'98 FILM PREVIEW.Byline: Bob Strauss and Glenn Whipp Daily News Film Writers Here are a lot of reasons to have fun in the dark. And speaking of being in the dark, we offer our usual warning: Dates may change, titles may change, films may disappear and show up in the next millennium, others may suddenly appear - usually because they been in somebody's closet for a couple of years. Hollywood is a fickle place, especially if you haven't started shooting the film you've promised for holiday release. (You studios know who we're talking about). So grab a snack, sit back and enjoy yourself. And unlike going to ``Titanic,'' you'll be able to go to the bathroom and not miss anything. Jan. 16: Fallen: Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is a two-time Academy Award and Golden Globe Award-winning American actor and director. He has garnered much critical acclaim for his portrayals of several real-life figures, such as Steve Biko, Malcolm X, Rubin "Hurricane" and John Goodman Not to be confused with Johnny Goodman (TV producer), Johnny Goodman, or John C. Goodman. John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is a Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning American actor, perhaps best known for his roles on the television series Roseanne are two cops on the trail of a dead serial killer serial killer Forensic psychiatry A person who commits serial murders Prototypic SK White ♂ age 30; 97% are ♂; 80% are sociopaths. See Dahmer, Depraved heart murder, Ice Man. Cf Megan's law, Son of Sam law. ; or, maybe, it's an immortal demon. Directed by ``Primal Fear's'' Gregory Hoblit. (Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) .) Forgotten Silver: Director Peter Jackson's (``Heavenly Creatures'') mockumentary about a great New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. filmmaker who never existed. (First Run Releasing) Half Baked: Dimwitted dim·wit n. Slang A stupid person. dim  witted adj. young men inhaling controlled substances and using tasteless language in a comedy that also features gratuitous nudity. Gee, wonder what audience they're targeting for this film? (Universal) Hard Rain: And the Bob Dylan Noun 1. Bob Dylan - United States songwriter noted for his protest songs (born in 1941) Dylan revival keeps rolling on! Well, actually, this is a crime/disaster hybrid about an armored-car heist that gets messed up by a flood. No word yet on whether the classic protest song is worked into the soundtrack between downpours. With Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater, Randy Quaid and Minnie Driver. (Paramount) Pretty Village, Pretty Flame Pretty Village, Pretty Flame (Serbian: Лепа села лепо горе : Acclaimed Yugoslavian film about - what else? - the civil war over there. (Fox Lorber) Star Kid: An outer space robot helps a bullied kid (Joseph Mazzello) save the planet and improve his own life. (Trimark) Jan. 23: The Dress: Dutch film about the misfortunes that befall be·fall v. be·fell , be·fall·en , be·fall·ing, be·falls v.intr. To come to pass; happen. v.tr. To happen to. See Synonyms at happen. the various owners of a certain possessed ... well, dress. (Attitude Films) The Gingerbread gingerbread In architecture and design, elaborately detailed embellishment, either lavish or superfluous. Though the term is occasionally applied to such highly detailed and decorative styles as the Rococo, it usually refers to the hand-carved and -sawn wood ornamentation of Man: A director of Francis Coppola's caliber making a John Grisham movie was weird enough, but a rebellious iconoclast iconoclast Surgery A surgical instrument used for blunt dissection, which may be used below the galea aponeurotica in preparation for scalp reduction-browlift in hair restoration. See Hair replacement. like Robert Altman? No surprise, this thriller from ``The Player''-maker was recut by the studio, then returned to Altman's original edit. Kenneth Branagh plays - what else? - a Southern lawyer who tries to keep his girlfriend (Embeth Davidtz) from being stalked by her loony fundamentalist father (Robert Duvall, who's getting mighty typecast these days). (Polygram) illtown: Gritty film about narcotics narcotics n. 1) techinically, drugs which dull the senses. 2) a popular generic term for drugs which cannot be legally possessed, sold, or transported except for medicinal uses for which a physician or dentist's prescription is required. trafficking. From Nick Gomez, director of ``Laws of Gravity.'' (Shooting Gallery shooting gallery Substance abuse A place–eg, an abandoned building in an economically-depressed urban area–ie, a ghetto, where IV drug users congregate, purchase, inject–'shoot' heroin, cocaine, oxycodone or other drug. ) Live Flesh: Spanish bad boy Pedro Almodovar (``Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down'') is back with, of all things, an adaptation of a Ruth Rendell mystery about an ex-con's difficult road to redemption. (MGM-Goldwyn) Phantoms: Some ancient, evil virus or something has wiped out a Colorado town. Peter O'Toole, Joanna Going and Ben Affleck aren't afraid, though - at least initially. From a Dean Koontz novel. (Miramax/Dimension) Secret Friends: The only film directed by the late British writer Dennis Potter (``The Singing Detective''). Alan Bates plays a painter of wildflowers who suffers a surrealistic sur·re·al·is·tic adj. 1. Of or relating to surrealism. 