September 11, 2002

Attack of the clones
Stars overload this film season's circuitry.
By Johnny Ray Huston

JUST TRY TO avoid Susan Sarandon this season: Thanks to studio scheduling, or perhaps because she's been working overtime, her singular (sanctimonious?) presence graces at least three movies this fall, two of them opening within one week of each other. But she's not alone in her seasonal dominance: she's closely followed by John Malkovich, Queen Latifah, Charlize Theron, Antonio Banderas, Taye Diggs, Renée Zellweger, George Clooney, Pierce Brosnan, and Ralph Fiennes, who each appear in at least two films set for late-2002 release.

Yet the real trend of this cheerful season seems to be the bounty of Holocaust-related projects. (Apparently, market researchers have declared that Sept. 11 is still too fresh in the memory for it to be re-created in a movie theater near you, given that Hollywood is not known for its good taste or lack of greed.) Tim Blake Nelson's The Grey Zone, Werner Herzog's Invincible, Roman Polanski's The Pianist, and Menno Meyles's Max (starring John Cusack as young Hitler's piano teacher) all revisit the Nazi era, albeit from widely different perspectives.

Still, there's no lack of variety in the fall's major releases, though we wouldn't burden you with all of them here (and please note: release dates are not set in stone).

Sept. 13

Barbershop Calvin (Ice Cube) sells his dad's barbershop; Eve and Cedric the Entertainer help him see the error of his ways.

Igby Goes Down Kieran Culkin plays an old-money rich kid who goes "deviant," though not to a Michael Alig degree (that would be Macaulay's next movie); Ryan Phillippe is his Republican older brother, and yes, Susan Sarandon is in the cast. Warning: so is Claire Danes.

Snipes Not a biopic about Wesley Snipes but a record company-street drama set in Philly, with Nelly as a rapper named Prolifik.

Stealing Harvard In the fine tradition of How High and Orange County, a comedy in which Jason Lee turns to crime to pay for his niece's college tuition.

The Transporter Keywords: international espionage, screenplay by Luc Besson.

Sept. 18

Biggie and Tupac Nick Broomfield follows up on the clues contained in Randall Sullivan's book Labyrinth, and Suge Knight looks mighty bad.

Sept. 20

Banger Sisters A feature-length movie inspired by a Doors song. Goldie Hawn and the ever present Sarandon are ex-groupies who reunite decades later; most likely they discover that old people can act wacky and have fun.

Four Feathers Shekhar Kapur might decolonialize this adaptation (the fifth) of A.E.W. Mason's novel. Then again, this is Hollywood. Heath Ledger grows a beard, Wes Bentley hopes this isn't as bad as Soul Survivors, and Kate Hudson is the woman torn between them.

His Secret Life Steam's Ferzan Oztepek serves up more Euro-homo sensuality, this time in Italy.

Quitting Art imitates reality in a drug-addiction drama by Zhang Yang (Shower); '80s action idol Jia Hongsheng stars as himself, and his parents are played by his parents.

Satin Rouge "Quite possibly the first Tunisian feminist belly-dancing film," according to the Los Angeles Times' Manohla Dargis.

Spirited Away Hayao Miyazaki's follow-up to Princess Mononoke achieved Titanic-like box-office results in Japan.

Trapped You won't believe your eyes: Angel Eyes director Luis Mandoki has given Courtney Love another chance to act in a "major release." She and Kevin Bacon kidnap Charlize Theron's diabetic daughter. On the plus side, Colleen Camp (the non-Reese agent behind Matthew Broderick's downfall in Election) has a bit part.

Sept. 27

8 Women François Ozon crosses Agatha Christie with Douglas Sirk and '60s French ye-ye pop, and according to the press kit, "the mystery of the female psyche is revealed." Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Fanny Ardant and Emmanuelle Béart are four of the eight faux-Technicolor femmes.

Das Experiment A German thriller based on the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment of 1971.

In Praise of Love Jean-Luc Godard philosophizes; some people snooze.

Moonlight Mile Susan Sarandon (again), Dustin Hoffman, and Jake Gyllenhaal in a movie partly inspired by the murder of actor Rebecca Schaeffer.

