DR. SEUSS' THE CAT IN THE HAT Producer Brian Grazer (How the Grinch Stole Christmas) and director Bo Welch bring the behaviorally challenged feline (Mike Myers) to the big screen. Dakota Fanning and Spencer Breslin are the kids left home alone. See story on page 41. (Universal)
GOTHIKA Academy Award winner Halle Berry goes the rattling-psychological-thriller route as a psychiatrist who must prove her innocence when she finds herself accused of murder and incarcerated in her own mental ward. (Warner Bros.)
THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE Sylvain Chomet's animated feature debut follows an old woman across the ocean as she attempts to rescue her grandson after he's kidnapped while competing in the Tour de France. Helping in her pursuit is her faithful dog Bruno and the eccentric '30s-era singing sensation the Triplets of Belleville. (Sony Pictures Classics)
21 GRAMS Is it true you lose 21 grams -- the weight of five nickels or, supposedly, your soul -- when you die? Amores Perros director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu contemplates the theory in his first English-language feature. Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, and Benicio Del Toro star as three strangers whose lives intersect following a tragic accident. (Focus)
NOVEMBER 26
BAD SANTA Billy Bob Thornton and Tony Cox (Me, Myself & Irene) are more naughty than nice as a con-man Claus-and-elf team whose nefarious Xmas plans are sidelined at a Phoenix mall by a group of comic cohorts -- including John Ritter (in one of his last film roles), Bernie Mac, and Gilmore Girl Lauren Graham. (Dimension)
THE COOLER William H. Macy is a Las Vegas loser so luckless that a ruthless casino owner (Alec Baldwin) uses him to cool down high-roller action -- a task he gladly performs to pay off his debts. But things turn nasty when lady luck (in the form of Maria Bello) smiles on him. (Lions Gate)
EL BONAERENSE In a Latin American film-festival favorite, an honest locksmith, banished from his rural hometown, moves to Buenos Aires and seeks solace as a cadet in the most corrupt police force in Argentina.
THE HAUNTED MANSION Another family comedy from Eddie Murphy, this time as an overachieving real estate broker who gets scared straight -- straight back into better parenting, that is -- after surviving a weekend retreat with his family at a haunted house. See story on page 66. (Disney)
IN AMERICA Director Jim Sheridan's semiautobiographical film-festival crowd-pleaser is the story of an Irish immigrant couple (Paddy Considine and Oscar nominee Samantha Morton) who move to New York's Hell's Kitchen with their two young daughters to pursue their dreams. (Fox Searchlight)
TIMELINE In an adaptation of Michael Crichton's best-seller, four college students working on a medieval archaeological site in France begin a search for their missing professor in 2003 and end up in the 14th century. Lethal Weapon's Richard Donner directs. (Paramount)
DECEMBER 5
