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The ghosts and Ms. Witherspoon

I see dead people -- all over the cineplex but mostly the tube

By Todd Leopold
CNN

Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo star in "Just Like Heaven."

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(CNN) -- This weekend, Reese Witherspoon stars as a disembodied spirit in "Just Like Heaven."

She isn't alone.

There seem to be lots of ghosts, spirits, unearthly travelers, occult visitors and just plain weird phenomena out there this fall. Some of it's in the movies; most of it's on television.

Consider (as Salon's Heather Havrilesky did in a recent column): ABC has a revival of "The Night Stalker," the short-lived '70s Darren McGavin series based on one of the highest-rated TV movies of all time; and "Invasion," which is "War of the Worlds" writ small.

The WB (like CNN, a division of Time Warner) has "Supernatural." CBS has "Ghost Whisperer" -- with Jennifer Love Hewitt as some kind of medium -- and "Threshold," starring an alien life-form up to no good.

NBC has "Surface," which appears to be a malevolent reworking of the movie "The Abyss." And Fox has ... "American Idol."

OK, so that one doesn't come on until spring.

Still, there's enough of the paranormal out there to signify a trend. Havrilesky, among others, observes we're living in fearful times, therefore we get TV that focuses on anxiety over the Other -- whether the Other is an alien from outer space, a vampire/zombie/monster, a terrorist or a clever serial killer.

I can't help but be reminded, however, of a "Twilight Zone" episode called "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street," in which a group of friendly neighbors becomes a raging, paranoid mob after succumbing to the belief that there might be evil aliens among them. Naturally, the societal breakdown suits the real aliens just fine. They don't have to fire a ray gun; fear has done all the work.

Eye on Entertainment looks over his shoulder.

Eye-opener

Fortunately, the Witherspoon movie, "Just Like Heaven," is actually a romantic comedy.

Witherspoon plays a workaholic doctor who gets into a car accident and is left in a coma. Mark Ruffalo plays a depressed widower who sublets Witherspoon's character's apartment -- only to find her spirit returning there, wondering who this strange man is messing up her coffee table.

She can talk to him, he can talk to her, but nobody else can figure out what's going on.

The plot then goes in the direction of dozens of films before it, from "Ghost" to "Heaven Can Wait" to "Topper" to "All of Me." Will Ruffalo's friends believe he's gone mad? Will Witherspoon's body revive? Will the two of them find true love -- together?

Perhaps Jon Heder, Mr. "Napoleon Dynamite" II himself (Elvis Costello was, of course, the first Napoleon Dynamite), knows. He has a small part in the movie as a New Age bookstore clerk who seems to understand the relationship. He knows the truth: that girls only want boyfriends who have great skills.

"Just Like Heaven" opens Friday.

On screen

Nicolas Cage stars as an up-by-his-bootstraps arms dealer in "Lord of War," a new film from "The Truman Show" screenwriter Andrew Niccol. Opens Friday.

"Cry Wolf" concerns a bunch of prep school students, a bunch of unexplained deaths, and ... well, do you need to know anything more? Opens Friday.

"Venom" has earned more publicity for its setting -- southern Louisiana -- than its plot, which is the same old stuff with teens and serial killers. Opens Friday.

On the tube

PBS airs one of the all-time great TV movies, "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," on Thursday night. The film stars Cicely Tyson in a brilliant performance as a woman born as a slave in the mid-19th century who lives to witness the civil rights movement of the 1960s. 9 p.m. ET Thursday, PBS.

"Threshold," that spooky new series, premieres at 9 p.m. ET Friday on CBS.

Ellen DeGeneres hosts the 57th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, 8 p.m. ET Sunday, CBS.

Sound waves

Bon Jovi's new album, "Have a Nice Day" (Island), comes out Tuesday.

A Maroon 5 live album, "Friday the 13th" (J Records), is out Tuesday.

Shaggy's new album, "Clothes Drop" (Geffen), is out Tuesday.

"Pure Genius: The Complete Atlantic Records 1952-1959" (Rhino) captures what many have said was Ray Charles' greatest period -- though his biggest hit-making days were ahead of him at ABC/Paramount. Rhino has done the seven-disc box set up right, naturally: It's packaged in what looks like an old phonograph and comes with exhaustive liner notes. Releases Tuesday.

Paging readers

Everything you ever wanted to know about one of the world's most sensual (and sexual) dances, the tango, is in "Tango: The Art History of Love" (Pantheon) by Robert Farris Thompson. It's due out Tuesday.

"Cities" (Atlantic Monthly), John Reader's (yes, that really is his name) history of one of civilization's great creations, comes out Monday.

John Darnton's new novel, "The Darwin Conspiracy" (Knopf), comes out Tuesday.

Dan Brown is not only a best-seller factory, with "The Da Vinci Code" still on the best-seller lists more than two years after it was released. He's also spawned an industry of books about Dan Brown-type puzzle and conspiracy subjects -- including the new "Secrets of the Widow's Son" (Sterling) by David A. Shugarts. Shugarts' book investigates the possible topics of Brown's next book, allegedly titled "The Solomon Key." Hey, when you're dealing with Masons and ciphers, there are plenty of things to write about. Just out in bookstores.

Video center

The eagerly awaited Martin Scorsese documentary on Bob Dylan, "No Direction Home," comes out on DVD Tuesday.

"Desperate Housewives: The Complete First Season" comes out Tuesday.

"The Outsiders: The Complete Novel" is an expanded version of the 1983 film. It's out on DVD Tuesday.

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