Holiday movie madness
October 3, 2003 | 12:00am
The "ber" months are my favorite time of the year. With the temperature dropping and the Christmas season approaching, the movies change this season. The brain-dead, IQ decreasing popcorn flicks of the summer (excluding such ones as Finding Nemo) make way for more intelligent, worthier films in time for February’s Academy Awards. This is also the season when the horror films are released for Halloween and the comedies for the holiday season. Now, I know this article is a little bit delayed (September is over), but with my Emmy coverage, this had to be pushed back. Anyway, here is a list of the many cinematic offerings studios will be presenting this holiday season for the next few months (films with asterisks in their titles mean that they are possible Oscar contenders).
Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (September 5) – David Spade stars in this comedy satire as Dickie Roberts, a once-famous child star at age 6 who has gone downhill since then. And like many child stars, he didn’t have a childhood, so he then hires a family to fill the inadequacy that he’s missing. Real-life child stars Corey Feldman, Emmanuel Lewis, Leif Garrett and Danny Bonaduce also have cameos as themselves and Alyssa Milano, another child star, plays his girlfriend.
The Order (September 5) – Originally titled Sin Eater, this Heath Ledger-starrer’s release was delayed due to the revamping of the once unimpressive and laughable special effects. Ledger plays a Catholic priest who unravels the macabre ancient religious ritual known as sin eating.
Cabin Fever (September 12) – In the delightfully disturbing and terrifying footsteps of the summer sleeper hit 28 Days comes Cabin Fever, about a group of teenagers on vacation in an isolated cabin in the woods. But when one of the campers gets infected by a flesh-eating deadly virus, the real terror begins.
Cold Creek Manor (September 12) – Sharon Stone returns with Dennis Quaid as a married couple in this promising haunted house thriller. And if the trailer and buzz surrounding the film are any indication, Cold Creek Manor could be Stone’s grand comeback.
• Matchstick Men (September 12) – Supposedly released in the summer, Matchstick Men stars an obsessive-compulsive Nicolas Cage and Sam Rockwell as a con artist duo. But when his 14-year-old daughter (Alison Lohman) arrives, she helps the pair pull off their hardest heist yet.
Once Upon A Time in Mexico (September 12) – This third installment of the El Mariachi/Desperado movies stars Salma Hayek and once again, Antonio Banderas. But it is Johnny Depp, playing a rogue CIA agent, who truly steals the show.
Anything Else (September 19) – The great Woody Allen wrote, directed, and co-stars in this Jason Biggs-Christina Ricci starrer. And after recent critically-panned flops like The Curse of the Jade Scorpion and Hollywood Ending, Allen definitely needs a hit.
The Fighting Temptations (September 19) – The "crazy in love" Beyonce Knowles stars in her second feature film (she first played Foxxy Cleopatra in Austin Powers: Goldmember) as a sexy jazz singer trying to help Cuba Gooding Jr. and his gospel choir.
Underworld (September 19) – British actress Kate Beckinsale (Pearl Harbor, Serendipity) stars as a member of a wealthy vampire family that falls in love with her bloodsucking clan’s mortal enemy – a werewolf (Scott Speedman).
Wonderland (September 26) – The real-life story that inspired Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights, Wonderland explores the trials that porn star John C. Holmes experienced.
Duplex (September 26) – Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore star in this Danny DeVito-directed comedy about the problems of living in a rent-controlled, downtown apartment. Let’s just hope this isn’t as bad as DeVito’s Death to Smoochy.
The Rundown (September 26) – This action adventure stars The Rock, Sean William Scott – wait a minute. There’s only one thing left to say about a movie that stars The Rock: It’s gonna be bad! (See: The Scorpion King)
School of Rock (October 3) – This Jack Black comedy has him playing Dewey Finn, who poses as a substitute teacher at an uptight private school and then forms a band with his fifth-grade students.
• Mystic River (October 8) – Based on the critically-acclaimed, best-selling novel by David Lehane, Mystic River, directed by Clint Eastwood, doesn’t only boast an impressive director but a very impressive cast as well. With such actors and actresses as Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden, how could the Academy ignore this promising, powerful drama?
