The film "The Perfect Storm" starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg opens at the end of this month on June 30. The city of Gloucester is already bracing for a storm of its own.

Part of the movie was filmed in Gloucester and this weekend the stars are shooting back to the North Shore for the premiere.

The real storm of the film's name swept Cape Ann nine years ago and the movie tells the true story of six fishermen aboard the Andrea Gail who were lost at sea during the gale.

Last September, the movie was filmed on location in Gloucester because its producers wanted the story to be accurate and they also wanted to honor the lives of the fishermen whose lives were lost.

Movie trailers are still parked near the docks in this fishing community north of Boston and soon the stars of the film will be back in town for a press tour.

The Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a window display contest. The winner gets two tickets to the movie's premiere.

The local book store sells five-to-10 copies of the book every day. The publicity is also attracting more tourists. The locals, for the most part, seem pleased with all the attention their town is receiving. But no one from Gloucester can overloo! k the tragedy endured back in 1991.

Many locals are also anxiously awaiting the possibility of seeing themselves in the film, because many of them worked as extras in the movie. 

Journalists from around the country will descend on Gloucester for this weekend's press junket promoting ''The Perfect Storm.'' According to Warner Bros., it will be no ordinary event. Stars including George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg will be conducting interviews from a ''working fishing dock'' in Gloucester, and reporters have been warned to wear ''multiple layers of clothing'' and ''flat shoes or sneakers,'' since they'll be boarding boats. In other measures taken to give reporters the authentic ''Perfect Storm'' experience: Vans will take journalists on tours of the coastal city looking for ''local flavor,'' and the Air National Guard and US Coast Guard will be doing live helicopter rescue demos during lunch break.

He's been a hustler, a corrupt cop, a smack addict, a rock star, and a smart-mouthed soldier. Now actor Mark Wahlberg may portray a rookie Mafioso in Criminal Conversation, a love-triangle thriller based on a 1994 novel by Evan Hunter.

The twisted tale goes beyond a cutesy, Analyze This sheen, pitting Wahlberg's mob leader against a district attorney who's trying to bust up Wahlberg's "family." The catch: Wahlberg is having an affair with the legal eagle's wife.

When the D.A. puts the crime boss and his property under surveillance, he becomes obsessed with the mystery woman who carries on with Wahlberg, not realizing that it's his own wife.

Twisted, eh?

The film version of Criminal Conversation has been fumbled around for six years, ever since Tom Cruise's production company, C/W Prods, optioned the rights. At one time, Cruise's wife, Nicole Kidman, was to continue her on-screen spouse swapping for Conversation, but she passed on the role for other projects. Meg Ryan also considered the part of the cheating wife but allegedly dropped out to film Oliver Stone's Beyond Borders.

Screenwriter Carl Franklin, who adapted the book, was also briefly attached to helm Conversation. Instead, Iain Softley will direct. Softley skillfully scaled the peaks of infidelity with his lush interpretation of Henry James' The Wings of the Dove in 1997.

Shooting is scheduled to begin this fall. Wahlberg was in talks with Softley Sunday.

This is turning out to be a good year for Wahlberg, whose star seems to be growing even brighter under the tutelage of his pal George Clooney. He just wrapped the Clooney-produced rocker flick, Metal God (with Jennifer Aniston), in Seattle last week. The 25-year-old bruiser also appears with Clooney in the catastrophe film Perfect Storm June 30. Wahlberg may also pair up with the former ER star for Steven Soderbergh's remake of the Rat Pack classic Ocean's Eleven.

Mark Wahlberg is in talks with Tom Cruise's production company to star in "Criminal Conversation," to be directed by "The Wings Of A Dove" director Iain Softley, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The film is based on a 1994 novel by Evan Hunter about a woman who has an affair with a mob leader being prosecuted by her lawyer-husband. Wahlberg would play the gangster, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The affair comes to light because of the extensive surveillance placed on the mobster in the course of the investigation.

Cruise's company, C/W, bought the rights to the project six years ago. At one time, his wife, Nicole Kidman, was set to star under the direction of Carl Franklin, who helped adapt the screenplay.

Meg Ryan was also set to star in the project at one point, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Mark Wahlberg is in negotiations to star in legal thriller 'Criminal Conversation', which is being produced by Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner for Paramount. Iain Softley ('Wings Of A Dove') will direct.
Based on the 1994 novel by Evan Hunter, 'Criminal Conversation' is about a female English teacher who has an affair with a mob leader who her husband, a New York assistant district attorney, is trying to put away. While she is unaware of her lover's true identity, her husband - having set up a surveillance system in the mobster's apartment - becomes intrigued by the mystery mistress.

Wahlberg will play the Mafiosi, while the hunt is on for his leading lady. At one point Nicole Kidman was attached to star, then Meg Ryan, but they have both since dropped out. The film has been in development for nearly six years, and is now expected to finally start shooting this autumn.

Wahlberg's star has risen rapidly since his show-stealing, prosthetics-aided turn in 'Boogie Nights'. He has since appeared with George Clooney in 'Three Kings' and is attached to star in several high profile projects including 'Ocean's Eleven' and 'The Perfect Storm', both of which reteam him with the former Dr Doug Ross. Wahlberg has just wrapped on Warner Bros' 'Metal God' and will also be seen opposite Joaquin Phoenix and Charlize Therzon in Miramax's 'The Yards'.

NEW YORK (Variety) - Mark Wahlberg is in negotiations to star in ``Criminal Conversation,'' as a young mob boss who falls in love with the wife of the D.A. trying to bring him down.

At the same time, he has enlisted to join George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt, among others, in the Steven Soderbergh-directed ``Ocean's 11,'' a Warner Bros. remake of the Rat Pat pic about a casino theft.

