A BOUNTY OF HOLIDAY TREATS
By GINIA BELLAFANTE; RICHARD CORLISS; MARTHA DUFFY; CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY; PAUL GRAY; BELINDA LUSCOMBE
CINEMA
'TIS THE SEASON TO BE MOURNFUL
As the holidays get near, Hollywood gets the glums. For Christmas, it gives moviegoers a hair shirt: severe, serious films angled more for Oscar consideration than for Yuletide joy giving. Remember Nixon, Georgia, Othello in '95? This season, with few Academy Award contenders emerging in the first 10 months, studios will come down with a bad case of good intentions.
Cineplexes will turn into pre-med lecture halls for the study of leukemia (Marvin's Room, with Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro) and mental illness (Shine, the acclaimed Australian film about pianist David Helfgott). There also will be political seminars on intolerance (The Crucible, with Winona Ryder and Daniel Day-Lewis) and the First Amendment as it applies to porn peddlers (The People vs. Larry Flynt, with Woody Harrelson and Courtney Love).
Abortion controversy? We got it: Citizen Ruth stars Laura Dern as a pro-choice icon who changes her mind. The I.R.A.? No problem: Some Mother's Son has flinty Helen Mirren playing the mother of a Belfast hunger striker. And American racism? Take your pick. Rob Reiner's Ghosts of Mississippi re-enacts the trial of Byron De La Beckwith, the murderer of Medgar Evers; John Singleton's Rosewood is about the attempt to dislodge an affluent black community in 1923.
You could summarize the studios' elevated intentions in one word: Hamlet. The whole thing--four hours of Elizabethan English, courtesy of Kenneth Branagh. It's the toniest offering in a bag of very worthy holiday films. And still we hear America saying, "Anyone for pigging out in front of the bowl games?"
FASHION
EVITA WANNABES?
Ask a fashion retailer what he wants Santa to bring, and the wish may well be runaway success for Evita, to be released Christmas Day and starring Madonna. The film captures the glamorous, polished look of the '40s: huge shoulders, nipped-in waist, plenty of accessories. It all adds up to plenty of perchandise. Bloomingdale's will open Evita boutiques in nine stores, and Estee Lauder has whipped up a line of makeup: ruby lipstick and white powder in a frankly made-up look. !Viva!
BOOKS
TICKETS TO ANCIENT WONDERS
Armchair travelers can look forward to some impressive time trips in the season ahead. An abundance of forthcoming coffee-table books devote lavish pictures and well-chosen words to the surviving splendors of past civilizations. They offer visual nurturing and food for thought.
Ancient Rome: History of a Civilization That Ruled the World (Stewart, Tabori & Chang; $60) lives up to its title by providing a comprehensive study of Roman life, politics and art. Imaginative drawings re-create the way the Eternal City looked in its glory days. An even older civilization is presented in Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico (Abrams; $80). These people, who thrived some 3,000 years ago, left no written documents, but their great stone faces and elaborate masks speak mysterious volumes. Splendors of Imperial China (Rizzoli; $60) affords a sweeping overview of some 5,000 years of artifacts and art produced by a still vibrant culture.
Against the background of the violence in Jerusalem this fall, The Dome of the Rock (Rizzoli; $60) offers a bit of blissful repose: a stunning series of photographs of an Islamic holy place that shares a spot equally precious to Christians and Jews. Another great city forms the centerpiece of St. Petersburg: Architecture of the Tsars (Abbeville; $95). Peter the Great founded it in 1703 as Russia's "window to the West"; after the hiatus of Soviet rule, that window is open again and marvelous to see. Back to Mandalay: Burmese Life, Past and Present (Abbeville; $55) captures contemporary people set in a landscape brimming with exquisite antiquities.
These books make history not only painless but also pleasurable. Few readers, given the choice, would sacrifice modern conveniences to live there; but through the pages of these elegant travelogues, the past is a great place to visit.
AS CUTE AS CAN BE
Come on, be honest: looking at pictures of other people's babies is about as interesting as watching cranberries grow--unless, of course, the images are the whimsical and colorful collages in Anne Geddes' Down in the Garden (Cedco; $49.95). Leaf through its amusing pages, and try to figure out how Geddes got her little models to hold still.
