Throughout the Great Depression that rocked America during the 1930s, the citizens of this great nation always managed to scrape up enough loose change to go to the movies. Cinema provided relief from the ugliness of the real world, and Americans found it easy to lose themselves for a couple of hours in the presence of, say, Fred Astaire, Shirley Temple or Clark Gable.
Post-11/2, half of America is experiencing a different type of Great Depression, one that could last at least four more years. Yet as before, Hollywood, that titanic bastion of liberalism, is more than happy to help us forget all our troubles. Thanks to the magic of the movies, those dream factory denizens are prepared to take us wherever we want to go, whether it’s under the sea to chill with Steve Zissou or SpongeBob SquarePants, or back in time to hang out with Howard Hughes or Alexander the Great. Admittedly, it won’t be all fun and games — movies like Hotel Rwanda will be on hand to remind us some brutal realities. But whatever type of movie you choose during the upcoming holiday season, the crop appears to be strong enough to offer a respite from whatever political hangover or holiday stress you’re undergoing. Plus, who knows? — you might even have fun! Here, then, is our handy guide to this year’s holiday movie season.
NOVEMBER 19
BRIGHT LEAVES
PLOT: Charlotte filmmaker Ross McElwee returns to his native state to examine his family’s past connection with tobacco.
TALKING POINTS: See this issue’s Film section for a feature on McElwee and his latest documentary.
NATIONAL TREASURE
PLOT: In an effort to thwart foreign evildoers, an adventurer (Nicolas Cage) must steal the Declaration of Independence, decipher the invisible map written on its back, and locate a treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers.
TALKING POINTS: This action yarn marks the fourth collaboration between Cage and producer Jerry Bruckheimer (The Rock, Con Air, Gone In Sixty Second)… This summer’s King Arthur was a rare underperformer for Bruckheimer, whose films usually earn zillions (see: Pirates of the Caribbean)… Co-star Diane Kruger was showcased earlier this year in Troy and Wicker Park.
SIDEWAYS
PLOT: Two buddies, a struggling writer (Paul Giamatti) and a has-been actor (Thomas Hayden Church), take a tour through California’s wine country, where they meet a pair of women (Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh) who force them to reevaluate their present lots in life.
TALKING POINTS: See this issue’s Film section for a review.
THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE
PLOT: SpongeBob attempts to retrieve King Neptune’s stolen crown in this animated adventure.
TALKING POINTS: Perhaps mindful of the success of the Rugrats films, Nickelodeon is attempting to launch another TV-to-film franchise… Alec Baldwin, Scarlett Johansson and Jeffrey Tambor are among those contributing vocals.
NOVEMBER 24
ALEXANDER
PLOT: Dubya may have conquered 51 percent of America, but that’s nothing compared to Alexander the Great (Colin Farrell), who conquered 90 percent of the known world by the time he was 27. This covers his life from early glory to his death at the age of 32.
TALKING POINTS: Oliver Stone serves as writer-director for this large-scale epic that arrives approximately seven months after the similar-looking Troy… Oscar winners Angelina Jolie and Anthony Hopkins add to the luster.
CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS
PLOT: The Kranks (Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis) opt to skip Christmas in order to take a vacation, but when their daughter (Julie Gonzalo) unexpectedly announces that she’s coming home for the holidays, some last-minute alterations are in order.
TALKING POINTS: This is adapted from John Grisham’s novel Skipping Christmas… Dan Aykroyd and Cheech Marin appear in supporting roles… It’s a given this will earn more than the recent disaster Surviving Christmas; now whether it’ll also be a better movie is entirely up in the air (based on its torturous trailer, it’s a tough call).
FINDING NEVERLAND
PLOT: Stuck in a stagnant marriage, playwright J.M. Barrie (Johnny Depp) finds inspiration in a widow (Kate Winslet) and her young children, particularly her moody son Peter (Freddie Highmore).
TALKING POINTS: This mixes fact and fantasy to examine how Barrie came up with the idea for Peter Pan… Depp and Highmore will re-team to handle the leading roles (Willy Wonka and Charlie, respectively) in Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
NOVEMBER 26
BEING JULIA
PLOT: In 1930s London, an aging stage actress (Annette Bening) enters into a relationship with a much younger man (Shaun Evans), with her manager-husband (Jeremy Irons) watching from the sidelines.
TALKING POINTS: Oscar-winning scripter Ronald Harwood (The Pianist) has adapted W. Somerset Maugham’s novel Theatre… This is already playing in select theaters across the country, with Bening garnering early Oscar buzz for her performance.
DECEMBER 3
CLOSER
PLOT: Four strangers (Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen) meet, form romantic couplings, and inevitably betray each other.