Wahlberg, who stars with Clooney in the Wolfgang Petersen-directed ``The Perfect Storm'' which Warner Bros. opens June 30, has been wooed for many projects with fall start dates, including ``The Green Hornet''

He last week began zeroing in on ``Conversation,'' an adaptation of the 1994 Evan Hunter novel which was originally acquired by Paramount with the expectation that Nicole Kidman would play the lead female role and Tom Cruise would co-star. More recently, Meg Ryan's name also surfaced as a possible candidate to star. Cruise's C/W Prods. banner will produce.

Wahlberg would play a gangster who has assumed control of the family business after his father is put away by a dogged lawyer in the district attorney's office.

The project is expected to be in production this fall. Wahlberg's deal is still being negotiated. He spent Sunday meeting with the project's director Iain Softley, best known for shooting ``The Wings of the Dove'' and ``Backbeat.''

Aside from ``The Perfect Storm,'' Wahlberg stars with Joaquin Phoenix in the Miramax-distributed ``The Yards'' in September, and recently wrapped the Stephen Herek-directed ``Metal God'' for Warner Bros.

Hunter also writes the 87th Precinct policeman series under the name Ed McBain.

(The Hollywood Reporter) --- Mark Wahlberg is in negotiations to star in Paramount Pictures' "Criminal Conversation" for director Iain Softley ("The Wings of the Dove"). A fall start date is being planned with Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner producing through their C/W Prods.

Based on the 1994 novel by Evan Hunter, "Criminal Conversation" is about an English teacher who has an affair with a mob leader (Wahlberg) whom her attorney husband is trying to put away. The teacher is unaware of her lover's true identity, even as her husband sets up an elaborate surveillance system in the mobster's apartment. The husband also is unaware of his wife's extramarital affair but is highly intrigued by the mystery mistress. Hanna Weg and Carl Franklin adapted the book for the big screen.

The film version of "Criminal" has been in development for nearly six years, since C/W first acquired the feature rights to the novel. Nicole Kidman was at one time attached to star, and Franklin was once expected to helm. When Softley came aboard the project this year, Meg Ryan briefly considered the lead role but has since turned her attention to "Beyond Borders," to be directed by Oliver Stone.

Wahlberg's star in Hollywood rose after his starring turn in "Boogie Nights." The actor recently wrapped shooting Warner Bros.' "Metal God" and is attached to star in the studio's "Ocean's Eleven," which reteams him with George Clooney, his co-star in the upcoming "A Perfect Storm." The two first worked together in last year's "Three Kings." Wahlberg will also be seen opposite Joaquin Phoenix and Charlize Theron in Miramax's "The Yards." He is repped by Endeavor and Leverage Management.

NEW YORK (Variety) - Mark Wahlberg is in negotiations to star in ``Criminal Conversation,'' as a young mob boss who falls in love with the wife of the D.A. trying to bring him down. The Paramount drama will be directed by Iain Softley (''The Wings of the Dove'') and produced by Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner's CW Productions.

AS ALIEN baddie in Battlefield Earth, John Travolta's hair looked only marginally more Klingon/Rasta than Mark Wahlberg's in the film Metal God, in which he plays a heavy-metal singer.

Don't try this look at home, kids.

The metal wasn't as heavy as the hair extensions, says ex-pat Donald Mowat, Wahlberg's makeup man for his last six movies.

``Mark just divested himself of the extensions,'' says Mowat. ``He feels 10 pounds lighter.''

Mowat had nothing to do with Wahlberg's hair on the film, which just wrapped. He had enough to do covering up Wahlberg's tattoos.

``I had to use body makeup for days,'' Mowat sighs.

It was a labour of love: ``I don't even like metal music.''

Wahlberg has co-starred with George Clooney in two films, Three Kings and the upcoming A Perfect Storm. Clooney is producing Metal God.

``Mark and I have now locked into a marriage. We're Tracy and Hepburn,''

Clooney kidded in US Weekly.

They must be having a trial separation, because this time around, Wahlberg's co-star is Jennifer Aniston, who plays his girlfriend. Naturally, Aniston's fellah Brad Pitt hung around the set.

Mowat rates Pitt and Aniston as a ``warm and giving couple.''

Ironically, the Metal God lead was originally intended for Pitt.

``Mark asked me, `Do you think Brad is better looking in person or on screen?,' '' Mowat chuckles.

``I said `in person.' ''

Rachel Hunter, the estranged Mrs. Rod Stewart, plays a rock-star wife, complete with big '80s hair. Come to think of it, Rod still has.

Mowat plans to come home to Toronto and kick back.

``I've done seven movies back to back,'' he tallies.

But it hasn't been all tattoo sweat. He's had a chance to observe the L.A. natives in their natural habitat.

``The boys in West Hollywood are getting their six packs surgically (instead of going to the gym). They all sit in front of Starbucks having a cigarette.''

NEW YORK, June 10, 2000 -- He’s done rap. He’s done modeling. He’s done porn. He’s done the desert. Now the "Boogie Nights" star is tackling the toughest role of his life and doing the ocean.

In the sure-to-be-a-blockbuster thriller "The Perfect Storm," the Boston native is going back to his roots and teaming up (again) with George Clooney in this true story about five fishermen from Gloucester, Mass. Wahlberg was tossed around the Warner Bros. giant soundstage tank for several months, yanked under water by scuba divers, set adrift in real-life fishing boats for days at a time to learn to fish, and sent to live above a local pub and share a room with his character’s real brother to prepare for the role. And he takes this kind of abuse in stride, thankful for his luck.

And his lucky streak is going strong. The film is just the latest triumph from the original New Kids on the Block member and former Calvin Klein underwear model who has come a long way from his days as a teenage thug in Boston. He pleasantly surprised audiences with his acclaimed performance as Dirk Diggler in "Boogie Nights" in 1997 and has kept busy with his film career ever since, most recently starring in "Three Kings" with Clooney. His indie thriller "The Yards" with Charlize Theron and James Caan was the buzzmaker in Cannes this year, and he also recently wrapped "Metal Gods," a film produced by Clooney. Wahlberg also plans to join Clooney once more in the remake of the Frank Sinatra classic "Ocean’s Eleven."

