COULD BE A GREAT YEAR FOR MOVIES.Byline: Listings by Bob Strauss and Glenn Whipp The final stretch of the 2004 movie year is upon us, and if the general quality we've been seeing over the last few months persists, this could be the best year for films since the turn of the century. Of course, things always look good before we get our actual glimpses at the studios' prestigious holiday products. But with a passel of auteur-directed, interesting-person biopics ``Alexander,'' ``The Aviator,'' ``The Sea Inside''), adaptations of well-regarded stage and literary works (``The Phantom of the Opera,'' ``Lemony Snicket Snicket can refer to:
Plus, franchise entertainments such as ``Ocean's Twelve'' and ``Meet the Fockers'' should be amusing. As ever, we can't guarantee any of that, nor can we assure that some of the following list's release dates won't change. But we can always hope - and this year's holiday movie lineup looks more hopeful than most. COMING TO A MULTIPLEX NEAR YOU TODAY MUHAMMAD: THE LAST PROPHET: The founding of Islam is related in easy-to-follow cartoon form. (Badr International) NOV judgment notwithstanding the verdict (N.O.V.) n. reversal of a jury's verdict by the trial judge when the judge believes there was no factual basis for the verdict or it was contrary to law. The judge will then enter a different verdict as "a matter of law. . 19 BEAR CUB: Spanish gay guy winds up having to raise his 9-year-old nephew. (TLA (Three Letter Acronym) The epitome of acronyms! While two-, four- and five-letter acronyms exist, there are more three-letter acronyms. Obviously, three words to describe a concept or product is the most popular. TLA - Three-Letter Acronym Releasing) BROKEN BRIDGES: Azerbaijani-American filmmaker travels to the Soviet Union to cover its breakup. (International Home Cinema) MOOLAADE: African director Ousmane Sembene's acclaimed film about a group of village women who band together to protect young girls from ritual circumcisions. (New Yorker) NATIONAL TREASURE: Nicolas Cage makes like Indiana Jones, looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. hidden riches our Founding Fathers left behind. Jon Turtletaub directs this Jerry Bruckheimer production. (Disney) OVERNIGHT: Documentary about a writer whose life goes to hell in a handbasket Going to Hell in a handbasket is an American expression of unclear origin describing something or a situation taking a turn for the worse or towards disaster without effort or in great haste. after he sells a screenplay to Harvey Weinstein. (ThinkFilm) A SILENT LOVE: A Montreal professor finds a Mexican bride via the Internet. (Atopia Distribution) THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE: He lives in a pineapple under the sea; absorbent absorbent /ab·sor·bent/ (-sor´bent) 1. able to take in, or suck up and incorporate. 2. a tissue structure involved in absorption. 3. a substance that absorbs or promotes absorption. and yellow and porous is he. Anything else you need to know? (Paramount) VODKA LEMON: Life in Armenia has gotten pretty wacky, if not necessarily better, since the Soviets pulled out. (New Yorker) NOV. 24 ALEXANDER: As in the Great. Oliver Stone returns from oblivion with this epic about the Macedonian conqueror who ruled the world at 30. Colin Farrell stars. (Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) .) CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS: Christmas fanatics decide to take the year off when their only child can't make it home for the holidays. Neighbors - who are accustomed to all the fun and frenzy - do not take the news well. Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. star; Joe Roth directs
based on a John Grisham novel. (Columbia)
PAPER CLIPS: Middle-school kids collect 6 million paper clips so they can understand the Holocaust. (Miramax) NOV. 26 EASY: Self-described ``jerk magnet'' must choose between two seemingly decent men. (Over Easy) AE FOND KISS: Muslim boy loves Catholic girl in British director Ken Loach's (``Sweet Sixteen'') latest Scottish drama. (Castle Hill) GUERILLA: THE TAKING OF PATTY HEARST: Remembering the heyday of the Symbionese Liberation Army Symbionese Liberation Army small terrorist group that kid-napped Patty Hearst (1974–1975). [Am. Hist.: Facts (1974), 105] See : Terrorism . (Magnolia) STRAIGHT-JACKET: Gay 1950s movie star marries his secretary, who doesn't know he's in the closet. Get ready for a little pillow talk, honey. (Regent) A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT: Wheelchair-dependent woman (Audrey Tautou) looks for World War I soldier fiance