compiled by Bradley Steinbacher


September 3

CHILL FACTOR -- Skeet Ulrich and Cuba Gooding Jr. are forced to drive a truck carrying some sort of chemical bomb. Oh yeah, and it has to be kept cold, hence the title.

LOVERS ON THE BRIDGE -- About homeless people living on the Ponte Neuf in Paris, but since they couldn't get permission to film there, they rebuilt the entire bridge in the French countryside. Starring Juliette Binoche.


September 10

BOOK OF LIFE -- Hal Hartley's millennial musings on film are being brought back for those who missed them during the movie's previous, sold-out run. Starring Hartley regular Martin Donovan and musical goddess PJ Harvey.

LUCIE AUBRAC -- French director Claude Berri's new film about a romance in the middle of a war.

STIGMATA -- Patricia Arquette is the Anti-Christ, and Gabriel Byrne is out to stop her!

A STIR OF ECHOES -- Kevin Bacon gets hypnotized, then all hell breaks loose inside his head when he becomes a psychic receiver.

VIOLENT COP/BOILING POINT -- Two early films from the master of artful Japanese violence, Takeshi Kitano.


September 17

ACID HOUSE -- The film version of Irvine Welsh's (Trainspotting) other collection of stories. Not getting good buzz in New York.

BLUE STREAK -- Martin Lawrence is a thief forced to pose as a police detective. In one scene he wears goofy teeth.

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS -- Alan Rudolph, Bruce Willis, and Nick Nolte bring the Kurt Vonnegut Jr. book to life.

FOR LOVE OF THE GAME -- Sam Raimi continues his drive toward mainstream respectability with this baseball drama starring Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston. Expect lots of shots from the baseball's point-of-view.

GRAND ILLUSION -- Renoir's anti-war classic, in a sparkling new print.

MOLLY -- Elizabeth Shue is retarded. That's the plot of the movie, not just our opinion.

RETURN WITH HONOR -- A documentary about POWs in Vietnam.


September 24

BEST LAID PLANS -- A junkie couple tries to go straight after one last score. Starring Reese Witherspoon, the best actress of her generation.

BLACK CAT, WHITE CAT -- Emir Kusturica's (Underground) sprawling new comedy.

DOG PARK -- An emotionally depressed dog unites two dog lovers. No, really.

DOUBLE JEOPARDY -- Tommy Lee Jones is a parole officer trying to stop Ashley Judd from killing somebody. Directed by the guy who made Driving Miss Daisy.

EARTH -- A romance between a young Hindu girl and two Muslim men. As seen in the Seattle International Film Festival.

GUINEVERE -- A rich girl falls in love with an older wedding photographer. Starring Sarah Polley and Stephen Rea.

JAKOB THE LIAR -- Patch Adams in a concentration camp. Starring Robin Williams. Please, kill me.

LEILA -- Iranian film about a couple unable to have children, and the second wife the husband takes in order to spread his seed.

THE MINUS MAN -- A serial killer is haunted by imaginary cops in his dreams.

MUMFORD -- Lawrence "I directed Grand Canyon, the worst movie ever made" Kasdan's new film. It's supposed to be a comedy.


Also in September

ALL THE LITTLE ANIMALS -- A retarded boy flees his abusive stepfather, who has slowly killed off all his pets one by one, and wanders around burying roadkill with a strange old man. Wow!

AUTEURS OF THE '70s -- Four-week series, sponsored by Scarecrow Video and the Seattle Art Museum, highlighting the longer version of Heaven's Gate, Robert Altman's Images, Monte Hellman's Two Lane Blacktop, and a classic sci-fi that must remain nameless for now.

CENTURY OF CINEMA -- The Grand Illusion's Sunday series for the fall is 10 weeks of the greatest films of all time, decade by decade, as chosen by select Seattle critics.

FLY FILMMAKING -- The best of the Seattle International Film Festival's acclaimed program of short films made under time, budget, and film constraints.

FOUR LITTLE GIRLS -- Spike Lee's documentary about the bombing of churches during the civil rights movement.

GET BRUCE! -- A documentary about Bruce Vilanch, comedy writer for TV shows like the Oscars.

LAST NIGHT -- It's the end of the world in Toronto, the very last night, as seen from several different perspectives. Starring creepy director David Cronenberg.

SEATTLE UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL -- Really, it's about time Seattle had one of these, if only so we can see the same ugly and pornographic films that people in New York and Chicago get to.

SPLENDOR -- Hack director Greg Araki's new film. Run for the hills!

SUGAR TOWN -- A peek inside the Hollywood music industry. Directed by Allison Anders (Grace of My Heart, Gas Food Lodging).

WHITE BOYS -- A movie about a group of white boys, starring performance art superstar Danny Hoch.


October 1

AMERICAN BEAUTY -- Kevin Spacey plays a man going through a mid-life crisis who begins lusting after one of his daughter's friends. Annette Bening plays his wife.