Hollywood.com recently caught up with the star and got the scoop on his affinity for Clooney, the filming of "The Perfect Storm" and his reaction to his meteoric rise to superstardom.

Hollywood.com: What was it like to play a role in a town so close to home?

Mark Wahlberg: I vowed to never play that guy from Boston mainly because I didn’t want to get that accent back. It’s only because I worked so hard to shake it. But this story was a must-do, I just promised myself I would jump into something right after. It was easy to get back, but it was really hard to loose.

Hollywood.com: You were pretty much the only local star on the set of this film. Had you been to Gloucester before?

Wahlberg: I would have come up and robbed the place, but the train never came up here. But it’s a lot like my neighborhood. There’s very little opportunity here. These kids grow up and 90 percent of them are going to walk onto a fishing boat when they’re 17, 18 years old, and that’s what they have in front of them.

Hollywood.com: When you were 17 and 18, you were watching your brother (Donnie Wahlberg) shoot to the top of the charts with the New Kids (a group which you were one of the original members). Looking back, do you think not making it as a New Kid was the best thing that could have ever happened to you?

Wahlberg: I don’t think I would be in the same position had I gone to the vocal lessons and busted a move with Joe McIntyre. I definitely feel like I made the right decision. Of course, when you’re 17 years old and dragging your ass to see your parole officer and your brother just topped the Forbes list with the group you were the first member of, it’s a little hard to stomach.

Hollywood.com: "The Perfect Storm" is a very action-packed, physical film. Any close calls while filming?

Wahlberg: I had many close calls. I almost drowned three or four times. That and the ear damage in both ears, losing my voice trying to scream. I almost had a couple of operations on my vocal chords. In my eardrum, I had a big piece of ear plug wax jammed all the way underneath and my head had swelled up like a balloon.

Hollywood.com: Was it worth it?

Wahlberg: There were times when I questioned my initial decision. And I had promised Wolfgang [Petersen, the director and producer] I would do anything he asked without even reading the script. And he started to chuckle. No words could even prepare you for what we were in store for. But it’s part of the game. I’m the kind of actor who wants it to be as real as possible -- I mean if someone gets shot in the scene, I’m not going to say, "Yeah, shoot me in the leg," but I just did what he wanted to do. And I told him if I didn’t make it, he had to tell my mother.

Hollywood.com: Speaking of mothers, you actually met Bobby’s (the character he plays in the film) mom while filming. What was that like?

Wahlberg: It was really weird. I felt like I was posing at times. I was very careful in talking with her. But she just opened up to me right away. She just wanted to make me feel good and to get to know me and give me some insights that if she were going to be around to see the movie, she would have been happy. [Ethel Shatford died at the end of production].

Hollywood.com: You also spent a month in Gloucester before shooting and stayed above the Crow’s Nest, the local town pub featured in the film. Why did you decide to do that?

Wahlberg: They [the filmmakers] had suggested it. I wanted to get a room there and see it just to get a feel for it. And they said, "Why don’t you take Bobby’s room?" I ended up staying, and his brother was in the bed next to me. He poured water on me at 5 a.m. every morning and said, "I used to do that to Bobby all the time."

Hollywood.com: Speaking of brotherly love, what’s the deal with you and George? You guys are like the Hepburn and Tracy for the millennium.

Wahlberg: Somebody said it’s more like Chip and Dale. George is not the worst guy to be a duo with. I would work with him again and again. I would like to work with new people, but I’ve had such great experiences on all of my movies that I would love to work with all these people again.

Hollywood.com: Are you looking forward to a little break from the crazed action with "Ocean’s Eleven"?

Wahlberg: "Ocean’s Eleven" is gonna be easy. I’m looking forward to it. If I do "Planet of the Apes" with Tim Burton, that’s one I don’t know if I’ll get out of alive. But it shoots in Hawaii, so that’s cool.

Hollywood.com: You’ve had a pretty amazing couple of years. And now you’re one of the big hitters in Hollywood and choosing projects like these. Can you believe what has happened with your career?

Wahlberg: Yeah, I don’t want to pinch myself, because maybe it is a dream.

You could hear sniffles in the darkness. And then, just after the lights came up at a recent screening of The Perfect Storm, you could catch a few audience members dabbing at the sides of their nose or giving their face a swipe with a shirtsleeve.

And you could see fingernail marks in the armrests of the seats in the Warner Bros. screening room.

I guess that means the movie worked.

It certainly worked for Mark "It's Okay if You Call Me Marky" Wahlberg, whom I really like because he doesn't care about that Marky Mark thing or talking about his underwear-and-baggy-jeans-wearin' past.

The hoarse but muscular actor quit smoking while working on Storm ("'cause I would wake up and feel like shit") so he could handle the physical demands of his role as a fisherman riding the waves. But he lost his voice doing 50 takes screaming at the top of his lungs for concert scenes in the just-wrapped Metal God.

So, how did he feel about his third film with George Clooney, who was also a producer on Metal? "I was really blown away when I saw it," he says. "It's my favorite movie so far. It really does the book and the families justice, and I think it will make more money than I can count, but I don't have a back-end deal."

Next, Wahlberg is up for Ocean's Eleven, which also stars--you guessed it--Clooney, along with half of Hollywood. Indeed, Clooney has become something of a mentor: It was George who convinced Warner Bros. to take a chance on Wahlberg for Storm.

"I wouldn't mind having some of the opportunities that George has, but I think George is really changing, too," Wahlberg says. "He's found himself in a totally different position coming from TV--having to wait to see what more established movie stars weren't going to do before he could get a shot."

Marky Mark says their relationship is give-and-take: "I give him a little bit of street credibility, and I'm a shoo-in for a TV series at Warner Bros. if the movie doesn't work out."

On screen and off, so much flesh and flash parade through the MTV Movie Awards that when this reporter's blouse spontaneously unbuttons to the navel, fully half an hour passes before it merits notice among the eye-popping parade of young beauties and dashing heartthrobs.