TALKING POINTS: The director is the legendary Mike Nichols, still basking in the accolades for his HBO production of Angels of America… Owen’s attempt at mainstream stardom fell short with King Arthur, but he gets another shot here… Law is the current Hardest Working Man In Show Business, having just appeared in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, I Heart Huckabees and Alfie — and with The Aviator and the Lemony Snicket film both debuting two weeks after this one.
DECEMBER 8
BLADE: TRINITY
PLOT: Half man, half vampire and all killer, Blade (Wesley Snipes) teams up with a pair of humans (Jessica Biel and Ryan Reynolds) to take down Dracula himself.
TALKING POINTS: Kris Kristofferson returns as Blade’s trusty sidekick Whistler… Bucking the trend, Blade II (2002) was superior to Blade (1998); will the ascension continue?
DECEMBER 10
OCEAN’S TWELVE
PLOT: Still fuming over getting ripped off by Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his posse, casino kingpin Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) turns to a European thief (Vincent Cassel) to help him get even.
TALKING POINTS: The entire principal cast from Ocean’s Eleven (Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, etc.) returns, with Catherine Zeta-Jones tagging along for good measure… Since there wasn’t a sequel to the 1960 version of Ocean’s Eleven, the suits at Warner snatched up an unrelated script by George Nolfi and had him modify it as needed.
DECEMBER 17
THE AVIATOR
PLOT: The remarkable life of Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) is explored, primarily his days as a Hollywood mogul and as a pioneer of flying the friendly skies.
TALKING POINTS: Did someone say star power? Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn, Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner, No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow, Jude Law as Errol Flynn, plus prominent roles for Alan Alda, Alec Baldwin and Ian Holm… With this heavily publicized picture, director Martin Scorsese tries for Oscar acceptance (again).
BEYOND THE SEA
PLOT: Despite being deathly ill since childhood, Bobby Darin (Kevin Spacey) perseveres to become a musical star and, briefly, an acclaimed actor.
TALKING POINTS: This project was a real labor of love for Spacey, who also served as director and co-writer… Kate Bosworth (Blue Crush) co-stars as actress Sandra Dee, who was married to Darin from 1960 to 1967.
KINSEY
PLOT: In 1948, author and professor Alfred Kinsey (Liam Neeson) travels around America asking people to spill the beans about their sex lives — and in the process sparks a cultural (and controversial) revolution.
TALKING POINTS: Writer-director Bill Condon earned an Oscar for his adapted screenplay for Gods & Monsters… The tony cast includes Laura Linney, John Lithgow, Timothy Hutton and Tim Curry.
LEMONY SNICKET’S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS
PLOT: The villainous Count Olaf (Jim Carrey) takes a pair of orphans (Liam Aiken and Emily Browning) under his wing, intent on stripping them of their vast inheritance.
TALKING POINTS: This is based on the first three installments in the best-selling children’s book series… Jude Law provides the voiceover for Lemony Snicket, while accomplished comediennes Catherine O’Hara and Meryl Streep appear in the supporting ranks.
SPANGLISH
PLOT: A dysfunctional couple (Adam Sandler and Tea Leoni) find their lives being affected by their hiring of a beautiful Mexican housekeeper (Paz Vega).
TALKING POINTS: Writer-director James L. Brooks knows how to mesh intelligence and emotion — previous films include Broadcast News and Terms of Endearment… Based on the trailer, Cloris Leachman seems primed to steal scenes as Leoni’s straight-talking mom… Sandler has proven he can excel in change-of-pace roles (Punch-Drunk Love).
DECEMBER 22
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER’S THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
PLOT: The misshapen man (Gerard Butler) who lives beneath the Paris opera house falls for the beautiful Christine (Emmy Rossum) and does everything in his power to turn her into a star.
TALKING POINTS: The Broadway smash reaches the screen under the direction of Joel Schumacher, a talented filmmaker who’s nevertheless still trying to live down the execrable Batman & Robin… Fans of the stage show have never wavered in their insistence that Michael Crawford reprise his Tony Award-winning portrayal, but the film role instead went to the relatively unknown Butler (Dracula in Dracula 2000)… Eighteen-year-old Rossum, who displayed her formidable singing chops in Songcatcher, was last seen as Jake Gyllenhaal’s girlfriend in The Day After Tomorrow and as Sean Penn’s murdered daughter in Mystic River… Look for Minnie Driver and Miranda Richardson to provide some sparks in supporting roles.
FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX
PLOT: After their plane crashes in the desert, the survivors attempt to build another aircraft out of salvageable parts.
TALKING POINTS: The popular 1965 version is remade, with Dennis Quaid cast in the James Stewart role (as the pilot)… Although the “65 model was Men Only, this new version invents a role for Miranda Otto (Eowyn in the Lord of the Rings flicks).
