No Need for ‘Speed,’ but a Return to Action

In 1994, Keanu Reeves had all the makings of an action star when he appeared in director Jan De Bont’s thrill ride of a movie, “Speed.” In the film, Reeves played a Los Angeles cop trying to outwit a sinister bomb expert (Dennis Hopper), who had rigged a bus to blow up if it slowed down. Along with Reeves, the film made a star out of Sandra Bullock, who frantically drove the bus. Hollywood couldn’t wait for the sequel, but the industry was stunned when Reeves turned it down. Like many other actors of his era, he seemingly did not want to be pigeonholed as another action star in the mold of Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger. That decision proved a smart one for Reeves because the sequel, “Speed 2: Cruise Control,” starring Bullock and Jason Patric, bombed at the box office. “Everybody got down on him for turning down ‘Speed 2,’ but it turned out to be a good move for him,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. On Wednesday, Reeves will return to the action genre he fled when he stars in “The Matrix,” a futuristic thriller laden with special effects, produced by Joel Silver and directed by the Wachowski brothers. Reeves’ last film, “The Devil’s Advocate,” opened in October 1997, grossing $12.1 million on its maiden weekend and going on to make $61 million in North America. Dergarabedian said “The Matrix” should appeal to teenagers and adults. It goes up against the date-crowd high school film, “10 Things I Hate About You,” which has received positive reaction in prerelease screenings.

Will ‘13’ Be a Lucky Style Change for Blur?

After years of trying to export their homeland success to the United States, the English rockers Blur enjoyed a smash hit with “Song 2,” which helped push their self-titled 1997 album past 592,000 in sales. So you would expect the quartet to revisit that polished pop sound on its new album, right? Wrong. The chameleonlike band will hit the charts this week with its follow-up to “Song 2” (which even nonmusic fans know as that “Woo-hooo!” song from the Pentium TV commercial) in the form of “13,” an album that veers from gospel-flavored country to bluesy ballads to densely layered rock. Will that departure cost them sales? If so, so be it, they feel. “Success in the U.S. is a goal, but it’s not an obsession. . . . They’re making music to impress themselves,” said their U.S. manager, Jim Merlis. The band’s approach may earn it more cachet than cash: Cheryl Botchick, music editor of the modern-rock journal CMJ, said “13” is a redeeming effort in the eyes of rock purists, and “is disjointed but very adventurous. . . . Maybe the money they have in the bank from the hit is liberating for them.” Blur, behind lead singer Damon Albarn, plays the Mayan Theatre in Los Angeles on Thursday.

‘The Big Moment’s’ Not-So-Candid Camera

In 1989, producer Vin Di Bona was at an international television fair in France when he spotted a Japanese variety show called “Fun with Ken and Kaito Chen,” a portion of which consisted of celebrity panelists voting on home-video spots. Ten years later, Di Bona’s “America’s Funniest Home Videos” is regarded by many as benchmark programming--combining as it does solid ratings and a low budget. Now Di Bona, with some more Japanese inspiration, is hoping to strike gold again as an executive producer of “The Big Moment,” which debuts Saturday at 8 p.m. on ABC. Based on a Tokyo Broadcasting System series called “Happy Family Plan Show,” “Big Moment,” hosted by Brad Sherwood, gives away $25,000 in cash and prizes. Ah, but there’s a catch: Contestants have a week to master some odd skill, such as memorizing pi to the 100th decimal point, or pulling a tablecloth out from under a set dinner table. For ABC, the show represents an extremely inexpensive way to fill an hour on a night when the network has struggled, having already canceled the dramas “Fantasy Island” and “Cupid.” And here’s the beauty of it for Di Bona and fellow producer Richard Brustein: The participants have to do the camera work, courtesy of a Camcorder provided by “The Big Moment” crew. Presumably, batteries are included.

--Compiled by Times Staff Writers