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CNN Saturday Morning News

Paul Clinton Reviews Holiday Movie Releases

Aired December 21, 2002 - 09:39   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.


(VIDEO CLIP, "GANGS OF NEW YORK")
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: You know, I didn't Leo survived the "Titanic." I thought he died at the end there. There he is.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, there he is.

O'BRIEN: Time traveler, back in New York...

WHITFIELD: A new and very different kind of Leo.

O'BRIEN: ... mid-19th century New York, "The Gangs of New York" just one of several films that hits theaters this weekend.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that's right, and we're going to go to the movies right now for some reviews, sort of. Cnn.com film correspondent Paul Clinton is with us. Paul, good to see you.

PAUL CLINTON, FILM CORRESPONDENT, CNN.COM: Reviews, sort of. OK.

WHITFIELD: Yes, yes. Well, we're going to chat...

CLINTON: Yes.

WHITFIELD: ... is what I mean.

CLINTON: Review-like.

But he did die -- he didn't die on "Titanic," Miles, he died on the beach, was the film he did afterwards.

O'BRIEN: Good point, good point, yes.

WHITFIELD: Yes, but he resurfaces now in "Gangs of New York," and so...

CLINTON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

WHITFIELD: ... do you like it?

CLINTON: And "Catch Me If You Can," this is...

WHITFIELD: Yes, and "Catch Me If You Can."

CLINTON: ... this is Leo, this is Leo's year, no doubt about it. WHITFIELD: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Yes, yes.

CLINTON: "Gangs of New York," I think, is a major achievement...

O'BRIEN: Really?

CLINTON: ... Martin Scorsese is not just -- yes, he's not just a director, he's an historian. And it's authentic down to the T. It's so authentic, you might feel like you need a shower afterwards, because everything's so dirty.

But it's a classic American epic, something Scorsese has never tried to do before. It's your classic (UNINTELLIGIBLE) structure of a screenplay with a villain, an ingenue, and a hero. And Daniel Day- Lewis is absolutely amazing.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

CLINTON: Now, this Method actor, Method actor. He lives his roles. And...

O'BRIEN: But (UNINTELLIGIBLE), wait a minute, Paul, it just -- you know, when you say it's historically accurate, and then you hear the cast, and you think, Wait a minute, this -- you know, they're appealing to a certain crowd here that isn't necessarily into the...

CLINTON: Oh, yes.

O'BRIEN: ... history aspect of this, right?

CLINTON: Well, that's true. But, I mean, Daniel Day-Lewis really does capture the accent. He's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) New Yorkese (ph) accent. Of course, you're looking like DiCaprio for bringing in the box office, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that's a no-brainer.

O'BRIEN: Well, and Cameron too.

CLINTON: And Cameron too. And Cameron's basically, unfortunately, reduced to just sort of an armpiece in this, although she is beautiful, even under all that dirt. But she's basically a plot ploy to create jealousy between the butcher, which is Daniel Day, and Amsterdam, which is Leo. Not that there's not already a lot of tension there, since Amsterdam -- the butcher killed Leo's father in the first half-hour of the film.

WHITFIELD: So Paul, there are a whole lot of movies we want to get through, and, you know, "Catch Me If You Can"...

O'BRIEN: Well, well, wait a minute...

WHITFIELD: ... you also mentioned that one (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

O'BRIEN: ... we had it -- don't we need to talk about this kiss?

WHITFIELD: Oh, do we?

(CROSSTALK)

CLINTON: ... used that as a bumper, that kiss. Yes, well, Martin Scorsese...

O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

WHITFIELD: Oh, God.

CLINTON: ... yes, he's not known for his tender love scenes. You remember "Casino" with Sharon Stone and Robert DeNiro? And this is his idea of, like, you know, a tender moment.

O'BRIEN: Wow, that's a bite, that's not a kiss.

WHITFIELD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CLINTON: Yes, they go for it, they go for it.

But it's -- there is a lot of chemistry between the two of them. And Leo's come back really as a full-fledged adult actor. He's -- this is his best performance, I think, since "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?"

WHITFIELD: Oh, good for him, then.

