Danzig
Well-Known Member
ANOTHER year, another 3 billion movies set to fight for space in the multiplexes.
Odds are you are likely to see up to 105 new releases, most of which will be heavily hyped.
Whether it's a high-profile film such as "Shrek 2" or "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" or one with a big-name star such as Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry or up-and-comer Will Ferrell, something will catch your eye and make you want to pony up $9.50.
To help you pre-sort and plan ahead, here is a look at a cluster of films scheduled to come out in 2004.
Some do not yet have Bay Area release dates. Others are likely to open earlier or later than currently scheduled. Thus the caveat: All dates are subject to change.
2004 movie openings
Jan. 30
"The Big Bounce" -- Owen Wilson and Morgan Freeman take part in a caper comedy based on a novel by "Get Shorty" writer Elmore Leonard. Wilson plays a shady drifter who goes to Hawaii and gets involved with a conniving real estate developer, a slick judge and a beautiful woman who likes to break the law. Gary Sinise and Sara Foster co-star. George Armitage directs.
"The Perfect Score" -- Scarlett Johansson follows up "Lost in Translation" with an ensemble piece about stubborn high school students who decide to steal an SAT test because they want to decide their own fates. Or something like that. Erika Christensen gets top billing in a cast that also includes Chris Evans and Bryan Greenberg.
"You Got Served" -- Members of the top street-dancing crew in town must develop new moves and overcome personal rivalries to compete with another hotshot group that tells them, "This town ain't big enough for both of us." Marques Houston, Omarion and J Boog star. Christopher B. Stokes directs.
Feb. 6
"Barbershop 2: Back in Business" -- The old neighborhood barbershop has a close shave when a rival Happy Cutz franchise opens across the street. Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer and director Kevin Rooney return from the affable original. Queen Latifah adds her personality to the antics.
"Miracle" -- Kurt Russell portrays Herb Brooks, coach of the ungainly 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that scored the upset of upsets by defeating the
Russians. Patricia Clarkson and Noah Emmerich co-star. Gavin O'Connor directs.
Feb. 13
"50 First Dates" -- The comedy stars Drew Barrymore as a woman with no short-term memory and Adam Sandler as the guy who has to convince her each day that he's her boyfriend and that they're in love and lust. The trailer is very funny.
Feb. 20
"Against the Ropes" -- Originally scheduled for a 2003 release, this "fictionalized" biopic stars Meg Ryan as Jackie Kallen, the best female manager in boxing history. Omar Epps co-stars.
"Welcome to Mooseport" -- Handyman Ray Romano runs for mayor against former U.S. president Gene Hackman and tries to win the hand of Maura Tierney. Marcia Gay Harden co-stars in the comedy. Donald Petrie directs.
Feb. 25
"The Passion of the Christ" -- Director Mel Gibson relented and agreed to subtitle his controversial version of Christ's last hours, whose dialogue is done in Aramaic and Latin. Jim Caviezel of "Frequency" plays Jesus. Monica Bellucci is cast as Mary Magdalene.
Feb. 27
"Twisted" -- Philip Kaufman directs Ashley Judd, Samuel L. Jackson, Andy Garcia and David Strathairn in a suspense thriller about a detective investigating a series of murders where all of the victims turn out to be her old boyfriends. Turn and run if she starts coming on to you.
March 5
"Hidalgo" -- Once-legendary cowboy Viggo Mortensen takes his horse Hidalgo across the sea to take part in a 3,000-mile race across the Arabian desert in 1890. Based on a true the story, the adventure saga co-stars Omar Sharif. Joe Johnston directs.
"Starsky & Hutch" -- Based on the old TV series, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson star as the title characters, mismatched big-city cops. Given the stars, they must be playing it for laughs. Snoop Dogg takes over for Antonio Fargas, whose son now plays for the Raiders, as their informant Huggy Bear.
March 12
"Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London" -- Teenage CIA agent Frankie Muniz, a hit in the original, takes up the violin and goes undercover at a London music boarding school while trying to track down his turncoat former trainer. Anthony Anderson plays his new handler.
