Wrapped with care
Nov. 19
Bear Cub
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Nov. 21, 2004 For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday November 16, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 78 words Type of Material: Correction
Film sneaks -- In the Sneaks in Sunday’s Calendar section, “Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera,” listed as opening Dec. 25, actually opens Dec. 22. “In Good Company,” “A Love Song for Bobby Long” and “The Merchant of Venice” were listed as opening Dec. 25. All three films open Dec. 29. Also, Anne Bancroft was incorrectly included in the cast of James L. Brooks’ “Spanglish.” The film stars Adam Sandler, Tea Leoni, Paz Vega and Cloris Leachman.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday November 21, 2004 Home Edition Sunday Calendar Part E Page 2 Calendar Desk 1 inches; 51 words Type of Material: Correction
Release dates -- The Holiday Sneaks list last Sunday said “Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera” opened Dec. 25. It opens Dec. 22. “In Good Company,” “A Love Song for Bobby Long” and “The Merchant of Venice” were incorrectly listed as opening Dec. 25. All three films open Dec. 29.
Drama
TLA Releasing
With: Jose Luis Garcia-Perez, David Castillo, Arno Chevrier, Mario Arias, Empar Ferrer
The idea: A gay dentist scales back his lifestyle when he finds himself raising his 9-year-old nephew.
Writers: Miguel Albaladejo, Salvador Garcia
Director: Miguel Albaladejo
* So? Papa bear’s got a brand new charge.
Broken Bridges
Drama
International Home Cinema
With: Peter Reckell, Rebeccah Bush, Fatima Ibragimbekov, Behrouz Vossoughi
The idea: An American filmmaker travels to Moscow to make a documentary about the plight of his Azerbaijani parents.
Writer: Rustam Ibragimbekov
Director: Rafigh Pooya
* So? Ibragimbekov wrote the Russian “Burnt by the Sun,” an Oscar winner.
Moolaade
Drama
New Yorker Films
With: Fatoumata Coulibaly, Maimouna Helene Diarra, Salimata Traore, Dominique T. Zeida, Mah Campaore, Aminata Dao
The idea: Four young African girls seek sanctuary from ritual “purification” in the home of a strong-willed woman who protected her own daughter.
Writer-director: Ousmane Sembene
* So? Sembene (“Faat Kine”) is the dean of African filmmakers.
National Treasure
Action-adventure
Touchstone Pictures
With: Nicolas Cage, Harvey Keitel, Jon Voight, Diane Kruger, Sean Bean, Justin Bartha, Christopher Plummer
The idea: An adventurer unravels clues in a 2,000-year-old mystery involving an invisible map on the back of the Declaration of Independence.
Writers: Jim Kouf and Cormac Wibberley & Marianne Wibberley, story by Kouf and Oren Aviv & Charles Segars
Director: Jon Turtletaub
* So? Secrets make Skull and Bones look like Chutes and Ladders.
Overnight
Documentary
ThinkFilm
With: Troy Duffy
The idea: “Boondock Saints” director goes from Boston bartender to indie auteur then back to obscurity.
Directors: Mark Brian Smith, Tony Montana
* So? The Sundunce Kid.
A Silent Love
Drama-comedy
Atopia
With: Noel Burton, Vanessa Bauche, and Susana Salazar
The idea: A shy, middle-aged teacher from Montreal meets and marries a beautiful, impulsive Mexican woman through an Internet agency.
Writer-director: Federico Hidalgo.
* So? Google love.
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
Animated
Paramount Pictures
With: The voices of Alec Baldwin, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Mary Jo Catlett, Bill Fagerbakke, David Hasselhoff, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Kenny, Carolyn Lawrence, Mr. Lawrence, Jill Talley, Jeffrey Tambor
The idea: The poriferous lad with the four-corner trousers and his pals from Bikini Bottom venture onto the big screen.
Writers: Stephen Hillenburg, Derek Drymon, Tim Hill, Kent Osborne, Aaron Springer, Paul Tibbitt
Director: Stephen Hillenburg
* So? Absorbing.