As the anti-establishment Oscars, MTV's awards shows have become famous for being the entertainment industry's bacchanal of revelry and rock 'n' roll. Outrageousness once mattered more than style, but no more.

The pressure to look hip, hot and ready for the cover of Cosmopolitan has hit the many teen and 20-something nominees who play sexy characters on screen and on the red carpet. Saturday's awards, which took place at the Sony Pictures studio, air Thursday on MTV.

Looking much younger and sexier than at the Oscars, Mena Suvari, with new hubby Robert Brinkmann in tow, paused before photographers to unbutton her vintage Pucci jacket slightly, revealing a perfectly toned belly.

Such gestures were common among starlets doing their red carpet strut. In a chiffon gown as sheer as a negligee, a former "House of Style" host, model Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, parted the slit of her Versace to reveal a length of perfect thigh.

Oddly, the shock value of low- and lower-cut gowns hardly registers in the post-Jennifer Lopez era. As their necklines plunged deeper and wider, starlets aimed to give onlookers something more to gawk and talk about.

Surely the French have a word for the slice of cleavage that many young stars chose to reveal. It's the kind of side-view, almost-underarm cross-section of a breast that's usually reserved for a mammogram. Actress and singer Aaliyah couldn't find a pose that comfortably revealed her side cleavage. "Dawson's Creek" star Meredith Monroe sashayed in her suede Costume National mini-dress, showing thigh, back, side-cleavage and all.

Even old-fashioned frontal cleavage got a new look. In a revealing Alexander McQueen suit, MTV VJ Ananda Lewis accented the inner curve of her almost-bared breast with a row of rhinestoned "bindi" dots. Award-winner Julia Stiles wore her body rhinestones more discreetly--in a starburst along her collarbone.

Lucy Liu, in a nod to sexy legs, flashed her gams in a micro-mini rhinestoned Versace halter dress. Halle Berry shimmied in a low-riding hipster skirt and bandeau by New York designer Inca that revealed the strap of her thong undies. (Parents, beware: Thong straps are your next battle.)
* * *
The hot fashion trends? Low-rise leather pants, high-rise sandals and barely there halter tops.

And for the guys, slick leather, suede and designer denim ruled. Comic actor Shawn Wayans strutted in a sheer Jean Paul Gaultier turtleneck, while brother Marlon wore a whipstitched leather coat. "American Pie's" Jason Biggs wore a leather jacket, denim tuxedo pants and royal-blue satin cowboy shirt, courtesy of Tommy Hilfiger. The members of 'N Sync piled on every denim trend going: deconstructed, patchworked and acid-washed. They were like the ghost of Jimi Hendrix caught in a time warp with the Monkees.

Significantly, many more mature nominees skipped the red carpet ritual, notably Bruce Willis, Jim Carrey, Julia Roberts, Mike Myers, Keanu Reeves, Adam Sandler and the show's host, Sarah Jessica Parker. It's hard to guess what is less appealing to the over-20s: participating in the MTV circus or having to dress like a 20-year-old fashion victim to be hip.

Some men discovered that the best way to get attention amid all the sex and sizzle was to fight back with sophistication. Camouflaged by the pristine good taste of a sleek pinstriped Giorgio Armani suit, Mark Wahlberg nearly went unnoticed until he removed his sunglasses. He wears Armani, he said, "because they're the only ones who give me free clothes." (Are you listening, Prada?)

In yet another spoof, "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, now infamous for dressing in drag at this year's Oscars, appeared in manly Prada and Armani suits.

"Hey, this is a serious event!" Parker said in mock protest.
* * *
Big Stars, a Little Nonsense: Celebs, silliness were on tap at MTV's event. Plus a bit of predictability. 

Hollywood has mastered the soundtrack, making it a force on the music scene, and co-opted such diverse talent as Henry Rollins, Rob Zombie and Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst for acting and directing gigs. But making rock 'n' roll a consistent success on the big screen has proved elusive.

Though a few rock movies have been popular in the past few decades -- La Bamba, Purple Rain and This Is Spinal Tap -- a number of recent film and TV projects haven't delivered.

Last year, Still Crazy, which received a Golden Globe nomination in 1998, and The Suburbans, which featured Jennifer Love Hewitt, barely registered at the box office. Detroit Rock City, about the members of a high school band and their efforts to get to a Kiss concert, also performed poorly. Even on TV, movies on the history of rock 'n' roll have fizzled. Shake, Rattle & Roll and Mr. Rock 'n' Roll: The Alan Freed Story both were ratings disappointments.

Now, some filmmakers are confident that a new crop of rock films will change that tune.

''There has to be a reason why VH1: Behind the Music (and shows like it) are so popular,'' says director Brad Silberling. ''They are cautionary tales in the lives of rock 'n' rollers. There is unrestricted wealth and hedonism, and there is always a (climactic) third act. Rock 'n' roll is a concentrated form of life. . . . It is the American story put on high speed.''

Silberling, whose recent credits include City of Angels, has scored the support of the surviving members of The Who to do a biography of Keith Moon, the band's virtuoso drummer, who died of an accidental drug overdose in 1978 at age 31. The script is being developed, and Silberling hopes to begin production in about a year.

Coming to a theater near you

Others who are mining rock music for big-screen stories:

* Director Cameron Crowe's highly anticipated follow-up to Jerry Maguire focuses on a 15-year-old music fan who goes on the road with an up-and-coming band to write a story for Rolling Stone magazine about the experience. The untitled movie, which stars Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand and Kate Hudson, is scheduled for a fall release.

* Warner Bros. is shooting a movie about a Judas Priest-like band that loses its lead singer and, in search of a frontman, recruits the singer of a group that covers its songs. The film, which is loosely based on a New York Times article, has the working title Metal God and stars Jennifer Aniston and Mark Wahlberg.

