SNEAKS 94 : FALL/CHRISTMAS

Fall will finally bring the answer to the question movie goers have been debating for months: How believable is Tom Cruise as Lestat? Annette Bening and Warren Beatty try to bring their off-screen romance to film in “Love Affair,” with some help form Katherine Hepburn. Macaulay Culkin becomes comic-book rich kid Richie Rich, Johnny Depp plays comic-book-worthy B-movie impresario Ed Wood, and Robert De Niro is transformed into a darkly comic monster in Kenneth Branagh’s “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.” Of course, it wouldn’t be fall without an Anthony Hopkins period drama, and this year finds him in two, both set in a more innocent America: “The Road to Wellville,” as corn-flake magnate John Harvey Kellogg, and the Montana epic, “Legends of the Fall.”

Blackout. Traditional roles in a Bronx Latino community are turned around when a young mother takes a job at a record company; the title refers to a power outage that triggers some events--both humorous and otherwise--in the ‘hood. Lauren Velez stars. (Columbia)

Boys on the Side. Whoopi Goldberg, Mary-Louise Parker and Drew Barrymore take a cross-country journey, chaperoned by director Herbert Ross. These women couldn’t be more different, but they somehow meld into the family that none of them has ever known. (Warner Bros.)

The Browning Version. Professor Albert Finney decides to leave his post at England’s exclusive Abbey School for boys after more than 20 years. Greta Scacchi plays his wife, who makes a decision of her own--to seek the embrace of Matthew Modine, an American teacher on the exchange program. Mike Figgis directs. (Paramount)

Bullets Over Broadway. Woody Allen’s inaugural film from his Sweetland Films association stars John Cusack, Chazz Palminteri, Mary-Louise Parker, Jennifer Tilly, Tracey Ullman, Jack Warden and Dianne Wiest. Cusack is a 1920s playwright in this comedy, in which we’ll witness much of the chaos that takes place behind the scenes of a Broadway smash.

Casper. Christina Ricci sheds her ghoulish makeup to play a more, um, conventional little girl in this live-action/animation hybrid from Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment. Ricci’s the only living being able to see Casper, the world’s friendliest ghost. (Universal)

Cobb. As in Ty, Tommy Lee Jones plays the baseball superstar who reveals much to a sportswriter he has hired to transcribe his life story. A notorious player was Cobb, and the reporter faces a dilemma: Print the truth about let the myth stand for all time. Ron Shelton directs his own script. (Warner Bros.)

The Crossing Guard. Jack Nicholson stars for writer, director and pal Sean Penn in this tale of revenge. David Morse endures prison for eight years for killing Nicholson’s daughter while driving drunk. That’s a picnic compared to what ol’ Jack’s got planned for after he’s released. (Miramax)

Drop Zone. John Badham directs a thriller for the sky-diving set. A notorious computer hacker is being transferred from one prison to another when a criminal cartel grabs him right out of a Boeing 747. No cast yet. (Paramount)

Ed Wood. This guy made some horrendously bad movies in the ‘50s, but director Tim Burton will probably make a good one about him. Johnny Depp stars as the cross-dressing director of such anti-classics as “Glen or Glenda?” Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette, Jeffrey Jones and Bill Murray co-star. (Touchstone)

The Goofy Movie. Goofy stars in his first feature film. Singer Tevin Campbell performs a few of the accompanying tunes. (Walt Disney)

Great Moments in Aviation. “Used People’s” Beeban Kidran directs this comedy-drama aboard a ship during the 1950s. During a young Caribbean woman’s journey to England where she’ll fly planes, she mingles with bizarre people, encounters wicked lies and a few unplanned experiences. Jonathan Pryce, Vanessa Redgrave and John Hurt star. (Miramax)

The Hour of the Pig. This black, comic murder mystery stars Colin Firth as a lawyer who leaves hectic Paris for the serene Abbeville during medieval times. Tranquillity is short-lived, for soon he’s embroiled in sexual, religious and political intrigue. There’s more: A pig is tried for murder. (Miramax)

Imaginary Crimes. Harvey Keitel is a con artist with plenty of dreams but is a tad bereft in the luck department. But he does have a lovely teen in Fairuza Balk who loves her widower dad, even creating short stories inspired by his pathetic shenanigans. Anthony Drazan directs. (Warner Bros.)