Vodka Lemon
Comedy-drama
New Yorker Films
With: Romik Avinian, Lala Sarkissian, Ivan Franek, Armen Marutyan, Astrik Avaguian
The idea: An elderly man sells off his possessions to survive and begins a tender romance with a middle-age war widow in post-Soviet Armenia.
Writer-director: Hiner Saleem
* So? Title refers to village bar.
Nov. 24
Alexander
Action drama
Warner Bros.
With: Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Anthony Hopkins
The idea: The Great leads his armies across 22,000 miles in eight years to conquer most of the known world.
Writers: Oliver Stone and Laeta Kalogridis and Christopher Kyle
Director: Stone
* So? Oliver’s army is on its way.
Christmas With
the Kranks
Comedy
Columbia Pictures / Revolution Studios
With: Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd
The idea: A father’s decision to forgo the holiday backfires when his daughter decides to come home at the last minute.
Writer: Chris Columbus, based on the book “Skipping Christmas” by John Grisham
Director: Joe Roth
* So? Non-legal tender.
Nov. 26
Easy
Comedy
Magic Lamp
With: Marguerite Moreau, Brian F. O’Byrne, Naveen Andrews
The idea: Accustomed to being a “jerk magnet,” a young woman uncharacteristically finds herself in a love triangle with two seemingly nice guys.
Writer-director: Jane Weinstock
* So? Moreau is beguiling.
A Fond Kiss
Drama
Castle Hill
With: Atta Yaqub and Eva Birthistle
The idea: A second-generation Pakistani Scot, working as a DJ in Glasgow, falls in love with a strong-willed Catholic girl.
Writer: Paul Laverty
Director: Ken Loach
* So? My Beautiful Discotheque.
Guerrilla: The Taking
of Patty Hearst
Documentary
Magnolia Pictures
The idea: The kidnapping of the newspaper heiress by the Symbionese Liberation Army created media frenzy in the 1970s.
Director: Robert Stone
* So? The taking of Tania 1-2-3.
Straight-Jacket
Comedy
here! Films / Regent Releasing
With: Matt Letscher, Carrie Preston, Adam Greer, Veronica Cartwright, Victor Raider-Wexler, Michael Emerson, Jack Plotnick, Adrian Neil
The idea: Closeted ‘50s movie star marries studio secretary then falls in love.
Writer-director: Richard Day, based on his play
* So? Rock on.
A Very Long Engagement
Drama
Warner Independent
With: Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Jerome Kircher, Dominique Pinon, Jodie Foster
The idea: A young French woman searches for her lover, believed to have been court-martialed and left for dead in World War I.
Writers: Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Guillaume Laurant, based on the novel by Sebastien Japrisot
Director: Jeunet
* So? Amelie goes to war.
Dec. 3
Brother to Brother
Drama
Wolfe
With: Anthony Mackie, Roger Robinson, Larry Gilliard Jr., Aunjanue Ellis, Duane Boutte, Daniel Sunjata, Alex Burns, Ray Ford
The idea: Contemporary gay writer finds inspiration in the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance.
Writer-director: Rodney Evans
* So? Looking for Langston (and Zora).
Closer
Drama
Columbia Pictures
With: Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Clive Owen
The idea: Quartet engages in sexually charged acts of betrayal.
Writer: Patrick Marber, based on his play
Director: Mike Nichols
* So? Fearsome four-play.
House of Flying Daggers
Action
Sony Pictures Classics
With: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Zhang Ziyi
The idea: Tang dynasty police investigate a dancer suspected of ties to the revolutionary group of the title.
Writers: Lin Feng, Wang Bin, Zhang Yimou
Director: Zhang Yimou
* So? Martial arts romance.
I Am David
Drama
Lions Gate Films
With: Ben Tibber, Joan Plowright, Jim Caviezel, Maria Bonnevie
The idea: Nearly a decade after World War II, a young boy escapes an Eastern European labor camp and crosses the continent to find freedom.
Writer-director: Paul Feig, based on the novel by Anne Holm
* So? The great escape.