2. Having an oddly dreamlike or unreal quality. sur·re breakdown on a train trip. (Noon Pictures) Slappy and the Stinkers: Modern-day ``Our Gang'' tries to save a 100-pound sea lion from a thief who wants to send him to a Bulgarian circus. Hey, what's wrong with Bulgaria? (Sony) Spice World: They had to make a movie. It's not enough that they've saturated the radio airwaves and assaulted us with their television commercials, yakking about girl power and the like. OK. We'll see your movie, Spice Girls. But then you have to promise to go away. Really far away. And don't come back for at least 20 years. (Sony) Swept From the Sea: Young English servant girl gets hot for the sole survivor of a capsized ship bound for America. Vincent Perez and Rachel Weisz star in this film based on a Joseph Conrad short story. (Triumph) Jan. 30: Deceiver: A prostitute (Renee Zellweger) is murdered, and an alcoholic, pathological liar (Tim Roth) is doing his best to confuse the investigation. Chris Penn, Ellen Burstyn and Rosanna Arquette appear in this police procedural from the brother filmmaking team of Jonas and Joshua Pate. (MGM MGM in full Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. U.S. corporation and film studio. It was formed when the film distributor Marcus Loew, who bought Metro Pictures in 1920, merged it with the Goldwyn production company in 1924 and with Louis B. Mayer Pictures in 1925. ) Deep Rising: A luxury liner sails on its maiden voyage. (No, not that luxury liner.) A bunch of gun-runners arrive to hijack it. Strange thing, though. It's empty. And there's this slimy creature waving its tentacles all over the place. Sounds goofy, but then the movie does have the wonderful tag line: This ain't no pleasure cruise. (You'd think ``Speed 2'' would have used that already.) (Hollywood Pictures/Buena Vista) Desperate Measures: Andy Garcia is a cop who needs to locate a compatible bone-marrow donor for his son. Unfortunately, the man he finds is a convicted multiple murderer (Michael Keaton). The bad guy agrees to help, but then he runs away once he's out of prison. Garcia has to track him down and bring him back alive. (Sony) Four Days in September: Account of the true-life kidnapping of America's ambassador to Brazil in 1969. Alan Arkin plays the diplomat. (Miramax) Gonin: Five Japanese guys join forces to take on yakuza yakuza Japanese gangsters. Yakuza, who trace their roots back to ronin (masterless samurai), often adopt samurai-like rituals and identify themselves with elaborate body tattoos. mobsters Mobsters is a 1991 crime drama detailing the creation of the National Crime Syndicate/The Commission. Set in New York City during the Prohibition era, it's a somewhat fictionalized account of rise of Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Frank Costello, and Benjamin "Bugsy" . A gay hit man comes after them. Starring, but not written, directed or edited by Takeshi ``Beat'' Kitano, whom you'll be reading more about in a little while. (Phaedra Films) Great Expectations: Ethan Hawke is the sensitive-artist hero of this modern, Americanized rendition of Charles Dickens' rites-of-passage classic. Gwyneth Paltrow plays the man-hating beauty he adores, and Robert De Niro Noun 1. Robert De Niro - United States film actor who frequently plays tough characters (born 1943) De Niro is his criminal benefactor. Directed by Alfonso Cuaron (``A Little Princess''). (20th Century Fox) Tieta: Carnival starts early with another Brazilian film, this one a sexy story starring Sonia Braga and based on a Jorge Amado novel. (Fox Lorber) True Friends: The self-financed story of some guys from the Bronx, made by some guys from the Bronx, dealing with one of their pals' fatal illness. Zero Effect: Bill Pullman and Ben Stiller are eccentric detectives hired by a guy to find his lost keys. And then it gets complicated. (Sony) January unscheduled: Incognito in·cog·ni·to adv. & adj. With one's identity disguised or concealed. n. pl. in·cog·ni·tos 1. One whose identity is disguised or concealed. 2. : Art-forgery caper caper, common name for members of the Capparidaceae, a family of tropical plants found chiefly in the Old World and closely related to the family Cruciferae (mustard family). well-cast with Jason Patric, the hero of that action-movie forgery ``Speed 2.'' John Badham directs. (Warner Bros.) The Leading Man: An American movie star (Jon Bon Jovi This article or section has multiple issues: * It may need a complete rewrite to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. * It may require general cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. ) wreaks personal and theatrical havoc when he takes the lead in a London stage production. (BMG BMG Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (Germand: Federal Ministry for Health) BMG Be My Girl BMG Blue Man Group BMG Bertelsmann Music Group BMG Be My Guest BMG Browning Machine Gun BMG Bulk Metallic Glass Independents) Feb. 6 Blues Brothers 2000: Long-delayed (certainly not long-awaited) sequel to ``The Blues Brothers,'' only John Belushi won't be taking part this time. (You may have heard. He's dead.) Taking his place opposite Dan Aykroyd is John Goodman. (Universal) Nil by Mouth:Gary Oldman makes his directorial debut in a film about a bunch of working-class South London misfits dealing with the bummers Bummers was a nickname applied to foragers of Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's Union army during its March to the Sea and north through North Carolina and South Carolina during the American Civil War. in their lives. (Sony Pictures Classics) The Replacement Killers: Another Hong Kong action star ``bursts'' onto the scene. This time it's Chow Yun-Fat, playing a remorseful re·morse·ful adj. Marked by or filled with remorse. re·morse ful·ly adv. assassin who, with the help of Mira Sorvino, tries to mend his ways and prevent a murder. (Sony) Feb. 13: Ayn Rand: A Sense of Self: Documentary about the dreary novelist whom many college freshmen consider an important philosopher. (Strand Releasing) The Borrowers: A movie about the little people responsible for stealing our socks and other missing things. John Goodman stars in this special-effects comedy. (Polygram) Colors Straight Up: Documentary about an inner-city arts program that tries to help at-risk kids by exposing them to the joys of Shakespeare. Hurricane Streets: Two young lovers (Brendan Sexton III Brendan Sexton III (born February 21, 1980, in Staten Island, New York) is an American actor. Biography Career Brendan made his debut in Todd Solondz's Welcome to the Dollhouse and Isidra Vega) try to escape the crime and hopelessness of their Lower East Side neighborhood. This multiple Sundance Film Festival award winner was written and directed by Morgan J. Freeman (not the actor). (MGM/UA) The Knowledge of Healing: A documentary about Tibetan medicine and healing practices. (IN Pictures) Ride: High jinks ensue when inner-city kids ride a bus from Harlem to Miami. Malik Yoba baby-sits. (Miramax/Dimension) Sliding Doors: Parallel narrative tracks follow what happens to Gwyneth Paltrow if she makes it onto a London subway train and if she doesn't. (Miramax) Sphere: Something weird, scary - alien, perhaps? - is found at the bottom of the ocean. Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone and Samuel L. Jackson “Samuel Jackson” redirects here. For the senator from Indiana, see Samuel D. Jackson. Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American Academy Award-nominated and BAFTA-winning actor. must investigate in Barry Levinson's adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel. Any bets they'll come up with leftover reels from ``Deep Rising''? (Warner Bros.) The Wedding Singer: Adam Sandler is the title character, a guy so bitter about the idea of wedded bliss (he was left at the altar) that he'll do anything to ruin the Big Day for other couples. Drew Barrymore co-stars as the woman who puts him back on track. (New Line) Feb. 20: The Break: An escaped Irish terrorist (Stephen Rea) gets involved with Guatemalan refugees who are planning an assassination Assassination See also Murder. assassins Fanatical Moslem sect that smoked hashish and murdered Crusaders (11th—12th centuries). [Islamic Hist.: Brewer Note-Book, 52] Brutus conspirator and assassin of Julius Caesar. [Br. in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . It's a love story, too. (Castle Hill) Dangerous Beauty: Catherine McCormack (``Braveheart'') plays a 16th-century Venetian courtesan cour·te·san n. A woman prostitute, especially one whose clients are members of a royal court or men of high social standing. [French courtisane, from Old French, from Old Italian cortigiana who strikes a blow for Renaissance women's rights The effort to secure equal rights for women and to remove gender discrimination from laws, institutions, and behavioral patterns. The women's rights movement began in the nineteenth century with the demand by some women reformers for the right to vote, known as suffrage, and . (Warner Bros.) I Love You, Don't Touch Me!: Virgins in love. (MGM-Goldwyn) Love Walked In: Denis Denis, king of Portugal: see Diniz. Leary stars in a convoluted thriller about a blackmail plan that backfires on everyone. (Triumph) Mother and Son: Impressionistic im·pres·sion·is·tic adj. 1. Of, relating to, or practicing impressionism. 2. Of, relating to, or predicated on impression as opposed to reason or fact: impressionistic memories of early childhood. Russian film about a mother who tries to hide her fatal illness from her son. Directed by Alexander Sokurov, a protege of the late, great Andrei Tarkovsky. (IFC (Internet Foundation Classes) A class library from Netscape that provides an application framework and graphical user interface (GUI) routines for Java programmers. IFC was later made part of the Java Foundation Classes (JFC). See JFC, AFC and AWT. See also ICF. ) Mrs. Dalloway:This Virginia Woolf adaptation boasts a pair of Oscar winners, actress Vanessa Redgrave and director Marleen Gorris (``Antonia's Line''). While preparing a party in the 1920s, an aging woman thinks back to a country summer, 33 years ealier. (First Look Pictures) Palmetto: Another convoluted thriller with Woody Harrelson playing a guy who can score big money and a measure of revenge by taking part in a phony kidnapping. Complications ensue. (Don't they always?) Co-starring Elisabeth Shue and Gina Gershon. (Sony) Senseless: Marlon Wayans is a poor college student who sells himself for medical experiments. He winds up losing his senses in this comedy from ``Wayne's World'' director Penelope Spheeris. With David Spade. (Miramax/Dimension) Twilight: It's big names all around as Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman and James Garner star in this detective thriller for writer-director Robert Benton (``Places in the Heart,'' ``Nobody's Fool''). (Paramount) Feb. 27: An Alan Smithee Film - Burn Hollywood Burn: Joe Eszterhas writes a satire about a mild-mannered director who makes the biggest action movie in Hollywood history - and then runs away with the master negative. What's really funny (and it could be the only funny thing in this movie) is that the man who directed this film, Arthur Hiller, hated it so much that he had HIS name taken off it. So it really is an Alan Smithee film. Dark City: Alex Proyas, the guy who wrote and directed ``The Crow,'' returns with a complex sci-fi thriller about a man who discovers that his memories - and his reality - are artificial creations. Cue ``The Twilight Zone'' theme. (New Line) Homegrown: Three stoners enjoy life growing pot on a farm. Then the plantation owner is murdered. What to do? Take over the business, of course. But growing pot with love and care is one thing. Selling it to shady dealers is another. They soon find out the difference. Billy Bob Thornton heads the cast. (Sony) Krippendorf's Tribe: Richard Dreyfuss is Krippendorf, an anthropologist living with his family in New Guinea while studying an ``undiscovered'' tribe. Thing is, there really isn't a tribe. That's why they haven't been discovered. When he finds out from the grant people that he needs actual documentation of these natives, Krippendorf enlists his family for help. (Touchstone/Buena Vista) Les Miserables: You've seen the musical. Now, here's the movie ... only without the music. But who needs singing when you've got a cast headed by Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman and Claire Danes. (Sony) The Real Blonde: Indie darling