Note: Dates are subject to change.
SEPTEMBER
17 -- "National Lampoon's Gold Diggers," a parody of money-grubbing among the rich and female, may restore National Lampoon's sponsorship to its illustrious level; then again, it may not.
"Mission: Impossible" meets "South Park" in "Team America: World Police," due out next month.
(Melinda Sue Gordon -- Paramount Pictures)
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17 -- "Ghost on the Shell 2: Innocence," Mamoru Oshii's sequel to his 1996 hit, demonstrates anew the superiority of Japanese anime over Western animation in another sci-fi thriller full of violence, intrigue, sexy robots and strange airplanes.
17 -- "Silver City," from the redoubtable John Sayles, is another political parody for a political season, in which a bumbling bungler (Chris Cooper) tries to reach the Colorado governor's mansion.
17 -- "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow," more stylized sci-fi, answers the following question: Is it possible to make a retro-'40s comic strip with giant special effects and really big movie stars like Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie without leaving your apartment? The answer, from computer effects genius Kerry Conran, is yes.
17 -- "Wimbledon," from the smooth Brit comedy production company that made "Notting Hill" and "Bridget Jones's Diary," follows the redemptive arc of a fallen tennis pro (Paul Bettany in the Hugh Grant role) who is restored to competitive greatness by a young woman player (Kirsten Dunst).
17 -- "End of the Century," a documentary on the Ramones, watches the rise, fall and rise again of the punk rock band.
17 -- "Mr. 3000," with the great Bernie Mac, focuses on a 47-year-old retired ballplayer who, it turns out, just missed getting that 3,000th hit and goes back to get it.
24 -- "A Dirty Shame," as if you couldn't guess from the title of this proud NC-17 entry, has to be not only from Baltimore but from Baltimore's poet laureate John Waters, with his trademark casting favorites Mink Stole, Patricia Hearst, Doug Roberts and Baltimore accent specialist Susan Duvall, hon. Also stars Johnny Knoxville, Tracey Ullman and Selma Blair.
24 -- "Shaun of the Dead," and don't you just love the pun in the title, is a British parody of the George Romero violent- zombie movies they replicated so literally in "28 Days Later" a year ago; it went over big in its native land.
24 -- "The Last Shot," this year's isn't-the-mob-funny? number, is an FBI sting in which agent Alec Baldwin pretends to be a movie producer in order to acquire info on the Rhode Island mob, but everyone who hears that he's making a movie -- including Matthew Broderick, hired as the "director" -- thinks it's for real and wants to be a player.
24 -- "The Forgotten," directed by returning vet Joe Ruben, who once helmed the classic "The Stepfather," features a big star turn from Julianne Moore as a grieving mother who is informed by a shrink that her memories of her late son are completely delusional.
24 -- "Nicotina." The tick-tick-ticking you hear is the clock, as this real-time Mexican comedy-thriller stays with the fate of a geek who delivers the wrong computer disk to some Russian gangsters.
24 -- "Ju-On: The Grudge," from Japanese director Takashi Shimizu, traces the story of a haunted house through the bizarre experiences of the people who have lived in it.
24 -- "Red Lights," from France, takes off from one of Georges Simenon's tight, dark little novels.
24 -- "First Daughter," not to be confused with Mandy Moore's turn as presidential offspring in this year's "Chasing Liberty," stars Katie Holmes, who trades her White House room for a dorm room. Michael Keaton plays the prez.
24 -- "When Will I Be Loved," which, frankly, needs a question mark in the title to make any sense, features Neve Campbell as a young woman on a sexual- philosophical quest to find the meaning of life and also get to a lot of cool parties -- which, come to think of it, is probably the same thing.
24 -- "Enduring Love," drawn from the creepy novel by creepy (and brilliant) novelist Ian McEwan, attempts to penetrate the intimate lovers' bond of two people who were united by the fact that each witnessed the same fatal accident.
OCTOBER
TBA -- "Sideways," from Alexander Payne ("Election," "About Schmidt"), trails Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church on a bachelor trip-type tour of the California wine country, where they reflect on life's failures and turns.
