Andrew Niccol with Nicolas Cage and Ethan Hawke on the set of “Lord of War.” Andrew Niccol The Art of Lord of War by Jay S. Jacobs New Zealand-born writer-director Andrew Niccol has been the brains behind some of the most mind-bending films in recent years. Though he was not the director of his first screenplay, the critically acclaimed The Truman Show, he has since had the opportunity to create and helm such fascinating visions as Gattaca (with Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman) a

Intolerable Cruelty INTOLERABLE CRUELTY (2003) Starring George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush, Cedric the Entertainer, Edward Herrmann, Paul Adelstein, Richard Jenkins, Billy Bob Thornton, Julia Duffy, Jonathan Hadary, Tom Aldredge, Stacey Travis, Jack Kyle, Irwin Keyes, Judith Drake, Royce Applegate, George Ives, Booth Coleman and Kristin Dattilo. Screenplay by Robert Ramsey & Matthew Stone and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen. Directed by Joel Coen. Distributed by Unive

Chicago CHICAGO (2002) Starring Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Lucy Liu, Taye Diggs, Colm Feore, Christine Baranski, Domenic West, Susan Misner, Deidre Goodwin, Denise Faye, Ekaterina Chtchelkanova, Chita Rivera and Mýa Harrison. Screenplay by Bill Condon. Directed by Rob Marshall. Distributed by Mirimax Pictures.  113  minutes.  Rated PG-13. A film version of Bob Fosse’s 1975 musical Chicago has been on the back burner in

America’s Sweethearts AMERICA‘S SWEETHEARTS (2001) Starring Julia Roberts, John Cusack, Billy Crystal, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Hank Azaria, Stanley Tucci, Christopher Walken, Alan Arkin, Larry King and Seth Green. Screenplay by Peter Tolan and Billy Crystal. Directed by Joe Roth. Distributed by Revolution Studios/Columbia Tri-Star Pictures.  Rated PG-13.  103 minutes. There was certainly enough talent attached to this project; John Cusack, Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta-Jones, B

The Haunting THE HAUNTING  (1999) Starring Lili Taylor, Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson, Bruce Dern, Marian Seldes, Alex Koremzay, Todd Field, Virginia Madsen and Michael Cavanaugh. Screenplay by David Self. Directed by Jan DeBont. Distributed by Dreamworks Pictures.  113 minutes.   Rated PG-13. It probably isn’t fair to compare this film to the Shirley Jackson’s great 60s novel The Haunting of Hill House, which it is based on — or even Robert Wise’s earlier fi

Entrapment ENTRAPMENT  (1999) Starring Sean Connery, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ving Rames, Will Patton, Maury Chaykin, Kevin McNally, Terry O’Neill, Madhav Sharma, David Yip, Tim Potter, Eric Meyers, Aaron Swartz and William Marsh. Screenplay by Ron Bass and William Broyles. Directed by Jon Amiel. Distributed by 20th Century Fox.  113 minutes.   Rated PG-13. This movie takes that old war-horse – the catburglar film – and makes it palatable for the 90’s. Sean Connery is impossibly