A bounty of buzz-heavy, star-studded new releases will kick off the countdown to Christmas this year, promising something different and special each day of the week.
The holiday movie bonanza commences Tuesday with the limited release of Sony’s “Girl, Interrupted.” Adapted from Susanna Kaysen’s critically acclaimed memoir, the film stars Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie as two iconoclastic young women confined to a mental institution.
Lifting the box office spirit Wednesday are three wildly anticipated films of different ilk. Taking care of the laugh department is director Milos Forman‘s “Man on the Moon,” where funnyman Jim Carrey plays funnyman Andy Kaufman.
For those lamenting the absence of televised sports programming on Christmas, there’s Oliver Stone‘s adrenaline-racing, testosterone-pumping “Any Given Sunday,” a homage to the gritty underside of football starring Al Pacino, Dennis Quaid and Cameron Diaz.
And for the romantically inclined, check out “Snow Falling on Cedars,” an entangled tale of past love and lingering emotion set in the Pacific Northwest starring Ethan Hawke and directed by Scott Hicks (“Shine“).
Christmas Day will see two new wide releases: DreamWorks’ family friendly comedy “Galaxy Quest” with Tim Allen playing a passe TV actor enlisted to fight aliens in real life and Paramount’s much-lauded “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” In the Patricia Highsmith adaptation, Matt Damon plays a gay man hired to track down wayward playboy Jude Law in Italy and ends up assuming his life.
The big names don’t stop there, though. Making their debut in limited engagements are three potential award winners and potential hits for the year 2000. They are Paramount’s “Angela’s Ashes,” Buena Vista’s buddy boxing flick “Play It to the Bone” with Antonio Banderas and Woody Harrelson and Fox Searhlight’s ensemble drama “Titus” starring Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange.
Here’s a complete list of this week’s releases.
Opening Tuesday, Dec. 21
Limited Release
“Girl, Interrupted” (Sony) — “Copland” director James Mangold adapts Susanna Kaysen’s best-selling autobiographical novel to the big screen. Based on the author’s brief confinement to a psychiatric ward during her teens, the film follows the troubled detainee portrayed by Winona Ryder as the line between sanity and madness disintegrates. Angelina Jolie co-stars as a fellow patient.
Opening Wednesday, Dec. 22
Wide Release
“Any Given Sunday” (Warners) — Al Pacino plays a head football coach facing the worst season of his career. With record losses and plunging attendance, his future with the Miami Sharks is further jeopardized by the injury of his aging star quarterback played by Dennis Quaid. Under pressure to win at any cost, the veteran struggles to maintain his integrity on and off the sidelines.
“Man on the Moon” — (Universal) “The People vs. Larry Flynt” director Milos Forman returns with a biopic on late comedian Andy Kaufman, best known for his role in “Taxi.” Jim Carrey stars as the versatile comedian as the film traces various stages in Kaufman‘s career. Danny DeVito co-stars as his longtime manager, and Courtney Love plays his girlfriend.
“Snow Falling on Cedars” (Universal) — “Shine” director Scott Hicks returns with a tale of intrigue and love set in 1954 on an island in the Pacific Northwest. Ethan Hawke stars as a reporter assigned to cover the trial of a Japanese man accused of the murder of a local fisherman. Youki Kudoh co-stars as Hawke‘s childhood flame and the wife of the accused (Rick Yune). Based on the best seller by David Guterson.
Expanded Release
“Onegin” (Samuel Goldwyn) — Set in 1820s Russia, Ralph Fiennes stars as a dashing aristocrat who’s brought to the countryside through his inheritance of a large estate. There, he acquaints a doting young woman (Liv Tyler) whose love he refuses. Six years later, the two meet again on vastly different terms — he’s fallen obsessively in love with Tyler while she’s comfortably married to another man.
“42 Up” (First Run) — In 1964, filmmaker Michael Apted began his marathon documentary series about the lives of a group of 7-year-olds in England, each from radically different socioeconomic backgrounds. Since then, the director has continued to chronicle the ups and downs of his subjects at 7-year intervals. The sixth installment is the latest update on these people at the crossroad of the big 42.
Opening Friday, Dec. 24
Limited Release
“Pink Narcissus” (Strand) — First released in 1971, this erotic phantasmagoria returns to the screen with all its campy outrageousness intact. The cult classic follows a beautiful young man, played by Bobby Kendall, as he journeys through a series of sexual fantasies with total abandon. Throughout the experience, the youth is plagued by one great fear — growing old and losing his looks.
Opening Saturday, Dec. 25
Wide Release
“Galaxy Quest” (DreamWorks) — Tim Allen plays an over-the-hill television star in this spaced out comedy. He finds himself responsible for the fate of the planet when too-eager aliens mistake the erstwhile actor and his peers as the “Captain Peter Quincy Taggart” starship crew. Now the reluctant actors must go into space for an intergalactic showdown. Sigourney Weaver co-stars.
“The Talented Mr. Ripley” (Paramount) — Based on the acclaimed novel by Patricia Highsmith, Matt Damon stars as the gay, chameleon-like Tom Ripley, who is commissioned to retrieve an errant playboy (Jude Law) from Italy. The simple errand turns deadly as Damon develops an unhealthy obsession with the expatriate and his girlfriend (Gwyneth Paltrow).”The English Patient” director Anthony Minghella writes and directs.
Limited Release
“Angela’s Ashes” (Paramount) — Adapted from Frank McCourt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, this film is a heartwarming document of the author’s childhood in Ireland during the 1930s and ’40s. Emily Watson (“Hilary & Jackie“) and Robert Carlyle (“The Full Monty“) co-star as Frank’s working class parents. Directed by Alan Parker.
“Play It to the Bone” (Buena Vista) — Out-of-work boxing rivals and friends (Woody Harrelson and Antonio Banderas) get the chance of a lifetime to work together in Las Vegas. Strapped for time, they hit the road with their friend (Lolita Davidovich) at the wheel. A riotous road trip ensues as the boxers scramble to make it to their big showdown.
“Titus” (Fox Searchlight) — In this epic tale of revenge, Anthony Hopkins stars as Titus Andonicus, the Roman general who sows the seeds of vengeance when he executes the son of the enemy queen, played by Jessica Lange. The repercussions of his action are revealed when the vindictive woman becomes the new wife of the Roman emperor. Alan Cumming co-stars.
Expanded Release
“The Cider House Rules” (Miramax) — Directed by Lasse Hallstrom (“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape“) and adapted from John Irving‘s best-selling novel, this coming-of-age story casts Tobey Maguire as a young man who has spent his entire youth in an orphanage. Hungry for experience, he sets out to explore the world outside. Charlize Theron, Paul Rudd and Michael Caine co-star.
“Cradle Will Rock” (Buena Vista) — Based on true events in the cultural and art scenes of 1930s New York City, this film follows various cultural workers — including Mexican artist Diego Rivera, theater director Orson Welles and propagandist Margherita Sarfatti — as they defend their artistic expressions in the face of political paranoia and government censorship. John Cusack, Bill Murray and Susan Sarandon co-star.
“Tumbleweeds” (Fine Line) — Leaving an abusive boyfriend behind, single mother Janet McTeer and daughter Kimberly J. Brown head for the sunny suburbs of San Diego to start anew. Once again, McTeer swif ly enters into a destructive relationship and is tempted to look for an easy way out. However, her headstrong daughter, tired of her rootless existence, refuses to abandon her newly established life.
