OPENING SOONWhy wait? Clint clashes with the...

OPENING SOON

Why wait? Clint clashes with the president, Ice Cube grooves in South Africa, and the Force is with us once more.

Absolute Power. Master thief Clint Eastwood gets entangled in a murder involving the president. Eastwood directs a cast that includes Gene Hackman and Ed Harris. From William Goldman’s script and David Baldacci’s novel. (Castle Rock)

Angel Baby. The Australian prizewinner tells the story of a couple who battle their own demons and others’ prejudices as they try to create a loving family. (Cinepix)

The Beautician and the Beast. Fran Drescher’s starring film debut entangles her Bronx beautician with a European dictator (Timothy Dalton). (Paramount)

Blood and Wine. Jack Nicholson teams with an old crony, director Bob Rafaelson, playing a wine dealer who conspires on a big heist with client Michael Caine. (Fox Searchlight)

Booty Call. Tommy Davidson and Tamala Jones’ night of passion is complicated by a search for condoms in New York’s Chinatown, where adventure awaits. (Columbia)

Cadillac Ranch. Three sisters heading toward the famed Texas tail-fin display try to resolve the issues surrounding the father who abandoned them. (Legacy Releasing)

Camp Stories. A season at a Jewish summer camp in the late ‘50s helps a teen come of age. Zachary Taylor stars for writer-director Herbert Beigel. (Artistic License)

A Chorus of Disapproval. Michael Winner directs a film based on Alan Ayckbourn’s play about a timid man (Jeremy Irons) who joins a theater troupe at an English resort. Anthony Hopkins co-stars. (Theafilm)

Cosi. Young Australian stars populate a based-on-a-true-story comedy about the staging of “Cosi fan tutte” at a mental hospital. (Miramax)

Dangerous Ground. Ice Cube gets a welcome to a new ‘hood, Johannesburg. Elizabeth Hurley helps him search for his brother, who might have wronged the wrong crowd. Directed by Darrell Roodt (“Sarafina!”). (New Line)

Dante’s Peak. Volcanologist Pierce Brosnan and small-town mayor Linda Hamilton sound the alarm; Digital Domain (“Apollo 13”) arranges the eruption. Directed by Roger Donaldson. (Universal)

The Designated Mourner. In his on-screen debut, Mike Nichols joins Miranda Richardson and David de Keyser in the film version of the Wallace Shawn-David Hare play about the death of culture. (First Look)

Donnie Brasco. Mob veteran Al Pacino is mentor to newcomer Johnny Depp--who is actually an FBI infiltrator. Mike Newell directs this true story, which finds Depp torn between his two worlds. (TriStar)

The Eighth Day. A repressed executive and a man with Down’s syndrome form an unlikely bond, sending each other on difficult roads of self-discovery. (Gramercy).

Fierce Creatures. The reunion of the “A Fish Called Wanda” team is a real zoo--owned by Kevin Kline and Jamie Lee Curtis and managed by John Cleese. Directed by Robert Young and Fred Schepisi. (Universal)

Fist of Legend. Action hero Jet Li uses his fighting skills to restore order in Shanghai in the tumultuous 1910s. (Miramax)

Flipping. This slice of indie film noir follows a con man into Hollywood’s organized crime world. (Dove International)

Fools Rush In. Matthew Perry and Selma Hayek are an unlikely couple who plunge into a passionate relationship. (Columbia)

Gridlock’d. Tim Roth and the late Tupac Shakur star as junkies battling cops, hoods, bureaucracy and their addictions in an effort to get clean. (Gramercy).

Grosse Pointe Blank. Hired gun John Cusack’s search for meaning takes him to his 10-year high school reunion, where he encounters rival Dan Aykroyd. (Hollywood)

Hard Eight. Reno is the setting for the story of a gambler (Philip Baker Hall), his protege (John C. Reilly), a hooker (Gwyneth Paltrow) and a crook (Samuel L. Jackson). (Goldwyn Entertainment Co.)

Hotel de Love. Twins vie for the heart of a woman in the title establishment, a grandly tacky mecca of lounge music and honeymooners. (Live Entertainment)

Inventing the Abbotts. Ken Hixon based his script on the short story by Sue Miller, about family secrets and two brothers competing for the affections of three wealthy sisters. Liv Tyler heads the cast. (Fox 2000)

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)

Kolya. A middle-aged cellist’s life is changed by a Russian woman and her son in Prague at the time of 1989’s “Velvet Revolution.” (Miramax)

Lost Highway. David Lynch returns with a disorienting tale of shifting identities centered on musician Bill Pullman and his wife, Patricia Arquette, whose murder sets things in nonlinear motion. (October Films)

Margaret’s Museum. Romance brings defiant Helena Bonham Carter into contact with the Nova Scotia mines she has sworn to avoid. (Cinepix)

Meet Wally Sparks. Rodney Dangerfield (who co-wrote) plays the proprietor of a totally tasteless TV talk show. (Trimark)

Message to Love. Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, the Who, Donovan. . . . The vibes were intense at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, the subject of Murray Lerner’s documentary. (Strand)

Nightwatch. Ewan McGregor (“Trainspotting”) is a law student whose morgue job leads to an entanglement with a serial killer. Steven Soderbergh directs. (Dimension)

The Pest. A mad German and the Scottish mob are on the trail of colorful scam artist John Leguizamo. (TriStar)

Prefontaine. Jared Leto takes the title role in the first of two ’97 biopics about maverick long-distance runner Steve Prefontaine. (Hollywood)

Prisoner of the Mountains. The story of two Russian soldiers captured by a Chechen villager was inspired by Tolstoy’s novella “A Prisoner of the Caucasus.” (Orion Classics)

Rosewood. Director John Singleton and screenwriter Gregory Poirer recount the 1923 destruction of a black community in Florida. (Warner Bros.)