"Catch Me If You Can," you mentioned the other one, real quick, do you like it?

CLINTON: I liked it, yes. It's a whole different ball of wax here. It's a lot of fun, it's very crisp and funny. It's based on a true story about Frank Abignale, this 19 -- 17-, 16-year old kid. His parents got divorced, and he just left and ran away and started impersonating a airline pilot, a surgeon, a lawyer all these different people. And along the way, he cashed about $2.1 million in bogus checks.

And he got away with it for quite a few years, and then he finally tracked down by the FBI. In this case, Tom Hanks plays the FBI agent. They're really great together, there's a lot of chemistry. There's a -- Leo's character goes on quite a large journey, when -- in the first frame, he is very, very young, you think he's back in "Gilbert Grape." And by the end of the film, he is a full-fledged adult.

WHITFIELD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CLINTON: And it doesn't glamorize it. By the end of the movie, Spielberg puts you in this guy's head. And he's really had it, he's alone, he's ready to be turned in.

WHITFIELD: All right.

CLINTON: And this real-life man went on, Abignale, to work with the FBI, has his own consulting company... WHITFIELD: OK. All right.

O'BRIEN: We're going to do one more...

WHITFIELD: "Antwone Fisher."

O'BRIEN: ... "Antwone Fisher."

CLINTON: "Antwone Fisher," that is getting a lot of heat, lot of heat. That's Denzel Washington's directorial debut, which is interesting, because Scorsese has been up for three Academy Awards, and twice he's lost to actors for directing, Kevin Costner for "Wolves," and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for "Ordinary People." So if Denzel gets the nominated for an Oscar for "Antwone"...

WHITFIELD: Wow.

CLINTON: ... then Scorsese might be in trouble.

WHITFIELD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CLINTON: But "Antwone" is a great story, it's a true story, once again, just like "Catch"...

WHITFIELD: All right.

CLINTON: ... and it's this young man...

WHITFIELD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), real quick?

CLINTON: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- OK.

(VIDEO CLIP, "ANTWONE FISHER")

WHITFIELD: Man, all this emotion!

O'BRIEN: Yes.

WHITFIELD: This is good stuff.

CLINTON: Well, and Denzel, of course, is in the movie, that's how it got made. But it's a great backstory, which is with this film. The young man that plays Antwone was working in the Sony gift store. The real Antwone at one point was a security guard after he left the Navy at Sony. And the two got to know each other, and then later the boy was cast in Antwone's movie, so it's a nice little Hollywood back story.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Do we have time for one more?

O'BRIEN: Sure.

CLINTON: "Chicago," "Chicago"?

WHITFIELD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- OK, "Chicago." Go for it.

CLINTON: I love "Chicago"...

WHITFIELD: All right!

CLINTON: ... "Chicago" is wonderful. It's better than the 1975 Broadway musical. Renee Zellweger just blew me away. This woman has no musical comedy background, and she just grabbed it and ran.

Now, Catherine Zeta-Jones did do "42nd Street" in the West End, and Richard Gere does have background with playing "Grease." But this is -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) music is just spectacular. They really figured out how to do this, how to make a musical out of this.

And I don't know whether the -- you know, it's the comeback of the American musical or not, but it's one heck of a good time.

WHITFIELD: All right! Wow. Good movies.

O'BRIEN: Lots to see.

CLINTON: And it got eight nominations.

O'BRIEN: Lots to see here.

CLINTON: Eight nominations at the Golden Globes for...

O'BRIEN: All right, what's the first...

WHITFIELD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

CLINTON: ... "Chicago."

O'BRIEN: ... what's the first one you'd see on that list?

CLINTON: Pardon?

O'BRIEN: Of the list you just gave us, what's the first one you'd go see?

CLINTON: Oh, I'd probably go see "Gangs."

O'BRIEN: "Gangs," OK. All right, Paul Clinton.

WHITFIELD: Paul, good to see you. Thanks a lot.

CLINTON: It was a pleasure being here.

WHITFIELD: Sorry for rushing you...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: That's why we call them sort of reviews, they're rushed.

CLINTON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot. O'BRIEN: All right, appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: All right, you can check out Paul's list of best and worst movies of the year at cnn.com, AOL keyword CNN.

