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WINNERS
'TOON TOWN The most anticipated gunfight of the season -- between the rascally upstarts at DreamWorks SKG and the animated-hit makers at Disney -- ended with both parties standing tall. Disney is standing taller with A Bug's Life's grosses of $152 million. But DreamWorks' aim was darn good too; Antz and The Prince of Egypt have made a total of $178 million. Even Paramount managed to doodle a hit, earning $94 million from its big-screen Rugrats.
TIGHTS AND FRILLY DICKEYS Never has the 16th century boasted better bone structure. Shakespeare in Love's Gwyneth Paltrow and Elizabeth's Cate Blanchett have sprinted to the front of the Oscar race, thanks to their Golden Globe victories and surprisingly strong grosses for both movies in limited release.
ADAM SANDLER Hey, we don't like it any more than you do -- but The Waterboy was the holiday season's biggest hit, grossing $155 million. Sandler, heaven help us, is now a major star, with $25 million promised for his next two flicks.
THE GRIM REAPER Although the costly Meet Joe Black -- in which Death popped down to earth in the form of Brad Pitt -- keeled over at the box office at a mere $44 million, the Reaper was a huge hit when he stayed discreetly out of camera range. Like in Stepmom (expected to gross about $90 million) and Patch Adams (which could hit $150 million).
WOODY ALLEN (See also: Losers) He delivered his brightest, wittiest, most charming performance in decades. As an ant in Antz.
LOSERS
BARNYARD ANIMALS This little piggy definitely didn't go to market. The Babe sequel recouped only $17 million of its reported $100 million budget, which means plans for the third Babe are probably on hold until such time as pigs can fly. A camera hog of a different sort -- Jerry Springer -- won't be reappearing on the big screen soon either. Ringmaster bombed even with lesbians who stole their girlfriends' boyfriends.
DEAD TEENS The Scream machine may have finally run out of steam. The latest of the oeuvre -- The Faculty and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer -- slayed nobody, earning less than $40 million each.
RECYCLING Gus Van Sant's shot-by-shot, scene-by-scene remake of Psycho turned out to be a dollar-for-dollar dud, grossing just $21 million (less than the Hitchcock original's take -- $24 million in 1960 dollars). In fact, the only old movie to make a major comeback last season was The Shop Around the Corner -- but only because You've Got Mail looked nothing like it.
F/X MONSTROSITIES Okay, so that huge white puffy thing in Jack Frost technically wasn't a monster -- but it was creepy, which is probably why the Michael Keaton flick grossed just $33 million. Meanwhile, the monstrous monkey in Mighty Joe Young earned a disappointing $43 million. Only Star Trek: Insurrection -- in which F. Murray Abraham played the mutant baddie -- broke the $50 million barrier, with $66 million.
WOODY ALLEN (See also: Winners) Antz aside, he delivered Celebrity, a misfire comedy that was not only poorly received but just plain poor, grossing only $5 million.
