Friday's opening of Ocean's Eleven kicks off the home stretch of the 2001 movie season with a star-studded splash.

        A loose remake of Frank Sinatra's 1960 Rat Pack caper, Ocean's Eleven stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon and Andy Garcia, among others.

        Under the guidance of director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Erin Brockovich), the movie is expected to escape the self-indulgence and general hokum that made the original into a period-piece punchline. Industry types are betting that Ocean's will score a major hit with audiences.

        After a spate of artistic and financial disappointments this year (A.I., anyone?), the industry has high hopes for year's end, when Oscar contenders and vacation blockbusters come out to play. November box office receipts showed at least a 10 percent gain over last year, more than higher ticket prices would net.

        The super-sized box-office success of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (insert updated $ here) and Monsters, Inc. (ditto here) is taken as a sign that audiences are primed for the traditional multiplex stampede over the year-end holidays.

        The most spectacular Christmas offering is Fellowship of the Ring, the first in a planned Lord of The Rings trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved Middle Earth fantasies. Due out Dec. 19, it features a brace of young stars — Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Liv Tyler — amid the mature talents of Ian McKellen, John Rhys-Davies, Cate Blanchett, Sean Bean and Viggo Mortensen.

        Filmed in New Zealand, the home of director Peter Jackson, the movie boasts lush, green environments and sophisticated special effects by Digital Domain, among others.

        Digital Domain special effects also play an important role in Vanilla Sky, a psychological thriller/romance due out Dec. 14. Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous) directed this remake of a Spanish production from director Alejandro Amenabar (The Others). Tabloid faves Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz star, with Cameron Diaz.

        Jim Carrey returns to drama on Dec. 21 with The Majestic, directed by Frank Darabont (The Green Mile). The story of an amnesiac who turns up in a small town after World War II, the movie is being touted as a prestigious crowd-pleaser.

        On the romantic front, the industry is counting on Meg Ryan to work her magic on movie-goers Dec. 21 in Kate & Leopold, co-starring Hugh Jackman (Swordfish) in a comedy built around a time-travel accident, directed by James Mangold.

        Expectations are running sky-high for Ali (Dec. 25), in which Will Smith plays the boxer Cassius Clay, who became Muhammed Ali. The dramatic biography of the world's most famous athlete is directed by Michael Mann (The Insider, Heat).

        Mr. Smith has been garnering the headlines, but the supporting cast is equally tantalizing, with Jamie Foxx as Bundini Brown, Mario Van Peebles as Malcolm X, Mykelti Williamson as Don King, Jon Voight as Howard Cosell and Ron Silver as Angelo Dundee.

        Russell Crowe, who won an Oscar last year in the brawny Gladiator plays Nobel prize-winning mathematician John Nash Forbes , Jr., whose life was plagued by mental illness,in A Beautiful Mind, Dec. 25.

        Dec. 25 also brings back Kevin Spacey (K-Pax) with Julianne Moore, Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett in the film version of The Shipping News, based on the prize-winning best seller by Annie Proulx. Between Mr. Spacey and director Lasse Hallstrom (Cider House Rules, Chocolat, My Life as a Dog), the film is expected to be an awards magnet.

        Finally, on Jan. 1 Disney will re-release a giant-screen version of Beauty and the Beast, with an added song and re-drawn details to take advantage of the Imax screens.

Also coming...

        Also due out through the end of the year:

        • Not Another Teen Movie — A raucous parody along the lines of Scary Movie, this one aimed at the high school-romance genre. The sprawling cast includes Jaime Pressly (Can't Hardly Wait), Eric Jungmann (Varsity Blues),Lacey Chabert (Party of Five TV series). Dec. 14.

        • Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius — This computer-animated sci-fi comedy from Nickelodeon focuses on kids who must reclaim their parents who have been abducted by aliens. Martin Short and Patrick Stewart contribute voices. Dec. 21

        • Joe Somebody— Tim Allen plays a father who decides to get even after he is humiliated at work in front of his daughter. Jim Belushi and Kelly Lynch co-star. Dec. 21.

        • How High— A powerful strain of marijuana makes rappers Redman and Method Man smart enough to get into Harvard. Then they run out of weed. Dec. 26.

'Oceans' of holiday movies
Cancer research needs another 'Brian's Song'
An all-American cookie maker
DEMALINE: The arts
Stoltzman's sure hands make clarinet sparkle
DAUGHERTY: Everyday
Frame makers' sale picture of success
KENDRICK: Alive and well
Prize Possessions
Writing adds up for author-accountant
Call ahead to customize meal at Daveed's
Put three reads under your tree
Get to it