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 December 21, 2002 - 09:39   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(VIDEO CLIP, "GANGS OF NEW YORK")
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: You know, I didn't Leo survived the "Titanic." I thought he died at the end there. There he is.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, there he is.

O'BRIEN: Time traveler, back in New York...

WHITFIELD: A new and very different kind of Leo.

O'BRIEN: ... mid-19th century New York, "The Gangs of New York" just one of several films that hits theaters this weekend.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that's right, and we're going to go to the movies right now for some reviews, sort of. Cnn.com film correspondent Paul Clinton is with us. Paul, good to see you.

PAUL CLINTON, FILM CORRESPONDENT, CNN.COM: Reviews, sort of. OK.

WHITFIELD: Yes, yes. Well, we're going to chat...

CLINTON: Yes.

WHITFIELD: ... is what I mean.

CLINTON: Review-like.

But he did die -- he didn't die on "Titanic," Miles, he died on the beach, was the film he did afterwards.

O'BRIEN: Good point, good point, yes.

WHITFIELD: Yes, but he resurfaces now in "Gangs of New York," and so...

CLINTON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

WHITFIELD: ... do you like it?

CLINTON: And "Catch Me If You Can," this is...

WHITFIELD: Yes, and "Catch Me If You Can."

CLINTON: ... this is Leo, this is Leo's year, no doubt about it. WHITFIELD: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Yes, yes.

CLINTON: "Gangs of New York," I think, is a major achievement...

O'BRIEN: Really?

CLINTON: ... Martin Scorsese is not just -- yes, he's not just a director, he's an historian. And it's authentic down to the T. It's so authentic, you might feel like you need a shower afterwards, because everything's so dirty.

But it's a classic American epic, something Scorsese has never tried to do before. It's your classic (UNINTELLIGIBLE) structure of a screenplay with a villain, an ingenue, and a hero. And Daniel Day- Lewis is absolutely amazing.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

CLINTON: Now, this Method actor, Method actor. He lives his roles. And...

O'BRIEN: But (UNINTELLIGIBLE), wait a minute, Paul, it just -- you know, when you say it's historically accurate, and then you hear the cast, and you think, Wait a minute, this -- you know, they're appealing to a certain crowd here that isn't necessarily into the...

CLINTON: Oh, yes.

O'BRIEN: ... history aspect of this, right?

CLINTON: Well, that's true. But, I mean, Daniel Day-Lewis really does capture the accent. He's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) New Yorkese (ph) accent. Of course, you're looking like DiCaprio for bringing in the box office, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that's a no-brainer.

O'BRIEN: Well, and Cameron too.

CLINTON: And Cameron too. And Cameron's basically, unfortunately, reduced to just sort of an armpiece in this, although she is beautiful, even under all that dirt. But she's basically a plot ploy to create jealousy between the butcher, which is Daniel Day, and Amsterdam, which is Leo. Not that there's not already a lot of tension there, since Amsterdam -- the butcher killed Leo's father in the first half-hour of the film.

WHITFIELD: So Paul, there are a whole lot of movies we want to get through, and, you know, "Catch Me If You Can"...

O'BRIEN: Well, well, wait a minute...

WHITFIELD: ... you also mentioned that one (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

O'BRIEN: ... we had it -- don't we need to talk about this kiss?

WHITFIELD: Oh, do we?

(CROSSTALK)

CLINTON: ... used that as a bumper, that kiss. Yes, well, Martin Scorsese...

O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

WHITFIELD: Oh, God.

CLINTON: ... yes, he's not known for his tender love scenes. You remember "Casino" with Sharon Stone and Robert DeNiro? And this is his idea of, like, you know, a tender moment.

O'BRIEN: Wow, that's a bite, that's not a kiss.

WHITFIELD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CLINTON: Yes, they go for it, they go for it.

But it's -- there is a lot of chemistry between the two of them. And Leo's come back really as a full-fledged adult actor. He's -- this is his best performance, I think, since "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?"

WHITFIELD: Oh, good for him, then.

"Catch Me If You Can," you mentioned the other one, real quick, do you like it?

