The black noir film "The Best Man" beat all other challengers down the aisle of the top ten last week, finishing ahead of all comers in a very, very mediocre week in which not one film finished in double figures. The big anticipation is not so much in the theatres as in video where finally Roberto Benigni's masterpiece and award winning "Life is Beautiful" will finally be available in a week or so. This is the same film the Pope watched with Benigni and enjoyed immensely. For the Top Ten reviews for the fourth week of October prepared by the NCCB, click on MOVIES AND MORALS
TOP TEN MOVIES FOR THE FOURTH WEEK OF OCTOBER
1. THE BEST MAN
(Universal)
$9 million in one week:
Because of a fleeting sexual encounter, crude bachelor-party lap
dancing, brief violence, occasional profanity and much rough language, the U.S.
Catholic Conference classification is A-IV -- adults, with reservations. The Motion
Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. "The Best Man" is an uneven
romantic comedy about a group of affluent African-Americans in which a wedding is
jeopardized when the best man's autobiographical novel suggests he was intimate
with the bride-to-be while she was dating his best friend, the now-enraged groom.
Often raunchy despite the groom's fervently-held Christian beliefs, which finally lead
him to forgiveness, the comedy strains for laughs about the war of the sexes and
the double standard.
2. DOUBLE JEOPARDY
(Paramount)
$7.6 million last week/ $91 million in five weeks:
Because of some violence, a shadowy sexual encounter, and intermittent
profanity and rough language, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III -- adults. The
Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. "Double Jeopardy" is a sleek
thriller in which probation officer Tommy Lee Jones chases parolee Ashley Judd across country to prevent her from murdering the two-timing husband who framed her. The straightforward
fugitive story maintains suspense without relying solely on the expected revenge motive.
3. FIGHT CLUB
(Fox)
$6.3 million last week/ $21.9 million in two weeks:
Because of excessive violence, sexual encounters, nudity, rough
language and profanity, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is O -- morally
offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. "Fight
Club" begins as a dark satire of materialistic society, then turns into a slap-happy
fantasy of underground male terrorists out to destroy that society. Overlong and
emotionally primitive, the convoluted plot is an unsatisfying exercise in
self-destruction.
4. BRINGING OUT THE DEAD
(Paramount)
$6.2 in one week:
Because of brief violence including an instance of
euthanasia, a gory childbirth, some substance abuse, occasional profanity and
recurring rough language, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III --
adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. "Bringing
out the Dead" is a grim tale of burned-out NYC paramedic Nicolas Cage whose
frantic nocturnal-ambulance runs expose him to all manner of desperate individuals
as he is haunted by visions of those he could not save on the city's mean streets.
Intense life-and-death encounters capture the traumatizing effects of the job, but the
movie doesn't build sufficient momentum as the paramedic vacillates between a
breakdown and the possibility of redemptive love with a patient's daughter.
5. THE STORY OF US
(Universal)
$5.4 million last week:/ $17.8 million in two weeks
Because of much shrill marital discord with profanity and rough
language, a few sexual references and fleeting rear nudity, the U.S. Catholic
Conference classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America
rating is R -- restricted. In "The Story of Us"Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer
portray an unhappy couple with two children who are vacillating about whether to
divorce as they recall the highs and lows of their 15-year marriage. Despite an
ultimately positive message, the movie's repetitiveness and heavy-handedness
reduce the characters to unappealing spouses constantly lurching between fury
and mushy hysteria.
6. AMERICAN BEAUTY
(Dreamworks)
$5.2 million last week/ $48.6 million in six weeks:
Because of brief gory violence, sexual situations including adultery,
masturbation and nudity, some profanity and recurring rough language, the U.S. Catholic
Conference classification is O -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America
rating is R -- restricted. "American Beauty" is a nihilistic black comedy in which a husband (Kevin Spacey) lusts after a blond teen-ager (Mena Suvari), his shrill wife (Annette Bening) has an affair with a business rival (Peter Gallagher) and their teen daughter (Thora Birch) finds solace with a drug-dealing classmate from an equally dysfunctional family. Director Sam Mendes paints a corrosively bleak portrait of family life in which the increasingly desperate behavior of self-absorbed characters culminates in murder.
