That Thing You View

WEDNESDAY

Street Corner Justice. Former detective Marc Singer battles L.A. gangs, vigilante style. One problem: Crooked cop Steve Railsback stands in his way. (Sunset Films International)

FRIDAY

Bird of Prey. Jennifer Tilly, Richard Chamberlain, Lesley Anne Warren and David Carradine head the cast in the story of a man’s quest to avenge his father’s murder. (Northern Arts)

Bound. A female ex-con and the mistress of a mobster plot to swindle the Mafia out of $2 million. Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon star for first-time directors Larry and Andy Wachowski. (Gramercy)

D3: The Mighty Ducks. Emilio Estevez leads his slap-shooting charges into the embrace of the prestigious Eden Academy, where they ultimately unite with their schoolmates against a common foe. (Walt Disney)

The Glimmer Man. Serial killer specialist Steven Seagal’s attempt to track down an elusive murderer hits a snag when his ex-wife becomes a victim, enmeshing him and partner Keenen Ivory Wayans in a web of intrigue. (Warner Bros.)

Infinity. Matthew Broderick directs and stars in the true story of renowned physicist Richard P. Feynman, who faces conflicts of loyalty, morality and the heart as he falls in love while America enters World War II. (First Look)

Secrets & Lies. Writer-director Mike Leigh’s Palme d’Or winner at Cannes details the reunion of a white woman (Brenda Blythen) and the half-black daughter (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) she gave up for adoption 27 years earlier. (October Films)

That Thing You Do! Tom Hanks wrote and co-stars in his directorial debut, about the heady times of a rock band that hits the top of the charts in 1964. (Fox)

OCT. 9

The Proprietor. Ismail Merchant directs Jeanne Moreau as an expatriate French novelist whose life is at a crossroads between cultures and eras. (Warner Bros.)

Small Wonders. This 1995 film, an Oscar nominee for best documentary feature, depicts a single mother’s determination to teach violin to children in New York’s East Harlem. (Miramax)

OCT. 11

The Chamber. William Goldman adapted John Grisham’s novel about a young lawyer (Chris O’Donnell) racing against time to save his grandfather (Gene Hackman) from the gas chamber. (Universal)

The Ghost and the Darkness. Wild-game hunter Michael Douglas teams with engineer Val Kilmer to find and kill two lions that have claimed more than 130 lives in 1896 Africa. (Paramount)

The Grass Harp. Stirling Silliphant and Kirk Ellis adapted Truman Capote’s novel about a young boy learning about life from such colorful characters as sisters Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie. Charles Matthau directs dad Walter, Jack Lemmon, Nell Carter and others. (Fine Line)

L5 First City in Space. Computer-generated imagery and footage from space expeditions combine to depict life in the first working city in outer space. (Imax)

The Long Kiss Goodnight. Schoolteacher Geena Davis has amnesia, and when her past finally comes clear, it’s secret agents and deadly plots. Renny Harlin directs from a script by Shane Black (“Lethal Weapon”); Samuel L. Jackson co-stars. (New Line)

Michael Collins. Liam Neeson stars as the Irish revolutionary leader and Julia Roberts plays his fiancee in writer-director Neil Jordan’s study of conflict and loyalty. (Warner Bros.)

Microcosmos. An erotic interlude between two snails is just one of the facts of life on display in this up-close-and-personal look into the lives of bugs and other small creatures. (Miramax)

Not Bad for a Girl. This rockumentary on female bands focuses on L7, Hole, Lunachicks and Babes in Toyland. (Horizon Unlimited)

OCT. 16

Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. The restored 1958 classic, starring James Stewart and Kim Novak, in Super VistaVision 70 and DTS digital stereo. (Universal)

Get on the Bus. Spike Lee directs this account of 18 men who share a ride to the Million Man March. (Columbia)

OCT. 18

Bitter Sugar. Cuban-born director Leon Ichaso poses the question: Can love overcome the political conflicts between an idealistic student and a realistic dancer in Havana? (First Look)

The Great American West. The Lewis and Clark expedition and the California Gold Rush are among the subjects covered in this Imax entry. (Imax)

Jude. Christopher Eccleston is Jude Fawley in this interpretation of “Jude the Obscure,” Thomas Hardy’s classic novel about obsession and doom. (Gramercy)

Sleepers. Writer-producer-director Barry Levinson traces the lives of some pals from Hell’s Kitchen through reform school and its aftermath. Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Patric and Kevin Bacon star. (Warner Bros.)