Skins The second feature by Chris Eyre, director of Smoke Signals.

Sweet Home Alabama Legally Blonde part two or stale lemon meringue? Reese Witherspoon plays a runaway bride who becomes a New York designer and socialite.

The Tuxedo The matchup you've been waiting for: Jackie Chan teams up with ... Jennifer Love Hewitt. Chan gets to imitate James Brown, and J.Lo Hewitt plays (according to Entertainment Weekly) a "water expert."

Oct. 4

Between Strangers Sophia Loren returns from semiretirement in a Carlo Ponti-produced story about artistic women.

Heaven The last screenplay written by Krzysztof Kieslowski and the latest film directed by Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run). Cate Blanchett, not known for her wisdom in choosing roles, stars as a fugitive amid drugginess in Turin.

Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie Ned Flanders alert: singing vegetables portray the story of Jonah and the whale.

Just a Kiss Marisa Tomei, Kyra Sedgwick, and Taye Diggs get tangled up in a romantic comedy that mixes live action and animation.

Red Dragon As if Manhunter never existed, Thomas Harris's book is filmed again, with Anthony Hopkins as you-know-who, Edward Norton as an FBI agent, and Ralph Fiennes (giving one of two mentally unhinged performances this season) as a serial killer.

Ripley's Game John Malkovich fills the shoes of Matt Damon, portraying Tom Ripley in an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's third Ripley book.

Secretary Stephen Soder – excuse me, Shainberg directs this Sundancey drama in which Bill Clinton look-alike James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal play coworkers who have an icky affair; based on a Mary Gaitskill story.

Welcome to Collinwood A remake of the 1958 heist comedy Big Deal on Madonna Street; the cast includes Jennifer Esposito, a should-be-star usually trapped in lousy movies.

Oct. 11

All the Queen's Men The advance word on this tranny comedy featuring Eddie Izzard and Matt Le Blanc is that it's a drag.

Bloody Sunday Jan. 30, 1972, is turned into a drama.

Bowling for Columbine Michael Moore's Cannes award-winning antigun documentary, featuring interviews with Marilyn Manson and a doddering Charlton Heston.

Brown Sugar Hip-hop is the backdrop for this story about competitive friends: Taye Diggs and Queen Latifah each make one of two appearances this season.

Family Fundamentals A new gay-themed documentary by Arthur Dong (License to Kill).

Knockaround Guys Vin Diesel would normally mean instant box office, but this movie – another heist tale – has been in limbo for two years.

Man from Elysian Fields Mick Jagger plays a pimp. That's a stretch.

Pokémon 4Ever As if there weren't enough cash-crazed creatures already, this sequel with a frightening title unveils Celebi, a winsome time-traveling creature with big blue eyes.

The Rules of Attraction After having his chapter cut from Todd Solondz's Storytelling, James Van Der Beek gets another on-screen chance to go gay (or semigay). He plays Sean Bateman, brother of Patrick the American psycho, in this Bret Easton Ellis adaptation. Any movie that also stars Fred Savage and Faye Dunaway should at least have train-wreck appeal.

Swept Away Madonna and her director hubby, Guy Ritchie, remake a 1974 Lina Wertmüller film. Stuck on a desert island with a person you can't stand – a metaphor for marriage?

Tuck Everlasting Based on the Victorian-era story by Natalie Babbitt; expect scenes of rosy-cheeked youths cavorting with farm animals – at least until Ben Kingsley arrives to chew up the scenery.

White Oleander In this film version of an Oprah's Book Club selection, Michelle Pfeiffer poisons an ex-lover, and Alison Lohman is her daughter. Renée Zellweger makes the first of two fall appearances.

Oct. 18

Abandon Benjamin Bratt is a detective seduced by a college student (Katie Holmes) who in turn is haunted by her former boyfriend; sounds Wild Things-ian, though probably not as gleefully trashy.

Formula 51 Samuel L. Jackson dons a kilt for the sake of one last drug deal. Also stars Robert Carlyle and Meat Loaf as "The Lizard."

Invincible A blond Jewish strongman (Tim Roth) performs as Aryan hero Siegfried in '30s Berlin. Directed by Werner Herzog.