Shadow Conspiracy. Presidential advisor Charlie Sheen becomes a murder suspect who uncovers an assassination conspiracy with reporter Linda Hamilton. (Hollywood)

A Single Girl. French director Benoit Jacquot’s study of one day in the life of a young couple. (Strand)

Smilla’s Sense of Snow. Peter Hoeg’s bestseller is the basis for the story of Greenlander Julia Ormond’s self-testing investigation of a young boy’s death. Bille August directs. (Fox Searchlight)

Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition. George Lucas marks the 20th anniversary of “Star Wars” with new digital soundtracks and some entirely new footage. “Empire” and “Jedi” follow in February and March. (Fox)

SubUrbia. Richard Linklater directs Eric Bogosian’s adaptation of his own play about the eventful night of a rock musician’s visit with his old pals. (Sony Classics)

That Darn Cat. Christina Ricci stars in this updating of the saga of a feline who furnishes a clue to a kidnapping. (Walt Disney)

Touch. Director Paul Schrader based his script on Elmore Leonard’s book about a drug counselor with healing powers. Bridget Fonda and Christopher Walken star. (United Artists)

Underworld. Denis Leary, Joe Mantegna and Annabella Sciorra star in a psychological thriller about a paroled mob figure’s eccentric plan of vengeance. (Trimark)

Vegas Vacation. Chevy Chase and Beverly d’Angelo conduct another family excursion, this one to the gambling mecca. Can Siegfried & Roy be far away? (Warner Bros.)

Waiting for Guffman. Does a small-town pageant sound like comedy material? How about if it’s done by Spinal Tap’s Christopher Guest (director-writer) and “SCTV’s” Eugene Levy (writer)? (Sony Classics)

Whales. Patrick Stewart narrates this Imax-size study of the leviathans. (Imax)

When We Were Kings. Comments from the likes of Norman Mailer and Spike Lee and new footage highlight Leon Gast’s documentary on the 1974 Ali-Foreman fight in Zaire. (Gramercy)

Zeus & Roxanne. Set the thermostat on heartwarming for this tale of a friendship between a dog and a dolphin. (MGM)

SPRING; There’s something in the air: Selena sparkles, Harrison Ford teams with Brad Pitt, Jim Carrey goes to court and Val Kilmer is, we swear, ‘The Saint.’

Addicted to Love. Meg Ryan, Matthew Broderick, Kelly Preston and Tchey Karo in a romantic roundelay about two spurned lovers who team up to spy on their exes. (Warner Bros.)

All Over Me. Two teenage girls in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen confront their escalating feelings for each other and the aftermath of a murder in the park. (Fine Line)

Anaconda. A film crew’s Amazon expedition is complicated by mysterious loner Jon Voight’s obsessive quest for a mythical reptile. Luis Llosa directs a cast that also includes Ice Cube, Jennifer Lopez and Eric Stoltz. (Columbia)

The Assignment. The CIA’s Donald Sutherland and Israeli agent Ben Kingsley enlist Aidan Quinn in an elaborate trap for a notorious terrorist. (Triumph)

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. It’s Mike Myers, a secret agent from the swinging ‘60s who follows his archenemy Dr. Evil into modern times. Elizabeth Hurley, Michael York, Rob Lowe and Carrie Fisher are also in the cast. (New Line)

B.A.P.S. Halle Berry and Natalie Desselle as Georgians in Beverly Hills, where their rags-to-riches dreams collide with a plot to bilk their benefactor (Martin Landau). Robert Townsend directs. (New Line)

Bliss. Unconventional sex therapist Terence Stamp is the focus of a journey of self-discovery for young couple Craig Sheffer and Sheryl Lee. (Triumph)

Boys Life 2. Gathers four gay-themed films, including the 1995 Academy Award winner “Trevor.” (Strand)

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Brassed Off. Conflicts and harmony both surface in this story of a brass band in Yorkshire, England, set against the controversial mining pit closures of 1992-93. (Miramax)

Broken English. A young Croatian emigre in New Zealand is torn between her controlling father, her Maori lover and the Chinese refugee she marries for money. (Sony Classics)

Cats Don’t Dance. Randy Newman supplies the music for this animated adventure about a small-town cat who goes to Hollywood to become a dancer and actor. (Warner Bros.)

Chasing Amy. This story of two cult-comic creators and the woman who threatens their friendship wraps up writer-director Kevin Smith’s New Jersey trilogy, following “Clerks” and “Mallrats.” (Miramax)

Children of the Revolution. Australian Judy Davis makes an eventful visit to the USSR in 1949. This comedy of the absurd, also featuring Sam Neill and Rachel Griffiths, follows her legacy decades later. (Miramax)

Commandments. Forlorn yuppie Aidan Quinn decides to get God’s attention by breaking all 10 Commandments. Will he stop before he gets to “Thou Shalt Not Kill”? Courteney Cox and Anthony LaPaglia also star. (Gramercy)

Crash. Writer-director David Cronenberg brings his touch to J.G. Ballard’s futuristic novel about sex, death and auto accidents. James Spader, Holly Hunter and Rosanna Arquette are along for the ride. (Fine Line)

Dead Men Can’t Dance. CIA intrigue disrupts a military exercise and puts nuclear detonators in a foreign power’s hands. (Live Entertainment)

The Devil’s Own. Alan J. Pakula directs Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt in a thriller about a New York cop and an Irish immigrant with a hidden agenda. (Columbia)

Dirty Weekend. A woman responds in extreme fashion to her lifelong inability to deal with abusive men. Lia Williams, David McCallum and Rufus Sewell head the cast. (Theafilm)

Double Team. Hong Kong’s Tsui Hark directs the turbulent triumvirate of Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Rodman and Mickey Rourke in the story of a CIA operative’s unprecedented escape from a top-secret colony. (Columbia)

Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag. Mobster Joe Pesci’s proof of a successful hit makes a luggage mix-up a hair-raising experience. Screenwriter Tom Schulman (“Dead Poets Society,” “What About Bob?”) makes his directorial debut. (Orion)

Fathers’ Day. This adaptation of the 1984 French film “Les Comperes” stars Robin Williams and Billy Crystal as former boyfriends of a woman who tricks them into searching for her runaway son. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Nastassja Kinski co-star. (Warner Bros.)