Survival Island. David Attenborough wrote and narrates this Imax-size study of life and death during the Antarctic summer on isolated Georgia Island. (Imax)

Swingers. Hollywood’s cocktail nation and retro swing-dance movement form the backdrop for this story of five young men confronting the riddles of life and romance. (Miramax)

To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday. Peter Gallagher’s wife (Michelle Pfeiffer) has been dead for two years, but he’s not letting her go. Michael Pressman directs from a script by David E. Kelley (TV’s “Picket Fences”). (Triumph)

Trees Lounge. That’s the name of a Long Island, N.Y., dive that a crew of colorful characters calls home, in star Steve Buscemi’s writing-directing debut. (LIVE Entertainment)

OCT. 24

It’s Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School. Debra Chasnoff, director of the Oscar-winning short “Deadly Deception,” documents efforts by teachers to open a dialogue with their students on the topic of gays and lesbians.

OCT. 25

The Associate. When financial analyst Whoopi Goldberg gets tired of being passed over for the big promotion, she hatches a scheme that sets Wall Street on its ear. (Hollywood)

The Funeral. Director Abel Ferrara and writer Nicholas St. John set their story of the violent Tempio family in the labor clashes of Depression-era New York. With Vincent Gallo, Christopher Walken, Chris Penn and Annabella Sciorra. (October Films)

High School High. The story of an idealistic young teacher (Jon Lovitz) at Marion Barry High--a school so tough it has its own cemetery. Don’t look now, but there are “Naked Gun” genes in the production team. (TriStar)

Looking for Richard. Al Pacino--co-producer, director and star--takes an “8 1/2” approach to “Richard III,” telling the story while depicting a filmmaker’s struggle to understand and capture it. The cast includes Winona Rider, Alec Baldwin, Kenneth Branagh and James Earl Jones. (Fox Searchlight)

Stephen King’s Thinner. New frontiers in dieting: Portly attorney Robert John Burke runs over a Gypsy and is cursed with a case of perpetual weight loss. (Paramount)

The Sunchaser. Woody Harrelson is an oncological surgeon kidnapped by teenage murderer and cancer victim Jon Seda, who seeks a cure on a fabled Navajo mountain. Michael Cimino directs. (Warner Bros.)

Twelfth Night. The theater’s Trevor Nunn directs Helena Bonham Carter, Richard E. Grant, Nigel Hawthorne, Ben Kingsley and Imogen Stubbs in Shakespeare’s comedy. (Fine Line)

OCT. 26

The Bloody Child. “Extreme cinema” hotshot Nina Menkes probes American violence through a dreamlike study of a Gulf War veteran and his murdered wife. (Menkesfilm)

OCT. 31

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. The theatrical release of HBO’s chilling documentary about a horrific crime that shook a small Southern town.

NOV. 1

Bad Moon. Photojournalist Michael Pare has the bite put on him by a beast in Nepal. That’s bad news for him and everyone else back at his sister’s home in the Pacific Northwest. (Warner Bros.)

Beautiful Thing. Two teenage boys fall in love during a hot summer in their tough Themesmead Estate neighborhood. (Sony Classics)

Everyone Says I Love You. Woody Allen makes a musical in New York, Venice and Paris, with a cast that includes Alan Alda, Goldie Hawn, Julia Roberts and Drew Barrymore. (Miramax)

johns. Lukas Haas and David Arquette are Hollywood hustlers who try to find out if friendship can transcend the harsh rules of the street. (First Look)

Le Huitieme Jour. An emotionally repressed executive and a man with Down’s syndrome form an unlikely bond, sending each other on difficult roads of self-discovery. (Gramercy)

Mad Dog Time. Who better to evoke the spirit of the Rat Pack than the offspring of a charter member? Joey Bishop’s son Larry Bishop wrote and directed this black comedy about the release from the mental ward of feared boss Richard Dreyfuss. (MGM)

Mother Night. Nick Nolte stars in this adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, in which avenging Israelis and neo-Nazis vie for a propagandist’s soul in the years after World War II. (Fine Line)

Palookaville. Moving from the TV series “Homicide” to the big screen, director Alan Taylor follows three men who seek to solve their unemployment problems by committing the perfect crime. (Samuel Goldwyn Co.)

