Will they play? That's your call

L.A. Times Archives

Nov. 6, 2005 12 AM PT

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Wednesday

Get Rich or Die Tryin’

Drama

Paramount Pictures

With: Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Terrence Howard, Joy Bryant, Bill Duke, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Omar Benson Miller, Viola Davis

The idea: A story based on the rapper’s life about an orphaned street kid who leaves behind the drug trade to pursue a career in music.

Writer: Terence Winter

Director: Jim Sheridan

* So? Great expectations

Friday

Ballets Russes

Documentary

Zeitgeist Films

With: Narrator Marian Seldes

The idea: The company formed by Sergei Diaghilev in 1909 endured through many incarnations to influence dance around the world.

Directors: Dayna Goldfine & Dan Geller

* So? Leap of faith

Bee Season

Drama

Fox Searchlight

With: Richard Gere, Juliette Binoche, Flora Cross, Max Minghella and Kate Bosworth

The idea: An unexpected win in a spelling bee thrusts a young girl into a national competition that upsets her family’s delicate equilibrium.

Writer: Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal, based on the novel by Myla Goldberg

Directors: Scott McGehee & David Siegel

* So? Stung

The Chumscrubber

Comedy-drama

Picturehouse Films

With: Jamie Bell, Camilla Belle, Justin Chatwin, Glenn Close, Rory Culkin, William Fichtner, Ralph Fiennes, John Heard, Lauren Holly, Allison Janney, Rita Wilson

The idea: A teen’s discovery of his only friend’s suicide and the town mayor’s life crisis cracks the facade of a deceptively idyllic suburb.

Writer: Zac Stanford

Director: Arie Posin

* So? Familiarity breeds ...

Derailed

Thriller

The Weinstein Co.

With: Clive Owen, Jennifer Aniston, Melissa George, Vincent Cassel, RZA, Xzibit

The idea: The affair of a Chicago ad exec and his lover goes terribly wrong when the married-to-someone-else pair is held at gunpoint.

Writer: Stuart Beattie, based on the novel by James Siegel

Director: Mikael Hafstrom

* So? The meaning of risk

Ellie Parker

Comedy

Strand Releasing

With: Naomi Watts, Rebecca Rigg, Mark Pellegrino, Scott Coffey, Chevy Chase

The idea: A struggling actress leads a screwy, whirlwind life of auditions and rejections.

Writer-director: Coffey

* So? Attractively lightweight

Sarah Silverman:

Jesus is Magic

Comedy

Roadside Attractions

With: Sarah Silverman, Bob Odenkirk, Brian Posehn

The idea: The subversive comedian in a performance based on her off-Broadway show.

Writer: Silverman

Director: Liam Lynch

* So? Irony is alive and flourishing

Shoujyo

Drama

Indican Pictures

With: Mayu Ozawa, Eiji Okuda

The idea: A teenage girl holds an intense passion for a policeman.

Writers: Katsuhiko Manabe, Izuru Narushima, based on a short story by Mikihiko Renjo

Director: Eiji Okuda

* So? Irresistibly taboo

Waging a Living

Documentary

Public Policy Productions

The idea: The struggles of the working poor are captured as they labor at full-time jobs but still find themselves below the federal poverty level.

Director: Roger Weisberg

* So? Reality bites

A Wake in Providence

Comedy

Indican Pictures

With: Vincent Pagano, Victoria Rowell, Adrienne Barbeau, Lisa Raggio

The idea: An Italian American actor living in California returns home to Rhode Island for his grandfather’s funeral with his African American girlfriend as a reluctant surprise for his family.

Writers: Billy Van Zandt & Jane Milmore and Vincent Pagano & Michael Pagano

Director: Rosario Roveto Jr.

* So? Sendup versus stereotypes

Zathura:

A Space Adventure

Adventure

Columbia Pictures

With: Josh Hutcherson, Jonah Bobo, Dax Shepard, Kristen Stewart and Tim Robbins

The idea: Playing a game they find in their basement, two brothers are launched into deep space.

Writers: David Koepp & John Kamps, based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg

Director: Jon Favreau

* So? Surprise package

Nov. 18

Before the Fall

Drama

Picture This! Entertainment

With: Max Riemelt, Tom Schilling, Devid Striesow, Joachim Bissmeier, Justus von Dohnanyi

The idea: A young German boxer is recruited by the Nazis but risks all to avenge a friend.

Writers: Dennis Gansel, Maggie Peren

Director: Gansel

* So? “School Ties” that bind

Gay Sex in the 70s

Documentary

Self-distributed

The idea: From the Stonewall riots in 1969 to the first reported AIDS cases in 1981, gay culture enjoyed an unprecedented period of sexual freedom.

