THE HOLIDAY STOCKING IS TOO FULL

By RICHARD CORLISS

It's crunch time for the movie business. Print labs, publicity machines, moguls' teeth--all are grinding overtime to get a bunch of pricey or prestige-laden films into theaters by Christmastime. You'd think Hollywood was Toys "R" Us, doing a Simba's share of business at year-end, or that releasing a serious film at holiday time helped win Oscars. No and no. The summer is still box-office prime time; and in the past five years, only six of the 25 Oscar nominees for Best Picture were released in December. Yet that is when studios launch dozens of ambitious films, as if Academy voters had no long-term memory and the public had nothing better to do in the hectic shopping days before Christmas.

This season carries heavy freight: six films from the directors of Best Picture Oscars (Allen, Brooks, Coppola, Costner, Eastwood, Spielberg). There will be work from Tarantino and Scorsese, sightings of Bond and Magoo. And finally, ladies and gentlemen, women and children, accountants and foreclosers, presenting the costliest film ever made: Titanic, James Cameron's $200 million resinking of the liner, with young lovers Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet onboard.

The more serious holiday films come with a doctor's prescription: take Amistad (or Kundun or Welcome to Sarajevo), it's good for you. But these dosages are suitable mainly for movie critics and Academy members. Real people go to the kind of fare they pay to see the rest of the year: comedies (Jerry Maguire in 1996), fantasies (101 Dalmatians) and thrillers (Scream). You can expect Flubber, Tomorrow Never Dies and--why not?--Scream 2 to make similar noise this year.

The real fun of any movie season is encountering the unpredictable. A critical darling like The English Patient can become a crowd pleaser; a surefire hit can be just a lump of coal in a studio's stocking. For now, only Santa knows.

TITLE MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL

OPENS Nov. 21

PLAYERS Kevin Spacey, John Cusack; director Clint Eastwood

IN A PHRASE The movie of the perennial best seller

CHRISTMAS WISH Bring 'em in with Southern decadence a la Grisham

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION Don't hire stars because they can act; hire stars people will pay to see

[TITLE] MORTAL KOMBAT ANNIHILATION

[OPENS] Nov. 21

[PLAYERS] Martial-arts star Robin Shou in sequel to video-game hit

[IN A PHRASE] Kick-butters save the universe

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Enhance 1995 film's wow-ish $70 mil. B.O.

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Video dweebs are a fickle crowd; better gear up a Crash Bandicoot movie

[TITLE] THE RAINMAKER

[OPENS] Nov. 21

[PLAYERS] Matt Damon, Claire Danes; director Francis Coppola

[IN A PHRASE] New Grisham villain: insurance companies

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Grisham's Law: $100 mil. B.O. almost guaranteed

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] After The Chamber and trouble on The Gingerbread Man, rethink Grisham's Law

[TITLE] ALIEN RESURRECTION

[OPENS] Nov. 26

[PLAYERS] Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder; dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet

[IN A PHRASE] Sci-fear, to the fourth power

[CHRISTMAS WISH] To scare up more than Alien 3's $55 million

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] In Alien 5, get the creature down to Earth where it can do some real damage

[TITLE] FLUBBER

[OPENS] Nov. 26

[PLAYERS] Robin Williams; writer-producer John Hughes

[IN A PHRASE] The Nutty Absent-Minded Professor

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Robin's charm + Disney's clout = Doubtfire grosses

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Hope this atones for bad-B.O. Father's Day and slaphappy Jack

[TITLE] WELCOME TO SARAJEVO

[OPENS] Nov. 26

[PLAYERS] Woody Harrelson; director Michael Winterbottom (Jude)

[IN A PHRASE] Journalists in war-torn Bosnia

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Alchemize Americans' war guilt into B.O. gelt

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Never underestimate Americans' indifference to the Bosnian holocaust

[TITLE] GOOD WILL HUNTING

[OPENS] Dec. 5

[PLAYERS] Robin Williams, Matt Damon; director Gus Van Sant

[IN A PHRASE] Awakenings, but the patient is a genius

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Raves and a Golden Globe for instant star Damon

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Try to remember which young Matt was Damon and which was McConaughey

[TITLE] AMISTAD

[OPENS] Dec. 10

[PLAYERS] Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins; dir. Steven Spielberg

[IN A PHRASE] Schindler's slaves

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Jurassic at the box office, Schindler at the Oscars

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Find story about yet another minority saved by a righteous white guy

[TITLE] DECONSTRUCTING HARRY

[OPENS] Dec. 12

[PLAYERS] Stars with cute names: Billy, Kirstie, Demi, Judy, Woody Woody

[IN A PHRASE] Allen is (and isn't) Philip Roth

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Annie Hall with boughs of holly

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Try sympathetic comedy about another famous N.Y. Knicks lover: Marv Albert

[TITLE] FOR RICHER OR POORER

[OPENS] Dec. 12

[PLAYERS] Tim Allen, Kirstie Alley on lam from IRS in Pa. Dutch country

[IN A PHRASE] Amishtad

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Another Santa Clause ($145 mil. domestic gross)

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Find funnier religious minority for next comedy

[TITLE] SCREAM 2

[OPENS] Dec. 12

[PLAYERS] Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Jada Pinkett

[IN A PHRASE] Scream and Scream Again!

