Entertainment Editor:
Jeremy Lang
jlang@dailyemerald. com
The Breeders vs. Debbie Gibson
Both are going back out on the road this fall.
Which one gets you the most excited? Page 6
By Jeremy Lang
Oregon Daily Emerald
As this issue has the last Pulse for
the summer — not counting the spe
cial editions in the Law School and
Back to the Books papers — it seemed
fitting to look forward. And what in
dustry is a champion of forward think
ing quite like the movie industry?
The fall and holiday season official
ly starts in less than a month, and like
debutantes at a ball filled to maximum
capacity, this year’s crop is packed
with some big hopefuls, future flops
and probably the next big surprise hit.
And as the press kits for these beauties
start to file in, the Pulse desk is ready to
fill its dance card. (All movies are list
ed by release date.)
Sept. 7 — “Two Can Play That
Game.” Mark Brown, who wrote the
1997 Bill Bellamy vehicle “How To Be
a Player,” returns to write, direct and
co-produce this romantic comedy star
ring Vivica A. Fox, a master
craftswoman at relationships and a
fountain of advice for her girlfriend.
But when her “boyfriend, Keith, is
i caught red-handed stepping out with
l her archrival, Conny,” the Screen
I Gems press kit reveals, Fox’s charac
W ter deploys a 10-day plan involving
A cooking and lingerie, among other
■ things, to win him back.
Sept. 14 — “The Glass House.”
Leelee Sobieski, who co-starred
last year with Chris Klein in
“Here On Earth,” returns with Di
* ■ ane Lane for this psychological
thriller that appears to be a seri
ous treatment of a running joke
from “The Simpsons.” After
Sobieski’s character’s parents
are killed in a car crash, her
new guardian offers her and
her brother, played by Trevor
Morgan, a wonderful new
life in California. All they
have to do is move into —
and live in—a large, creepy
Malibu house.
Sept. 28 — “Don’t Say a
Word.” After his success
ful comic role in “Wonder
Boys,” Michael Douglas
returns to the heavy dra
ma of his other success
last year, “Traffic.
M
In “Don’t Say a Word,” directed by
Gary Fleder of “Kiss the Girls” fame,
Douglas plays an adolescent psychia
trist searching for his kidnapped
daughter. Famke Janssen, who played
Jean Grey in “X-Men,” co-stars.
Oct. 5 — “Joy Ride.” John Dahl,
who directed the Nick Cage film noir
“Red Rock West,” spins another dark
tale, but this time using slapstick fun
nyman Steve Zahn, who has turned
in comedic roles in “Suburbia” and
“That Thing You Do,” as the lead
character. In “Joy Ride,” Zahn and
Paul Walker play friends on a road
trip in a big 1970s car equipped with a
CB radio. Overcome with nostalgia
and the ability to talk in a high
pitched voice, Zahn tricks a random
trucker into thinking he’s actually a
she and the trucker should meet
“her” at a sleazy hotel for a late-night
rendezvous. The fun and games stop
when the trucker gets really, really
mad and goes after the two “I Know
What You Did Last Summer” style.
Oct. 19 — “Riding in Cars With
Boys.” Zahn continues his automo
tive fall with this part-drama-part
comedy co-starring Drew Barrymore
and directed by Penny Marshall. The
movie focuses on Barrymore’s char
acter as she comes of age in the late
1960s. The movie is based on a true
story. Lorraine Bracco, Dr. Melfi from
“The Sopranos” and Karen Hill in
“Goodfellas,” co-stars.
Oct. 19 — “From Hell.” After
tracking the Headless Horseman in
“Sleepy Hollow,” Johnny Depp kin
da-sorta reprises his role as a police
inspector tracking Jack the Ripper in
“From Hell.” Heather Graham plays
Christina Ricci’s character from
Sleepy Hollow, period-piece, corset
bound dresses and all.
Nov. 2 — “The One.” Hot Asian ac
tion star Jet Li shares the screen with
hot British action star Jason Statham
— from Guy Ritchie’s movies — in
“The One.” Now that Li has kicked in
the face of each person on this planet,
he moves to parallel universes. This
film pits Li’s character against himself
Captain Kirk style, but
With each defeated version of himself,
Li’s character grows stronger until he is
“The One.”
Nov. 9 — “Shallow Hal.” Still trying
to recapture his “High Fidelity” success,
Jack Black has made a safe bet by team
ing with the Farrelly Brothers, the cre
ators of “Dumb and Dumber,” “There’s
Something About Mary,” and other un
apologetically low-brow comedies that
make truckloads of money. Black plays
a man who becomes hypnotized into
seeing only the most beautiful part of a
person, even if that part is inner beauty
alone. When he meets an obese woman,
Black’s character turns her inner beauty
into Gwyneth Paltrow, and he turns into
one smitten beau. But when the hypno
sis wears off, Black’s character must
confront his full-figured lady, probably
while that light, touching music plays
in the background, signaling that the
character is coming to terms with some
thing. Then a moral will follow. But if
the Farrellys wrote and directed it, the
middle is sure to be a knee-slapper.
Nov. 16 — “The New Guy.” Cast
members from “Road Trip,” “Deuce
Bigalow: Male Gigolo” and “Bring It
On” combine forces in this comedy. A
nerdy high school kid gets a second
chance to start from scratch and be the
cool kid everyone likes. We assure
you, this movie is not “Never Been
Kissed.” The high schooler is a guy.
And the guy, played by D.J. Qualls, is
described by the Columbia Pictures
press kit as the “geeky dud Dizzy [who
is turned] into the hip, studly ‘Gil Har
ris.’” He then goes on to destroy the
popularity-obsessed social system,
boost school morale and, rumor has it,
score the hot girl.
Nov. 21 — “Black Knight.” Martin
Lawrence plays a mop guy at a medieval
theme park — until he falls into a moat
at the park and comes out in 16th-centu
iy England. Once there, he will scare the
Middle Ages royalty with the myriad of
gadgets he just happened to have on his
person when he fell in the moat, woo a
lady in waiting and save the day for
someone somehow — just like in every
remake of “A Connecticut Yankee in
King Arthur’s Court. ”
Dec. 7 — “Ali.” Without a doubt,
“Ali” has all the Hollywood buzz for
all the right reasons. Will Smith plays
Mohammed Ali in this biographical
film. Smith has proved his legitimate
dramatic ability with his Oscar-worthy
“Six Degrees of Separation” perform
ance. Smith will use that ability and
the raw emotion and energy he throws
at his action movie roles to complete
the character. The movie will have the
distinct, washed-out look that director
Michael Mann brought to “The Insid
er” and “Heat.” Jon Voight co-stars.
Dec. 14 — “Not Another Teen
Movie.” Mr. T is back. Back, at least,
from doing just title loan and long dis
tance commercials. Although the Co
\ lumbia Pictures press kit bills him
next-to-last on the cast list, his
name — and Randy Quaid’s,
who is listed last — is the one
that stands out for this come
dy poking fun at the quirki
| ness of the teenage years.
Dec. 21 — “Joe Some
body.” Tim Allen gives his
typecast role of Evervman
With-A-Kid another ride in
“Joe Somebody,” in which
the kid is a daughter, inci
dentally. Again, Allen’s char
acter begins to succeed at
something, this time a rise
up the corporate ladder, but
realizes the price of losing
his kid’s — and a love inter
est’s — affection is too high a
price to pay.