Director: Joseph Lovett

* So? Pursuit of liberty

Harry Potter

and the Goblet of Fire

Adventure

Warner Bros.

With: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Brendan Gleeson, Jason Isaacs, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall

The idea: The fourth entry finds Harry surprisingly selected to take part in a wizarding tournament; he must also land a date for Hogwarts’ Yule Ball dance.

Writer: Steve Kloves, based on the novel by J.K. Rowling

Director: Mike Newell

* So? The magic of adolescence

One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of

George McGovern

Documentary

First Run Features

With: McGovern, Gore Vidal, Gloria Steinem, Warren Beatty, Howard Zinn and music from Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, Donovan and Elvis Costello; narrator Amy Goodman

The idea: A reassessment of the candidate’s 1972 presidential campaign, in which he was trounced by incumbent Richard M. Nixon.

Writer-director: Stephen Vittoria

* So? Sobering

Pulse

Horror

Magnolia Pictures

With: Koyuki, Haruhiko Kato, Kumiko Aso, Koji Yakusho

The idea: Web cam-inspired suicides and eerie occurrences mount among a group of Tokyo teens.

Writer-director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

* So? Internet paranoia

Three of Hearts:

A Postmodern Family

Documentary

ThinkFilm

The idea: The gay son of a Mafia hit man and his male partner bring a woman into the relationship and have a baby.

Director: Susan Kaplan

* So? Four’s company

Walk the Line

Drama

20th Century Fox

With: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick, Dallas Roberts

The idea: Young Johnny Cash emerges from the 1950s Memphis rock ‘n’ roll scene to become the Man in Black.

Writers: Gill Dennis & James Mangold, based on “The Man in Black” by Johnny Cash and “Cash: An Autobiography” by Cash and Patrick Carr

Director: Mangold

* So? “... it burns, burns,

burns ...”

Nov. 23

In the Mix

Comedy

Lions Gate Films

With: Usher, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Chazz Palminteri

The idea: An ultra-hot New York DJ gets a little too cozy with a Mafia chieftain’s daughter.

Writers: Jacqueline Zambrano, story by Chanel Capra and Cara Dellaverson & Brian Rubenstein

Director: Ron Underwood

* So? Tricky dance

Just Friends

Comedy

New Line Cinema

With: Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris, Amy Smart and Chris Klein

The idea: An ex-nerd turned hip music executive bumps into the high school crush whose rejection transformed him into an unrepentant lothario.

Writer: Adam Davis

Director: Roger Kumble

* So? Emotional baggage intrudes

The Libertine

Drama

The Weinstein Co.

With: Johnny Depp, Samantha Morton, John Malkovich, Rosamund Pike, Kelly Reilly, Tom Hollander, Johnny Vegas, Jack Davenport and Francesca Annis

The idea: Restoration-period tale charts the rise and fall of the Earl of Rochester, a bacchanalian confidant of King Charles II.

Writer: Stephen Jeffreys, based on his stage play

Director: Laurence Dunmore

* So? Debauchery with Depp

Rent

Musical

Columbia Pictures

With: Rosario Dawson, Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Jesse L. Martin, Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Tracie Thoms

The idea: The popular “La Boheme”-inspired rock opera about starving East Village artists makes it to the screen with most of the original cast.

Writer-director: Chris Columbus, based on the stage musical by Jonathan Larson

* So? Seasons greetings

Streets of Legend

Action

Lions Gate Films/Sonini Films

With: Brihanna Hernandez, Robert Beaumont, Victor Larios

The idea: Southern California is the setting for a tale of rivalry, love and war among the illegal car racing set.

Writer-director: Joey Curtis

* So? Not so fast

Syriana

Thriller

Warner Bros.

With: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson, Amanda Peet, Christopher Plummer, Alexander Siddig, Mazhar Munir

The idea: High-stakes game of truth or consequences within the international workings surrounding the oil industry.

Writer-director: Stephen Gaghan, suggested by the book “See No Evil” by Robert Baer

* So? What lies beneath

Yours, Mine and Ours

Comedy

Paramount Pictures

With: Dennis Quaid, Rene Russo, Rip Torn, Linda Hunt, Drake Bell, Miranda Cosgrove, L’il JJ, Katija Pevec, Miki Ishikawa

The idea: Two single parents attempt to merge their respective families, totaling 18 kids.

Writers: Bob Hilgenberg & Rob Muir and Ron Burch & David Kidd, based on the 1968 movie, screenplay by Melville Shavelson and Mort Lachman, story by Madelyn Davis and Bob Carroll Jr.

Director: Raja Gosnell

* So? Theirs is not to reason

why ...

