What's Up At The Multiplex
Shakespeare's world of jealousy and betrayal in "Othello" gets a modern-day spin in the film, "O," reports The Saturday Early Show. Mekhi Phifer is Odin James, the star basketball player at an elite private school. Julia Stiles plays Desi, the most popular girl in school and Odin's true love. But Odin's dreams begin to unravel when Josh Hartnett, as the bitter and envious Hugo, sets out to destroy him.
Several high school shootings left "O" on a studio shelf for three years (until Tim Blake Nelson won "Best Director" at this year's Seattle International Film Festival) because the movie involves gun violence.
In the new thriller "Jeepers Creepers," two college students on their way home from school unleash a terrifying force of evil. Justin Long and Gina Philips play the brother and sister duo who soon end up the chosen prey.
In the latest film from Woody Allen, he plays C.W. Briggs, New York's top insurance investigator, in "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion." And he is suspicious of Helen Hunt, the newest addition to his office.
While at a nightclub for an office function, a hypnotist puts the pair under a trance. And soon they are "inspecting" each other.
A pair of Jersey boys take on Hollywood in "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back." The duo from "Clerks," "Mallrats," and "Chasing Amy" have returned for the final chapter of their New Jersey chronicles. This time, they're out to stop a movie about their own lives from being made. With their reputations at stake, they embark on a cross-country journey to sabotage the production.
Look for cameos by Ben Affleck, George Carlin, and Will Ferrell.
Jimmy Livingston's on a different mission in "Bubble Boy." He's allergic to just about everything and lives inside a bubble. After learning his childhood sweetheart is engaged, Jimmy designed a portable bubble and ventures out (for the first time) to find her. But getting there isn't easy.
The controversy surrounding the movie is no joke. Advocacy groups are furious with the film's comical portrayal of a serious disease.
It's a showdown between farmers and a corrupt baron in "American Outlaws." The boys have returned home after four years at war to find their land up for sale, and they form a gang to stop it. Irish actor Colin Farrell plays their leader, an outlaw by the name of Jesse James.
The actors were sent to cowboy camp to prepare for the film.
Life is tranquil for the inhabitants of a Greek island in "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" until World War II troops arrive. Penelope Cruz plays the village doctor's daughter. She's seduced by Nicolas Cage, a music-loving, Italian army captain. As the war intensifies, the couple must choose between their love and their political allegiances. The movie is based on a British novel that topped the international bestseller list for three years.
Big money goes for the big laughs in "Rat Race." John Cleese plays a Las Vegas casino tycoon who comes up wita unique gambling event involving a jackpot worth $2 million. But the contestants are anything but winners, and all bets are off when it comes to the rules. Whoopi Goldberg, Rowan Atkinson and Cuba Gooding Jr. are among those hunting for the loot.
It's the summer after their freshman year in college, and the gang is a little older, but it's still the same goofy bunch. In "American Pie 2," the guys rent a beach house and vow to make this their best summer ever. Their goal? Girls, of course!
Jason Biggs is back as Jim, and he's still lusting after foreign-exchange student Nadia (played by Shannon Elisabeth).
In "Osmosis Jones," it's a battle of microscopic proportions. Chris Rock provides the voice of Osmosis Jones, a white blood cell. With the help of a cold pill (voiced by David Hyde Pierce), he fights to kill a virus that has infected a zookeeper, played by Bill Murray.
It took more than 650 people to bring to life the computer-generated insides of Murray's body.
"Home sweet home" is anything but in "The Others." Nicole Kidman plays a widow who moves into a mansion with her two children on an isolated island. Their stay is interrupted by some uninvited guests.
Kidman refuses to believe her children when they tell her about ghosts in the house. Instead, she blames the strange occurrences on servants. But other forces are at work.
In "Original Sin," there's more to Angelina Jolie than meets the eye.
Antonio Bandera plays a businessman who has everything he wants in life, except a wife. He finds his perfect match in Jolie, until he discovers she's lied about her identity. Jolie takes off with his money, and Banderas is out for revenge.
"Original Sin" was slated to open last fall, but was delayed so it could debut closer to the opening of Jolie's "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider."
Looking for a couple with chemistry? Try Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in "Rush Hour 2." They're back in their roles as police detectives, this time traveling to Hong Kong for a little rest and recreation.
Of course, before they can unpack, they find themselves chasing a thief. (Zhang Ziyi of "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" plays a gangster.)
Some Asian moviegoers through the original "RuSh Hour" was too American. Chan says "Rush Hour 2," with its more traditional fight scenes, will win approval from international fans.
Fairy tales really do come true in "The Princess Diaries." Anne Hathaway stars as Mia, a 15-year-old girl who is something of an outsider until she gets an unexpected visit from her grandmother (played by Julie Andrews) and some unexpected news.
It turns out Mia is a princess with a mission, and princess lessons transform her from gawky teen to graceful royal. But nothing can change her attitude.