The Fifth Element. Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman and Milla Jovovich star in an adventure set in 24th century New York. Luc Besson (“La Femme Nikita,” “The Professional”) co-wrote and directs. (Columbia)

The Flood. Armored car driver Christian Slater takes the money and runs, with relentless thief Morgan Freeman in wet pursuit as Indiana flood waters rise. (Paramount)

Gentlemen Don’t Eat Poets. Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler (also the producer), join Alan Bates and Theresa Russell in a dark comedy about a butler who conspires to succeed his master. (Live Entertainment)

Good Luck. A paraplegic (Gregory Hines) and a blind former football star (Vincent D’Onofrio) enter a raft race on Oregon’s Rogue River. (East West Partners)

The Graduate. Mike Nichols’ classic gets a 30th-anniversary re-release. (Strand)

Hoodlum. Laurence Fishburne portrays mobster Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson, the godfather of Harlem in the 1930s. Tim Roth, Vanessa Williams and Andy Garcia co-star. Directed by Bill Duke. (United Artists)

Intimate Relations. Writer-director Philip Goodhew’s black comedy examines the effect of a woman’s affair with a young lodger in 1950s England. Julie Walters and Rupert Graves star. (Fox Searchlight)

Jungle 2 Jungle. Cultures clash when commodities trader Tim Allen brings his Amazon-raised son Sam Huntington to the Big Apple. Martin Short, Lolita Davidovich, David Ogden Stiers and JoBeth Williams also star. (Walt Disney)

Kissed. A young woman’s secret obsession, stemming from her initiation into the world of undertakers, blossoms when she meets a medical student. Canadian newcomer Lynne Stopkewich co-wrote and directs this offbeat love story. (Goldwyn Entertainment Co.)

Kiss the Girls. Morgan Freeman plays a detective who leaves his D.C. turf and teams with doctor Ashley Judd to search for his missing niece. (Paramount)

L.A. Confidential. James Ellroy’s novel is the basis for a drama about crime and corruption during Los Angeles’ early-’50s boom. Kim Basinger and Kevin Spacey head the cast. (Warner Bros.)

The Leading Man. Jon Bon Jovi is a stage actor entangled in a series of affairs with a playwright’s wife and a leading lady. (Legacy Releasing)

Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. Sophie Marceu has the title role in this filming of the classic novel, shot on location in St. Petersburg, Russia. (Warner Bros.)

Letters of Love. A correspondence inspired by a woman’s dead fiance leads to a friendship that reveals truths about the two letter writers and the deceased man. Written and directed by Sunji Iwai. (Fine Line)

Liar, Liar. Attorney Jim Carrey is a compulsive liar who is compelled to tell the truth for 24 hours. Tom Shadyac (“Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” “The Nutty Professor”) directs. (Universal)

Love and Other Catastrophes. The feature debut of 23-year-old director and co-writer Emma-Kate Croghan is a screwball comedy about five college students trying to cope with life. (Fox Searchlight)

Lovejones. Two young lovers are at the center of writer-director Theodore Witcher’s romantic comedy, set among the overeducated and underemployed in downtown Chicago. (New Line)

Love! Valour! Compassion! Jason Alexander joins the Broadway cast in the film version of Terrence McNally’s Tony winner about eight gay friends. The play’s director, Joe Mantello, does the honors. (Fine Line)

McHale’s Navy. Tom Arnold takes over the title role from the TV series’ Ernest Borgnine (who makes a cameo appearance). The lieutenant commander interrupts his retirement to deal with his nemesis Tim Curry. (Universal)

Mimic. Mira Sorvino and Jeremy Northam are a scientist couple whose life-saving genetic engineering has come back to haunt them--and the rest of New York. (Dimension)

Mouth to Mouth. Spain’s Manuel Gomez Pereira directs Javier Berdem as a struggling actor who gets sidetracked by a phone sex job. (Miramax)

Murder at 1600. A cover-up follows a homicide in the White House, entangling police detective Wesley Snipes. (Warner Bros.)

The Myth of Fingerprints. Roy Scheider and Blythe Danner preside over a family whose complex relationships are examined during an eventful Thanksgiving weekend. (Sony Classics)

Nothing to Lose. Tim Robbins and Martin Lawrence are the principals in writer-director Steve Oederkirk’s story of a topsy-turvy carjacking. (Touchstone)

187. Teacher Samuel L. Jackson inspires some troubled high school students, but when he’s challenged, he has a surprising response in store. Kevin Reynolds directs. (Warner Bros.)

Operation Condor. Stuntmeister Jackie Chan is on an intercontinental quest for a hidden cache of gold. (Dimension)

Paperback Romance. Erotic novelist Gia Carides and society jeweler Anthony LaPaglia set out on a bawdy and ill-fated adventure. (Goldwyn Entertainment Co.)

