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American Morning
Interview With Thelma Adams, Owen Gleiberman, Christy Lemire
Aired January 01, 2004 - 07:37 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we've been taking a look back at 2003 with our series of last word reports.
Here once again is Bill Hemmer with the year in movies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: For our look back at the big stories on the big screen from 2003, we're offering the last word on movies with Thelma Adams of "Us Weekly."
Nice to see you, Thelma.
THELMA ADAMS, FILM CRITIC, "US WEEKLY": It's nice to see you, Bill.
HEMMER: Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" and Christy Lemire from the Associated Press.
Good to have all three of you here.
Disney, a big year for them, Thelma.
ADAMS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), "Finding Nemo." Who thought at the beginning of the summer, with all the sequels, that it was going to be "Finding Nemo," a little fish movie, that would be the big blockbuster?
HEMMER: And a clown fish at that.
ADAMS: "Pirates" --
HEMMER: What was so appealing about "Pirates of the Caribbean?"
ADAMS: I know, you and I talked about this. I love this movie.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OWEN GLEIBERMAN, CRITIC, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": Disney lucked into a mega hit with "Pirates" because it is a good family movie. But I think that's all it was probably conceived to be. I agree with the praise for Johnny Depp in that movie. He's great in it. HEMMER: Let's talk about what may have Oscar buzz right now. "Lost in Translation" was a good movie.
CHRISTY LEMIRE, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Yes, it's great.
LEMIRE: Yes, my favorite movie of the year.
ADAMS: Was that your favorite?
LEMIRE: It's on my top two. "American Splendor" was my top film of the year, but I loved "Lost In Translation" because it's such a surprise. I think if you hang with it, yes, it's a little low key. They want you to feel like you're jet lagged along with Bill Murray and Scarlet Johansson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "LOST IN TRANSLATION")
BILL MURRAY, ACTOR: I'm trying to organize a prison break. We'd have to first get out of this bar, then the city and then the country. Are you in or are you out?
SCARLET JOHANSSON, ACTRESS: I'm in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: I was trapped on a plane a few weeks ago and I saw "Seabiscuit."
LEMIRE: The perfect way.
ADAMS: Yes.
HEMMER: I really, really enjoyed the story line.
(VIDEO CLIP FROM "SEABISCUIT")
HEMMER: What do you think the buzz will be for that?
ADAMS: You know, it had such huge buzz over the summer, "Seabiscuit" as...
HEMMER: And beautiful picture, too, I thought.
ADAMS: But, and it's a gorgeous picture, but I just don't feel that at the end of the year we have now all these movies, "Lost In Translation," "Lord of the Rings," "Cold Mountain," we have all the kind of November-December movies that really have the momentum.
LEMIRE: "In America," also, I think, will do very well.
ADAMS: Right.
LEMIRE: It's heartwarming like "Seabiscuit" is.
ADAMS: I agree. LEMIRE: Everyone's amazing in it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "IN AMERICA")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are your purposes in visiting the United States?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: We're on holidays.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A funny little girl.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yes, my dad's not working.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: And what about the sleeper hit that some say is "Bend It Like Beckham?"
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: What's that mean?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GLEIBERMAN: I loved "Bend It Like Beckham." It's one of my favorite movies of the year. I thought it was truly, to use a phrase that we should probably retire after this year, a great girl power movie in that you felt it was really about the global spirit of Title IX, these girls who have grown up not just saying hey, we have the right to play soccer like boys, but who've grown up basically believing that from birth. I thought this was the first movie that had that spirit.
ADAMS: The Christopher Guest movie, "A Mighty Wind," terrific. And you know what? I would like to see Christopher Guest get an Oscar. He's always good. What an actor!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "A MIGHTY WIND")
UNIDENTIFIED MEN: Yes, it's growing peace and freedom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GLEIBERMAN: Who cares if Christopher Guest gets an Oscar or not? He's a national treasure.
HEMMER: What about the biggest flop? Does it begin with a G?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "GIGLI")
BEN AFFLECK, ACTOR: Yes, it's pronounced Gigli.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ADAMS: It has to. It has to be "Gigli."
LEMIRE: Oh, poor Ben and J.Lo. It's bad.
GLEIBERMAN: The critics piled onto it because they were so frustrated at having to wade through all this gossip every day about Ben and J.Lo.
ADAMS: You also have to say this about Jele, where is an agent when you need them? I would say no.
HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
ADAMS: You know, you read the script. How?
HEMMER: It was the year of the sequel, wasn't it? "The Matrix Reloaded," "Charlie's Angels 2," "Legally Blonde 2," "Tomb Raider 2."
LEMIRE: And both Matrix movies, the third especially, it was just awful.
GLEIBERMAN: "Matrix Reloaded," I thought the press dumped on it a little too much. It was a silly, pretentious movie. I thought the special effects scenes were amazing. I would see that movie again just to watch those action scenes like the one on the highway. But look it, whatever you think of the movie, even if you think "Matrix Reloaded" was terrible, they got away with it.
HEMMER: The most influential person in film this past year.
LEMIRE: Jack Valenti. But go ahead.
ADAMS: Jack Valenti, yes.
HEMMER: All right. But because he's leaving?
ADAMS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
LEMIRE: No, because of the whole Oscar screener fiasco where they couldn't send screeners out to the critics because they thought there was a threat of piracy. That has been since reversed by a judge. But he was just like the villain of Hollywood this year.
ADAMS: Hollywood's big guy? Arnold Schwarzenegger. Come on, the guy went from Hollywood to government. I mean that's the biggest power play.
HEMMER: And that is going to be the last word.