Interview With the Vampire. Anne Rice’s jugular vein popped when she learned Tom Cruise would play the vampire Lestat, and her fans soon echoed her chagrin. Brad Pitt essays Louis, the vampire who tells interviewer Christian Slater how Lestat changed his life one night on a New Orleans plantation 200 years ago. Neil Jordan directs. (Warner Bros.)

In the Mouth of Madness. Director John Carpenter’s next chiller involves insurance investigator Sam Neill who is seeking a missing horror novelist. He’s eager to find this fellow, for his latest novel is laying chaos to the lives of those who read it. Julie Carmen, Jurgen Prochnow and Charlton Heston co-star. (New Line)

It Happened in Paradise. Nicolas Cage, Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey are bumbling ex-cons who endear themselves to the people of Paradise one Christmas Eve. The small town is soon privy to the fact that these guys will be providing no tidings of joy tonight. (Fox)

Jason’s Lyric. We’ll follow two young Houston brothers, the younger of whom is just out from prison and back to his old ways. The elder one struggles with a low-wage job, but his hopes are raised when he meets a young woman named Lyric, although he fears problems with his troubled sibling. Allen Payne, Forest Whitaker star for director Doug McHenry. (Gramercy)

Legends of the Fall. Traversing some six decades, this one concerns patriarch and Col. Anthony Hopkins and his three sons in turn-of-the-century Montana. Brad Pitt, Aidan Quinn and Henry Thomas play the boys who are dealt a new hand when beautiful Julia Ormond enters the picture. Edward Zwick directs. (TriStar)

Leon. Gary Oldman stars for director-writer-producer Luc Besson in the action-packed story of a hitman and the teen-age girl who seems to embrace the terrifying environment in which he lives. The “La Femme Nikita” director’s first American project. (Columbia)

The Lone Brave. Adam Beach stars in this tale inspired by the legend of Squanto, a Native American taken to England and enslaved in the early 17th Century. He eventually returns but is then abducted by the Pilgrims, who soon desperately require his help to keep from starving. (Walt Disney)

Love Affair. Originally a 1939 Leo McCarey romantic comedy hit, then remade by that director as 1957’s “An Affair to Remember.” Now, Warren Beatty produces and stars with wife Annette Bening as two people who meet while traveling, only to later experience much more. Glenn Gordon Caron directs the Robert Towne script. Garry Shandling, Pierce Brosnan and Katharine Hepburn also star. (Warner Bros.)

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Robert De Niro plays the Creature to Kenneth Branagh’s Dr. Frankenstein in this latest version of the 19th Century classic, which Branagh also directs. Helena Bonham Carter plays the sensitive monster’s beloved Elizabeth. Tom Hulce, Aidan Quinn and John Cleese also star. (TriStar)

Miracle on 34th Street. This remake of the beloved 1947 holiday film, not yet firmly cast, is written by John Hughes, directed by Les Mayfield. (Fox)

Mrs. Parker. As in Dorothy, the witty young woman who graduated from the occasional Vanity Fair critique to a position of lofty literary standing. The time is the Roaring ‘20s and Parker’s emotional state would float upward and down, punctuated by dramatic attempts at suicide. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Campbell Scott star; Alan Rudolph directs. (Fine Line)

Murder in the First. Christian Slater, Kevin Bacon and Gary Oldman head this 1930s story of an inmate at Alcatraz who plays executioner behind bars. His young public defender initiates a unique defense: The harsh conditions there caused his client to commit murder. (Warner Bros.)

My Posse Don’t Do Homework. Oscar-winning “Rain Man” screenwriter Ron Bass has whipped up this tale of an ex-Marine of 10 years who decides to teach in an urban school. Michelle Pfeiffer plays the former grunt whose tough techniques are an inspiration to the kids who heretofore haven’t learned a whole lot. No director set. (Hollywood)

Nell. Jodie Foster plays a woman who was reared in a remote cabin and speaks a strange indecipherable language. When a doctor and psychologist come to study her, they learn a great deal about this remarkable young woman. Michael Apted directs. (Fox)

The New Age. “The Player” came from the mind of Michael Tolkin, who here writes and directs a look at a trendy L.A. couple who suddenly lose their jobs. They’re also splitting up, and they decide to open a chic boutique to raise the funds to finance their divorce. Peter Weller and Judy Davis star. (Warner Bros.)