Tom DiCillo's (``Living in Oblivion,'' ``Box of Moonlight'') first studio release is a comedy about superficial appearances and their impact on actors' and models' lives. With Matthew Modine, Catherine Keener, Daryl Hannah and Maxwell Caulfield. (Paramount) February unscheduled: Bulworth: Warren Beatty wrote and directed this political comedy in which he plays a senator stalked by a killer. Halle Berry is the inner-city woman who changes his attitude. (20th Century Fox) March 6: The Big Lebowski: New crime caper from the Coen brothers is full of the usual eccentric characters and black humor. The Lebowski in question is a lazy slob (Jeff Bridges) who gets mistaken by some thugs for another Lebowski who owes their boss a lot of money. From there, things get weird. John Goodman, Julianne Moore and, of course, Steve Buscemi, co-star. (Gramercy) Chairman of the Board: It's Carrot Top. Time to send out your resumes. (Trimark) Cremaster cre·mas·ter n. A muscle with origin from the internal oblique and inguinal ligament, enveloping the spermatic cord and the testis and supplied by the genitofemoral nerve, and whose action raises the testicle. 4 & 5: Arty, erotically charged fantasies from Matthew Barney. (Regen Projects) General Chaos: A collection of uncensored animated shorts. (Manga maNga is a popular Turkish nu metal/rapcore band. Their music is mainly a fusion of alternative metal and hip hop music, with a touch of Anatolian melodies; with heavy use of turntables, invoking comparisons with modern American nu metal bands. Films) In God's Hands: Three surfers search for the perfect wave and the meaning of life. We didn't know the two were mutually exclusive. (Triumph) Love and Death on Long Island: Modern satire of ``Death in Venice Death in Venice aging successful author loses his lifelong self-discipline in his love for a beautiful Polish boy. [Ger. Lit: Death in Venice] See : Homosexuality ,'' in which stuffy English writer John Hurt falls head-over-heels infatuated in·fat·u·at·ed adj. Possessed by an unreasoning passion or attraction. in·fat u·at with airheaded teen screen idol Jason Priestley. (Cinepix) Men With Guns: John Sayles' latest film festival hit goes south of the border to follow a wealthy doctor searching for the seven young medical students he trained. Along the way, he finds that a lot of men with guns are ruining life for the impoverished Latin Americans. (Sony Pictures Classics) Talk of Angels: Irish governess goes to Spain on the eve On the Eve (Накануне in Russian) is the third novel by famous Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, best known for his short stories and the novel Fathers and Sons. of the civil war. Polly Walker, Vincent Perez, Franco Nero and Frances McDormand. (Miramax) 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain: The three ninjas go to Mega Mountain, and it's high noon, and if you want to know more, you're just going to have to see the movie, OK? U.S. Marshals: The sequel to ``The Fugitive,'' actually, but without Harrison Ford. Tommy Lee Jones For the musician, see . Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an Academy Award-winning American actor and director. Biography Early life Jones was born in San Saba, Texas, the son of Clyde C. is back as Marshal Sam Gerard, this time tracking down what may or may not be a renegade government assassin (Wesley Snipes Snipes (Diminutive for Snipers) is a text-mode networked computer game that was created in 1983 by SuperSet software. Snipes is officially credited as being the original inspiration for Novell NetWare. ). Robert Downey Jr. is Gerard's questionable new partner; wouldn't it be ironic if he had a tendency to raid the wrong houses? (Warner Bros.) Welcome to Woop Woop: A New York con man (Johnathon Schaech) gets trapped in an Australian Outback town ruled with an iron fist by a Rodgers & Hammerstein-loving desert rat (Rod Taylor). Could there be any doubt that this is the latest film from ``Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' director Stephan Elliott? (MGM-Goldwyn) Wild Things: An irreverent tale of revenge, lust and murder played out in the Florida Everglades. Kevin Bacon, Matt Dillon, Neve Campbell and Bill Murray headline the eclectic ensemble. Directed by John McNaughton (``Mad Dog and Glory''). (Sony) March 13: B. Monkey: ``Il Postino'' (that's the Italian ``Postman,'' also known as The Good One) director Michael Radford returns with a romantic thriller about an underworld moll (Asia Argento) who falls in love with a nice teacher (Jared Harris). ``My Best Friend's Wedding'' savior Rupert Everett plays a decadent fop. (Miramax) Dead Man on Campus: MTV MTV in full Music Television U.S. cable television network, established in 1980 to present videos of musicians and singers performing new rock music. MTV won a wide following among rock-music fans worldwide and greatly affected the popular-music business. Films came up with this college comedy, which seems to be about earning better grades through murder. (Paramount) Hush: Gwyneth Paltrow marries a young, sensitive hunk and moves to a beautiful country estate. It's the perfect life. Then she meets her mother-in-law, a psycho played by Jessica Lange. Let's just say mom is just a little protective of her son. (Sony) The Man in the Iron Mask Man in the Iron Mask forced to perpetually wear an iron mask to conceal his indentity. [Br. Lit. and Fr. Hist.: Benét 628] See : Concealment Man in the Iron Mask : For every 14-year-old girl who just didn't get enough of Leonardo DiCaprio in ``Titanic,'' here's a double scoop. He plays both Louis XIV and his imprisoned im·pris·on tr.v. im·pris·oned, im·pris·on·ing, im·pris·ons To put in or as if in prison; confine. [Middle English emprisonen, from Old French emprisoner : en- look-alike in this latest adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' adventure classic, directed by ``Braveheart'' scripter Randall Wallace. Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gerard Depardieu and Gabriel Byrne play the Four Musketeers. (MGM/UA) Mean Streets: Martin Scorsese's breakthrough film, back in a new, 25th anniversary print. (Warner Bros. Classics) The Mighty: A big kid and a tiny one with a big brain team up for both imaginative and actual adventures. Sharon Stone, ``The X-Files' '' Gillian Anderson and Gena Rowlands somehow fit into the boys' fantasies. (Miramax) Woo: Jada Pinkett and Tommy Davidson go on a blind date that turns into one disastrous night in Manhattan. (New Line) March 20: Hana-Bi (Fireworks fireworks: see pyrotechnics. fireworks Explosives or combustibles used for display. Of ancient Chinese origin, fireworks evidently developed out of military rockets and explosive missiles and accompanied the spread of military explosives westward to ): Venice Film Festival best-picture winner, this hard-boiled Japanese romance examines a tough cop's passion for his ill wife. Another writing-directing-editing-starring effort from Takeshi ``Beat'' Kitano (``Sonatine''). (Milestone Films). The Newton Boys: You've never heard of Texas' most successful bank robbers because they never killed anybody. Now, the Lone Star state's quirkiest filmmaker, Richard Linklater (``Slacker,'' ``Dazed daze tr.v. dazed, daz·ing, daz·es 1. To stun, as with a heavy blow or shock; stupefy. 2. To dazzle, as with strong light. n. A stunned or bewildered condition. and Confused''), tells their tale. Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, Skeet Ulrich and Vincent D'Onofrio play the larcenous lar·ce·nous adj. 1. Of, relating to, or involving larceny: a larcenous scheme; with larcenous intent. 2. Guilty of or given to larceny. brothers. (20th Century Fox) Nightwatch: Some horror thing with Ewan McGregor that probably isn't very good, or else they would have released it years ago when they first threatened to. (Miramax/Dimension) Primary Colors: The not-so-anonymous political novel comes to the big screen with John Travolta playing the presidential candidate who acts - and sounds - a lot like Bill Clinton. Emma Thompson plays the would-be first lady (Hillary), while Billy Bob Thornton tackles the James Carville political-strategist role in this Mike Nichols film. (Universal) Sour Grapes: Two cousins have their lives changed when one hits a slot-machine jackpot on the other guy's quarter. ``Seinfeld'' co-creator Larry David writes and directs. (Sony) Wide Awake: A young kid has questions about life. Unfortunately, the only people around to answer them are Denis Leary, Dana Delany and Rosie O'Donnell. (Miramax) March 27: Eden: Joanna Going and Sean Patrick Flanery Sean Patrick Flanery (born October 11, 1965 in Lake Charles, Louisiana) is an American Actor known for such roles as Connor MacManus in The Boondock Saints, and its , as well as portraying Indiana Jones in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. set off to explore new avenues of male-female relating in the mid-1960s, much to her husband's (Dylan Walsh) disapproval. (Legacy Releasing) Grease: For aging '70s teens who haven't gotten enough John Travolta in his 50-odd films of the last three years, they're re-releasing the generation-defining musical after 20 years. (Paramount) James Ellroy: Demon Dog of American Crime Fiction: The author of ``L.A. Confidential's'' tragic and demented past is explored, along with his fascination for Southland crimes and corruption. (First Run Features) The Deedles: The Deedles seem to be more like Tweedles - Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. They're a couple of brothers who have to prove their maturity to their millionaire father or risk losing their inheritance. So they go to Yellowstone, become park rangers and uncover a nasty plot to turn off Old Faithful. Really. (Disney/Buena Vista) Mr. Nice Guy: Jackie Chan is a chef who cooks up a combination of martial-arts moves and death-defying stunts. A chef who wields weapons isn't exactly a new idea. After all, we've been eating at Benihana for years now. (New Line) My Giant: Billy Crystal plays a third-rate talent agent who discovers a 7-foot-7 giant living in a Romanian monastery. Wackiness and life lessons ensue. No Looking Back: Edward Burns' new film is about a woman (Lauren Holly) trying to figure out what to do with her life after an old flame An Old Flame is the sixth episode of the fifth and final series of the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. It first aired on 12 October 1975 on ITV. Background An Old Flame was recorded in the studio on 20 and 21 March 1975. (played by Burns, naturally) returns to her small town. (Gramercy) A Price Above Rubies: A young Orthodox Jewish woman starts acting less orthodox. Renee Zellweger has upset some religious factions for taking the role. (Miramax) The Proposition: William Hurt and Madeleine Stowe are a wealthy but sterile couple. Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an Emmy-nominated American actor. He is known for his television roles as the teenage doctor Doogie Howser, M.D. and the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother. is the surrogate father they hire, but then he falls in love with his client. Blood gets spilled. Kenneth Branagh, playing a priest, has some naughty thoughts. (Polygram) The Taste of Cherry: Cannes Film Festival Cannes Film Festival Film festival held annually in Cannes, France. First held in 1946 for the recognition of artistic achievement, the festival came to provide a rendezvous for those interested in the art and influence of the movies. award winner about a man contemplating suicide. Made by the internationally acclaimed Abbas Kiarostami, the leading director of the new Iranian film movement. (Zeitgeist) Two Girls and a Guy: The title duo (Heather Graham and Natasha Gregson Wagner) discover that the title boyfriend (Robert Downey Jr.) has been two-timing both of them. From writer-director James Toback and rated NC-17 for what he says is no good reason. (Fox Searchlight) March