Wild Wild West Movie

After viewing "Wild Wild West," Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert called it "all concept and no content; the elaborate special effects are like watching money burn on the screen." The New York Post opined, "Not even the smart, sexy and immensely likable [Will] Smith can save this awful . . . picture from the oblivion it surely deserves."

The torrid pace of summer films touched off box-office fireworks through the Fourth of July holiday as audiences found enough time to picnic, watch parades and all-American Wimbledon winners--and go to the movies in huge numbers. After a best-ever June--25% ahead of last year and 15% above 1993's previous best, when the dinosaurs of "Jurassic Park" ruled the multiplex--a record seven films grossed in excess of $10 million over the four-day July holiday.

The ads for the new movie "Wild Wild West" speak the truth. It is "a whole new West"--because this "West" is a whole lot different from the popular 1960s TV series on which it is based. Both versions follow the fantastic adventures of two government agents who, on orders from President Ulysses Grant, battle exotic villains in the days of the Old West. The main difference is that, for this new train ride, the soul of the original series got left behind.

After viewing "Wild Wild West," Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert called it "all concept and no content; the elaborate special effects are like watching money burn on the screen." The New York Post opined, "Not even the smart, sexy and immensely likable [Will] Smith can save this awful . . . picture from the oblivion it surely deserves."

The torrid pace of summer films touched off box-office fireworks through the Fourth of July holiday as audiences found enough time to picnic, watch parades and all-American Wimbledon winners--and go to the movies in huge numbers. After a best-ever June--25% ahead of last year and 15% above 1993's previous best, when the dinosaurs of "Jurassic Park" ruled the multiplex--a record seven films grossed in excess of $10 million over the four-day July holiday.

Omnicom Group Inc. has acquired the Marketing Arm, a Dallas-based sports-marketing company that represents such athletes and corporate clients as Scottie Pippen and Frito-Lay Inc. The deal, reportedly valued at about $10 million, puts the Marketing Arm under the same corporate roof as GMR Marketing, a wholly owned Omnicom subsidiary, and Millsport, another sports-marketing firm in which Omnicom has an equity interest.

Companies that are paying dearly for exclusive licenses to use "Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace" might be wondering if "Great Expectations" would make a better title for the box-office smash. It's too early to sort out winners and losers among the massive wave of "Star Wars"-licensed merchandise washing through restaurants, convenience stores and airport gift shops.

Actor and director KENNETH BRANAGH, who stars in Woody Allen's upcoming movie "Celebrity," is just finishing up a six-month lease of a home in Bel-Air, where he has been living while filming "The Wild Wild West," co-starring Will Smith and Kevin Kline. Branagh, 37, plays the villainous Dr. Arliss Loveless in the movie version of the popular TV series "The Wild Wild West." The movie is due out next summer.

THE director is acting like Barry Sonnenfeld, is talking like Barry Sonnenfeld but ... well, he doesn't exactly look like Barry Sonnenfeld. There's the trademark cowboy hat and boots, the customary tie and jeans; but there's also a fully grown mustache that Sonnenfeld didn't have even three hours ago.

The thing to understand about Will Smith is this: The man couldn't get down and funky if he tried. He knows this about himself. He's OK with it. "My music is really polished, really clean," he says, sitting at his breakfast table. "But while I'm making it I feel like: 'This is grungy. I'm coming with the funk!' [Here his head starts bobbing to imaginary grooves.] Then when I listen to it against the sound that I thought I was making--like J.Z.

The ads for the new movie "Wild Wild West" speak the truth. It is "a whole new West"--because this "West" is a whole lot different from the popular 1960s TV series on which it is based. Both versions follow the fantastic adventures of two government agents who, on orders from President Ulysses Grant, battle exotic villains in the days of the Old West. The main difference is that, for this new train ride, the soul of the original series got left behind.