* Joplin -- The Movie is scheduled to begin production in August. Newcomer Laura Theodore will star as singer Janis Joplin, who died of a heroin overdose in 1970 at age 27. Theodore even will sing a number of Joplin's songs; director/producer Joel Freedman has secured the rights to such tunes as Ball and Chain, Try (Just a Little Bit Harder), Get It While You Can and Summertime for the independently produced drama. Also long in the works: a film on Joplin being developed by Paramount Pictures and Lakeshore Entertainment. It's unclear when, if ever, that project will make it to theaters.

Those films could have a difficult time attracting large audiences, says film analyst Rich Ingrassia of Paul Kagan Associates. ''The trouble is, teens drive movie sales,'' he says. ''Unless you do a biopic on Britney Spears or 'N Sync, you are going to have to attract a substantial baby-boomer crowd to make it work.''

Even Joplin's Freedman agrees. He says his low-budget ($5 million) film will be ''a gritty, cinéma vérité-style film'' because of the inherent difficulties in selling a rock story on the big screen.

Nostalgic for that 'rebellious spirit'

Still, there are reasons to believe that these movies will strike a chord with more than just music fans.

The fact that the upcoming films are period pieces is one plus, says Metal God producer Robert Lawrence. The Crowe film takes place in 1973, Metal God is set in 1985, and the Moon and Joplin movies focus on the icons' heydays. In contrast, Still Crazy and The Suburbans featured current-day reunions of over-the-hill bands.

''There is a kind of nostalgic return to these periods,'' Lawrence says. ''People (of all ages) are looking for that rebellious spirit of rock 'n' roll. They are looking for that harder edge of music -- that emerging rebellious spirit -- that was taking place back then.''

Another big plus for the films will be their soundtracks. Rock soundtracks -- such as the one for last year's TV miniseries The '60s and the CDs released in conjunction with 1993's Dazed and Confused -- often are strong sellers, even if the plot lines don't revolve around a rock 'n' roll story.

Regardless of how this crop of movies does at the box office, their tunes might help boost their bottom lines.

Beyond that, though, Ingrassia doubts that nostalgia or the biographical nature of some of the projects will be enough to lure fans to the multiplex.

''These movies have to have more than the nostalgic element, reminding people about the past,'' Ingrassia says. ''Otherwise, they will appeal to fans of Janis Joplin or (The Who) but won't appeal to people just looking for a good movie experience.''

The fishing boat used in the film ''The Perfect Storm'' will make its way to Boston Harbor today en route to Gloucester. The Warner Bros.-owned vessel, which served as a set for stars George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg during filming, is a replica of the Andrea Gail, the Gloucester-based boat that sank in a storm off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1991. After visiting Gloucester, the boat will head to Hamburg for the film's German premiere and then to the auction block.

LOS ANGELES -- Sarah Jessica Parker waltzed out in nothing but a towel. A scene from her naughty HBO series Sex and the City? No, just one of many eye-popping costume changes by the host of Saturday night's MTV Movie Awards.

Filmed in advance for broadcast Thursday (9 p.m. ET/PT), the MTV Movie Awards offer a playful alternative to the Oscars.

Best movie went to The Matrix, and star Keanu Reeves picked up the tub of golden popcorn for best male performance. But a more typical MTV moment was an on-stage smooch between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair, stars of Cruel Intentions. After receiving the award for Best Kiss, Gellar said, ''My mother is going to be so proud of this.'' Blair thanked Gellar for all those long ''hours of practice.''

When George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg came out to present the Best Villain Award, Parker rubbed her face against Clooney's back, saying she was ''getting a little hit of Clooney.''

Then Wahlberg said: ''Let's skip the nominees and go right to the winner. The winner is Charlton Heston, for being head of the NRA.'' Finally, winner Mike Myers grabbed the award, for Dr. Evil in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Myers and Powers co-star Verne Troyer won for Best On-Screen Duo.

Vindicating their Oscar loss, Trey Parker and Matt Stone (not in drag) were awarded Best Musical Performance for Uncle F**ka from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. After the show, Parker said: ''This award is cool because it's about the fans. The Academy Awards is just about Hollywood patting itself on the back.''

The MTV awards are chosen by the viewers themselves.

Other highlights of the show:

* Tom Green (Road Trip) running around with a coffee maker, encouraging the audience to chant ''Coffee machine!'' With Drew Barrymore missing, the ''machine'' apparently was Green's date.

* Short parody films including one starring Ben Stiller as Tom Crooze, Tom Cruise's stunt double; a South Park meets Gladiator mini-epic; and Carrie Bradshaw (Parker) of Sex and the City getting it on with Reeves' Matrix character.

* 'N Sync, Metallica and D'Angelo were musical performers.

Other award winners:

* Best Female Performance: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Cruel Intentions)
* Best Action Sequence: The Pod Race (Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace)
* Best Comedic Performance: Adam Sandler (Big Daddy)
* Breakthrough Male Performance: Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense)
* Breakthrough Female Performance: Julia Stiles (10 Things I Hate About You)
* Best Fight: Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix)
* Best new filmmaker: Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - ``The Matrix'' a sci-fi extravaganza starring Keanu Reeves, snagged three prizes including best movie at the ninth annual MTV Movie Awards Saturday.

Reeves walked off with the best male performance trophy and shared the best fight prize with co-star Laurence Fishburne.

``It's all good,'' Reeves told reporters backstage, in characteristic understatement.

The box office smash, which won four Academy Awards in March, stars Reeves as Neo, whose body undergoes a cybertronic retrofit so that he can save the world against malevolent technological forces.

Plans are underway to shoot two back-to-back sequels in Australia, set for release in Christmas 2002 and the summer of 2003, said producer Joel Silver.

Winners of the MTV Movie Awards, which aim to be a hipper alternative to the staid Oscars, are decided by votes cast either online, via telephone or at Blockbuster Video locations. The trophy resembles a tub of golden popcorn. Actress Sarah Jessica Parker of ``Sex and the City'' hosted, and her dozen costume changes included several see-through items.

The event was taped at the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City, and will be broadcast on MTV on June 8. The music cable network's overseas outlets will also air the show in coming weeks, beginning with MTV Europe on June 10.

