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CNN Live Today

Interview With Mr. Moviefone

Aired September 05, 2003 - 10:53   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The box office really hurting this weekend. David Spade's "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star" is among only a few of the new movies being released today. That's not going to stop us though. Could be the studio picked this weekend to release "Dickie Roberts" precisely because there would not be a lot of competition.
Let's get some opinion on that and the strategy and we'll see whether you should go see this movie. We've turned to Russ Leatherman, also known, of course, as "Mr. Moviefone." Russ, hello. Good to have you with us.

RUSS LEATHERMAN, "MR. MOVIEFONE": Come on! That's good stuff right there.

KAGAN: That was funny?

LEATHERMAN: I think he got stuck and chaffed his zipple (ph) a little bit.

KAGAN: Don't you hate it when that happens?

LEATHERMAN: I do. I really do.

Well you know what? It is the slowest -- traditionally the slowest moviegoing weekend of the year. So not a lot of people heading out to the movies this weekend really, and there are not a lot of choices.

We do have "Dickie Roberts", child star/loser. And it stars David Spade and some others he plays a child actor who's a has-been, now he's parking cars and he wants to get back into the limelight. So he tries to figure out how to land his next movie and the comedy mayhem ensues.

The interesting thing about this movie, I guess, if you like the David Spade sort of humor, sort of the Adam Sandler sort of humor, you're going to find some laughs in this movie. Got a lot of cameos from a lot of has-been child actors and that's always fun to see good people gone bad.

But it's an OK movie. It's not great, it's not terrible.

KAGAN: All right, sounds like DVD time to me.

If David Spade doesn't do it for you, how about Heath Ledger as a priest? LEATHERMAN: He does it for me, Daryn.

KAGAN: I don't want to know about that. I just want to know (UNINTELLIGIBLE) movie.

LEATHERMAN: You know what? This is a movie that is apparently so bad they wouldn't even screen it for us. It's about Heath Ledger, he plays a renegade priest who is investigating a series of murders. And he uncovers a character called "The Sin Eater" that sucks the sins out of people before they die and absolves them of their crimes.

And it's such a convoluted plot, I really have no idea what it's about. But the fact is the studio wouldn't show it to us. So from here on out, what we're going to assume if the studio won't show it to us, it sort of blows.

KAGAN: There you go. That seems like it's happening more and more.

LEATHERMAN: It is happening more and more which is good because the word's getting out to moviegoers which ones are good, which movies are bad. And the good ones are actually the ones starting to make the money. So it's getting harder for them to kind of fool us with the bad ones because of the good one work you're doing, Daryn..

KAGAN: Oh, thank you for that. I take a very small role in that.

Hey we had Antonio Banderas on this program yesterday. He really is a very hard-working man in show business. He has a movie coming out. Coming out in a week or so I think.

LEATHERMAN: Yes. "Once Upon a Time in Mexico." And in fact this is a slow weekend, but next weekend lot of good movies out including "Once Upon a Time in Mexico." I think this is going to be really good. It does have Antonio Banderas, and it's a Robert Rodriguez film. And it just looks like the part...

KAGAN: Robert Rodriguez who does "Spy Kids"?

LEATHERMAN: Exactly. And this is the third in the series. So he looks great in this movie, Johnny Depp's in this movie who's becoming bigger star every day, Salma Hayek. And I just think it looks great. So I'm looking forward to this movie.

KAGAN: All right. And then "Matchstick Men." We're seeing a lot of Nicholas Cage promotions here.

LEATHERMAN: A lot of Nicholas Cage promotions. This is another movie that looks pretty good, it's coming up in the next couple weeks. We'll screen it, we'll take a look at it. And we'll tell you how it is.

But I'm really looking forward to the fall. We had sort of a dismal summer, not a lot of really good movies. But, man, the fall looks really good. So I think we're in for some good stuff. KAGAN: And before we let you go, I'm supposed to ask you about "Party Monster". Not are you one, but have you seen it, are looking forward to the movie?

LEATHERMAN: Well, I am, and I have. This is a movie with Seth Green and Macauley Culkin. It's not in a lot of theaters, but it's a pretty good movie. He's a party promoter in the '80s and '90s. And his life spirals out of control because of drugs and excess and alcohol. So you know more good times at the movies.

KAGAN: You know, just looking ahead, we're going to launch into awards season here. Emmy Awards coming up in a couple weeks, Golden Globes in January. Early buzz on Oscars? I know that's not way ahead until March. But you know it's never too soon to talk about that in Hollywood.

LEATHERMAN: Well, a lot of the good movies are coming up, I think. So we have to wait for the good releases to come out. But I'm still raising my hand for "Finding Nemo". I think it was one of the best movies of the year. I hope they recognize it at awards time. So, by the way, if you're looking for something to do with the kids this weekend, take them to see "Finding Nemo" again.

KAGAN: A clown fish for best actor.

LEATHERMAN: I'm serious.

KAGAN: I know you are. Who's more serious than Mr. Moviefone?

LEATHERMAN: Nobody.

KAGAN: OK, Russ. Thanks a lot. We'll have you on as the movies come out. Appreciate it.

