VIDEO : BOX OFFICE NOT VERY FRIENDLY TO `FRIENDS' STARS.Byline: Robert Bianco Special to the Daily News No wonder those ``Friends'' want all that money from TV. After Matt LeBlanc's ``Ed,'' what are the chances they're going to get it from the movies? To be fair to LeBlanc, ``Ed'' (1995, MCA MCA in full Music Corporation of America Entertainment conglomerate. It was founded in Chicago in 1924 by Jules Stein as a talent agency. In the 1960s it bought Decca Records and Universal Pictures, and today it produces films, music, and television shows. Universal; priced for rental) probably would have flopped just as badly with Tom Cruise. Even under the best of circumstances, baseball movies are a hard sell - and forcing LeBlanc to share the screen with a third-base-playing, gas-releasing, animatronic chimp cannot be considered the best of circumstances. In fact, you wonder why anyone considered it at all. Still, whatever excuses are made, the fact remains that this has not been a good movie year for TV comedians - or at least TV comedians who didn't spend the summer blasting space aliens. LeBlanc's dead ``Ed'' was matched at the box office by David Schwimmer David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 12, 1966) in Astoria, New York) is an Emmy-nominated American actor and director, who gained popularity when playing Dr. Ross Geller on the American sitcom Friends. (in ``The Pallbearer''), who discovered that people seldom will pay to see a less-funny imitation of what they're already getting for free. The TV jinx jinx n. 1. A person or thing that is believed to bring bad luck. 2. A condition or period of bad luck that appears to have been caused by a specific person or thing. tr.v. also sank Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is a six-time Emmy and a two-time Golden Globe-winning American actor best known for his two-decade portrayal of psychiatrist Dr. , a wonderful comic actor who found a less-than-wonderful vehicle in ``Down Periscope'' (1996, Fox; priced for rental). If you want a submarine comedy, rent ``Operation Petticoat'' (1959, Republic; $14.98). If you want to laugh at Grammer, tape ``Frasier.'' Though ``Big Bully'' (1996, Warner; priced for rental) was more ambitious than ``Ed'' or ``Down Periscope periscope (pĕr`ĭskōp) [Gr.,=view around], instrument to enable a person to see objects not in his direct line of vision or concealed by some intervening body. Its essential parts are a tube, prisms, lenses, mirrors, and an eyepiece. ,'' it fared little better at the box office. That was bad news for former TV stars Rick Moranis and Tom Arnold Tom Arnold is the name of:
Pretty much the only TV comics to find comfort at the box office lately are Chris Farley Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member at Chicago's Second City Theatre and achieved his greatest fame as a cast member on the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. and David Spade David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an Emmy-Award and Golden Globe-nominated American actor, comedian, television personality who gained fame in the 1990s as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. , who had another middling hit with ``Black Sheep'' (1996, Paramount; priced for rental). It didn't make a lot of money, but it made enough to ensure another Chris Farley movie. If that's the movies' idea of comedy, you're better off staying home with your ``Friends.'' Considering the stars involved, box-office returns were also a bit disappointing for ``Executive Decision'' (1996, Warner; priced for rental), an action adventure starring Kurt Russell, Steven Seagal and Halle Berry Halle Maria Berry (IPA: /ˈhæliː ˈbɛriː/) (born August 14, 1966[1]) is an American actress. . Considering the plot (a nerve-gas bomb on a hijacked plane), this might not be the best time to put it on the rental market. I'm just not sure many of us are in the mood to see airline passengers in danger. Star-in-the-making Theresa Randle is the big draw in ``Girl 6'' (1996, FoxVideo; priced for rental), Spike Lee's comedy about phone sex. Sex, we're always in the mood for. In honor of the coming Republican convention, here's a list of movies about Republican presidents: ``Abe Lincoln in Illinois'' (1940, Turner; $19.95); ``Gore Vidal's Lincoln'' (1988, Pacific Arts; $29.95); ``The Indomitable in·dom·i·ta·ble adj. Incapable of being overcome, subdued, or vanquished; unconquerable. [Late Latin indomit Teddy Roosevelt'' (1983, Prism; priced for rental); ``The Longest Day'' (1962, FoxVideo; $24.98); ``The Wind and the Lion'' (1975, MGM/UA; $59.95); and ``Young Mr. Lincoln'' (1939, CBS/Fox; $19.98). There's also ``All the President's Men'' (1976, Warner; $19.98), but I don't think the Republicans would think that one's much of an honor. As part of its ``Vintage Classics'' collection, MGM/UA is releasing ``Odds Against Tomorrow,'' a 1959 crime classic starring Harry Belafonte, Shelley Winters, Robert Ryan and Gloria Grahame. The ``Vintage Classics'' series showcases hard-to-find titles, packaged with their original theatrical trailers. Other new films in the series, all of which list for $19.98 each, are ``Bad Day at Black Rock'' (1955), ``Birdman bird·man n. 1. also One, such as an ornithologist, who works with birds. 2. Slang An aviator. of Alcatraz'' (1962), ``The Manchurian Candidate'' (1962), ``On the Beach'' (1959) and ``White Heat'' (1949) - a movie your children must see, just so they'll understand all the ``top of the world'' pop references that turn up in other movies and TV shows. Though it's not being marketed to them, children are the natural audience for Blake Edwards' ``The Great Race'' (1965), the latest release in the ``Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . Classic'' collection. It's far too long, but kids should enjoy the cars, the costumes, the pie fight and Jack Lemmon's Snidely Whiplash villain. With Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood and Peter Falk. I don't want to say that the ``Universal Horror Classics'' label is scraping the bottom of the studio's barrel, but any collection that includes Eric Fleming's 1959 cowboy-vampire thriller ``Curse of the Undead'' is using a rather liberal definition of the term ``classic.'' Other additions to the collection include ``The Climax'' (1944), ``The Strange Door'' (1951) and ``The Mystery of Edwin Drood'' (1935). Each sells for $14.98. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Sharing the screen with a third-base-playing, animat ronic chimp in ``Ed'' has done little to advance Matt LeBlanc's film career so far. |
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