Movie Scene
Hollywood's 'gifts' to moviegoers
By Jack Garner
Gannett News Service
It's the holiday season — when Hollywood gives us what they hope will be gifts. That is, the best films they have to offer this year.
Gannett News Service
The five weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's are when movies vie for Oscar nominations and position themselves for top 10 lists and other honors.
Tom Cruise as David Aames, Penelope Cruz as Sofia Serrano and Jason Lee as Brian Shelby star in "Vanilla Sky," a romantic thriller about love, lust, betrayal, obsession and murder.
It's also a lucrative movie-going season, as younger viewers vacation from school, and families are often in the mood to take in a flick.
Hoping for their business this December are such films as "Ali," a biography of the great boxing champion, starring Will Smith; "The Majestic," a feel-good saga with Jim Carrey, about an amnesia victim in small-town America; "Ocean's 11," a robbery caper with the year's most exciting cast; and "Vanilla Sky," the romantic thriller with the sound-alike stars, Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz.
Meanwhile, the first of the "Lord of the Rings" fantasy trilogy hopes to fill an even bigger box office pot than "Harry Potter."
"Potter," of course, is still in theaters, as well as "Monsters, Inc.," adding to the wealth of cinematic riches for family audiences. And the art house crowd will probably make the current "Amelie" the darling of the holiday season, though "The Shipping News" and "A Beautiful Mind" will also appeal to bright, older audiences.
At least two eagerly awaited films have been pushed back from the holiday season. The John Woo directed Nicholas Cage war saga, "Windtalkers," has been shelved until spring, as was Martin Scorsese's 19th-century gang warfare epic, "Gangs of New York" with Daniel Day-Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Gannett News Service
The former was reportedly delayed because of the uncertainty of selling a war movie in today's tension-filled marketplace. (However, two other war films — "Behind Enemy Lines" and "Black Hawk Down" — were moved up to the season.)
Elijah Wood, in "Lord of the Rings" is ready to compete with "Harry Potter."
Here's a look at what to expect on the silver screen this holiday season:
Opening Nov. 30
• "Behind Enemy Lines," a war film about a U.S. pilot (Owen Wilson) who gets shot down over an embattled Eastern European country. His commanding officer (Gene Hackman) violates orders to attempt a rescue. Originally scheduled for early 2002, the film's been moved up.
• "Texas Rangers" is a Western, cast with hot young actors, loosely based on the founding of the original Texas Rangers. James Van Der Beek, Rachael Leigh Cook and Dylan McDermott co-star. The film has been on the shelf for more than a year.
Dec. 7
• "Ocean's 11," a remake of the ultimate Rat Pack action comedy, about a gang of old friends who plot the simultaneous robbery of several Las Vegas casinos. Writer-director Steven Soderbergh works with one of the most prestigious casts assembled in the modern era — George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy Garcia, Bernie Mac and more.
Dec. 14
• "Vanilla Sky," a romantic thriller about love, lust, betrayal, obsession and murder; you know, the usual stuff. It should have been called "Cruise Control," since it stars real-life couple Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz. Cruz also starred in the Spanish original, "Open Your Eyes." This is the Anglo remake, directed by "Almost Famous" Oscar winner Cameron Crowe.
• "Not Another Teen Movie," a parody that apparently does for teen romance films what "Scary Movie" did for teen horror. Chyler Leigh, Jaime Pressly and Deon Richmond co-star.
Dec. 21
• "How High," a grass comedy about two guys who are geniuses when they smoke weed — getting grades high enough to get them into Harvard. Once there, their drug source dries up and they revert to stupidity. Method Man, Redman and Lark Voorhies co-star.
• "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius," an animated Nickelodeon movie about a bright young nerd who organizes his fellow youngsters for a trip into space to save all the parents who have been kidnapped by aliens. Andrea Martin, Martin Short and Patrick Stewart are among the voice talent.
• "Joe Somebody," a comedy with Tim Allen as a corporate executive who gets beat up by a fellow employee in front of his child on "Take Your Daughter to Work Day." He plots his revenge. Jim Belushi and Kelly Lynch co-star.
• "Kate and Leopold," a time-travel romance, with Hugh Jackman as a 19th-century man who is transported to modern Manhattan, where he falls in love with thoroughly modern Meg Ryan. James Mangold (of "Girl, Interrupted" and "Copland") directs.
• "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," the second of the season's two gigantic fantasy epics, it'll try to wrest away attention from "Harry Potter" in its second month on screens. This adaptation of the J.R.R. Tolkien tale stars Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, with Ian McKellen, Sean Astin, Sean Bean and Cate Blanchett co-starring. Talk about a gamble: All three parts of the trilogy have been filmed; parts two and three will open in December 2002 and 2003.
• "The Majestic." Director Frank Darabont, who successfully pulled our heartstrings with "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile," tries again with this saga about a blacklisted Hollywood writer in 1951 who suffers amnesia in a car crash, and wakes up to find himself the favorite son in a small town. Jim Carrey stars, apparently in his restrained "Truman Show" mode.
Christmas Day
• "Ali." Already an early Oscar favorite, this large-scale bio of boxer Muhammad Ali has a big-time acting turn by Will Smith. It's directed by the usually impressive Michael Mann (of the Academy Award winning films "The Last of the Mohicans" and "The Insider.")
• "Imposter," a sci-fi thriller, based on a story by Phillip K. Dick (of "Blade Runner" fame). Gary Sinise stars as an engineer who makes a weapon to take on aliens, only to be suspected of being an alien himself.
Limited December releases, possibly opening nationwide in January:
• "The Shipping News," with Kevin Spacey as an emotionally drained man who moves back to his family home in Newfoundland with his daughter, attempting to reclaim his life.
• "A Beautiful Mind," starring Russell Crowe as brilliant mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr., who overcame years of schizophrenia to win the Nobel Prize.
• "Black Hawk Down," a true-life war drama from director Ridley Scott about U.S. soldiers on a quick-hit mission to capture renegade warlords in Somalia in 1993. The mission backfires and they're trapped in a pitched battle. Josh Hartnett, Tom Sizemore and Ewan McGregor co-star.