MEET THE FOCKERS
PLOT: As if meeting the parents (Robert De Niro and Blythe Danner) of his fiancee (Teri Polo) wasn’t hard enough, Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) now has to introduce them to his own eccentric parents (Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand).
TALKING POINTS: This sequel to the 2000 comedy hit Meet the Parents should fight off challenges from Ocean’s Twelve and Lemony Snicket to emerge as the season’s top moneymaker (the already-in-theaters The Incredibles possibly excluded)… Aping Jude Law, Stiller has also appeared in six films during 2004.
A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT
PLOT: In the waning days of World War I, a young French woman (Audrey Tautou) suspects that her fiance, believed to have been killed on the battlefield, might actually be alive and sets out to locate him.
TALKING POINTS: Tautou reunited with her Amelie director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, for this French import that could emerge as one of the season’s premiere art-house flicks… Jodie Foster appears in a small role.
DECEMBER 25
THE DARK
PLOT: An American family discovers its dream house in Spain, not realizing until after they’ve moved in that the joint is haunted.
TALKING POINTS: Anna Paquin and Lena Olin head the cast… This opened in Spain (homeland of its writer-director, Jaume Balaguero) in late 2002 and played the rest of Europe throughout 2003; it was scheduled to open stateside this past summer under the title Darkness until it was unceremoniously postponed to this curious Christmas slot.
FAT ALBERT
PLOT: Fat Albert (Kenan Thompson) and his friends hang out on the streets of their Philadelphia neighborhood.
TALKING POINTS: Bill Cosby’s famous stand-up comedy creation, made even more famous via the Saturday morning cartoon in the 1970s, now takes a live-action leap to the big screen… Even allowing for the current fascination with all things nostalgic, isn’t this movie about two decades too late?
THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU
PLOT: Oceanographer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) has his hands full dealing with his colorful crew (Owen Wilson and Willem Dafoe, among others), a stubborn reporter (Cate Blanchett) and the shark that killed his partner.
TALKING POINTS: Wes Anderson’s latest sounds as quirky as his previous releases, The Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore… The large cast also includes Anjelica Huston and Jeff Goldblum.
LIMITED RELEASES
The following films, scheduled to open in limited release in New York and Los Angeles over the course of the next few weeks, will either reach us later this year, in early 2005, or not at all: THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON tells the true story of Sam Bicke (Sean Penn), an ordinary guy who decided in 1974 to hold accountable the man responsible for America’s problems… In Pedro Almodovar’s BAD EDUCATION, a film director (Fele Martinez) hooks up with a drag queen (The Motorcycle Diaries‘ Gael Garcia Bernal), and together they decide to make a movie about their shared childhood experiences under the tutelage of a pedophilic priest (Daniel Gimenez Cacho)… HOTEL RWANDA, which has the potential to emerge as another Schindler’s List or The Killing Fields, is based on an actual event that occurred a decade ago, when a hotel manager (Don Cheadle) in Rwanda saved over 1,000 Tutsi civilians from being systematically slaughtered by Hutu extremists… Director Zhang Yimou, whose martial arts epic Hero was a late-summer hit, steps up to the plate again with HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, in which the title outfit combats empirical corruption in 859AD China… After receiving valuable life lessons from a fellow prisoner (The Passion of the Christ‘s Jim Caviezel), a 12-year-old boy (Ben Tidder) escapes from an Eastern European labor camp and makes his way across unfamiliar lands in I AM DAVID… Formerly titled Synergy, IN GOOD COMPANY stars Dennis Quaid as a recently demoted ad executive who’s not thrilled that his 26-year-old boss (Topher Grace) has begun dating his 18-year-old daughter (Scarlett Johansson)… In A LOVE SONG FOR BOBBY LONG, a rebellious teenager (Scarlett Johansson again) returns to her childhood home in New Orleans after her mother’s death, only to find two of her mom’s friends — a retired English professor (John Travolta) and his assistant (Gabriel Macht) — living in the decrepit house… Flush from his success with Mystic River, Clint Eastwood is back as director-producer with MILLION DOLLAR BABY, in which he also stars as a boxing trainer who takes a promising newcomer (Boys Don’t Cry Oscar winner Hilary Swank) under his wing… Two top talents — Oscar nominee Javier Bardem (Before Night Falls) and director Alejandro Amenabar (The Others) — team up for THE SEA INSIDE, the true story of a paraplegic Spaniard who spent three decades fighting for his right to die… After watching most of his Mystic River co-stars compete for Oscars last time around, Kevin Bacon hopes for his moment in the awards spotlight with THE WOODSMAN, about a convicted sex offender who, after a 12-year incarceration, moves to a quiet neighborhood and befriends a young girl.
This article appears in Nov 17-23, 2004.
