It was a headbangers-are-back bash at the L.A. SPORTS ARENA, where for 5 bucks you could be an extra in a MARK WAHLBERG film and raise funds for pediatric-AIDS research. Billed as the ’80s HEAVY METAL CHARITY PARTY, the night was part concert and part movie shoot. With all the heaving bosoms, towering hair, cowboy boots and acid-washed jeans, it was as if grunge had never come and killed real rock. After an ’80s metal-costume contest, GREAT WHITE meandered through a wimpy “show me your tits” set. Longevity didn’t get ex–POISON guitarist C.C. DEVILLE much respect — the crowd spent more time booing him than hooting at the competitors for Hottest Metal Babe, although that could be because the gals looked like a gathering of granny groupies (picture the chicks from Vixen aged 20 years). Following this contest, emceed by Deville, who did not play, Wahlberg shot his concert scene, in which he stars as a singer, backed by a fictitious metal band that included JASON BONHAM, son of JOHN, and ZAKK WYLDE, former guitarist for OZZY OSBOURNE. They sure knew how to whip hair around in unison. Many hours and horrendous takes later, the sparse crowd was left confused, annoyed and dozing off. MEGADETH (pictured) briefly woke up the assembled — DAVE MUSTAINE’s frenzied finger work and flawless rendition of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” proved to be the night’s only true musical testament — who again slumped into slumber despite the dozen strippers taking it all off. Perhaps they weren’t gyrating quite fast enough. Finally, far into the wee hours, it was W.A.S.P. time: The great BLACKIE LAWLESS savagely ripped through his tender ode “Animal (Fuck Like a Beast).” Unfortunately, there was hardly anyone left to bang heads.

About 20 journalists (including me) were shuttled over to the très elegant Hotel du Cap in Antibes this morning (Monday) for round-table interviews with the O Brother, Where Art Thou? gang — star George Clooney, filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, and co-stars John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson. The interviews were held in a cluster of small cabanas overlooking the beautiful blue Mediterranean.
Clooney — darkly tanned but a bit puffy from partying, and wearing a expensive-looking V-neck sweater — was the most charming. Journalists love him. He's awfully good at interviews. Jokey, conversational, self-deprecating. But his movie-star cool was shaken, slightly, when I asked him about his performance as the good bad-guy in From Dusk to Dawn, which I consider his highest-voltage performance to date.

I didn't mean to be anything but flattering. I like George Clooney a lot. I just don't feel he has connected with another character quite as well since. I think playing "angry" brings something out in him that he should resort to every now and then. Somehow my question came out like, "How come you haven't found a role that works for you as well as the Dusk to Dawn one did?" I didn't mean it that way. Really.

Clooney hemmed and hawed, then said in a smiling, joshing way, "F--- you." I smiled. Everyone laughed. He went on to explain that the Dusk to Dawn character had a whole history and reason for the way he was, and that he doesn't want to play a flat-out bad guy unless there's an element of balance or retribution written into the role.

Still, I sensed my question had touched a nerve. People do whisper here and there, that his performances since Dusk have lacked resonance. Not that he doesn't have it in him, or that he isn't a bona fide star — he probably does, and is. It's just that that perfect role hasn't happened yet.

Then came the subject of the upcoming July competition between Clooney's The Perfect Storm and Mel Gibson's The Patriot, as well as Clooney's relationship with Mel Gibson.

At Saturday's O Brother press conference Clooney had joshed about this, saying he was sure that The Patriot "will kick our butt." He suggested today, however, that The Perfect Storm might have longer legs. He also recalled how his misbegotten Batman and Robin opened much bigger than My Best Friend's Wedding, but that the latter film "kicked our ass in the long run."

We talked briefly about the upcoming Ocean's 11 remake, in which Clooney will play the Frank Sinatra lead role. Steve Soderbergh will direct. Clooney said that Bruce Willis has joined him in the cast, along with Mark Wahlberg, Brad Pitt, and Julia Roberts. He said Scott Frank is taking a pass at the script, the idea being that it needs "an extra sting or two … maybe a couple extra twists." 

Who:    Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Perfect Storm" Web site (http://www.perfectstorm.com) and Internet Pictures Corporation (Nasdaq: iPIX, "iPIX").

What:   IPIX technology allows visitors to "The Perfect Storm" Web site to take virtual tours of the movie's scenery, filmed on location in Gloucester, Mass.

When:   Now, and more later.

Where:  http://www.perfectstorm.com

Why:    IPIX images give viewers the ability to see a picture as if they were there.  The images give the most comprehensive views available, allowing "The Perfect Storm" fans to step into George Clooney's shoes and experience the set as he and the other actors did as they filmed the movie.

How:    Visit http://www.perfectstorm.com, select "The Film," "The Making Of," then click on iPIX.  Choose a scene to explore, using your mouse to pan up, down and around Gloucester and the area sets.

More IPIX images will be posted to the site as the movie ``Andrea Gail,'' the boat featured in the film, makes its way from Long Beach, Calif., through the Panama Canal with stops in Miami, New York, Boston and arriving in Gloucester, MA. in early June. An IPIX virtual tour will be photographed aboard the boat in New York and posted to http://www.perfectstorm.com.

More about The Perfect Storm:

In October of 1991 a storm stronger than any in recorded history hit the coast off of Gloucester, Mass. This ``Perfect Storm'' -- so called because it was three storms combined into one -- created an almost apocalyptic situation in the Atlantic ocean, where boats encountered waves of 100 feet (30 meters) -- the equivalent of a ten-story building. These storms are some of the strongest and most terrifying manifestations of nature's strength.

Wolfgang Petersen directs and produces ``The Perfect Storm,'' an epic drama based on Sebastian Junger's best-selling book, starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Diane Lane, William Fichtner, Karen Allen, Allne Payne, and Bob Gunton, with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and John C. Reilly. Based on a true story, the film tells of the courageous men and women who risk their lives every working day, pitting their fishing boats and rescue vessels against the capricious forces of nature. Their worst fears are realized at sea one fateful autumn, when they are confronted by three raging weather fronts which collide to produce the greatest, fiercest and most destructive storm in modern history.

``The Perfect Storm'' will be in theaters nationwide June 30.