7. BATS
(Destination Film)
$4.7 million in one week:
Because of recurring violent bat attacks, some profanity and minimal rough
language, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion
Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned that
some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. In "Bats," a Texas town is
decimated by mutant bats on a killing rampage as the sheriff , and bickering
scientists struggle to devise a manner to kill them all before the mayhem spreads
across the country. The formula horror flick delivers cliches in place of chills, but at
least the rapid-fire depictions of the attacks are indecipherable.
8. THREE TO TANGO
(Warner Brothers)
$4.4 million in one week:
Because of sexual situations and innuendo involving marital
infidelity and homosexuality, as well as several instances of profanity and rough
language, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-IV -- adults, with
reservations. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents
are strongly cautioned that some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
"Three to Tango" is a failed sex comedy in which a Chicago architect falls for the
mistress of a tycoon but has to pretend he's a homosexual or lose his job. The result
is a dreary TV-level sitcom that offers few laughs and has no heart.
9. THREE KINGS
(Warner Brothers)
$4.3 million last week/ $50 million in four weeks:
Because of some fairly graphic violence, a brief sexual encounter and recurring
profanity as well as rough language, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III -- adults.
The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. "Three Kings" tells of
American soldier George Clooney and three comrades going AWOL at the end of the Gulf War to look for hidden gold but they pause along the way to protect pro-Western Iraqi villagers from
marauding nationalist soldiers. The result mixes intense action with sudden spurts of satire and
frenzied visuals that ultimately underline the hypocrisy of politics and the insanity of war as well
as its inhumanity.
10. THE SIXTH SENSE
(Disney)
$4.1 million last week/ $255.5 million in twelve weeks:
Because of gory violence, a menaced child and coarse language, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned that some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. "The Sixth Sense" is a clunky psychological thriller in which child psychologist Bruce Willis tries to help a shaky 8-year-old who keeps seeing dead people walking around, though matters ultimately are not what they seem. The story's vague assumptions and boring situations are suddenly thrown into an entirely new light by a twist ending, though few will find the "surprise" worth waiting for.
SIMPLY SHEEN:
The champion of the downtrodden
They say a picture is worth 1000 words, but the words of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen have been known to launch a thousand images in one's mind, one of the ways this late luminarydid so much to evangelize the faith. Because of the urgency of the times and because few there are today who possess the wisdom, simplicity and insight than the late Archbishop who touched millions, we are bringing you daily gems from his writings. The good bishop makes it so simple that we have dubbed this daily series: "SIMPLY SHEEN".
"The Christian law is not 'the survival of the fittest' but the 'survival of the unfit.' The inspiration for this is He Who emptied Himself of Heaven's wealth that through His poverty we might be made rich. The challenge was uttered to the Cross: 'Come down and we will believe.' But He did not come down. If He had come down, He would have been strong. He stayed there. He would die for the weak. Through that act of self-denial, the unfit lived."
Finally the long-awaited books "I SOLEMNLY TELL YOU..." and THE HIDDEN WAY are NOW available!
With the messages completed, you can now order the book that contains ALL the messages. This much-anticipated 224-page book of ALL the messages to the world imparted to the Hidden Flower of the Immaculate Heart from the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a lasting gift that will inspire you in your faith, and all God asks of us. You can acquire your own handsome, coffee-table top copy of "I SOLEMNLY TELL YOU..." containing all 632 messages or the THE HIDDEN WAY containing 100 inspirational Meditative Lessons from Our Lord and Our Lady on Church Doctrine by clicking on "I SOLEMNLY TELL YOU..." or THE HIDDEN WAY or both books at BOOKS
