SHAQUILLE O'NEAL's performance in "Kazaam" is getting mixed
reviews. Jay Boyar of the ORLANDO SENTINEL: "The new kiddie
comedy could do as much for Shaq's motion-picture career as yes,
Giorgio did for Luciano Pavarotti's. Which is to say, it could
make it go POOF!" (ORLANDO SENTINEL 7/17). The Baltimore SUN's
Stephen Hunter: "Maybe Shaquille O'Neal ought to concentrate on
winning a few NBA championships" (Baltimore SUN, 7/17). The N.Y.
TIMES' Lawrence Van Gelder's note to O'Neal: "Don't give up your
night job" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/17). But the N.Y. POST's Thelma Adams
called Shaq's "rapping, wish-dispensing genie is the sole, good-
natured saving grace of 'Kazaam'" (N.Y. POST, 7/17). USA TODAY's
Susan Wloszczyna: "'Kazaam' is better at promoting Shaq's
multimedia career than selling tidy messages." The reviews
points out the constant presence of Shaq-endorsed Pepsi in the
film (USA TODAY, 7/17). The L.A. TIMES' Jack Mathews: "The odd
truth is that the film's novice star is better than the material"
(L.A. TIMES, 7/17). ANOTHER NBA CASTING CALL: DENNIS RODMAN
has been cast to star opposite JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME in Mandalay
Entertainment's "big-budget action-thriller," "The Colony."
Rodman will play "Yaz," a character that helps a former CIA agent
(Van Damme), escape from jail. The movie shoots in August in
Europe (THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 7/17).
