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American Morning
Screen Gems
Aired November 26, 2003 - 07:45 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Now back to holiday movies coming to big screens near you this Thanksgiving weekend. What a big weekend it is, though.
Separating now the treats from the turkeys, Christy LeMire, entertainment writer for the Associated Press -- the AP.
Nice to see you, Christy. Welcome here to AMERICAN MORNING.
CHRISTY LEMIRE, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Hi. Thank you. Thanks.
HEMMER: Film No. 1, "Haunted Mansion" with Eddie Murphy. What are you hearing?
LEMIRE: Yet another film based on a Disney theme park ride.
HEMMER: Yes, that's right.
LEMIRE: There was "Pirates of the Caribbean," which did phenomenally well. Would anybody have ever thought? Now you have a haunted mansion movie. OK, Eddie Murphy has not really been, you know, a box office gem in recent years, we have to say, but his family films do pretty well. So -- like his Nutty Professor movies. So, this is another one of those. It might do OK, you know.
HEMMER: One critic says a waste of time, money and talent, which means it will do well, right?
LEMIRE: Right, right. Well, look at what happened with "Cat in the Hat." It got savaged. It got -- if I can use a cat pun -- clawed to shreds. So, this, I think even if it does get bad reviews -- and it is getting some pretty bad reviews -- families will go see it, because it's one of the few movies that the whole family can see over the long holiday weekend.
HEMMER: You know what Jack says: The "Cat in the Hat" is proof that fourth graders don't read. They're paying no attention to the critics.
Film No. 2, "Bad Santa" with Billy Bob Thornton. "USA Today" gave it a great write-up today, three and a half stars out of four.
LEMIRE: It's so awesome. I gave it three stars. It's really funny, and it's a lot darker than it looks. It is a seriously dark comedy. I think it's being marketed...
HEMMER: Tell me why so dark?
LEMIRE: Well, it's just -- it's being marketed as just this wacky holiday romp, and Billy Bob Thornton plays it like he's in a drama. I mean, he's a serious alcoholic. He's just miserable. He's just this unscrupulous shell of a man. He doesn't care about insulting children. He's really doesn't want to be there. He's a thief. He's a con man. So, it's really seriously dark, but I laughed so much.
HEMMER: Did you really?
LEMIRE: Terry Zwigoff, who did "Ghost World," the director of "Ghost World," which was a great movie a couple of years ago, did this as well. And it's just relentless...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: One description was a profane sexually-active Santa. That's a pretty interesting mix at the holidays.
LEMIRE: Yes, this is not a family movie. Do not be fooled. It's very much R-rated.
HEMMER: Great deal there.
Film No. 3, "The Missing." Ron Howard put it out.
LEMIRE: Right, right.
HEMMER: A pretty big cast here -- Cate Blanchett, Tommy Lee Jones, American Southwest, what, 1880s thereabouts.
LEMIRE: Right. This is about Cate Blanchett plays a frontier woman whose daughter is kidnapped, and she has to hook back up with her estranged father, played by Tommy Lee Jones, to rescue her. It's getting pretty mixed reviews. I think people have it in for Ron Howard. They think everything he does is sappy, and this is going to be sappy, too. And it's all about...
HEMMER: Have it in for him, do you think? After "Apollo 13" and great hits like that?
LEMIRE: I do think so. I think the fans like his films. They are crowd pleasers. I think a lot of critics say, oh, Ron Howard will always go for the sentimentality over the substance. And this is sort of his version of the searchers, you know, a western about a kidnapping. There's not really a huge demand for the western out there, you know? I mean, "Unforgiven," what, 12 years ago was phenomenal. There aren't a whole lot of westerns out there.
HEMMER: I'm hearing a lot about "In America," a story about some Irish immigrants who moved to New York City and their father tries to become an actor.
LEMIRE: Right. HEMMER: In fact, two girls are the stars in this, the Bolger sisters. Emma and Sarah are on with us, in fact, tomorrow here on AMERICAN MORNING.
LEMIRE: Oh, good!
HEMMER: Also, though, with the holiday weekend, you have "Elf" out there still, doing pretty well.
LEMIRE: Right.
HEMMER: The "Cat in the Hat" had a great opening weekend. "Love Actually," I've heard good things about that. Do they get a boost this weekend, because...
LEMIRE: People tend to play catch up. They eat their turkey and then they go to the movies, and they have four whole days, a long weekend to go and do it.
Yes, I mean, "Love Actually" will do well. "Elf" will do well. "Cat in the Hat," I can't explain it, it will continue to do well.
HEMMER: What is it? Is it the melatonin or the serotonins that's in the turkey? One or the other.
LEMIRE: You pass out afterwards.
HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) tryptophan. That's it.
LEMIRE: Yes.
HEMMER: Thank you, Wolf Surat (ph), the voice in my ear. Christy, it's good to see you.
LEMIRE: You, too.
HEMMER: And good luck to you.
LEMIRE: Thank you.
HEMMER: An entertainment writer from the Associated Press, Christy LeMire. Happy Thanksgiving.