The Night and the Moment. Lena Olin, Willem Dafoe and Miranda Richardson generate the sizzle in this 18th Century tale of passionate romance among French aristocrats. When socialite Olin retires to bed after entertaining friends, Dafoe steals into her bed chamber for some small talk. (Miramax)

Nobody’s Fool. Director Robert Benton hopes to rebound from “Billy Bathgate” with this drama set in rural New York. Paul Newman has the opportunity to rejoin the family he left decades ago, with Jessica Tandy, Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith. Benton adapted the Richard Russo novel. (Paramount)

Nora Ephron Untitled Project. Nora and sis Delia have written this Steve Martin vehicle whose catalyst is the busy activity of a suicide hotline service during Christmas Eve. Problem is they face eviction and, moreover, they all have messed-up love lives of their own. “Sleepless in Seattle’s” Ephron directs. (TriStar)

Of Love and Shadows. Jennifer Connelly and Antonio Banderas head director Betty Kaplan’s film about a fashion editor who comes in much physical contact with a left-wing photojournalist in Latin America. (Miramax)

The Pagemaster. Joe Johnston handles live-action and Maurice Hunt the animation in this big-budget film starring Macaulay Culkin and Christopher Lloyd. Lloyd’s the keeper of the books and he sends timid little Macaulay into a wild adventure through the fiction section of the library. Whoopi Goldberg and Patrick Stewart provide voices. (Fox)

The Picture Bride. A historical drama of a young woman who emigrates from Japan to Hawaii and learns that her boundaries for both love and courage are endless. Kayo Hatta wrote and directs; in Japanese with English subtitles. (Miramax)

Pontiac Moon. It’s the summer of ’69 and in a few days, Neil Armstrong will utter his famous words. Back on Earth, eccentric schoolteacher Ted Danson hopes to reunite his broken family by driving his ’49 Pontiac 1,800 miles in four days, thus making his odometer read 238,857 miles (the distance to the moon). Mary Steenburgen co-stars. (Paramount)

Pret-a-Porter. This the major presentation of new fashions put on twice a year in Paris. Director Robert Altman will put his satirical spin on the proceedings. So far, Julia Roberts will star. (Miramax)

Prince of Jutland. “Babette’s Feast” helmsman Gabriel Axel takes us back to the 12th Century with Christian Bale as the Danish prince out to avenge the murder of his father the king. Gabriel Byrne and Helen Mirren also star. (Miramax)

A Pure Formality. “Cinema Paradiso’s” Giuseppe Tornatore directs Gerard Depardieu as a writer accused of murder and Roman Polanski the guy given the task of interrogating him. Score by Ennio Morricone; in French with English subtitles. (Sony Pictures Classics)

Queen Margot. Isabelle Adjani plays the title role in this version of the classic novel by Alexandre Dumas. She’s Charles IX’s sister and thrown at odds with her cutthroat family when they force her to wed the Protestant Henri de Bourbon. French with English subtitles. (Miramax)

The Quick and the Dead. “Darkman” director Sam Raimi hands Sharon Stone a six-shooter and sends her into the city limits of lawless Redemption. She’s there to settle some years-old bad blood, but Gene Hackman awaits, and he soon stages a quick-draw tournament. (TriStar)

Quiz Show. Robert Redford directs and is a producer on this intense look into the game show phenomenon of the late ‘50s. The lives of three men are irreparably changed by one scandalous show in this film starring Ralph Fiennes, Christopher McDonald and John Turturro. (Hollywood)

Radioland Murders. George Lucas came up with the story and exec-produces this comic murder mystery that unfolds on the debut night of a new radio station in the late ‘30s. Mary Stuart Masterson, Ned Beatty and Brian Benben star. (Universal)

Red. The final “color” film in director Krzysztof Kieslowski’s passion trilogy involves a young Swiss model who runs over the dog of a retired judge. It’s an accident, she assures the much older man, and the chance meeting blossoms into a controversial liaison. Red symbolizes “fraternity” in the French flag. French with English subtitles. Irene Jacob stars. (Miramax)

Richie Rich. Who better to play the enormously wealthy kid from the comics than Macaulay Culkin, who diligently researched the role by earning millions of dollars over the last couple of years? Produced by Joel Silver. (Warner Bros.)

