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CNN Live Event/Special

Interview With B.J. Sigesmund

Aired September 05, 2003 - 19:48   ET

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

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


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star" starring David Spade, you just saw a clip of that, it opens today and it's just one of many end-of-summer flicks vying or soon to be vying for your attention and dollars at the box office. Joining me with a preview of some movies coming out in the next few weeks is B.J. Sigesmund, an entertainment reporter with "Newsweek" magazine. Good to see you.
B.J. SIGESMUND, "NEWSWEEK": Good to see you.

COOPER: "Dickie Roberts," it's gotten a lot of -- I mean, people are talking about it just because it has got all these sort of has been or...

SIGESMUND: Yes. Well, that's the fun part is seeing these child stars grown up.

COOPER: You find it -- I find it kind of painful.

SIGESMUND: Well, it's good pain.

COOPER: All right. By the way, I think we've seen far too much of Danny Bonaduce anyway.

SIGESMUND: But there are so many others in there. There's Barry Williams, of course, from "The Brady Bunch" and Leif Garrett, and don't forget about Gary Coleman, who now is saying that he regrets doing a scene in this movie, because of course now he's running for governor.

COOPER: Do you think people will actually go to see these child stars?

SIGESMUND: Yeah.

COOPER: Really?

SIGESMUND: I think, well, first of all, there's not really that much good competition at the theater this weekend, so this is really one of the only good new movies opening. And it's fun to see them, and I have to say, Anderson, I know you like to leave movies early, I bet...

COOPER: I do.

SIGESMUND: But you have got to stay through the end credits on this, because there's a huge sing-a-long, dozens of one-time child stars are at the very end.

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: I walk out of movies like 10 minutes into them, if I get annoyed, if I get bored. Woody Allen has a new movie out, which he's not in, he's just directing it. It's hard to even tell it's a Woody Allen movie. Let's take a look. I think we have a clip from it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "ANYTHING ELSE")

CHRISTINE RICCI, ACTRESS: Don't be mad at me, but I ate.

JASON BIGGS, ACTOR: You ate?

RICCI: I couldn't help it. I was starving when I got back from the audition, and so I had a little sliver of that Sara Lee cream cheesecake, and then I had another one, and you know what I'm like when I get started. Before I knew it I finished the whole cake.

BIGGS: You ate the whole Sara Lee cream cheesecake?

RICCI: And then I figured what the hell, so I finished off the cold spaghetti in the refrigerator and I ate that last lobster tail and then I heated up some chicken pot pie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: I misspoke. He is -- Woody Allen is in this movie, just not the romantic lead.

SIGESMUND: That's right. And that's an interesting point, because Woody Allen has said that finally, after all this time, he's decided that he's too old to get the girl. Now, Woody Allen is 67 years old. Interesting that he's just now saying I'm a little bit too old to get the girl.

So Jason Biggs, who's 25 years old, plays the Woody Allen-esque part in this movie. He's the guy who's dating Christina Ricci, who you just saw. He's neurotic, she's neurotic. Woody Allen is in the movie playing a guy who was so affected by 9/11, it's a New York movie, of course, so affected by 9/11 that he has an arsenal of guns in his apartment, and other kind of survival equipment. But it is a comedy. It's just a Woody Allen-esque comedy.

COOPER: It's interesting, though, to hear Jason Biggs talking, because I mean, he sounds sort of very Woody Allen-esque. You can always hear sort of Woody Allen no matter what...

SIGESMUND: Yes, a lot of critics have noted that, too, that it seems like Woody is channeling himself through Jason Biggs in this film.

COOPER: Interesting. "Lost in Translation" is a movie that I'm really excited about. Sophia Coppola directed it. It's not coming out this week. I think it's coming out next week. SIGESMUND: Right, this is the first big great -- not big great fall movie, but great fall movie. This is a movie that first of all could get Bill Murray an Oscar nomination.

COOPER: Because there was a lot of talk about Bill Murray getting an Oscar for "Rushmore."

SIGESMUND: "Rushmore," and it didn't happen. But "Lost in Translation," directed by Sophia Coppola, is a movie that just showcases him so brilliantly. It also is going to turn Scarlet Johansson into a huge star. She has been one of those actresses...

COOPER: I've never even heard of her.

SIGESMUND: She was in "Ghost World," that was about the biggest thing she's done. That was a critics favorite, but didn't make a lot of money. This is a movie, though, that's going to push her out there the way "The Virgin Suicides," Sophia Coppola's last movie, made huge stars of Kirsten Dunst and Josh Hartnett.

COOPER: There was a fascinating article in "New York Times'" "Sunday Magazine" last Sunday about Sophia Coppola and how she basically, you know, she was in "Godfather III," she got just eviscerated, panned by critics, you know, the sort of a laughing stock. But she has really completely reinvented herself, and now people are talking about her as one of the great directors.

SIGESMUND: Right, not only a director, and you could see her perhaps one day get an Oscar nomination for directing, she also wrote this movie. She wrote "Lost in Translation" herself, so she is really coming out as really an artist in our time, and it's good to see.

COOPER: It will be interesting. I definitely want to see that movie. B.J., thanks very much.