who was last seen in no-man's land No-Man's land Hand surgery A fanciful term for the fibrous sheath of the flexor tendons of the hand, specifically in the zone from the distal palmar crease to the proximal interphalangeal joint. See Rule of threes. . Jean Pierre-Jeunet (``Amelie'') directs. (Warner Independent) DEC. 1 WARREN MILLER'S IMPACT: Another Warren Miller ski documentary. (Warren Miller Entertainment) DEC. 3 BROTHER TO BROTHER: Black gay art student strikes up a friendship with a homeless man who was a literary legend of the 1920s Harlem Renaissance. (Wolfe) CLOSER: Patrick Marber's acclaimed play about sex and betrayal is brought to the screen by someone who knows how to make movies about that, ``The Graduate'' and ``Carnal carnal adjective Referring to the flesh, to baser instincts, often referring to sexual “knowledge” Knowledge'' director Mike Nichols. Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen star. (Columbia) HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS: Zhang Yimou's second martial-arts art flick (following ``Hero'') works a romantic triangle into the eye-popping stunts and effects mix. Ziyi Zhang stars. (Sony Classics) MONSIEUR N: The last years of Napoleon's life in exile. (Empire) NOTRE MUSIQUE: Latest comprehension challenge from French New Wave veteran Jean-Luc Godard, about European history, Middle East madness and, of course, cinema. We think, anyway. (Wellspring well·spring n. 1. The source of a stream or spring. 2. A source: a wellspring of ideas. wellspring Noun ) THIS GIRL'S LIFE: International porn star muses about love and loss. With James Woods as ``Pops.'' (TGL TGL Taeglich (German: daily) TGL Touch and Go Landing (aircraft flight training) TGL Temporary Guidance Leaflets TGL Technische Güte und Lieferbedingungen (German) ) DEC. 8 BLADE: TRINITY: More vampire slaying with 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. . (New Line) DEC. 10 THE ARYAN COUPLE: Jewish industrialist turns his business over to Nazis. Martin Landau stars. (RS Entertainment) BAD EDUCATION: Gael Garcia Bernal plays multiple roles in this film noir from Pedro Almodovar. Expect the audacious - and controversy, given a plot line involving pedophile pedophile Forensic psychiatry A person with pedophilia; there are an estimated 500,000 pedophiles in the world. See Child prostitution, Megan's law, Pedophilia. priests. (Sony Pictures Classics) BANDIDO: Carlos Gallardo, star of the original ``El Mariachi,'' returns in another border-hopping action-adventure. (Bandido Inc.) CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE Noun 1. conspiracy of silence - a conspiracy not to talk about some situation or event; "there was a conspiracy of silence about police brutality" conspiracy, confederacy - a secret agreement between two or more people to perform an unlawful act : Not to be outdone out·do tr.v. out·did , out·done , out·do·ing, out·does To do more or better than in performance or action. See Synonyms at excel. by Spaniard Pedro Almodovar, the Irish offer their own take on corruption and coverup in the Catholic Church. (Watch Entertainment) FREEZE FRAME freeze frame a facility on an ultrasound machine which permits an image to be held on a screen. : Murder suspect films self incessantly for alibi purposes. (First Look) THE GREEN BUTCHERS: ``Sweeney Todd''-ish cannibalism cannibalism (kăn`ĭbəlĭzəm) [Span. caníbal, referring to the Carib], eating of human flesh by other humans. comedy. Danish style! (NewMarket) THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU: Bill Murray stars as a Jacques Cousteau-like oceanographer with, um, multiple issues. Murray's ``Rushmore'' director Wes Anderson directed the film, which includes stalwarts Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston, Cate Blanchett and a number of made-up sea creatures. (Buena Vista) OCEAN'S TWELVE: The same gang of crooks - Clooney, Damon, Pitt, et al. - steal stuff in Europe. Could No. 12 be new addition Catherine Zeta-Jones? (Warner Bros.) DEC. 17 THE AVIATOR: Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Howard Hughes in this Martin Scorsese-directed biopic bi·o·pic n. A film or television biography, often with fictionalized episodes. biopic Noun Informal a film based on the life of a famous person [bio(graphical) + pic(ture)] about the eccentric billionaire's airline-building and Hollywood years. (Miramax) BEYOND THE SEA: Kevin Spacey spac·ey adj. Slang Variant of spacy. Adj. 1. spacey - stupefied by (or as if by) some narcotic drug spaced-out, spacy unconventional - not conventional or conformist; "unconventional