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Morning News

On the Big Screen: Originality Gone in "Blair Witch 2"; 'Nothing's Funny' in 'Lucky Numbers'; 'Little Vampire' for 9-Year- Olds

Aired October 27, 2000 - 9:52 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for our weekly look at what's new on the big screen. Halloween is right around the corner, horror flicks at the top of the list for some time.

Here's our movie critic, Peter Travers, for "Rolling Stone" magazine, also for us here at CNN.

Peter, great to see you.

PETER TRAVERS, MOVIE CRITIC, "ROLLING STONE": Hi. Great to see you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Halloween is just a few days away, as we mentioned, so let's start with the scary one, "Blair Witch Project 2." As scary and weird as the first one?

TRAVERS: I can tell you're just waiting to see this, aren't you? You just love this kind of movie.

KAGAN: Yes, you know how I love the bad dream movies.

TRAVERS: Oh, I can just tell. You know, the great thing about the first movie was that it cost nothing. You know, it was made for chump change, $30,000, and then made $250 million because it didn't show any gore, it didn't have any blood, it was all about dread. So what...

KAGAN: But I heard in an interview about this one they felt like they had to step it up a notch.

TRAVERS: They stepped it up so we do get the gore, we do get the blood, we get a lot of sex, we get a lot of wide-screen filmmaking, we get a movie that looks like, sadly, every other horror movie that you see out there.

KAGAN: Oh.

TRAVERS: So any sense of originality is now, whoop, it's gone. The only clever thing about this movie is that it uses what happened with the phenomenon of the first one. It's about kids going back to Burkittsville, Maryland where this Blair Witch was supposed to be. And it's pop culture feeding on itself. That was a clever little notion, a good way to begin it, but then the movie just falls apart.

KAGAN: Still going to make big bucks, though, don't you think?

TRAVERS: Yes.

KAGAN: Yes, doesn't have to be good.

How about -- speaking of money, how about "Lucky Numbers," Lisa Kudrow, John Travolta, two big stars?

TRAVERS: They are, you know. They're really big stars. And Lisa Kudrow is somebody that I really like. But this is another one of those movies that has been on the shelf for a while. And when you finally see the movie, you understand why. It's about a lottery scam in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1988. And John Travolta is a local TV weather man. He's the big celebrity because he has his own booth at Denny's there. And it starts like a Nora Ephron movie. She's the director of this. She did "You've Got Mail" and "Sleepless in Seattle." And then it turns murderous. She decides she's going to make a kind of Coen brothers comedy like Fargo and she can't do it.

KAGAN: Oh.

TRAVERS: All of these actors wind up just struggling so hard to be funny and, Daryn, nothing's funny.

KAGAN: Real quick, "Little Vampire." You have me thinking like a cynical movie critic. Why is...

TRAVERS: Uh-oh, I don't mean to be that way. This is the horror movie, the Halloween movie for little kids. And if you're 9 years old, you're really going to love this movie.

KAGAN: OK.

TRAVERS: Little Jonathan Lipnicki, who's in it, was the kid from "Jerry Mcguire." And that was made four years ago. And you look at him and you say, what happened? He looks exactly the same. I don't get how that happened. But if you're an adult that has to take a 9- year-old to this movie, then you've got to bring a flashlight and a book.

KAGAN: Got it. I was just cynical because I was wondering if it was such a cute Halloween movie, why were they releasing it so late?

TRAVERS: Yes, well, good point. They're just hoping to get that one weekend's business and then, whoop, it's gone.

KAGAN: Right to video. See the effect you're having on me, Peter.

TRAVERS: Uh-oh, uh-oh.

KAGAN: Uh-oh. Well, we'll have you back. Thanks for your tips. Appreciate it.

TRAVERS: Thank you.

KAGAN: For all the latest movie news from Hollywood, you can watch "SHOWBIZ TODAY" at 4:30 p.m. on the East Coast, 1:30 in the West.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

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