The Road to Wellville. Anthony Hopkins plays turn-of-the-century vegetarian crusader Dr. John Harvey Kellogg in this freewheeling comedy from Alan Parker. Bridget Fonda and Matthew Broderick also star in a set of three interconnected stories relating to this country’s early fixation on health fads. (Columbia)

Roommates. Comedy and drama are both promised, with Peter Falk playing a 107-year-old Pittsburgh baker who deals with the 35-year-old surgeon with whom he shares his roof. D. B. Sweeney plays the doctor who was reared by Falk from the age of 5. Peter Yates directs; Julianne Moore, Ellen Burstyn co-star. (Hollywood)

The Saint. “Sliver” producer Robert Evans has acquired the rights to 50 books featuring this dashing character from 1930 to 1970. No specific title will serve as a plot; rather, the works will provide a springboard for this hero for the ‘90s and beyond. Renny Harlin will direct. (Paramount)

The Santa Clause. Not only is divorce Tim Allen competing for the affection of his young son, but the real St. Nick has just tumbled off Allen’s roof this Christmas Eve.Will father and son be able to hop into Santa’s sled and finish the job? Will the real Santa ever want the job back?? (Hollywood)

Second Best. William Hurt stars in this poignant story of a lonely unmarried mail clerk who desperately wants to adopt a troubled young boy, but the boy’s oft-absent father makes his case for custody. John Hurt co-stars. (Warner Bros.)

The Shawshank Redemption. Banker Tim Robbins is carted off to prison, questionably convicted of murder. Morgan Freeman’s already there, a seasoned resident of maximum security, ready to help the anxious newcomer acclimate himself to the big house. (Columbia)

Silent Fall. A well-to-do middle-aged couple is murdered in conservative New England, and the only witness is their 9-year-old autistic son. Richard Dreyfuss, a therapist with a not-so-pristine background, is enlisted to help the boy cope with and solve this homicide. John Lithgow, Linda Hamilton co-star; Bruce Beresford directs. (Warner Bros.)

The Specialist. Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone and James Woods star for “Sniper” director Lucho Llosa in this high-intensity major-budget action thriller and shoot-’em-up set on the mean streets of Miami. (Warner Bros.)

Star Trek: The Next Generation--The Movie. Patrick Stewart, as stoic Capt. Picard, is the only cast member confirmed per the press release beamed to us. Expect a lot of familiar faces, though, as members of the Enterprise (sans Mr. Spock, however) are also expected to appear in this bold new adventure. David Carson directs. (Paramount)

The Stars Fell on Henrietta. Robert Duvall stars in this comic drama stirred up in the Texas Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Duvall plays the eccentric oil wildcatter who goes to see what’s up in California but settles on a failing farm near Henrietta, Tex., instead. He convinces the family there that an oil gusher is nearby. (Warner Bros.)

Tall Tale. Nick Stahl is the young boy who endures an incredible journey to save the family farm during America’s frontier days. Oliver Platt and Patrick Swayze also star as Old West legends Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill. (Walt Disney)

The Tool Shed. Espionage abounds in this story of CIA agent Laurence Fishburne, whose alleged misconduct has landed him the unenviable assignment of infiltrating a complex spy ring. He wangles his way in, then ends up being seduced by Ellen Barkin. Will he stay faithful to his agenda? (Touchstone)

The War. Kevin Costner, Elijah Wood and Mare Winningham star in a comedy with a Southern feel for “Fried Green Tomatoes” director Jon Avnet. A turf battle over a treehouse provides the sparks as dad Costner tries to quell the various and silly skirmishes that erupt in a small town. (Universal)

War of the Buttons. Children from two small Irish towns form their own armies and battle for supremacy. Gregg Fitzgerald stars in this conception of the surreal and powerful emotional world we inhabit as young ones. David Puttnam produces. (Warner Bros.)

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