LEMIRE: You, too. Thanks.
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 November 26, 2003 - 07:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Now back to holiday movies coming to big screens near you this Thanksgiving weekend. What a big weekend it is, though.
Separating now the treats from the turkeys, Christy LeMire, entertainment writer for the Associated Press -- the AP.
Nice to see you, Christy. Welcome here to AMERICAN MORNING.
CHRISTY LEMIRE, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Hi. Thank you. Thanks.
HEMMER: Film No. 1, "Haunted Mansion" with Eddie Murphy. What are you hearing?
LEMIRE: Yet another film based on a Disney theme park ride.
HEMMER: Yes, that's right.
LEMIRE: There was "Pirates of the Caribbean," which did phenomenally well. Would anybody have ever thought? Now you have a haunted mansion movie. OK, Eddie Murphy has not really been, you know, a box office gem in recent years, we have to say, but his family films do pretty well. So -- like his Nutty Professor movies. So, this is another one of those. It might do OK, you know.
HEMMER: One critic says a waste of time, money and talent, which means it will do well, right?
LEMIRE: Right, right. Well, look at what happened with "Cat in the Hat." It got savaged. It got -- if I can use a cat pun -- clawed to shreds. So, this, I think even if it does get bad reviews -- and it is getting some pretty bad reviews -- families will go see it, because it's one of the few movies that the whole family can see over the long holiday weekend.
HEMMER: You know what Jack says: The "Cat in the Hat" is proof that fourth graders don't read. They're paying no attention to the critics.
Film No. 2, "Bad Santa" with Billy Bob Thornton. "USA Today" gave it a great write-up today, three and a half stars out of four.
LEMIRE: It's so awesome. I gave it three stars. It's really funny, and it's a lot darker than it looks. It is a seriously dark comedy. I think it's being marketed...
HEMMER: Tell me why so dark?
LEMIRE: Well, it's just -- it's being marketed as just this wacky holiday romp, and Billy Bob Thornton plays it like he's in a drama. I mean, he's a serious alcoholic. He's just miserable. He's just this unscrupulous shell of a man. He doesn't care about insulting children. He's really doesn't want to be there. He's a thief. He's a con man. So, it's really seriously dark, but I laughed so much.
HEMMER: Did you really?
LEMIRE: Terry Zwigoff, who did "Ghost World," the director of "Ghost World," which was a great movie a couple of years ago, did this as well. And it's just relentless...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: One description was a profane sexually-active Santa. That's a pretty interesting mix at the holidays.
LEMIRE: Yes, this is not a family movie. Do not be fooled. It's very much R-rated.
HEMMER: Great deal there.
Film No. 3, "The Missing." Ron Howard put it out.
LEMIRE: Right, right.
HEMMER: A pretty big cast here -- Cate Blanchett, Tommy Lee Jones, American Southwest, what, 1880s thereabouts.
LEMIRE: Right. This is about Cate Blanchett plays a frontier woman whose daughter is kidnapped, and she has to hook back up with her estranged father, played by Tommy Lee Jones, to rescue her. It's getting pretty mixed reviews. I think people have it in for Ron Howard. They think everything he does is sappy, and this is going to be sappy, too. And it's all about...
HEMMER: Have it in for him, do you think? After "Apollo 13" and great hits like that?
LEMIRE: I do think so. I think the fans like his films. They are crowd pleasers. I think a lot of critics say, oh, Ron Howard will always go for the sentimentality over the substance. And this is sort of his version of the searchers, you know, a western about a kidnapping. There's not really a huge demand for the western out there, you know? I mean, "Unforgiven," what, 12 years ago was phenomenal. There aren't a whole lot of westerns out there.
HEMMER: I'm hearing a lot about "In America," a story about some Irish immigrants who moved to New York City and their father tries to become an actor.
LEMIRE: Right. HEMMER: In fact, two girls are the stars in this, the Bolger sisters. Emma and Sarah are on with us, in fact, tomorrow here on AMERICAN MORNING.
LEMIRE: Oh, good!
HEMMER: Also, though, with the holiday weekend, you have "Elf" out there still, doing pretty well.
LEMIRE: Right.
HEMMER: The "Cat in the Hat" had a great opening weekend. "Love Actually," I've heard good things about that. Do they get a boost this weekend, because...
LEMIRE: People tend to play catch up. They eat their turkey and then they go to the movies, and they have four whole days, a long weekend to go and do it.
Yes, I mean, "Love Actually" will do well. "Elf" will do well. "Cat in the Hat," I can't explain it, it will continue to do well.
HEMMER: What is it? Is it the melatonin or the serotonins that's in the turkey? One or the other.
LEMIRE: You pass out afterwards.
HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) tryptophan. That's it.
LEMIRE: Yes.
HEMMER: Thank you, Wolf Surat (ph), the voice in my ear. Christy, it's good to see you.
LEMIRE: You, too.
HEMMER: And good luck to you.
LEMIRE: Thank you.
HEMMER: An entertainment writer from the Associated Press, Christy LeMire. Happy Thanksgiving.
LEMIRE: You, too. Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