Paradise Road. Glenn Close and Pauline Collins play British women who form a choir in defiance of their Japanese captors in World War II. Director Bruce Beresford based his screenplay on a true story. (Fox Searchlight)

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Picture Perfect. Romantic complications ensue when adwoman Jennifer Aniston uses a photo of Kevin Bacon to concoct a fictional boyfriend. Directed by Glenn Gordon Caron (TV’s “Moonlighting”). (Fox)

Pink Flamingos. The 25th-anniversary re-release of John Waters’ towering testament of tastelessness. (Fine Line)

Private Parts. The film version of Howard Stern’s best-selling autobiography stars the author and is directed by Betty Thomas. (Paramount)

The Quiet Room. Inside the mind of a 7-year-old girl who retreats into silence as her parents’ marriage disintegrates. (Fine Line)

Red Ribbon Blues. RuPaul and some fellow members of an HIV support group decide to steal a top-secret remedy and distribute it to those in need. (Legacy Releasing)

Rhyme & Reason. Ice-T, Notorious B.I.G., the Fugees and Redman are just some of the rappers featured in this hip-hopumentary directed by Chuck Spirer. (Miramax)

Ripe. Twin sisters are freed by fate from their sadistic father, but his legacy resurfaces. (Trimark)

Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion. Janeane Garofalo shows up to threaten the fictions devised by Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow to impress the classmates at their 10-year reunion. (Touchstone)

Roseanna’s Grave. Italian villager Jean Reno goes to extravagant lengths to ensure that his wife will fulfill her wish of being buried in the local cemetery, where plots are at a premium. (Fine Line)

Rough Magic. Bridget Fonda and Russell Crowe star in a romantic adventure based on James Hadley Chase’s novel “Miss Shumway Waves a Wand.” (Goldwyn Entertainment Co.)

The Saint. Val Kilmer succeeds the likes of George Sanders and Roger Moore as loner Simon Templar. He’s plunged into international intrigue when he’s commissioned to steal the life work of scientist Elisabeth Shue. (Paramount)

Selena. Jennifer Lopez portrays the slain tejano singing star, under the hand of writer-director Gregory Nava. Edward James Olmos co-stars. (Warner Bros.)

Shiloh. The story of a boy’s efforts to save a dog from an abusive owner was named one of the best films at the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival. (Legacy Releasing)

The Sixth Man. That’s Kadeem Hardison, a departed basketball star whose ghost is back to lead the Washington Huskies in the NCAA tournament. (Touchstone)

Sonatine. Writer-director-editor-star Takeshi Kitano plays a hard-boiled gangster who sets off fireworks when he travels to Okinawa. (Miramax)

Sprung. Pals Joe Torry and Paula Jai Parker try to undo their matchmaking when true love threatens to take friends Rusty Cundieff and Tisha Campbell away from them. Cundieff (“Tales From the Hood”) also co-wrote and directs. (Trimark)

Temptress Moon. An epic story stretching from China’s last imperial dynasty to the post-revolution underground. Chen Kaige directs Gong Li (“Shanghai Triad”) and Leslie Cheung (“Farewell My Concubine”). (Miramax)

That Old Feeling. Everyone’s braced for fireworks when divorced couple Bette Midler and Dennis Farina arrive for their daughter’s wedding. But no one is ready for the kind that ensue, under the direction of Carl Reiner. (Universal)

‘Til There Was You. “Thirtysomething” honcho Scott Winant (director) and “My So-Called Life” creator Winnie Holzman (writer) tell the story of a destined romance between Jeanne Tripplehorn and Dylan McDermott. (Paramount)

Trial and Error. Kramer in the court! Michael Richards is an actor who fills in for his attorney friend Jeff Daniels to defend a man in a fraud trial. Jonathan Lynn (“My Cousin Vinny”) directs. (New Line)

Truth or Consequences, N.M. Keifer Sutherland directs himself as a crook who hooks up with Vincent Gallo and Kim Dickens, whose desperate desire to run off together leads to life on the lam. (Triumph)

Turbo: A Power Rangers Adventure. The five superheroes rev up their Turbo Zords and battle a space pirate. (Fox)

The Van. Stephen Frears directs the third installment of Roddy Doyle’s Barrytown Trilogy (the first two were “The Commitments” and “The Snapper”), about two friends and their mobile fish-and-chips enterprise. (Fox Searchlight)

Venice. Catherine McCormack plays a celebrated courtesan in 16th century Venice as the city declines from paradise to a ravaged landscape. Directed by “thirtysomething” vet Marshall Herskovitz. (Warner Bros.)

Volcano. It’s Tommy Lee Jones vs. Mother Nature as a Mid-Wilshire eruption makes life in L.A. even more difficult. Directed by Mick Jackson (“The Bodyguard”). (Fox)

Warriors of Virtue. Ronny Yu directs this action fantasy about a young boy and five kung fu kangaroos who are pitted against an evil warlord. (MGM)

Wide Awake. Dana Delany, Denis Leary and Rosie O’Donnell partake of a 10-year-old boy’s search for meaning after the death of his grandfather. (Miramax)

The Winner. Alex Cox directs the story of an elaborate scheme to separate a gambler in Vegas from his winnings. (Live Entertainment)

SUMMER: Our money’s on T. rex and ‘Batman,’ but don’t rule out ‘Titanic’ or a singing Hercules

Air Force One. Russian nationalists hijack the First Airliner, with President Harrison Ford and his family on board. Wolfgang Petersen (“In the Line of Fire”) directs. (Columbia)

Alien Resurrection. Sigourney Weaver teams with Winona Ryder in the series’ fourth entry. This one aligns the heroine with a group of smugglers. (Fox)

Batman & Robin. George Clooney assumes the cape and cowl and is joined by Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone) and Robin (Chris O’Donnell) against Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman). Joel Schumacher directs. (Warner Bros.)

B. Monkey. Oscar nominee Michael Radford (“Il Postino”) oversees an international cast in the story of a woman who hopes her new love will enable her to escape her dark past. (Miramax)

Boogie Nights. This dark comedy about the adult film business features, among others, Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, Don Cheadle and Ricky Jay. (New Line)

The Borrowers. Unscrupulous lawyer John Goodman threatens the happiness of the Clock family--a clan of 4-inch-tall people who coexist with a normal household. The English production is based on the children’s books by Mary Norton. (PolyGram)

Con Air. Parolee Nicolas Cage and U.S. Marshal John Cusack contend with John Malkovich and his band of hardened federal prisoners, who have hijacked a plane on the way to a new prison. (Touchstone)

Conspiracy Theory. Cabby Mel Gibson’s seemingly harmless obsession with sinister plots lands him and Justice Department attorney Julia Roberts in hot water. Richard Donner directs. (Warner Bros.)