CINEMA
HONEY, CAN WE TAKE THE KIDS?
The phrase Christmas movies summons candy-cane memories of Jimmy Stewart chatting with an angel, Natalie Wood on Santa's knee, Macaulay Culkin giving Joe Pesci a splitting headache. It also suggests another fantasy: the family setting off for the local movieplex and seeing a film together instead of having to go to two different features, one for Mom and Dad, the other for the kids. Surely, somewhere under the holiday sky, there must be a film the whole family can stand. Mustn't there? Surely?
Well, Hollywood is offering a few scraps from the Christmas table for this neglected minority audience. Jingle All the Way follows a desperate parent searching for the one toy his child hopes will be under the Christmas tree. The director is Brian Levant, who moved plenty of Flintstones merchandise with his last film hit; the star is Arnold Schwarzenegger, himself a preposterous and popular action figure. For the science nerd in all of us, there's Star Trek: First Contact, eighth in the series, second with Patrick Stewart helming the Enterprise. And if Grandma drops by for Christmas dinner and refuses to leave, take her to Mother, the delightful Albert Brooks comedy about a guy who moves back in with his nudgy mom (Debbie Reynolds).
Disney usually releases an animated feature for the holiday season, but this year the studio has a live-action remake of a cartoon classic, 101 Dalmatians, starring Glenn Close as the dognapping Cruella DeVil. Warner Bros. steps into the vacated slot with Space Jam, a $90 million mix of animation and live action that teams two pop-culture potentates, Michael ("Air") Jordan and Bugs ("Hare") Bunny.
Then there's Beavis and Butt-head Do America--MTV's cartoon cretins on the big screen. Kids, it's probably best if the family splits up again. You don't want your parents to know what they're missing.
DESIGN
MACKINTOSH COMES TO THE APPLE
What would modernist architecture look like if the folks at the Bauhaus had been nature lovers? You can glimpse one possibility in the exhibit of Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh's work that opens at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art on Nov. 21 and travels to Chicago and L.A. next year. Obsessive, difficult, visionary, Mackintosh (and his wife) designed every part of a building: structure, furniture, carpet, fire irons. Like Frank Lloyd Wright, he drew on nature to create work that was decorative without being precious, functional but not austere. Unlike Wright, he died broke.
MUSIC
BOXES FILLED WITH PERSONAL TIDINGS
Some boxed sets are worth hearing; a few are worth reading too. Dexter Gordon's The Complete Blue Note Sixties Sessions (Blue Note; 6 CDs) includes excerpts from the late jazz saxophonist's private letters. And rock band Smashing Pumpkins' new set, The Aeroplane Flies High (Virgin; 5 CDs) has a weird but compelling essay by songwriter and lead singer Billy Corgan, 29, on what it's like for his generation to live in this media-saturated age.
THEATER
WHO NEEDS RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL?
That jingling sound of seasonal magic--why, it must be the cash registers ringing at Radio City Music Hall. The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, a New York City fixture since 1933, attracts 1 million customers a year to its two-month display of Nativity scenes, rockin' Santas and synchronized-kicking Rockettes. In other cities, showmen had to wonder if they could duplicate that glamour, that glory, those grosses.
No sooner dreamed than done. Visit the Second City for That's Christmas! Chicago's Merry Musical, a new pageant starring Sandy Duncan and showcasing Chicago "landmarks and traditions." Which traditions? We don't know. But we would love to see the stockyard ballet, the Capone Charleston, the thrilling tableau of the '68 Democratic Convention.
Some shows have become local mainstays. At the Kennedy Center in Washington, Langston Hughes' gospel musical Black Nativity returns for its third year. The Houston Christmas Pageant at that city's First Baptist Church, with 600 performers and a menagerie of manger critters, is in its 27th year. Branson, Missouri, the hillbilly Vegas, has brought the Music Hall down home, with a clone company of Rockettes as part of a lavish Ozark Mountain Christmas. And what about the real Vegas? The casino stars ought to do their bit. How about Steve Wynn and Siegfried and Roy as the Three Wise Men?