Intolerable Cruelty (October 10) – Hollywood A-Lists George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones finally star together in this film by the Coen brothers. This dark comedy has Clooney playing Miles, a divorce lawyer, who falls for Marylin (Zeta-Jones).
• Kill Bill: Volume One (October 10) – In the first part of Quentin Tarantino’s two-parter, Uma Thurman plays Bride, a woman who was left (almost) dead on her wedding day. She then sets out to begin her plan of revenge, killing all those involved in the crime, including the title character, Bill (David Carradine). But if this fails, who knows what’ll happen to Volume Two; Miramax doesn’t even have a release date for the second yet.
Runaway Jury (October 17) – Based on John Grisham’s novel, Runaway Jury is about a plaintiff filing a public-health suit against gun manufacturers. The courtroom drama stars John Cusack as a jury member willing to rig the case and sell it to the highest bidder, be it the despicable pro-gun jury tamperer (Gene Hackman), or the plaintiff’s pro-gun-control lawyer (Dustin Hoffman).
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (October 17) – If you’re as excited as I am about this horror slasher film, you’d know that this is a remake of the classic, horrifying ’70s cult splatter flick, starring 7th Heaven’s Jessica Beil and Six Feet Under’s Eric Balfour. The plot: A group of teens wind up stuck in a house filled with grisly, power tool-wielding, blood-covered cannibals, especially the famed chainsaw-clutching Leatherface. And if the terrifying trailer indicates anything, this could be this year’s The Ring.
• Sylvia (October 17) – Gwyneth Paltrow gives the Academy another chance to award her by playing Sylvia Plath, in a biopic about the poet’s uneven life.
• Veronica Guerin (October 17) – Considered as one of Ireland’s greatest national heroes, Veronica Guerin, portrayed by Cate Blanchett, was a very controversial reporter that exposed Dublin’s drug lords until she was murdered in 1996. This film explores her final two years, and is directed by Joel Schumacher.
Scary Movie 3 (October 24) – The first Scary Movie, parodying such horror slasher films as Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, was a huge hilarious, uproarious hit. On the contrary, the second one, spoofing this time supernatural films like The Haunting and The Exorcist was a huge stinking bore. But considering the side-splittingly hilarious trailer that pokes fun at The Ring, Signs and The Others, Scary Movie 3 could easily be the best of the trilogy.
In the Cut (October 24) – Once America’s Sweetheart and the Queen of Romantic Comedies, Meg Ryan returns in a more mature, provocative and sexually explicit film. Based on Susanna Moore’s 1995 novel, In the Cut shows Ryan as an "all work, no play" literature professor that after being entangled in a murder case has an erotic encounter with the detective (Mark Ruffalo) investigating the crime.
Beyond Borders (October 24) – Angelina Jolie stars in this romantic drama, playing a socialite who falls for a relief worker (Clive Owen). The epic takes us to several exotic countries, and may redeem Jolie from her Tomb Raider disaster.
Gothika (October 24) – You may remember Gothika director Mathieu Kassovitz from Amelie not as its director, but as the title character’s photo booth love interest. This French triple threat can direct, write and act, and he helms Halle Berry, Penelope Cruz and Robert Downey Jr. in this psychological thriller. Set in a psychiatric ward, Berry plays Dr. Miranda Grey, a psychiatrist who wakes up as a patient in her own hospital, accused of murdering her husband.
• The Human Stain (October 31) – The first of Nicole Kidman’s two chances of winning Best Actress in February’s Academy Awards (go Nicole!), The Human Stain, based on Philip Roth’s bestseller, is about Coleman Silk (Anthony Hopkins), a light-skinned African-American college professor who spent his life saying he was white and Jewish. But after his life shatters after being accused of uttering a racial slur, he finds solace in a local cleaning woman (Kidman).
The Matrix Revolutions (November 5) – The Matrix Reloaded has yet to redeem itself, and Revolutions may do the trick. And considering that Reloaded failed to make box office expectations, the third of the trilogy’s success solely depends on whether it can compete with the original.