Though Ken Loach's West Coast Bread and Roses is the only UK film in competition for the Palme d'Or, Britain is guaranteed a place at the forefront of Cannes this year. The Duchess of York arrives as star reporter for the NBC flagship show, Today. On the jury are Jeremy Irons and a heavily pregnant Kristin Scott Thomas. The opening film, Vatel, is directed by Roland Joffe. Its leading actress, Uma Thurman, will stay on to promote Merchant Ivory's The Golden Bowl, a main competition contender, joined by co-stars Nick Nolte and Brit Jeremy Northam. At the closing ceremony Kim Basinger and Vincent Perez, stars of Hugh Hudson's Out of Competition presentation, I Dreamed of Africa, will present the Palme d'Or.

Cannes is expected to be the launch pad for the film career of Robbie Williams, who is reportedly enamoured with the script of Far from the Mushroom Cloud. Dave Stewart, meanwhile, makes his directorial debut with Honest, starring the All Saints, and will then front a pre-screening jam at the Carlton Hotel. Meanwhile, Cannes first-timer George Clooney makes his singing debut in the Coen Brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou?

There are three British films in Director's Fortnight. Dancer, a first film from theatre director Stephen Daldry stars Julie Walters; Purely Belter features a cast of unknowns and is the latest from Mark Herman, the director of Little Voice; and Simon Cellan-Jones's Some Voices stars Daniel Craig and David Morrissey.

The nightlife is also UK-dominated. Dazed and Confused magazine throws the first big bash on Friday night. Jude Law, Sadie Frost, Sophie Dahl, Damons Albarn and Hill will converge at the Châuteau de La Napoule. The Soho House yacht will be base to the Empire magazine drinks party which will be followed by a dinner for 40 of the 100 or so cocktailers. The rest will have to walk the gangplank. Such is Cannes.

British-owned Paris nightspot The Monkey Club takes up residence in the basement of the Noga Hilton. "We have the biggest dancefloor on the Croisette," boasts manager Ludo, which will be put to good use for a dance party for Exit, produced by jury president Luc Besson. Not to be outdone, Mick Hucknell, Sean Penn and Johnny Depp's Man Ray Champs Elysées club restaurant takes over a beach for a series of parties, including the bash for Spanish babe Penelope Cruz who will party with the team of her film, Woman on Top.

French clubbing honour will be upheld by the St Tropez club, VIP, at the Palm Beach, with a first-night show by Eagle Eye Cherry.

Meanwhile, the Palm Beach is the venue for Victoria's Secret Aids fundraiser on 18 May, hosted by Sir Elton John and Dame Liz Taylor. Guests include Claudia Schiffer, Laetitia Casta, Gisele and Naomi Campbell.

For The King is Alive both Jennifer Jason Leigh and Janet McTeer will be on the Riviera. Gladiator's Connie Nielsen will be in town for Out of Competition Mission to Mars.

Nicolas Cage will be in town with Willem Dafoe to talk about Shadow of The Vampire. So will Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron, stars of James Gray's The Yards; Juliette Binoche for Code Inconnu and Renee Zellweger, Chris Rock and Greg Kinnear for Nurse Betty.

Cannes 2000 may be thin on UK films, but entertainment at the first 21st-century festival will have a distinctly British flavour. If they were handing out the party Palme d'Or, Soho would win hands down. 

Just when you thought this year's awards shows gasped their final breath, the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards swooped into Los Angeles Tuesday and handed out yet more honors to a laundry list of actors and musicians, including Tom Hanks, Drew Barrymore, Cher and the Backstreet Boys.

It was the video chain's sixth annual popularity contest, held at the Shrine Auditorium and boasting a near infinite list of categories for film, music and video games--all voted on by customers of the retailer's 7,100 stores worldwide.

The schmoozed-out final product airs on Fox June 20 at 8 p.m. ET.

Much like the MTV Movie Awards, the commercially cultivated ceremony also touts such fan fave categories as best action team (which went to George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube for Three Kings), and winners for every genre you can churn out, from romance to drama-romance, suspense and science fiction.

Hanks was named favorite actor in a drama for his death row prison guard role in The Green Mile, while Pierce Brosnan was named favorite actor in both an action flick (as James Bond in The World is Not Enough) and a drama romance (The Thomas Crown Affair).

No one else seemed to pay much attention, but Cameron Diaz still won over enough video-store patrons to nab favorite actress in a drama for Oliver Stone's gridiron tale, Any Given Sunday. And Barrymore was picked favorite actress in a comedy romance for Never Been Kissed.

In music, voters picked Cher as the favorite female pop artist for her latest comeback album, Believe, and the Backstreet Boys took home favorite pop group honors. Blockbuster's video game honors went to joystick-jamming favorites like Super Smash Bros., Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Donkey Kong 64.

Here's a complete list of the big winners (or a big list of the complete winners):