unscheduled: Dirty Work: ``Saturday Night Live's'' Norm MacDonald co-wrote this comedy, in which he stars with Chevy Chase as two lifelong losers who turn their anger into a revenge-for-hire operation. Directed, if you can believe it, by Bob Saget. (MGM) Post Coitum: French actress Brigitte Rouan directs and stars in this tale of a happily married woman who embarks on a destructive affair with a younger engineer. (New Yorker Films) April 3: Barney's Great Adventure: The Movie: The prospect of having to sit through this first big-screen outing of the all-singing, all-annoying purple dinosaur should scare parents of small children more than ``Godzilla.'' (Polygram) The Big One: Bozo documentarian doc·u·men·tar·i·an also doc·u·men·ta·rist n. One that makes documentaries or a documentary. Michael Moore (``Roger & Me'') takes his camera to an assortment of Fortune 500 companies and asks why they've fired so many people. (Miramax) The Butcher Boy: Patrick McCabe's macabre novel, which takes the point of view of an exuberant Irish boy who happens to be a psychopath psy·cho·path n. A person with an antisocial personality disorder, especially one manifested in perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior. , has been turned into a one-of-a-kind black comedy by director Neil Jordan (``The Crying Game,'' ``Interview With the Vampire''). Starring Eamonn Owens, with Stephen Rea and Fiona Shaw. (Warner Bros.) Chinese Box: Wayne Wang (``The Joy Luck Club'') directs this romance set against the backdrop of Hong Kong's handover n. 1. The act of relinquishing property or authority etc. to another; as, the handover of occupied territory to the original posssessors; the handover of power from the military back to the civilian authorities s>. from Britain to China. Starring Jeremy Irons, Gong Li and Maggie Cheung. (Trimark) Lost in Space: The space family Robinson makes the leap from the small screen in this splashy splash·y adj. splash·i·er, splash·i·est 1. Making or likely to make splashes. 2. Covered with splashes of color. 3. Showy; ostentatious. See Synonyms at showy. sci-fi effort with Gary Oldman, William Hurt, Matt LeBlanc and Heather Graham. (New Line) Mercury Rising: Bruce Willis is an outcast FBI agent who protects an orphaned 9-year-old autistic savant when he becomes the target of assassins after inadvertantly deciphering a top-secret military code. Alec Baldwin plays a National Security agent in this story about what happens when you let your kids spend too much time on the computer. (Universal) The Object of My Affection: A pregnant single (Jennifer Aniston) woman wants to raise her baby with her gay roommate (Paul Rudd), hetero hetero prefix, Latin, different guys being such rats and all. Script by playwright Wendy Wasserstein, direction by Nicholas Hytner. (20th Century Fox) The Spanish Prisoner: David Mamet writes and directs this story about a business scam that takes several unexpected turns. Campbell Scott, Steve Martin and Ben Gazzara star. Without Limits: The other movie about that dead runner, Steve Prefontaine. This one is written and directed by the sometimes-great Robert Towne, though; he did a nice track-meet movie in the '80s called ``Personal Best.'' Starring Billy Crudup. (Warner Bros.) April 8: The Player's Club: Ice Cube makes his directorial debut in this provocative look behind the scenes of a small-time small·time or small-time adj. Informal Insignificant or unimportant; minor: a smalltime actor. small gentleman's club. (New Line) April 10: Baby Geniuses: What does all that goo-goo talk coming from babies really mean? Kathleen Turner tries to crack the code so her firm, Babyco, can make even more money from infants. The babies, though, have other ideas and set out to soil the diabolical scheme. (Sony) City of Angels: American remake of Wim Wenders' ``Wings of Desire'' by the guy who directed ``Casper.'' Unimaginable as that may sound, it does star Nicolas Cage as a soulful angel who gives up his immortality for the love of doctor Meg Ryan. (Warner Bros.) Go Now: Robert Carlyle (``The Full Monty'') plays a Scotsman who has a good job, loving girlfriend and a fine bunch of mates and then kind of goes bonkers and starts wondering if anything in life has meaning. Short answer: Yes. (Gramercy) The Man Who Would Be King: Re-release of John Huston's 1975 masterpiece. Sean Connery and Michael Caine have never been better as Rudyard Kipling's colonial mercenaries who set out to conquer their own empire in the mountains north of India. (Warner Bros. Classics) Music From Another Room: When a neighbor goes into sudden labor, a 5-year-old boy helps deliver her daughter. Twenty-five years later, he returns to marry the girl he feels he's destined des·tine tr.v. des·tined, des·tin·ing, des·tines 1. To determine beforehand; preordain: a foolish scheme destined to fail; a film destined to become a classic. 2. for. Her fiance, however, doesn't much cotton to this notion. Romantic comedy stars Brenda Blethyn, Jude Law, Gretchen Mol and Jon Tenney. (MGM-Orion) Neil Simon's The Odd Couple II: It's like they never left - probably because Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau have made about a zillion movies together since their 1968 portrayals of prissy Felix and slobby Oscar. This time, the mismatched duo are stuck together in a rental car en route to a wedding in California. (Paramount) Shooting Fish: Two swindling orphans (Stuart Townsend and Dan Futterman) try to get themselves a home - of the stately English variety. Kate Beckinsale (``Cold Comfort Farm'') is the smart med student who's onto their scam. (Fox Searchlight) Sonatine: Japanese gangster film written, directed, starred in and edited by Takeshi Kitano. (Miramax/Rolling Thunder) Still Breathing: Love story between a street performer (Brendan Fraser) and a con woman (Joanna Going). (October Films) April 15: Deja Vu: The latest in touchy-feely whining from the master of such things, Henry Jaglom (``Eating,'' ``Babyfever''). (Rainbow Releasing) April 17: Friend of the Deceased: A Russian intellectual, depressed about his lot in his country's new capitalist jungle, decides to commit suicide by hiring a hit man to kill him. Unfortunately, soon afterward he meets a prostitute who makes life worth living. Meanwhile, the killer lies in wait. (Sony Pictures Classics) Home Fries: Drew Barrymore is a pregnant fast-food waitress who must figure out what to do when the married father of her child turns up dead. From a script by one of ``The X-Files' '' head writers, Vince Gilligan. (Warner Bros.) Lawn Dogs: Parents in a Louisville suburb become understandably alarmed when their 10-year-old daughter becomes friends with the weirdo who mows the neighborhood lawns (Sam Rockwell, the weirdo from ``Box of Moonlight''). (Strand Releasing) Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead Eaters of the Dead: The Manuscript of Ibn Fadlan Relating His Experiences with the Northmen in A.D. 922 is a 1976 novel by Michael Crichton. The story is about a 10th-century Muslim who travels with a group of vikings to their settlement. : Antonio Banderas is a guy who's abducted abducted Distal angulation of an extremity away from the midline of the body in a transverse plane and away from a sagittal plane passing through the proximal aspect of the foot or part, or away from some other specified reference point by Viking warriors and forced to join their battle against cannibal creatures. Allow at least an hour after dinner before seeing this movie. (Touchstone/Buena Vista) April 24: Hope Floats: Not a documentary about Sandra Bullock's career, but a comedy-drama in which the ``Speed'' queen plays an abandoned young mother who has to move back in with her own eccentric mom (Gena Rowlands). Forest Whitaker, who made ``Waiting to Exhale'' work, directs. (20th Century Fox) Land Girls: Land girls are English women who volunteered to work on farms while the men were off battling the Nazis. Here, three beautiful women go off to a farm and bond with a volatile young man who wants to become a fighter pilot. (Gramercy) The Truce: The great Italian director Francesco Rosi brings the great Italian writer Primo Levi's Holocaust liberation memoir to the screen. John Turturro stars. (Miramax) April unscheduled: Clockwatchers: Described as ``Mary Tyler Moore This article is about the actress. For her 1970s television series, also known as "Mary Tyler Moore", see The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Mary Tyler Moore meets Franz Kafka,'' this independent comedy about office temps stars Parker Posey, Lisa Kudrow and Toni Collette. (BMG Independents) Junk Mail: Disgruntled dis·grun·tle tr.v. dis·grun·tled, dis·grun·tling, dis·grun·tles To make discontented. [dis- + gruntle, to grumble (from Middle English gruntelen; see Norwegian postal worker reads other people's mail. Inevitably, this gets him involved with a dangerous woman. (Cinepix) The Last Days of Disco: Will we never be free of the '70s? This one is by the often urbane Whit Stillman (``Metropolitan''). (Warner Bros.) Major League III: To be honest, this one's about a minor league team that takes on the Minnesota Twins. Most of the pros from the previous baseball comedies have taken off for other series; Scott Bakula stars. (Warner Bros.) Nirvana: Live-action video-game/dystopian future-type stuff, starring Euro-hero Christopher Lambert. (Miramax/Dimension) TwentyFourSeven: Bob Hoskins tries to save a town's misguided youths by setting up a boxing club. Didn't work too well for Daniel Day-Lewis, but what the hey? (October Films) Wild Man Blues: Academy Award-winning documentarian Barbara Kopple (``Harlan County, U.S.A.'') follows Woody Allen and his jazz band around Europe. (Fine Line) Wrongfully Accused: Spoof of ``The Fugitive,'' starring Leslie Nielsen. Could they have left ``... of Being Funny'' out of the title? (Warner Bros.) May 1: Almost Heroes: The late Chris Farley and ``Friends' '' Matthew Perry star in this Lewis and Clark-inspired exploration comedy. Directed by ``Waiting for Guffman's'' Christopher Guest. (Warner Bros.) Black Dog: Patrick Swayze, Randy Travis and Meat Loaf star in an action thriller that, rather remarkably, does not include any country ditties or overwrought o·ver·wrought adj. 1. Excessively nervous or excited; agitated. 2. Extremely elaborate or ornate; overdone: overwrought prose style. songs about paradise by the dashboard light. (Universal) He Got Game: Spike Lee's new film stars Denzel Washington as a prisoner who unexpectedly finds himself temporarily paroled. His term will be commuted if he can persuade his estranged es·trange tr.v. es·tranged, es·trang·ing, es·trang·es 1. To make hostile, unsympathetic, or indifferent; alienate. 2. To remove from an accustomed place or set of associations. son - who happens to be the top basketball player in the country - to sign with Big State, the governor's alma mater. Go Big State! (Touchstone/Buena Vista) Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence: Three competitive friends (Rufus Sewell, Joseph Fiennes and Tom Hollander) vie for the same woman (``Con Air's'' Monica Potter). (Miramax) May 8: Artemisia Artemisia, ruler of Caria Artemisia (är'təmĭ`shēə), fl. 4th cent. B.C., ruler of the ancient region of Caria. She was the sister, wife, and successor of Mausolus and erected the mausoleum at Halicarnassus in his memory. : Story of art history's first major female painter. Set in 17th-century Italy. (Miramax) Deep Impact: A comet on a collision course with Earth understandably affects lives. Robert Duvall, Tea Leoni, Elijah Wood, Vanessa Redgrave and Morgan Freeman are among those affected. (Paramount/DreamWorks) May 15: The Climb: A 12-year-old boy (Gregory Smith) and his hard-drinking neighbor (John Hurt) discover the true meaning of bravery and death. Like there's a false meaning of death? (Banner Pictures) The Horse Whisperer: Robert Redford directs and stars in an adaptation of the best-selling novel about a Montana cowboy who has a magical way with horses - and people. Kristin Scott Thomas Kristin Scott Thomas OBE (born 24 May 1960) is an Academy Award-nominated English actress. Biography Kristin Scott Thomas was born in Redruth, Cornwall. Her father was a pilot for the Royal Navy and died in a flying accident in 1964, and she is the older sister of the and newcomer Scarlett Johansson play the emotionally damaged mother and daughter who need his help. (Touchstone/Buena Vista) The Quest for Camelot