TELEVISION
GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER
The coming weeks augur more than stressful real-life family gatherings; they bring madcap TV versions too--usually featuring very special guest relatives. Dropping by sitcom land soon: Shirley Jones and Bob Barker as Mel Harris' parents on NBC's Something So Right, Carol Burnett and Carroll O'Connor as Helen Hunt's folks on Mad About You, and Richard Pryor as Malcolm-Jamal Warner's uncle on UPN's Malcolm & Eddie. But the most tension-filled reunion of all? CBS's Dallas: J.R. Returns, a movie that has the Ewings reconvening for J.R.'s funeral. But guess what? He's staged it!
MUSIC
CAROLING IN THE GLOBAL VILLAGE
Here's another way to take a holiday vacation on the cheap: Christmas albums. This year's crop of holiday-themed CDs includes musical excursions to Africa, Ireland and Latin America; they won't earn you frequent-flyer miles, but you won't have to deal with that knee-crushing idiot who keeps his seat back for the entire six-hour flight to Buenos Aires. World Christmas (Metro Blue) features artists from a number of time zones, including Cape Verdean vocalist Cesaria Evora. There's also a Celtic Christmas II (Windham Hill); A Brasilian Christmas (Astor Place); and Festival of Light (Six Degrees), a CD for Hanukkah with the Dutch band Flairck. Even the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo De Silos have a seasonal CD: Christmas Chants (Jade). Still, some of the best holiday music is all-American--Jazz for Joy (Verve), with Abbey Lincoln and others; Blessed Quietness (Atlantic), with pianist Cyrus Chestnut; and Just Say Noel (Geffen), with alternative rocker Beck and jazz rappers the Roots.
TOP-SELLING CHRISTMAS CDs
1) KENNY G Miracles: The Christmas Album 5 million 2) MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER A Fresh Aire Christmas 5 million 3) MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER Christmas Album 5 million 4) MARIAH CAREY Merry Christmas 3 million 5) BARBRA STREISAND Christmas Album 3 million
DANCE
THE NUTCRACKER GOES TO HARLEM
The beloved toy still rests under the tree and its magically growing branches. The Nutcracker has long been the mainstay of dance companies and dancing schools alike; now the Brooklyn Academy of Music has come up with a fresh take on the classic: Donald Byrd's The Harlem Nutcracker, which tells the story of a grandmother who relives her youthful romance in the great Harlem nightclubs--all to Duke Ellington's jazz-and-gospel-tinged arrangement of Tchaikovsky.
TELEVISION
IT'S A SINGULAR LIFE
For decades, if you found yourself channel surfing in December, you could bet your Christmas bonus you'd find George Bailey doing some reassessing. No longer: It's a Wonderful Life airs just once annually. This year NBC celebrates the 50th anniversary of the film with a showing of director Frank Capra's original cut (Dec. 21). For the less sentimental, Comedy Central offers a spoof that uses the film's footage with new dialogue. Look for Bailey as a Bruce Willis clone.
MUSIC
GOLDEN VOICES OF THE SILVER SCREEN
This is the season of superdivas: Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand and Madonna. Each is starring in a major holiday film (Houston in The Preacher's Wife, Streisand in The Mirror Has Two Faces and Madonna in Evita), and each is featured on the sound track of her film. Houston's Preacher (in stores Nov. 12) represents a change of pace for the mainstream megastar. Half the CD is pop, and half is gospel, a genre that should provide Houston with a vocal challenge worthy of her abilities. Streisand's Mirror (Nov. 12) also offers a mix; it's mostly music from the movie score, plus two pallid numbers by Bryan Adams (a duet with Barbra) and Richard Marx, with just one lush solo turn by Streisand. She's too good to be on the same CD, or in the same ZIP code, as Adams and Marx. On Evita (out now), Madonna finds herself a classier singing partner: her film co-star Antonio Banderas. His vocals have a gutsy charisma; as for Madonna, she sounds earnest if a bit thin. Still, the first single, You Must Love Me, is a winner, and the real test of Madonna's singing will be how it comes across on the silver screen.