Contact. Robert Zemeckis directs Jodie Foster as an astronomer who detects radio signals from deep space. Michael Goldenberg’s screen treatment is based on the novel by the late Carl Sagan. (Warner Bros.)

CopLand. Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta head a high-powered cast in a story of heroism and corruption among the New York cops who live in a small New Jersey town. Written and directed by James Mangold (“Heavy”). (Miramax)

Desperate Measures. Murderer Michael Keaton is the perfect DNA match for the bone marrow transplant needed by the son of cop Andy Garcia. Don’t count on routine surgery in this Barbet Schroeder-directed drama. (TriStar)

Devil’s Advocate. Keanu Reeves is a young attorney who joins the firm of the charismatic Al Pacino and finds himself fighting for his soul--literally. Taylor Hackford directs. (Warner Bros.)

Edwards & Hunt: The First American Road Trip. You’ve heard of Lewis & Clark, but what about these rivals? Chris Farley and Matthew Perry take the leads, and Christopher Guest directs. (Warner Bros.)

Event Horizon. That’s the name of a prototype spaceship that’s been missing for seven years. Laurence Fishburne heads the team that discovers its secrets at the fringes of the solar system. (Paramount)

Excess Baggage. Alicia Silverstone goes from “Clueless” to conniving, turning to an action adventure in which she fakes her own kidnapping to get back at her father. (Columbia)

Face/Off. The “Broken Arrow” team of director John Woo and star John Travolta reunites, with Travolta as an FBI agent who exchanges identities with terrorist Nicolas Cage. (Paramount)

Free Willy 3. The perpetually endangered orc gets help from a 10-year-old boy and Willy’s old friend Jesse, now a 17-year-old ocean researcher. (Warner Bros.)

The Full Monty. Six cash-strapped steelworkers take a cue from the touring Chippendales dancers and form their own male strip revue. (Fox Searchlight)

George of the Jungle. Brendan Fraser brings to life the Jay Ward cartoon hero. Leslie Mann plays the love interest. (Walt Disney)

Gone Fishin’. Pals Joe Pesci and Danny Glover become embroiled with detectives Rosanna Arquette and Lynn Whitfield and con man Nick Brimble. (Walt Disney/Caravan)

Gummo. In his directorial debut, “Kids” writer Harmony Korine tracks the textures of adolescence by focusing on two teens in the deadbeat town of Xenia, Ohio. (Fine Line)

Hercules. The “Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin” team helm Disney’s 35th animated feature, with voices by Danny DeVito, Bobcat Goldthwaite, Rip Torn, Charlton Heston and others and songs by Alan Menken and David Zippel. (Walt Disney)

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Home Alone 3. Eight-year-old Alex Pruitt (Alex D. Linz) has chicken pox, but he’s the last line of defense against a team of criminals that has invaded his neighborhood. (Fox Family Films)

How to Be a Player. Bill Bellamy (“MTV Jams”) stars as a smooth operator whose romantic juggling act is disrupted by his sister’s anthropology project. (Gramercy)

In and Out. English teacher Kevin Kline’s world is turned upside down when his sexuality is called into question on the eve of his wedding. Frank Oz directs. (Paramount)

Kilronan. Jonathan Darby wrote and directs this thriller about a city girl (Gwyneth Paltrow) whose move to her new husband’s country estate is complicated by her vengeful mother-in-law (Jessica Lange). (TriStar)

Kull the Conqueror. Kevin Sorbo (of TV’s “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”) stars in an adventure based on Robert E. Howard’s ‘30s pulp hero. (Universal)

Leave It to Beaver. Cameron Finley takes over the title role from the TV series’ Jerry Mathers, as the Cleaver clan confronts the ‘90s. (Universal)

The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Director Steven Spielberg and star Jeff Goldblum return for the sequel--and so does something else, as Goldblum’s Dr. Malcolm discovers. (Universal)

Love Serenade. Barry White’s title song is one of the ‘70s sounds that back this dark comedy about two sisters competing for an unlikely prize--the 40-plus, thrice-divorced new man in their rural Australian town. (Miramax)

Mastermind. Mischievous 14-year-old Vincent Kartheiser matches wits with Patrick Stewart, who holds the student body of an upscale school hostage. (Triumph)

Men in Black. Will Smith is back in space, this time as an immigration man who teams with Tommy Lee Jones to track down an intergalactic terrorist. Barry Sonnenfeld (“The Addams Family”) directs Ed Solomon’s script, based on the comic books. (Columbia)

Money Talks. Chris Tucker is a petty con artist who achieves celebrity when he’s accused of being a cop killer. TV newsman Charlie Sheen is the only one who can save him, in a story from the “Toy Story” writing team of Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow. (New Line)

Mortal Kombat II: Annihilation. Superheroes take on a warlord with aims on planet Earth. John Leonetti directs this installment of the action-adventure series. (New Line)

My Best Friend’s Wedding. When Dermot Mulroney sets the date with Cameron Diaz, his best friend Julia Roberts doesn’t take it real well. A classic triangle ensues in this romantic comedy. (TriStar)

Napoleon. Adam Wylie, Bronson Pinchot, David Ogden Stiers and Joan Rivers are among those supplying voices to the title character, a golden retriever puppy, and the many critters he encounters in his Australian outback adventure. (Goldwyn Entertainment Co.)

