All the King's Men (Dec. 16)
An adaptation AND a cast loaded with stars right here — they're really reaching for the heights of holiday season glory. Writer/director Steven Zaillian has a rather super hit (see Schindler's List; he wrote the script) and near miss (Hannibal, same... ouch), but as a director, he may not have the experience. This one is a big question mark, and an ambitious undertaking. Will Sean Penn overact? Will the direction and writing be too heavy? There's a lot of potential here for the story of Willie Stark to hit the big screen in the modern world, but there are also a lot of opportunities for this to go wrong. This could be the Cold Mountain for 2005 — loved by some, ignored by the rest.
Fun with Dick and Jane (Dec. 21)
Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni star in this update of the 1977 original with George Segal and Jane Fonda. The story? A struggling couple finds a creative solution to handling their debt — armed robbery. Well, it might be creative if it weren't yet another remake... didn't you guys pay any attention to the box office take on Bewitched?
Memoirs of a Geisha (Dec. 23)
I would really like to be excited about this film, based on the novel by Arthur Golden. I adore the book, after all, and I like Rob Marshall (of Chicago) as director for this better than Spielberg, who originally showed interest — but I'd rather it not have been made at all. A lot of concessions have been made to tone down the culture aspects of the film, for various reasons. Traditional makeup is not used as it seemed "creepy" on film. Traditional geisha hairstyles were not used, because the process of waxing the hair is too arduous, and wigs imitating geisha hairstyles can weigh as much as sixty pounds, so there was no solution there. Worse yet, as much as I adore Zhang Ziyi, this is her first major role in English and it shows in the voiceover narration in the trailer. The film is also seriously lacking in Japanese actors; none of the three main female characters are played by Japanese actresses. The one thing that convinces me that I have to see it anyway is that rumor points toward this being the performance of Michelle Yeoh's career, and she does seem well cast as the graceful and wise Mameha, the geisha who shepherds Zhang's Sayuri.
Article comments
1 - Sterfish
Great preview. There are really more films I am looking forward to this holiday season then there were during the summer. The only one I am definitely seeing is Harry Potter, but I hope to catch Chicken Little, King Kong, and The Producers. Even though I saw (and for the most part enjoyed) Rent when it was touring, I don't think the film will be very good.
2 - ss
Heavenly Creatures was great, and, judging by the trailers I've seen so far, I'm going to see King Kong based on the way the guy who made Heavenly Creatures has envisioned Skull Island.
I have to say, though, my feel for the audience right now is people want 5 things:
1) Old jokes with a new spin
2) New faces
3) Action based special effects that suprise them (the way Twister and Jurassic Park did), or a story that suprises (the way Pulp Fiction and Silence of the Lambs did.)
Basicly just about any suprise EXCEPT the visual artistry of the back drop setting
4) A hot 20 yr old nibblet and the guy from American Pie and/or Jackass
5) Cheaper tickets and a ride to the theater.
I'm not sure Jack Black and the CGI I saw in the trailer can deliver in the suprises/new faces dept's, though if Jackson's got a nymph and some old jokes up his sleeve, this may still turn out to be J.B.'s big break yet.
3 - LegendaryMonkey
I hope so... I was VERY excited to see Jack Black cast in the role of the director. He's incredibly talented and I hope this helps him to branch out a little.
4 - Joanie
Will Sean Penn overact? I've been laughing for hours over that one.
And, there's absolutely no way that a new version of The Producers can be better than the original.
5 - LegendaryMonkey
Well, y'know, Joanie... he does have that habit. I was a non-fan of Mystic River for a couple of reasons (I mean, it was okay....) because, damn, Sean Penn can just really... overdo it.
I am ellipsis girl! Rawr!
About The Producers, no, of course not. But people have been pissing themselves over the new Broadway show for the last several years so you KNOW this one is going to be popular.
6 - DJRadiohead
LM, Jack Black? Incredibly Talented? wincing Wow. OK. He will be the reason my wife has to watch King Kong with her twin sister instead of me.
I liked the novel too much to spoil it watching the movie. Sean Penn. Rubbish.
Harry Potter has me pumped. I want to see Shopgirl because I love Steve Martin. I liked "The Corpse Bride." I think that's about it.
7 - LegendaryMonkey
Awwwww... the DJ is hating on Jack Black. We'll just have to agree to disagree, because I love me some Jack Black. Especially High Fidelity.
I love Harry Potter. I would also like to see Shopgirl for the same reason, but will probably wait for video. Same for Corpse Bride. It takes something pretty momentous to get me out to the theater. This is probably because my husband splurged before we were married and we have one of those ridiculous televisions. ;)
8 - DJRadiohead
Yeah, we'll leave the JackBlack talk alone.
I probably will only go to the theater twice more this year. Seeing Harry Potter twice. The theater experience has become nearly intolerable for me so I have to REALLY want to see the movie. Otherwise, I wait for DVD.
My wife hasn't consented to the ridiculous TV but we have a pretty solid sound system...
9 - LegendaryMonkey
Hubby had one... but we had to sell it when we moved in together. Large floor speakers + cats = bad.
They're on our list of things to replace. We're going to get some wall mounts.
10 - DJRadiohead
The kids (our cats) think it's great fun to knock my speakers off their stands. They don't do it real often but you can practically see the smile on their faces when their goal is achieved.
The problem is living in an apartment I can't really let my system loose (although if I get woken up one more time by Kanye West or Wu-Tang by our neighbors I might revisit this....).
11 - LegendaryMonkey
Ohhhh, I can't tell you how happy I was to move out of an apartment and into a house for just that reason.
Maybe you can have a movie vs. Kanye West speaker fight some night, though. Comedy. Gold.