| OCR Text |
Show Clooney confesses George Clooney said he toed the line between fact and fiction while filming the life of TV producer and OA hit man Chuck Barris, but admitted to a few liberties in the 1960s depiction of his setting Berlin. Clooney was in the German f Jennifer Gamer and Ben Affleck get the point in V 'V , J"' J - ""'J' "Daredevil.' i J fewvaar- - fi f riMi in hi i f ' mmm r iiiiiii mm mm mimr m Associated Press Don t you Dare Top bos office Compiled by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. and Nielsen EDI Inc. 1. "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," Paramount, $23.8 million, 2,923 locations, $8,134 average, $23.8 million, one week. Blind, vengeful superhero is nothing we haven't seen before By ERIC D. SNIDER THE DAILY No, it's not HERALD Spider-Ma- It's Daredevil! And that, in anutshell, is the "e's a brooding supertrouble with "Daredevil," the sunless new comicjbook adaptahero who only comes out at night, stubborn- - tion written and directed by r Mark Steven Johnson ("Simon fighting to avenge a blind the years-ag- o death of as faBirch"). The character ther. He has no lawyer by day who uses his four extraordinary other senses instead, he has nifty gadgets and acrobatic prowess, gambolto figW crime by night is ining about the rooftops of a matriguing in its concept, but this film seems unaware of how dejor metropolis while wearing a cowl and a rubber suit rivative ft all seems when you No, if snot Batman. It's Darelay 2 out in simple terms. His sense of hearing and touch, in . devil! . Following tte death of a ' particular, are so strong as to almost caiKd out his blindness beloved relative, he sets out to and wiLhout that gimmick, let's fight crime, a renegade from face it, he's Batman. the law, avoiding toe negative This is a darker, more adult spin put on him by the news media His modus operandi is to , superhero story, with more swing from wires above the city death and mayhem then its : . of New York, nimbly swooping counterparts. It is not joyless, in at the last moment to isave the i though, thanks to the gleefully wicked turns by Colin Farrefl as day. His heightened senses help Irish him know where danger lurks. BuDseye, a crazy-eye- d But his solitary life as a marksman; and Michael Clarke as the behemoth crime dooms any normal relationboss Kingpin. Jon Favreau ship he seeks to have, particuearns a few laughs as Daredevlarly when a friend mistakenly il's law partner. believes him responsible for a Daredevil himself or Matt loved one's death. - H JLJU super-strengt- : ' Review Daredevil Director Mark Steven Johnson Cast Ben Affleck, Jennifer Gamer, Michael Clarke Duncan, Colin Farrell Running time: 1 hr., 40 min. Rating: PG-- 1 3 tor some mild profanity, some mild sexuality, some fairly graphic violence Location: Opens Friday at theaters everywhere Murdock, as he is called during theday is played by Ben Affleck, a rather bland actor playing a rather bland superhero. He falls genericaQy in love with Hektra Natchks (Jennifer Garg heiress ner), a whose name in MAD Magazine will almost certainly be Electric Nachos. The plot from there is sloppily ' assembled, as crises emerge at odd moments and are quefled .. capital Monday to present his directorial debut, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," one of 22 films competing for the top Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival. The film follows "Gong Show creator Barris, played by Sam Rockwell, through the Cold War city as he sneaks into the communist East through a tunnel under the Berlin Wall and discusses undercover operations in a bar staffed by dirndl-cla- d waitresses carrying weighty steins of beer. "We decided to create this image of 1960s Germany as the Americans see it, so we put in every stereotype we had," Clooney said at a news conference. "Someone would say, That's more Vienna,' but we would use it anyway." with equal hastiness. Elektra and Daredevil become enemies, momentarily; then it's just a matter of ticking off the bad guys as Daredevil fights them cm by one. There is little flair or wit in the storytelling. There is much to be enjoyed, however, in the visual style, which is replete with splendid imagery. The adventures are excitingly photographed by Core (The Fast and the Furious"), and the use of computer-generated images is thankfully kept to a minimum. The sound design, usually taken for granted in a fihn, is fantastic here. Daredevil's sense of tearing is his key to survival he operates on a e and the sense of echolocation way it functions is portrayed 2. "Shanghai Knights," Disney, $19.6 million, 2,753 locations, $7,121 average, $19.6 million, one week. 3. "Chicago," Miramax, $10.8 million, 1,841 locations, $5,859 average, $63.8 million, seven weeks. 4. "The Recruit," Disney, $9.2 million, 2,376 locations, $3,883 average, $29.8 million, two weeks. 5. "Final Destination 2," New Line, $8.4 million, 2,834 locations, $2,960 average, $27.9 million, two weeks. Er-ks- bat-lik- vividly. 6. "Deliver Us From Eva," Focus Features, $6.6 million, 1,139 locations, $5,837 average, $6.6 million, one week. 7. "Kangaroo Jack," Warner Bros, $6.1 million, 2,848 locations, $2,144 average, $53 million, four weeks. 8. "Biker Boy," DreamWorks, $4.2 million, 1,769 locations, $2,393 average, $16 million, two weeks. 9. "Darkness Fans," Sony, $3.8 million, 2,456 locations, $1,556 average, $26.8 million, three weeks. techBut these above-averanical achievements are, alas, confined to a film whose story 10. "Hie Lord of the Rings The Two Towers," New line, $3.5 million, and protagonist are pedestrian. Especially on the heels of last which was year's "Spider-Man,- " great in every respect, "Dare- And slightly further down the list... devil" seems positively t uiku-pe- r. 1,680 locations, $2,093 average, $320.9 million, eight weeks. 46. "The R.M," HaleStorm Entertainment $74,397, 1 5 locations, $4,959 average, $254,642, two weeks. |
