The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • D14

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution About It. From around the globe to across the street, the AJC and ajc.com help you stay connected toyour world.Subscribe todayor hop online and get all the news that matters to you. Photo by BRANT SANDERLIN AJCStaff 4638792 TO SUBSCRIBE, CALL 404-522-4141 IN THE DEBUT SECTION WEDNESDAY: Secretary of State Colin Powell writes about why Americans need to understand international news. International students with various ethinc, religious and cultural palates get a taste of America through the lunch menu. An Atlanta family embarks on a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Year of the Horse predictions for several Atlantans from a local Asian astrologer. POSTERS FROM THE INFORMATION STORE From the special and firefighter cartoons by AJC cartoonist Mike Luckovich to posters to help you become a better gardener, got an entire collection just for you. Visit ajc.com/inforstore today! 4571432A4642446A Secretary of State Colin Powell writes about why Americans need to understand international news. International students at a local school with various ethnic, religious and cultural palates get a taste of America through the lunch menu. An Atlanta family embarks on a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Year of the Horse predictions for several Atlantans from a local Asian astrologer. FLIF50218OD14 5 Star 14D 14D RR RR BlueRedYellowBlack BlueRedYellowBlack D14 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Monday, Feb. 18, 2002 5 Tickets go on sale today for the New Orleans Jazz Heritage Festival, with artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Lenny Kravitz, Fats Domino and Indie Arie set to heat things up. The festival runs two weekends: April 26-28 and May 2-5. The latter weekend partly overlaps with huge Music Midtown festival, which focuses more on rock and acts.

The diverse lineup of artists at the jazz fest includes Jimmy Buffett, Melissa Etheridge, the Neville Brothers, Bishop T.D. Jakes, the String Cheese Incident, Phil Lesh and Friends, and Huey Smith. The jazz fest is considered the top gathering of roots musicians and fans, with an annual crowd of 500,000 who are treated to scores of acts on 12 stages as well as an enormous smorgasbord of Louisiana cooking. A complete schedule is available at the Web site, www.nojazzfest.com. Call 1-800488-5252 for ticket information.

Rodney Ho New Orleans jazz fest to sway with Marsalis RLIFE0218OD14 ASSOCIATED PRESS Los Angeles Denzel Washington, fresh off his latest Oscar nomination, found a captive audience at theaters as debuted and was the top weekend film. Starring Washington as a desperate dad who holds an emergency room hostage to get a heart transplant for his dying son, the movie took in $20.6 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Britney Spears had a solid big-screen premiere in avoiding the box-office pitfalls encountered by some pop stars notably Mariah Carey with when they cross over to film. was No. 2 with $14.6 million.

animated to Never a sequel to its classic opened in third place with $11.8 million. Bruce a World War II POW drama, had a so-so opening of $8.3 million, coming in at No. 7. The other new movie, the police parody tied Hawk for No. 8 with $6.2 million.

Last Oscar nominations gave a box-office bounce to best-picture nominees. Beautiful climbed to $8.5 million, up 35 percent from the previous weekend. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the grossed $5 million, up 38 per- cent. the doubled its take to $2.5 million, and took in $2.4 million, a 30 percent jump. the course of the next five weeks, in order to feel like a part of Oscar night, people love to go and catch up with all the films nominated in major said David Kaminow, senior vice president of marketing for Miramax, the distributor of the the only best-picture nominee already out on video, also gained from the Oscar nominations.

Since the nominations, the DVD sales have jumped 160 percent and VHS rentals have climbed 40 percent, said Bruce Snyder, head of distribution for 20th Century Fox, which released Films with acting nominations gained, too. which earned a best-actress nomination for Judi Dench as writer Iris Murdoch, reopened in 31 theaters and grossed $300,000 after a limited run in December to qualify for the Oscars. which brought Halle Berry a best- actress nomination as a widow in this death row tale, expanded to 472 theaters, up 130, and took in $2.8 million, a 21 percent increase. The Oscars also likely gave a boost to with past Oscar winner Washington cited in the best-actor category for Distributor New Line had hoped Washington would score an Oscar nod when it put on the mid- February schedule last fall, said Russell Schwartz, president of domestic marketing. The main appeal was that the matter resonated with a lot of people, the idea of the Everyman against the Schwartz said.

the thriller element and Denzel being nominated, it was a great WEEKEND BOX OFFICE quickly No. 1 THE TOP 10 Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Final figures will be released Tuesday. 1. $20.6 million.

2. $14.6 million. 3. to Never $11.8 million. 4.

$9.1 million. 5. Fat $8.7 million. 6. Beautiful $8.5 million.

7. $8.3 million. 8 (tie). Hawk $6.2 million. 8 (tie).

$6.2 million. 10. $5.8 million..