IDEAS WORTH SHARING; HOLLYWOOD SHORT ON ORIGINALITY.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Writer

It's a whole new century.

Of course, some say that it won't really be the 21st century until 2001.

Hollywood appears to be operating on the latter assumption.

A look at the movie releases planned for the year 2000 reveals a preponderance of titles that seem very much like the movies we've been watching for the last 100-odd years. Of course, short descriptions don't indicate, at this point, if generic-sounding films will turn out to be as innovative as, say, last year's ``The Matrix'' or ``The Blair Witch Project'' or ``The Sixth Sense.'' Along the same lines, who knew in January of 1999 that the year's most notable artistic triumphs would be the likes of ``American Beauty,'' ``Three Kings,'' ``Boys Don't Cry'' and ``Being John Malkovich,'' all works from little-known or even first-time directors?

That said, the new year's movie roster seems rather unadventurous. Distributors are more or less sticking to the tried and true; even the biggest genre trend, the outer space adventure, is only forward-looking in the most old-school of ways, having been a proven crowd-pleaser for the last quarter-century and the setting for last year's biggest blockbuster.

The new movie millennium, will show us two fourth-rock landings (``Mission to Mars'' and ``Red Planet''), Earth's existence jeopardized in both a cartoon (``Titan A.E.'') and Scientological context (L. Ron Hubbard's ``Battlefield Earth''), and Clint Eastwood leading a bunch of grizzled ``Space Cowboys.'' Among other alien encounters will be ``Pitch Black'' and Mike Nichols' interspecies mating comedy ``What Planet Are You From?''

You'll also - big surprise - be seeing lots of dead people. Working the successful ``Sixth Sense'' concept will be Robert Zemeckis' Harrison Ford-Michelle Pfeiffer chiller ``What Lies Beneath,'' M. Night Shayamalan's return with ``Sense'' star Bruce Willis in ``Unbreakable,'' and such eerily resonant titles as ``Soul Survivors,'' ``Waking the Dead,'' ``Final Destination,'' ``Bless the Child,'' ``The Ninth Gate'' and ``The Cell.''

Beyond that, there's a bumper crop of movies with similar-sounding themes that not only make you wonder if there are any original minds left in Hollywood, but if so, why more than one of them came up with these particular concepts.

Get ready for three pep squads gone bad (``Sugar & Spice,'' ``Cheer Fever,'' ``But I'm a Cheerleader''); twin mail-order brides (''Dancing in the Dark,'' ``Birthday Girl''); a trio of urban ethnic clashes (``Black & White,'' ``Romeo Must Die,'' ``Save the Last Dance''); a quintet of live- action cartoons (``X-Men,'' ``102 Dalmatians,'' ``The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas,'' ``How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' with Jim Carrey and ``The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle'' with Robert De Niro as Fearless Leader!); and a trio of Sandra Bullock movies, at least two of which involve support groups (``Gun Shy,'' ``28 Days,'' ``Miss Congeniality'').

Then there's ``Bounce,'' in which Ben Affleck falls for the widow (Gwyneth Paltrow) of a man whose death he was partially responsible for. This should not be confused with ``Proof of Life,'' which stars Russell Crowe as a kidnap return specialist who falls in love with the wife (Meg Ryan) of a man he's trying to free.

Many of the most anticipated films of 2000 are, reassuringly, sequels or remakes. Tom Cruise will be back in ``Mission: Impossible 2.'' Samuel L. Jackson is the new ``Shaft.'' Nicolas Cage speeds through a big-budget, recidivist ``Gone in 60 Seconds.'' Harold Ramis (``Analyze This'') remakes the witty '60s comedy fantasy ``Bedazzled.'' Eddie Murphy does quintuple heavy-makeup duty in ``Nutty 2: The Klumps.'' ``Charlie's Angels'' come bouncing back in a big-screen version starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu. Sylvester Stallone puts his unique spin on the British cult crime classic ``Get Carter.''

And on the cartoon front, the Rugrats go to Paris, Pooh's pal Tigger gets his own movie, and the Pokemon come back. Even the most anticipated animated feature, Disney's digital/live background ``Dinosaur,'' has more than a whiff of ``Jurassic'' nostalgia about it.

Those who prefer genuine nostalgia to the recycled kind should have a good year, with everything from Hitchcock's ``Rear Window,'' Olivier's ``Hamlet,'' Claude Chabrol's ``Les Bonnes Femmes'' and Billy Wilder's ``Sunset Blvd.'' to Andy Warhol's ``Trash'' and a John Holmes porno movie scheduled for re-release.

By now you're wondering, will there be anything new for the Big Y2? Undoubtedly yes, but we can't predict what yet. Until we see them, at least there are a number of big star vehicles that at least might be worth looking forward to. Like Kevin Spacey as a conventioneering salesman in ``The Big Kahuna.'' Or Tom Hanks marooned on a desert island (``Cast Away''). How about Matt Damon and Will Smith in the Robert Redford golf fantasy ``The Legend of Bagger Vance,'' Mel Gibson's ``The Patriot'' winning the Revolutionary War, Julia Roberts' ``Erin Brockovich'' boldly battling polluters, or sailors George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg facing down ``The Perfect Storm.''

Then again, all the movies probably really need to do this year is put Leonardo DiCaprio back in the water. His tropics-set ``The Beach'' party kicks off next month.

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4 photos

Photo: (1 -- 4 -- color cover) We're drowning in movies!

A 2000 film preview; Tom Hanks in ``Cast Away''; Jim Carrey in ``Me, Myself and Irene''; Leonardo DiCaprio in ``The Beach''; Will Smith, left, and Matt Damon in ``The Legend of Bagger Vance.''