Merci pour le chocolat That crazy Isabelle Huppert as a woman drugging people into a stupor in a Claude Chabrol film that seems to be making fun of Chocolat.

Naqoyqatsi The third part of the Koyaanisqatsi trilogy. Score by Philip Glass, again.

Real Women Have Curves The story of a Mexican American teenage girl in L.A. after high school; yes, the great Lupe Ontiveros is part of the cast.

Ring Naomi Watts returns in this U.S. remake of the Japanese horror hit (meanwhile, Wes Craven's remake of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Ring-like Pulse, slated to star Kirsten Dunst, remains in utero).

Oct. 23

Derrida Jackey Derrida as himself in a San Francisco International Film Festival-screened documentary about the French brainiac-ruminator.

Oct. 25

Auto Focus Greg Kinnear is porno-crazed Bob Crane, and Willem Dafoe is his sleazy buddy, in Paul Schrader's new movie.

The Grey Zone Dennis Hopper, Natasha Lyonne, and hardworking John Malkovich in an Auschwitz Holocaust movie.

Happiness of the Katakuris Takashi Miike, claymation, musical – need I say more?

Jackass: The Movie The MTV show hits theaters. Like, dude, I hear there's this wicked stunt in it.

Paid in Full Three kids from Harlem (including Mekhi Phifer and Jay-Z wanna-be Cam'ron) become big-time '80s drug kingpins; title taken from Eric B and Rakim.

The Truth about Charlie Jonathan Demme remakes Charade as a tribute to the French new wave (?), with Thandie Newton in the Audrey Hepburn role. Includes cameos by Agnès Varda, Anna Karina, and Charles Aznavour.

Waking Up in Reno Two Arkansas couples (Billy Bob Thornton, Patrick Swayze, Charlize Theron, Natasha Richardson) go to Reno for a monster truck show; it seems Billy Bob's character is adulterous.

Nov. 1

All or Nothing Mike Leigh returns to the London working class and finds that tragedy prompts the rediscovery of love.

The Core Aaron Eckhart and Hilary Swank journey to the center of the earth.

Frida Yes, as in Kahlo, and played by Salma Hayek, not J.Lo. Julie Taymor directs, and according to Entertainment Weekly, Hayek stopped tweezing her eyebrows to play the role properly. What dedication.

I Spy Champ middleweight (Eddie Murphy) and CIA superagent (Owen Wilson) team up in this update of the TV show. Directed by Betty Thomas, who specializes in turning TV shows into movies that are ready for TV.

I'm Going Home Manoel de Oliveira's critically acclaimed mortality tale, starring Michel Piccoli.

Roger Dodger Campbell Scott plays a cad instead of a sensitive man dying young.

The Santa Clause 2 Why should Tim Allen wait until the day after Thanksgiving when he can cash in on the holidays today.

Nov. 8

8 Mile Curtis Hanson directs the story of a Detroit rapper a lot like you-know-who. Kim Basinger plays the mom, and Brittany Murphy is a variation of "Kim."

Blue Car A neglected poetry award-winner and her relationship with a teacher named Mr. Auster.

Far from Heaven Todd Haynes does an update of Douglas Sirk's All That Heaven Allows, set in 1957 Connecticut, and adds a gay subplot involving a closeted Dennis Quaid. Julianne Moore – reconnecting with the director of her best performance (in Safe) – is his wife.

Femme Fatale Brian DePalma returns to Hitchcock-plundering, with some sequences set in Cannes, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as the title vamp, and Antonio Banderas as her pursuer.

Nov. 15

Children of the Century Euro art cinema hottie Benoît Magimel smooches with Juliette Binoche in a movie about George Sand.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets He's ba-aaack. Directed by Chris Columbus.

Phone Booth Colin Farrell answers a pay phone and is told he'll die if he hangs up. The ever-wonderful Joel Shumacher directs.

The Weight of Water This long-delayed Kathryn Bigelow movie is about a woman obsessed with an unsolved 19th-century crime. Costarring Canada's Claire Danes, Sarah Polley.