Last year's show attracted an average 6.6 million viewers in the United States, a 70 percent increase over the previous year, according to MTV.

The other multiple winners this year were spy spoof ``Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' and ``Cruel Intentions'' with two prizes each.

The latter film, a contemporary update of ``Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' targeted to the teen audience, won prizes for best kiss (between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair) and best female performance (Gellar).

Gellar and Blair briefly kissed on stage when they picked up their joint award, and Gellar later made a point of smooching with boyfriend Freddie Prinze Jr. before going up for the second time. Blair thanked Gellar for the ``hours of practice.''

The ``Austin Powers'' sequel was honored for best villain (Mike Myers) and best on-screen duo (Myers and Verne Troyer). The diminutive Troyer's trophy came up to his thigh.

Since the show is taped and later edited, many of the participants took the opportunity to let off some steam.

In announcing the nominees for best villain, presenter Mark Wahlberg said, ``... let's give it to Charlton Heston for being head of the NRA (National Rifle Assn.)''

In picking up his best comedic performance prize, ``Big Daddy'' star Adam Sandler read out an acceptance speech purported to be written by his seven-year-old co-stars, identical twins Cole and Dylan Sprouse.

``Adam Sandler deserves this prize you gave him 'cos he makes people who can't read feel like they are Albert Einstein,'' Sandler said.

The organizers also screened parody clips of hot movies. An animated sequence from the creators of ``South Park'' pitted the heroes of their sophomoric TV cartoon series in a gladiatorial contest against Russell Crowe and his ``Gladiator'' crew and a team of Scientologists led by John Travolta. One of the ``South Park'' kids uses Scientology scripture to wipe himself.

The ``South Park'' creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, won the best musical performance for ``Uncle F++ka,'' a tune from last year's feature version of their cable TV show.

``When I wrote the song ``Uncle F++ka'' I didn't realise it would touch so many lives,'' Parker said backstage, adding he hoped ``it would stand as a song about freedom for everyone.''

Other winners included ``The Sixth Sense'' star Haley Joel Osment who picked up the breakthrough male performance prize. Julia Stiles of ``10 Things I Hate About You'' won the corresponding female prize.

Asked backstage where she would display her trophy, Stiles noted that she was going to an East Coast college in August.

``I don't know. Would that be really obnoxious to put it in your dorm room? Probably.''

``Star Wars'' creator George Lucas won the best action sequence prize for ``Stars Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace.'' Director Spike Jonze, who received an Oscar nomination for his feature debut ``Being John Malkovich,'' received the pre-announced prize for best new filmmaker.

Musical performers included shirtless R&B star D'Angelo, teen pop sensations 'N Sync and hard rock veterans Metallica.

Music heavyweights Aaliyah and Q-Tip and a host of Hollywood's finest, including George Clooney, Nicolas Cage, Halle Berry, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, and more have been added to the list of presenters at the 2000 MTV Movie Awards.

The cable channel also announced that Mark Wahlberg, Ryan Phillippe, Amy Smart, Denise Richards, and MTV's own Tom Green will also help to hand out award when the ceremony is staged Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California this weekend (the show will then air on Thursday, June 8).

The shindig (which is as much a spoof as it is a celebration) has also secured appearances by Mike Myers, Keanu Reeves, George Lucas, Verne Troyer, John Woo, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Selma Blair, Shannon Elizabeth, Jimmy Fallon, Dylan & Cole Sprouse, and Vince Vaughn.

MTV has already announced a string of presenters that includes Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mel Gibson, Freddie Prinze Jr., Ice Cube, Janet Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Foxx, and others as well as musical performances by 'NSYNC, Metallica, and D'Angelo (see "Janet, Ice Cube, More To Present MTV Movie Awards).

While the network hasn't announced its plans yet, "Variety" reports that "Being John Malkovich" director and music video veteran Spike Jonze will pick up the Best New Filmmaker award at the 2000 MTV Movie Awards. Jonze won universal acclaim for "Malkovich" (which starred John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, and fittingly John Malkovich), and honed his craft directing videos for the Beastie Boys, Bjork, Weezer, and Puff Daddy and recently grabbed an MTV Video Music Award for his work on Fatboy Slim's "Praise You."

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - ``Being John Malkovich'' director Spike Jonze will be crowned this year's Best New Filmmaker at the MTV Movie Awards on Saturday.

Jonze is no stranger to the cable network, having previously been honored with an MTV Video Music Award for best direction. He gained recognition for directing quirky music videos for the Beastie Boys (''Sabotage''), Fatboy Slim (''Praise You''), Weezer (''Buddy Holly'') and Bjork (''It's Oh So Quiet'').

``Malkovich,'' 1999's buzz-heavy film about a disgruntled puppeteer who discovers a portal into actor John Malkovich's head, was Jonze's feature debut and he nabbed an Oscar nomination. He also received an Independent Spirit Award, among other kudos, for his work on ``Malkovich.''

The MTV Movie Awards will be taped at the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City, and will air on the cable network Thursday. The network has tallied 8 million votes for the kudos, including 6 million online and 2 million through Blockbuster Video and via phone.

Presenters added to the show's roster this week include George Clooney, Halle Berry, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Mark Wahlberg, Aaliyah, Ryan Phillippe, Amy Smart, Tom Green, Denise Richards and Nicolas Cage.

To promote next week's telecast, MTV has also set up free screenings to summer flicks ``Mission: Impossible 2'' and ``Big Momma's House'' at three Los Angeles theaters on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

CANNES -- Filmmaker James Gray has followed up his 1994 debut feature, "Little Odessa," with another Scorsese/Coppola-inspired portrait of family and corruption.

But "The Yards," screened in competition here, is less "GoodFellas" than "DullFellas."

Drab and seriously under-plotted, the drama set against the backdrop of New York's vast subway yards fails to generate much in the way of involvement despite an impressive cast including Mark Wahlberg, James Caan, Ellen Burstyn and Faye Dunaway.