"Secret Window" -- Johnny Depp gets top billing in this adaptation of a Stephen King novel about a divorced author stalked by a psychotic stranger who accuses him of plagiarism. Maria Bello, Ving Rhames, Charles S. Dutton and John Turturro co-star. David Koepp of "Stir of Echoes" directs.
"Spartan" -- Career military officer Val Kilmer tries to find the missing daughter of a high-ranking government official. Of course, he runs into a white slavery ring and other unexpected complications. Derek Luke and William H. Macy co-star. David Mamet directs and wrote the screenplay.
March 19
"Dawn of the Dead" -- Ving Rhames and Sarah Polley try to hold off the flesh-eating undead -- don't we all? -- in this gory remake from director Zack Snyder.
"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" -- Written by Charlie Kaufman of "Adaptation" and "Being John Malkovich," the comedy stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet as two people who conclude that having the memories of their relationship erased is the only way they will be able to stay together. Why didn't I think of that? Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst, Tom Wilkinson and Mark Ruffalo co-star. Michel Gondry directs.
"Jersey Girl" -- Kevin Smith directs Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. Do you need to know more? OK. An out-of-work publicist living with his father gets an emotional boost from his new wife and her 6-year-old daughter. Liv Tyler, George Carlin and Jason Biggs co-star.
"Taking Lives" -- So much for Lara Croft. This time, Angelina Jolie plays an FBI profiler asked to help French Canadian police capture a serial killer who assumes the identity of each of his victims. Ethan Hawke and Kiefer Sutherland co-star. D.J. Caruso directs.
March 26
"The Ladykillers" -- Joel and Ethan Coen direct Tom Hanks. That should pull you through the turnstile. Hanks co-stars with Irma P. Hall and Marlon Wayans in a remake of the classy 1955 Alec Guinness-Peter Sellers comedy. A seemingly proper professor puts together a gang of supposed specialists to pull off a mighty heist. But first the crooks need to dig through the root cellar of a church-going elderly lady who proves
wilier than they are.
April 2
"Dogville" -- Lars von Trier directs Nicole Kidman, Harriet Andersson, Paul Bettany and Lauren Bacall in a 1930s-era drama artfully shot entirely in studio with a minimum of props. On the run from mobsters, Kidman's character hides out in an isolated town whose residents at first embrace her, with her agreeing to work for them. Complications arrise when the townies renege on the deal.
"Envy" -- Ben Stiller and Jack Black play neighbors and best buddies who undergo a nasty split when one begs out of a get-rich-quick scheme involving Vapoorizer, a spray that makes material such as dog manure vanish. Christopher Walken and Rachel Weisz co-star in the comedy. Barry Levinson directs.
"Home on the Range" -- Disney's animated musical comedy tells what happens when a bunch of farm animals band together to stop an outlaw from taking their farm. Roseanne Barr, Judi Dench and Jennifer Tilly voice the cows. Will Finn and John Sanford direct.
April 7
"Johnson Family Vacation" -- Cedric The Entertainer, Bow Wow, Vanessa Williams and Steve Harvey engage in a "National Lampoon"-like story about a bickering family whose members travel across the country to their annual unappealing family reunion in Missouri. Christopher Erskin directs.
April 9
"The Alamo" -- This film was supposed to come out last year. Guess the Texans and Davy Crockett's men held off Santa Ana longer than we recalled. Dennis Quaid plays Sam Houston, Jason Patric is Jim Bowie and Billy Bob Thornton has a go at Crockett. John Sayles co-wrote the script. John Lee Hancock directs.
April 16
"Connie & Carla" -- Nia Vardalos of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" stars with Toni Collette in what sounds like an odd homage to "Some Like It Hot." The two play Chicago dinner-theater performers who witness a mob hit, go on the lam to L.A., and reinvent themselves as drag queens. David Duchovny plays the stud muffin who complicates their lives. Michael Lembeck of "The Santa Clause 2" directs.