Junked
Drama
Hollywood Independents
With: Tom Jane, Jordan Ladd, Kevin Gage, Channing Rowe
The idea: Bisexual hustler and his ad hoc family struggle for survival on the streets of L.A.
Writer-director: Lance W. Ladd
* So? Punishing.
Notre Musique
Drama
Wellspring Media
With: Jean-Luc Godard, Sarah Adler, Nade Dieu, Georges Aguilar
The idea: Hell, purgatory and paradise are coexisting kingdoms in this reflection on Europe, war, culture and Middle East chaos.
Writer-director: Godard
* So? In Godard we trust.
Dec. 10
Bad Education
Drama
Sony Pictures Classics
With: Gael Garcia Bernal, Fele Martinez, Javier Camara, Daniel Gimenez-Cacho
The idea: Two boys’ destinies are forged after they discover love and fear at Catholic school in 1960s Spain.
Writer-director: Pedro Almodovar
* So? Past is prologue for Pedro.
Bandido
Action
Bandido Inc.
With: Carlos Gallardo, Angie Everhart, Matt Craven, Kim Coates, Ana La Salvia, Karime Lozano
The idea: A legendary Mexican thief infiltrates a crime lord’s palace after being framed by the CIA.
Writers: Scott Duncan & Ned Kerwin
Director: Roger Christian
* So? Gallardo was original “El Mariachi.”
Blade: Trinity
Thriller
New Line Cinema
With: Wesley Snipes, Ryan Reynolds, Jessica Biel
The idea: The day-walking vampire hunter teams with the Nightstalkers in pursuit of bloodsucker zero -- Dracula.
Writer-director: David S. Goyer, based on characters from the comic book
* So? Trilogy promises last bite.
Conspiracy of Silence
Drama
Watch Entertainment
With: Jonathan Forbes, Jason Barry, Brenda Fricker, Hugh Bonneville
The idea: An Irish reporter links a priest’s suicide to the expulsion of a seminarian.
Writer-director: John Deery
* So? Bad week for the priesthood.
Don’t Move
Drama
Medusa / Northern Arts
With: Penelope Cruz, Sergio Castellitto, Claudia Gerini
The idea: An Italian surgeon contemplates his life while his daughter lies in a coma.
Writer-director: Castellitto, based on the novel by Margaret Mazzantini
* So? Cruz glams down.
Face
Drama
Indican Pictures
With: Bai Ling, Kristy Wu, Kieu Chinh, Treach, Will Yun Lee
The idea: Traditional values come into conflict with dreams for three generations of Chinese American women in Queens.
Writer-director: Bertha Bay-Sa Pan
* So? Sins of the mother.
Fighter Pilot:
Operation Red Flag
Large-format action documentary
Stephen Low Company / K2 Communications
With: Capt. John Stratton
The idea: A young U.S. pilot endures Air Force’s ultimate training exercise for fliers.
Writers: Stephen Low, Denny Kuhr, Joe Stanley
Director: Low
* So? Wild blue wonder.
The Green Butchers
Comedy
NewMarket Films
With: Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Lin Kruse, Nicolas Bro, Aksel Erhardtsen, Bodil Jorgensen, Ole Thestrup, Lily Weiding
The idea: An accidental ingredient becomes a struggling meat shop’s recipe for success.
Writer-director: Anders Thomas Jensen
* So? Meat is murder.
The Life Aquatic
With Steve Zissou
Comedy
Touchstone Pictures
With: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, Bud Cort
The idea: An oddball oceanographer and his crew pursue the elusive “jaguar shark” -- which ate his partner.
Writers: Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach
Director: Anderson
* So? Anderson takes plunge with new writing partner.
Ocean’s Twelve
Action
Warner Bros.
With: Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Andy Garcia, Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle, Julia Roberts
The idea: The band of thieves, plus one, heads to Europe for multiple heists.
Writer: George Nolfi
Director: Steven Soderbergh
* So? If it’s Tuesday, this must be ...
