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 Looking Closer
The Crossing
ChristianityToday
Jeffrey
 

I don’t know about you, but this stagnant cinematic summer can’t end soon enough for me.  In the last few months, the only truly impressive big screen experiences for this moviegoer came from revisiting Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now and giving in to a hyper-romantic musical by Baz Luhrmann, “Moulin Rouge”. 

So it’s time to turn our attentions to a brighter future.  You’re going to need some sunglasses. Some of these movies actually have… gasp…screenplays. 

Here is a run-down of some of the major releases on the horizon.  You might want to have your calendar and a pen handy… it’s going to be tough making movie choices to fit your schedule and your budget this fall.

NOTE: There seems to be a surprising surge of stories about the importance of good parenting throughout these titles. I have strongly suspected that the younger generations of filmmakers would begin shifting the emphasis of American heroism from me-firstism towards a more compassionate and caring theme, as so many of these stars and moviemakers grew up in broken homes. While many of these stories will portray a lot of ugliness, anger, and dysfunction, perhaps they will act as signposts to a new generation, goading them to take marriage and parenthood more seriously.  Let’s hope so.

ANOTHER NOTE:  I’ve included tocks…1-5…to indicate my personal level of interest in the project, based on reading advance reviews and information about who is involved and what the story is about.  THESE ARE NOT ADVANCE JUDGMENTS ON THE QUALITY OF THE FILMS… I HAVEN’T SEEN ONE OF THEM YET.

September

September looks a little dull.  The most promising entries boast of good work from some great actors: Anthony Hopkins, Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, and Michael Douglas.  Perhaps more interesting: 

In September we get a Swedish comedy called Together (September) from director Lukas Moodysson (Show Me Love). Set in a hippie commune in the ‘70s, the story focuses on a series of shifting relationships between eccentric free spirits. Is there a moral compass directing these stories of free love? 

 

Scott Hicks, director of Snow Falling on Cedars and Shine takes on a recent Stephen King drama called Hearts in Atlantis (Sept. 28), and he has Anthony Hopkins in the starring role.  Expect it to be moody and even moving. I’ve found Stephen King’s dramas to be much more affecting than his horror stories, and Hicks can be evoke powerful feelings with subtle visuals and sparse dialogue. 

Leelee Sobieski stars in The Glass House (Sept. 14) in which she plays one of two orphans adopted by a couple (Diane Lane and Stellan Skarsgård) who just might be up to something sinister. 

Haven’t we all been eager to see rapper Snoop Dogg in the movies?  He’s in three film this fall, starting with Training Day (Sept. 21) with Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. Washington plays a narcotics cop training a rookie cop (Hawke, not Dogg.) 

Michael Douglas, born to play the role of a man under intense pressure, this time has to try to rescue his kidnapped teenager. (Didn’t he just rescue his daughter in Traffic?) Don’t Say a Word opens Sept. 28. 

Ben Stiller directs BenStiller in Zoolander, a zany spoof of the fashion industry, and comic genius Owen Wilson is at his side. This is bound to be a outrageous piece of work. (September) 

October

As the weather gets colder, the theatres will be warming up.  Look for interesting new stuff featuring Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Steve Martin, Johnny Depp, Kevin Spacey, Gene Hackman, and Kevin Kline. (Man…we’re really lacking in significant leading lady roles these days, aren’t we?) The Best Actor category may well be crowded this year…there are plenty more contenders coming up in November and December.

Snoop Dogg comes back for more in The Wash (Oct. 3), a comedy about two guys, a car wash, and the gun-toting domino-playing owner.  Co-stars George Wallace and Dr. Dre. 

On October 5, Leelee Sobieski is back with Joy Ride, which co-stars the zany Steve Zahn and teen idol Paul Walker in a road-trip that turns into a flight from a psycho-killer.  Qu' est-ce Que C'est? 

When his wife and child are killed by terrorists, Arnold Schwarzenegger is out for revenge in Collateral Damage (Oct. 5).  What?  Arnold…in an action/revenge flick? Is he sure he can carry an action movie? 

Mafia man Peter Falk watches as his wacko son (Chris Kattan) infiltrates the FBI in the latest Saturday Night Live-style comedy Corky Romano (Oct. 12).  I love Peter Falk, but…. 

Billy Bob Thornton and Bruce Willis are burglars who both fall for the woman they’ve kidnapped...Cate Blanchett...in Bandits for director Barry Levinson on October 12.  The trailer is very promising, and with a cast like that I’m first in line. 

Rod Lurie’s The Last Castle (Oct. 12) stars Robert Redford as an inmate at a military prison who directs an uprising in order to escape his wrongful incarceration. The movie also boasts this year’s most popular supporting actors: James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) and Mark Ruffalo (You Can Count On Me).  Woo hoo! 

Snoop Dogg stars with Pam Grier in a scary thriller called Bones (Oct. 17).  Dogg plays a ghost come back to wreak havoc on those responsible for his gunshot-wound death.  And I am sore afraid. 

Penny Marshall returns to the director’s chair for Riding in Cars With Boys (Oct. 19). The film stars Drew Barrymore as a single mom.  Wow!  A movie about a woman!  What a great idea! 