life styles" plays Bobby Darin in this long-gestating, ambitious biopic of the complicated singer. Kate Bosworth co-stars as Darin's wife, '50s actress Sandra Dee. Spacey also directs. (Lions Gate) DON'T MOVE: Penelope Cruz reportedly looks funny - she's fishing for that ``Monster''/``Monster's Ball'' Oscar slot, folks - in this Italian sex drama. (Northern Arts) IMAGINARY HEROES: Dysfunctional family dysfunctional family Psychology A family with multiple 'internal'–eg sibling rivalries, parent-child– conflicts, domestic violence, mental illness, single parenthood, or 'external'–eg alcohol or drug abuse, extramarital affairs, gambling, dramedy by one of the guys who writes ``X-Men'' movies. Sigourney Weaver, Jeff Daniels and Emile Hirsch star. (Sony Classics) LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS: The popular, macabre children's book series comes to the big screen, with Jim Carrey as the evil Count Olaf and Meryl Streep as Aunt Josephine. (Paramount) MILLION DOLLAR BABY: Clint Eastwood directs and stars as the trainer of Hilary Swank's female boxer. (Warner Bros.) THE SEA INSIDE: Biopic about Spanish right-to-die activist Ramon Sanpedro. Javier Bardem plays the paralyzed par·a·lyze tr.v. par·a·lyzed, par·a·lyz·ing, par·a·lyz·es 1. To affect with paralysis; cause to be paralytic. 2. To make unable to move or act: paralyzed by fear. crusader for director Alejandro Amenabar (``The Others''). (Fine Line) SPANGLISH: The latest attempt to present Adam Sandler as something more than an idiot casts him as a successful chef torn between his neurotic wife (Tea Leoni) and their new housekeeper (Paz Vega). Writer-director James L. Brooks (``As Good as It Gets'') should be able to transcend stupidity. (Columbia) A TALE OF TWO SISTERS: Korean haunted house story. (Tartan Films) DEC. 22 ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER'S PHANTOM OF THE OPERA: The musical of the night finally makes it to celluloid, starring people you've never heard of. Hopefully, director Joel Schumacher won't screw up another masked pop-culture icon like he did the last couple of Batman movies. (Warner Bros.) THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: The Jimmy Stewart classic gets updated in this tale of a group of survivors who try to build a new plane after their aircraft crashes in the desert. (20th Century Fox) HOTEL RWANDA: Don Cheadle plays the real-life African hotel manager who harbored hundreds of minority countrymen when ethnic genocide broke out. (United Artists) MEET THE FOCKERS: Time for the other half's in-laws in this sequel to ``Meet the Parents.'' Ben Stiller's folks are played by Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand. Robert De Niro Noun 1. Robert De Niro - United States film actor who frequently plays tough characters (born 1943) De Niro returns. (Universal) DEC. 24 THE WOODSMAN: Kevin Bacon plays a paroled child molester trying to start his life anew. From the folks who distributed ``The Passion of the Christ.'' (Newmarket) DEC. 25 BRIDE AND PREJUDICE: ``Bend It Like Beckham'' director Gurinder Chadha updates Jane Austen to contemporary Bollywood. (Miramax) THE DARK: Haunted house story, set in Spain. Starring Anna Paquin. (Dimension) FAT ALBERT: The Cosby cartoon kids come alive, led by ``Saturday Night Live's'' Kenan Thompson in the large title role. (20th Century Fox) DEC. 29 THE 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. OF RICHARD NIXON: No, it didn't happen. But apparently some loser tried to. Sean Penn plays him. The loser, not Nixon. Wait ... Boy, this is confusing. (ThinkFilm) IN GOOD COMPANY: Middle-age middle manager Dennis Quaid's insufferable new boss Topher Grace begins dating the older guy's daughter, played by end-of-the-year It Girl Scarlett Johansson. (Universal) A LOVE SONG FOR BOBBY LONG: John Travolta plays an alcoholic New Orleans professor whose life is upended by the arrival of a young woman (Scarlett Johansson) with a claim to his ramshackle home. (Lions Gate) THE MERCHANT OF VENICE: That Shakespeare thing. Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons star. (Sony Classics) DEC. 31 SKY BLUE: Korean eco-sci-fi anime. (Max Media) CAPTION(S): 5 photos, box Photo: (1) ``Meet the Fockers'' Dec. 22 Blythe Danner, left, Barbra Streisand. (2) ``Ocean's 12'' Dec. 10 MATT DAMON, left, BRAD PITT, GEORGE CLOONEY (3 -- 5 -- cover -- color) HOLIDAY FILM PREVIEW `Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events' `Alexander' `Phantom of the Opera' Box: COMING TO A MULTIPLEX NEAR YOU (see text) |
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