MAKING THE CUT

If Tim Robbins can make the jump from dramatic player to full-fledged multi- hyphenate, why can't every other actor in Hollywood become an auteur? Well, they're trying, if this wave of upcoming films is any indication: *MR. SATURDAY NIGHT He had an on-screen mid-life crisis in City Slickers; now Billy Crystal grows really old on screen as a comedian looking back at a rocky career. Ron Silver and Helen Hunt costar (Sept. '92).

*MAC Artsy John Turturro, best known for his work with Spike Lee and the Coen brothers, was inspired by his own family for his writing and directing debut, which won the award for best first film at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival (Jan. '93).

*THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE Action dreamboat Mel Gibson cast himself against type as a rural loner in his dramatic directorial debut, which deals with unjust charges of child molestation (April '93).

*ROOKIE OF THE YEAR Guess he likes working with kids: Daniel Stern (Home Alone) gets a whole Little League team in this baseball fantasy about a 12- year-old boy who becomes a pitching legend. Set to begin shooting this fall, the movie has not yet been cast (summer '93).

*A BRONX TALE Street icon Robert De Niro directs, produces, and stars in this story of a 1960s New York bus driver whose son falls under the influence of a gangster, played by screenwriter Chazz Palminteri (fall '93).