THE BONE COLLECTOR -- Denzel Washington loses his arms and legs, then gets robotic ones put on, then battles a serial killer with his new limbs. Doesn't that sound great?

DRIVE ME CRAZY -- High school comedy about a girl from the cool clique falling for a nerd from the nerd clique. Starring Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

ELMO IN GROUCHLAND -- Elmo goes to Grouchland, where there are a lot of grouches.

MYSTERY, ALASKA -- A small-town hockey team takes on an NHL team. Starring Russell Crowe and Burt Reynolds.

PERFECT BLUE -- Japanimation about a would-be starlet's long, bumpy road to success.

PLUNKETT & MACLEANE -- A comedy about two men stealing from aristocrats in 18th-century England.

ROMANCE -- An exploration of the power of the sexes -- in other words... SEX!

SITCOM -- François Ozon's black comedy about a dysfunctional family and the domesticated lab rat that inspires their downfall.


October 8

BEDROOMS & HALLWAYS -- Rose Troche (Go Fish) finally releases another film, this one about being gay in London.

HAPPY, TEXAS -- Two guys running from the law pretend to be homosexuals who put together beauty pageants. A Sundance fave.

LOST SOULS -- Winona Ryder battles the Anti-Christ. (Hey, isn't that Gabriel Byrne's job?)

RANDOM HEARTS -- Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott-Thomas meet when both of their spouses are killed in the same plane crash. Directed by Sydney Pollack.

SIMPATICO -- Something starring Jeff Bridges, Catherine Keener, Sharon Stone, and Nick Nolte.

THE STRAIGHT STORY -- David Lynch's G-rated tale about an old man driving a lawnmower across the country to visit his dying brother.

SUPERSTAR -- The latest Saturday Night Live debacle to reach the big screen. Molly Shannon stars as her "Mary Katherine Gallagher" character (you know, that freaky Catholic schoolgirl who likes to smell her armpits).

THREE KINGS -- David O. Russell (Spanking the Monkey, Flirting With Disaster) directs George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Ice Cube in a comedy/drama about U.S. soldiers out to steal gold from Iraq after the Gulf War.


October 15

FIGHT CLUB -- See "Blockbuster" preview.

STOP MAKING SENSE -- Re-release of the classic Jonathan Demme Talking Heads concert film. Digitally re-mastered, of course.

THE STORY OF US -- A dramedy about surviving 15 years of marriage, directed by Rob "Meathead" Reiner and starring Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer.


October 22

ANYWHERE BUT HERE -- Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman are a bickering mother and daughter.

ARTIFICIAL LIFE -- The premiere film series by the hyper-ambitious new multi-media arts center Consolidated Works kicks off Oct 22 with the Seattle premiere of Gordon Eriksen's feature The Love Machine. The six-week program (curated by Northwest Film Forum's Deborah Girdwood) features a series of feature films paired with new independent short films, all exploring themes of "artificial life" (and wraps up Nov 27 with an all-night screening of Andy Warhol's Sleep).

BATS -- A horror movie about killer bats, starring Lou Diamond Phillips.

THE BEST MAN -- The best man sleeps with the bride, and tries to keep it secret from the groom. Whoops.

BRINGING OUT THE DEAD -- Martin Scorsese's new film, starring Nicholas Cage as an ambulance driver haunted by all the dead people he's carted to the city morgue.

CRAZY IN ALABAMA -- Antonio Banderas directs his wife Melanie Griffith. (Oh no!)

LESBIAN & GAY FILM FESTIVAL -- The gays get to show their own movies for a week.

THE LIMEY -- Stephen "my movie sex, lies, and videotape put the Sundance Festival on the map" Soderbergh's latest, starring Terence Stamp and Peter Fonda.

TRUFFAUT: A CELEBRATION -- A documentary on... well, you know, Francois Truffaut. Coinciding with a Francois Truffaut retrospective.


October 29

ARAB FILM FESTIVAL -- Some of the greatest films of the '90s have come out of Arab countries. See if their winning streak can continue.

BEING JOHN MALKOVICH -- See "Underdog" preview.

CALIGULA -- A re-issue of the classic, mainstream porn extravaganza, starring Malcolm McDowell.

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL -- A remake of the classic William Castle horror movie, about a millionaire who offers a group of people $10,000 to spend the night in a supposedly haunted house.

MUSIC OF THE HEART -- Horrormeister Wes Craven turns serious (oh, Christ!) with a movie about a music teacher. Starring Meryl Streep.

PRINCESS MONONOKE -- A brilliant Japanimation film.


Also in October

BANDITS -- A girl rock group breaks out of prison and hits the road on tour!

BEEFCAKE -- A fictional film about muscle magazines in the '40s, and how the majority of their readers were gay and in the closet.

HOLY SMOKE -- Jane Campion's new film, starring Kate Winslet and Harvey Keitel's penis.

