Holiday films coming--which will be the hits?

It's been a long wait this year for the high end films. The studios hit us with their contenders at the end of each year and this year there are 60 films that will open between Nov. 10--Dec. 29, 2004. This may be the most films released in this late 8 week period that I can recall. First up is the computerized Tom Hanks in "The Polar Express". Which films will be big box office and which will be critical hits? What performances will stand out?

A partial list of releases:

Nov. 10

"The Polar Express" OPENED
3 Reviews: Roger Ebert: "The look of the film is extraordinary, a cross between live action and Van Allsburg's artwork...--(the film) has the quality of a lot of lasting children's entertainment: It's a little creepy." Manohla Dargis (NY Times): The largest intractable problem with "The Polar Express" is that the motion-capture technology used to create the human figures has resulted in a film filled with creepily unlifelike beings. Lisa Schwarzbaum (Ent. Weekly): On Zemeckis' turbocharged Polar Express, a magical, ghostly hobo rides the top of the train, the hero boy is joined by a few all-sorts travel mates, and waiters burst into song and dance as they serve hot cocoa. And if the children and elves and Santa, too, look slightly unnerving with their pod-people eyes, well, I only wish there were more of the disorienting — more of the silently, hypnotically Van Allsburgian — and less of the flat, linear, polished, technical brilliance with which this big-ticket vehicle runs its route.

Nov. 12:

"After the Sunset" OPENED
Review: Stephen Holden (NY Times): "As Max (Brosnan) and Stan's (Harrelson) tricky cat-and-mouse game does triple somersaults, it becomes obvious that the male stars' roles should have been reversed. Mr. Harrelson's revved-up motor is the kind of machine that kicks itself into action and demands crazy challenges, while Mr. Brosnan's is a sedate little putt-putt requiring a lot of effort to make it start. The scheme engineered by Max takes place during a midnight scuba-diving expedition. It is as dull as it is elaborate."

"Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" OPENED
Review: Kirk Honeycutt (Hollywood Reporter): In this sequel to the successful 2001 single-girl-in-the-city comedy "Bridget Jones's Diary," more is less. "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" begins by repeating many gags from the previous film. Only now they feel lame and routine. Then, in the strain to explore new territory, the film pushes into areas that that don't fit comfortably into the lightly comic world of Bridget Jones".

"Bright Future" OPENED
Review: Manohla Dargis (NY Times): "In "Bright Future" a deadly jellyfish glows an ominous red and apocalypse looms in the figure of dissolute youth. A quietly creepy story with a hint of politics and a wealth of shivers, the film was directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (no relation to Akira Kurosawa), a prolific and sui generis talent who packs more ideas into one of his low-budget specials than most Hollywood studios eke out in the course of a year. Like most of Mr. Kurosawa's films, "Bright Future" casts its spell by drawing out the horror of everyday existence bit by bit, and then tossing in some otherworldly weirdness that makes the hair on the back of your neck try to run for cover. "

"Finding Neverland" OPENED
Review: Glenn Kenny (Primiere Mag.): "Finding Neverland" is populated by recognizable people, as opposed to types; even the characters we’re not too fond of at first are fleshed out as fully human by the filmmakers, which helps make this movie such a powerful one. Depp and Winslet in particular are, as you might expect, immaculate. I don’t think there’s another actor alive who can convey the intermingling of gentleness and passion with as much precision as Depp."

"Kinsey" OPENED
Review: Michael Rechtshaffen (Hollywood Reporter)"Kinsey" boasts exceptional lead performances (by a never-better Liam Neeson and Laura Linney)... More unexpected is the picture's playfully exuberant tone, which, given Kinsey's clinically obsessive reputation for collecting data, might have resulted in a more austere portrait. Taken together, those attributes add up to one of the year's most satisfying films, and with a scope and shape similar to that of "A Beautiful Mind," the Fox Searchlight release could emerge as a multiple Oscar contender."


Nov. 19

"Bad Education" OPENED
Pedro Almodóvar backs off from his usual high stylization for a brooding account of a Catholic boyhood ruined by a priest's advances. Gael García Bernal plays three roles in the time-shifting structure, including that of a transvestite nightclub performer.