Elf (November 7) – Opening alongside a Matrix film has its risks (See: Down With Love. It only earned a little more than $20 million), meaning this Christmas comedy, starring Will Ferrell, as a human adopted by elves doesn’t have a promising box office future.
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (November 14) – Definitely an Oscar contender, Master and Commander may be responsible for Russell Crowe’s fourth Best Actor nomination and second win. Crowe plays Captain Jack Aubrey, the swashbuckling protagonist in the late Patrick O’Brian’s high-seas historical novels about the British navy.
• Love Actually (November 14) – This potential Oscar dark horse boasts a charming cast of Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Laura Linney, Liam Neeson and Colin Firth and is written and directed by romantic-comedy screenwriting veteran Richard Curtis. The film, with 10 intertwined, overlapping storylines about different people experiencing different forms of love could surely be as good as its ensemble.
• 21 Grams (November 14) – Showing off another great cast is 21 Grams, starring Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio del Toro, and directed by Mexican Amores Perros helmer Inarritu. The plot: After a tragic car accident, a mourning mother’s (Watts) life intersects with an ex-con (del Toro) and an ailing mathematician (Penn). And after being snubbed of even an Oscar nomination for her work in David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, Watts may finally get the attention she deserves.
Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat (November 21) – Mike Myers stars as the title character in Dr. Seuss’ beloved children’s book about two children (I Am Sam and Uptown Girls’ Dakota Fanning and Disney’s The Kid Spencer Breslin) being raucously entertained by a man-size cat. However, Mom (Kelly Preston) left strict rules about keeping the house spotless. Let’s just hope it isn’t as boring as How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Radio (November 21) – Ed Harris stars in this uplifting true-life drama as a high school football coach who befriends a mentally-challenged African-American man nicknamed Radio.
The Haunted Mansion (November 26) – Eddie Murphy plays a real estate agent trying to sell an old, dilapidated, supposedly haunted house in this comedy based on the famed Disneyland ride. And considering how good Pirates of the Caribbean was and how much it made (it even exceeded The Matrix Reloaded’s earnings, making it the second highest grossing film of the year so far, just behind Finding Nemo), The Haunted Mansion could be the year’s Halloween family-friendly success.
• Big Fish (November 26) – Tim Burton hasn’t made an Oscar-worthy film since 1994’s Ed Wood (sorry, Planet of the Apes), but he will change that. This Academy Award contender stars Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, and Alison Lohman.
• House of Sand and Fog (November) – After winning Best Supporting Actress for A Beautiful Mind and playing Eric Bana’s girlfriend in The Hulk, the talented Jennifer Connelly attempts to go for Best Actress this time around. She plays a recovering alcoholic involved in a hostile battle with an Iranian immigrant (Ben Kingsley) over a Northern California house.
• The Last Samurai (December 5) – The much-awaited Tom Cruise epic is finally here. In it, Cruise plays Nathan Algren, a US Civil War veteran invited by the Japanese emperor to modernize his army. But once there, Algren creates a close bond with the ways and traditions of the ancient samurai, the exact thing the emperor wants to eliminate. Cruise could finally get his first Academy Award for this role.
• The Missing (December 10) – Directed by Ron Howard, this Western thriller has Cate Blanchett play Maggie Gilkeson, a mother with two daughters. And after her ominous, long-gone husband returned, one of her daughters is kidnapped.
Something’s Gotta Give (December 12) – Jack Nicholson has recently achieved much success with comedic parts, and it seems that streak will continue with the promising and refreshing comedy Something’s Gotta Give. Nicholson plays an aging record executive who has a thing for younger, I mean, much-younger women. But he then falls for the playwright mother (Diane Keaton) of his girlfriend (Amanda Peet). Turning the love triangle into a square is Keanu Reeves, whose character is courting Mom. This sounds absolutely hysterical!