JOE THE KING -- Actor Frank Whaley (The Doors, Broken Arrow) makes his directorial debut with this story about a kid who gets slapped around by his bad parents. Starring Val Kilmer.

THE SUBURBANS -- A bad '80s band named the Suburbans plays their final show. Co-starring Jennifer Love Hewitt.

SUNSET STRIP -- Boogie Nights on the Sunset Strip. Starring a bunch of unknown young actors.

THAT'S THE WAY I LIKE IT -- A disco movie, with a twist.

TRAIN OF LIFE -- In 1941, a small Jewish town comes up with a fake deportation train to fool the Nazis. Cited by some as the inspiration for Life is Beautiful, which was made soon after.

THE WISDOM OF CROCODILES -- A British vampire is searching for love. Think Love At First Bite with an accent.


November 5

DOUGLAS SIRK SERIES -- The "Women's Weepies" of Douglas Sirk are actually smart bits of social commentary, which have been conveniently ignored by the Tarantino generation.

DRY CLEANING -- A married couple that owns a dry cleaning business take in a lost young man and have their lives turned upside-down.

THE INSIDER -- Based on 60 Minutes' famous botched tobacco industry story. Starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe, and directed by Michael Mann.

LIGHT IT UP -- A bunch of teens decide to clean up their high school. Starring Usher!

MAN ON THE MOON -- Milos Forman re-teams with the writers of The People vs. Larry Flynt to bring this bio of brilliant Andy Kaufman to the screen. Starring Jim Carrey and Courtney Love.

THE MESSENGER: THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC -- Supermodel/hair-care spokeswoman/"actress" Milla Jovovich stars as Joan of Arc. Directed by Luc "Hey, I'm boning Milla Jovovich!" Besson.

NEW DANCE CINEMA -- 35mm prints of avant-garde dance films that have never been seen in America... until now! Co-presented by Wiggly World and 33 Fainting Spells.

ON THE ROPES -- Kind of like Hoop Dreams, but with boxing. The hopes and dreams of men and women trying to fight their way out of poverty.

RIDE WITH THE DEVIL -- Ang Lee explores Kansas and Missouri during the American Civil War. Starring Skeet "Why Am I Not a Big Star Yet?" Ulrich, Tobey "Same Question" Maguire, and Jewel.


November 8

REGRET TO INFORM -- A documentary about both American and Vietnamese widows after the Vietnam War.


November 12

MANSFIELD PARK -- Yet another film based on a novel by Jane Austen, the funniest woman who ever lived.

POKEMON -- The title pretty much says it all. You can't even begin to comprehend the Pokemon fever that'll sweep the nation when this comes out.

THREE TO TANGO -- Matthew Perry ("Chandler" on Friends), Neve Campbell ("Julia" on Party of Five), and Dylan McDermott ("Bobby" on The Practice) in a romantic comedy.

WOMEN IN CINEMA FESTIVAL -- The name says it all.


November 19

AMERICAN MOVIE -- A documentary about a would-be independent filmmaker.

LIBERTY HEIGHTS -- Director Barry Levinson's first film since the disastrous Sphere.

SLEEPY HOLLOW -- Tim Burton's re-telling of the classic "Headless Horseman" tale. Starring Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci. Written by that sicko who wrote Seven and 8mm.

SOME LIKE IT HOT -- Re-release of the classic Billy Wilder film, starring Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon.

THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH -- The 19th James Bond movie. Directed by once-respectable director Michael Apted.


November 24

ANNA & THE KING -- Starring Jodie "What the hell am I doing with my life?" Foster and Chow Yun Fat.

END OF DAYS -- Arnold Schwarzenegger is trying to stop the Anti-Christ (he'd better get in line behind Gabriel Byrne and Winona Ryder!).

FLAWLESS -- Robert DeNiro plays a security guard who takes singing lessons from a drag queen. Directed by Joel "The Hack" Schumacher.

TOY STORY 2 -- Box-office gold, any way you slice it.


November 26

ANGELA'S ASHES -- Alan Parker's (Mississippi Burning, Evita) version of Frank McCourt's memoir of growing up eating dirt and getting slugged by his da in merry old Ireland. Starring Robert Carlyle and Emily "Oscar Bait" Watson.

FELICIA'S JOURNEY -- The new film from Atom Egoyan, the only good thing to come out of Canada since Bryan Adams and over-the-counter codeine aspirin.


Also in November

MY BEST FIEND -- A new documentary from brilliant nutball Werner Herzog. Featuring Klaus Kinski!

PASSION -- Jean-Luc Godard's seldom-seen film, which will be complemented by a screening of the video-commentary piece Scenario du Film Passion.

ROSETTA -- A woman searches for work in wartorn France during WWII. Controversial winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, made by Belgium's Dardienne brothers (La Promesse).

WAKING THE DEAD -- A congressman goes crazy when the love of his life comes back from the dead.