Unhook the Stars. John Cassavetes’ son Nick directs his mother, Gena Rowlands, as a widow who finds herself at a crossroads when she’s courted by truck driver Gerard Depardieu. (Miramax)

The War at Home. Director Emilio Estevez portrays a young Texan whose memories of his war experience in Vietnam disrupt life at home with his parents (Kathy Bates and his real-life dad, Martin Sheen). (Touchstone)

William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. “Strictly Ballroom” director Baz Luhrmann and leads Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes offer Elizabethan language spoken in a contemporary American voice. (Fox)

NOV. 6

Set It Off. F. Gary Gray (“Friday”) directs Jada Pinkett, Queen Latifah, Vivica Fox and Kimberly Elise as four women who escaped the mean streets but now decide to strike back at the system that betrayed them. To a hip-hop beat. (New Line)

NOV. 7

Parallel Sons. Sexual tensions and racial issues swirl around the story of a young white artist and a black jail escapee who form an unlikely bond. (Greycat)

NOV. 8

Dear God. Garry Marshall directs and Greg Kinnear stars as a con man who cooks up a scheme with his fellow employees at the Postal Service’s dead-letter office. (Paramount)

Love Is All There Is. Husband-and-wife team Joseph Bologna and Renee Taylor wrote, directed and star in the story of two rival Italian families in the Bronx. (Samuel Goldwyn Co.)

Ransom. Ron Howard directs Mel Gibson as a tycoon facing his toughest negotiations: those with his son’s kidnappers. His strategy ultimately turns radical. (Touchstone)

Santa With Muscles. That’s none other than Hulk Hogan, who battles villain Ed Begley Jr. to save the mission that’s the heart and soul of a beleagured California town. (Legacy Releasing)

NOV. 14

Blue Juice. Ewan McGregor (“Trainspotting”) co-stars with Sean Pertwee in a coming-of-age comedy set in the surfing community of . . . Cornwall, England. (Filmopolis)

NOV. 15

Albino Alligator. In his directorial debut, actor Kevin Spacey leads Matt Dillon, Faye Dunaway, Gary Sinise and others through a suspense thriller about a group of bank robbers and their hostages--one of whom may be more than they’re ready for. (Miramax)

Breaking the Waves. On the remote north coast of Scotland, an oil-rig worker’s paralysis triggers his wife’s plunge into an unknown and confusing world of passion. (October Films)

The English Patient. Ralph Fiennes is the hideously burned title character, a cipher at the center of the damaged lives on display in an abandoned Italian villa at the end of World War II. Kristin Scott Thomas co-stars. (Miramax)

I’m Not Rappaport. Walter Matthau and Ossie Davis are the Central Park pals in this adaptation of Herb Gardner’s stage comedy. Amy Irving, Martha Plimpton and Craig T. Nelson are also involved in their carrying-on. (Gramercy)

The Mirror Has Two Faces. Barbra Streisand directs herself, Jeff Bridges, Pierce Brosnan and Mimi Rogers in a bittersweet comedy about two university professors with a novel marital arrangement. (TriStar)

The Secret Agent. Victorian London is the setting for intrigue as Patricia Arquette turns to enigmatic Frenchman Gerard Depardieu after being betrayed by husband Bob Hoskins. Christopher Hampton (“Carrington”) directs Joseph Conrad’s classic story. (Fox Searchlight)

Space Jam. As if playing with Dennis Rodman weren’t enough, now Michael Jordan must team with the Looney Tunes characters in a basketball game against creatures from outer space. (Warner Bros.)