While Miramax was obviously banking on some strong festival feedback, the picture will most likely be riding the fast track to the video station.

Wahlberg is the earnest Leo Handler, fresh out of prison (he took a car-theft fall for some friends) and eager to lead a decent life.

He lands a job working for his powerful Uncle Frank (Caan), who's in tight with the transit authority, and is shown the ropes by his old pal Willie Gutierrez (Joaquin Phoenix). It becomes immediately apparent to Leo that Frank isn't running a clean operation, but before he gets a chance to cry Uncle, he's implicated in a murder and attempted murder rap that has him on the run from the law and his own family.

That's roughly the first half-hour of the film. The rest of the time is spent watching Leo coming out of hiding to check on his ailing mother (Burstyn) and visit with Willie's unhappy girlfriend (Charlize Theron) while devising a plan to take down his double-crossing relatives. But there's precious little dramatic momentum to be found in either Gray's lethargic direction or the slight screenplay, which he co-wrote with "Felicity" co-creator Matt Reeves.

On the bright side -- and given the intentionally murky cinematography, a bright side is no mean feat -- Gray does merit a "works well with actors" mention on his report card, drawing sturdy performances from the above-mentioned players, as well as from Dunaway as Leo's Aunt Kitty and veteran crooner Steve Lawrence as an unsavory city official.

If only there were more interesting things for them to say and do. Unfortunately, the filmmaker was more preoccupied with themes and moods than providing anything intriguing plot-wise or character-wise for the viewer to truly care about.

Even busy composer Howard Shore's operatic score, which pops up in the oddest places and is no doubt intended to reflect the central character's out-of-sync feelings, ultimately ends up coming across as annoyingly intrusive rather than subtly unsettling.

THE YARDS
Miramax International
A Paul Webster/Industry Entertainment production
Director: James Gray
Producers: Nick Wechsler, Paul Webster, Kerry Orent
Screenwriters: James Gray & Matt Reeves
Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Jonathan Gordon
Director of photography: Harris Savides
Production designer: Kevin Thompson
Editor: Jeffrey Ford
Costume designer: Michael Clancy
Music: Howard Shore
Color/stereo
Cast:
Leo Handler: Mark Wahlberg
Willie Gutierrez: Joaquin Phoenix
Erica Stoltz: Charlize Theron
Frank Olchin: James Caan
Kitty Olchin: Faye Dunaway
Val Handler: Ellen Burstyn
Paul Delveccio: Victor Argo
Arthur Mydanick: Steve Lawrence
Running time -- 108 minutes
No MPAA rating

CANNES -- They have an unqualified love for Jerry Lewis, Mickey Rourke, and American "B" cult directors. But why, LA moguls growl, are the French so hostile to mainstream, market-driven Hollywood? The annual Cannes Film Festival is regarded as especially snobby, its Competition adverse to even the snazziest studio product. It's been four years since Cannes's director, Gilles Jacob, has set foot in LaLa land.

For Cannes 2000, American execs were unanimous that Gladiator would have provided for an awesome opening night. And why not a closing night of Tom Cruise and Mission: Impossible 2? Instead, the 53rd Cannes Fest went stubbornly Francophone, choosing to begin with a tired Gérard Depardieu-starring costumer, Vatel, and concluding with Stardom, a funny but superficial satire on the fashion industry by Quebec's Denys Arcand. That neither of those films was distinguished fueled the American ire.

Shouldn't upbeat Hollywood be paranoid? Jacob has appointed jury presidents who routinely encourage their colleagues to award Cannes's prestigious grand prize, the Palme d'Or, to difficult, downbeat European art movies. The Martin Scorsese-led 1998 jury went for Theo Angelopoulos's Eternity and a Day. The infamous David Cronenberg-led 1999 jury, which gave not a single prize to the seven American films in Competition, saved its Golden Palm for the tiny Belgian film Rosetta.

For the year 2000, Luc Besson was Hollywood's Great White Hope. Here was a Cannes jury president who has made action films with spectacle and special effects and aimed at popular audiences: Nikita, The Big Blue, The Fifth Element, the recent The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. Besson is the most Hollywood of French filmmakers, so maybe he would push his jury (Jeremy Irons, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jonathan Demme, et al.) to honor the American-star-filled big-budget pictures premiering in the Competition: the Coen Brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou?, James Ivory's The Golden Bowl, James Gray's The Yards, and Neil LaBute's Nurse Betty.

On the other hand, serious critics at Cannes, including Americans (including highbrow me), viewed Besson's presidency with trepidation, fearing he would take a philistine, anti-intellectual approach to his jurying. At an opening-day press conference, a journalist asked him whether his jury could support the typical Cannes winner, a cerebral movie that has trouble attracting an audience. "I actually don't agree with you," Besson replied. "If you look at the Palm winners of the last 30 years, you see that many were popular, successful films. For the broader public, the Palm choices are a little signal: these are the films we want to highlight. Look at Rosetta, which won last year and which was a great success."

Eleven days and 23 Competition films later, Luc Besson's jury announced its winners at a short, elegant closing-night ceremony. The verdict? It must be said that the choices were reasonable and intelligent, pleasing to most factions, and appeasing to most of Besson's critics.

The Special Jury Prize was shared by two demanding, offbeat works, Samira Makhmalbaf's Blackboards (Iran) and Roy Andersson's Songs from the Second Floor (Sweden). Best Actor went, appropriately, to Hong Kong superstar Tony Leung, for Wong Kar-Wai's In the Mood for Love. Taiwan's Edward Yang won Best Director for the three-hour film admired by practically everyone, Yi Yi/A One and a Two. Even Hollywood got something, Best Screenplay for the zesty screwball comedy writing of John C. Richards and James Flamberg in Nurse Betty.

With everybody fairly happy, the Besson jury could go wild and controversial, giving Lars von Trier's much-debated Dancer in the Dark the Palme d'Or and its Icelandic pop-music star, Björk, the Best Actress award. Mostly cheers, but many jeers.

