Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Saturday Morning News
Pfeiffer, Madonna Among Stars of Movies Opening This Weekend
Aired October 12, 2002 - 08:49 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, from "White Oleander")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: What is it?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: I'm back in back. Didn't they tell you?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: No.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Claire's dead. She killed herself.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: I'm sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: No, you're not. You poisoned her tea, only this time you used words.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: I told her what she already knew.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: You were just jealous.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Of course I was jealous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, everybody, welcome back. Just a little tease of what you can check out this weekend at the movies, "White Oleander." That's just one of the nearly dozen movies that opened in theaters this weekend before the usual year end rush.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, that was really intense there.
Well, from Los Angeles, we are going to go to cnn.com film correspondent Paul Clinton.
PAUL CLINTON, CNN.COM FILM CORRESPONDENT: Hi.
LIN: Paul, check out that scene from "White Oleander."
CLINTON: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
LIN: First, give us a quick background. Yes, give us a quick background on who Michelle Pfeiffer plays and her daughter (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CLINTON: Well, speaking of background, you've got to notice she's wearing a blue shirt. She's got a blue background to those blue eyes. That happens every single scene. She knows what she's doing.
LIN: It's called prison. She's in prison.
CLINTON: I know, but it lights up her blue eyes, let me tell you. No, she is, plays a psychotic mom who basically goes off the deep end and kills her boyfriend and her daughter, played by Alison Lohman, goes through all these foster homes and this journey of trying to grow up and still deal with this very toxic relationship that she has with her mother. Her mother is very controlling and still tries to control her from prison.
It's a very depressing movie, very, very depressing, but very well acted. Michelle Pfeiffer is dynamite in this. And so is Renee Zellweger and Robin Wright Penn, both of whom play foster mothers.
LIN: And this newcomer, Alison Lohman, she's really terrific.
CLINTON: She's amazing in this. This is basically her feature film debut. She's 23. Her character goes from about 14 to 18 in the film and she's totally believable. The movie rests on her shoulders. It's totally through her viewpoint.
LIN: And a very complex performance by Michelle Pfeiffer.
CLINTON: Very complex and very scary. I mean her eyes really just take on this blankness that just scares the hell out of you. She's really wonderful in this.
ROBERTS: Paul, what about...
CLINTON: And so is Robin Wright Penn.
ROBERTS: Paul, what are people saying about the comparison of the movie to the book?
CLINTON: Apparently it's quite right onto the book. I never read the book, but from what I'm reading from other people, it is very similar to the book. They've changed a few things here and there. In the book, the young daughter is a poet. Here she's a, some type of artist. But it's fairly true to the book and it's a very depressing story, but it's very well acted.
ROBERTS: So now if people don't want to go see this movie this weekend, they can check out Madonna. She's in a new movie that -- she hasn't been in film for a while, but "Swept Away" is her new movie?
CLINTON: Well, stay away from "Swept Away." I mean you had two choices here. You've got "White Oleander," which will depress the heck out of you, or you've got "Swept Away," which will also depress you for entirely different reasons. Madonna plays, this is a remake of Lina Wertmuller's 1975 Italian classic. The original was about class warfare and politics. This one is more about "Overboard with Goldie Hawn" meets "Taming of The Shrew." It's well done in terms of the directing. The writing is atrocious and the acting it just really, really bad. Madonna cannot act.
LIN: Well, she...
ROBERTS: And Madonna is playing an American with an English accent or something like that?
CLINTON: Well, she veers off into this English accent that she's created over the last few years and it gets real annoying. She's supposed to be this American rich bitch and then she turns into this little -- she sounds like Princess Margaret with a cold half way through and then it just kind of comes and goes.
LIN: Wait, we want to hear it. I think we've got a little bit of her actually in what you're talking about. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, from "Swept Away")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Don't be in a rush. You might hurt yourself.
MADONNA, SINGER AND ACTRESS: Oh, forgive me for being in a rush to get to civilization. I can't believe I found that.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Your adventure is over.
MADONNA: The adventure is just starting for you, my friend. Just wait till my lawyer speaks to your captain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Oh, dear.
CLINTON: Is that bad or what?
LIN: I do believe I hear it.
ROBERTS: I could hear a touch of Detroit, Michigan in there.
CLINTON: Oh, yes, right. Yes, yes, that's Detroit, Michigan, all right. East Lansing.
LIN: But, Paul, isn't it just so easy to bash Madonna?
CLINTON: It's very...
LIN: I mean she was on Larry King the other night and her husband was on Larry King the other night and they were saying that most of the people who were trashing the film hadn't yet seen the film.
