HOLIDAY SNEAKS

WEDNESDAY

Light It Up. Six students grab the nation’s attention when they hole up with a wounded hostage and demand the resources for a better education. (Fox)

Pokemon: The First Movie. A bioengineered strain of the creature means big trouble for Ash, Pikachu and the gang, as the fantasy phenomenon graduates to the big screen. (Warner Bros.)

FRIDAY

American Movie. From his outpost in a Milwaukee suburb, filmmaker Chris Smith documents his struggle to make the film of his dreams. (Sony Pictures Classics)

A Force More Powerful. Documentary about the people and strategies behind this century’s most successful non-violent resistance movements such as Gandhi’s peaceful revolt against the British and the integration of the Nashville lunch counter. (Santa Monica Pictures L.L.C.)

Galapagos. Darwin’s “living laboratory of evolution” is captured at sea level and in the deep by Imax 3-D cameras. (Imax)

The Hungry Bachelors Club. A weekly gustatory gathering takes a serious turn when one of the hostesses is offered the chance to become a surrogate mother. (Regent Entertainment)

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. A peasant embarks on what she claims is a divine mission to drive the British out of France, and for her efforts is betrayed and, well, you know the rest. (Columbia)

Stuart Bliss. A dark comedy about an everyman (Michael Zelniker) who becomes increasingly paranoid as his life begins to unravel. Directed by Neil Grieve and written by Grieve and Zelnicker. (Cinema Guild Releasing)

Where’s Marlowe? Mockumentary about two film school grads who set out to make a documentary about L.A.’s worst detective, and then end up as his partners. Directed by Daniel Pyne. (Paramount Classics)

You or Me (Kalozok). Hungarian language musical comedy about the professional and romantic hijinks of two pirate radio deejays. Directed by Tamas Sas. (Bunyik Enterprises)

NOV. 19

Everybody Loves Sunshine. Techno-music artist Goldie and rocker David Bowie star with Andrew Goth, who also wrote and directed this story of gang dynamics and sexual identity in northern England. (Lions Gate)

Felicia’s Journey. An obsessive Bob Hoskins comes into eventful contact AWK??? with teenager Elaine Cassidy in director Atom Egoyan’s adaptation of William Trevor’s novel. (Artisan Entertainment)

Sleepy Hollow. Director Tim Burton, star Johnny Depp and writer Andre Kevin Walker (“Seven”) take on Washington Irving’s classic. With Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson and Michael Gambon. (Paramount)

Toy Story 2. It’s Buzz Lightyear (or two) to the rescue when Woody is kidnapped by a toy collector. Tim Allen, Tom Hanks and the other playthings’ voices return from the original, as well as Randy Newman with a new score. (Walt Disney)

The World Is Not Enough. With the 19th entry in the James Bond series, the big question isn’t who plays 007 (Pierce Brosnan) or the villain (Robert Carlyle), but who performs the title song. Answer: Garbage. (MGM Distribution Co.)

NOV. 24

Flawless. Joel Schumacher wrote and directed the story of an uptight cop-turned-security-guard (Robert De Niro) who suffers a stroke and agrees to some unusual rehabilitation--singing lessons from his neighbor, a drag queen. (MGM)

Tumbleweeds. A free-spirited mother and her daughter (Janet McTeer and Kimberly Brown) leave the South and seek freedom in San Diego, but mom fails to leave behind her penchant for stormy relationships. (Fine Line)

DEC. 3

Agnes Browne. Anjelica Huston directed and stars as a widow in 1967 Dublin coping with debt, raising seven children, fielding romantic overtures and dreaming about a ticket for a Tom Jones concert. (USA Films)

Beyond the Clouds. Michelangelo Antonioni and Wim Wenders are the co-directors of these four vignettes on love and lust. The international cast includes John Malkovich, Sophie Marceau, Fanny Ardant, Vincent Perez and Irene Jacob. Van Morrison and the Passengers (U2 and Brian Eno) contribute original music. (Sceneries Ent.)

Holy Smoke. Cult deprogrammer Harvey Keitel has his hands full when he takes the case of Kate Winslet. Co-written by director Jane Campion and her sister Anna. (Miramax)

DEC. 10

Cradle Will Rock. Writer-director Tim Robbins applies a screwball spin to his look at the political and cultural tumult of 1930s New York. With Hank Azaria, Susan Sarandon, Ruben Blades, John and Joan Cusack, Cary Elwes and Bill Murray. (Touchstone)

Deuce Bigelow: Male Gigolo. Life takes a surprising turn for fish-tank cleaner Rob Schneider when he answers a client’s phone and discovers a new career. (Touchstone)

Diamonds. Kirk Douglas and Lauren Bacall team for the first time since 1950’s “Young Man With a Horn” in the story of a man leading his son and grandson on an eventful quest. With Dan Aykroyd and Corbin Allred. (Miramax)

42 Up. Director Michael Apted catches up with the people he introduced in 1964’s “7Up” as they hit middle age. (First Run)

The Green Mile. Guard Tom Hanks encounters a death-row prisoner (Michael Clarke Duncan) with unusual powers as director Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption”) returns to prison and Stephen King for inspiration. (Warner Bros.)