Favorite Actor, Action: Pierce Brosnan, The World is Not Enough
Favorite Actress, Action: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Entrapment
Favorite Action Team: Mark Wahlberg, George Clooney and Ice Cube, Three Kings
Favorite Actor, Comedy: Adam Sandler, Big Daddy
Favorite Actress, Comedy: Heather Graham, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Favorite Actor, Comedy Romance: Ben Affleck, Forces of Nature
Favorite Actress, Comedy Romance: Drew Barrymore, Never Been Kissed
Favorite Actor, Drama: Tom Hanks, The Green Mile
Favorite Actress, Drama: Cameron Diaz, Any Given Sunday
Favorite Actor, Drama Romance: Pierce Brosnan, The Thomas Crown Affair
Favorite Actress, Drama Romance: Nicole Kidman, Eyes Wide Shut
Favorite Actor, Horror: Johnny Depp, Sleepy Hollow
Favorite Actress, Horror: Christina Ricci, Sleepy Hollow
Favorite Actor, Science Fiction: Keanu Reeves, The Matrix
Favorite Actor, Suspense: Bruce Willis, The Sixth Sense
Favorite Actress, Suspense: Ashley Judd, Double Jeopardy
Favorite Comedy Team: Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal, Analyze This
Favorite Villain: Mike Meyers as Dr. Evil, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Favorite Actor, Newcomer: Haley Joel Osment, The Sixth Sense
Favorite Actress, Newcomer: Rachael Leigh Cook, She's All That
Favorite Supporting Actor, Action: LL Cool J, Deep Blue Sea
Favorite Supporting Actress, Action: Salma Hayek, Wild Wild West
Favorite Supporting Actor, Comedy: Eugene Levy, American Pie
Favorite Supporting Actress, Comedy: Lisa Kudrow, Analyze This
Favorite Supporting Actor, Comedy Romance: David Arquette, Never Been Kissed
Favorite Supporting Actress, Comedy Romance: Joan Cusack, Runaway Bride
Favorite Supporting Actor, Drama: Tom Cruise, Magnolia
Favorite Supporting Actress, Drama: Angelina Jolie, Girl, Interrupted
Favorite Supporting Actor, Drama Romance: Denis Leary, The Thomas Crown Affair
Favorite Supporting Actress, Drama Romance: Reese Witherspoon, Cruel Intentions
Favorite Supporting Actor, Suspense: Jude Law, The Talented Mr. Ripley
Favorite Supporting Actress, Suspense: Toni Collette, The Sixth Sense
Favorite Supporting Actor, Science Fiction: Laurence Fishburne, The Matrix
Favorite Supporting Actor, Horror: Taye Diggs, House on Haunted Hill
Favorite Supporting Actress, Horror: Miranda Richardson, Sleepy Hollow
Favorite Family Film: Toy Story 2
Favorite Female Artist, Pop: Cher, Believe
Favorite Male Artist, Pop: Ricky Martin, Ricky Martin
Favorite Group, Pop: Backstreet Boys, Millennium
Favorite Artist, Rap: Dr. Dre, Dr. Dre 2001
Favorite Duo or Group, Country: Dixie Chicks, Wide Open Spaces and Fly
Favorite Male Artist, Country: Garth Brooks, Double Live and The Magic of Christmas
Favorite Female Artist, Country: Shania Twain, Come On Over
Favorite Male Artist, R&B: Brian McKnight, Back at One
Favorite Female Artist, R&B: Mariah Carey, Rainbow
Favorite Group, R&B: TLC, Fanmail
Favorite Artist, Modern Rock: Kid Rock, Devil Without a Cause
Favorite Group, Modern Rock: Limp Bizkit, Significant Other
Favorite New Artist, Male: Eminem, The Slim Shady LP
Favorite New Artist, Female: Christina Aguilera, Christina Aguilera
Favorite New Artist, Group: Blink 182, Enema of the State
Favorite Latino Artist: Enrique Iglesias, Bailamos
Favorite Latino Group: Mana, MTV Unplugged
Favorite Artist or Group, Rock: Santana, Supernatural
Favorite CD: Backstreet Boys, Millennium
Favorite Single: Christina Aguilera, "Genie in a Bottle"
Favorite Song from a Movie: Gloria Estefan and 'N Sync, "Music of My Heart"
Favorite Soundtrack: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Favorite Artist, Comedy: Adam Sandler, Stan & Judy's Kid
Favorite Video Game: Super Smash Bros.
Favorite Playstation Game: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Favorite Nintendo Game: Donkey Kong 64
Favorite GameBoy Game: Super Mario Bros. Deluxe
Favorite Dreamcast Game: Sonic Adventure

LOS ANGELES--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--May 10, 2000--The following artists were honored last night at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles at the Sixth Annual BLOCKBUSTER ENTERTAINMENT AWARDS, which will air Tuesday, June 20 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX in the United States:

Movies

Pierce Brosnan - Favorite Actor, Action The World is Not Enough
Catherine Zeta-Jones - Favorite Actress, Action Entrapment
Mark Wahlberg, George Clooney and Ice Cube - Favorite Action Team Three Kings
Adam Sandler - Favorite Actor, Comedy Big Daddy
Heather Graham - Favorite Actress, Comedy Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Ben Affleck - Favorite Actor, Comedy Romance Forces of Nature
Drew Barrymore - Favorite Actress, Comedy Romance Never Been Kissed
Tom Hanks - Favorite Actor, Drama The Green Mile
Cameron Diaz - Favorite Actress, Drama Any Given Sunday
Pierce Brosnan - Favorite Actor, Drama Romance The Thomas Crown Affair
Nicole Kidman - Favorite Actress, Drama Romance Eyes Wide Shut
Johnny Depp - Favorite Actor, Horror Sleepy Hollow
Christina Ricci - Favorite Actress, Horror Sleepy Hollow
Keanu Reeves - Favorite Actor, Science Fiction The Matrix
Bruce Willis - Favorite Actor, Suspense The Sixth Sense
Ashley Judd - Favorite Actress, Suspense Double Jeopardy
Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal - Favorite Comedy Team Analyze This
Mike Meyers as Dr. Evil - Favorite Villain Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Haley Joel Osment - Favorite Actor, Newcomer The Sixth Sense
Rachael Leigh Cook - Favorite Actress, Newcomer She's All That
LL Cool J - Favorite Supporting Actor, Action Deep Blue Sea
Salma Hayek - Favorite Supporting Actress, Action Wild Wild West
Eugene Levy - Favorite Supporting Actor, Comedy American Pie
Lisa Kudrow - Favorite Supporting Actress, Comedy Analyze This
David Arquette - Favorite Supporting Actor, Comedy Romance Never Been Kissed
Joan Cusack - Favorite Supporting Actress, Comedy Romance Runaway Bride
Tom Cruise - Favorite Supporting Actor, Drama Magnolia
Angelina Jolie - Favorite Supporting Actress, Drama Girl, Interrupted
Denis Leary - Favorite Supporting Actor, Drama Romance The Thomas Crown Affair
Reese Witherspoon - Favorite Supporting Actress, Drama Romance Cruel Intentions
Jude Law - Favorite Supporting Actor, Suspense The Talented Mr. Ripley
Toni Collette - Favorite Supporting Actress, Suspense The Sixth Sense
Laurence Fishburne - Favorite Supporting Actor, Science Fiction The Matrix
Taye Diggs - Favorite Supporting Actor, Horror House on Haunted Hill
Miranda Richardson - Favorite Supporting Actress, Horror Sleepy Hollow
Toy Story 2 - Favorite Family Film

