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CNN Live Saturday

Sophia Choi, Tom O'Neil Discuss Summer Movies

Aired July 12, 2003 - 18:52   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.


SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: The same actor who's teasing Californians about a possible run for governor is back on America's movie screens, in a much more familiar role. That's just one movie news item we'll take up with Tom O'Neil, editor of "In Touch" magazine and host of goldderby.com. He's in our Los Angeles bureau. Thanks for joining us, Tom.
TOM O'NEIL, EDITOR, "IN TOUCH" MAGAZINE: Thanks for having me, Sophia.

CHOI: So "T3" facing some competition this weekend from a bunch of pirates.

O'NEIL: Yes, and what's interesting in that analogy is, whereas in his political life, Arnold may be trying to save the state of California, and in "T3" he's trying to save the fate of the world against the rise of the machines, he's also trying to help to save Hollywood. The big thing happening on the movie scene this summer is receipts are down 10 percent across the board, and all of these big movies, like "Charlie's Angels," "The Hulk," "Matrix Reloaded" and "T3" do amazing business right out of the gate, and then they fall off a cliff, dropping 50, 60 percent.

But the summer is being saved by movies like "Finding Nemo," and the big surprise hit this summer, of course, "Pirates of the Caribbean."

CHOI: Yes, tell us about the opening of "Pirates of the Caribbean," a huge opening for them.

O'NEIL: Amazing. You know, this actually made more money in its first three days than "T3" did, and it didn't have the same promotional budget than "T3" did. It was all done on word of mouth. People are leaving the theaters so thrilled about this movie -- and it's everybody, Sophia. It's kids, it's people go to movies for date purposes, because this movie has everything for the gals, it has a wonderful heart, lots of humor, and it's got a lot of action for the guys. It is a little gem.

And what's so great about the movie is it's been decades since we've seen a hit pirate movie out of Hollywood. It was once a very popular genre in the days of Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Tyrone Power and all those swashbucklers, but it has not done well as a genre since.

CHOI: Well, let's talk about Sean Connery and his new film, "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." What did you think of that? O'NEIL: It's far from extraordinary. And it's a huge disappointment, because Sean Connery in this case also produced the film and cast it. That's where I think it fell apart. It's based on a series of comic books of a character named Quattermain, actually, who traces his lineage to James Bond, which is not explored in the film, but it's interesting that Bond is playing him here. But in each of those books, he takes on a fictional character, whether it's Jekyll and Hyde, or the Invisible Man, or Captain Nemo, and they solve crimes.

In this movie, Sean makes a blunder, and that is he puts everybody into the stew, including Tom Sawyer. There's just too much going on in this movie. It has no focus. It's a mess.

CHOI: All right. Well, I want to focus in now on a movie you just absolutely loved, I hear, "The Swimming Pool."

O'NEIL: Oh, I know. And not only is it terrific because it's that little art house that just warms up the whole summer, but this officially starts Oscar season. Charlotte Rampling is one of those stars with a rich Hollywood history. She goes back to movies like "Georgy Girl." And two years ago, everyone thought she was going to be nominated for best actress by the same director in a movie called "Under the Sand" that we see her in here.

It's the story of a British mystery writer who moves to France to stay at the house of her publisher, and this woman we see next to her here is the daughter of that publisher. They don't get on at first, and what happens is the story has all kinds of levels of mystery to it itself. So we're talking about a mystery writer engaged in a great mystery here, and the film is fantastic.

CHOI: Well, you know, this film didn't fare as well as you had hoped at the Cannes Film Festival. Do you think it will fare better with the word of mouth and the audience?

O'NEIL: I think so, especially because there's a great undercurrent of love for Charlotte Rampling. In terms of Cannes, it was expected to win the Palme d'Or, which is the top prize there, and she was expected to win best actress. It was stunning that it lost, but let's hope that art-house going movie goers can support this film enough that it stays on the map by December, when Hollywood starts trumpeting those Oscar arrivals.

CHOI: All right. We will see. Tom O'Neil, thanks so much for your take on all of these new movies.