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Build on the suddenly hot horror-film genre

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Too much camp blood on our hands; get a new genre

[TITLE] THE APOSTLE

[OPENS] Dec. 17

[PLAYERS] Robert Duvall (also writer-director), Farrah Fawcett

[IN A PHRASE] Evangelist preacher finally gets religion

[CHRISTMAS WISH] A Best Actor Oscar--thank you, Jesus!

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Pray harder

[TITLE] HOME ALONE 3

[OPENS] Dec. 19

[PLAYERS] Alex D. Linz in for Macaulay Culkin; wr.-prod. John Hughes

[IN A PHRASE] The same, but younger

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Suburban Christmas disaster scenario can't miss

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Oh, grow up!

[TITLE] MOUSEHUNT

[OPENS] Dec. 19

[PLAYERS] Nathan Lane, Christopher Walken, a mouse

[IN A PHRASE] Home Alone, but the kid is a rodent

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Third DreamWorks film is its first monster hit

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Change name of Katzenberg's anti-Disney studio from DreamWorks to MouseHunt

[TITLE] TITANIC

[OPENS] Dec. 19

[PLAYERS] Leonardo di Caprio, Kate Winslet; dir. James Cameron

[IN A PHRASE] The big one

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Critics, audience love it; industry forgives Cameron

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] After Waterworld, Speed 2 and this: Never ever ever make a movie on water

[TITLE] TOMORROW NEVER DIES

[OPENS] Dec. 19

[PLAYERS] Pierce Brosnan, Teri Hatcher, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Pryce

[IN A PHRASE] James Bond vs. evil media baron

[CHRISTMAS WISH] To clone Goldeneye's glamorous grosses

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Hope Saddam sticks around long enough to be model for next Bond villain

[TITLE] AS GOOD AS IT GETS

[OPENS] Dec. 23

[PLAYERS] Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear; dir. Jim Brooks

[IN A PHRASE] Old meanie, single mom, sensitive gay

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Remember Brooks' Terms of Endearment?

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Forget Brooks' I'll Do Anything

[TITLE] JACKIE BROWN

[OPENS] Dec. 25

[PLAYERS] Pam Grier, Sam Jackson, De Niro; dir. Quentin Tarantino

[IN A PHRASE] Pam steals bad guys' booty, kicks same

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Pulp Fiction numbers and notoriety would be nice

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] After Tarantino's recent career goofs, expect only a Pulp Fraction

[TITLE] KUNDUN

[OPENS] Dec. 25

[PLAYERS] All-Tibetan cast in Dalai Lama biopic; dir. Martin Scorsese

[IN A PHRASE] Seven Years Old in Tibet

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Spiritual child has natural appeal on Feast of Nativity

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Prepare for Tibet taboo in Hollywood. (If Brad Pitt couldn't sell the Dalai Lama...)

[TITLE] MR. MAGOO

[OPENS] Dec. 25

[PLAYERS] Leslie Nielsen; dir. Stanley Tong (Rumble in the Bronx)

[IN A PHRASE] Cartoon bumbler in live-action comedy

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Remember Flintstones, George of the Jungle?

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Remember the flop Boris and Natasha

[TITLE] THE POSTMAN

[OPENS] Dec. 25

[PLAYERS] Kevin Costner (also director), Will Patton, Larenz Tate

[IN A PHRASE] Costner leads 21st century revolution

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Dances with Wolves ($424 mil. worldwide), take two

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Change title; audience thought it was a little film about an Italian mail carrier

[TITLE] WAG THE DOG

[OPENS] Dec. 26

[PLAYERS] De Niro, Hoffman, Harrelson, Heche; director Barry Levinson

[IN A PHRASE] Hollywood and D.C., David Mamet-style

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Star power puts over dark political satire

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Don't make satire about the two most hated power groups in America

[TITLE] THE BOXER

[OPENS] Dec. 31

[PLAYERS] Daniel Day-Lewis reteams with dir. Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot)

[IN A PHRASE] My Left Fist

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Irish political films, boxing dramas are critical faves

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Say RIP for I.R.A.; Some Mother's Son, Michael Collins were no-go at B.O.

[TITLE] GREAT EXPECTATIONS

[OPENS] Dec. 31

[PLAYERS] Gwyneth Paltrow, Ethan Hawke; dir. Alfonso Cuaron

[IN A PHRASE] Gives Dickens an MTV makeover

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Hey, if it worked for Shakespeare...

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] See the 1946 David Lean version again; it really was unimprovable, wasn't it?

[TITLE] OSCAR AND LUCINDA

[OPENS] Dec. 31

[PLAYERS] Ralph Fiennes; dir. Gillian Armstrong (Little Women)

[IN A PHRASE] Love story from Peter Carey's prize novel

[CHRISTMAS WISH] Ralph + exotic amour = The English Patient

[NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION] Repeat after me: English Patient was a fluke...English Patient was a fluke...