Music

Cher - Favorite Female Artist, Pop Believe
Ricky Martin - Favorite Male Artist, Pop Ricky Martin
Backstreet Boys - Favorite Group, Pop Millennium
Dr. Dre - Favorite Artist, Rap Dr. Dre 2001
Dixie Chicks - Favorite Duo or Group, Country Wide Open Spaces and Fly
Garth Brooks - Favorite Male Artist, Country Double Live and The Magic of Christmas
Shania Twain - Favorite Female Artist, Country Come On Over
Brian McKnight - Favorite Male Artist, R&B Back at One
Mariah Carey - Favorite Female Artist, R&B Rainbow
TLC - Favorite Group, R&B Fanmail
Kid Rock - Favorite Artist, Modern Rock Devil Without a Cause
Limp Bizkit - Favorite Group, Modern Rock Significant Other
Eminem - Favorite New Artist, Male The Slim Shady
Christina Aguilera - Favorite New Artist, Female Christina Aguilera
Blink 182 - Favorite New Artist, Group Enema of the State
Enrique Iglesias - Favorite Latino Artist Bailamos
Mana - Favorite Latino Group MTV Unplugged
Santana - Favorite Artist or Group, Rock Supernatural
Backstreet Boys - Favorite CD Millenium
Christina Aguilera - Favorite Single Genie in a Bottle
Gloria Estefan and *N Sync - Favorite Song from a Movie Music of My Heart
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me - Favorite Soundtrack
Adam Sandler - Favorite Artist, Comedy Stan & Judy's Kid

Video Games

Super Smash Bros. - Favorite Video Game
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater - Favorite Playstation Game
Donkey Kong 64 - Favorite Nintendo Game
Super Mario Bros. Deluxe - Favorite GameBoy Game
Sonic Adventure - Favorite Dreamcast Game

Veteran television producer Ken Ehrlich (``The Grammy Awards,'' ``The Emmy Awards,'' ``VH-1 Honors'') was executive producer for the sixth consecutive year. Michael Levitt and Angela Fairhurst were producers and Bruce Gowers was director. This year's sponsors included MCI WorldCom, Coke, Visa, Paramount Pictures and America Online.

Though the summer movie season has just begun to heat up, Hollywood moguls are already sweating, with more than $1 billion in production and marketing dollars riding on the season's most anticipated movies.

Last weekend's huge $34-million opening for "Gladiator," a $110-million co-production from DreamWorks SKG and Universal Pictures, has studios hoping the stage is set for a profitable summer.

Undoubtedly, Ridley Scott's Roman epic has kicked off one of the most competitive moviegoing seasons in years, with offerings that are full of blood, guts and testosterone and short on romance.

The bad news for studios is that, no matter how successful the action flicks (such as "Gladiator," "M:I-2," "The Patriot" and "Gone in Sixty Seconds") and no-brainer comedies ("Road Trip," "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps" and "Me, Myself & Irene") or offbeat animated features ("Dinosaur," "Chicken Run" and "Titan A.E."), they will have a tough time topping last year's bell-ringing $3-billion summer box office.

"The biggest challenge of summer will be coming up with the more than $700 million generated by 'Star Wars' and 'The Sixth Sense.' Those are two big sets of shoes to fill," says Sony Pictures' distribution chief Jeff Blake.

"Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace," which grossed more than $430 million, opened last summer's box-office derby, and "The Sixth Sense," a huge unexpected hit at $293 million, was its late summer bookend. A record dozen movies earned more than $100 million, a list that also included New Line Cinema's "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" ($205.4 million), Disney's animated feature "Tarzan" ($171 million), Universal's "The Mummy," which opened to a whopping $43.3 million (ultimately reaching $155.2 million), Artisan Entertainment's "The Blair Witch Project" ($140.5 million) and Universal's teen comedy "American Pie" ($102 million).

The good news, according to Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co., which tracks box office returns, is that the audience for movies expanded significantly last summer to make May, June, July and August all record months.

Hollywood executives are betting that the new habit will hold and make summer 2000 huge. Summer moviegoing, thanks to the kids being out of school for three months, dominates the business and accounts for about 40% of the year's total box-office revenue.

Hollywood executives concur that the big hits of summer 2000 are likely to include "Gladiator," starring Russell Crowe; "M:I-2," with John Woo directing Tom Cruise; "The Patriot," starring Mel Gibson as an American Revolution warrior; Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi chiller "The Hollow Man;" and Wolfgang Petersen's "The Perfect Storm," starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.

But for this summer to come close to matching last year, says Blake, "You need something more than the obvious favorites to come through--like 'Sixth Sense,' 'American Pie' and 'Blair Witch Project' did last year. And everybody has candidates."

Blake thinks Sony's candidate is "Loser," a comedy directed by Amy Heckerling and starring "American Pie's" Jason Biggs and "American Beauty's" Mena Suvari as two New York college misfits who find each other.

Executives say other potential sleepers include Touchstone Pictures' romantic comedy "Coyote Ugly" and "Shanghai Noon," an action comedy starring Jackie Chan; Disney's "The Kid," in which Bruce Willis meets himself as an 8-year-old; Paramount's comedy "I Was Made To Love Her," directed by "American Pie's" Chris and Paul Weitz and starring comedian Chris Rock; and DreamWorks' raunchy comedy "Road Trip," about a college student who enlists his buddies to try to intercept his videotaped infidelity before it reaches his long-distance girlfriend.

Universal Pictures Chairman Stacey Snider agrees that this summer provides "a lot of action and very little romance."

And most of those action movies, not the least of which is "Gladiator," which Universal co-financed and is releasing internationally, offer a lot of violence.

It was not long ago that Hollywood came under fire for glorifying violence. "I feel like our mandate is to make quality entertainment that communicates and conforms to a rating system that advises our consumers," Snider says unapologetically.

Warner Bros.' blockbuster "The Matrix," Snider says, had "a big impact on our thinking that the action movie isn't dead. It's about how you responsibly transform it into something that's viscerally thrilling."

This year's Fourth of July weekend promises plenty of box-office fireworks with the opening of two big action movies, Columbia Pictures' "The Patriot" and Warner Bros.' "The Perfect Storm."

