By Courtney L. Woodsstaff Critic
Hallelujah, fall movie season is almost here! The cumbersome movie year that is 2001 is almost over and looks to go out with what hopes to be the best films. With the exception of a few films (Memento and Moulin Rouge) the last nine months of the year in film have been utterly forgettable.
Ah, but there is hope; from October until December the major studios will pull out all the stops for the holidays and feature everything from family films to heavy-hitting Oscar contenders. Here’s the list of the films that look most promising to keep us entertained and pleasantly diverted for two hours.
From Hell
Johnny Depp stars as an opium-puffing investigator hot on the trail of Jack the Ripper in a film directed by the Hughes brothers (Menace II Society). Heather Graham co-stars as an Irish prostitute that falls prey to the Ripper, who kills in the most gory and brutal fashion. The title itself was taken from one of the famous letters that Jack the Ripper sent to the newspaper, bragging about his evil deeds. (October 19)
Riding in Cars With Boys
Based on a memoir by Beverly Donofrio, Drew Barrymore stars in a drama that spans 20 years in a woman’s life from a teenage mother to a grown woman in her mid-thirties. This is a film that could turn out to be a credible dramatic role for Barrymore or a weepy, depressing film favored by those in Oprah’s Book Club. (October 19)
The Last Castle
Robert Redford returns to the big screen sans his directorial credit to star as a court martialed general who rallies other soldiers turned inmates to overthrow the reign of the prison’s corrupt warden. James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), in a very un-mafioso role as the warden, is more than likely worth the price of admission. (October 19)
K-Pax
The ever-versatile Kevin Spacey takes on a role as a man who unabashedly declares that he is an alien from the planet K-Pax. Jeff Bridges is his psychiatrist who finds the concept a little hard to swallow, yet opens his mind and heart to his patient. Spacey may find himself as another nominee for Best Actor and the concept itself is too interesting to resist. (October 26)
The Man Who Wasn’t There
Fresh from their success with O Brother Where Art Thou?, Joel and Ethan Coen venture back into more familiar territory with this black and white ode to film noir. A barber (Billy Bob Thornton complete with toupee) gets mixed up in a blackmail plot, but undoubtedly featuring the obtuse quality of other Coen Brothers films like Fargo or Blood Simple. James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) and Frances McDormand (Fargo) co-star. (October 31)
Shallow Hal
Obnoxiously funny comedian Jack Black (High Fidelity) stars as a man who is brainwashed into seeing the inner beauty of women and not their outside appearance. Gwyneth Paltrow co-stars as Hal’s 300 pound love interest in this Farrelly Brothers (There’s Something About Mary) comedy that is sure to be offensive. (November 9)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Ten-year-olds will not be the only ones in line for this hotly anticipated film about the orphaned boy wizard with the lightening bolt scar. Daniel Radcliffe is the luckiest kid on earth for winning the title role in the film that hopes to bewitch us into the halls of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. (November 16)
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings trilogy kicks off with Elijah Wood as the hobbit Frodo Baggins and Sir Ian McKellen as the wizard Gandalf on a mission to protect the “one ring to rule them all.” These three films were shot consecutively and will be released each December until 2003. Elves, Hobbits and Orcs; Oh my! (December 19)
The Royal Tenenbaums
Super-ironic director Wes Anderson (Rushmore) brings the story of a genius-filled family to life with the help of an ensemble cast including Gene Hackman, Anjelica Houston, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Stiller. It promises to be weirdly funny and touching at the same time. (December 21)
Ali
Will Smith packed on muscle to play local hero Muhammad Ali for director Michael Mann. Mann also brought Al Pacino and Russell Crowe to Louisville in The Insider. This film may drop Smith into Oscar territory with a much-needed dramatic role. (December 25)
A Beautiful Mind
Russell Crowe is going for his third Best Actor nomination and second win in the true story of schizophrenic mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr. who won the Nobel Prize for game theories. Ron Howard directs and Ed Harris co-stars. (December 25)
Ocean’s Eleven Last year’s double whammy Best Director nominee and winner Steven Soderbergh (Traffic and Erin Brockovich) re-makes this 1960 Rat Pack film with an all star cast including George Clooney as gangster Danny Ocean and his cohorts Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, and Julia Roberts. (December 25)