Nov. 22

Die Another Day Pierce Brosnan's Bond returns, with Halle Berry in a yellow bikini. He journeys to Iceland, but the theme song isn't by Björk; it's by Madonna.

The Emperor's Club Kevin Kline stars in a scholarly drama based on an Ethan Canin short story.

Friday after Next Another installment of the Friday series, and Ice Cube is nowhere to be found.

Nov. 27

Adam Sandler's 8 Crazy Nights A holiday-themed musical comedy cartoon, with Adam Sandler providing three voices: one good, one bad, and one female.

Personal Velocity A movie version of Rebecca Miller's book of short stories, adapted and directed by Miller. So Sundancey it stars Parker Posey, of course.

Solaris Steven Soderbergh helms an allegedly non-arty version of Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 sci-fi journey, with George Clooney donning the silver space suit.

Treasure Planet Emma Thompson and Martin Short supply voices for an animated version of Treasure Island set in outer space.

Nov. 29

Ararat Atom Egoyan's new movie, panned in Cannes.

In America Jim Sheridan directs a semiautobiographical tale about a family's emigration from Ireland to New York. Samantha Morton breaks free from her Minority Report fetal state to star.

Dec. 6

Adaptation Director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Charles Kaufman (and twin brother Donald) return with a story involving twins; Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep are the lucky stars.

Analyze That Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal, once again under the guidance of Harold Ramis.

Evelyn The story of Desmond Doyle (Pierce Brosnan), who fought the church and the Irish supreme court to keep custody of his children; directed by Bruce Beresford.

Dec. 11

Punch-Drunk Love P.T. Anderson casts Adam Sandler as a small-business owner with seven abusive sisters; Emily Watson and a harmonium bring romance.

Dec. 13

Star Trek: Nemesis The Next Generation keeps on keeping on.

Dec. 18

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Peter Jackson and the principal cast are back with even more CGI graphics (and homosexual subtext?).

Dec. 20

Antwone Fisher Denzel Washington's directorial debut, about a sailor and the naval psychiatrist (Washington) who helps him face his horrific childhood.

Two Weeks Notice Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock style themselves as a Tracy-Hepburn romantic combo.

Dec. 25

About Schmidt A real Christmas present. Talk about perfect matches: Jack Nicholson acting under the direction of Election's Alexander Payne.

Catch Me if You Can Oscar bait. A game of cat and mouse, with Leonardo DiCaprio as a master of fraud, Tom Hanks as an FBI agent chasing him, and Steven Spielberg directing.

Chicago The Broadway musical about Roxie Hart finally hits the screen, and Madonna and Goldie are nowhere to be seen. A publicity still looks very Gentleman Prefer Blondes, but in place of Marilyn we get Renée Zellweger. Catherine Zeta-Jones supplies the dark-haired glamour.

Gangs of New York Martin Scorsese's lower Manhattan epic – set during the 1863 Civil War Draft Riots – finally hits theaters, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, and Daniel Day-Lewis.

Pinocchio Roberto Benigni. Scared yet?

Talk to Her Pedro Almodovar follows All about My Mother with a male-centered study of grief, slightly more somber and perhaps more powerful.

The 25th Hour Spike Lee provides a drug-dealing story for Christmas, and Edward Norton is on hand to boost the box office.

Dec. 27

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind George Clooney directs and stars in a movie adaptation of Chuck Barris's autobiography – how can this be gong-worthy?

A Few Good Years The Royal Douglases or a saccharine overload? Michael and Kirk Douglas are joined by two more Douglas-monikered actors in this year's dysfunctional-family holiday tale; directed by Fred Schepisi.

The Hours The screen version (written by David Hare) of Michael Cunningham's novel about Virginia Woolf brings together Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep, and Nicole Kidman (with prosthetics on her face for maximum Oscar potential).

Nicholas Nickleby A Dickens adaptation featuring Nathan Lane, Alan Cumming, Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtenay, and Barry "Dame Edna" Humphries.

Love Liza The type of suicidal story everyone loves this time of year, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman as a widow addicted to gas fumes.

Max John Cusack plays a piano instructor, and Noah Taylor (Flirting) plays his student, a young man named Adolf Hitler.