EntertainmentMagazine.net

2002 Fall Film Previews

STEALING HARVARD

SEPTEMBER 13. COMEDY. Revolution Studios/Columbia Pictures

Harvard, America's most prestigious university and home to the world's greatest minds, is a place where some trailer park families -like John's ( Jason Lee) -could never afford to go. But now, John 's niece has the chance of a lifetime, and all she needs is the tuition that he had promised to pay if she got into a good college $ 29, 829 which he doesn't have. When John turns to his clueless friend Duff ( Tom Green) for help, they wind up doing all the wrong things for all the right reasons.

D I R E C T ED BY Bruce McCulloch
S C R E E N P LAY BY Peter Tolan
S T ORY BY Martin Hynes, Peter Tolan
P R O D U C ED BY Susan Cavan
E X E C U T I VE P R O D U C E RS Howard Lapides, Maureen Peyrot, Chris Brancato, Albert J. Salke
CO - P R O D U C ER Marty Ewing
D I R E C T OR OF P H O T O G R A PHY Ueli Steiger, ASC
C A ST Tom Green, Jason Lee, Leslie Mann, Megan Mullally, Dennis Farina, Richard Jenkins, John C. McGinley, Chris Penn.

Stealing Harvard has been rated PG- 13 by the MPAA for crude and sexual humor, language and drug references.


Trapped

S E P T E M B ER 20, THRILLER. Columbia Pictures

When Will and Karen Jennings ( Stuart Townsend and Charlize Theron) are held hostage and their daughter is abducted, a
relentless 24- hour plan is set in motion that will challenge everything they took for granted. Joe and Cheryl Hickey ( Kevin
Bacon and Courtney Love) , along with their cousin Marvin Pool ( Pruitt Taylor Vince) , have orchestrated and mastered the foolproof plan to extort money from wealthy families. As the plan escalates and unravels, Will and Karen, who are trapped in different cities, are pushed to the limit to get their daughter back alive. In their desperation, they are able to discover the true
motivation, which lies beneath the crime.

Trapped is an action- packed thriller starring Kevin Bacon ( Hollow Man , Wild Things ) , Charlize Theron ( Mighty Joe Young , Sweet November ) , Stuart Townsend ( About Adam ) , Courtney Love ( The People vs. Larry Flynt ) and directed by Luis Mandoki ( Angel Eyes , Message In A Bottle ) .

Trapped has been rated R by the MPAA for violence, language and sexual content.

B A S ED U P ON T HE NOV EL "24 H O U RS "BY Greg Iles.

D I R E C T ED BY Luis Mandoki
S C R E E N P LAY BY Greg Iles
P R O D U C ED BY Mimi Polk Gitlin, Luis Mandoki
E X E C U T I VE P R O D U C E RS Mark Canton, Hanno Huth, Neil Canton, Glen Ballard, Rick Hess
CO - P R O D U C E RS Carston Lorenz, Nathan Kahane, Michael McDonnell
D I R E C T O RS OF
P H O T O G R A PHY Frederick Elmes, ASC, Piotr Sobocinski
C A ST Charlize Theron, Courtney Love, Stuart Townsend, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Dakota Fanningand Kevin Bacon


SWEPT AWAY
OCTOBER 18. ROMANTIC COMEDY. Screen Gems

Guy Ritchie directs Madonna in this romantic comedy, where a young sailor ( Adriano Giannini) is cast adrift on an island with his employer, a rich, self- centered woman who is used to having her own way. Cut off from society, he reverses their roles, stripping her of pride and vanity and controlling her completely. Until, that is, she falls in love with him. Produced by Matthew Vaughn.

Swept Away has been rated R by the MPAA for language and some sexual/ nudity. Imagine being shipwrecked on a beautiful island ­ with someone you really can't stand.

D I R E C T ED BY Guy Ritchie
S C R E E N P LAY BY Guy Ritchie
P R O D U C ED BY Matthew Vaughn
CO - P R O D U C E RS Adam Bohling, David Reid
D I R E C T OR OF P H O T O G R A PHY Alex Barber
C A ST Madonna, Adriano Giannini, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Bruce Greenwood, Elizabeth Banks, David Thornton, Michael Beattie, Yorgo Voyagis


FORMULA 51

OCTOBER 18 ACTION COMEDY. Screen Gems

Samuel L. Jackson stars in this action- packed comedy as Elmo McElroy, an American master entrepreneur who heads to England to set up his last big deal, the introduction of a new
designer drug to the European underworld. Elmo 's plan to set up a quick score goes comically awry when he gets stuck in Liverpool with an unlikely escort ( Robert Carlyle) and becomes entangled in a bizarre web of double- dealing and double- crosses. Emily Mortimer, Rhys Ifans and Meatloaf co- star. Acclaimed Hong Kong action director Ronny Yu directs from a script by Stel Pavlou.

D I R E C T ED BY Ronny Yu
W R ITT EN BY Stel Pavlou
P R O D U C E RS David Pupkewitz, Malcolm Kohll
P R O D U C ED BY Andras Hamori, Seaton McLean, Jonathan Debin
E X E C U T I VE P R O D U C E RS Eli Selden, Julie Yorn, Stephanie Davis
E X E C U T I VE P R O D U C ER Samuel L. Jackson
D I R E C T OR OF P H O T O G R A PHY Poon Hang Sang
C A ST Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Emily Mortimer, Sean Pertwee, Ricky Tomlinson, Rhys Ifans as 'Iki ' andMeatloaf as 'The Lizard '

Formula 51 has been rated R by the MPAA for strong violence, language, drug content and some sexuality.


I SPY
NOVEMBER 1 ACTION COMEDY (Columbia Pictues)

Fists fly and the fighting gets down and dirty when undefeated middle- weight champion Kelly Robinson ( Eddie Murphy) finally meets his match, CIA super- agent Alex Scott ( Owen Wilson) , in the hilarious adventure I Spy , directed by Betty Thomas ( Dr. Dolittle , The Brady Bunch ) . It 's hate at first sight when Scott is unwittingly paired up with Robinson to track down the Air Force 's missing stealth bomber, the country 's new top secret weapon. The fate of the free world is in their hands. Now if they can only stop fighting with one other long enough to track down the real enemy.

D I R E C T ED BY Betty Thomas
S C R E E N P LAY BY Cormac Wibberley &, Marianne Sellek Wibberley, and Jay Scherick & David Ronn
S T ORY BY Cormac Wibberley & Marianne Sellek Wibberley
B A S ED ON C H A R A C T E RS C R E A T ED BY David Friedkin and Morton Fine
P R O D U C ED BY Betty Thomas, Jenno Topping, Mario Kassar, Andy Vajna
E X E C U T I VE P R O D U C E RS Warren Carr, Marc Toberoff, David R. Ginsburg
D I R E C T OR OF P H O T O G R A PHY Oliver Wood
C A ST Eddie Murphy, Owen Wilson, Famke Janssen, Malcolm McDowell

This film is not yet rated by the MPAA. For future ratings information refer to http:/ /www.filmratings.com.


HALF PAST DEAD
NOVEMBER 15 ACT ION -TH RILLER (Screen Gems)

It 's 2002 and The California Penal Authority has reopened the most notorious prison in history ­ Alcatraz. Disgruntled Prison Bureaucrat- turned- criminal mastermind Donny (Morris Chestnut) has assembled a commando team to infiltrate the newly refurbished, high tech fortress in order to force a death row inmate to reveal the whereabouts of $ 200 million worth of gold. Inmate Nick Frazier ( Ja Rule) must help Undercover FBI agent Sascha ( Steven Seagal) rally the other inmates to stop the invaders ­ before they murder the Supreme Court Justice who is present for the impending execution. Kurupt co- stars in this action thriller written and directed by Don Michael Paul and produced by Andrew Stevens, Elie Samaha and Steven Seagal.

D I R E C T ED BY Don Michael Paul
W R ITT EN BY Don Michael Paul
P R O D U C ED BY Andrew Stevens, Elie Samaha, Steven Seagal
E X E C U T I VE P R O D U C E RS Christopher Eberts, Uwe Schott, Randall Emmett, George Furla
D I R E C T OR OF P H O T O G R A PHY Michael Slovis
C A ST Steven Seagal, Morris Chestnut, Ja Rule, Nia Peeples, Kurupt, Tony Plana, Claudia Christian

This film is not yet rated by the MPAA. For future ratings information refer to http:/ /www.filmratings.com.



ADAM SANDLER 'S 8 CRAZY NIGHTS

NOVEMBER 27 ANIMATED COMEDY

Adam Sandler invites you to share some holiday cheer in the new, no- holds- barred musical comedy Adam Sandler 's 8 Crazy Nights . Davey Stone, a 33- year old party animal, finds himself in trouble with the law after his wild ways go too far.

In keeping with the holiday spirit, the judge gives Davey one last chance at redemption -spend the holiday performing community service as the assistant referee for the youth basketball league or go to jail. Davey thinks he 's gotten off easy until he meets Whitey Duvall, the eccentric, elf- like head referee.

The mismatch between Whitey 's good heart and never- ending optimism and Davey 's constant troublemaking soon have them both wondering if going to jail wouldn 't have been easier! In this new, full- length animated feature about basketball, old girlfriends, holiday spirits, and the mall, Adam Sandler voices the three lead characters of Whitey, Davey, and Whitey 's fraternal twin sister Eleanore!

D I R E C T ED BY Seth Kearsley
W R ITT EN BY Brooks Arthur, Allen Covert, Brad Isaacs, Adam Sandler
P R O D U C ED BY Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo, Allen Covert
E X E C U T I VE P R O D U C ER Ken Tsumura
CO - P R O D U C ER Brooks Arthur
VO I C ES BY Adam Sandler, Jackie Titone, Austin Stout, Kevin Nealon, Rob Schneider, Norm Crosby, Jon Lovitz ,Tyra Banks

Adam Sandler 's 8 Crazy Nights is rated PG- 13 by the MPAA for frequent crude and sexual humor, drinking and brief drug references.


ADAPTATION
DECEMBER 6 DRAMATIC COMEDY (Columbia Pictures)

Nicolas Cage is Charlie Kaufman, a confused L. A. screenwriter overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy, sexual frustration, self- loathing -and by the screenwriting ambitions of his freeloading twin brother Donald ( also Nicolas Cage) . While struggling to adapt The Orchid Thief , by Susan Orlean ( Meryl Streep), Kaufman's life spins from pathetic to bizarre. The lives of Kaufman, Orlean and John Laroche ( Chris Cooper), the orchid poacher and the subject of Orlean's book, become strangely intertwined as each one's search for passion collides with the others'. Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze.

D I R E C T ED BY Spike Jonze
S C R E E N P LAY BY Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman
B A S ED ON T HE B O OK "The Orchid Thief " by Susan Orlean
P R O D U C ED BY Edward Saxon, Vincent Landay, Jonathan Demme
E X E C U T I VE P R O D U C E RS Charlie Kaufman, Peter Saraf
D I R E C T OR OF P H O T O G R A PHY Lance Acord
C A ST Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Tilda Swinton, Cara Seymour

Adaptation has been rated R by the MPAA for language, sexuality, some drug use and violent images.


PUNCH- DRUNK LOVE

DECEMBER 11 COMEDY (Revoluton Studios, Columbia Pictures)

Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) is a small business owner with seven sisters whose abuse has kept him alone and unable to fall in love. When a harmonium and a mysterious woman ( Emily Watson) enter his life, his romantic journey begins. Also, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzman. Written and Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

Punch- Drunk Love is rated R by the MPAA for strong language including a scene of sexual dialogue.

D I R E C T ED BY Paul Thomas Anderson
W R ITT EN BY Paul Thomas Anderson
P R O D U C ED BY JoAnne Sellar, Daniel Lupi, Paul Thomas Anderson
D I R E C T OR OF P H O T O G R A PHY Robert Elswit
C A ST Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzman, Mary Lynn Rajskub


THE CHAMBERMAID

DECEMBER 13 ROMANTIC COMEDY (revolution Studios, COlumbia Pictures)

The Chambermaid is the story of Marisa Ventura ( Jennifer Lopez) , a single mother born and bred in the boroughs of New York City, who works as a maid in a first- class Manhattan hotel. By a twist of fate and mistaken identity, Marisa meets Christopher Marshall ( Ralph Fiennes) , a handsome, debonair heir to a political dynasty, who believes that she is a guest at the hotel. Fate steps in and throws the unlikely pair together for a magical night of romance. When Marisa's true identity is revealed, the two find that they are worlds apart, even though the distance separating them is just a subway ride between Manhattan and the Bronx. This film is not yet rated by the MPAA. For future ratings information refer to http://www.filmratings.com.

D I R E C T ED BY Wayne Wang
P R O D U C ED BY Shoelace Productions
C A ST Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Stanley Tucci, Tyler Garcia Posey and Bob Hoskins


Return to Film Archives | Film Index

2002 EntertainmentMagazine.net