Friday, November 14, 2003 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

'Tis the Season

Movie calendar fills up as holidays approach

Legolas (Orlando Bloom), from left, Gandolf (Ian McKellen) and Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) plot their strategy in "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," slated to hit theaters Dec. 17. Dakota Fanning and Spencer Breslin join Mike Myers, in costume as the title character, in raising the roof in "Cat in the Hat," scheduled for release Nov. 21. Tom Cruise, center, leads the charge in "The Last Samurai," scheduled to hit theaters Dec. 5. Eddie Murphy stars in Disney's "The Haunted Mansion," due in theaters Nov. 26. Julia Roberts instructs her class in "Mona Lisa Smile," scheduled for release Dec. 19. Jude Law and Nicole Kidman star in "Cold Mountain," slated for a Dec. 25 release.

When it comes to this season's holiday movie buffet, there's bound to be a overstuffed turkey -- or two or three -- on the serving board.

But plenty of trimmings also await moviegoers hungry for a cinematic feeding frenzy.

Unlike summer, which often provides a dumbed-down diet of movies geared toward video-crazed kids, fall delivers a wider variety of titles, from family-friendly romps to Oscar-bait dramas.

"There's such an eclectic mix of films. It's like a full year thrown into a blender," comments Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations.

"Certainly, family films do benefit at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but not only family films benefit," he notes. "There's more adult moviegoing; it's not perceived as 'just for kids' like summer is."

And with potential Oscar contenders also flooding multiplexes, "It's a great time to be a moviegoer," in Dergarabedian's view.

But it's also a short time.

"As bad a summer is in terms of product output and short shelf-life," he explains, "the effect is intensified during the holiday season. There's so much to see."

Tracking from mid-November through year's end, the holiday season lasts seven or eight weeks and accounts for about 20 percent of annual box office, Dergarabedian notes -- about half of the total usually generated during the 15-week summer season.

"Dollar for dollar, week for week, the holiday period is just as important," he explains.

Especially with this year's box-office totals running about even with last year's take, so far.

According to Exhibitor Relations, box-office grosses through last weekend were off slightly -- $7.77 billion this year versus last year's $7.79 billion. But this year's attendance figure -- 1.288 billion so -- represents a 4 percent drop compared to last year's 1.343 billion.

"The Matrix Revolutions" and "Elf" kicked off the season last weekend with robust takes of $48.5 million and $31.1 million, respectively.

Turning to today's movie lineup, two high-profile releases boast definite Vegas connections: "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" filmed here on location, while the documentary "Tupac: Resurrection" focuses on the late rap star, who was shot to death on Flamingo Road in 1996, hours following a post-fight melee at the MGM Grand. (We tried, but we just couldn't connect the dots between Neon Nirvana and the 19th-century seafaring yarn "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" -- unless you count all the local book lovers who've helped make Patrick O'Brian's novels best sellers.)

With more than two dozen high-profile releases waiting in the multiplex wings, "you have to make your mark right away," in Dergarabedian's view. "You may only have one weekend" to find an audience.

To help you find your holiday favorites, here's a week-by-week guide to upcoming releases. (Just remember that some dates may change -- and some movies listed may not get here until 2004.)

Meantime, pass the popcorn -- and, let us hope that, at season's end, we're all quoting "A Christmas Carol's" Tiny Tim ("God bless us, every one") and not Scrooge's "Bah, humbug!"

Nov. 21

"Cat in the Hat": Dr. Seuss' freewheeling feline (Mike Myers) and his faithful companions Thing One and Thing Two wreak happy havoc with a pair of suburban siblings ("The Kid's" Spencer Breslin, "I Am Sam's" Dakota Fanning) in a live-action romp featuring Alec Baldwin and Kelly Preston.

"Gothika": A criminal psychologist (Halle Berry) awakens to discover she's a patient in her own mental institution -- with no memory of a murder she supposedly committed -- in this thriller co-starring Penelope Cruz, Robert Downey Jr. and Charles S. Dutton.

"Mambo Italiano": Subtitle this comedy "My Big Fat Italian Coming-Out Party," as an old-world couple (Paul Sorvino, Ginette Reno) struggle to deal with the shocking revelation that their grown son's new roommate is a lot more than a childhood buddy.

"The Singing Detective": A hack crime novelist (Robert Downey Jr.), hospitalized with a debilitating disease, drifts between reality and the fictional world of his latest mystery in this adaptation of writer Dennis Potter's landmark TV miniseries. Mel Gibson, Katie Holmes, Jeremy Northam and Robin Wright Penn co-star.

Nov. 26

"Bad Santa": Posing as Santa Claus and his elf, a con-artist duo (Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox) robs shopping malls -- until a precocious youngster shows them the error of their ways -- in a comedic Christmas caper featuring Bernie Mac and the late John Ritter; "Ghost World's" Terry Zwigoff directs.

"The Haunted Mansion": In the wake of "Pirates of the Caribbean," Disney brings another theme-park favorite to the big screen, with Eddie Murphy as a real estate agent hoping to score a major deal -- until he and his family visit a crumbling antebellum estate that's home to a lovelorn 19th-century gent and 999 of his ghostliest f(r)iends.

"The Missing": Director Ron Howard follows the Oscar-winning "A Beautiful Mind" with this frontier thriller about a woman (Cate Blanchett) who joins her long-estranged father (Tommy Lee Jones) on a rescue mission to save her kidnapped daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) from a murderous psychopath.