Stuck On You (December 12) – And a more slapstick, stupider comedy than Something’s Gotta Give is Stuck On You by the Farrelly brothers. Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear star as conjoined twins (yet they don’t even look remotely alike) who move to Hollywood to pursue their dream of being a star. Cher also stars.
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (December 17) – C’mon, do I really have to say anything about Peter Jackson’s third installment of JRR Tolkien’s trilogy to convince you to see it? I thought not.
• Mona Lisa Smile (December 19) – In the grand footsteps of Dead Poets Society comes the more estrogen-infused Mona Lisa Smile. Julia Roberts stars as an art history professor named Katherine Watson, who opens the eyes of her students (Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles and Maggie Gyllenhaal) and teaches them how to live more freely.
• Cold Mountain (December 25) – Nicole Kidman’s second chance to win Best Actress this year, Cold Mountain, based on Charles Frazier’s best-selling novel, boasts a star-studded cast of Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, Renee Zellweger, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Natalie Portman. Law plays Inman, a Confederate soldier who is wounded in battle and then returns home to his beloved Ada (Kidman) in this Civil War love story, Best Picture contender.
• The Alamo (December 25) – Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Quaid star in the Oscar contender The Alamo, about Texas’ most famous siege.
Paycheck (December 25) – Ben Affleck takes his turn to sci-fi as he plays a computer engineer whose memory is erased. Maybe he can erase J.Lo from his memory.
Cheaper by the Dozen (December 25) – Steve Martin plays a college football coach and father to 12 kids (Hilary Duff being one of them). But all hell breaks loose when his wife (Bonnie Hunt) goes on tour for her new book and leaves him home alone with their brood. Coyote Ugly’s Piper Perabo and Smallville’s Tom Welling also star, with Ashton Kutcher making a cameo.
So here are the movies that you’ll be seeing in the cinemas until December. Remember that these dates are for the US and that they may change.
Source: Entertainment Weekly, August 22/29, 2003
• Watch Survivor: Pearl Islands. The biggest reality show is back, this time having its seventh season in the Panamanian Pearl Islands. It seems creator/executive producer hasn’t lost his touch, making the start-of-the-game twist depriving the castaways of everything – absolutely everything. And all in its first episode, I’ve learned to like the Spanish-speaking Sandra, Burton and the Hagrid look-alike Rupert, all from the Drake tribe. In fact, the survivors I don’t like are all from the stupid tribe, Morgan: the extremely obnoxious Osten and the annoying Tijuana. Besides, that Panamanian lesbian woman who was flirting with Trish was absolutely hilarious. It shows live via satellite every Friday, 1 p.m. and the primetime telecast on Sunday at 7 p.m., on Studio 23.
• Watch Gigli. I know, I know, this movie is one of the year’s worst. Months before Gigli (pronounced "Jeely," and rhymes with "really." It’s not pronounced "Giggly"!) was even released, negative buzz about how bad it was were already surrounding it; and true enough, it was a disaster. But, and this is an important "but," Ben and Jennifer are in it – together! That’s enough reason to go see the film. First there was the planned yet postponed wedding, and now that they’ve been rumored to have "broken up," whatever you choose to believe, the next time we get to see Hollywood’s most talked about on-again-off-again couple onscreen together is next year’s Jersey Girl.
• Drink the ultimate from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Now that I’ve gotten over my Starbucks frappuccino craze, I’ve been introduced to my new caffeine-infused addiction. This iced coffee whatchamacallit, which comes in vanilla and mocha (I definitely prefer vanilla), is just so simply indescribably delicious that I just can’t get enough of it. Besides, I’m determined to complete my Pink Drink Card (five more squares to go!).
For comments, questions and suggestions, e-mail me at lanz_gryffindor@yahoo.com.
Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (September 5) – David Spade stars in this comedy satire as Dickie Roberts, a once-famous child star at age 6 who has gone downhill since then. And like many child stars, he didn’t have a childhood, so he then hires a family to fill the inadequacy that he’s missing. Real-life child stars Corey Feldman, Emmanuel Lewis, Leif Garrett and Danny Bonaduce also have cameos as themselves and Alyssa Milano, another child star, plays his girlfriend.