"It's going to be a real double punch with totally different kinds of movies," predicts Dergarabedian.

Alan Horn, the new head of Warner Bros., said he and his colleagues "will be disappointed" if "Perfect Storm" doesn't gross more than $100 million--which is what the movie cost before marketing.

At the end of the summer, there will be lots of disappointments. Tom Rothman, president of 20th Century Fox Film Group, is braced for a box-office slugfest with a consistent flow of product from now until the end of summer--at least two significant movies open every weekend. "It's a battle where every inch of territory is being fought for."
* * *
Summer Surge
Last summer a record 12 films each earned more than $100 million, making the 1999 summer season the most successful to date.
* * *
1999 summer season: $3 billion
* * *
Note: Season runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Speaking of Breakdown, this weekend, U-571 director Jonathan Mostow came on the KABC radio show I co-host with George Pennacchio. Besides being a good guy, Jonathan is kind of a missing link for this early summer movie season. Frequency reflects Breakdown. U-571 reflects Das Boot, which was directed by Wolfgang Petersen, who directed (and is still working on) The Perfect Storm. His film finished in second this weekend with an estimated $7.6 million, pushing the $50 million mark.

THE GREAT: If I wanted to assure myself a quote slot, I would write that The Perfect Storm is the perfect summer movie. But it isn't. At least, not yet. There is still a lot of work to be done on it, particularly in effects and music. What it is right now is the summer movie I've seen with the best shot at leading the parade when the final tally gets rung up. I haven't given up on The Patriot. But then, I only saw 40 minutes of The Patriot, and the trailer indicates that those of us shown that tease didn't see the best parts of the film. The truth is, these two films, being released head-to-head for the July 4 five-day weekend, are my current favorites to finish one-two.

But I digress.

The movie tells the true story of six fishermen, the women in their lives and some serious weather. That's all I really want to tell you about the tale. I'd direct you to a really good feature on the movie in this month's Premiere magazine, except that there are spoilers there that I'm glad I didn't see before I saw the movie. The trailer, which seems to be grabbing audiences everywhere it plays, sets up the simple story. But the movie works better than you would imagine. If you think it's just Twister with water, you are dead wrong. You care about these men. You care about these women. And you can't predict the twists and turns to come. The Perfect Storm is summer entertainment the way summer entertainment was meant to be. The effects support the fun. They aren't the fun in and of themselves.

A lot of that credit goes to screenwriters Bo Goldman and William Wittliff, who flesh out simple people without ever turning them into caricatures. And production designer William Sandell helps you smell the salt in every shot. But the chickens always come home to one roost. Wolfgang Petersen may be the most underrated director working in movies today. Das Boot is a stunning achievement. Some people didn't go for Enemy Mine, but it grew on me on cable and certainly stands as a highlight of both Lou Gossett Jr. and Dennis Quaid's movie careers. Shattered was a beautiful mess. In the Line of Fire kicked butt. Outbreak was massively entertaining against all odds (Dustin Hoffman fights to stop a modern plague. Sounds real juicy.) And Air Force One was an old-fashioned joy. Four of the six movies were big financial hits and, as I remember, not one of them was really anticipated to be all that it became. Not even Air Force One, which took an adult-driven third place in a summer of the effects-driven titans (The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Men in Black) and remains the highest grossing R-rated opener of all time.

Petersen's work on this film is as visceral as ever. Many of the shots of the boats in the water in The Perfect Storm are done with CG and at least half of those shots were still roughly rendered in the print I saw Friday night. (Yes, I gave up the Lakers game for The Perfect Storm and still feel good about it.) So, I can't judge every inch of the film. Plus, the score was all temp. But with all of that, the audience seemed to stay riveted from the beginning to the end. One of my favorite shots is a simple swing through the local bar, The Crow's Nest. The shot was beautiful and smooth and hard to achieve technically, yet I didn't realize what I was seeing until the camera move was complete. And that's Petersen all over. He does magic with the camera but doesn't show off. (Having the great cinematographer John Seale by his side doesn't hurt either.)

I knew the movie had me when I involuntarily raised my hands over my head to keep from being stuck by an anchor being whipped around in the storm. Of course, being the professional I am, I felt like a damned idiot and spent the next five minutes looking around to see if anyone caught me "protecting myself." Another journalist I know not only spent much of the movie with her eyes covered, but she almost crawled under her seat as the movie swelled to its dangerous climax.

One of the surprises of the film is that Mark Wahlberg is in many ways the central character, not George Clooney. It is Wahlberg who is hooked up with the still-stunning Diane Lane, not Clooney. It is Wahlberg who has a mother, played by Janet Wright.

Wait. I have to stop there. Janet Wright's IMDB resume starts in 1971 with McCabe & Mrs. Miller. It includes Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains, which starred a 15-year-old Diane Lane. She played Vita in the mini-series sequel to Armistad Maupin's "Tales of the City." I don't ever remember seeing her before The Perfect Storm. But I guarantee you that we are going to seeing her all the time once this movie hits. With all the issues of Clooney stepping up to be a major movie star and Mark Wahlberg playing a real grown-up for the first time on screen, etc., Wright turns out to be the real surprise of this movie. She is the earth. And she controls the screen every time she appears.

I didn't quite know what to expect when I heard about this movie. It exceeded my storytelling expectations and I expect that the final film will exceed my expectations of what could be done with CG. (Between this film, Dinosaur and George Lucas' decision to shoot Star Wars 2 digitally, 2000 will surely be remembered as a landmark year for computer graphics.) And summer is just starting. Surf's up.

GLOUCESTER, Mass.--It's hard to say what the strangest sight in Gloucester was on an October day last year. Maybe it was a woman suggestively raising and lowering her convertible top to grab George Clooney's attention. Or Mark Wahlberg's agent apparently monitoring the door at a divey bar called the Crow's Nest. Or a church full of black-clad mourners being herded into school buses.

More likely, it was simply the presence of the Andrea Gail, tied up to the end of a long pier that juts into Gloucester's harbor. The original Andrea Gail sank in a freak storm eight years ago. All six men aboard, most of them local boys, swordfish fishermen, were lost. The storm and the sinking were turned into a nonfiction bestseller called "The Perfect Storm," and Hollywood has come to Gloucester, about 40 minutes north of Boston, to film it.