Nowhere. “Doom Generation” auteur Gregg Araki returns with an absurdist comedy centered on a group of confused Los Angeles teenagers. (Fine Line)

Out to Sea. Brothers-in-law Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon are larcenous dance instructors on a luxury cruise line. Martha Coolidge (“Rambling Rose”) directs. (Fox)

The Pillow Book. Controversial director Peter Greenaway’s study of a Japanese woman whose fetish for writing on flesh leads to a grim resolution. (Cinepix)

Sarajevo. Stephen Dillane is a TV reporter in Yugoslavia, where the brutality of war impels him to disregard his journalistic code to save a life. (Miramax)

Slaves to the Underground. A romantic triangle on the rock music fringe is played out to a soundtrack by the likes of Ani DiFranco, Elastica’s Abby Travis, Polara and Noise Addict. (First Look)

Spawn. Michael Jai White plays the title character, a dark hero who can change shape at will and is torn between revenge and saving those he loves. John Leguizamo is his archrival, Violator. (New Line)

Speed 2: Cruise Control. Sandra Bullock gets off the bus and boards a superliner cruise ship with new beau Jason Patric. Under Jan De Bont’s direction, it’s not long before hijackers send it hurtling toward disaster. (Fox)

Steel. Shaquille O’Neal takes matters into his own hands when a street gang gets hold of the top-secret army weapons he designed. (Warner Bros.)

Storefront Hitchcock. Jonathan Demme, who filmed the Talking Heads in concert for his film “Stop Making Sense,” takes a similar tack with British cult figure Robyn Hitchcock. (Orion)

Titanic. The romance of aristocratic Kate Winslet and lowly Leonardo DiCaprio provides a human element in writer-director James Cameron’s monumental depiction of the ill-fated voyage. (Paramount)

The Truman Show. Peter Weir (“Witness,” “Dead Poets Society”) directs Jim Carrey as the unwitting subject of an around-the-clock television documentary. Dennis Hopper and Laura Linney co-star. (Paramount)

Twin Town. This black comedy is set in South Wales, where the twin sons of an injured worker hatch a revenge scheme against the town’s kingpin. (Gramercy)

Ulee’s Gold. Beekeeper Peter Fonda lives an isolated life with his two granddaughters until a call from his jailed son sets him on a mission to save his family. Written and directed by Victor Nunez (“Ruby in Paradise”). (Orion)

Wild America. Jonathan Taylor Thomas stars in the true story of the Stouffer brothers, the prominent wildlife documentarians. (Warner Bros.)

Wings of the Dove. Helena Bonham Carter stars in the Henry James story about a forbidden romance in turn-of-the-century English society. (Miramax)

Wishful Thinking. James Le Gros, Jennifer Beals and Drew Barrymore offer very different perspectives on the same set of circumstances in this comedy about modern romance. (Miramax)

FALL/HOLIDAY: The season’s prestige films go up against Mr. Grisham and Mr. Magoo. Happy holidays!

The Absent-Minded Professor. Robin Williams succeeds Fred MacMurray as the father of Flubber in a remake of the bouncy 1961 comedy. (Walt Disney)

Amistad. Steven Spielberg directs the story of mutinous slaves whose fate in 1839 America brings President Martin Van Buren into conflict with founding father John Quincy Adams. Written by David Franzoni and Steven Zaillian (“Schindler’s List”). (DreamWorks)

Anastasia. The veteran team of Don Bluth and Gary Goldman crafted this animated story of the fabled Russian princess. Contributing voices include Meg Ryan, Kelsey Grammer and Angela Lansbury. (Fox Family Films)

Bean. Rowan Atkinson’s trouble-prone title character ends up in dangerously close proximity to Whistler’s Mother after Burt Reynolds buys the painting as a gift for a California gallery. (Gramercy)

The Big Lebowski. The Coen Brothers relocate from Fargo to L.A., where laid-back Jeff Bridges and bowling buddy John Goodman become entangled with millionaires and thugs. (Gramercy)

Bond 18. Pierce Brosnan, part of the team that revived the franchise with “GoldenEye,” is back in the 18th installment of the 007 saga. Roger Spottiswoode directs. (United Artists)

Bookworm. Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin cope with the elements, bears and their own conflicts over Hopkins’ wife, Elle Macpherson, after their plane crashes in Alaska. Lee Tamahori directs David Mamet’s screenplay. (Fox)

Boy’s Night Out. What do five Long Island preppies do when one of their sisters is kidnapped? How about abducting a mob boss? Christopher Walken stars in director Peter O’Fallon’s thriller. (Live Entertainment)

Breakdown. Kurt Russell and Kathleen Quinlan’s car gives out on a highway in the Southwest. J.T. Walsh plays a passerby who isn’t the good Samaritan he seems. (Paramount)

Breaking Up. Russell Crowe and Selma Hayek are a New York couple whose love is as undeniable as it is unworkable. (Warner Bros.)

Buddy. The true story of an eccentric socialite (Rene Russo) who raises an infant gorilla. Caroline Thompson directs from her own script. (Columbia)

Bulworth. Producer-writer-director Warren Beatty plays an imperiled U.S. senator who becomes involved with Halle Berry. (Fox)

Butcher Boy. Writer-director Neil Jordan (“The Crying Game,” “Michael Collins”) adapts Patrick McCabe’s novel about a murder revealed through the memories of a mentally ill man. (Warner Bros.)