Odds are you are likely to see up to 105 new releases, most of which will be heavily hyped.
Whether it's a high-profile film such as "Shrek 2" or "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" or one with a big-name star such as Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry or up-and-comer Will Ferrell, something will catch your eye and make you want to pony up $9.50.
To help you pre-sort and plan ahead, here is a look at a cluster of films scheduled to come out in 2004.
Some do not yet have Bay Area release dates. Others are likely to open earlier or later than currently scheduled. Thus the caveat: All dates are subject to change.
2004 movie openings
Jan. 30
"The Big Bounce" -- Owen Wilson and Morgan Freeman take part in a caper comedy based on a novel by "Get Shorty" writer Elmore Leonard. Wilson plays a shady drifter who goes to Hawaii and gets involved with a conniving real estate developer, a slick judge and a beautiful woman who likes to break the law. Gary Sinise and Sara Foster co-star. George Armitage directs.
"The Perfect Score" -- Scarlett Johansson follows up "Lost in Translation" with an ensemble piece about stubborn high school students who decide to steal an SAT test because they want to decide their own fates. Or something like that. Erika Christensen gets top billing in a cast that also includes Chris Evans and Bryan Greenberg.
"You Got Served" -- Members of the top street-dancing crew in town must develop new moves and overcome personal rivalries to compete with another hotshot group that tells them, "This town ain't big enough for both of us." Marques Houston, Omarion and J Boog star. Christopher B. Stokes directs.
Feb. 6
"Barbershop 2: Back in Business" -- The old neighborhood barbershop has a close shave when a rival Happy Cutz franchise opens across the street. Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer and director Kevin Rooney return from the affable original. Queen Latifah adds her personality to the antics.
"Miracle" -- Kurt Russell portrays Herb Brooks, coach of the ungainly 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that scored the upset of upsets by defeating the
Russians. Patricia Clarkson and Noah Emmerich co-star. Gavin O'Connor directs.
Feb. 13
"50 First Dates" -- The comedy stars Drew Barrymore as a woman with no short-term memory and Adam Sandler as the guy who has to convince her each day that he's her boyfriend and that they're in love and lust. The trailer is very funny.
Feb. 20
"Against the Ropes" -- Originally scheduled for a 2003 release, this "fictionalized" biopic stars Meg Ryan as Jackie Kallen, the best female manager in boxing history. Omar Epps co-stars.
"Welcome to Mooseport" -- Handyman Ray Romano runs for mayor against former U.S. president Gene Hackman and tries to win the hand of Maura Tierney. Marcia Gay Harden co-stars in the comedy. Donald Petrie directs.
Feb. 25
"The Passion of the Christ" -- Director Mel Gibson relented and agreed to subtitle his controversial version of Christ's last hours, whose dialogue is done in Aramaic and Latin. Jim Caviezel of "Frequency" plays Jesus. Monica Bellucci is cast as Mary Magdalene.
Feb. 27
"Twisted" -- Philip Kaufman directs Ashley Judd, Samuel L. Jackson, Andy Garcia and David Strathairn in a suspense thriller about a detective investigating a series of murders where all of the victims turn out to be her old boyfriends. Turn and run if she starts coming on to you.
March 5
"Hidalgo" -- Once-legendary cowboy Viggo Mortensen takes his horse Hidalgo across the sea to take part in a 3,000-mile race across the Arabian desert in 1890. Based on a true the story, the adventure saga co-stars Omar Sharif. Joe Johnston directs.
"Starsky & Hutch" -- Based on the old TV series, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson star as the title characters, mismatched big-city cops. Given the stars, they must be playing it for laughs. Snoop Dogg takes over for Antonio Fargas, whose son now plays for the Raiders, as their informant Huggy Bear.
March 12
"Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London" -- Teenage CIA agent Frankie Muniz, a hit in the original, takes up the violin and goes undercover at a London music boarding school while trying to track down his turncoat former trainer. Anthony Anderson plays his new handler.
