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Show Box office lives Grama ". high off the 'Hogs' Movie fans went hog wild over "Wild Hogs." The goofy ensemble biker comedy, starring John Travolta, Martin Lawrence, Tim Allen and William H. Macy, roared its way to a $39.6 million take at the box office, almost triple the total of second-plac- e "Zodiac" at $13.3 million. Critics called "Wild Hogs" silly and sophomoric, but audiences responded to a massive advertising campaign and d tale of four its middle-ag- e suburban men who run into unexpectedly weird adventures on a road trip. The weekend's third major opening, "Black Snake Moan," finished eighth with $4 million. Nicolas Cage's "Ghost Rider" finished third with $11.5 million, raising its total to $94.8 million and setting it up to become the year's first $100 million flick. "Wild Hogs" pushed the weekend total for the top 12 movies to $106 million, $23 million above the first weekend in March last year. . i f good-nature- V;,".;.. r .1 t y - . ' Warner Bros. Pictures Leonidas Gerard Butler bids farewell to his son, Pleistarchos Giovani Antonio Cimmino and wife, Gorgo Lena Headey. Bland of brothers War is a chore in faux-ferocio- Cody Clark DAILY HERALD ere's what it looks like when blood fountains out of a ragged spear wound, or when somebody hacks off an arm or a leg with a heavy sword stroke, for the 50th time since you started watching "300." It looks like it did the time before that and the time before that, and the time before that, all the way back to the 10th or 11th time that you saw it, which is probably the last time that you sat there and didn't H think something like, "I could really go for a meatloaf sandwich," or "Crimson would be a nice color for the rec room." The movie's real problem is that it gets to the 50th spurting limb when wound or hacked-of- f there are still about umpteen combat scenes to go. You might call it a bad case of overkill And yet, even when "300" is essentially a wallow", it's not entirely uninteresting. The story Bozc of the doomed Spartan warriors who held their ground against a vastly larger Persian force at Thermopylae in 480 B.C has a powerful romantic allure that resonates no matter how many buckets of gore are dumped over it by director Zack Snyder. That might be less true if Sny-dhad taken more liberties with his source material, the Frank Miller graphic novel that shares the movie's title. Since Miller is faithful to most of the known history of Themopylae, however, and Snyder has essentially adapted his text and illustrations the movie at least has the ring of historical legend. Per the chroniclers of that era, the Spartans really did toss the emissary of Xerxes into a well and Leonidas, King of Sparta, really did reply to Xerxes's demand that he throw down his weapons by daring the warriors g of the to take them. Less interesting, even obnoxious, are the obvious Miller-ismlike depicting the Greek traitor Ephialtes as a grotesquely mis er panel-by-pane- God-Kin- ice Compiled by Exhibitor Relations Co. and Nielsen EDI Inc. for last 1. "Wild Hogs,' Disney, $39,699,023, 3,287 locations, $12,078 average, $39,699,023, one week. ancient Greek epic us David Hinckley New York Daily News shapen hunchback, or making the priests of the Delphic oracle into lecherous, hairless, warty Review trolls. 300 (The undulating oracle herself, with billowy paper-thigarments and an obvious dairy food allowance of one-hacup cottage cheese, is like a cross between a lava lamp and a peep show.) There is some excellent costuming, especially of Xerxes's most feared warriors, the masked "Immortals. They're totally creepy at least until the rugged Spartans casually scatter them like bowjing pins. Frankly, everything is like that. The movie exudes so much machismo that Arnold Schwarzenegger would look wimpy standing next to it. (Snyder's grasp of tone is in the extreme. If he were a concert pianist, he'd pick one note and play it until your ears bled.) Some of the manly swagger is effective. When the Persians darken the sky with a rain of arrows, the fey giggle of a Spartan n lf d 2. "Zodiac" Paramount $13,395,610, average, Director Zack Snyder Cast Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Rodrigo Santpro Running time: R 1 nr., 57 min. for graphic battle Rating: sequences throughout, some sexuality and nudity Location: Opens Friday in theaters everywhere soldier huddled beneath his shield is actually pretty cooL And Ge- -. rard Butler has a fantastic heroic snarl and wolfishly regal bearing as Leonidas. Such tiny flowers, in so vast a wasteland Near the end of 300," one character gloats to another that, This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this." Funny. I couldn't have said it better myself. $1 2,362 locations, $5,671 3,395,61 0, one week. 3. "Ghost Rider," Sorry, $11,553,469, 3,608 locations, $3,202 average, $94,810,845, three weeks. 4. "Bridge to Terabithia," Disney, $8,904,512, 3,159 locations, $2,819 average, $58,207,144, three weeks. 5. "The Number 23," New Line,' $6,486,304, 2,759 locations, $2,351 average, $24,1 19,947, two weeks. 6. "Norbit," Paramount $6,398,696, 2,827 locations, $2,263 average, $82,905,396, (our weeks. 7. "Music & Lyrics," Warner Bros., $4,888,337, 2,644 locations, $1,849 average, $38,673,388, three weeks.- 8. "Black Snake Moan," Paramount Vantage, $4,143,199, 1,252 locations, $3,309 average, $4,143,199, one week. 9. "Reno 9111: Miami," Fox, $3,942,926, 2,702 locations, $1,459 average, $16,605.822, two weeks. 10. "Breach." Universal, $3,617,670, 1,498 locations, $2.41 5 average, $25,556,01 5, three weeks. |