CLINTON: Well, I saw the film. A lot of people have seen the film. It is easy to trash Madonna, especially in the acting arena. She just is not that good of an actress. She is wonderful in many other ways. She's a great singer. She's a great songwriter. She's an awesome performer on stage. But when it comes to film, she never really has won her chops and she's just not that good. She doesn't -- she is a strong, strong personality and she can sort of pull everything along with her, except in front of a film camera. The best thing she did was "Desperately Seeking Susan" and "Evita" was not bad.
ROBERTS: Paul, this was an Italian remake. I mean was it even worth revisiting to remake it? I mean even if Madonna wasn't in it?
CLINTON: Not really. I mean it was a well known movie, "Swept Away," but it wasn't that, you know, it didn't make a huge amount of money. It was, it made its point as time. It was about the class struggle and it was well made. It was an art film. But there was really no reason to make it in terms of subject matter or any other reason. It was just this project with Guy and Madonna, and it looked like a little bit of great vacation.
LIN: Yes, just because they wanted to.
CLINTON: Yes, because they wanted to.
LIN: Yes, there you go. That works.
ROBERTS: Also something a little more timely that is going on with the sniper shootings in Washington, D.C.
CLINTON: Right.
ROBERTS: We understand there's a movie called "Phone Booth" that kind of eerily takes a path as what we're seeing in real life?
CLINTON: Yes, this is a movie by Joel Schumacher, the director, and it stars Colin Farrell that you see right there, who is in a phone booth in the movie. And a sniper, played by Kiefer Sutherland, calls him on the phone and says if he moves he will be killed. So it's very eerie in terms of this shooter from far away that you can't see picking people off. So it's very sensitive right now.
And they're in preliminary discussions talking about whether they may pull it. It's got a November 15th release right now. So they have some time.
LIN: Yes, but you know what? I think even in the aftermath of whatever happens, I bet they don't release the film.
ROBERTS: Yes, it probably won't play very well.
CLINTON: Yes, at this time. It's kind of spooky right now.
LIN: It can wait. It can wait.
CLINTON: It can wait.
LIN: All right, thanks so much, Paul.
CLINTON: Thank you.
LIN: Good to see you on our SATURDAY MORNING.
CLINTON: Good seeing you.
ROBERTS: All right, I know my choices now for weekend movies.
LIN: Yes?
ROBERTS: I'll be staying at home.
LIN: Grabbing a video.
ROBERTS: Exactly.
LIN: An early night in.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Weekend>
Aired October 12, 2002 - 08:49 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, from "White Oleander")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: What is it?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: I'm back in back. Didn't they tell you?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: No.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Claire's dead. She killed herself.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: I'm sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: No, you're not. You poisoned her tea, only this time you used words.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: I told her what she already knew.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: You were just jealous.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Of course I was jealous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, everybody, welcome back. Just a little tease of what you can check out this weekend at the movies, "White Oleander." That's just one of the nearly dozen movies that opened in theaters this weekend before the usual year end rush.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, that was really intense there.
Well, from Los Angeles, we are going to go to cnn.com film correspondent Paul Clinton.
PAUL CLINTON, CNN.COM FILM CORRESPONDENT: Hi.
LIN: Paul, check out that scene from "White Oleander."
CLINTON: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
LIN: First, give us a quick background. Yes, give us a quick background on who Michelle Pfeiffer plays and her daughter (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CLINTON: Well, speaking of background, you've got to notice she's wearing a blue shirt. She's got a blue background to those blue eyes. That happens every single scene. She knows what she's doing.
LIN: It's called prison. She's in prison.
CLINTON: I know, but it lights up her blue eyes, let me tell you. No, she is, plays a psychotic mom who basically goes off the deep end and kills her boyfriend and her daughter, played by Alison Lohman, goes through all these foster homes and this journey of trying to grow up and still deal with this very toxic relationship that she has with her mother. Her mother is very controlling and still tries to control her from prison.
It's a very depressing movie, very, very depressing, but very well acted. Michelle Pfeiffer is dynamite in this. And so is Renee Zellweger and Robin Wright Penn, both of whom play foster mothers.
LIN: And this newcomer, Alison Lohman, she's really terrific.
CLINTON: She's amazing in this. This is basically her feature film debut. She's 23. Her character goes from about 14 to 18 in the film and she's totally believable. The movie rests on her shoulders. It's totally through her viewpoint.
LIN: And a very complex performance by Michelle Pfeiffer.
CLINTON: Very complex and very scary. I mean her eyes really just take on this blankness that just scares the hell out of you. She's really wonderful in this.
ROBERTS: Paul, what about...
CLINTON: And so is Robin Wright Penn.
ROBERTS: Paul, what are people saying about the comparison of the movie to the book?
