Buffy The Vampire Slayer

`Shrek 2,’ Coming In Late May, Towers Over The Competition

March 7, 2004

By DEBORAH HORNBLOW, Courant Film Critic

MARCH 26

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed - Every dog has its sequel. The director and cast of the first "Scooby" reunite for another money-making mystery involving a masked villain and control of the city of Coolsville. The live action/animation mix features Matthew Lillard, Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alicia Silverstone and Seth Green.The Ladykillers - The Brothers Coen ("The Big Lebowski," "Miller’s Crossing," "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"), whose pictures combine extraordinary visuals and a lot of wacky nonsense, give Tom Hanks another shot at playing a bad guy in this picture about a thief planning a mega-heist from a rooming house owned by an overly vigilant old woman.

With the Academy Awards and all of the 2003 film biz safely in the can, it is time to focus on spring movie releases.

If the number of sequels, copycats and remakes sometimes makes looking ahead seem like looking back, it is hardly surprising. Nothing succeeds like box office success.

On slate for the green season is the eagerly anticipated "Shrek 2," along with "Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London" and "Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed."

Among the films bearing more than a passing resemblance to previous films are "Connie and Carla," a "Some Like It Hot" clone from Nia Vardalos of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," and "Walking Tall," a remake of the 1973 film, starring The Rock.

Several spring titles continue the Hollywood tradition of turning popular comic-book characters into film icons. Dark Horse comic "Hellboy" is ready for his close-up, the latest to join the ranks of Spider-Man, Superman and Batman in hopes of creating a franchise. "The Punisher" turns yet another Marvel Comics character into a live-action movie.

Springtime star vehicles continue the venerable Tinseltown tradition of banking on stars. The pictures include the Stephen King novella adaptation "Secret Window" with Johnny Depp; "Man on Fire" with Denzel Washington; "The Alamo" with Dennis Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton; "Taking Lives" with Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke; the Coen brothers’ heist pic "The Ladykillers," with Tom Hanks as the unctuous conman played by Alec Guinness in the 1955 original; and Kevin Smith’s "Jersey Girl," starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, former flames whose failed relationship and disastrous attempts at co-starring (remember "Gigli"?) could be signs of a hex.

Finally and most happily, spring boasts a handful of promising originals. Among them: "Troy," Wolfgang Peterson’s historical drama re-creating the Battle of Troy; "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" from screenwriter Charlie Kaufman ("Adaptation," "Being John Malkovich"); "Envy," a comedy about money and friendship starring Ben Stiller and Jack Black; and Disney’s "Home on the Range," which is generating enough barnyard noise to suggest the coming of a new animated classic.

No season would be complete without an end-of-the-world disaster pic, so Roland Emmerich’s "The Day After Tomorrow" brings doomsday to the theater in late May.

(Movie release dates often change. These are correct as of press time.)

FRIDAY

Secret Window - Johnny Depp plays a writer stalked by a psychopath who claims the author stole his stories in this adaptation of a novella from Stephen King’s 1990 "Four Past Midnight."

Spartan - Yet another screenplay about a president’s daughter, this one having the advantage of being written and directed by David Mamet. The girl is kidnapped, and a secret agent is charged with getting her back. Val Kilmer, William H. Macy and Derek Luke star.

Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London - Teenage super-spy (Frankie Muniz) returns to seize more box office lucre.

MARCH 19

Dawn of the Dead - It’s zombie time again. Survivors of a worldwide plague take refuge at a shopping mall. Features Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Luke Weber and Mekhi Phifer. Directed by Zack Snyder.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Can erasing all unpleasant memories of a troubled marriage save it? Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey play characters who go for the cure in this futuristic romp.

Taking Lives - An FBI agent tracks a serial killer who takes on the identity of his victims. Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke star.

Jersey Girl - This may mark the last time entertainment writers will have to refer to the tabloid phenom "Benifer." Kevin Smith’s latest has no Silent Bob or Jay, but you can probably still count on discursive rants, scatology and profanity.