DEC. 17

Anna and the King. Jodie Foster as governess Anna Leonowens spars with Chow Yun-Fat’s King of Siam in this epic-scale production. (Fox)

Bicentennial Man. Household robot Robin Williams begins to feel stirrings of human emotions and creativity. Chris Columbus directs. (Touchstone)

The Emperor and the Assassin. In 20th century BC China, a concubine (Gong Li) finds love in the process of orchestrating an assassination. Directed by Chen Kaige. (Sony Pictures Classics)

Stuart Little. E.B. White’s plucky mouse is voiced by Michael J. Fox and animated by ambitious digital techniques. Geena Davis, Jonathan Lipnicki and Hugh Laurie play the human family that adopts the rodent. (Columbia)

Topsy-Turvy. Mike Leigh (“Secrets & Lies”) wrote and directs a look at the lives and work of Gilbert & Sullivan (Jim Broadbent and Allan Corduner). (USA Films)

DEC. 20

Magnolia. A set of stories that illuminate family bonds, featuring Jason Robards, Tom Cruise and several returnees from writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson’s breakthrough film, “Boogie Nights.” (New Line)

DEC. 21

Girl, Interrupted. Winona Ryder negotiates the fine line between madness and sanity after she’s committed to a mental institution. James Mangold (“Cop Land”) directs. (Columbia)

DEC. 22

Man on the Moon. Director Milos Forman’s fascination with American originals takes him from “The People vs. Larry Flynt” to the story of enigmatic comedy provocateur Andy Kaufman (Jim Carrey). With Courtney Love and Danny DeVito. (Universal)

Snow Falling on Cedars. David Guterson’s novel of mystery and secrets in a Northwest island community in the 1950s is the basis for director Scott Hicks’ first film since “Shine.” (Universal)

DEC. 25

Angela’s Ashes. Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle play the pivotal roles of author Frank McCourt’s parents in Laura Jones and Alan Parker’s adaptation of his best-selling memoir. (Paramount)

The Talented Mr. Ripley. Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Cate Blanchett in writer-director Anthony Minghella’s (“The English Patient”) adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel of envy and treachery. (Paramount)

DEC. 29

The Hurricane. Denzel Washington in the true story of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the boxing contender who was sent to prison for a 1966 murder he didn’t commit. Directed by Norman Jewison. (Universal)

Jesus’ Son. Billy Crudup is the hero of this picaresque underground road saga, based on Denis Johnson’s cult novel. (Lions Gate)

A Map of the World. Sigourney Weaver as a woman in small-town Wisconsin whose spirit is tested by tragedy. (First Look)

Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter Jr. Acclaimed documentarian Errol Morris tells the story of a self-taught expert in the tools of execution who becomes involved in a neo-Nazi effort to debunk the Holocaust. (Lions Gate)

The Third Miracle. Disillusioned priest Ed Harris is plunged into spiritual and emotional turmoil by a Chicago woman (Anne Heche) and a campaign for the sainthood of her mother. (Sony Pictures Classics)

DEC. 31

Onegin. Martha Fiennes directs her brother Ralph in an adaptation of Aleksandr Pushkin’s epic 18th century novel “Eugene Onegin.” Liv Tyler and Toby Stephens co-star. (Samuel Goldwyn)

DECEMBER UNSCHEDULED:

Jerome. A bored factory worker (Drew Pillsbury) walks away from his job, family and home to fulfill his dream of moving to Jerome, Ariz., to be an artist. Wendie Malick of TV’s “Just Shoot Me” plays a drifter he meets along the way. (Phaedra Cinema)

Portraits Chinois. Martine Dugowson’s study of a four couples in Paris centers on a British fashion designer (Helena Bonham-Carter) and her artistically inclined friends. (Phaedra Cinema)

The Waiting Game. A comedy about a group of struggling New York actors who go to great lengths to get discovered. Directed by Ken Liotti. (Seventh Art)

*

KINSEY LOWE

Holiday Sneaks Editor

RICHARD CROMELIN and KATHLEEN CRAUGHWELL

Capsules and Research