"Right now, [Gloucester] seems pumped full of steroids," says "Perfect Storm" author Sebastian Junger, slightly bemused. He's wearing cutoff jeans, a sweatshirt, an earring and a five o'clock shadow. He looks like a Hemingway idea of an author.

Clooney, who plays the Andrea Gail's captain, Billy Tyne, and sports a similar look--he's just gotten through his midday two-on-two basketball game--says, "It's weird. Everybody you meet here is related to somebody or was friends with or knew these guys who died."

Wahlberg, unspeakably grubby and cracking a lobster claw with his bare hands and picking the meat out, says: "I got here a couple of months before the movie started. It was nice. It was quiet. Nobody recognized me. Once George Clooney is here it's an [expletive] madhouse."

They are here for only two weeks. The balance of the film, which opens June 30, is being shot in Los Angeles, on sound stages and adrift off the California coast. There they will re-create the interior of the Crow's Nest, which serves as a home away from home for Gloucester's fishermen, and the storm itself, with the help of computers that can digitally generate 100-foot waves.

Clooney frankly admits that the star of the movie will be the storm, but he says audiences won't care about the storm unless they care about the people in it--Tyne (Clooney), Bobby Shatford (Wahlberg), Michael "Bugsy" Moran (John Hawkes), Dale "Murph" Murphy (John C. Reilly), Alfred Pierre (Allen Payne) and David "Sully" Sullivan (William Fichtner).

The film's director, Wolfgang Petersen ("Das Boot," "In the Line of Fire," "Air Force One"), wishes they were shooting the whole movie here.

"I just love it," he says enthusiastically. "I grew up in the north [of Germany] in a small town called Emden and then came to Hamburg. Both are close to water. I grew up like this, so I love it."

"Like this" is not always to everyone's liking, however. Several days earlier, after a storm blew through, the second unit went out to shoot rough seas, and nearly all of them lost their lunch. Some members of the first unit are wearing seasickness patches so as not to join them.

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Nevertheless, most share Petersen's enthusiasm, especially the cast, who've gotten to shoot pool at the Crow's Nest and generally soak up the atmosphere. Rick Shatford, Bobby's brother, gave Wahlberg a chain with Bobby's name and the date of the sinking on it. Clooney showed the Andrea Gail to Tyne's sister (though this proved too much for her--she broke down). Hawkes helped Ricky wallpaper his mother Ethel's bedroom. Fichtner had chicken soup with Sully's family. Diane Lane actually met the character she plays, Christina Cotter, Bobby's girlfriend, and checked out her perfume. ("Essential oils," Lane says. "So she's a real babe.")

All of the actors are careful to say that they will not be imitating these people. They won't be following the book to the letter either--there is no letter to follow. Junger does not explore the characters in great detail, which actually works in the filmmakers' favor, because fans of the book do not have a fixed idea of who these people are. Instead, the actors are guided by Petersen and the script, written by William Wittliff (who adapted Larry McMurtry's novel "Lonesome Dove" into a miniseries that is, oddly, a favorite among the fishermen here) and doctored by Bo Goldman.

The parameters they have to work with are that the characters are working-class, hard-living, hard-drinking, some of them with ex-wives and children they have to support. The town they live in is depressed, the fishing stock depleted. A few people in Gloucester had a problem with Junger's inclusion of some of these untidy facts in the book, but he feels that it was necessary--and honest. Now that they've met some of the people involved, the filmmakers feel these competing interests keenly. Clooney says there have been daily rewrites, for a variety of reasons.

"There's that much freedom when you're in Los Angeles shooting the movie, but when you're here with the people--it's interesting," Clooney says. "Like a writer could put a line in--'Yeah, my ex-wife is holding me up for alimony'--because it would be something that would force [a person] to go out on the job. But that ex-wife actually lives in this town, and if you're going to do a giant movie that's going to open up for the Fourth of July, there is a responsibility. Billy Tyne does have an ex-wife."

The filmmakers have more latitude with the storm and the fate of the Andrea Gail. The boat was returning to Gloucester with a hold full of fish when it ran into the storm. It lost radio contact in heavy seas on the Grand Banks, south of Newfoundland, and that was the last anyone heard of it. (The rest of the "sword fleet," scattered to the east and north, managed to ride it out.)

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Junger cleverly got around the fact that no one knows what happened by interviewing survivors of similar storms and marshaling a dazzling array of marine and meteorological information. (Did you know that the deluge from such storms is so intense that birds drown in flight?) As a consequence, Petersen and company are at liberty to interpret and dramatize the possibilities however they want, including how the men died. It will be interesting to see how graphic this will be, especially now that they've met their relatives and friends. (Fichtner says the actors were given underwater training, which suggests a protracted sequence.)

One of the curiosities of "The Perfect Storm," the book, is that after the Andrea Gail sinks, Junger moves on to other disasters and near-disasters that occurred during the same storm, involving a yacht and Coast Guard helicopter sent to rescue its crew. Petersen says he plans to introduce these vessels and characters (played by, among others, Karen Allen and Cherry Jones) earlier in the narrative, so that the Andrea Gail remains front and center throughout. Obviously there will be no Hollywood ending, even if the budget, rumored to be north of $100 million, calls for one.

While the filmmakers have been creative about what they don't know, they've been painstakingly--and expensively--accurate in depicting what they do know. They tracked down and bought a sister ship of the Andrea Gail, the Lady Grace, for $250,000, and outfitted it to look like the doomed vessel. Richard Haworth, a former captain of the Andrea Gail, was retained as an advisor. Clooney learned to dock a boat. Wahlberg and the other cast members went out with commercial fishermen. All of the guys are indistinguishable in appearance from real fishermen, as a casual visit to the Crow's Nest demonstrates. Wahlberg is staying in Bobby's old room there, No. 23.

