FElm's luclqf number '.. n the suspense film "88 Minutes," opening Friday, Al Pacino stars as a college professor '' and part-time FBI forensic psychiatrist who receives a death thfeat claiming he has only 88 ." minutes to live. il Bad luck? l\4aybe not Pacin0's character might not survive, but movies with the number "8" in their title are often a boon to the DeoDle who make them.</p><p> Eight is a lucky nurnber in Chinese culture - that's sihy the Olympic Games in Beijing are scheduled to begin on Aug 8, 2008 * yep,8-8-08 - at 8:08:08 p.m.</p><p> Tlte number is also auspicious in Hollyvr'ood: 8 mm is a standard frlm format that doubles to 16 mm (the digits in 35 mm not surprisingly, add up to 8) Here are eight lucky "8" movies to pondel Michael ciltz ,, B_!.|r]--ERFTELP 9_C9gg)_ jr -qlg_r-tr._ llEN _o_u_I -(198*8)" "-" ." Roll of lhe dice: Elizabeth Taylor - who Roll of the dice: Writer-director lohn Sayles was treaied like a whore after breaklng up the tarnishes Americas pastime by retelling lhe marriage of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds gr i pping, heartbreaking story of the Chicago - played a high ciass prostitute in ihis sordid Whlte Sox players who threw the 1919 World drama I Series in exchange for money Lfiky eigltt Almost dying of pneumonia during Academy Awards se6on gave Taylor the sympathy vote - and her first Oscar despile her admitting that the movie wsn't very good Tayror, by lhe way, wf,s married eight limes ,r\s 8 MILE (2OO2) Roll of the die: Starring in a Hollywood movie inspired by your own life is about the uncoolest thing a hard'core rapper could do But that's exactly the risk Eminem took with thrs biopic about a white-trash kid looking to win a local rap contest Lucky eight His song "Lose Yourself" won the Oscar for Best Song. lt was his eighth hit single on Billboard's Hot 100 and by far the biggest of his career.</p><p> The lilm grossed $116 million in the U-S and $242 million worldwide Now add up either of those numbers (1+1+6, for example) and you get...8 \!\\ HARD ETGHT (1996) Roll of the dice: Slruggiing writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson crafted this quiet drama about losers on the fringe ofthe gambling world and cast his favorite actor, Philip Eaker Hall, as the lead. ludry €irJfit Anderson hated when the studio changed the name to "Hard Eight," but it became a criticJl oreaktnrough thaf led to "Boogie Nights," "l/aqnolia," "Punch-Drunk Love" and "There Will Be Blood " There are eight letters in the last name of Anderson, "Boogie" star Mark WJhlberg and "Blood's' Daniel Day Lewis \ 48 HRS. (1982) Roll of the dice: "Saturday Night Live" breakout Eddie lvlurphy was teamed lvlth Nick Nolte in a rough and tumble action flick that Murphy enlivened with his quicksilver wit and a hilarious rendition of "Roxanne" (the first hit for the Police, whose eiglrth U.S. single was "Every Breath You Take," whiclr was No 1 for eight weeks).</p><p> Lucky eight: lvlurphy was such an immediate sensation that by his eighth frlm, "Harlem Nights," he took the reins and directed it himself Murphy followed that with 'Another 48 Hrs." which grossed $80 milliontxc'|ry eigtt At the heart ot the scandal was Joe lackson (played by D B Sweeney), who was kicked out of the game despite batting extremely well and not making a single error in the fleld that series.</p><p> His nickname "Shoeless" has eight letters in it, and he began his pro i career in 1908.</p><p> According to the Bdeball Page Web site, Jackson currently ranks as the eighth : greatest leftfrelder otall time. i s$ EIGHT BELOW (2006) I Roll of the dice: In this superior live-action I Disnev frlm, Paul Walker stars as an Antafctic i scientist/explorer determined to rescue the i eight sled dogs he is forced to leave behind by a i vicious storm.</p><p> Lrdry eifit This was the eighth film Walker made since his breakthrough in "The F6t md The Furious" in 2001 Grossing just over $80 million (okay, $81 million to be exact), it remains his only substantial hit outside that action franchise 8 SECONDS (1994) M of lhe de: After breaking oLt in "Beverly Hills 90210," Luke Perry was dying to prove he was leading mil material.</p><p> The story of legendary bull rider Lane Frost seemed the perfect vehicle, complete with atragic early death Lucktr eight: The movie barely lasted eight seconds at the box ofice, but Perfy could lake solace in decent reviews.</p><p> His postr'90210" career has not been bad, including stints on HBO's "Oz'' and "John Frcm Cincinnati," so clearly someone was watching lt could have been worse- He could have been lan Ziering -81/2 "(196s) Roll ot the dice: Difector Federlco Fellini had made a career out of belng wonderfully self- ;ldulgent, but would a movie about a tamous director making a movie be going too far? lacky eigftt Hardly "8 ti" became one of Hollywood's greatest odes to itself, even if it was made in ltalian lt scored two oscars and three more nominations, a rare feai for a fofeign film "8 72" has since lived on as thc stage musical "Nine, wLrir\ itself is be ng made inLo J movie starring Javier Bardem that comes out in 2009.</p><p> Some people have no sense oftiming a