"Shattered Glass": In the '90s, young magazine writer Stephen Glass (Hayden Christensen, alias Anakin Skywalker in "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" and the upcoming "Episode III") goes from ambitious phenomenon to disgraced fabricator in a fact-based drama featuring Peter Sarsgaard ("Boys Don't Cry") and Hank Azaria.

"Timeline": When their professor (Billy Connolly) disappears, student archaeologists time-trip back to feudal 14th-century France in this adaptation of Michael Crichton's best-selling thriller. Paul Walker and Frances O'Connor co-star for "Lethal Weapon" director Richard Donner.

Dec. 5

"Bubba Ho-Tep": Elvis Presley ("Evil Dead's" Bruce Campbell) is alive and not so well and living in a Texas nursing home, where he teams up with a delusional John F. Kennedy (Ossie Davis) to thwart a soul-sucking mummy in a horror-humor mix that returns to Las Vegas following its world premiere at last year's CineVegas film festival. "Highwaymen": Determined to avenge the hit-and-run death of his wife, a vindictive widower (Jim Caviezel) hits the highway, closing in on the wheelchair-bound psychopath (Colm Feore) who ran her down in this road-rage thriller from "The Hitcher" director Robert Harmon.

"Honey": Jessica Alba (late of TV's "Dark Angel") shakes it up as an aspiring hip-hop video choreographer dreaming of her big break in a follow-your-dreams drama featuring rapper Lil' Romeo and "ER's" Mekhi Phifer.

"The Last Samurai": Director Edward Zwick ("Glory") returns to the 19th-century battlefield with this drama about a Civil War veteran (Tom Cruise), hired to instruct Japanese soldiers in modern warfare, who finds himself drawn to ancient samurai ways instead.

Dec. 12

"Love Don't Cost a Thing": "Drumline's" Nick Cannon plays a likable high-school geek who fakes a romance with a super-cool cheerleader (Christina Milian) in this remake of the 1987 teen romp "Can't Buy Me Love."

"Something's Gotta Give": Oscar-winners Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton team up for the first time since 1981's "Reds" in this romantic comedy about a perennial playboy chasing a much-younger woman (Amanda Peet) -- until he falls for her beguiling mother. A post-"Matrix" Keanu Reeves and Frances McDormand top the co-starring cast.

"Stuck on You": Filmmaking brothers Bobby and Peter Farrelly Brothers ("There's Something About Mary") explore sibling rivalry from a new perspective as Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear play conjoined twins facing the ultimate break-up.

Dec. 17

"The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King": As the evil Sauron (Christopher Lee) wages his final siege, the Fellowship of the Ring and its allies attempt to distract the forces of evil so Frodo (Elijah Wood) can complete his quest in the conclusion of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy, which features returnees Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Ian Holm, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett under the command of writer-director Peter Jackson.

Dec. 19

"Mona Lisa Smile": Julia Roberts unleashes her watermelon grin in this '50s drama about a novice art instructor who shakes up her students' lives -- and her own -- at a staid women's college. Mike Newell ("Four Weddings and a Funeral") directs; Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Dominic West co-star.

Dec. 25

"Cheaper by the Dozen": Home alone with 12 kids, Steve Martin plays Mr. Mom while wife Bonnie Hunt heads off to work in this update of the fact-based 1950 family favorite. "Coyote Ugly's" Piper Perabo, "Lizzie McGuire's" Hilary Duff and "Smallville's" Tom Welling round out the starring cast.

"Cold Mountain": A wounded Confederate soldier (Jude Law) treks home to his pre-war sweetheart (Nicole Kidman), while she endeavors to revive the family farm with the help of an intrepid drifter (Renée Zellweger) in this Civil War drama adapted from Charles Frazier's Civil War novel by Oscar-winning "English Patient" writer-director Anthony Minghella.

"In America": "My Left Foot" writer-director Jim Sheridan reflects on the immigrant experience in an acclaimed drama about an Irish family (led by "24 Hour Party People's" Paddy Considine and "Minority Report's" Samantha Morton) adjusting to a new life in New York; Djimon Hounsou co-stars.

"Paycheck": Another sci-fi mindbender inspired by the work of Philip K. Dick ("Blade Runner," "Minority Report"), this thriller focuses on a high-tech consultant struggling to recapture his memories -- and elude former employers trying to kill him. Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman star for director John Woo.

"Peter Pan": James M. Barrie's classic tale returns in the first live-action movie adaptation since the silent era; "Frailty's" Jason Sumpter takes on the title role opposite hissable Jason Isaacs ("The Patriot") as Captain James Hook.

"The Young Black Stallion": The first Disney dramatic feature made specifically for the giant-screen Imax format, this prequel to the 1979 live-action classic details the wild colt's friendship with a young girl who's been separated from her father in Arabia during World War II.

Dec. 26

"The Cooler": A Vegas sad-sack (William H. Macy) employed to derail casino hot streaks finds his mystical ability undermined when he falls for a beautiful co-worker (Maria Bello) in this set-in-Vegas, filmed-in-Reno tale featuring Alec Baldwin (as an old-school casino chief) and Ron Livingston (as his new-school corporate boss).

"House of Sand and Fog": Oscar-winners Ben Kinsgley and Jennifer Connelly clash in this drama, based on Andre Dubus III's novel about a former Iranian official battling to wrest possession of a Northern California dwelling from its fragile owner.

Jan. 1

"Calendar Girls": A group of middle-aged British women (led by Helen Mirren and Julie Walters) go the full monty for a charity calendar in this fact-based comedy.