LEATHERMAN: See you next week. Bye-bye.

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 September 5, 2003 - 10:53   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The box office really hurting this weekend. David Spade's "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star" is among only a few of the new movies being released today. That's not going to stop us though. Could be the studio picked this weekend to release "Dickie Roberts" precisely because there would not be a lot of competition.
Let's get some opinion on that and the strategy and we'll see whether you should go see this movie. We've turned to Russ Leatherman, also known, of course, as "Mr. Moviefone." Russ, hello. Good to have you with us.

RUSS LEATHERMAN, "MR. MOVIEFONE": Come on! That's good stuff right there.

KAGAN: That was funny?

LEATHERMAN: I think he got stuck and chaffed his zipple (ph) a little bit.

KAGAN: Don't you hate it when that happens?

LEATHERMAN: I do. I really do.

Well you know what? It is the slowest -- traditionally the slowest moviegoing weekend of the year. So not a lot of people heading out to the movies this weekend really, and there are not a lot of choices.

We do have "Dickie Roberts", child star/loser. And it stars David Spade and some others he plays a child actor who's a has-been, now he's parking cars and he wants to get back into the limelight. So he tries to figure out how to land his next movie and the comedy mayhem ensues.

The interesting thing about this movie, I guess, if you like the David Spade sort of humor, sort of the Adam Sandler sort of humor, you're going to find some laughs in this movie. Got a lot of cameos from a lot of has-been child actors and that's always fun to see good people gone bad.

But it's an OK movie. It's not great, it's not terrible.

KAGAN: All right, sounds like DVD time to me.

If David Spade doesn't do it for you, how about Heath Ledger as a priest? LEATHERMAN: He does it for me, Daryn.

KAGAN: I don't want to know about that. I just want to know (UNINTELLIGIBLE) movie.

LEATHERMAN: You know what? This is a movie that is apparently so bad they wouldn't even screen it for us. It's about Heath Ledger, he plays a renegade priest who is investigating a series of murders. And he uncovers a character called "The Sin Eater" that sucks the sins out of people before they die and absolves them of their crimes.

And it's such a convoluted plot, I really have no idea what it's about. But the fact is the studio wouldn't show it to us. So from here on out, what we're going to assume if the studio won't show it to us, it sort of blows.

KAGAN: There you go. That seems like it's happening more and more.

LEATHERMAN: It is happening more and more which is good because the word's getting out to moviegoers which ones are good, which movies are bad. And the good ones are actually the ones starting to make the money. So it's getting harder for them to kind of fool us with the bad ones because of the good one work you're doing, Daryn..

KAGAN: Oh, thank you for that. I take a very small role in that.

Hey we had Antonio Banderas on this program yesterday. He really is a very hard-working man in show business. He has a movie coming out. Coming out in a week or so I think.

LEATHERMAN: Yes. "Once Upon a Time in Mexico." And in fact this is a slow weekend, but next weekend lot of good movies out including "Once Upon a Time in Mexico." I think this is going to be really good. It does have Antonio Banderas, and it's a Robert Rodriguez film. And it just looks like the part...

KAGAN: Robert Rodriguez who does "Spy Kids"?

LEATHERMAN: Exactly. And this is the third in the series. So he looks great in this movie, Johnny Depp's in this movie who's becoming bigger star every day, Salma Hayek. And I just think it looks great. So I'm looking forward to this movie.

KAGAN: All right. And then "Matchstick Men." We're seeing a lot of Nicholas Cage promotions here.

LEATHERMAN: A lot of Nicholas Cage promotions. This is another movie that looks pretty good, it's coming up in the next couple weeks. We'll screen it, we'll take a look at it. And we'll tell you how it is.

But I'm really looking forward to the fall. We had sort of a dismal summer, not a lot of really good movies. But, man, the fall looks really good. So I think we're in for some good stuff. KAGAN: And before we let you go, I'm supposed to ask you about "Party Monster". Not are you one, but have you seen it, are looking forward to the movie?

LEATHERMAN: Well, I am, and I have. This is a movie with Seth Green and Macauley Culkin. It's not in a lot of theaters, but it's a pretty good movie. He's a party promoter in the '80s and '90s. And his life spirals out of control because of drugs and excess and alcohol. So you know more good times at the movies.

KAGAN: You know, just looking ahead, we're going to launch into awards season here. Emmy Awards coming up in a couple weeks, Golden Globes in January. Early buzz on Oscars? I know that's not way ahead until March. But you know it's never too soon to talk about that in Hollywood.

LEATHERMAN: Well, a lot of the good movies are coming up, I think. So we have to wait for the good releases to come out. But I'm still raising my hand for "Finding Nemo". I think it was one of the best movies of the year. I hope they recognize it at awards time. So, by the way, if you're looking for something to do with the kids this weekend, take them to see "Finding Nemo" again.

KAGAN: A clown fish for best actor.

LEATHERMAN: I'm serious.

KAGAN: I know you are. Who's more serious than Mr. Moviefone?

LEATHERMAN: Nobody.

KAGAN: OK, Russ. Thanks a lot. We'll have you on as the movies come out. Appreciate it.

LEATHERMAN: See you next week. Bye-bye.

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