O'NEIL: Thank you.

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 July 12, 2003 - 18:52   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: The same actor who's teasing Californians about a possible run for governor is back on America's movie screens, in a much more familiar role. That's just one movie news item we'll take up with Tom O'Neil, editor of "In Touch" magazine and host of goldderby.com. He's in our Los Angeles bureau. Thanks for joining us, Tom.
TOM O'NEIL, EDITOR, "IN TOUCH" MAGAZINE: Thanks for having me, Sophia.

CHOI: So "T3" facing some competition this weekend from a bunch of pirates.

O'NEIL: Yes, and what's interesting in that analogy is, whereas in his political life, Arnold may be trying to save the state of California, and in "T3" he's trying to save the fate of the world against the rise of the machines, he's also trying to help to save Hollywood. The big thing happening on the movie scene this summer is receipts are down 10 percent across the board, and all of these big movies, like "Charlie's Angels," "The Hulk," "Matrix Reloaded" and "T3" do amazing business right out of the gate, and then they fall off a cliff, dropping 50, 60 percent.

But the summer is being saved by movies like "Finding Nemo," and the big surprise hit this summer, of course, "Pirates of the Caribbean."

CHOI: Yes, tell us about the opening of "Pirates of the Caribbean," a huge opening for them.

O'NEIL: Amazing. You know, this actually made more money in its first three days than "T3" did, and it didn't have the same promotional budget than "T3" did. It was all done on word of mouth. People are leaving the theaters so thrilled about this movie -- and it's everybody, Sophia. It's kids, it's people go to movies for date purposes, because this movie has everything for the gals, it has a wonderful heart, lots of humor, and it's got a lot of action for the guys. It is a little gem.

And what's so great about the movie is it's been decades since we've seen a hit pirate movie out of Hollywood. It was once a very popular genre in the days of Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Tyrone Power and all those swashbucklers, but it has not done well as a genre since.

CHOI: Well, let's talk about Sean Connery and his new film, "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." What did you think of that? O'NEIL: It's far from extraordinary. And it's a huge disappointment, because Sean Connery in this case also produced the film and cast it. That's where I think it fell apart. It's based on a series of comic books of a character named Quattermain, actually, who traces his lineage to James Bond, which is not explored in the film, but it's interesting that Bond is playing him here. But in each of those books, he takes on a fictional character, whether it's Jekyll and Hyde, or the Invisible Man, or Captain Nemo, and they solve crimes.

In this movie, Sean makes a blunder, and that is he puts everybody into the stew, including Tom Sawyer. There's just too much going on in this movie. It has no focus. It's a mess.

CHOI: All right. Well, I want to focus in now on a movie you just absolutely loved, I hear, "The Swimming Pool."

O'NEIL: Oh, I know. And not only is it terrific because it's that little art house that just warms up the whole summer, but this officially starts Oscar season. Charlotte Rampling is one of those stars with a rich Hollywood history. She goes back to movies like "Georgy Girl." And two years ago, everyone thought she was going to be nominated for best actress by the same director in a movie called "Under the Sand" that we see her in here.

It's the story of a British mystery writer who moves to France to stay at the house of her publisher, and this woman we see next to her here is the daughter of that publisher. They don't get on at first, and what happens is the story has all kinds of levels of mystery to it itself. So we're talking about a mystery writer engaged in a great mystery here, and the film is fantastic.

CHOI: Well, you know, this film didn't fare as well as you had hoped at the Cannes Film Festival. Do you think it will fare better with the word of mouth and the audience?

O'NEIL: I think so, especially because there's a great undercurrent of love for Charlotte Rampling. In terms of Cannes, it was expected to win the Palme d'Or, which is the top prize there, and she was expected to win best actress. It was stunning that it lost, but let's hope that art-house going movie goers can support this film enough that it stays on the map by December, when Hollywood starts trumpeting those Oscar arrivals.

CHOI: All right. We will see. Tom O'Neil, thanks so much for your take on all of these new movies.

O'NEIL: Thank you.

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