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







Aired September 5, 2003 - 19:48   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star" starring David Spade, you just saw a clip of that, it opens today and it's just one of many end-of-summer flicks vying or soon to be vying for your attention and dollars at the box office. Joining me with a preview of some movies coming out in the next few weeks is B.J. Sigesmund, an entertainment reporter with "Newsweek" magazine. Good to see you.
B.J. SIGESMUND, "NEWSWEEK": Good to see you.

COOPER: "Dickie Roberts," it's gotten a lot of -- I mean, people are talking about it just because it has got all these sort of has been or...

SIGESMUND: Yes. Well, that's the fun part is seeing these child stars grown up.

COOPER: You find it -- I find it kind of painful.

SIGESMUND: Well, it's good pain.

COOPER: All right. By the way, I think we've seen far too much of Danny Bonaduce anyway.

SIGESMUND: But there are so many others in there. There's Barry Williams, of course, from "The Brady Bunch" and Leif Garrett, and don't forget about Gary Coleman, who now is saying that he regrets doing a scene in this movie, because of course now he's running for governor.

COOPER: Do you think people will actually go to see these child stars?

SIGESMUND: Yeah.

COOPER: Really?

SIGESMUND: I think, well, first of all, there's not really that much good competition at the theater this weekend, so this is really one of the only good new movies opening. And it's fun to see them, and I have to say, Anderson, I know you like to leave movies early, I bet...

COOPER: I do.

SIGESMUND: But you have got to stay through the end credits on this, because there's a huge sing-a-long, dozens of one-time child stars are at the very end.

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: I walk out of movies like 10 minutes into them, if I get annoyed, if I get bored. Woody Allen has a new movie out, which he's not in, he's just directing it. It's hard to even tell it's a Woody Allen movie. Let's take a look. I think we have a clip from it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "ANYTHING ELSE")

CHRISTINE RICCI, ACTRESS: Don't be mad at me, but I ate.

JASON BIGGS, ACTOR: You ate?

RICCI: I couldn't help it. I was starving when I got back from the audition, and so I had a little sliver of that Sara Lee cream cheesecake, and then I had another one, and you know what I'm like when I get started. Before I knew it I finished the whole cake.

BIGGS: You ate the whole Sara Lee cream cheesecake?

RICCI: And then I figured what the hell, so I finished off the cold spaghetti in the refrigerator and I ate that last lobster tail and then I heated up some chicken pot pie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: I misspoke. He is -- Woody Allen is in this movie, just not the romantic lead.

SIGESMUND: That's right. And that's an interesting point, because Woody Allen has said that finally, after all this time, he's decided that he's too old to get the girl. Now, Woody Allen is 67 years old. Interesting that he's just now saying I'm a little bit too old to get the girl.

So Jason Biggs, who's 25 years old, plays the Woody Allen-esque part in this movie. He's the guy who's dating Christina Ricci, who you just saw. He's neurotic, she's neurotic. Woody Allen is in the movie playing a guy who was so affected by 9/11, it's a New York movie, of course, so affected by 9/11 that he has an arsenal of guns in his apartment, and other kind of survival equipment. But it is a comedy. It's just a Woody Allen-esque comedy.

COOPER: It's interesting, though, to hear Jason Biggs talking, because I mean, he sounds sort of very Woody Allen-esque. You can always hear sort of Woody Allen no matter what...

SIGESMUND: Yes, a lot of critics have noted that, too, that it seems like Woody is channeling himself through Jason Biggs in this film.

COOPER: Interesting. "Lost in Translation" is a movie that I'm really excited about. Sophia Coppola directed it. It's not coming out this week. I think it's coming out next week. SIGESMUND: Right, this is the first big great -- not big great fall movie, but great fall movie. This is a movie that first of all could get Bill Murray an Oscar nomination.

COOPER: Because there was a lot of talk about Bill Murray getting an Oscar for "Rushmore."

SIGESMUND: "Rushmore," and it didn't happen. But "Lost in Translation," directed by Sophia Coppola, is a movie that just showcases him so brilliantly. It also is going to turn Scarlet Johansson into a huge star. She has been one of those actresses...

COOPER: I've never even heard of her.

SIGESMUND: She was in "Ghost World," that was about the biggest thing she's done. That was a critics favorite, but didn't make a lot of money. This is a movie, though, that's going to push her out there the way "The Virgin Suicides," Sophia Coppola's last movie, made huge stars of Kirsten Dunst and Josh Hartnett.

COOPER: There was a fascinating article in "New York Times'" "Sunday Magazine" last Sunday about Sophia Coppola and how she basically, you know, she was in "Godfather III," she got just eviscerated, panned by critics, you know, the sort of a laughing stock. But she has really completely reinvented herself, and now people are talking about her as one of the great directors.

SIGESMUND: Right, not only a director, and you could see her perhaps one day get an Oscar nomination for directing, she also wrote this movie. She wrote "Lost in Translation" herself, so she is really coming out as really an artist in our time, and it's good to see.

COOPER: It will be interesting. I definitely want to see that movie. B.J., thanks very much.

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