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Though the cast and director seem impeccably right, the studio, Warner Bros., originally had other talent in mind. According to producer Gail Katz, Steven Spielberg was approached to direct, but after shooting two films in the water, he didn't want to do another. Meanwhile, Petersen was given the book as he was doing post-production work on "Air Force One." The studio approached him with the project before he had a chance to read it, and once he did, he realized he was the perfect man for the job, with his maritime upbringing and his experience shooting "Das Boot," in which he depicts "what happens to people in a confined space out there on a boat."

The studio wanted Mel Gibson to play Tyne. In fact, they were so close to signing him that the Lady Grace, sailing from the East Coast to L.A. to accommodate the actor, had gotten as far as the Panama Canal when negotiations fell through. (Altogether, the boat will have been through the canal three times, a trip of 16,000 miles each way, from coast to coast.)

"We couldn't make a deal," Katz says of Gibson. "It's about his deal versus the deal the studio wished to make." Referring to the material's appeal, she adds, "I've had actors of real substance who said they would do craft services."

In a sense, Clooney was one of them. Originally, he wanted to play Bobby, and he says he would have done it for nothing just for the chance to act opposite Gibson. When Gibson fell out, Petersen approached him to play Tyne, but it took some convincing because Clooney thought he was too young for the role. He was surprised to learn that sword captains aren't grizzled patriarchs--by the time they reach early middle age, most of them have had enough of work that is dangerous, physically debilitating and requires them to spend weeks at a time away from their families.

(Haworth, who looks to be in his early 40s, is retired, having injured his back while at sea.) They aren't even always men. Linda Greenlaw, played in the film by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, is one of the most successful captains in the fleet.

With Clooney playing Tyne, the filmmakers turned to the crucial role of Bobby. Clooney, who had just worked with Wahlberg in "Three Kings," recommended him to Petersen and Warner Bros. Though there was some uneasiness about this suggestion--at the time he was best known for the role of the porn star in "Boogie Nights"--they went with him, in part because they thought "Three Kings" was going to be a hit. (It was--but only with critics.)

I said, 'If you really feel that way, then let's put our money where our mouth is and let's go get Mark Wahlberg, because I've never seen anybody more perfect for it,' " says Clooney. "He's a tough kid from Dorchester [about 40 minutes away], which is so important. There is a bit of redneck in him. I like working with him, and I like watching him on screen. There's real truth in what he does."

"People have been asking me that," says Wahlberg, alluding to the fact that he and Clooney are working together again. "[They said] it's a new Hollywood pairing, like Paul Newman and Robert Redford. I said no, it's like Eddie Murphy, and I'm Judge Reinhold. I'm the sidekick who gets to talk every once in a while. We had a blast on 'Three Kings,' and this just kind of came up. I'd never wanted to come back to Boston and make a movie. I never wanted to play a guy from Boston. I never wanted to hear the accent again, but it was just too good to pass up."

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Wahlberg says he's been distracted by the presence of family and friends--and by the fact that some "people want to beat the [expletive] out of me. I don't know why. Brag to their buddies." Otherwise, he loves it here, loves the people, loves the food. In many ways, he's closer to the unruly spirit of the men of the Andrea Gail than anything else about the production.

One evening at the Crow's Nest, for example, a couple of days before the end of the crew's stay in Gloucester, he is shooting pool with producer Katz. The bar is roaring. It is difficult to buy a beer, because somebody else is buying it for you. Junger, having closed the bar the night before, is here. So is Mary Ann Shatford, Bobby's sister. Ethel Shatford, who tended the bar for many years and was its presiding spirit, is not, but she is very much on many minds.

Meanwhile, Wahlberg, leaning on a cue stick with a clutch of adoring girls seated nearby, looks very much at home. Surprisingly, Katz is beating him. "She's the boss, man," he says slyly. "You let the boss win."

Squeaky-clean Jennifer Aniston is apparently rockin' in the moral-free world on the set of her new movie. The Friends actress just finished filming a steamy orgy scene for Metal Gods, in which she gets down and dirty with a transsexual castmate during a drunken night with her on-screen lover, Mark Wahlberg.

A production insider tells the New York Daily News that Aniston is trying to bust out of the confines of her sitcom character, Rachel, the eternally pert fashion gal with the preposterously long hairstyle. It sounds like kissing a girl and portraying a slutty groupie is probably the fastest route outta Friends-ville.

Metal Gods is a George Clooney-produced rock flick based on the true story of an office-supply sales lackey (Wahlberg) who sings in a Judas Priest cover band and gets the one-in-a-million chance to be in the popular metal band itself. Pinup girl Aniston plays a rocker chick who joins her musician squeeze on the road to drunken debauchery and backstage mayhem.

Though Aniston has been in several feature-length films — including Office Space, Picture Perfect, and The Object of My Affection — she has yet to make a memorable splash on the big screen. Perhaps this juicy change of character will give her an exit from her typecast role as the bland but pretty girl-next-door.

It still remains to be seen whether Aniston and her Friends castmates will keep the show going for two more seasons. USA Today reports that the six actors are asking for $1 million each per episode. If they don't receive that amount, which is eight times their current pay, negotiations with NBC and Warner Bros. may grind to a halt, putting the show in jeopardy

Jennifer Aniston has been pushing sexual boundaries on the set of "Metal God," but not with her co-star, Mark Wahlberg.

Aniston recently wrapped an "orgy scene" in which she locks lips with another woman, a well-placed set source tells us. "Jennifer supposedly wanted to break out of her 'Friends' character," says the insider. "And it seems like she has."

The movie has Wahlberg playing an office-supply salesman recruited to front a heavy-metal band. Aniston is his girlfriend. After a big show, the two wind up drinking heavily and, according to the source, "things descend into madness. There's a sea of writhing bodies. Jennifer makes out with a character who's a pre-op transsexual — played by another actress. The next morning, no one is quite sure who slept with whom. Mark and Jennifer wake up and try to pretend it didn't happen."

A publicity agent for the film declined comment; a rep for Wahlberg did not return calls.

Incidentally, Wahlberg, who used to rap as Marky Mark, is so into the heavy-metal part that he has been rehearsing on his own time — with Luciano Pavarotti's voice coach, no less — for the one song he gets to duet on.

An '80s metal costume ball is being planned for May 13 in Los Angeles, and the event will help provide the crowd scenes for the movie formerly known as "Metal God."

