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MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
PLOT: British naval hero Captain Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe) and his crew pursue the French across 19th century seas in this adaptation of Patrick O'Brian's multi-book swashbuckling saga.
THE LOWDOWN: Director Peter Weir has an above-average track record, so this should emerge as an early year-end Oscar contender. . . Crowe is reunited with A Beautiful Mind co-star Paul Bettany, who plays the ship's doctor.
TUPAC: RESURRECTION
PLOT: This documentary uses home movies, concert footage and excerpts from Tupac Shakur's own diaries to present a comprehensive portrait of the rap artist who was gunned down in his prime.
THE LOWDOWN: It's brave of Paramount Pictures to give a nonfiction feature a fairly wide release; then again, the medium has enjoyed tremendous success as of late, thanks to last year's Bowling for Columbine. . . Tupac's mother, former Black Panther Afeni Shakur, serves as an executive producer.
NOVEMBER 21
THE CAT IN THE HAT
PLOT: For the three of you out there who never read Dr. Seuss's book, this is about a talking feline (Mike Myers) who drops in on two children (Dakota Fanning and Spencer Breslin) and turns their house upside down.
THE LOWDOWN: Brian Grazer previously produced Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which earned buckets of money but also elicited many of the year's worst reviews. . . Ace production designer Bo Welch (Men In Black, Beetlejuice) makes his directorial debut.
GOTHIKA
PLOT: A criminal psychologist (Halle Berry) finds herself locked up in her own mental asylum for a murder she claims she doesn't remember committing.
THE LOWDOWN: Superhero X-capades aside, this is Berry's first dramatic turn since winning an Oscar for Monster's Ball. . . Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise's post-Kidman squeeze Penelope Cruz also star.
THE MISSING
PLOT: A frontierswoman (Cate Blanchett) reluctantly teams up with her estranged father (Tommy Lee Jones) to track down the psychopath (Eric Schweig) who kidnapped her daughter (Evan Rachel Wood).
THE LOWDOWN: After abandoning The Alamo, director Ron Howard decided to turn his attention to this adaptation of Thomas Eidson's novel The Last Ride. . . Deja vu: Following The Fugitive, U.S. Marshals and this past spring's The Hunted, Jones again plays a rugged maverick tracking down his fellow man. . . Raleigh native Wood is currently earning raves for her lead work in Thirteen.
SHATTERED GLASS
PLOT: This based on fact (and oh-so-timely) drama centers on Stephen Glass (Hayden Christensen), the New Republic writer who fabricated the majority of his published stories before getting caught.
THE LOWDOWN: Christensen, who scored a Golden Globe nomination for My Life As a House before getting hammered by many critics for his Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones, is hoping to reassert himself as an actor worth following.
THE SINGING DETECTIVE
PLOT: While bedridden with a debilitating illness, a mystery writer (Robert Downey Jr.) imagines himself as the hero of his own musically inclined tales.
THE LOWDOWN: The universally acclaimed 1986 miniseries starring Michael Gambon still maintains a feverish following, which may partially explain why this new version received a lukewarm reception at Cannes. . . Mel Gibson, Robin Wright Penn and recent Oscar winner Adrien Brody lead the supporting cast.
THE STATION AGENT
PLOT: A lonely dwarf (Peter Dinklage) living at an abandoned train depot unexpectedly develops a pair of friendships with an artist (Patricia Clarkson) and a hot dog vendor (Bobby Cannavale).
THE LOWDOWN: This was one of the breakout hits at Sundance, where it won an impressive three awards. . . Even with star-studded projects like The Human Stain and Cold Mountain at their disposal, this is more in line with the sort of offbeat indie fare for which Miramax has become renowned -- and with which they've shaken up many an Oscar race.
NOVEMBER 26
THE HAUNTED MANSION
PLOT: A realtor (Eddie Murphy) and his family find themselves stranded in a decrepit mansion that's home to 999 ghosts.
THE LOWDOWN: Movies based on theme park attractions have a record of 1-1 (Pirates of the Caribbean sailed, The Country Bears failed), so we'll see how the scale is tipped by this one. . . Six-time Oscar winner Rick Baker (Men In Black, Terminator 2) is in charge of the effects, so some visual surprises might be in store.
TIMELINE
PLOT: A group of college students manages to travel back in time to the 14th century, whereupon they discover it's impossible to find a good double mocha latte.
THE LOWDOWN: This is based on the novel by Michael Crichton. . . The once-prolific Richard Donner hasn't directed a movie since 1998's Lethal Weapon 4. . . The cast is fronted by Paul Walker, coming off the unexpected success of 2 Fast 2 Furious.