NOV. 19

Three Lives and Only One Death. Chilean-born Raoul Ruiz directed this French entry, with Marcello Mastroianni starring in four tales of fantasy and psychological intrigue. (New Yorker)

NOV. 22

Jingle All the Way. Distracted dad Arnold Schwarzenegger resolves to get his kid a coveted Turbo Man for Christmas, but it’s not easy with a neighbor like Phil Hartman, a mailman like Sinbad and a shady Santa like James Belushi. (Fox)

Larger Than Life. Bill Murray, Linda Fiorentino, Janeane Garofalo and others are dwarfed by the central character -- a circus elephant bequeathed to Murray by his father. Cross-country adventures and bonding with departed dad are in the cards. (United Artists)

Margaret’s Museum. Helena Bonham Carter is a defiant daughter of Cape Breton, but her romance with Clive Russell ultimately brings her life into contact with the Nova Scotia mines she has sworn to avoid. (Cinepix)

Nightwatch. Ewan McGregor is a law student whose night job as the morgue watchman leads to an uncomfortable entanglement with the serial killer who’s terrorizing the city. With Nick Nolte and Patricia Arquette. (Miramax)

Shine. Australian Scott Hicks directs a story based on the life of classical pianist David Helfgott, whose rising career was derailed by depression. (Fine Line)

Sling Blade. A man released from an asylum 25 years after committing a gruesome crime faces problems in his Southern hometown when his new friend’s abusive boyfriend surfaces. Billy Bob Thornton (“One False Move”) wrote, directed and stars. (Miramax)

Star Trek: First Contact. Patrick Stewart commands the newly commissioned Enterprise E in the eighth “Star Trek” film. James Cromwell (“Babe”) is among those co-starring for director Jonathan Frakes. (Paramount)

NOV. 27

The Crucible. Arthur Miller wrote the screenplay, based on his play about collective evil and personal conscience. Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder, Paul Scofield and Joan Allen head the cast. (Fox)

101 Dalmatians. Glenn Close is Cruella De Vil in a live action update of Disney’s 1961 classic. Joely Richardson and Jeff Daniels are the owners of the coveted canines. (Walt Disney)

Ridicule. A man seeking to save his village from an epidemic must learn to survive amid the treachery and decadence of the court of Louis XVI. (Miramax)

NOVEMBER UNSCHEDULED

Drunks. Richard Lewis, Dianne Wiest, Faye Dunaway, Spalding Gray, Parker Posey, Amanda Plummer and Howard Rollins form the cast in the story of a group of recovering alcoholics. (Northern Arts)

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis. A re-release of Vittorio De Sica’s 1972 classic about the persecution of the Jews in Italy at the beginning of World War II. (Sony Classics)

DEC. 6

Daylight. New horizons in commuting: Sylvester Stallone endeavors to lead a group of survivors to safety from an explosion-sealed New York-to-New Jersey tunnel. (Universal)

The Substance of Fire. Ron Rifkin and Sarah Jessica Parker, alumni of the off-Broadway version of Jon Robin Baitz’s play about conflicts in a publishing family, are joined by Timothy Hutton and Tony Goldwyn in Baitz’s own adaptation. (Miramax)

DEC. 8

Hype. The famous (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam) and the obscure (Flop, Gas Huffer) make some noise in this documentary on the exploitation of the Seattle rock scene. (Cinepix)

DEC. 13

Citizen Ruth. Laura Dern is a pregnant woman thrown into a crucible of controversy. Swoosie Kurtz and Burt Reynolds are also in the cast of writer-director Alexander Payne’s satire. (Miramax)

Jerry Maguire. Writer-director Cameron Crowe (“Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” “Singles”) follows sports agent Maguire (Tom Cruise) on a comedic journey from crisis to redemption. (TriStar)

Mars Attacks. Director Tim Burton returns to Warner Bros., scene of his “Beetlejuice” and the first two “Batmans,” for this large-scale sci-fi fantasy. (Warner Bros.)

Rosewood. Director and co-writer John Singleton recounts the destruction of a black community in Florida in 1923 that was triggered by a false accusation against a resident. Jon Voight and Ving Rhames head an ensemble cast. (Warner Bros.)