After giving his best performance in years when he hosted the Oscars last year, Steve Martin headlines once again as a dentist in Novocaine (Oct. 19).  It’s a thriller in which he gets trapped by the dangerous lies of a devious patient (Helena Bonham Carter.) Advance reports are a mixed bag, but Martin is an underrated dramatic actor, and Bonham Carter can do no wrong…so far. 

Johnny Depp, who has yet to turn in a bad performance in his colorful career, plays an inspector on the trail of Jack the Ripper in From Hell (Oct. 19). The film also stars Heather Graham and Bilbo Baggins himself...Ian Holm.  Great trailer, Depp is always impressive, and the sets look extravagant and gorgeous. But I fear the film will dwell too much on grisly details and not enough on deeper storytelling. 

The underrated actor Kevin Kline makes a welcome comback, starring in Life as a House (Oct. 26), playing a character that has to face a messed-up teenage son and the onset of cancer at the same time. Also stars the young-adult Anakin Skywalker, Haydn Christensen…we’ll see if he can really act.  Also with Kristin Scott Thomas. Promising, but director Irwin Winkler also gave us At First Sight. 

On October 26, 13 Ghosts haunt Tony Shalhoub and his daughter (Shannon Elizabeth).  Director Steve Beck has previously been an art direction and special-effects man for films like The Abyss, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and The Hunt for Red October. 

Director Iain Softley (The Wings of the Dove ) delivers K-Pax (Oct. 26), starring Kevin Spacey as a strange man who claims to be from another planet. I worry that the film won’t hold a candle to the movie on which it is based…the extraordinary Man Facing Southeast.  We’ll see.  The film also stars Jeff Bridges.  Early reviews warn of much drippy sappy sentiment. 

Scriptwriter extraordinaire David Mamet directs once again, a heist vlick called... Heist due October 26th.  This time he has the strong cast of Gene Hackman, Delroy Lindo, Danny DeVito, and Mamet’s own wife...Rebecca Pidgeon (who also starred in State and Main, r”The Spanish Prisoner, and The Winslow Boy, all Mamet flicks.)  Even Mamet’s lesser movies are well-worth seeing. 

November

Fantasy begins to show a strong presence, with a slightly fantastical Coen Brothers’ flick, a new romantic fantasy from the makers of  The City of Lost Children, and a movie about a young boy wizard that you might have heard about…..

On November 2nd, we celebrate the return of The Coen Brothers.  They’re back with a ’40s-style noir about infidelity, a barbershop, and some very nasty surprises.  Sure to be a very different experience than the ever-popular O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Man Who Wasn’t There is the first black and white feature for the Coens, and it stars the fantastic Frances McDormand, Billy Bob Thornton, James Gandolfini, and a contestant for the World’s Greatest Supporting Actor...Tony Shaloub (Galaxy Quest, Barton Fink, Big Night.) 

We get yet another visit from Leelee Sobieski in My First Mister (Nov. 2), which also stars Albert Brooks, John Goodman, and Michael McKean in the story of a young girl who gets mixed up in a relationship with a much-older man. Directed by actress Christine Lahti.  Much positive buzz. 

The long-awaited return of French director director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessan, The City of Lost Children) is getting great acclaim internationally.  The film is a romantic comedy called Amelie, and it arrives November 9.  Prepare for an eyeful of dazzling style and some inventive storytelling. 

Almost all of the children of the world (and the young-at-heart as well) will be in line for “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (Nov. 16).  While I’m one of the, oh, four or five people in the world not entirely enamoured of the books, the story definitely lends itself to exciting onscreen entertainment, and the preview is very promising. On the other hand, the film is directed by Chris Columbus, who tends to make use every cheap trick in the book in order to make audiences laugh at dumb jokes and then cry about nothing in particular. (Remember “Mrs. Doubtfire”? How about “Bicentennial Man”? “Stepmom”?) 

On November 21, we get another visit from Robert Redford for “Spy Game”, in which he plays the mentor to Brad Pitt, who has reminded me of Redford several times (especially in “A River Runs Through It”.) Directed by the ever-popular action-stylist Tony Scott (“True Romance”, “Enemy of the State”).

Director Peter Bogdanovich in his first film since 1993’s This Thing Called Love, offers The Cat’s Meow (sometime in November), the true story of a death...or a killing?...on William Randolph Hearst’s yacht in 1924. The film stars Kirsten Dunst, Edward Herrmann and Cary Elwes.   Bogdanovich makes few films; he waits for a sincerely-told story about believable people, and creates engaging and insightful dramas. 

 

The folks at Pixar have replaced Disney animators as the illustrators with the most imagination and comic genius. Their Toy Story movies were the closest thing the 90s had to a Star Wars phenomenon...innovative special effects films with rich storytelling and enough imagination for ten Disney films. They're back with a whole new bunch of characters in November...the monsters that lurk in kids' bedrooms at night. Billy Crystal and John Goodman are the Tom Hanks/Tim Allen combo this time. Don't miss Monsters, Inc. 