APRIL 2

Hellboy - Director Guillermo del Toro ("Blade II") tackles the Dark Horse comic book story of a demon who fights for good. We can’t wait.

Envy - Can money wreck a friendship? When Jack Black becomes filthy rich, his best buddy and neighbor (Ben Stiller) can’t deal with it. Barry Levinson ("Diner," "Tin Men," "Rain Man") directs. Christopher Walken plays a drifter.

Home on the Range - Judi Dench and Sarah Jessica Parker lend their voices to some of the characters in this old-fashioned Disney animated adventure about farm animals who band together to save the ranch.

APRIL 9

The Alamo - John Lee Hancock’s film was expected last year, and we can only hope the delay doesn’t signal a Waterloo. Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton and Jason Patric star in the true story of a few daring Americans who defend the Texas fort against the Mexican Army.

Walking Tall - Will the Rock be the new Arnold? Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson stars in a remake of the 1973 film about a heroic sheriff who stands up against the bad guys who are destroying his hometown.

The Whole Ten Yards - Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry are back in this sequel to the 2000 comedy "The Whole Nine Yards."

The Girl Next Door - The sheltered, over-achieving 18-year-old Matt (Emile Hirsch) falls for Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert, of TV’s "24"), "the girl next door," only to discover her secret past as a - gasp! - porn star. Can Danielle help Matt emerge from his shell? Can Matt help Danielle rediscover her innocence?

APRIL 16

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 - Quentin Tarantino returns to clean up the messy revenge business he started in "Kill Bill: Vol. 1." Uma Thurman is the bloodthirsty bride with a list of targets that includes her boss Bill (David Carradine).

The Punisher - Think of it as a comic book Charles Bronson. Marvel Comics’ Punisher is an anti-hero who resorts to vigilantism when his family is killed. John Travolta and Thomas Jane star.

Connie and Carla - Nia Vardalos, whose "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" mysteriously became a hit, returns with a caper about two actresses who witness a mob execution and are forced to disguise themselves as drag queens. Some Like It ... Copied?

APRIL 23

Man on Fire - Tony Scott ("Top Gun") directs Denzel Washington in this thriller about a bodyguard charged with protecting a young girl (Dakota Fanning) who is abducted by kidnappers in Mexico City.

13 Going on 30 - Jennifer Garner plays a 13-year-old who wakes up a 30-year-old woman in Gary Winick’s "Big" copy cat. Mark Ruffalo co-stars.

APRIL 30

Godsend - Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and Robert De Niro star in this drama/horror film about a couple who hope to bring their dead son back by cloning.

Laws of Attraction - Ugly divorce litigation should put anyone off love and marriage, but two New York lawyers (Julianne Moore and Pierce Brosnan) manage to find romance in its midst in this romantic comedy directed by Brit Peter Howitt ("Sliding Doors").

MAY 7

Van Helsing - Hugh Jackman is the title character, a vampire slayer, in this toothy thriller. His co-star, Kate Beckinsdale ("Underworld"), may need a string of garlic to avoid future Dracula flicks.

MAY 14

Troy - Wolfgang Petersen ("Das Boot," "The Perfect Storm") re-creates the Trojan War in this epic-scale drama starring Brad Pitt, Peter O’Toole, Orlando Bloom, Brian Cox and Eric Bana.

Breakin’ All the Rules - After being dumped by his fiancée, a young man publishes a best-selling break-up handbook for men. Morris Chestnut and Gabrielle Union star in this boy-Bridget Jones comedy.

MAY 21

Shrek 2 - I’m a critic on the edge. ... The world’s big, beloved, bright green, animated ogre returns to face the in-laws with that hilariously mouthy donkey at his side.

The Clearing - Robert Redford plays a successful corporate executive kidnapped and held for a ransom by sad-sack Willem Dafoe. Helen Mirren plays the victim’s tormented wife.

MAY 28

The Day After Tomorrow - What is a holiday weekend without a digitized special-effects apocalypse? Roland Emmerich’s latest pits Dennis Quaid’s scientist against the problems of global warming. Shall we consider ourselves doomed?