BOOKS
A SELECTION OF SUGARY CONFECTIONS
If more is merrier, then those who liked last year's sugary best seller The Christmas Box are going to have a very merry Christmas indeed. Not only is the tale of a tuxedo retailer who's taught a parenting lesson by his dying landlady available in a fancy gold-boxed edition, but it has also spawned dozens of look-alikes and reprints. A Stranger for Christmas, The Special Guest, Certain Poor Shepherds, Christmas in My Heart and others all have the theme, not to mention the prayer-book size, of A Christmas Box. But, thankfully, some offer more reading pleasure. Julie Salamon's The Christmas Tree is touching without being preachy, and Maeve Binchy's This Year It Will Be Different is wry and warm. For Scrooges, there's even Revenge of the Christmas Box.
THEATER
NO HUMBUG! DICKENS DELIVERS!
A Christmas Carol is the season's most produced show. In Los Angeles and La Jolla, California, Star Trek veteran Patrick Stewart will be giving his acclaimed one-man rendition. A megaversion can be found--where else?--in New York City's Madison Square Garden, where Tony Randall plays Scrooge and Ben Vereen the Ghost of Christmas Present. San Francisco's venerable A.C.T. troupe is reviving its renowned 1976 production, absent since 1993. Says director of marketing Robert Sweibel: "It's the closest thing we have to a surefire hit, and it helps us underwrite more adventurous programming." Theater managers across the country could chime in. So God bless Dickens, from one and all.
TELEVISION
CBS: Touched by Many Angels
It's a commonly held belief that the Yuletide season ultimately belongs to the tiniest among us, but one could just as easily argue that it really belongs to the suits at CBS. During the past 30 years the network has come to own the holiday season, broadcasting more Christmas-themed movies and specials than any of its competitors. In fact, with the exception of a few annuals like Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas (TBS), CBS has continued to air each year almost every single children's holiday classic (see chart) created since the '60s.
"Christmas and Thanksgiving fit our family profile very well," says CBS Entertainment president Les Moonves. And this year, he adds, the network is embracing the spirit of the season more feverishly than ever. That means viewers can look forward to a new round of holiday specials from Kathie Lee Gifford and Martha Stewart, who invites NYPD Blue's Dennis Franz to join her for the merrymaking and cookie baking.
Also expect to see a slew of original movies, including The Christmas Box, which first aired last year; the debut of the story's prequel, Timepiece, also starring Richard Thomas; A Holiday to Remember, a romantic drama featuring Connie Sellecca; and Mrs. Santa Claus with Angela Lansbury. The latter, a musical with 10 songs from Mame composer Jerry Herman, features Lansbury as a 1910 Santa's wife who, thanks to a sleighride gone awry, winds up managing an illegal sweatshop on Manhattan's Lower East Side.
THE EVERGREEN SPECIALS
SHOW First Aired
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer 1964 A Charlie Brown Christmas 1965 Frosty the Snowman 1969 Mickey's Christmas Carol 1984 A Garfield Christmas Special 1987 Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too 1991
THEATER
And for His Next Impossible Feat...
He has walked through the Great Wall of China, levitated himself across the Grand Canyon and "vanished" the Statue of Liberty (though we suspect he just got it to duck underwater). Now Vegas megamagician David Copperfield attempts his most astounding feat: filling a Broadway theater with skeptical New Yorkers paying up to $67.50 a seat, drinks not included. Aided by playwright David Ives, designer Eiko Ishioka and creative adviser Francis Ford Coppola, Copperfield will present his outsize illusions in 76 shows starting Nov. 26 at the Martin Beck Theater. One secret he won't reveal: how he got Claudia Schiffer to be his girlfriend.
TELEVISION
The Ultimate Hope
During the past 46 years, Bob Hope, 93, has brought his dry wit to 285 NBC specials. This month the network airs his last, Laughing with the Presidents, a tribute to the comic's friendship with every Chief Executive from F.D.R. to Bill Clinton. Hope has called the White House his "favorite bed-and-breakfast." During no other hour of television will you find appearances by both Julie Nixon Eisenhower and Tony Danza.
--By Ginia Bellafante, Richard Corliss, Martha Duffy, Christopher John Farley, Paul Gray and Belinda Luscombe