Whirlwind of movies hit silver screen this holiday season
Empire: Two Worlds Collide & Maid in Manhattan
By Taylor Gibbons
Skiff Staff

Well, Thanksgiving break has come and gone. There’s a chill in the air, residence halls are emptying and Hollywood is already surging into one of its most important periods of the year — the holiday movie season. The offerings this year range from feel-good blockbusters to the usual crowd of somber Oscar contenders and all manner of films in between.

“Analyze That”
Opens: Friday
Starring: Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal

The sequel to 1999’s tepid but financially successful “Analyze This,” “Analyze That” features Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal recapping their roles as a manic mobster and his hapless shrink. This time around, Crystal is helping De Niro deal with his father’s death. Hijinks ensue.

“Empire”
Opens: Friday
Starring: John Leguizamo, Denise Richards, Peter Sarsgaard

This crime drama features John Leguizamo as a drug lord who tries take a bite out of Wall Street and ends up choking on it.

Looking for a way to go legitimate, Leguizamo befriends an investment banker played by Peter Sarsgaard. Going clean, however, turns out to be a messier business than at first expected. Leguizamo takes another stab at drama; hard to predict how it’ll turn out.

“The Hot Chick”
Opens: Dec. 13
Starring: Rob Schneider

Rob Schneider stars as a teenage girl! Well, sort of. This movie features Schneider as a popular but mean-spirited girl trapped inside the body of a man in his 30s. The movie follows her as she attempts to find her way back into her own body. Am I the only one who thinks this process is going to somehow involve embarrassing sight gags?

“Maid in Manhattan”
Opens: Dec. 13
Starring: Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez stars here as the central figure in a modern day Cinderella story. A New York maid working for an upscale clientele is caught up in a case of mistaken identity and finds herself living the life of a Manhattan debutante. She soon falls in love with the wealthy young heir to a vast business empire, but when her true identity is revealed, the disparity between their lifestyles becomes a problem. I’m personally not too interested in this one, but then again I have a Y chromosome.

“Star Trek: Nemesis”
Opens: Dec. 13
Starring: Patrick Stewart

The Next Generation crew is back for another adventure in this latest offering from the Star Trek franchise. Picard and company land on a strange alien planet while trying to initiate peace with an alien race and encounter a new and unexpected threat of surprisingly personal nature. Trek fans should eat this one up, and it’s probably fun enough sci-fi for the rest of us.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”
Opens: Dec. 18
Starring: Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee

This movie marks the second chapter in the epic “Lord of the Rings” trilogy based on the books of the same name. Picking up where the last movie left off, “The Two Towers” finds the characters from the “Fellowship of the Ring” still engaged in their struggle to destroy the one ring and free middle earth from evil. The last installment was well-received by both hardcore fans and casual moviegoers, and prospects are looking up for this one.

“Gangs of New York”
Opens: Dec. 20
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Daniel Day-Lewis

Martin Scorcese’s latest directorial effort features Leonardo DiCaprio as a young man in the crime infested New York of the 1860’s attempting to avenge his father’s death. This is easier said than done, however, as DiCaprio’s character soon discovers.

This will be one to watch for come Oscar season as it’s already generating buzz for the names attached to it.

“Two Weeks Notice”
Opens: Dec. 20
Starring: Hugh Grant, Sandra Bullock

Hugh Grant stars in yet another romantic comedy, this time as the equally charming and irresponsible client to his neurotic lawyer, played by Sandra Bullock. Both are generally good in this sort of movie, though it’ll be interesting to see if Grant is merely reprising his role from “About a Boy.”

“The Wild Thornberrys Movie”
Opens: Dec. 20

An adaptation of the Nickelodeon cartoon of the same name, “The Wild Thornberrys Movie” follows this animated (in more ways than one) family as they travel to Africa. Twelve-year-old Eliza Thornberry is granted the power to talk to animals on the condition that she never reveal it or have it revoked. Eliza is then called to action in order to stop a group of poachers from killing an elephant herd. Am I just getting older or did Nicktoons used to be better than this?

Taylor Gibbons