British critics and many Americans (me among them) found the movie maudlin and clumsily shot, the narrative implausible, and Björk's performance fatally unprofessional. Variety called Dancer in the Dark "a nearly 2-1/2-hour demo of auteurist self-importance that's artistically bankrupt on almost every level." But Trier, who's most famous for Breaking the Waves (his 1998 Dogma film, The Idiots, is opening at the Coolidge Corner this week), is the Prince of Denmark for European critics, especially those crazy French, who went mad for this faux musical instant "masterpiece." They adored the musical numbers and Trier's jerky handheld camera; they defended the melodrama by invoking Brecht and Sirk.

What's it about? Björk portrays a Czech factory girl who's living in Washington (the state) in the 1960s and playing Maria in an amateur production of The Sound of Music. Although she's going blind herself, she hides away money for an operation to save her 12-year-old son's sight. But tragedy ensues, and she's put on trial for murder. Found guilty, she could be hanged.

Earlier in the week, I'd squeezed into the packed press conference for Dancer in the Dark. Trier was there, and co-star Catharine Deneuve, who plays an improbable assembly-line worker. Missing was Björk, though she was somewhere in Cannes. This was the final disruption of Trier's project by the former Ice Cube. During the shooting, she ran away from the set for days at a time, leaving cast and crew hanging. Flanked by lawyers, she threatened to pull out of the production in the middle.

Had Björk gone bonkers? There were piles of stories circulating about her erratic behavior on the shoot. One weird, unverified rumor was that someone walked in on her one day as she was trying to eat her costume.

"It has been terrible," Trier admitted about working with Björk, whom he had cast after watching several of her music videos. "I found out that Björk is not an actor, which was a surprise to me, because she's so professional. But she was not acting, she was feeling everything that happened to her in the story, and reacting to it, which was extremely hard for her, hard for everybody. She was like a dying person . . . but I'm pleased with what she did. It was the only way she could do it."

Deneuve agreed, lecturing the press about its obsession with Björk's antics. "I think it would be perverse to concentrate on what's behind the scenes. No film goes without tension, crying sometimes. Björk is a wonderful, touching person. She didn't act, she was like a child who couldn't take anymore and runs away from school. . . . She's absolutely unique. Very very different, very shy. To come here today with so many people, she'd see this as a kind of crucifixion."

For the closing-night ceremony, Björk did appear, even walking up Cannes's famed red carpet with Trier. She looked dazed and suspicious, even as she accepted the Best Actress award with a two-sentence speech: "I am very grateful, Thank you very much." It was Trier who reached out to her -- dramatically, melodramatically -- upon accepting the Palme d'Or: "I have to say thanks to Björk, and she doesn't believe me when I say it, but if you see her, tell her I love her very much." A few seconds later, Björk stumbled to the stage and stood by her director. They didn't dare hug, there were no Oscar-type tears, but it was, I suppose, some kind of rapprochement.

Okay, let's talk about the American presence at Cannes. The best-liked film by far in Competition was Nurse Betty, in which Renée Zellweger plays a sweet-tempered, Doris Day-like waitress who after her sleazoid husband's murder by hitmen (Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock) takes to the road in search of her real love, a TV soap-opera doctor (Greg Kinnear). The ensemble is winning, and so is the delicate direction by Neil LaBute, who's infamous for his misogynist/misanthropist duo of In the Company of Men and Your Friends & Neighbors.

The Coen Brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a comedy romp through the 1930s South with three convicts on the run (George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson), was funny in parts, exhausted in its final act, and more distinguished for its superb soundtrack of blues and early country music than for its unambitious narrative. Minor Coens, though Clooney with a moustache holds the screen in a charismatic, Clark Gable-like performance.

The Merchant Ivory The Golden Bowl was a film I quite admired -- this may be as good as Henry James's impossibly complex novel can get on screen. Nick Nolte is great as Sam Verver, a turn-of-the-century robber baron, a gentler, kinder Citizen Kane. But many who saw the film at Cannes found it cold and dispassionate, and they objected to the casting of too-modern Uma Thurman as the tormented, petulant Charlotte Stant. I thought she was okay.

James Gray's The Yards, his follow-up to the fine 1994 gangster film Little Odessa, was booed at the press screening and criticized for the cliché'd familiarity of its crime story: young Mark Wahlberg exits prison determined to go straight but gets embroiled with the wrong friend (Joaquin Phoenix) and the wrong relative (James Caan). He's back in trouble with the law. Gray's script is amiss, but his direction is nicely moody and European.

And outside of Competition? John Waters's Cecil B. Demented, in which a coven of underground movie freaks kidnap a superbitch Hollywood star (Melanie Griffith) during a Baltimore visit, is genial and sometimes extremely funny -- i.e., the machine-gunning of a multiplex where the mainstream audience watches Patch Adams: The Director's Cut -- but the climactic scenes are disappointing.

Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream is a much-accomplished follow-up to Pi, and let's hope there's an audience willing to brave the in-your-face visual onslaught of TV-induced and downer-pill madness (Ellen Burstyn is the victim) and heroin addiction (Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly), all from an extreme novel by Last Exit to Brooklyn's Hubert Selby Jr.

Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Target, the first foray by the Taiwanese-born director of Sense and Sensibility and The Ice Storm into martial arts, was probably the most popular film at Cannes. What's not to like in this smart, sophisticated, spiritual tale with a cast of Hong Kong icons (Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh) and thrilling swordfights in the trees and skies, all enhanced by the technicians responsible for The Matrix?

And the most overrated American film at Cannes? Girlfight, an amateurish, overwritten, stupidly politically correct tale of a young girl who becomes a boxer and, in her big bout, is matched against her boyfriend. He's supposed "to learn" that it's okay to box a woman and that there's nothing to be ashamed of if your girlfriend wins the fight. Yuk! What does it say of the Sundance Film Festival that, last January, Girlfight was the rage and the big prizewinner?

I'll stick with Cannes.