Thelma, Owen, Christy, that does it. The last word on movies in 2003.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Lemire>
Aired January 1, 2004 - 07:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we've been taking a look back at 2003 with our series of last word reports.
Here once again is Bill Hemmer with the year in movies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: For our look back at the big stories on the big screen from 2003, we're offering the last word on movies with Thelma Adams of "Us Weekly."
Nice to see you, Thelma.
THELMA ADAMS, FILM CRITIC, "US WEEKLY": It's nice to see you, Bill.
HEMMER: Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" and Christy Lemire from the Associated Press.
Good to have all three of you here.
Disney, a big year for them, Thelma.
ADAMS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), "Finding Nemo." Who thought at the beginning of the summer, with all the sequels, that it was going to be "Finding Nemo," a little fish movie, that would be the big blockbuster?
HEMMER: And a clown fish at that.
ADAMS: "Pirates" --
HEMMER: What was so appealing about "Pirates of the Caribbean?"
ADAMS: I know, you and I talked about this. I love this movie.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OWEN GLEIBERMAN, CRITIC, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": Disney lucked into a mega hit with "Pirates" because it is a good family movie. But I think that's all it was probably conceived to be. I agree with the praise for Johnny Depp in that movie. He's great in it. HEMMER: Let's talk about what may have Oscar buzz right now. "Lost in Translation" was a good movie.
CHRISTY LEMIRE, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Yes, it's great.
LEMIRE: Yes, my favorite movie of the year.
ADAMS: Was that your favorite?
LEMIRE: It's on my top two. "American Splendor" was my top film of the year, but I loved "Lost In Translation" because it's such a surprise. I think if you hang with it, yes, it's a little low key. They want you to feel like you're jet lagged along with Bill Murray and Scarlet Johansson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "LOST IN TRANSLATION")
BILL MURRAY, ACTOR: I'm trying to organize a prison break. We'd have to first get out of this bar, then the city and then the country. Are you in or are you out?
SCARLET JOHANSSON, ACTRESS: I'm in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: I was trapped on a plane a few weeks ago and I saw "Seabiscuit."
LEMIRE: The perfect way.
ADAMS: Yes.
HEMMER: I really, really enjoyed the story line.
(VIDEO CLIP FROM "SEABISCUIT")
HEMMER: What do you think the buzz will be for that?
ADAMS: You know, it had such huge buzz over the summer, "Seabiscuit" as...
HEMMER: And beautiful picture, too, I thought.
ADAMS: But, and it's a gorgeous picture, but I just don't feel that at the end of the year we have now all these movies, "Lost In Translation," "Lord of the Rings," "Cold Mountain," we have all the kind of November-December movies that really have the momentum.
LEMIRE: "In America," also, I think, will do very well.
ADAMS: Right.
LEMIRE: It's heartwarming like "Seabiscuit" is.
ADAMS: I agree. LEMIRE: Everyone's amazing in it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "IN AMERICA")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are your purposes in visiting the United States?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: We're on holidays.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A funny little girl.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yes, my dad's not working.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: And what about the sleeper hit that some say is "Bend It Like Beckham?"
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: What's that mean?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GLEIBERMAN: I loved "Bend It Like Beckham." It's one of my favorite movies of the year. I thought it was truly, to use a phrase that we should probably retire after this year, a great girl power movie in that you felt it was really about the global spirit of Title IX, these girls who have grown up not just saying hey, we have the right to play soccer like boys, but who've grown up basically believing that from birth. I thought this was the first movie that had that spirit.
ADAMS: The Christopher Guest movie, "A Mighty Wind," terrific. And you know what? I would like to see Christopher Guest get an Oscar. He's always good. What an actor!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "A MIGHTY WIND")
UNIDENTIFIED MEN: Yes, it's growing peace and freedom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GLEIBERMAN: Who cares if Christopher Guest gets an Oscar or not? He's a national treasure.
HEMMER: What about the biggest flop? Does it begin with a G?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "GIGLI")
BEN AFFLECK, ACTOR: Yes, it's pronounced Gigli.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ADAMS: It has to. It has to be "Gigli."
LEMIRE: Oh, poor Ben and J.Lo. It's bad.
GLEIBERMAN: The critics piled onto it because they were so frustrated at having to wade through all this gossip every day about Ben and J.Lo.
ADAMS: You also have to say this about Jele, where is an agent when you need them? I would say no.
HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
ADAMS: You know, you read the script. How?
HEMMER: It was the year of the sequel, wasn't it? "The Matrix Reloaded," "Charlie's Angels 2," "Legally Blonde 2," "Tomb Raider 2."
LEMIRE: And both Matrix movies, the third especially, it was just awful.
GLEIBERMAN: "Matrix Reloaded," I thought the press dumped on it a little too much. It was a silly, pretentious movie. I thought the special effects scenes were amazing. I would see that movie again just to watch those action scenes like the one on the highway. But look it, whatever you think of the movie, even if you think "Matrix Reloaded" was terrible, they got away with it.
HEMMER: The most influential person in film this past year.
LEMIRE: Jack Valenti. But go ahead.
ADAMS: Jack Valenti, yes.
HEMMER: All right. But because he's leaving?
ADAMS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
LEMIRE: No, because of the whole Oscar screener fiasco where they couldn't send screeners out to the critics because they thought there was a threat of piracy. That has been since reversed by a judge. But he was just like the villain of Hollywood this year.
ADAMS: Hollywood's big guy? Arnold Schwarzenegger. Come on, the guy went from Hollywood to government. I mean that's the biggest power play.
HEMMER: And that is going to be the last word.
Thelma, Owen, Christy, that does it. The last word on movies in 2003.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Lemire>
