She did it again, Now Starring in Repo! The Genetic Opera is easily one of the worst movies of the year, if not all time.

This goth garbage featuring Paris Hilton isn’t clever enough to be Sweeney Todd and it isn’t campy enough to be The Rocky Horror Picture Show - it’s not even worthwhile in a culty, midnight-movie way. In fact, it’s hard to tell whether Repo! is trying to be serious or funny, the tone from director Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II through Saw IV)is so erratic.

One thing is for certain: This is one of those movies you have to watch through splayed fingers - not because it’s so pervasively violent and gory, which it is, but because it is simply too cringe-worthy to look at head-on.

If you’ve heard of Repo! at all, it’s probably because of the involvement of Hilton, and for no other reason. Hilton actually has a supporting role here as a sort of naughty-vampira version of herself: a black-tressed heiress who is hooked on plastic surgery. And yes, she does sing, but no better or worse than anyone else.

The intentionally dissonant songs with their painfully clunky lyrics, which writers Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich first created for their Repo! stage musical, are set in a futuristic society where people’s organs mysteriously fail and transplants become not just necessary but fashionable. That’s where the biotech company GeneCo steps in, headed by CEO Rotti Largo (Paul Sorvino, inexplicably slumming - he really is a trained opera singer). Zdunich, who also serves as our narrator, the Grave Robber, keeps popping up to explain the convoluted plot in malevolent tones.

But if you can’t afford to pay for your new heart or spleen, GeneCo sends the Repo Man (Anthony Stewart Head) to collect. And he sings while he’s doing it! The most ridiculous example of this is a scene in which he’s got a guy hanging upside down and he’s disemboweling him while simultaneously talking on the mobile phone to his teenage daughter, reminding her to take her medicine.

Poor, sick Shilo (Alexa Vega from the Spy Kids movies) doesn’t realise her dad is the mean, old Repo Man, though - she just thinks he’s a mild-mannered, overly protective doctor named Nathan, still mourning the death of her mother. (Mum is the source of her illness, by the way: “I’m infected by your genetics,” Shilo sings in one of the film’s oddly peppy rock tunes. “Mother can you hear me? Thanks for the disease.” Every song is that literal.) The family’s twisted back story, which is tied in with Rotti’s, plays out in comic book-style panels, which do nothing to liven up the movie’s dreary look.

There’s also a strange sexual tension that exists between Hilton’s character, Amber Sweet, and her two freaky brothers as they blow the family’s money on cosmetic surgery and compete to see who will take over Daddy’s company. The frequent juxtaposition of sex and death in Repo! is neither arousing nor frightening, it just feels gratuitous.

Sarah Brightman, who became an international superstar as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera on the London stage, makes her feature film debut in a bizarre role as Blind Mag, a singer who is - you guessed it - blind, but can see thanks to eyeballs on loan from the evil GeneCo.

When she scratches out those eyes on stage - after delivering an aria while suspended from the ceiling, the one merciful moment of salvation in this cacophonous onslaught - it makes you realise she’s onto something. At least she didn’t have to watch the rest of the movie.

Story Published: Nov 5, 2007 at 7:50 AM PST

By Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A heroin pusher and a honey bee put some sting back into the movie business.

Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe’s bloody crime saga “American Gangster” took in $46.3 million to lead the weekend box office, with Jerry Seinfeld’s family cartoon “Bee Movie” following with $39.1 million. Together, the movies revitalized Hollywood’s listless autumn.

“It took three of the biggest stars in the world to get the box office back on track, and they did it in high style with two totally different kinds of movies,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. “You had an R-rated movie and a PG-rated movie bringing in a really diverse audience.”

After six-straight weekends of declining revenues, overall business rose, with the top-12 movies taking in $127.2 million, up 12 percent from the same weekend last year, when “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” was No. 1 with $26.5 million.

Universal’s “American Gangster,” directed by Ridley Scott and starring Washington as 1970s Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas and Crowe as a Jersey cop on his trail, rode a wave of acclaim and Academy Awards buzz to debut at the top of the box office.

Audiences had been relatively disinterested this fall in serious R-rated films aimed at adults. Many of those earlier movies were box-office underachievers despite critical praise, but “American Gangster” landed with both good reviews and packed theaters.

Washington is known for heroic roles, yet as he did with his Oscar-winning turn as a bad cop in “Training Day,” he imbues Lucas with charm and charisma even as the man carries out savage deeds.

“American Gangster” was the biggest opening ever for the film’s two stars. Crowe’s previous best was $34.8 million for “Gladiator,” also directed by Scott, while Washington’s was $29 million for “Inside Man.”

“These are two great actors telling this true story of Frank Lucas,” said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution at Universal. “You couldn’t have picked a better cast.”

DreamWorks and Paramount’s “Bee Movie” features Seinfeld in his first big project since his TV sit-com went off the air nine years ago. Co-written by Seinfeld, the movie has him providing the voice of a bee who sues humanity for stealing his species’ hard-earned commodity - honey.

“Bee Movie” owned the family crowd, and studio executives said they expect the movie to hold up well through the holidays. It does face direct competition this weekend with Friday’s debut of the Warner Bros. holiday comedy “Fred Claus,” starring Vince Vaughn as Santa’s black-sheep brother and Paul Giamatti as St. Nick.

“We look forward to seeing how it plays out, but it really looks like there’s some strong playing time ahead for both movies,” said Anne Globe, head of marketing for DreamWorks.

The weekend’s other new wide release - New Line Cinema’s “Martian Child,” starring John Cusack as a widower adopting a troubled boy who thinks he’s from Mars - opened weakly with $3.65 million, finishing at No. 7.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. “American Gangster,” $46.3 million.

2. “Bee Movie,” $39.1 million.

3. “Saw IV,” $11 million.

4. “Dan in Real Life,” $8.1 million.

5. “30 Days of Night,” $4 million.

6. “The Game Plan,” $3.85 million.

7. “Martian Child,” $3.65 million.

8. “Michael Clayton,” $2.9 million.

9. “Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married?”, $2.7 million.

10. “Gone Baby Gone,” $2.4 million.