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American Morning

Look at Hollywood's Best and Worst of 2001

Aired December 28, 2001 - 09:51   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Hollywood, as it always does, has had its share of hits and misses this year. Helping us remember some of the movies we'd like to forget and some worth remembering is entertainment critic Sam Rubin. He's in L.A. this morning, where it's kind of early.

Sam, thanks for getting up early on our behalf. We appreciate it.

SAM RUBIN, ENTERTAINMENT CRITIC: Well, Miles, happy to do it. Let's talk about some of these movies. And you know what, this I think has been not a distinguished year for Hollywood. Distinguished in terms of the money Hollywood has taken in, over $1.8 billion at the box office. But a lot spent on some movies I think people very much regret seeing.

Hollywood let loose the worst, some are saying, the worst comedy ever by a major studio, Tom Green's "Freddy Got Fingered."

O'BRIEN: The worst ever?

RUBIN: Tom Green's "Freddy Got Fingered" was an extraordinarily offensive and bad movie, and came and went very quickly. But I think that this sort of set the tone in terms of a lot of the movies that accountants came up with, where they thought, gee, somebody like Green is popular with the young people.

Another movie that I think was disappointing, but not nearly as bad is the big budget "Pearl Harbor." All of the hype, all the intensity surrounding "Pearl Harbor," and then people actually go and see the movie and find it rather disappoint. Maybe the best example of what didn't...

I'm sorry, Miles, go ahead.

O'BRIEN: It seems to me when you mention "Freddy Got Fingered," you probably will find universal support of that. "Pearl harbor," though, I think there were a lot of people who kind of liked it. It was sappy, and you sort of suspend belief and try not to worry about the historical liberties that were taken with it. So what?

RUBIN: Well, all that is true, but I think we all that that experience, and it is a rare one, of walking out of the theater and saying, that was a really good movie, and that was not the experience with "Pearl Harbor." Lara Croft was another example of a movie where they thought, oh, this is a huge character on video, you know, people will really go and see this, and typical of a lot of these movies, number one at the box office for the first weekend, and then dropped like a stone.

O'BRIEN: So you could say that the word of mouth might have been a little bad on this one, right?

RUBIN: Exactly right. People told their friends that this is one you don't want to see. There were bright spots, where I do think people were genuine entertained.

O'BRIEN: You are going fast. Sam, it's early there, you maybe you got that coffee going there, But I want it ask you about Lara Croft. Movies that are based on video games, there is not a very good track record there; I'm surprised these movies get green-lighted.

RUBIN: Yes, I think what happens is this whole idea of producers want to make things what they refer to as -- quote, unquote -- "built- in audiences," that if everybody who played the Lara Croft game went to the movie, someone does the math, oh gee, it will make this much money. Everyone thinks, if they go to the movie, someone does the math, it will make this much money. Again, what happens is, there is something lost in the translation. Have you made a good movie? And that was certainly not the case with Lara Croft.

O'BRIEN: I can just imagine all of the 10-year-old boys in the audience, squeezing buttons, trying to push buttons to make things change on the screen, and being eternally frustrated with the movie, of course. But I wasn't invited to that meeting where it was green- lighted, so therefore, it was made into a movie.

Let's look at good stuff so we can end on a good note here. They are still talking about "Shrek."

RUBIN: Wasn't "Shrek" a pleasant surprise, Miles? My kids enjoyed it as well, where I don't think anybody anticipated this would be as good as it was. Mike Meyers doing the voice that was initially voiced by Chris Farley (ph), who was unable to complete the movie, and Mike Meyers first did it without the Scottish accent. I think that helped tremendously. Eddie Murphy doing the donkey, very similar character that he did in Disney's "Mulan."

O'BRIEN: Yes, a favorite in our household, the donkey jokes were the best ones.

RUBIN: Yes, but a really entertaining movie, well worth everyone's while. I think another example of where people got their money's worth is "Harry Potter." And you know what, I had tremendous trepidation walking in to see "Harry Potter," but it turned out this was every bit as good as the book, very enjoyable, played across the board, and will probably be the biggest money-maker of the year.

O'BRIEN: All right, and finally let's go to "The Bedroom," shall we?

RUBIN: Let's do.

O'BRIEN: That could be misconstrued if people were just listening in.

RUBIN: If you've just joining us, be careful. But Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkerson (ph), this is the movie you are going to hear about come Oscar time. Extraordinary performances, a small movie, but a movie with a big, big heart.

And you know, this is the one that is sort of the high-falutin, critics really liked, but with good reason, because it was the genuine article, something you don't see in the theater all the time, and when you walked out of the theater, you said, you know what, this played real, and it was genuinely very good. I really liked the movie so much.

O'BRIEN: You know what, it's just so nice to see a movie like this do well and get some praise. It's not all, you know, wizards, and special effects and boom.

All right, Sam Rubin, who is a movie critic out there, where else, Tinsel Town, Hollywood. Thanks you for joining us bright and early this morning. We'll see you again in the New Year.

Have a happy New Year.

RUBIN: Thanks, Miles. Thanks so much.

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