- by Jerry Rice
[Tuesday, December 31, 2002]

It was the year of the upside-down kiss in "Spider-Man," some brilliant ensemble work ("The Hours," "Moonlight Mile," "Chicago," etc.) and Halle Berry and Denzel Washington breaking down color barriers at the Academy Awards.

It also was the year Vin Diesel was pegged as the action hero of the new millennium (he isn't), Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson were supposed to bring back the TV magic of Bill Cosby and Robert Culp (they didn't), and Steven Soderbergh hoped to make another big splash (his "Solaris" tanked).

But all things considered, 2002 turned out to be a strong one thanks to a rush of high-caliber releases at the end of the year, such as "About Schmidt," "Adaptation," "Catch Me If You Can," "Chicago" and "Gangs of New York," among others.

Here are some other observations from the past 12 months.

Talk of the town

Even the best movie prognosticators couldn't predict the success of "About a Boy," "Barbershop," "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "The Rookie." Credit some strong word of mouth.

All four out-performed movie heavyweights that their distributors spent millions (even tens of millions) to promote.

Apparently, the editors at Entertainment Weekly were sucked in. "Big Trouble," the troubled bomb-on-an-airplane comedy that was postponed after 9/11, got a bigger ride in the magazine's spring movie preview than "The Rookie."

And then there was this lowdown in their summer preview for "About a Boy" (coming after a seven-page run-down about "Spider-Man" and a two-page "Attack of the Clones" preview): "The last time Hugh Grant had a film released around a `Star Wars' installment, it did pretty well. Of course, he had a slightly more famous co-star in `Notting Hill.'"

Sure, "About a Boy" didn't generate the $116 million in ticket sales that Notting Hill did with Julia Roberts co-starring. However, this year's Grant sleeper earned more than Nicolas Cage's "Windtalkers" or Harrison Ford's "K-19: The Widowmaker."

Box-office bonanza

Records are made to be broken and this year was no exception.

Most people who follow such stuff know all about "Spider-Man's" $114.8 million opening weekend. But how about other box-office standards that followed Madonna's movie career into oblivion? Among them:

"My Big Fat Greek Wedding," made for a relatively modest $5 million, became the highest-grossing independent film of all time with its $218 million (and counting). And here's another impressive record: Wedding is the highest-grossing movie to never hit No. 1 on any weekend, surpassing 1990's "Dances With Wolves" an Academy Award best picture that earned $184 million.

Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" became the top-grossing documentary that isn't an Imax film or a concert show (replacing the basketball movie "Hoop Dreams"). So far it has taken in more than $11 million.

By the way, Moore's "Roger & Me" is No. 3 on that list.

Thanks to "Spider-Man," "Men in Black II," "XXX," "Maid in Manhattan" and even "Stuart Little 2," moviegoers paid nearly $1.6 billion to see releases from Sony, a new industry record. An impressive number, but that's still $29 billion short of California's projected budget deficit.

And speaking of "Stuart Little," at $120 million the mouse sequel cost more than "Minority Report" or "Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones" and earned less than half of the 1999 original. Don't look for "Stuart Little 3."

Doggin' it

It's that time of year again Oscar time, when the entertainment trade papers are filled with "For Your Consideration" ads.

One would expect to see full pages touting "Chicago" and "Gangs of New York" for best picture, Jack Nicholson ("About Schmidt") for best actor and even Diane Lane ("Unfaithful") for best actress.

But Warner Bros. certainly must have known it was throwing good money after bad when it pressed for an acting nomination for Matthew Lillard. In case you missed it, Lillard was Scooby-Doo's pal Shaggy in this summer's adaptation of the animated TV series.

Guess if he's not one of the nominees this year, he'll have another chance in 2004 when "Scooby-Doo 2" is released.

Ad nauseam

See the movie the critics are talking about. So went ads touting Dana Carvey's "Master of Disguise," leading one to believe the movie might be worth more than a matinee price.

Such was not the case because the buzz coming from these three critics mirrored what dozens of others were saying:

"Lacking even a hint of humor or a watchable story, 'Disguise' has distinguished itself as the summer's worst movie," said Claudia Puig in USA Today.

"The only young people who possibly will enjoy it are infants ... who might be distracted by the movie's quick movements and sounds," wrote Jeffrey M. Anderson in the San Francisco Examiner.

Or, how about this from Robert W. Butler of the Kansas City Star? "'Master of Disguise' runs for only 71 minutes and feels like three hours."

Ouch!

Ad nauseam II

Movies rarely start at the advertised times.

First it was two or three trailers, meaning a feature might start 10 minutes late. Then five or six trailers were attached to potential box-office blockbusters like "Spider-Man" and "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones."

Now after the lights go down, there's an assortment of commercials from auto makers, soft drink companies and banks before the first trailer rolls. Southern California's giant Edwards Theatres circuit also includes a pitch for Fandango.com, its online ticketing partner.

Look for even more in 2003. Regal Entertainment Group -- the 6,000-screen conglomerate that operates Edwards -- is planning a 20-minute preshow filled with what they think are entertaining segments from advertisers.

If there is any good news, it's this: Regal is weighing the option of posting two showtimes one for the preshow and one when the actual movie starts. On the downside, moviegoers will still have to arrive before the first time if they want a shot at the best seats in the auditorium.

Bad advice

Comments like these give movie critics a bad name:

"One of the year's funniest comedies," from Jim Svejda on KNX 1070-AM in Los Angeles, and "Plenty of good-size laughs," from Glenn Whipp of the Los Angeles Daily News, about "Big Trouble."

"A sheer delight and the summer's best family film," from Svejda about "The Country Bears."

"`40 Days' will be a hit," wrote Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times on "40 Days and 40 Nights."

"Undoubtedly one of the funniest films of the year," said Paul Fischer of Dark Horizons about "I Spy."

"One of the most fun family films this summer," said Joel Siegel on ABC's "Good Morning America" concerning "Stuart Little 2."

They said it

"You look like a hippie." -- Dee Wallace to her son dressed in a Halloween costume in the politically correct 20th anniversary edition of "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial." In the 1982 original, she said, "You look like a terrorist."

"Nice Greek girls who don't find a husband work in the family restaurant. So here I am, day after day, year after year -- 30 and way past my expiration date." -- Nia Vardalos in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

David Letterman on "Spider-Man's" record opening at the box office: "$114 million that's nearly as much money as the Catholic Church paid in hush money this weekend."

"This moment is so much bigger than me." -- An emotional Halle Berry after becoming the first black woman to win a best actress Oscar.