December

I’ve never seen a month with more exciting releases lined up and ready to go.  Just take a look:

Steven Soderbergh, whose films I have loved since Sex, Lies and Videotape a decade ago, is back with his most celebrity-heavy cast so far: Ocean’s 11 (December).  Starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, and many many more, this will probably be a major hit and an Oscar contender. Last time Soderbergh worked with Clooney, he made my favorite film of the year (Out of Sight). 

The Insider was my favorite film of 1999, so I am eager to see Michael Mann’s latest, a biopic about the “king of the world” called Ali (Dec. 7).  Will Smith may have an Oscar nomination on the way. 

Cameron Crowe, who directed my favorite American film of 2000 (Almost Famous), offers his first thriller on December 14th... Vanilla Sky, starring Cruise and Cruz (Need I explain?) and Cameron Diaz. 

Then, on December 19th, join me and a zillion moviegoers in the long line for the movie event of the year...the first episode of Peter Jackson’s ambitious adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings...The Fellowship of the Ring. I have dreaded the day when these incredible stories were abridged and adapted for the big screen...they’re such imaginative feasts for readers that they are bound to lose some of their lustre onscreen. But so far, judging from online information, advance screenings of some scenes, and the trailers, Jackson looks to be doing about as well as anyone could possibly hope. With a cast of the big screen’s finest talents (including Ian McKellan and Cate Blanchett), Fellowship’s only possible problem could be that some people don’t like to sit for 2 hours and 45 minutes at a time, even for the greatest adventure in the history of literature. 

Jackie Chan fans sure haven’t had anything to complain about lately. The maniacal martial arts hero is back in The Accidental Spy (Dec. 21). 

Frank Darabont, director of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, leaves prison flicks this year for something new and uplifting.  Frank Capra fans may be rejoicing in the streets when The Majestic opens (Dec. 21).  The movie stars Jim Carrey in what is rumored to be his most restrained and powerful performance; he plays a a blacklisted Hollywood writer struggling with amnesia in the ’50s. 

Miramax looks ready to deliver a knockout Christmas package. 

First (Dec. 21) there’s In the Bedroom, starring Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson, and directed by actor Todd Field (“Eyes Wide Shut”). The Village Voice calls it “an austere yet visceral study of grief”, a story about “an upper-middle-class Maine couple coping with sudden tragedy.”  Supporting performances by Nick Stahl and Marisa Tomei are also gaining raves. 

Then comes Miramax’s Christmas Day double-whammy: The Shipping News (Dec. 25), based on the popular, artful novel by E. Annie Proulx, is the latest from Director Lasse Hallström, who gave us Chocolat, The Cider House Rules.  I wasn’t as swayed by the sentimentality of Chocolat as most, and I found the unethical resolution of Cider House to be disappointing, but his previous films My Life as a Dog and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? are beautiful and powerful.  It features the always-professional Kevin Spacey alongside two of the finest screen actresses working today: Julianne Moore and Cate Blanchett. (These actresses have eight Oscar nominations between them.) Miramax, who successfully ushered Shakespeare in Love onto the Best Picture stage, is in charge here, so this may be a formidable challenger.

And on the same day, we get Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York.  The theatrical trailer promises this will be a stylish period piece, violent, moody, and dazzling. Daniel Day-Lewis appears to have once again transformed himself into a completely different character...this time he’s a dangerous and violent man called “The Butcher” who oppresses the Irish street gangs in the time of slavery’s abolition.  Leonardo DiCaprio returns to the spotlight, accompanied by Cameron Diaz and Jim Broadbent.  I can’t wait. 

Also on Christmas Day, we’ll be treated to Ron Howard’s A Beautiful Mind, starring Oscar winning Aussie Russell Crowe as a Nobel Prize-winner struggling with schizophrenia.  Howard’s movies consistently leave me unsatisfied, but Crowe never disappoints. 

And as if that isn’t a big enough holiday film festival, there’s also the much-anticipated new comedy from Wes Anderson (“Rushmore”) called The Royal Tenenbaums, starring Gene Hackman, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, the Wilson brothers (Owen and Luke), Angelica Houston, Danny Glover, and Bill Murray. The trailer is hilarious, and Anderson has gained so much praise for Rushmore, which was sadly snubbed by the Oscars, that this might be the year Hollywood gives credit where credit is due. 

After the summer we’ve just suffered, it seems we now have a much better problem on our hands…far too many tempting movies to see. I must say I’ve rarely seen such an exciting list of possibilities.  It will be interesting, a year from now, to look back and see which of these releases were more than just hype, celebrity, and entertainment.  I have some hunches about what will stand the test of time  I have yet to regret seeing a film by Cameron Crowe, Martin Scorcese, the Coen Brothers, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, or Michael Mann.  But Peter Jackson just might have earned himself a place alongside Spielberg and Lucas as one of the great big-screen storytellers of our time with his work on Tolkien’s great epic.  I look forward to the conversations as we sift through some of this stuff in search of the excellent and the profound.  Keep visiting Looking Closer, The Phantom Tollbooth, and Film Forum at Christianity Today’s Weblog for updates and reviews.