Nov. 25

Down to the Bone

Drama

Laemmle Zeller Films

With: Vera Farmiga, Hugh Dillon, Clint Jordan

The idea: A married mother of two enters rehab to kick her cocaine habit.

Writers: Debra Granik, Richard Lieske

Director: Granik

* So? Reflective

Dec. 2

First Descent

Documentary

Universal Pictures

With: Shawn Farmer, Nick Perata, Terje Haakonsen, Shaun White, Hannah Teter

The idea: The rise of snowboarding in the ‘80s and ‘90s is chronicled as five pioneers head to Alaska for a big mountain challenge.

Writer: Kevin Harrison

Directors: Harrison, Kemp Curley

* So? Steep, swift

The Kid & I

Comedy

The Kid & I Productions

With: Tom Arnold, Linda Hamilton, Henry Winkler, Joe Mantegna, Shannon Elizabeth, Eric Gores

The idea: A down-on-his luck actor is surprisingly asked to write a sequel to a long-ago action flick only to discover his new costar is a rich kid with no acting experience.

Writer: Tom Arnold

Director: Penelope Spheeris

* So? We’re open-minded

Mrs. Palfrey

at the Claremont

Drama

Cineville/Picture Entertainment

With: Joan Plowright, Rupert Friend, Lorcan O’Toole, Clare Higgins

The idea: Ignored by her family, an elderly Scottish widow in London strikes up an unusual friendship with a young writer.

Writer: Ruth Sacks, from the novel by Elizabeth Atwell Taylor

Director: Dan Ireland

* So? No, it’s not romantic

39 Pounds of Love

Documentary

Balcony Releasing

With: Ami Ankilewitz

The idea: Stricken by a rare form of muscular dystrophy, a diminutive man works in Israel as a 3-D animator -- using just one finger.

Director: Dani Menkin

* So? Power of one

Transamerica

Comedy-drama

The Weinstein Co.

With: Felicity Huffman, Kevin Zegers and Elizabeth Pena

The idea: A pre-op L.A. transsexual discovers s/he has a teenage son who’s been arrested and heads to New York to spring him.

Writer-director: Duncan Tucker

* So? “Desperate Housewives” it isn’t

Dec. 9

Brokeback Mountain

Drama

Focus Features

With: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Linda Cardellini, Anna Faris, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams, Randy Quaid

The idea: Itinerant ranch hands meet in 1963 Wyoming and form a lifelong bond.

Writers: Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana, based on the short story by Annie Proulx

Director: Ang Lee

* So? Nothing gay about 1963

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch

and the Wardrobe

Adventure

Walt Disney Pictures

With: Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy, Rupert Everett, Jim Broadbent, Ray Winstone, Dawn French

The idea: Four English siblings enter a magical land inhabited by talking beasts, dwarfs, fauns, centaurs and giants through the back of a closet.

Writers: Anne Peacock and Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeeley, based on the book by C.S. Lewis.

Director: Adamson

* So? Odds in its favor

Ek Ajnabee

Action thriller

G.S. Entertainment

With: Amitabh Bachchan, Arjun Rampal, Perizaad Zorabian and Vikram Chatwal.

The idea: A loner finds salvation in protecting a little girl.

Director: Apoorva Lakhia

* So? Bollywood intensity

Marebito

Horror

Tartan Films USA

With: Shinya Tsukamoto

The idea: Searching for the essence of fear, a Tokyo cameraman stumbles upon a beautiful woman chained to a rock who is not what she appears to be.

Writer: Chiaki Konaka

Director: Takashi Shimizu

* So? Nonessential

Memoirs of a Geisha

Drama

Columbia Pictures

With: Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh, Koji Yakusho, Youki Kudoh, Gong Li

The idea: A Japanese girl taken from her family and raised to be a professional escort reaches great heights but is haunted by the one man she cannot have.

Writers: Robin Swicord and Doug Wright, based on the book by Arthur Golden

Director: Rob Marshall

* So? The allure of the unattainable

Moonlight

Romance thriller

Indican Pictures

With: Laurien Van den Broeck, Hunter Bussemaker, Andrew Howard, Jemma Redgrave

The idea: A wealthy teenage Dutch girl discovers a wounded boy her own age, an Afghani drug courier, and keeps his existence a secret from her parents.

Writer: Carel Donck

Director: Paula van der Oest

* So? As improbable as it was three years ago

Mrs. Henderson Presents

Comedy-drama

The Weinstein Co.

With: Judi Dench, Bob Hoskins, Kelly Reilly, Will Young, Christopher Guest

The idea: In pre-World War II London, a society woman strives to find an audience for the nude musical revue she produces.