CLINTON: I liked it, yes. It's a whole different ball of wax here. It's a lot of fun, it's very crisp and funny. It's based on a true story about Frank Abignale, this 19 -- 17-, 16-year old kid. His parents got divorced, and he just left and ran away and started impersonating a airline pilot, a surgeon, a lawyer all these different people. And along the way, he cashed about $2.1 million in bogus checks.

And he got away with it for quite a few years, and then he finally tracked down by the FBI. In this case, Tom Hanks plays the FBI agent. They're really great together, there's a lot of chemistry. There's a -- Leo's character goes on quite a large journey, when -- in the first frame, he is very, very young, you think he's back in "Gilbert Grape." And by the end of the film, he is a full-fledged adult.

WHITFIELD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CLINTON: And it doesn't glamorize it. By the end of the movie, Spielberg puts you in this guy's head. And he's really had it, he's alone, he's ready to be turned in.

WHITFIELD: All right.

CLINTON: And this real-life man went on, Abignale, to work with the FBI, has his own consulting company... WHITFIELD: OK. All right.

O'BRIEN: We're going to do one more...

WHITFIELD: "Antwone Fisher."

O'BRIEN: ... "Antwone Fisher."

CLINTON: "Antwone Fisher," that is getting a lot of heat, lot of heat. That's Denzel Washington's directorial debut, which is interesting, because Scorsese has been up for three Academy Awards, and twice he's lost to actors for directing, Kevin Costner for "Wolves," and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for "Ordinary People." So if Denzel gets the nominated for an Oscar for "Antwone"...

WHITFIELD: Wow.

CLINTON: ... then Scorsese might be in trouble.

WHITFIELD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CLINTON: But "Antwone" is a great story, it's a true story, once again, just like "Catch"...

WHITFIELD: All right.

CLINTON: ... and it's this young man...

WHITFIELD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), real quick?

CLINTON: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- OK.

(VIDEO CLIP, "ANTWONE FISHER")

WHITFIELD: Man, all this emotion!

O'BRIEN: Yes.

WHITFIELD: This is good stuff.

CLINTON: Well, and Denzel, of course, is in the movie, that's how it got made. But it's a great backstory, which is with this film. The young man that plays Antwone was working in the Sony gift store. The real Antwone at one point was a security guard after he left the Navy at Sony. And the two got to know each other, and then later the boy was cast in Antwone's movie, so it's a nice little Hollywood back story.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Do we have time for one more?

O'BRIEN: Sure.

CLINTON: "Chicago," "Chicago"?

WHITFIELD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- OK, "Chicago." Go for it.

CLINTON: I love "Chicago"...

WHITFIELD: All right!

CLINTON: ... "Chicago" is wonderful. It's better than the 1975 Broadway musical. Renee Zellweger just blew me away. This woman has no musical comedy background, and she just grabbed it and ran.

Now, Catherine Zeta-Jones did do "42nd Street" in the West End, and Richard Gere does have background with playing "Grease." But this is -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) music is just spectacular. They really figured out how to do this, how to make a musical out of this.

And I don't know whether the -- you know, it's the comeback of the American musical or not, but it's one heck of a good time.

WHITFIELD: All right! Wow. Good movies.

O'BRIEN: Lots to see.

CLINTON: And it got eight nominations.

O'BRIEN: Lots to see here.

CLINTON: Eight nominations at the Golden Globes for...

O'BRIEN: All right, what's the first...

WHITFIELD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

CLINTON: ... "Chicago."

O'BRIEN: ... what's the first one you'd see on that list?

CLINTON: Pardon?

O'BRIEN: Of the list you just gave us, what's the first one you'd go see?

CLINTON: Oh, I'd probably go see "Gangs."

O'BRIEN: "Gangs," OK. All right, Paul Clinton.

WHITFIELD: Paul, good to see you. Thanks a lot.

CLINTON: It was a pleasure being here.

WHITFIELD: Sorry for rushing you...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: That's why we call them sort of reviews, they're rushed.

CLINTON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot. O'BRIEN: All right, appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: All right, you can check out Paul's list of best and worst movies of the year at cnn.com, AOL keyword CNN.

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