Welcome back to "Planet of the Apes."
Director Tim Burton says it is not a remake of the 1968 classic. Instead, Burton revisits "Planet of the Apes" with all-new characters and plot twists For the first time in a movie, Mark Wahlberg is top banana, playing an astronaut who crashlands on a hostile planet overrun by apes. Eventually, Wahlberg leads a human resistance movement, but makes time for at least two romances, including one rumored to be with the appealing ape Helena Bonham Carter.
The actors in ape suits spent months learning how to walk like the real thing. And once shooting started, the actors spent at least four hours having their makeup applied.
In "Greenfingers," a group of British convicts take up gardening as part of their rehabilitation. Eventually, their hard work pays off, and they compete in a prestigious flower show. It's a true story, written for the screen and directed by Joel Hershman.
Flash back to 1981 for an irreverent look summer camp in "Wet Hot American Summer." Janeane Garofalo, as camp director, leads the ensemble cast, including David Hyde Pierce, Paul Rudd and Molly Shannon.
The dinosaurs have returned with a vengeance in "Jurassic Park III." Sam Neill is back, too, as paleontologist Alan Grant.
Grant is lured back to the island of dinosaurs to help a couple (Tea Leoni and William H. Macy) search for their son. But the island has been turned into a breeding ground for genetically engineered dinosaurs.
The life-like creatures caused a real scare on the set when a 44-foot spinosaurus malfunctioned and began slamming its head against a prop plane.
The original "Jurassic Park" used 54 computerized special effects. The new film used more than 150.
In "America's Sweethearts," Catherine Zeta-Jones and John Cusack play the golden couple of the silver screen. But there's trouble in Hollywood: She has found another leading man. It's up to her sister and personal assistant (played by Julia Roberts) to bring the twosome back together.
The plot thickens when Cusack and Roberts fall in love.
Billy Crystal, who co-wrote and produced the movie, also plays a publicist who is hired to help deal with the crisis.
Robert De Niro and Edward Norton team up in "The Score." De Niro is a crook who never breaks his golden rule: Always work alone.
His girlfriend, played by Angela Bassett, wants him to retire, but his friend, played by Marlon Brando, convinces him to do one last heist. The theft requires him to form an alliance with Norton.
Partnerships off-screen were a different story. Brando refused to work with the film's director, Frank Oz, and asked De Niro to direct many of his scenes.
Reese Witherspoon takes on Harvard in "Legally Blonde." The fabulously dressed Elle Woods has everything going for her until she's dumped by her politically ambitious boyfriend.
Why? She's too blonde and not smart enough.
Witherspoon follows him to Harvard, but is greeted with contempt by her boyfriend and other students. She proves she's about more than just fashion when she ends up assisting counsel in a murder trial.
The movie "Final Fantasy: The Spiits Within" has taken computer-generated images to a level not seen before. In the film, Dr. Aki Ross, voiced by Ming-nah, is mankind's last hope. The year is 2065 and evil aliens are determined to destroy the human population. Dr. Ross has the power to stop them, but aliens infect her with a fatal disease. Alec Baldwin is the voice of Captain Gray Edwards, a member of Dr. Ross' elite team.
It's a four-legged war for control of the planet in the comedy "Cats and Dogs." The evil cat Mr. Tinkles (voiced by Sean Hayes) plans the first attack. His target? Jeff Goldblum, who plays a professor trying to develop a cure for dog allergies.
A crack team of canines tries to stop Mr. Tinkles. Tobey Maguire is the voice of rookie pup Lou, who leads the team. Alec Baldwin and Susan Sarandon also lend their voices to the canine cause.
It took 200 animal trainers, puppeteers, and special-effects technicians to bring the animals to life.
In "Kiss of the Dragon," martial arts star Jet Li plays China's top government agent. He is in Paris on a secret mission, when something goes horribly wrong. Li is accused of a murder he did not commit, and Bridget Fonda plays a prostitute who comes to his aid.
Also, the Wayans Brothers are back with their comedy sequel, "Scary Movie 2," once again poking fun at horror movies. (When illness forced Marlon Brando to drop out of the film, James Woods stepped in to perform an onscreen exorcism.)
Haley Joel Osment is a perfectly assembled little boy in "A.I.," which stands for Artificial Intelligence. He plays David, the first android programmed to love.
A human couple adopts him, but they soon reject the child. He is desperate to become a real boy. But first, David must travel through a brutal, mechanical underworld.
The late filmmaker Stanley Kubrick spent almost two decades developing "A.I." before passing it on to Steven Spielberg.
In "Crazy Beautiful," Kirsten Dunst is anything but a perfect child. She plays a rich, reckless teen-ager who falls in love with a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, played by Jay Hernandez. Hernandez's straight-arrow morals steer Dunst in the right direction. But her behavior was toned down even before the movie went from script to screen. Government hearings on Hollywood's marketing to teens forced the director to rework certain scenes to keep the PG-13 rating.
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