Show J J : 1 - The Herald Journal Logan SHERMANS LAGOON Utah Monday March 29 2004 hayk ne jost oor ' mouNsmioF ( LOOK AT MY KUCKN FLOOR IT LOOKS J UORSF THAN MH oiuMAm'zveooT :Ht ftOMC ALL clfanfp Ben and Jen are back but not as ‘Bennifer’ ANPWAfSTYLFKTM? T FLOOR CLEANING LOS ANGELES (AP)— The tabloid beast known as Bennifer rears its head on the big screen again Yet Kevin' Smith wants you to know he kills off Jennifer Lopez's character minutes into “Jersey Girl” Filmmakers usually decry blabbermouths who reveal movie secrets but Smith and distributor Miramax are quick to acknowledge Lopez's demise a plot twist they once had hoped to keep hidden The reason: The lingering cloud of carbon monoxide left by “Gigli” last summer's bomb that was the first pairing of e sweetie Ben Affleck Lopez and A year or two ago the prospect of Lopez and Affleck together on screen sounded like music to a studio executive's ears Then came the media farce over their nuptials culminating in gleefully harsh reviews of their mob comedy “Gigli” a S54 million production that earned back just $6 million at theaters A long slow anticlimax followed as Affleck and Lopez called off their September wedding at the last minute and rumors flew' about the status of their relationship They finally called off their engagement in January Everyone involved wants to distance the new flick from “Gigli” so they're taking an unusual tack for Hollywood and selling “Jersey Girl” truthfully for what it is: A goodhearted story of a widower (Affleck) struggling to put his life back together while raising a little girl on his own Lopez plays Affleck's wife and dies in child- birth within the first 15 minutes “I never would have wanted to do a and sell it as a movie then have people suddenly get irate when she dies so early” said Smith who previously directed Affleck in “Chasing Amy” “Dogma” “Mallrats” and ‘'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” “In the climate you'd have to be movie ' an idiot to hype it as a This way it's more honest” Smith said ' Smith initially wanted the death of Lopez's character to be a surprise but word leaked out after test screenings Once “Gigli” aid its egg it was in the best interests of “Jersey Girl” to go public with Lopez's fate and downplay her involvement Affleck hopes enough time has passed so audiences can view “Jersey Girl” on its own merits “‘Gigli’ was a movie that definitely suffered from the surfeit of publicity about me and Jen So it was kind of ‘Enough already’ before the movie came out” Affleck said “Also ‘Gigli' while it wais a great experience and while I had a great time making it didn't really ultimately work as a movie and ‘Jersey Girl' really does I believe it's a beautiful movie and I'm really proud of it’’ Affleck plays Ollie Trinke a crack Manhat- - ' tan music publicist who meets and marries the woman of his dreams Gertrude Sfeiney (Lopez) After Gertrude’s death giving birth to their daughter Gertie (Raquel Castro) Ollie's writer-direct- J XW ?? -- : " we to l sou from WEIGHT W100IN&-PANI- GAIN box-offi- f! I ! i r:j !OK THIS COMIC STRIP CHARACTER IS SAVINS v HAT YOU ALWAYS SAVf : AP photo ' Director Kevin Smith left gestures toward actors Liv Tyler center and Ben Affleck between shooting scenes from Miramax's ’Jersey Girl' in this undated promotional phota off-aga- in on-aga- in FETLE BAILEY f‘ ce real-lif- 7L'v(5 t K "wcve come i i ' or professional life crumbles and he finds himself back in New Jersey licking his wounds at the home of his father (George Carlin) as Ollie’s new romantic Liv Tyler interest but the heart of the story is the attachment inspired by Smith’s relationship with his own daughter To hold the focus squarely on Affleck as a single father Smith truncated the movie’s opening deleting scenes to reduce the romance and marriage of Affleck and Lopez to a whirl- wind montage He cut a wedding scene a smart move given the wisecracks it would have ' provoked after Affleck and Lopez’s nuptial nonsense “Jersey Girl” is the most grown-u- p film yet for Smith whose first movie “Clerks” put him at the vanguard of the 1990s wave of young independent filmmakers: The new movie has plenty of Smith’s trademark character banter but oh a mature level without the gross-oschtick of his previous work With its $35 million budget ($10 million for Affleck's salary and $4 million for Lopez’s) “Jersey Girl” is less of a risk than “Gigli’’ Smith's young hip fan base alone could lift it ' to profitability “Kevin Smith has a following regardless of the Ben Affleck-- ) Lo factor” said Paul Der-tracker garabedian president of Exhibitor Relations “There are a lot of his fans who w ill want to see this movie That may be all it needs to rise above the ‘Gigli’ deba- co-sta- rs father-daught- er : ch Ben-and-J- if AGAR THE HORRIBLE post-‘Gig- ut li' Ben-and-J- en : FANUTS ' i ERMOON DOS BREAK" ! VE5MAAMF0RAFTEN00N D06BKAKTHE0WNKKU5HE5 ' TIT H0WE8VE5 MIS POE A 5NACK uoldswminhislApand PETS MIM FOR TEN MINUTES 70 i JTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM box-offi- ce cle” ' If the movie catches a break with reviewers and builds solid word of mouth “Jersey Girl” also might lure older audiences into the Smith fold Still doubters think the “Gigli' fallout could smother “Jersey Girl’ “The person who has my greatest sympathy right now is Kevin Smith” said John Wilson founder of the annual Razzie awards for worst movies where “Gigli” swept all the top cate- g'ories last month “How do you sell ‘Jersey Girl' after this fiasco? How do you convince anyone that you want to see these two people reunited on screen? “They may need to put Lopez in a coffin on the poster if they want anyone to come” 1 Mona Lisa smiling at No By The XTROT Associated Press Weekly charts for the nation's most popular videos as they appear in next w eek's issue of Billboard magazine Reprinted with permission: ( Based on data provided by the Video Software Dealers Assn) Top VHS Rentals L "Mona Lisa Smile' Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment 2 "School of Rock” Paramount Home Entertainment ' 3 "Missing" Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment 4 "Matchstick Men” Warner Home Video 5 “Cold Creek Manor'-Wa- lt Disney Home Entertainment' 6 “Runaway Jury" FoxVideo 7 Duplex” Walt Disney Home Entertain- V ment 8 “Good Boy" MGM Home Entertainment 9 “Radio Columbia TriStar Home Enter- - " tainment 10 "Secondhand Lions" New Line Home : JASON WANNA -OVER TO MY ' AFTER SCHOOL 3 EILEEN GET REAL YOU'RE A GtRL I'M A BoY what COULD WE PoSStBtY Do' ' together that’d Today’ o REALLY?? OH MY! be DON'T ' LATE be ANY FUN? ! ’ AL LIFE ADVENTURES 'HA ke - YOhR VISION ' CLOSE TO HOME Win FOR OUR fiAM rne izitkeL VvfUf S' V Rousseau a' French philosopher and political theorist wrote “It is um difficult to think nobly' when one thinks (my ofearning a living' Thai does not apply to bridge professionals: competing in e or Chicago If do not think nobly they they will fail jo make a living It is the fo'uiih and last deal of a Chicago chukker You need tit score 600 points or more to have sufficient money for din-nWilyou go tb bed that night w ith a fullstomaeh or an ''''v'''''': empty ne? ' - You are South’ (he 'declarer rffTne ! dF SLF-- ‘ PResekuATtoNSfUAAAP ' v : Rid-die- s" ' Manyplayersand especially those wealthy enough to know from where their next meal is coming would play the spade queen (or jack) at trick two They should go down West who has no semblance of an entry card outside ' spades should duck this trick to keep communication with his partner Then when South : attacks diamonds East wins With the king and fires back his remaining spade West col- -' lects three tricks in that suit to defeat the contract A bridge expert who knows " how to get his next meal would play his remaining low V in three West leads his spade at trick two Then no r' Spade East wins with the king and returns lie of the cards can kill the contract (except a highly the spade nine Over to you' of " I like North's' unlikely response of spades and diamond king with East) South will lose at most ' three spades and oiie diamond' Did you think of the trick-tw- o duck fordinner? NEA2004 North ''Sr AI 430 J ' A 10 8 4 3 V j Z 75 As ' H Ethics schmethics 'Now donl blame Rookie You know she's been stressed out ever since you switched completely to that cheep brand of litter" i - s' kjii Wwt Ki q lo r v v ' ' K 4 T '75 f Sooth a q j is K 5 2 er 1 HltN' 7- - rubber-bridg- 3-2- Disney 3 “Dora's Egg Hunt" Paramount Home Entertainment 4 "Spongebob Goes Prehistoric” Para- mount Home Entertainment 5 “What's New Scooby Doo? Safari So ' Good' Warner Home Video v 6 “Dora the Explorer — Dora's Pirate Adventure" Paramount Home Entertainment: "'7 "Dora the Explorer —- Rhymes and Paramount Home Entertainment 8 “Spongebob Squarepants — The Seascape ' Capers” Paramount Home Entertainment 9 "City bf Lost Toys" Paramount Home Entertainment 10 Veggie Tales — Easter Carpi' Warner Home Video- Ml ’ £ AST PffAA V DOUJN 12" Walt 1 ' no-tru- Jean-Jacqu- aaadcsurf we've found ‘The Lion King It is usually three easier to win nine tricks than ' Swiss-born HIGH GROUND WSTAS SOON 2 Home Entertainment at bridge By Phillip Alder PANY YOUNG MANAND ZCAN' Entertainment Top Kid Video Sales ' (Compiled from a national sample of sales reports)': 1 “Winnie the Pooh: Springtime With Roa” Walt Disney Home Entertainment los ‘ ' r io Dealer South ! Vulnerable: Both no-tru- fourth-highe- st - Sooth i yr West Paw North 3 NT Opening lead: A : Eat ASpoM 4:-- ' ‘W": - ' |