The Order (September 5) – Originally titled Sin Eater, this Heath Ledger-starrer’s release was delayed due to the revamping of the once unimpressive and laughable special effects. Ledger plays a Catholic priest who unravels the macabre ancient religious ritual known as sin eating.
Cabin Fever (September 12) – In the delightfully disturbing and terrifying footsteps of the summer sleeper hit 28 Days comes Cabin Fever, about a group of teenagers on vacation in an isolated cabin in the woods. But when one of the campers gets infected by a flesh-eating deadly virus, the real terror begins.
Cold Creek Manor (September 12) – Sharon Stone returns with Dennis Quaid as a married couple in this promising haunted house thriller. And if the trailer and buzz surrounding the film are any indication, Cold Creek Manor could be Stone’s grand comeback.
• Matchstick Men (September 12) – Supposedly released in the summer, Matchstick Men stars an obsessive-compulsive Nicolas Cage and Sam Rockwell as a con artist duo. But when his 14-year-old daughter (Alison Lohman) arrives, she helps the pair pull off their hardest heist yet.
Once Upon A Time in Mexico (September 12) – This third installment of the El Mariachi/Desperado movies stars Salma Hayek and once again, Antonio Banderas. But it is Johnny Depp, playing a rogue CIA agent, who truly steals the show.
Anything Else (September 19) – The great Woody Allen wrote, directed, and co-stars in this Jason Biggs-Christina Ricci starrer. And after recent critically-panned flops like The Curse of the Jade Scorpion and Hollywood Ending, Allen definitely needs a hit.
The Fighting Temptations (September 19) – The "crazy in love" Beyonce Knowles stars in her second feature film (she first played Foxxy Cleopatra in Austin Powers: Goldmember) as a sexy jazz singer trying to help Cuba Gooding Jr. and his gospel choir.
Underworld (September 19) – British actress Kate Beckinsale (Pearl Harbor, Serendipity) stars as a member of a wealthy vampire family that falls in love with her bloodsucking clan’s mortal enemy – a werewolf (Scott Speedman).
Wonderland (September 26) – The real-life story that inspired Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights, Wonderland explores the trials that porn star John C. Holmes experienced.
Duplex (September 26) – Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore star in this Danny DeVito-directed comedy about the problems of living in a rent-controlled, downtown apartment. Let’s just hope this isn’t as bad as DeVito’s Death to Smoochy.
The Rundown (September 26) – This action adventure stars The Rock, Sean William Scott – wait a minute. There’s only one thing left to say about a movie that stars The Rock: It’s gonna be bad! (See: The Scorpion King)
• Mystic River (October 8) – Based on the critically-acclaimed, best-selling novel by David Lehane, Mystic River, directed by Clint Eastwood, doesn’t only boast an impressive director but a very impressive cast as well. With such actors and actresses as Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden, how could the Academy ignore this promising, powerful drama?
Intolerable Cruelty (October 10) – Hollywood A-Lists George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones finally star together in this film by the Coen brothers. This dark comedy has Clooney playing Miles, a divorce lawyer, who falls for Marylin (Zeta-Jones).
• Kill Bill: Volume One (October 10) – In the first part of Quentin Tarantino’s two-parter, Uma Thurman plays Bride, a woman who was left (almost) dead on her wedding day. She then sets out to begin her plan of revenge, killing all those involved in the crime, including the title character, Bill (David Carradine). But if this fails, who knows what’ll happen to Volume Two; Miramax doesn’t even have a release date for the second yet.
Runaway Jury (October 17) – Based on John Grisham’s novel, Runaway Jury is about a plaintiff filing a public-health suit against gun manufacturers. The courtroom drama stars John Cusack as a jury member willing to rig the case and sell it to the highest bidder, be it the despicable pro-gun jury tamperer (Gene Hackman), or the plaintiff’s pro-gun-control lawyer (Dustin Hoffman).