"National Treasure" OPENED
The Declaration of Independence turns out to be a map pointing to the location of a vast treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers. Nicolas Cage portrays a descendent of said fathers who decides to protect the map by stealing the document from the National Archives. From producer Jerry Bruckheimer and the director John Turteltaub ("The Kid"); with Harvey Keitel, Jon Voight and Diane Kruger.

"The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" OPENED
Plenty of guest voices - Alec Baldwin, James Earl Jones, David Hasselhoff, Scarlett Johansson, etc.,- join the highly absorbent cartoon hero and his underwater pals as they try to track down the stolen crown of King Neptune. Sherm Cohen and Stephen Hillenburg directed.

Nov. 24

"Alexander" OPENED
Colin Farrell plays the Macedonian king who conquered a big piece of the ancient world in 300 B.C. while hesitating between the love interests Rosario Dawson and Jared Leto. With Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins and Val Kilmer; the director is Oliver Stone.

"Beyond the Sea"
Kevin Spacey as Bobby Darin and Kate Bosworth as Darin's wife, Sandra Dee, in a biopic directed by Mr. Spacey that is one of the more eccentric vanity projects in quite a while. With John Goodman, Bob Hoskins, Brenda Blethyn and Greta Scacchi.

"Christmas With the Kranks" OPENED
John Grisham's novel "Skipping Christmas" becomes a movie with Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis as a suburban couple who decide to forgo their annual Christmas celebration until their daughter in the Peace Corps announces she's coming home for the holidays. With Dan Aykroyd and Cheech Marin; Joe Roth directed from a script by Chris Columbus.

Nov. 26

"A Very Long Engagement" OPENED
France's Jean-Pierre Jeunet tries to top the international triumph of his 2001 "Amélie," this time with a sober tale of a young Frenchwoman (Audrey Tautou) searching for her lost lover (Gaspard Ulliel) in the aftermath of World War I. The spectacular digital effects include large-scale recreations of battlefields and wartime Paris.

Dec. 3

"Closer"
Two couples - Natalie Portman and Jude Law, and Clive Owen and Julia Roberts - come apart when infidelity raises its hoary head. Based on a 1997 play by Patrick Marber and directed by Mike Nichols, this is aiming for big Oscar consideration, with a battle of the sexes theme that suggests Mr. Nichols's "Carnal Knowledge."

"House of Flying Daggers"
Zhang Yimou ( "Raise the Red Lantern") directs this newest big-budget martial arts film from mainland China. The House of Flying Daggers is a secret society devoted to bringing down an evil regional administration under the Tang Dynasty; Zhang Ziyi is an erotic dancer who may be an agent of the revolutionaries.

Dec. 10

"The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou"
From Wes Anderson ("Rushmore," "The Royal Tenenbaums"), another wry ensemble comedy, this time centered on a once-famous maker of underwater adventure documentaries (Bill Murray) who has fallen on hard times. The cast includes some of Mr. Anderson's regulars (Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston) as well as some newcomers (Cate Blanchett, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe).

"Ocean's Twelve"
The urbane superthief Danny Ocean (George Clooney) adds a new member to his team as he plans three simultaneous stick ups in Paris, Rome and Amsterdam. Mr. Clooney is joined by Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia, Matt Damon and Bernie Mac; Vincent Cassel appears as a French competitor to Danny on the international stage. Steven Soderbergh directed from a screenplay by George Nolfi.

Dec. 15

"Million Dollar Baby"
Warner Brothers moved Clint Eastwood's new film from February to December after Oscar buzz began for the performances of Hilary Swank (a determined young female boxer) and Mr. Eastwood himself (a retired prizefighter turned cranky coach). Mr. Eastwood directs from a script by Paul Haggis; also starring Morgan Freeman.

Dec. 17

"The Aviator"
Martin Scorsese's biography of Howard Hughes reportedly uses a different film format - from tinted black-and-white to widescreen color - to depict each stage in the career of the legendary aviation pioneer, Hollywood producer and compulsive lady's man. The cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio as Hughes, Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn, Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner and Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow.