CLINTON: Apparently it's quite right onto the book. I never read the book, but from what I'm reading from other people, it is very similar to the book. They've changed a few things here and there. In the book, the young daughter is a poet. Here she's a, some type of artist. But it's fairly true to the book and it's a very depressing story, but it's very well acted.
ROBERTS: So now if people don't want to go see this movie this weekend, they can check out Madonna. She's in a new movie that -- she hasn't been in film for a while, but "Swept Away" is her new movie?
CLINTON: Well, stay away from "Swept Away." I mean you had two choices here. You've got "White Oleander," which will depress the heck out of you, or you've got "Swept Away," which will also depress you for entirely different reasons. Madonna plays, this is a remake of Lina Wertmuller's 1975 Italian classic. The original was about class warfare and politics. This one is more about "Overboard with Goldie Hawn" meets "Taming of The Shrew." It's well done in terms of the directing. The writing is atrocious and the acting it just really, really bad. Madonna cannot act.
LIN: Well, she...
ROBERTS: And Madonna is playing an American with an English accent or something like that?
CLINTON: Well, she veers off into this English accent that she's created over the last few years and it gets real annoying. She's supposed to be this American rich bitch and then she turns into this little -- she sounds like Princess Margaret with a cold half way through and then it just kind of comes and goes.
LIN: Wait, we want to hear it. I think we've got a little bit of her actually in what you're talking about. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, from "Swept Away")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Don't be in a rush. You might hurt yourself.
MADONNA, SINGER AND ACTRESS: Oh, forgive me for being in a rush to get to civilization. I can't believe I found that.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Your adventure is over.
MADONNA: The adventure is just starting for you, my friend. Just wait till my lawyer speaks to your captain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Oh, dear.
CLINTON: Is that bad or what?
LIN: I do believe I hear it.
ROBERTS: I could hear a touch of Detroit, Michigan in there.
CLINTON: Oh, yes, right. Yes, yes, that's Detroit, Michigan, all right. East Lansing.
LIN: But, Paul, isn't it just so easy to bash Madonna?
CLINTON: It's very...
LIN: I mean she was on Larry King the other night and her husband was on Larry King the other night and they were saying that most of the people who were trashing the film hadn't yet seen the film.
CLINTON: Well, I saw the film. A lot of people have seen the film. It is easy to trash Madonna, especially in the acting arena. She just is not that good of an actress. She is wonderful in many other ways. She's a great singer. She's a great songwriter. She's an awesome performer on stage. But when it comes to film, she never really has won her chops and she's just not that good. She doesn't -- she is a strong, strong personality and she can sort of pull everything along with her, except in front of a film camera. The best thing she did was "Desperately Seeking Susan" and "Evita" was not bad.
ROBERTS: Paul, this was an Italian remake. I mean was it even worth revisiting to remake it? I mean even if Madonna wasn't in it?
CLINTON: Not really. I mean it was a well known movie, "Swept Away," but it wasn't that, you know, it didn't make a huge amount of money. It was, it made its point as time. It was about the class struggle and it was well made. It was an art film. But there was really no reason to make it in terms of subject matter or any other reason. It was just this project with Guy and Madonna, and it looked like a little bit of great vacation.
LIN: Yes, just because they wanted to.
CLINTON: Yes, because they wanted to.
LIN: Yes, there you go. That works.
ROBERTS: Also something a little more timely that is going on with the sniper shootings in Washington, D.C.
CLINTON: Right.
ROBERTS: We understand there's a movie called "Phone Booth" that kind of eerily takes a path as what we're seeing in real life?
CLINTON: Yes, this is a movie by Joel Schumacher, the director, and it stars Colin Farrell that you see right there, who is in a phone booth in the movie. And a sniper, played by Kiefer Sutherland, calls him on the phone and says if he moves he will be killed. So it's very eerie in terms of this shooter from far away that you can't see picking people off. So it's very sensitive right now.
And they're in preliminary discussions talking about whether they may pull it. It's got a November 15th release right now. So they have some time.
LIN: Yes, but you know what? I think even in the aftermath of whatever happens, I bet they don't release the film.
ROBERTS: Yes, it probably won't play very well.
CLINTON: Yes, at this time. It's kind of spooky right now.
LIN: It can wait. It can wait.
CLINTON: It can wait.
LIN: All right, thanks so much, Paul.
CLINTON: Thank you.
LIN: Good to see you on our SATURDAY MORNING.
CLINTON: Good seeing you.
ROBERTS: All right, I know my choices now for weekend movies.
LIN: Yes?
ROBERTS: I'll be staying at home.
LIN: Grabbing a video.
ROBERTS: Exactly.
LIN: An early night in.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Weekend>
