A new season of films ready to hit the big screen

By Jack Garner
Gannett News Service

"Kill Bill" is a film from long-absent director Quentin Tarantino that's so long it's being released in two parts. Gannett News Service

In "The Rundown," a bounty hunter (Hawai'i's own Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) goes into pursuit mode in the Amazon. Myles Aronowitz

Mike "Austin Powers" Myers is in the shaggy outfit as the Cat in the Hat, adapted from the Dr. Seuss classic. Melinda Sue Gordon

Among the season's most eagerly awaited openings are "Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat," part three of "The Matrix" trilogy, and the first cinematic adventure of Patrick O'Brien's fabled sea captain Jack Aubrey, in "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World." The latter features Russell Crowe and direction by the usually brilliant Peter Weir.

The critically acclaimed memoir "Under the Tuscan Sun" also comes to the screen, with Oscar nominee Diane Lane as the American who buys a big-time fixer-upper in an Italian village.

Bugs returns — with Daffy Duck — in a live-action/cartoon combo film called "Looney Tunes: Back in Action."

And after a six-year hiatus, "Pulp Fiction" writer-director Quentin Tarantino returns with "Kill Bill," his first outright martial-arts epic. Miramax is releasing the three-hours-plus epic in two parts, one in October and the second early next year.

Here's the schedule of major releases for September, October and November. (But remember that studios are notorious for juggling and changing opening dates.)

Sept. 5

• "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star" — David Spade plays a former child star who hires a family to create the childhood he never had. Spade co-wrote the comedy.
• "The Order" — An ecclesiastical thriller about a young priest (Heath Ledger) who belongs to an arcane order with ties to exorcism. The priest is assigned to investigate a fellow cleric's murder.

Sept. 12

• "Cabin Fever" — Folks trapped in the woods are attacked by a virulent flesh-eating virus. Sounds like "28 Days Later" goes country.
• "Cold Creek Manor" — A city family moves to a peaceful country house. But the former owner gets out of prison and decides he wants to come home. Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone and Stephen Dorff co-star.
• "Matchstick Men" — Nicolas Cage stars in Ridley Scott's comedy-drama about a neurotic con artist whose life is turned upside down with the appearance of a teenage daughter he didn't know he had. They become a con-game duo á la "Paper Moon."
• "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" — After his "Spy Kids" sojourn, writer-director Robert Rodriguez returns to adult action for this latest adventure of his "El Mariachi" character (Antonio Banderas). Salma Hayek, Johnny Depp, Willem Dafoe and Ruben Blades co-star in a red-hot ensemble.

Sept. 19

• "Anything Else" — In one of the most unusual trailers of the season, they've hyped this movie as a romantic comedy with Jason Biggs and Christina Ricci, two youth-appeal stars. They're the only folks you see in the preview, and yet it's Woody Allen's latest comedy, and Allen co-stars as Biggs' mentor in the ways of romance. Can the great veteran cross over into a twentysomething comedy?
• "The Fighting Temptations" — A comedy with music, starring Cuba Gooding Jr. as a young man who returns to the South to claim a large inheritance. But it comes with a catch: He must help the local church form an award-winning gospel choir. Good thing Beyonce Knowles is one of the singers. Shirley Caesar, Mary Mary, Montell Jordan, Angie Stone and Faith Evans lend their voices as well. Say amen, somebody.
• "Secondhand Lions" — A comedy-drama with Haley Joel Osment as a shy kid sent to live with two eccentric old uncles in Texas. They're played by Robert Duvall and Michael Caine.
• "Underworld" — A horror flick pitting vampires against werewolves for supremacy of the dark side. It's fangs versus fur. Kate Beckinsale stars.

Sept. 26

• "The Rundown" — A jungle adventure with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as a bounty hunter in pursuit of quarry in the Amazon.
• "Under the Tuscan Sun" — Diane Lane stars in this adaptation of the hit memoir by an American woman who buys a home in Tuscany and hits a lot of bumps in the road to a new life.

Oct. 3

• "Duplex" — A dark comedy from Danny DeVito (in a "War of the Roses" vein). Ben Stiller and co-star Drew Barrymore have a chance to move into a great duplex in the perfect New York neighborhood. There's just one catch: They must kill the cute little old lady now living there.
• "Out of Time" — A thriller with Denzel Washington as a police chief in a small Florida town who must solve a double homicide before he becomes the most likely suspect. Carl Franklin directs.
• "The School of Rock" — Jack Black is perfectly cast as a down-and-out rock star forced to take a job as a fourth-grade substitute teacher. His presence lights a fire under the students, especially a talented guitar prodigy. Richard Linklater directs.

