BIOPICS YOU MAY ALREADY LOVE OR HATE

(LISTED IN ORDER OF THEIR RELEASE DATES)

RAY: Jamie Foxx, Regina King, Kerry Washington, Larenz Tate, Aunjanue Ellis, Robert Wisdom, Harry J. Lennix, C. J. Sanders, Bokeem Woodbine, Richard Schiff, Patrick Bauchau, David Krumholtz (Directed by Taylor Hackford; Written by James L. White; Universal) We lost an irreplaceable treasure when the great music man RAY CHARLES died earlier this year. But we still have his records and tapes to play and replay, and we’ll soon have this reportedly searing biopic to view and review. Taylor Hackford, the erratic director of “An Officer and a Gentleman” (1982) and “Proof of Life” (2000), is said to have been unsparing in his depiction of the harsh challenges faced by Charles, including the burdens of racism, blindness, drug abuse and debilitating relationships with women. We know the music will be splendid, and we have a feeling that Jamie Foxx will be competing with himself for a Best Actor Oscar nomination. Will it be “Collateral” or will it be “Ray”? Or will DreamWorks manage to demote Foxx to the Best Supporting Actor category for "Collateral"? P.S. Foxx was nominated in both categories and won the Best Actor award for "Ray."

CALLAS FOREVER: Fanny Ardant, Jeremy Irons, Joan Plowright, Jay Rodan, Gabriel Garko (Directed by Franco Zeffirelli; Written by Martin Sherman; Here! Films) This portrait of MARIA CALLAS in the Norma Desmond phase of her life is said to take numerous liberties with the facts while remaining true to the spirit of the flamboyant diva. Director Zeffirelli, who directed Callas on several occasions, focuses here on the filming of “Carmen,” a project that did not exist in real life. As one might imagine, the Callas recordings, which fortunately do exist in real life, work beautifully on screen. And European audiences have been stunned by Fanny Ardant’s rich performance as Callas. Jeremy Irons, sporting a pony tail, has also drawn attention as the singer’s gay, manipulative manager, a character who also did not exist in real life. But, hey, if it works, it works.

FINDING NEVERLAND: Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Radha Mitchell, Dustin Hoffman, Julie Christie, Kelly Macdonald, Freddie Highmore, Ian Hart, Nick Roud, Joe Prospero, Freddie Highmore, Luke Spill, Kate Maberly, Tony Way (Directed by Marc Forster; Written by David Magee; Miramax) This movie is based on a play by Allan Knee called “The Man Who Was Peter Pan,” which means that we can expect to see Johnny Depp flying high, if not quite so high as he flew in “Pirates of the Caribbean.” As JAMES M. BARRIE, he faces the challenge of bringing a smidgeon of magic into the lives of four neighbor boys whose mother (Kate Winslet) is suffering from a terminal illness. What he decides to do is write a play about a lovely place where people never grow old or die. And we know just how well that project turned out. It’s to be hoped that “Finding Neverland” will be sunnier than director Marc Forster’s last film—a dreary little number called “Monster’s Ball.” P.S. The sun came up.

KINSEY: Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard, Timothy Hutton, John Lithgow, Oliver Platt, Tim Curry, Lynn Redgrave, Arden Myrin (Written and directed by Bill Condon; Fox/Searchlight) Sexy Liam Neeson plays ALFRED C. KINSEY, the man who rocked the world's sexual boat with his daring, comprehensive studies of behind-the-bedroom-door behavior. Sexy Laura Linney plays Neeson's wife, as she did on Broadway in "The Crucible," and Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard and Timothy Hutton are other sexy researchers. Director Condon is the man responsible for "Gods and Monsters," as well as the screenplays for "Chicago" and "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (Alec Baldwin's directorial debut, which vanished somewhat mysteriously once the cameras stopped rolling back in 2001).Worthy of note is the fact that Peter Sarsgaard, who's on full-frontal display here, demonstrates his versatility by having sex with both Mr. and Mrs. Kinsey. I suppose that comes under the heading of research.