"Imaginary Heroes"
Dan Harris's film about a young man (Emile Hirsch) coming of age in a dysfunctional family; the drug-addicted mom is Sigourney Weaver, the heavy-drinking dad is Jeff Daniels.

"Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events"
The first installment of the mordantly funny series of children's books about three helpless orphans in the clutches of an evil count (Jim Carrey) arrives on screen courtesy of the director Brad Silberling ( "Moonlight Mile") and the screenwriter Robert Gordon ("Galaxy Quest"). There's a whopper cast competing for attention with the C.G.I. effects: Meryl Streep, Timothy Spall, Billy Connolly, Luis Guzmán, Jennifer Coolidge, Jane Adams, Catherine O'Hara, and others.

"Spanglish"
The writer-director James L. Brooks ( "Broadcast News") examines different styles of parenting through a comedy about a Mexican immigrant (the Spanish actress Paz Vega, of "Talk to Me") with a young daughter who works for an eccentric and demanding Los Angeles couple (Adam Sandler and Téa Leoni) with a difficult child of their own. Throw in Cloris Leachman as Ms. Leoni's comically alcoholic mother and you've got a premise made in sitcom heaven.

Dec. 22

"Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera"
The director Joel Schumacher plucked the British actor Gerard Butler from relative obscurity to play the title role in this big-budget adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Emmy Rossum of "Mystic River" is Christine, the young singer in whom the masked Phantom takes an unhealthy interest. Patrick Wilson, Miranda Richardson and Minnie Driver come along for the ride.

"Hotel Rwanda"
Terry George turns his attention to Africa, where Don Cheadle portrays a real-life hotel manager who saves more than a thousand Tutsi refugees during the Hutu attacks in Rwanda. Mr. George directed, too. With Nick Nolte and Joaquin Phoenix.

"Meet the Fockers"
Jay Roach's sequel to the dark comedy "Meet the Parents" (2000) adds Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman to the original cast, playing the parents of Ben Stiller, a bridegroom-to-be. They don't hit it off with the parents of the bride (Teri Polo), a fiercely decorous couple, Robert De Niro (as a paranoid former C.I.A. agent) and Blythe Danner.

Dec. 24

"Bride and Prejudice: The Bollywood Musical"
The writer-director Gurinder Chadha, who had an international hit with "Bend It Like Beckham," transforms Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" into a musical in the inimitably unrestrained Bollywood style. The Indian superstar Aishwarya Rai ( "Devdas") stars as a spoiled village girl who meets a handsome Californian, Will Darcy (Martin Henderson), at a wedding celebration.

Dec. 29

"The Assassination of Richard Nixon"
Denied a federal small business loan, a vengeful salesman (Sean Penn) plots the murder of the sitting president. Naomi Watts is his dismayed wife; Don Cheadle his sympathetic best friend. Written and directed by Niels Mueller.

"In Good Company"
A busy year for Dennis Quaid winds up with this social comedy. He plays an advertising salesman who discovers that his young new boss (Topher Grace) is having an affair with his daughter (Scarlett Johansson). As if that weren't enough, his wife (Marg Helgenberger) tells him she's expecting again. Paul Weitz ( "About a Boy") wrote and directed.

"The Merchant of Venice"
Al Pacino sets out to extract his pound of flesh in a Shakespeare adaptation directed by Michael Radford ( "The Postman"). The cast includes Jeremy Irons as Antonio, Joseph Fiennes as Bassanio and Lynn Collins as Portia.

"The Upside of Anger"
When her husband runs off with his secretary, Joan Allen is left to raise her daughters on her own - no easy task when they consist of Erika Christensen, Alicia Witt, Keri Russell and Evan Rachel Wood. But Ms. Allen finds consolation and companionship with Kevin Costner, daringly stretching his range to play a retired baseball player. Mike Binder wrote and directed.

To read the complete list of films go to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/07/movies/moviesspecial/07nove.html