And five women are going to be really embarrassed when they find out.

ZAHN: Maybe not.

Leah Rosen, thanks for dropping by. Appreciate it.

ROSEN: You're welcome.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired January 13, 2003 - 08:51   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Let the award season begin, The People's Choice Awards, honoring favorites in TVs, movies and music, kicked things off last night. The fans voted "Spider-Man " and the first "Lord of the Rings" movie as the last year's best. At the same time, "The Lord of the Rings" sequel fell from the top spot at the weekend box office. And "Just Married" Debuted at number one, followed by "The Two Towers," "Catch Me If You Can," "Two Weeks Notice" and "About Schmidt."
Leah Rosen from "People" magazine joins us now. What happened over the weekend? Is that a little bit of a surprise, "Just Married" topped out "Lord of The Rings"?

LEAH ROSEN, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, what it shows is the strength of that primary moviegoing audience, teenagers and young 20s. "Lord of The Rings" had been there three weeks, and for the first time in a while, you had a movie aimed at teenagers, young audiences, and clearly, this proves the Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy are a powerful combination in the box office.

ZAHN: It's funny, because my 13-year-old went yesterday with a whole gang of teenagers, and I was like, why do you guys want to go see this movie? I guess because of that?

ROSEN: Well, it's a movie that critics really dislike, basically, but that audience, it's aimed at them, they know it, and they wanted to see it.

ZAHN: Now, "Adaptation" and "Antwone Fisher" went nationwide this week, and we're going to show on the screen now, they came out in ninth and 10th place, which is not surprising, is it?

ROSEN: They did well. It's a slow rollout. It means they are not going to be runaway hits. I mean, it's not like everyone in America was saying I have to "Antwone Fisher" and "Adaptation" this weekend, but they're going to do OK is sort of what's showing, but neither one appears to be a breakout hit, and neither one is becoming a film that everyone in America feels they need to talk over the water cooler.

ZAHN: Do the run-up now to the Golden Globes and the Oscar, I'm hearing an awful lot about "Chicago."

ROSEN: I think if I had to put money down right now, it looks like "Chicago: looks like it is the Oscar picture to beat. It goes national in two weekends on Super Bowl weekend; it will be in theaters all across the country. Right now, it is in about 350 theaters. ZAHN: That is a smart strategy, isn't it?

ROSEN: It's called platforming, and what you're trying to build is word of mouth, which indeed they're doing successfully. It is doing very well at the box office. It was number six this weekend, though it's only in 350 theaters.

ZAHN: Did you enjoy it, because I loved it?

ROSEN: I love "Chicago." I just think it's so fabulously cynical, and those musical numbers are smart and work well.

ZAHN: And these women were divine, weren't they? How about Richard Gere tapdancing?

ROSEN: Richard Gere, who knew, song and dance man -- or trying to be that.

ZAHN: He had that wonderful grin throughout the picture. Let's talk about the people's choice awards last night. Any big surprises?

ROSEN: Not really. The People's Choice are sort of one of these ersatz awards shows, where you kind of go, what's this one about? Well, "Spider-man," "Lord of The Rings," yes, they're very popular. Neither one -- these are not movies you are going to see at Oscar time. The People's Choice are kind of fun, we all love it, but these are not movies you are going to see at Oscar Time. The People's Choice are kind of fun, we all love it, let's give them some nods, but they're not the ones in the end the critics are probably going to for.

ZAHN: So Diane Lane got the nod. Now, she is also getting a lot of good buzz for Golden Globes and for Oscar for her role in "Unfaithful."

ROSEN: She won the New York Film Critics' poll, and those awards were last night, and she was very cute when she got up and won last night. She says, I could be peaking, I hope not, but I am going to enjoy the moment.

ZAHN: Daniel Day Lewis also got a big award?

ROSEN: Right, he won for best actor for "Gangs of New York," and Martin Scorcese, his director, introduced him, and he was very charming, a man of few words, puts his acting on the screen.

ZAHN: Anything I've read about how he got himself into the performance. I guess he just got into the character and would not communicate with anybody?

ROSEN: When Daniel Day Lewis is working, you have to call him by his character's name. Daniel Day Lewis disappears; only the character exists.

ZAHN: "Joe Millionaire," final thought on him before we take a break here? ROSEN: Must-see embarrassing TV. I mean, this has become the water cooler show. All of America is into these reality series, and this "Joe Millionaire" is the one right now.

ZAHN: I love that, neither Joe nor millionaire.

ROSEN: And five women are going to be really embarrassed when they find out.

ZAHN: Maybe not.

Leah Rosen, thanks for dropping by. Appreciate it.

ROSEN: You're welcome.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com