ALEXANDER: Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Rosario Dawson, Jared Leto, Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Gary Stretch, Brian Blessed (Written and directed by Oliver Stone; Warner Bros.) The last time we saw this world-conquering Macedonian, he was being played by the moodily majestic Richard Burton in Robert Rossen's 1956 cerebral epic. Given Oliver Stone's penchant for parading real-life figures in the flashiest warts-and-all manner, you can expect more firepower for your buck from the director and his rugged Irish star. (And just when we think we've had enough of this pushy Alexander--a.k.a. ALEXANDER THE GREAT--to last us a lifetime, along comes the news that Leonardo DiCaprio's "Alexander the Great," directed by Baz Luhrmann, will be marching our way next year. P.S. Leo, possibly influenced by the roasting Colin took for his Alexander, has yet to slip into his marching shoes. For a Critics Roundup on "Alexander," click here.

GUERRILLA: THE TAKING OF PATTY HEARST: (Directed by Robert Stone; Magnolia Pictures) Long before she became a staple of the John Waters’ sick-cinema scene, Patty Hearst was a clean-scrubbed heiress/college student who got sullied by kidnapping, brutalizing members of the Symbionese Liberation Army. The terrorists brainwashed her, changed her name to Tania and turned her into a pistol-packing bank robber. After her capture by the Feds, poor Patty/Tania spent quite some time in the slammer. This documentary tells us more than we ever knew (or perhaps wanted to know) about the whole messy affair.

BEYOND THE SEA: Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, John Goodman, Bob Hoskins, Brenda Blethyn, Greta Scacchi, Caroline Aaron, Peter Cincotti, William Ulrich (Directed by Kevin Spacey; Written by Paul Attanasio, Lorenzo Carcaterra, Jeffrey Meek, James Toback; Lions Gate) Like Cole Porter in “De-Lovely,” brash, groovy, finger-snapping ’50s and ’60s pop singer BOBBY DARIN looks back over his rollercoaster life and wonders if it was really great fun or just one of those things. The kid from the Bronx survived rheumatic fever, became a teen favorite with his recording of “Splish Splash” (followed by “Mack the Knife” and “Beyond the Sea”), married perky Sandra Dee (the “Gidget” of his dreams), became a proud pop and won an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor of 1963 for his performance in “Captain Newman, M.D.” Then, suddenly, all of the good stuff--including his marriage--went missing, leaving him stunned and unsure of himself and his talent. Darin died at the age of 37, so it’s hard to imagine a happy ending for “Beyond the Sea.” But who says a movie needs a happy ending to be terrific? Kevin Spacey, who managed to direct himself in the leading role, does his own singing here and is said to sound more like Darin than Darin. P.S. The paying public couldn't judge whether Spacey measured up to Darin, since they failed to check out "Beyond the Sea."

THE AVIATOR: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, Jude Law, Willem Dafoe, Barry Pepper, Ian Holm, Alan Alda, Adam Scott, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Gwen Stefani, Kelli Garner, Brent Spiner, Edward Herrmann, Danny Huston, Frances Conroy (Directed by Martin Scorsese; Miramax) Re-teaming with his "Gangs of New York" director and Miramax mogul Harvey Weinstein, Leo will fly the mean skies of early aviation history as visionary (some say wacko) aero-addict and dabbling moviemaker HOWARD HUGHES. Since the movie, inspired by Charles Higham's "Howard Hughes: The Secret Life," covers a mere 19 years--from 1928 to 1947--we won't get to see the bearded, wild-eyed Hughes babbling incoherently to his horrified business associates or hallucinating in the Nevada desert, as he is said to have done in his twilight years. Nor will we see him romancing lovely actresses Jean Peters and Terry Moore, at least one of whom the long-time marital holdout actually wed. We will, however, see him wooing Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett), Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale), Jean Harlow (Gwen Stefani) and Faith Domergue (Kelli Garner). But we can't begin to imagine what we'll see him doing with fellow satyr Errol Flynn (Jude Law). P.S. Nobody seemed to pay much attention to Jude Law on this occasion, but Cate Blanchett nabbed a Oscar as Best Supporting Actress Oscar. To read Guy Flatley's 1973 interview with Martin Scorsese, click here; for Guy's 2001 interview with Willem Dafoe, click here.