Oct. 8

• "Mystic River" — Clint Eastwood directs this thriller about three now-grown childhood friends (Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon and Tim Robbins) who come together when one's daughter is murdered. Bacon plays the cop trying to solve the crime, while restraining a revenge-minded Penn.

Oct. 10

• "Good Boy!" — A fantasy-comedy about alien dogs that come to Earth to verify that canines have indeed failed to take over the Earth. Molly Shannon and Matthew Broderick contribute voices.
• "The House of the Dead" — A horror-flick adaptation of a video game about teens who head to an island to party. Instead, they're pursued by zombies.
• "Intolerable Cruelty" — The latest Coen brothers comedy, with George Clooney as a hotshot divorce lawyer who falls for the wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) on the other side of a high-profile case.
• "Kill Bill, Vol. 1" — Finally, a new Quentin Tarantino action-thriller, with Uma Thurman getting involved in high-kick martial arts action in China. Miramax is releasing the long film in two parts, separated by a few months. Here's part one. The large cast includes David Carradine, Lucy Liu and such Tarantino favorites as Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Madsen.

Oct. 17

• "Runaway Jury" — A courtroom thriller involving manipulation of a jury in a big case against a firearms manufacturer. The impressive cast includes John Cusack, Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman.
• "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" — This is the third version of the film. Does the world need a remake of the revved-up gore fest? No, but we're getting one anyway.
• "Veronica Guerin" — Joel Schumacher's biopic about a courageous Irish journalist (played by Cate Blanchett) threatened by the mob she has exposed.

Oct. 24

• "Beyond Borders" — A romantic drama about a young American (Angelina Jolie) involved with a doctor who cares passionately about African health relief and other causes.
• "Gothika" — A psychological thriller in which a psychiatrist awakens as a patient in the very hospital where she works. She has no recollection of a horrible crime of which she's accused. Halle Berry and Penelope Cruz co-star.
• "In the Cut" — Meg Ryan plays a college professor having a hot affair with a cop (Mark Ruffalo) who's investigating a rash of murders in her neighborhood. Kevin Bacon and Jennifer Jason Leigh co-star for director Jane Campion.
• "Scary Movie 3" — Another sequel to the popular franchise of horror parody comedies. Queen Latifah and Charlie Sheen are among the performers.

Nov. 5

• "The Matrix: Revolutions" — It's humans versus machines in the final battle as the trend-setting sci-fi action trilogy concludes. Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss return for the innovative Wachowski brothers.

Nov. 7

• "Elf" — Will Ferrell stars as a too-tall elf dispatched from the North Pole to the United States to find his true identity. The Christmas season comedy is directed by Jon Favreau ("Swingers") and co-stars James Caan.

Nov. 14

• "Honey" — The saga of a street-tough urban dancer (Jessica Alba) who becomes a choreographer and opens an inner-city dance studio.
• "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" — Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck join forces with Brendan Fraser and Jenna Elfman for an Indiana-Jones-type adventure in an animation/live action combo platter from Joe Dante, creator of the memorable "Gremlins" movies.
• "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" — One of the season's most eagerly anticipated films, an epic sea adventure from the popular novels of Patrick O'Brien, starring Russell Crowe. The talented and intelligent Peter Weir (of "Witness" and "The Truman Show") is the director, which also bodes well.

Nov. 21

• "Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat" — Mike Myers plays the Cat in this second big-screen adaptation from Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment from the works of Dr. Seuss. This time, Bo Welch directs.
• "Radio" — Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as a mentally disabled young man who becomes the mascot and inspiration for a high school football team in a small Southern town. Ed Harris plays the coach.

Nov. 26

• "Bad Santa" — Billy Bob Thornton and Bernie Mac play con men who use Santa Claus disguises to rob stores. An 8-year-old teaches them the meaning of the holiday.
• "Big Fish" — A young man (Billy Crudup) learns about his father (Albert Finney) by re-creating some of dad's exploits. It's the latest from the creative and eccentric Tim Burton ("Edward Scissorhands," "Planet of the Apes").
• "The Haunted Mansion" — Another Disneyland attraction follows "The Pirates of the Caribbean" into movie theaters. Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Tilly co-star in this presumably lighthearted horror romp.
• "Timeline" — Paul Walker and Frances O'Connor co-star in a sci-fi thriller about time travel. It's adapted from the works of Michael Crichton ("Jurassic Park," "Sphere," "Coma" and "Congo").