Quest for Camelot is an animated feature from Warner Bros. Animation, released in 1998. : Warner Bros.' big entry in the animated feature sweepstakes. King Arthur stuff, with the voices of Pierce Brosnan and Gabriel Byrne. (Warner Bros.) May 20: Godzilla:Little movie about a big angry lizard from those guys who gave us ``Independence Day.'' You'll see it, whether you want to or not. (Sony) May unscheduled: The Big Hit: Another arranged murder goes awry, proving yet again that it's hard to find a good hit man these days. Mark Wahlberg learns the hard way. (Sony) Fear and Loathing fear and loathing - (Hunter S. Thompson) A state inspired by the prospect of dealing with certain real-world systems and standards that are totally brain-damaged but ubiquitous - Intel 8086s, COBOL, EBCDIC, or any IBM machine except the Rios (also known as the RS/6000). in Las Vegas: Probably the least likely book ever to be made into a movie, this doped-up, hallucinogenic hal·lu·ci·no·gen n. A substance that induces hallucination. [hallucin(ation) + -gen.] hal·lu Hunter S. Thompson novel gets the big-screen treatment from hallucinogenic director Terry Gilliam. Hmmm, maybe it isn't such a bad idea after all. Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro Toro may refer to:
Hard Core Logo: More ``Spinal Tap''-ing as a Canadian punk band reunites for mockumentary shenanigans shenanigans Noun, pl Informal 1. mischief or nonsense 2. trickery or deception [origin unknown] . (Miramax/Rolling Thunder) Keep the Aspidistra Flying Keep the Aspidistra Flying, first published 1936, is a grimly comic novel by George Orwell. It is set in 1930s London. The main theme is the protagonist's romantic ambition to give up money and status, and the squalid life that results. : Adaptation of George Orwell's 1930s social satire, with Richard E. Grant Richard E. Grant (born May 5, 1957) is a British actor known for portraying the world-weary, drug-crazed alcoholic Withnail in Withnail and I. Biography Early life Grant was born Richard Grant Esterhuysen as the pretentious ad copywriter turned poet and Helena Bonham Carter as his uncertain girlfriend. (First Look Pictures) Whatever: High School. Early '80s. Sex. Drugs. The Ramones. A young girl tries to make sense of it all. Whatever. (Sony Pictures Classics) Spring unscheduled: Apt Pupil: Bryan Singer directs his first film since ``The Usual Suspects,'' helming this thriller about a 16-year-old who discovers a Nazi war crimin CAPTION(S): 20 Photos Photo: (1) The X-Files Movie: Conspiracy chasers Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny tie up loose ends. (June 19) (2) Spice World: If what you want, what you really, really want is a movie, Ginger, Sporty, Scary, Posh and Baby Spice deliver. (Jan. 23) THEY'RE BACK (3) Lost in Space: Danger, danger. William Hurt, Heather Graham, Matt LeBlanc and Gary Oldman are the new vagabonds in this remake of the TV series. (April 3) (4) Neil Simon's The Odd Couple II: Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau are as cantankerous can·tan·ker·ous adj. 1. Ill-tempered and quarrelsome; disagreeable: disliked her cantankerous landlord. 2. as ever. (April 10) (5) U.S. Marshals: Tommy Lee Jones reprises REPRISES. The deductions and payments out of lands, annuities, and the like, are called reprises, because they are taken back; when we speak of the clear yearly value of an estate, we say it is worth so much a year ultra reprises, besides all reprises. 2. his role in ``The Fugitive'' for this thriller. (March 6) SCARE TACTICS (6) Armageddon: Bruce Willis tackles an asteroid headed for Earth. (July 1) (7) Mighty Joe Young: The gorilla of our dreams. (July 15) (8) Phantoms: Peter O'Toole, Joanna Going and Ben Affleck face an ancient terror. (Jan. 23) (9) Deep Rising: Hijackers encounter strange life form on a luxury liner. (Jan. 30) AIN'T IT COOL (10--Color) Meet Joe Black: Claire Forlani meets - and falls in love with - Brad Pitt, who plays Death. (November) (11--Color) The Man in the Iron Mask: ``Titanic'' heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio stars in this remake of the classic tale. (March 13) (12--Color) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: Johnny Depp goes gonzo gon·zo adj. Slang 1. Using an exaggerated, highly subjective style, especially in journalism: "a hyperkinetic, gonzo version of Graham Greene" New Yorker. 2. in the film adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's substance-fueled classic. (May 20) (13--Color) 54: The '70s re-created in the story of the notorious nightclub Studio 54. (July) (14--Color) The Avengers: Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman star in this remake of the hip '60s British TV series. (July) (15--Color) Madeline: Frances McDormand gets in the habit in this film adaptation of the famed children's book. (July 31) (16--Color) The Quest for Camelot: Warner Bros. draws on the legend of King Arthur for this big-budget animation feature. (May 15) (17--Color) Wide Awake: Rosie O'Donnell answers a young boy's burning questions about life. (March 20) (18--Color) Dr. Dolittle: In another remake, Eddie Murphy talks to the animals. (June 26) (19--Color) Mighty: A big kid and a tiny one with a big brain team up for both imaginary and actual adventures. (March 13) (20--Color) Cinderella: If the shoe fits, Drew Barrymore is wearing it in this remake of the fairy-tale classic. (Summer) |
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