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SLEEPY HOLLOW
STARRING Johnny DEPP, Christina RICCI, Miranda RICHARDSON, Casper VAN DIEN, Christopher WALKEN DIRECTED BY Tim BURTON
[BUZZ-O-METER] 8 WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL? Leave it to Burton to romantically link Edward Scissorhands and Wednesday Addams.
Director Burton is a different breed of cat. Adjectives like creepy, twisted, and macabre hang around his neck the way Meg Ryan wears cute as a button. And frankly, after talking to him, it's easy to see why. When asked what drew him to Washington Irving's classic 18th-century tale about the Headless Horseman, there's a moment of utter silence. Then Burton earnestly deadpans, ''I've always wanted to make a movie where one of the characters didn't have a head.'' And going head-to-head, so to speak, with the Headless Horseman is Depp, in his third Burton film. (He also appeared in the director's acclaimed Edward Scissorhands and Ed Wood, though not, luckily for Depp, Mars Attacks!) As the prim and rational New York City constable Ichabod Crane, Depp journeys upstate to a superstitious hamlet to investigate a series of gory murders in which the victims have been beheaded. The spooked townspeople think the slayings are the grisly work of a galloping homicidal spectre. But Depp's man of science believes there's got to be another explanation. Of course, he's wrong. Among all the missing noggins and eerie Burton atmospherics is a love story between Ichabod and the porcelain-skinned local beauty played by Ricci (the Addams Family movies, The Opposite of Sex), who helps him in his sleuthing. ''Christina's got that kind of quality of a silent-movie actor,'' says Burton. ''If Peter Lorre and Bette Davis had a child, it would be Christina.'' As for Ricci, even though her role is, in her words, the ''stereotypical damsel in distress,'' she says the reason she wanted to work with Burton is because ''his taste isn't the normal kind of taste...and neither is mine.'' Who'd have guessed? Plus, Ricci adds, ''everybody knows the Headless Horseman because it's so scary -- I mean, some hellish creature cutting off people's heads is frightening.'' So, is Sleepy Hollow a horror movie? A love story? A supernatural detective thriller? ''I don't know, I'm still editing,'' laughs Burton. ''Can I let you know a little later so it looks like I know what I'm talking about?'' (Nov. 19)
ANNA AND THE KING
STARRING Jodie Foster, CHOW Yun-Fat DIRECTED BY Andy TENNANT
[BUZZ-O-METER] 6 WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL? Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat retell the King and I tale -- but without singing, dancing, et cetera, et cetera.
In this epic true story of the unrequited love between King Mongkut of Siam and Anna Leonowens, the British nanny who tutored his children in the mid-19th century, Tennant (Ever After) and producer Lawrence Bender (Pulp Fiction) fulfilled nearly all their casting dreams. For Anna they nabbed Foster in her first post-Contact and first postpartum role (for a reported $15 million payday), and by casting Chow as the king, Hong Kong-cinema fan boy Bender could finally show America that the Asian star could do more than just fire Uzis in slo-mo. The only role they couldn't fill was Siam itself (today's Thailand). Seeking permission to shoot on location, Tennant faced a hypercritical Thai Film Board still stinging from Hollywood's singing version of Siamese history, 1956's The King and I, which has been banned in Thailand for portraying its esteemed former monarch as a buffoon. After the board rejected four versions of the script (each with increasing historical accuracy and a far wiser King), the production moved to Malaysia, a treacherous decision considering that Foster's initial enthusiasm hinged on her desire to shoot a movie in Thailand. ''I was worried at first,'' says Bender. ''There was a moment of, 'Oh, s -- -, I've got to call Jodie.''' Luckily, Foster was persuaded to stay on. ''They didn't seem to be afraid of my reaction,'' she says. ''They should have been, huh?'' But everyone was sweating it after the vast production set up shop last year under Malaysia's scorching sun. ''Getting 25 elephants, 2,000 extras, and 250 horses back to position 1 for take 2 in 120-degree heat doesn't always happen as fast as you want it to,'' says Tennant. Luckily, he could count on his leading lady to keep cool under pressure. ''In the heat and humidity I was in corset, bonnet, three petticoats, a hoopskirt, leather boots, and gloves,'' she says. ''It makes you realize that back then these English people were insane. Luckily I'm not a big sweater, or this film really could have been a disaster.'' (November 24)