The yet-to-be-retitled film stars Mark Wahlberg and was inspired by the story of salesman Tim "Ripper" Owens, the frontman of a Judas Priest cover band who wound up becoming the new lead singer in the actual group (see "Mark Wahlberg Weighing "Metal" Role For Next Film"). The big-screen version of Judas Priest has been dubbed Steel Dragon, with the tribute band carrying the moniker Blood Pollution.

The L.A. Sports Arena will provide the venue for the costume ball, and bands scheduled to appear onstage include Great White, W.A.S.P., Metal Shop, and the fictional Steel Dragon (with Wahlberg front and center). The event is also touting "a rare appearance by Vic & The Rattleheads," which some metalheads may recognize as pseudonym for Megadeth.

Billed as an "'80s Heavy Metal Charity Party,"the event is expected to attract roughly 12,000 fans, who'll tease up their hair and pay a nominal $5 cover charge with the proceeds benefiting the T.J. Martell Foundation for pediatric AIDS research. Celebrity MCs will include Poison's C.C. Deville, and the usual array of Playboy Playmates and exotic dancers will also be on hand.

When Steel Dragon takes the stage at the event, concert footage will be shot for the Stephen Herek-helmed film. The "band" also features Zakk Wylde on guitar, Dokken's Jeff Pilson on bass, and Jason Bonham on drums, as well as actor Dominic West ("A Midsummer Night's Dream"). The departing singer is played by Jason Flemyng ("Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels").

Blood Pollution, the onscreen cover band that spawns Wahlberg, also includes a number familiar faces, including The Verve Pipe's Brian Van Der Ark, Slaughter's Blas Elias, and Zakk Wylde bandmate Nick Catanese. Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind also has a small role in the film as the lead singer of a rival cover group.

The movie's soundtrack will feature mostly original music, some written by the musicians themselves, and some by outside writers.

In related news, Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society has just released a second album, "Stronger Than Death," and recently finished shooting a video that includes Wahlberg for the first single, "Counterfeit God," which is also expected to be included in the movie.

The Black Label Society's tentative touring plans include North America in June and July. Wylde told fans he had been hoping to land a spot on the pending Mötley Crüe-Megadeth-Anthrax tour; a source close to the production says that road trip will most likely be sticking with just the three acts, and that Wylde is lining up his own dates.

-- Sorelle Saidman

Exclusive, web-only documentary of 1991 storm to go online in May
BURBANK, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--May 3, 2000-- Web surfers will encounter monster waves and a lot more on the official website for Warner Bros. Pictures' epic drama, ``The Perfect Storm'' (www.perfectstorm.com), which presents every aspect of the creative process that brings to cinematic life this true story of the fiercest, most powerful storm in modern history. Showcased on the site is a six-part exclusive presentation of some of the groundbreaking state-of-the-art visual effects created specifically for the film by Industrial Light & Magic's leading software designers.

In mid-May, the site will feature an exclusive web-only original documentary about the Gloucester residents who survived the cataclysmic 1991 storm and about the fishermen who continue to navigate dangerous and unpredictable seas.

In addition, the site will feature an interactive opportunity to tour the dock of the fishing boat, The Andrea Gail, in full 360-degree perspective, view exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and original production design paintings and photos, see interviews with the cast and filmmakers and get a graphic sense of what a 100-foot wave really means. They can also track, via on-deck web-cams, the progress of The Andrea Gail as it journeys from Long Beach to its home port in Gloucester, Mass., from May to the middle of June.

The site also provides video coverage of the actual 1991 Halloween storm which inspired the movie; facts about storms and the technology used to study them; Coast Guard footage of a real rescue at sea and interviews with the rescuers; plus extensive profiles on the people, history and culture of Gloucester, where the story takes place.

``The Perfect Storm'' tells of the courageous men and women who risk their lives every working day, pitting their fishing boats and rescue vessels against the capricious forces of nature. Their worst fears are realized at sea one fateful autumn, when they are confronted by three raging weather fronts which collide to produce the greatest, fiercest and most destructive storm in modern history.

Warner Bros. Pictures Presents A Baltimore Spring Creek Pictures Production In Association with Radiant Productions, A Wolfgang Petersen Film starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg, ``The Perfect Storm.'' The film also stars Diane Lane, William Fichtner, Karen Allen, Allen Payne, Bob Gunton, with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and John C. Reilly. Music is by James Horner. The film is edited by Richard Francis-Bruce, A.C.E. William Sandell is the Production Designer. John Seale, ACS, ASC, is the Director of Photography. The Executive Producers are Barry Levinson and Duncan Henderson. Based on the book by Sebastian Junger, the screenplay is by Bill Wittliff. Paula Weinstein, Wolfgang Petersen and Gail Katz produced ``The Perfect Storm,'' which is directed by Wolfgang Petersen. www.perfectstorm.com

Copyright(c)2000 Warner Bros. Pictures (All rights reserved). This material is to be used solely for advertising, promotion, publicity or reviews of this specific motion picture and to remain the property of Warner Bros. Pictures. Not for sale or redistribution.

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - ... Former Playboy Playmate Carrie Stevens has joined Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston in ``Metal God.'' Stevens recently wrapped the indie ``Twists and Turns.''

DAVID HOLMES is set to begin soundtrack work on a major Hollywood film, nme.com can reveal.

The producer/DJ, who will release his third solo album, 'Bow Down To The Exit Sign', on June 11 through Go!Beat, will write the soundtrack to 'Ocean's Eleven', a Stephen Soderbergh-directed film starring an A-list cast, including Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts. 'Ocean's Eleven' is a remake of the 1960 picture, generally accepted as the first Rat Pack movie, in which Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jnr. and Peter Lawford star as friends from World War II who reunite with a plan to rob five casinos in Las Vegas in one night.

"It's due next year," Holmes told nme.com, "I've been talking to Stephen and thinking the thing through. The film's been completely rewritten and it's going to be a contemporary piece. I'll probably take a lot of influence from the original soundtrack and put a contemporary edge to it. Really old and funky but still sounding new. It'll be a completely different film."

It will mark the second time Holmes has written the incidental music for a Soderbergh film. He had previously provided the soundtrack to 1998's 'Out Of Sight', starring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez.