Must-See Movies for the rest of 2000

Okay, here’s my list for the movies I will fork out $8 and brave screaming toddlers to see at the movies for the remaining months of 2000:

Nurse Betty - wowed 'em at Cannes, all the buzz has bee overwhelmingly positive for this one. Renee Zellweger, Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock in a movie that has a great-sounding plot and nothing negative said about it at all, either by the critics or public who have caught early screenings.

Way of the Gun - by Chris McQuarrie (“The Usual Suspects”) and starring Benicio Del Toro. A combination I’m willing to chance. They both rate very high on my scale. Plus I can get my husband to go with me.

Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? - The fabulous Coen brothers latest, starring George Clooney, John Turturro, and John Goodman as escaping chain-gang convicts in '30’s Mississippi. Supposed to be a take on Homer’s Odyssey.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Directed by Ang Lee (The Ice Storm, Sense & Sensibility) starring Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh in a period Chinese martial arts film with an actual plot.

Shadow of the Vampire - with Willem Dafoe and John Malkovich, a fictionalized tale about the filming of the 1920’s film “Nosferatu”, with lots of dark, twisted stuff.

The Grinch - Jim Carrey and Dr. Suess. A match made in heaven. Director Ron Howard is a hit & miss director, but when he is on, I love his films. Early screenings indicate that this is a winner. Much oohing and aahhing over Stan Winston’s fantastic make-up (everyone who has seen a rough cut says ignore the trailer - it is a terrible indicator of what the movie actually looks and feels like). Plus, who could not love Max?

Moulin Rouge - Ewan McGregor (hotcha!), Nicole Kidman, turn-of-the-century Paris, sex, drugs, and more sex. It will probably look great too.

Movie I might possibly see, but only pay matinee prices for: “Little Nicky” with Adam Sandler. I’m not a big Sandler fan, but the plot sounds like fun.
Note - to get a good listing of coming attractions, visit http://www.darkhorizons.com and look at their 2000 link.

A good list. I’m very interested in all of those (except the Sandler flick; I just refuse).

Others to pay attention to:

Almost Famous, from Cameron Crowe. Mostly autobiographical story of his days as a teen music reporter for “Rolling Stone.” Amazing buzz.

Dancer in the Dark, from Lars Von Trier (Breaking the Waves). Won the shebang at Cannes.

Dr. T and the Women, from Robert Altman.

Enemy at the Gates, from Jean-Jacques Annaud. I’m very excited for this one.

Cast Away. Reunites director Robert Zemeckis with Forrest Gump star Tom Hanks. Now, I hated FG, but this is supposed to be more existential than physical, so I have reasonably high expectations.

Remember the Titans. I’m also not a fan of Jerry Bruckheimer, but the director is Boaz Yakin, whose Fresh should be required viewing. If Yakin can resist Jerry’s glitzy impulses and keep the grit in this based-on-reality story, it could be amazing.

Enemy at the Gates. Director is Jean-Jacques Annaud; story takes place in Stalingrad during WWII. Huge expectations for this.

Charlie’s Angels. No, really. I like a big, goofy, raucous action-comedy if it’s done well. This production was extremely troubled, but recent buzz suggests it actually gets the job done.

13 Days, about the Cuban Missile Crisis. The script is said to be excellent, and Bruce Greenwood is one of my favorite actors (playing JFK here), though I question the choice of director.

Girlfight. The Sundance winner gets a nationwide release.

Movies I’m uncertain about:

Meet the Parents, with Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro. Could be good, demented fun, or it could be a true embarrassment.

Pay It Forward. Director Mimi Leder (Deep Impact); cast includes Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, and Haley Joel Osment. Looks gratingly sentimental and idealistic, but you never know.

Bamboozled, from director Spike Lee. I see everything Lee does, even though he’s showing signs of having gone off the rails lately. A friend suggests he might be turning into the black Oliver Stone.

Legend of Bagger Vance. Pluses: director Robert Redford, stars Matt Damon and Will Smith. Minus: It’s a golf story. Hmmm…

Unbreakable. Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson in the second high-profile (but fourth overall) film from M. Night Shyamalan. Can it live up to The Sixth Sense?

Blair Witch 2. For obvious reasons.

Red Planet. Do we need another mediocre Mars adventure? Next to the stillborn Mission to Mars, this will be regarded as a success if it just doesn’t suck.

To avoid:

The 6th Day. Schwarzenegger. Nuff said.

Lucky Numbers, reuniting John Travolta with Michael director Nora Ephron in a story of a lottery-cheating scheme. Delayed from summer; poor advance word.

The Emperor’s New Groove. The new Disney cartoon is said to be a corpse.

Bedazzled. The preview has some laughs, but advance word on the film is pretty bad.

There are lots more on the radar (The Gift, from director Sam Raimi; Mel Gibson in a rare romantic comedy, What Women Want; Proof of Life, starring Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan, et al), but these are the highlights.

Hmmm… Maybe I should do a Holiday Preview for my site. (Adding a line to the to-do list…)

Um…

Multiple choice question: I mentioned Enemy at the Gates twice in the above post because…

(a) I’m really, really excited about it, so I had to repeat my recommendation, or

(b) I didn’t Preview.

You decide…