Writer: Martin Sherman

Director: Stephen Frears

* So? Dench in high gear

The World’s

Fastest Indian

Adventure

Magnolia Pictures

With: Anthony Hopkins, Diane Ladd, Aaron Murphy, Paul Rodriguez, Annie White, Chris Williams, Chris Lawford

The idea: New Zealand motorcyclist Burt Munro rebuilds a 1920 cycle and takes it to Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats to break the land speed record -- at age 72.

Writer-director: Roger Donaldson

* So? Odd but true

Dec. 14

King Kong

Adventure

Universal Pictures

With: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Colin Hanks, Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis

The idea: Remake of the 1933 classic about a gigantic ape running amok on Skull Island.

Writers: Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson, based on the story by Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace

Director: Jackson

* So? The ape that saved Hollywood

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

Drama

Sony Pictures Classics

With: Tommy Lee Jones, Barry Pepper, Julio Cesar Cedillo, Dwight Yoakam, January Jones, Melissa Leo, Levon Helm, Mel Rodriguez, Cecilia Suarez, Ignacio Guadalupe, Vanessa Bauche

The idea: North of the Rio Grande, a Texas ranch hand seeks justice after his friend is killed by a rookie border patrol officer.

Writer: Guillermo Arriaga

Director: Jones

* So? Justice is served

Dec. 16

Be Here to Love Me:

A Film About

Townes Van Zandt

Documentary

Palm Pictures

With: Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Steve Earle, Steve Shelley, Lyle Lovett, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson

The idea: The late, highly influential Texas singer-songwriter is profiled.

Director: Margaret Brown

* So? Required viewing

Cape of Good Hope

Drama

Artistic License

With: Debbie Brown, Eriq Ebouaney, Nthati Moshesh, Morne Visser

The idea: Lives of six South Africans intersect at an animal shelter.

Writers: Mark Bamford, Suzanne Kay

Director: Bamford

* So? Shelter from life

Electric Shadows

Drama

First Run Features

With: Xia Yu, Jiang Yihong, Li Haibin, Guan Xiaotong, Zhang Yijing, Qi Zhongyang, Wang Zhengjia, Zhang Haoqi, Jiang Shan, Ge Yaming, Niu Zhenhua, Liu Yang, Xia Yuqing, Zhao Jinbao

The idea: A movie-crazy girl comes of age in a rural Chinese town during the cultural revolution.

Writers: Xiao Jiang, Cheng Qingsong

Director: Xiao Jiang

* So? Cinemanic

Dec. 21

Cheaper by the Dozen 2

Comedy

20th Century Fox

With: Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Hilary Duff, Tom Welling, Piper Perabo, Eugene Levy, Carmen Electra

The idea: The Baker family’s summer retreat at Lake Winnetka heats up when it becomes embroiled in an intense, competitive rivalry with another large family.

Writer: Sam Harper

Director: Adam Shankman

* So? Family feud

The White Countess

Drama

Sony Pictures Classics

With: Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave

The idea: A blind U.S. diplomat in 1930s Shanghai encounters a Russian refugee working odd jobs to support her late husband’s formerly aristocratic family.

Writer: Kazuo Ishiguro

Director: James Ivory

* So? Faded glory

Dec. 23

Hidden

Thriller

Sony Pictures Classics

With: Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche

The idea: A French TV talk show host’s marriage begins to crumble when he receives unsettling videotapes from an anonymous sender.

Writer-director: Michael Haneke

* So? Erosion of trust

The Matador

Comedy-thriller

The Weinstein Co.

With: Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis, Philip Baker Hall, Dylan Baker, Adam Scott

The idea: A traveling salesman’s encounter with a hit man in Mexico City leads to an unlikely relationship.

Writer-director: Richard E. Shepard

* So? Unconventionally effective

Munich

Thriller

Universal Pictures

With: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Geoffrey Rush, Mathieu Kassovitz, Hanns Zischler, Ciaran Hinds

The idea: A secret Israeli squad is assigned to track down and kill those responsible for the 1972 attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics.

Writer: Tony Kushner

Director: Steven Spielberg

* So? Hearts of darkness

The Ringer

Comedy

Fox Searchlight

With: Johnny Knoxville, Brian Cox, Katherine Heigl

The idea: A man tired of losing the corporate rat race sinks to faking his way into the Special Olympics, where he gets creamed but learns valuable lessons from his competitors.

Writer: Ricky Blitt

Director: Barry W. Blaustein

* So? Balancing act

Dec. 25

Casanova

Comedy

Touchstone Pictures

With: Heath Ledger, Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons, Oliver Platt, Lena Olin

The idea: The legendary ladies’ man encounters a unique obstacle: a woman who refuses his attentions.

Writers: Jeffrey Hatcher and Kimberly Simi; story by Simi and Michael Cristofer

Director: Lasse Hallstrom

* So? Luck and pluck