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (October 17) – If you’re as excited as I am about this horror slasher film, you’d know that this is a remake of the classic, horrifying ’70s cult splatter flick, starring 7th Heaven’s Jessica Beil and Six Feet Under’s Eric Balfour. The plot: A group of teens wind up stuck in a house filled with grisly, power tool-wielding, blood-covered cannibals, especially the famed chainsaw-clutching Leatherface. And if the terrifying trailer indicates anything, this could be this year’s The Ring.
• Sylvia (October 17) – Gwyneth Paltrow gives the Academy another chance to award her by playing Sylvia Plath, in a biopic about the poet’s uneven life.
• Veronica Guerin (October 17) – Considered as one of Ireland’s greatest national heroes, Veronica Guerin, portrayed by Cate Blanchett, was a very controversial reporter that exposed Dublin’s drug lords until she was murdered in 1996. This film explores her final two years, and is directed by Joel Schumacher.
Scary Movie 3 (October 24) – The first Scary Movie, parodying such horror slasher films as Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, was a huge hilarious, uproarious hit. On the contrary, the second one, spoofing this time supernatural films like The Haunting and The Exorcist was a huge stinking bore. But considering the side-splittingly hilarious trailer that pokes fun at The Ring, Signs and The Others, Scary Movie 3 could easily be the best of the trilogy.
In the Cut (October 24) – Once America’s Sweetheart and the Queen of Romantic Comedies, Meg Ryan returns in a more mature, provocative and sexually explicit film. Based on Susanna Moore’s 1995 novel, In the Cut shows Ryan as an "all work, no play" literature professor that after being entangled in a murder case has an erotic encounter with the detective (Mark Ruffalo) investigating the crime.
Beyond Borders (October 24) – Angelina Jolie stars in this romantic drama, playing a socialite who falls for a relief worker (Clive Owen). The epic takes us to several exotic countries, and may redeem Jolie from her Tomb Raider disaster.
Gothika (October 24) – You may remember Gothika director Mathieu Kassovitz from Amelie not as its director, but as the title character’s photo booth love interest. This French triple threat can direct, write and act, and he helms Halle Berry, Penelope Cruz and Robert Downey Jr. in this psychological thriller. Set in a psychiatric ward, Berry plays Dr. Miranda Grey, a psychiatrist who wakes up as a patient in her own hospital, accused of murdering her husband.
• The Human Stain (October 31) – The first of Nicole Kidman’s two chances of winning Best Actress in February’s Academy Awards (go Nicole!), The Human Stain, based on Philip Roth’s bestseller, is about Coleman Silk (Anthony Hopkins), a light-skinned African-American college professor who spent his life saying he was white and Jewish. But after his life shatters after being accused of uttering a racial slur, he finds solace in a local cleaning woman (Kidman).
Elf (November 7) – Opening alongside a Matrix film has its risks (See: Down With Love. It only earned a little more than $20 million), meaning this Christmas comedy, starring Will Ferrell, as a human adopted by elves doesn’t have a promising box office future.
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (November 14) – Definitely an Oscar contender, Master and Commander may be responsible for Russell Crowe’s fourth Best Actor nomination and second win. Crowe plays Captain Jack Aubrey, the swashbuckling protagonist in the late Patrick O’Brian’s high-seas historical novels about the British navy.
• Love Actually (November 14) – This potential Oscar dark horse boasts a charming cast of Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Laura Linney, Liam Neeson and Colin Firth and is written and directed by romantic-comedy screenwriting veteran Richard Curtis. The film, with 10 intertwined, overlapping storylines about different people experiencing different forms of love could surely be as good as its ensemble.
• 21 Grams (November 14) – Showing off another great cast is 21 Grams, starring Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio del Toro, and directed by Mexican Amores Perros helmer Inarritu. The plot: After a tragic car accident, a mourning mother’s (Watts) life intersects with an ex-con (del Toro) and an ailing mathematician (Penn). And after being snubbed of even an Oscar nomination for her work in David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, Watts may finally get the attention she deserves.
Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat (November 21) – Mike Myers stars as the title character in Dr. Seuss’ beloved children’s book about two children (I Am Sam and Uptown Girls’ Dakota Fanning and Disney’s The Kid Spencer Breslin) being raucously entertained by a man-size cat. However, Mom (Kelly Preston) left strict rules about keeping the house spotless. Let’s just hope it isn’t as boring as How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Radio (November 21) – Ed Harris stars in this uplifting true-life drama as a high school football coach who befriends a mentally-challenged African-American man nicknamed Radio.
The Haunted Mansion (November 26) – Eddie Murphy plays a real estate agent trying to sell an old, dilapidated, supposedly haunted house in this comedy based on the famed Disneyland ride. And considering how good Pirates of the Caribbean was and how much it made (it even exceeded The Matrix Reloaded’s earnings, making it the second highest grossing film of the year so far, just behind Finding Nemo), The Haunted Mansion could be the year’s Halloween family-friendly success.
• Big Fish (November 26) – Tim Burton hasn’t made an Oscar-worthy film since 1994’s Ed Wood (sorry, Planet of the Apes), but he will change that. This Academy Award contender stars Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, and Alison Lohman.
• House of Sand and Fog (November) – After winning Best Supporting Actress for A Beautiful Mind and playing Eric Bana’s girlfriend in The Hulk, the talented Jennifer Connelly attempts to go for Best Actress this time around. She plays a recovering alcoholic involved in a hostile battle with an Iranian immigrant (Ben Kingsley) over a Northern California house.
• The Missing (December 10) – Directed by Ron Howard, this Western thriller has Cate Blanchett play Maggie Gilkeson, a mother with two daughters. And after her ominous, long-gone husband returned, one of her daughters is kidnapped.
Something’s Gotta Give (December 12) – Jack Nicholson has recently achieved much success with comedic parts, and it seems that streak will continue with the promising and refreshing comedy Something’s Gotta Give. Nicholson plays an aging record executive who has a thing for younger, I mean, much-younger women. But he then falls for the playwright mother (Diane Keaton) of his girlfriend (Amanda Peet). Turning the love triangle into a square is Keanu Reeves, whose character is courting Mom. This sounds absolutely hysterical!
Stuck On You (December 12) – And a more slapstick, stupider comedy than Something’s Gotta Give is Stuck On You by the Farrelly brothers. Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear star as conjoined twins (yet they don’t even look remotely alike) who move to Hollywood to pursue their dream of being a star. Cher also stars.
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (December 17) – C’mon, do I really have to say anything about Peter Jackson’s third installment of JRR Tolkien’s trilogy to convince you to see it? I thought not.
• Mona Lisa Smile (December 19) – In the grand footsteps of Dead Poets Society comes the more estrogen-infused Mona Lisa Smile. Julia Roberts stars as an art history professor named Katherine Watson, who opens the eyes of her students (Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles and Maggie Gyllenhaal) and teaches them how to live more freely.
• Cold Mountain (December 25) – Nicole Kidman’s second chance to win Best Actress this year, Cold Mountain, based on Charles Frazier’s best-selling novel, boasts a star-studded cast of Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, Renee Zellweger, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Natalie Portman. Law plays Inman, a Confederate soldier who is wounded in battle and then returns home to his beloved Ada (Kidman) in this Civil War love story, Best Picture contender.
• The Alamo (December 25) – Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Quaid star in the Oscar contender The Alamo, about Texas’ most famous siege.
Paycheck (December 25) – Ben Affleck takes his turn to sci-fi as he plays a computer engineer whose memory is erased. Maybe he can erase J.Lo from his memory.
Cheaper by the Dozen (December 25) – Steve Martin plays a college football coach and father to 12 kids (Hilary Duff being one of them). But all hell breaks loose when his wife (Bonnie Hunt) goes on tour for her new book and leaves him home alone with their brood. Coyote Ugly’s Piper Perabo and Smallville’s Tom Welling also star, with Ashton Kutcher making a cameo.
So here are the movies that you’ll be seeing in the cinemas until December. Remember that these dates are for the US and that they may change.
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