Chairman of the Board. Comedian Carrot Top makes his film debut as an inventor-surfer who inherits a big business. Little Richard and Raquel Welch are among the supporting cast. (Trimark)

Cousin Bette. Jessica Lange and Elisabeth Shue co-star in this adaptation of the Balzac novel. Des McAnuff, the former La Jolla Playhouse artistic director, directs his first film. (Fox Searchlight)

Critical Care. James Spader, Kyra Sedgwick, Helen Mirren, Anne Bancroft and Albert Brooks help director Sidney Lumet skewer the health care industry. (Live Entertainment)

Dark City. Alex Proyas (“The Crow”) helms this futuristic thriller about a man who discovers that his memories and reality are artificial creations. William Hurt, Rufusaa Sewell and Kiefer Sutherland star. (New Line)

Deep Rising. Treat Williams is one of the unlucky survivors on a cruise ship that’s been taken over by a horrific invader. (Hollywood)

Doctor Dolittle. Eddie Murphy succeeds Rex Harrison as the physician who talks with animals. Betty Thomas directs. (Fox)

The End of Violence. Bill Pullman, Andie MacDowell, Gabriel Byrne and Peter Horton star in Wim Wenders’ exploration of the effect of violence on people’s lives. (MGM)

Fire Down Below. Lethal toxic waste dumping takes EPA investigator Steven Seagal to rural Kentucky, where he becomes attached to the locals. (Warner Bros.)

Firelight. Writer-director William Nicholson’s romantic drama about a governess (Sophie Marceau) who secretly bears a landowner’s (Stephen Dillane) child, then later joins his household. (Hollywood)

Firestorm. “Smoke jumper” Howie Long encounters a group of escaped criminals in the middle of an inferno. First-time director Dean Semler, the Oscar-winning cinematographer of “Dances With Wolves,” oversees the action. (Fox)

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The Game. David Fincher (“Seven”) directs Michael Douglas and Sean Penn as brothers caught up in a mysterious contest that proves to be more than just a game. (PolyGram)

Gang Related. Jim Belushi and Tupac Shakur are the detectives at the center of this tale of murder and police corruption. Lela Rochon, Dennis Quaid and James Earl Jones are among the supporting cast. (Orion)

Gattaca. Ethan Hawke as a natural-born human trying to pass as one of the genetic elite. The futuristic drama co-stars Uma Thurman. (Columbia)

Going West in America. Action-suspense specialist Jeb Stuart (he wrote “Die Hard” and”The Fugitive”) is the writer-director of this story about an FBI agent (Dennis Quaid) in pursuit of the serial killer who has kidnapped his son. (Paramount)

Goodbye, Lover. Patricia Arquette, Ellen DeGeneres, Don Johnson, Dermot Mulroney and Mary-Louise Parker form a pattern of overlapping relationships in a wry thriller about a coveted insurance payoff. Roland Joffe directs. (Warner Bros.)

Great Expectations. Robert De Niro, Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow head the cast in an updated and transplanted version of the Dickens classic set in Florida and New York. (Fox)

How Stella Got Her Groove Back. A fortysomething woman vacations in Jamaica, where sparks fly with a man half her age. Co-written and co-produced by Ron Bass and Terry McMillan (“Waiting to Exhale”). (Fox)

Icestorm. 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)

Illumination. Peter O’Toole is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harvey Keitel plays Harry Houdini, friends who come into conflict over two children’s “proof” that fairies exist. (Paramount)

Incognito. Jason Patric, Irene Jacob and Rod Steiger in the story of a master art forger whose final effort leads to betrayal and flight. John Badham directs. (Warner Bros.)

Independence. A dysfunctional group of five buddies arrives at the moment of truth as Luke Wilson’s wedding with Drew Barrymore is held up by a hold-up at the bank. (Orion)

In Pursuit of Honor. Ridley Scott directs Demi Moore as the first female candidate for Navy Seal training and Viggo Mortensen as the officer who foments the men’s hostility. (Hollywood/Caravan)

Ishmael. A psychiatrist probes for the profound secret in the mind of an anthropologist who is accused of a murderous attack after living with a family of gorillas. Jon Turteltaub (“Phenomenon”) directs. (Touchstone)

James Dean: Race With Destiny. Explores the ill-fated romance of the screen icon and actress Pier Angeli. With Casper Van Dien, Carrie Mitchum, Robert Mitchum, Diane Ladd and Connie Stevens. (Theafilm)

Kundun. Martin Scorsese’s story of the Dalai Lama’s early life, which depicts China’s invasion of Tibet, recently became an issue in U.S.-Chinese relations. (Touchstone)

Land Girls. They’re the young women who volunteer to replace English farm workers who have gone to fight in World War II. Their romances involve both local farmers and airmen stationed at a nearby base. (Gramercy)

A Life Less Ordinary. Director Danny Boyle follows “Trainspotting” with the story of some “divine interveners” who come to Earth to stir things up between Ewan MacGregor and his kidnapping victim, Cameron Diaz. (Fox)

The Little Mermaid. A reissue of the 1989 animated favorite, with an Oscar-winning score from the Menken-Ashman team. (Walt Disney)

The Locusts. Drifter Vince Vaughn disrupts the world of the evil Kate Capshaw in a poignant mystery about damaged souls set in 1960 rural Kansas. (Orion Classics)

Madam, the Grass Is High. Anne Bancroft sets her sights on a tour bus driver in this story about love in the golden years. (Theafilm)

Mad City. Dustin Hoffman’s disgraced TV journalist and John Travolta’s unemployed security guard form a profound bond. Costa-Gavras directs. (Warner Bros.)

Magic Hour (working title). There’s a truckload of Oscars among director Robert Benton and cast members Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon and Gene Hackman. They get together for a hard-boiled murder mystery set in contemporary L.A. (Paramount)

The Mask of Zorro. Original Zorro Anthony Hopkins grooms troubled drifter Antonio Banderas to take over the gig, which involves toppling a tyrant and undoing his wrongs. (TriStar)

The Matchmaker. Senatorial aide Janeane Garofalo is dispatched to Western Ireland, where she becomes caught up in Baillinamore’s matchmaking festivities. (Gramercy)

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Clint Eastwood directs an adaptation of John Berendt’s acclaimed book about a murder in Savannah, Ga. (Warner Bros.)