DEC. 20

Beavis and Butt-head Do America. The brain-dead buddies hit the big screen in auteur Mike Judge’s (he even wrote and performed the theme music) examination of the teenage psyche. (Paramount)

Ghosts of Mississippi. Rob Reiner directs and Alec Baldwin stars as Bobby DeLaughter, the district attorney who brought Byron de la Beckwith (James Woods) to justice 30 years after the murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers. (Castle Rock)

The Ice Storm. The sexual revolution reaches suburbia in 1973 in this Ang Lee-directed adaptation of Rick Moody’s novel. Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline head the cast. (Fox Searchlight)

Marvin’s Room. The film based on Scott MacPherson’s play of a dysfunctional family drew a high-voltage cast: Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Hume Cronyn and Gwen Verdon. Stage veteran Jerry Zaks makes his feature film directing debut. (Miramax)

My Fellow Americans. Jack Lemmon and James Garner are two former U.S. presidents, and when scandal swirls around incumbent Dan Aykroyd, the two old enemies are thrown together on an odyssey through America. (Warner Bros.)

Night Falls on Manhattan. Sidney Lumet’s 40th film stars Andy Garcia as an idealistic New York DA whose encounters with the system’s deceit and corruption shatter his world. Richard Dreyfuss plays his courtroom adversary. (Paramount)

One Fine Day. Can architect and divorced mom Michelle Pfeiffer and hard-driving columnist George Clooney find room for love in their high-intensity lives? The answer unfolds in the course of a chaotic day in New York. (Fox 2000)

The Preacher’s Wife. This remake of the 1947 classic “The Bishop’s Wife” stars Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington. Penny Marshall directs. (Touchstone)

Scream. That’s one of the mistakes that will get you in real trouble in Wes Craven’s story of a murderer whose targets would be well advised to recall what they’ve learned in the movies. (Miramax)

Turbulence. Flight attendant Lauren Holly takes the controls on a jumbo jet after a prisoner escapes and eliminates the crew. Male lead: Ray Liotta. Destination: LAX. (MGM)

DEC. 25

The Evening Star. Shirley MacLaine and Jack Nicholson return in this continuation of “Terms of Endearment,” again based on a Larry McMurtry novel. Bill Paxton, Juliette Lewis and Miranda Richardson are also on hand. (Paramount)

Evita. The Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical finally makes it to the screen, with Madonna starring as Eva Peron, Jonathan Pryce as Juan Peron and Antonio Banderas as Che. Alan Parker directs. (Hollywood)

Hamlet. Director Kenneth Branagh’s eclectic cast includes the likes of Billy Crystal and Robin Williams, Charlton Heston and Jack Lemmon, Julie Christie and Gerard Depardieu. (Castle Rock)

In Love and War. Sandra Bullock and Chris O’Donnell take the leads in an epic love story based on the letters and diaries of the nurse who inspired Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms.” Richard Attenborough directs. (New Line)

Les Voleurs. Andre Techine directs this search for the truth about the slain father of a 10-year-old boy. (Sony Classics)

Michael. Nora Ephron (“Sleepless in Seattle”) directed and co-wrote (with Pete Dexter) the story of promiscuous angel John Travolta and the tabloid reporters (Andie MacDowell and William Hurt) on his trail. (New Line)

Mother. New frontiers in dysfunctional families: Albert Brooks and Rob Morrow as brothers and Debbie Reynolds as mom in director and co-writer Brooks’ latest opera neurotica. (Paramount)

The Portrait of a Lady. In her follow-up to “The Piano,” director Jane Campion and screenwriter Laura Jones adapt Henry James’ novel about a young woman (Nicole Kidman) and her encounters with deception. (Gramercy)

DEC. 27

The People vs. Larry Flynt. Woody Harrelson plays the iconoclastic porn publisher and Courtney Love is his wife in a biopic directed by Milos Forman and executive-produced by Oliver Stone. (Columbia)

DECEMBER UNSCHEDULED

Some Mother’s Son. Helen Mirren and Fionnula Flanagan portray women whose sons are involved in the Irish hunger strike of 1981. (Castle Rock)

The Whole Wide World. An examination of the unconventional romance of Texas schoolteacher Novalyne Price and pulp author Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian. (Sony Classics)