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Monday, August 6, 2007
In Atlanta, ‘Bourne’ beats ‘Harry Potter,’ ‘Simpsons’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Metro Atlanta moviegoers declared their own ultimatum last weekend — a preference for “The Bourne Ultimatum.”
Matt Damon’s film pulled in $1.404 million here, marking the best local movie opening weekend since “Transformers.”
Ticket sales for “Bourne” surpassed opening-weekend numbers for “The Simpsons Movie” ($978,395), “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry” ($549,726) and “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” ($1.315 million).
In early July, “Transformers” earned $1.474 million its opening weekend in Atlanta.
Since the summer season began, only three other films have made more money in opening weekends than “Bourne” — “Spider-Man 3,” “Shrek the Third” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.” “Shrek” and “Pirates” each topped $2 million in metro Atlanta during their first weekends. “Spidey 3” took in the most: more than $3 million.
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Tucker’s motormouth puts jokes in ‘Rush Hour 3’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s been nine years since the first “Rush Hour” movie. So who should be surprised that in “Rush Hour 3” Jackie Chan, now 53, seems to move just a bit slower than in his younger years?
Thankfully for fans, Atlanta-born Chris Tucker’s motormouth seems to move as fast as ever. He gets the lion’s share of jokes in “3,” which officially debuts on Friday but will have late-night public screenings on Thursday.
The plot of “3” … well, does it even matter? The story involves a secret crime gang, assassination attempts and an investigation by our heroes that requires a jaunt to Paris for martial arts fights and more atop the Eiffel Tower at night.
Here’s what fans will likely be talking about after “Rush Hour 3” opens:
Roman Polanski: The Oscar-winning director plays a Paris police chief who questions Chan and Tucker and “inspects” them upon their arrival in France with a hygienic rubber glove.
The jokes: Tucker pepper-sprays everyone with his humor. Among his first put-downs of Chan, who claims he’s close enough to Tucker’s character to be his brother: “You can’t be black. There’s a height requirement just like getting on the Matterhorn.” When Tucker confronts a school of young martial arts students: “I’m about to beat the puberty out of you guys.”
The borrowing: At the martial arts school, Tucker does a multi-joke takeoff on the classic Abbott and Costello “Who’s on first?” routine with two Asian men, one named Yu and the other Me. Also, one hospital scene, where the cops protecting an assassination attempt victim are called away and bad guys are coming, is reminiscent of a similar situation in “The Godfather.”
The French cabdriver: Yvan Attal plays the memorable “George,” a Parisian taxi driver who incessantly aruges with Tucker but eventually becomes part of the good guys’ posse.
The music: Some of it seems old. “Kung Fu Fighting”? Also used for comedy effect is Elton John’s “Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word.”
The action: The best sequence involves an airborne motorcycle flying into an open van. There are ample chase scenes, crashing cars and, of course, Chan running, Chan diving, Chan sliding under a closing metal door and Chan dangling off the Eiffel Tower.
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