Dec. 17
Beyond the Sea
Drama
Lions Gate Films
With: Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, John Goodman, Bob Hoskins, Brenda Blethyn, Greta Scacchi, Caroline Aaron, Peter Cincotti, William Ullrich
The idea: Genre-hopping singer Bobby Darin scores numerous hits, an Oscar nomination and falls for Sandra Dee.
Writers: Spacey and Lewis Colick
Director: Spacey
* So? Spacey’s no lip-syncer.
Imaginary Heroes
Drama
Sony Pictures Classics
With: Sigourney Weaver, Jeff Daniels, Emile Hirsch, Michelle Williams, Kip Pardue
The idea: A suburban family deals with crises.
Writer-director: Dan Harris
* So? Subterranean home wreck blues.
Intimate Stories
Comedy/drama
New Yorker Films
With: Antonio Benedicti, Javier Lombardo, Javiera Bravo
The idea: An old man, a traveling salesman and a young mother with a baby cross paths on the roads of southern Patagonia.
Writer: Pablo Solarz
Director: Carlos Sorin
* So? End of the Earth minimalism.
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
Adventure
Paramount Pictures
With: Jim Carrey, Liam Aiken, Emily Browning, Timothy Spall, Catherine O’Hara, Cedric the Entertainer, Meryl Streep, the voice of Jude
Law
The idea: Count Olaf goes to great lengths to get his hands on the Beaudelaire orphans’ inheritance.
Writer: Robert Gordon, based on the books by Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler)
Director: Brad Silberling
* So? Darkly villainous doings.
The Sea Inside
Drama
Fine Line Features
With: Javier Bardem, Belen Rueda, Lola Duenas
The idea: A quadriplegic Spaniard fighting for the right to die with dignity is caught between two strong-willed women.
Writers: Alejandro Amenabar, Mateo Gil
Director: Amenabar
* So? It’s his life anyway.
Spanglish
Comedy/Drama
Columbia Pictures
With: Adam Sandler, Tea Leoni, Paz Vega, Anne Bancroft
The idea: Cultures clash when a beautiful Mexican woman becomes the housekeeper for an upscale L.A. family.
Writer-director: James L. Brooks
* So? Domestic madness ... with Sandler as the sane one.
A Tale of Two Sisters
Horror
Tartan Films
With: Yeom Jeong-ah, Im Soo-jung, Moon Geung-young, Lim Ji-eun, Kim Kab-su
The idea: Siblings return home from a mental institution to deal with their ineffectual father, mean stepmother and a disturbing presence.
Writer-director: Kim Ji-woon
* So? High chill factor.
Dec. 22
Flight of the Phoenix
Action-adventure
Fox
With: Dennis Quaid, Giovanni Ribisi, Tyrese Gibson, Miranda Otto, Hugh Laurie
The idea: Stranded in the Mongolian desert, a group of crash survivors attempts to build a new plane.
Writers: Scott Frank and Edward Burns, based on 1965 screenplay by Lukas Hellerr
Director: John Moore
* So? Tensions soar.
Hotel Rwanda
Drama
United Artists
With: Don Cheadle, Nick Nolte, Joaquin Phoenix, Sophie Okonedo
The idea: A hotelier shelters refugees during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Writers: Keir Pearson & Terry George
Director: George
* So? Real-life horror.
The Keys to the House
Drama
Lions Gate Films
With: Kim Rossi Stuart, Andrea Rossi, Charlotte Rampling
The idea: A father is united with his disabled teenage son, whom he has never seen.
Writer-director: Gianni Amelio, inspired by Giuseppe Pontiggia’s novel “Born Twice.”
* So? Italy’s Oscar submission.
Meet the Fockers
Comedy
Universal Pictures
With: Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, Barbra Streisand
The idea: This time the in-laws meet one another.
Writers: Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg and Vince Di Meglio & Tim Rasmussen, story by Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg, based on characters created by Greg Glienna & Mary Ruth Clarke
Director: Jay Roach
* So? Hoffman + Streisand = inspired stunt casting.
Dec. 24
On the Waterfront
Drama
Sony Repertory
With: Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Rod Steiger, Lee J. Cobb
The idea: Ex-boxer is caught in the middle of union troubles.
Writer: Budd Schulberg
Director: Elia Kazan
* So? 1954 Oscar winner was more than a contender.
The Woodsman
Drama
NewMarket Films
With: Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Mos Def, Benjamin Bratt, David Alan Grier, Eve
The idea: A convicted sex offender, paroled after serving 12 years, faces society and his demons.
Writers: Steven Fechter, Nicole Kassell, based on Fechter’s play
Director: Kassell
* So? Tough take on pedophilia.
Dec. 25
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s the Phantom of the Opera
Drama
Warner Bros.
With: Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Miranda Richardson, Simon Callow, Ciaran Hinds, Minnie Driver
The idea: Broadway blockbuster about a disfigured musical genius finally makes it to the screen.
Writers: Andrew Lloyd Webber & Joel Schumacher, adapted from the stage musical based on the novel by Gaston Leroux
Director: Joel Schumacher
* So? Michael Crawford fans wait with bated breath.
Bride & Prejudice
Drama
Miramax Films
With: Martin Henderson, Aishwarya Rai, Daniel Gillies, Naveen Andrews, Alexis Bledel, Marsha Mason
The idea: A droll young woman searches for a suitable husband in a cross-cultural romance set in modern-day India, London and America.
Writers: Paul Mayeda Berges and Gurinder Chadha
Director: Chadha
* So? Bollywood-injected Jane Austen.
The Dark
Horror
Dimension Films
With: Anna Paquin, Lena Olin, Iain Glen, Giancarlo Giannini, Fele Martinez, Stephan Enquist, Fermi Reixach
The idea: An American teen and her family move into a strange old house in the Spanish countryside and are tormented from within.
Writer-director: Jaume Balaguero
* So? Embrujada.
Fat Albert
Comedy
Fox
With: Kenan Thompson, Kyla Pratt, Bill Cosby, Omari Grandberry, Raven-Symone, Jermaine Williams, Aaron Frazier, Jeremy Suarez, Keith E. Robinson, Dania Ramirez, Marques B. Houston, Shedrack Anderson III, Alphonso McAuley, J. Mack Slaughter Jr.
The idea: Animation and live action are blended to bring back the Philadelphia adolescents memorialized in Cosby’s stand-up comedy and a long-running Saturday morning TV series.
Writers: William H. Cosby Jr. & Charles Kipps
Director: Joel Zwick
* So? Hey, hey, hey!
In Good Company
Comedy
Universal Pictures
With: Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, Scarlett Johansson, Marg Helgenberger, David Paymer, Clark Gregg, Philip Baker Hall, Selma Blair
The idea: A middle-age ad exec gets demoted, learns his wife is expecting another baby and must deal with his new 25-year-old boss’ affair with his daughter.
Writer-director: Paul Weitz
* So? Synergy run amok.
A Love Song
for Bobby Long
Drama
Lions Gate Films
With: John Travolta, Scarlett Johansson, Gabriel Macht, Deborah Kara Unger, Dane Rhodes
The idea: A young woman returns home to New Orleans only to find a downtrodden ex-lit professor and his protege living in her mother’s house.
Writer-director: Shainee Gabel, inspired by Ronald Everett Capps’ upcoming novel, “Off East Magazine St.”
* So? Reborn on the bayou.
The Merchant of Venice
Drama
Sony Pictures Classics
With: Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes, Lynn Collins
The idea: A wealthy businessman backs a young friend’s bid to woo an heiress and falls into the debt of a moneylender.
Writer-director: Michael Radford, based on William Shakespeare’s play
* So? Shylock, anti-Semitic context a tough sell.
Dec. 31
Sky Blue
Animated
Max Media/Vitagraph
The idea: A female trooper in a post-apocalyptic city called Ecoban is torn between her childhood sweetheart -- now a rebel leader -- and protecting the city.
Writers: Moon Sang Kim, Jun Young Park, Sunmin Park
Director: Moon Sang Kim
* So? Korean anime.
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