"Secret Window" -- Johnny Depp gets top billing in this adaptation of a Stephen King novel about a divorced author stalked by a psychotic stranger who accuses him of plagiarism. Maria Bello, Ving Rhames, Charles S. Dutton and John Turturro co-star. David Koepp of "Stir of Echoes" directs.
"Spartan" -- Career military officer Val Kilmer tries to find the missing daughter of a high-ranking government official. Of course, he runs into a white slavery ring and other unexpected complications. Derek Luke and William H. Macy co-star. David Mamet directs and wrote the screenplay.
March 19
"Dawn of the Dead" -- Ving Rhames and Sarah Polley try to hold off the flesh-eating undead -- don't we all? -- in this gory remake from director Zack Snyder.
"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" -- Written by Charlie Kaufman of "Adaptation" and "Being John Malkovich," the comedy stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet as two people who conclude that having the memories of their relationship erased is the only way they will be able to stay together. Why didn't I think of that? Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst, Tom Wilkinson and Mark Ruffalo co-star. Michel Gondry directs.
"Jersey Girl" -- Kevin Smith directs Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. Do you need to know more? OK. An out-of-work publicist living with his father gets an emotional boost from his new wife and her 6-year-old daughter. Liv Tyler, George Carlin and Jason Biggs co-star.
"Taking Lives" -- So much for Lara Croft. This time, Angelina Jolie plays an FBI profiler asked to help French Canadian police capture a serial killer who assumes the identity of each of his victims. Ethan Hawke and Kiefer Sutherland co-star. D.J. Caruso directs.
March 26
"The Ladykillers" -- Joel and Ethan Coen direct Tom Hanks. That should pull you through the turnstile. Hanks co-stars with Irma P. Hall and Marlon Wayans in a remake of the classy 1955 Alec Guinness-Peter Sellers comedy. A seemingly proper professor puts together a gang of supposed specialists to pull off a mighty heist. But first the crooks need to dig through the root cellar of a church-going elderly lady who proves
wilier than they are.
April 2
"Dogville" -- Lars von Trier directs Nicole Kidman, Harriet Andersson, Paul Bettany and Lauren Bacall in a 1930s-era drama artfully shot entirely in studio with a minimum of props. On the run from mobsters, Kidman's character hides out in an isolated town whose residents at first embrace her, with her agreeing to work for them. Complications arrise when the townies renege on the deal.
"Envy" -- Ben Stiller and Jack Black play neighbors and best buddies who undergo a nasty split when one begs out of a get-rich-quick scheme involving Vapoorizer, a spray that makes material such as dog manure vanish. Christopher Walken and Rachel Weisz co-star in the comedy. Barry Levinson directs.
"Home on the Range" -- Disney's animated musical comedy tells what happens when a bunch of farm animals band together to stop an outlaw from taking their farm. Roseanne Barr, Judi Dench and Jennifer Tilly voice the cows. Will Finn and John Sanford direct.
April 7
"Johnson Family Vacation" -- Cedric The Entertainer, Bow Wow, Vanessa Williams and Steve Harvey engage in a "National Lampoon"-like story about a bickering family whose members travel across the country to their annual unappealing family reunion in Missouri. Christopher Erskin directs.
April 9
"The Alamo" -- This film was supposed to come out last year. Guess the Texans and Davy Crockett's men held off Santa Ana longer than we recalled. Dennis Quaid plays Sam Houston, Jason Patric is Jim Bowie and Billy Bob Thornton has a go at Crockett. John Sayles co-wrote the script. John Lee Hancock directs.
April 16
"Connie & Carla" -- Nia Vardalos of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" stars with Toni Collette in what sounds like an odd homage to "Some Like It Hot." The two play Chicago dinner-theater performers who witness a mob hit, go on the lam to L.A., and reinvent themselves as drag queens. David Duchovny plays the stud muffin who complicates their lives. Michael Lembeck of "The Santa Clause 2" directs.
) and because it looks interesting and Harry Potter of course.
But.. I could be wrong.:shrug:
