Movie Scene
Two fable heroes to duke it out on big screen this fall

By Jack Garner
Gannett News Service

If you have survived summer at the movies with anything left between your ears besides mush, consider yourself lucky.

"Monsters, Inc.," the latest animated fun-fest from the folks who brought you "Toy Story" and "A Bug's Life," is about the under-the-bed monsters of a child's imagination. Gannett News Service photos

That's the hope, at least. Fall traditionally is the time when movie quality improves as winter holidays approach and studios start angling for best-of lists, Oscar nominations and year-end awards.

This fall promises a battle of mythological proportions, between two heroes of fable — Harry Potter ("Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone") and Frodo Baggins (of "The Lord of the Rings").

Potter shows up just before Thanksgiving; Frodo will appear — in the first of three "Ring" films — shortly after Thanksgiving.

Meanwhile, a few young and talented black directors will try to step up their game.

Antoine Fuqua ("Bait" and "The Replacement Killers") gets his best cast and plot concept yet for "Training Day," while Albert and Allen Hughes (of "Menace II Society") tackle a British crime saga when they rehash the 19th-century tale of Jack the Ripper in "From Hell."

Here are a handful of films that seem especially intriguing this fall; the rest of the release schedule follows. (Editor's note: These are tentative release dates that might not apply to Hawai'i theaters.)

Possibly the best ...

Sept. 21

• "Training Day" — A police drama with potential. Ethan Hawke is a rookie in Los Angeles assigned to a narcotics detail with one of the department's star cops (Denzel Washington) who also happens to be dirty.

Sept. 28

• "Hearts in Atlantis" — A drama from a Stephen King story about a mysterious older man (Anthony Hopkins) who helps an 11-year-old boy deal with life's troubles.
• "Zoolander" — An apparently warped comedy about a dim-witted male model (Ben Stiller) who doubles as a Bond-like espionage agent. Stiller also directs.

Oct. 5

• "Collateral Damage" — A thriller with Arnold Schwarzenegger in a rare, regular-guy role. After his wife and child are killed by a terrorist bomber, he decides to bring the man responsible for their deaths to justice.
• "Joy Ride" — John Dahl's road thriller about two young brothers (Steve Zahn and Paul Walker) and their friend (Leelee Sobieski) on a cross-country road trip who become targets of a psychotic truck driver. Think "Duel," with embellishments.

Oct. 12

• "The Last Castle" — An Army general (Robert Redford) wrongly court-martialed and sentenced to a maximum security military prison, rallies the 1,200 inmates against the corrupt warden (James Gandolfini) and his guards. Rod ("The Contender") Lurie directs.

Oct. 19

• "From Hell" — A new variation of the gory, time-honored Jack the Ripper saga, with Johnny Depp as an English detective who falls for one of the prostitutes (Heather Graham) targeted by Jack. The film marks a move into new turf — a period English thriller — for urban action directors Albert and Allen Hughes (of "Menace II Society" and "Dead Presidents").
• "Riding in Cars with Boys" — Drew Barrymore stars in this adaptation of a memoir of a so-called bad girl who tries to make good. Penny Marshall directs.

Nov. 2

• "Monsters, Inc." — The latest animated fun-fest from the Pixar folks (of "Toy Story" and "A Bug's Life"), this time about the under-the-bed monsters of a child's imagination.

Nov. 9

• "Shallow Hal" — The latest comedy from Bobby and Peter Farrelly about a shallow fellow (Jack Black) who is hypnotized into seeing only the "inner goodness" of the young women he pursues. Thus, he thinks he's dating Gwyneth Paltrow, though we know she's actually an obese woman.
• "Windtalkers" — Here's another film in the recent wave of World War II dramas; this time telling the potentially fascinating story of Native Americans enlisted for use in military communications because the enemy wouldn't be able to translate their language. Nicolas Cage stars for the great director John Woo.

A scene from the film "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," which stars Daniel Radcliffe. Chris Columbus directs.

• "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" — One of the most eagerly awaited films of the year, bringing the extremely popular fantasy-and-witchcraft character to the big screen. Chris Columbus directs newcomer Daniel Radcliffe and a bevy of great English actors.

... And the rest

Because expectations can be wrong, the season's best films might emerge from any of these other entrees this fall:

Today

• "The Musketeer" — This is the umpteenth version of "The Three Musketeers," featuring action sequences choreographed by Hong Kong master Xin Xin Xiong.
• "Rock Star" — Mark Wahlberg is a would-be rock star who works in a small-town cover band that imitates a superstar group. Then he gets the chance to step in to the real group — and tastes the good life.
• "Two Can Play That Game" — A romantic comedy with Vivica A. Fox as a woman who lets the audience in on her secrets to get her man (Morris Chestnut) to stop his cheating ways.

Sept. 14

• "The Glass House" — Two teenage orphans (Leelee Sobieski, Trevor Morgan) start to suspect their adopted parents (Stellan Skarsgaard, Diane Lane) are hiding a dark secret.
• "Hardball" — Keanu Reeves is a man coerced into coaching a Little League baseball team in Chicago's rough Cabrini Green Housing Project.

Sept. 21

• "Big Trouble" — An ensemble comedy about how a bomb in a suitcase changes the lives of a divorced dad, an unhappy housewife, two teenagers and two hit men. Adapted from a Dave Barry novel, it stars Tim Allen.
• "Glitter" — A rags-to-riches show-biz saga, with singer Mariah Carey as a girl who becomes a pop superstar. The film was delayed a few weeks, corresponding with Carey's much-publicized, real-life breakdown.

Sept. 28

• "Don't Say A Word" — A thriller with Michael Douglas as a psychiatrist whose daughter is kidnapped. To free her, he is required to get one of his most difficult mental patients to tell him a six-digit number.

Oct. 5

• "Iron Monkey" — A Chinese martial-arts actioner, loosely based on the Robin Hood concept.
• "Max Keeble's Big Move" — A children's comedy about a seventh-grader who is branded a nerd, but gets to enact all sorts of playful revenge when he learns his family is moving away. But then the move is canceled and Max has to live with the results. Alex D. Linz stars.
• "Serendipity" — A romantic comedy that sounds vaguely in the "Sleepless in Seattle" mold. John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale co-star as college lovers who try to reunite a decade later, but only if they can find each other.

Oct. 12

• "Bandits" — An action-comedy with Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton as unorthodox bank robbers. Cate Blanchett co-stars for director Barry Levinson.
• "Corky Romano" — A mob comedy with Chris Katten as the unlikely son of a mob boss who is recruited to infiltrate the FBI to learn what they have on the family.

Oct. 19

• "Lucky Break" — A comedy from the director of "The Full Monty," about prisoners who put on a musical to cover a breakout. Christopher Plummer stars for director Peter Cattaneo.
• "Mulholland Drive" — The latest off-beat slice of police drama from David Lynch, involving an amnesiac. Originally conceived as a TV show pilot, it's been expanded to a feature film because the networks declined.
• "Novocaine" — A dentist (Steve Martin) is seduced by a sexy patient (Helena Bonham Carter) into prescribing her drugs. Soon he becomes a murder suspect.
• "On the Line" — Lance Bass and Joey Fatone (two-fifths of 'N Sync) co-star in this romantic saga. Bass plays a young man on a train who falls in love at first sight (with Emmanuelle Chriqui). Fatone is his best friend.

Oct. 24

• "Bones" — Two decades after his murder, Jimmy Bones (Snoop Dogg) comes back as a ghost to get revenge on those who killed him and to clean up his neighborhood. Pam Grier co-stars.

Oct. 26

• "Heist" — A jewel theft crime caper from David Mamet, a master of the form. The cast includes Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito.
• "K-Pax" — Kevin Spacey is a mysterious mental patient who tells his doctor (Jeff Bridges) he's an alien. The doctor soon notices the patient has a beneficial impact on other hospital patients.
• "13 Ghosts" — Here is a remake of a '60s film by schlockmaster William Castle. It's about the new owners of a house that comes with a baker's dozen spirits.

Nov. 2

• "The One" — A Jet Li martial arts actioner with a sci-fi flavor; supposedly in the mode of "The Matrix."

Nov. 14

• "The Wash" — A comedy about mismatched roommates who work at a car wash. The cast includes Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Eminem.

Nov. 18

• "The New Guy" — A teen flick about an uncool kid who gets expelled, goes to prison and then remakes himself into a cool kid at his next school. Unfortunately, he's discovered. DJ Qualls and Zooey Deschanel co-star.

Nov. 21

• "Black Night" — A comedy about a guy (Martin Lawrence) who works on a medieval-themed miniature golf course, and suddenly time-trips back to the Middle Ages.
• "Spy Game" — Robert Redford is a retired CIA agent who is called back into service one last time to rescue his kidnapped protege (Brad Pitt).