Mr. Magoo. The Sultan of Squint takes to live action (in the form of Leslie Nielsen), in the story of a stolen gem and ruthless villains. (Walt Disney)

Mousehunt. Brothers Nathan Lane and Lee Evans battle a resourceful rodent when they set out to renovate a mansion. (DreamWorks)

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

No Way Home. Tim Roth, James Russo and Deborah Unger star in the story of a man who makes a disturbing discovery when he gets out of prison and joins his brother and sister-in-law. (Live Entertainment)

Old Friends. Novelist Jack Nicholson, cafe server Helen Hunt and gay artist Greg Kinnear form an unlikely bond, thanks to a dog named Verdell. James L. Brooks directs. (TriStar)

One Night Stand. Wesley Snipes, Nastassja Kinski, Robert Downey Jr., Kyle McLachlan and Ming-Na Wen star in Mike Figgis’ follow-up to “Leaving Las Vegas,” about a married man’s brief affair and its long-lasting effects. (New Line)

Oscar & Lucinda. Gillian Armstrong directs Ralph Fiennes as a British priest and Cate Blanchett as an Australian businesswoman who share a passion for gambling and a dream of transporting a glass church to a remote parish. (Fox Searchlight)

The Peacemaker. Nicole Kidman and George Clooney butt heads when they are enlisted to recover some stolen nuclear weapons. (DreamWorks)

Phantoms. Horror honcho Dean Koontz teamed with Joel Soisson on an adaptation of his novel about a mysterious mass death in a small Colorado town. (Miramax)

Playing God. David Duchovny as a surgeon who is drawn into the underworld as criminal Timothy Hutton’s “gunshot doctor.” (Touchstone)

Polish Wedding. Claire Danes is a sensuous young woman whose escapades lead to trouble with Adam Trese. Gabriel Byrne and Lena Olin play her parents. (Fox Searchlight)

The Postman. Kevin Costner directs and stars in a futuristic thriller based on David Brin’s novel. (Warner Bros.)

Pre. Robert Towne writes and directs the year’s second movie biography of distance runner Steve Prefontaine (Billy Crudup). (Warner Bros.)

The Rainmaker. Francis Ford Coppola adapted and directs John Grisham’s book about an idealistic law school grad (Matt Damon) taking on his first big case. (Paramount)

The Real Blonde. Manhattan’s entertainment and fashion world is the setting for writer-director Tom DiCillo’s look at some models and actors whose lives overlap. The ensemble includes Matthew Modine, Daryl Hannah, Maxwell Caulfield and Elizabeth Berkley. (Paramount)

Rocket Man. Scientist Harland Williams creates comedic chaos on the first manned (and womanned, with love interest Jessica Lundy) mission to Mars. (Walt Disney)

Seven Years in Tibet. Brad Pitt stars in a story based on Heinrich Harrar’s memoir, about the spiritual transformation he experienced on a Himalayan sojourn in the 1940s. (TriStar)

She’s De Lovely. Robin Wright is torn between ex-husband Sean Penn, just out of the pen, and current mate John Travolta. Nick Cassavetes directs a script by his late father, John. (Miramax)

A Simple Wish. Martin Short is an inept fairy godfather dueling with rival wand-wielder Kathleen Turner while trying to grant young Mara Wilson’s wish. Directed by Michael Ritchie. (Universal)

A Smile Like Yours. Construction contractor Greg Kinnear and aromatherapist Lauren Holly are a young couple balancing marriage, career and the prospect of children. (Paramount)

Soul Food. Pop-music Midas Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds makes his movie producing debut with this story of a matriarch and her embattled Chicago family. (Fox)

Sphere. Barry Levinson directs this subaquatic suspenser based on Michael Crichton’s novel about a submarine crew that discovers a sunken spacecraft. (Warner Bros.)

Starship Troopers. Director Paul Verhoeven reunites with his “RoboCop” team in a story of intergalactic warfare with giant alien insects. Based on the book by Robert A. Heinlein. (TriStar)

A Thousand Acres. Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jennifer Jason Leigh star as sisters whose inheritance unleashes a family’s buried secrets. (Touchstone)

Virus. Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Sutherland go against an alien life form that regards humans as a virus that must be eliminated. (Universal)

The Winter Guest. Emma Thompson and her mother, Phyllida Law, head an ensemble cast in a look at the people of a Scottish town on a day so cold that the sea has frozen. Directed by Alan Rickman. (Fine Line)

Wishmaster. A jeweler unleashes an omnipotent--and hostile--being called Djinn. Can she outwit her lethal discovery? (Live Entertainment)

Woo. Daisy von Scherler Mayer (“Party Girl”) directs as beautiful heartbreaker Jada Pinkett and strait-laced attorney Tommy Davidson embark on an eventful blind date. (New Line)

Also in 1997

Amy Foster. Joseph Conrad’s short story is the basis for this epic drama about a servant girl (Rachel Weisz) and a shipwrecked foreigner in 19th century Cornwall, England. (TriStar)

Deja Vu. Henry Jaglom’s latest concerns the mysterious attraction between an American woman and an English painter in the coastal town of Dover. Victoria Foyt, Stephen Dillane and Vanessa Redgrave star. (Rainbow Film Co.)

Most Wanted. Keenen Ivory Wayans is a Gulf War hero trying to elude capture on the streets of Los Angeles after being framed for assassinating the first lady. (New Line)

Reach the Rock. Newcomer Alessandro Nivola and “Melrose Place’s” Brooke Langton star in a chaotic comedy from writer-producer John Hughes. (Universal)

Stinkers. That’s the name a school’s headmaster has given to five kids who wreak havoc with their adventurous ways and penchant for inventions. (TriStar)

Untitled Oliver Stone Film. Sean Penn and Jennifer Lopez are a desperate couple who become entangled with a stranded gambler in a small Arizona town. (TriStar)