THE SEA INSIDE: Javier Bardem, Belen Rueda, Lola Duenas, Mabel Rivera, Celso Bugallo, Clara Segura, Joan Dalmau, Alberto Jimenez (Directed by Alejandro Amenabar; Written by Alejandro Amenabar and Mateo Gil; Fine Line Features) RAMON SAMPEDRO, a Spanish poet paralyzed from the neck down, engages in a lengthy, valiant battle for the right to end his life with dignity. Based on the true story of Ramon Sampedro, “The Sea Inside” won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, and Javier Bardem won the Best Actor award.

HOTEL RWANDA: Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix, Nick Nolte, Jean Reno (Directed by Terry George; Written by Terry George and Keir Pearson; MGM/Lions Gate) For more than three months in 1994, Rwanda, a former colony of Belgium, was the scene of a ferocious attempt by the militant Hutus to “cleanse” the country of its Tutsi population. The machete-wielding militants succeeded in killing a million of their neighbors. But not all of the Tutsis were slaughtered. This based-on-fact film, directed by Terry George, who made his feature debut with the highly regarded “Some Mother’s Son” in 1996, focuses on the successful efforts of PAUL RUSESABAGINA, the Hutu manager of a luxury hotel in the capital city of Kigali, to shelter 1,200 Tutsis. P.S. Don Cheadle, an unfailingly impressive actor, was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Russesabagina.

THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON: Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Don Cheadle, Jack Thompson, Brad Henke, Jared Dorrance, Nick Searcy, Jenna Milton, Mariah Massa, Eileen Ryan, Michael Wincott, Mykelti Williamson (Directed by Niels Mueller; Written by Kevin Kennedy and Niels Mueller; Arn Productions LLC) If your memory goes back as far as 1974, you know that someone had a scarily specific plan to bump off tricky Dick Nixon. This probing drama, well received at the 2004 Cannes Festival, focuses on the motivation of failed assassin SAMUEL BYCK, a furniture salesman played by Sean Penn with an extremely unnerving intensity.

COACH CARTER: Samuel L. Jackson, Rob Brown, Robert Ri’chard, Rick Gonzalez, Nana Gbewonyo, Antwon Tanner, Debbi Morgan, Ashanti, Denise Dowse (Directed by Thomas Carter; Written by Mark Schwahn and John Gatins; Paramount) A tough, big-on-discipline high school basketball coach turns a bunch of unruly students into players to be proud of--though he outrages many of their Northern California neighbors and kinfolk by barring the kids from the gym when their grades take a slide. Based on the true-life story of coach KEN CARTER , this upbeat flick slam-dunked its way to the top of the box office on the weekend of 1/14-1/16.

MONSIEUR N.: Philippe Torreton, Richard E. Grant, Jay Rodan, Elsa Zylberstein, Roschdy Zem, Bruno Putzulu, Stephane Freiss, Frederic Pierrot (Directed by Antoine de Caunes; Written by Rene Manzor; Empire Pictures) After meeting his Waterloo, did NAPOLEON BONAPARTE spend his last days drooping around St. Helena feeling sorry for himself, or did he manage, with the help of his friends, to escape? The fate of history’s most mysterious exile may or may not be revealed in this French film. Philippe Torreton stars as Napoleon, and Elsa Zylberstein plays his not-so-trustworthy mistress.

SWIMMING UPSTREAM: Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis, Jesse Spencer, Tim Draxl, David Hoflin, Craig Horner, Brittany Byrnes, Deborah Kennedy, Mark Hembrow (Directed by Russell Mulcahy; Written by Anthony Fingleton; MGM) Growing up in Brisbane, Australia during the fifties, TONY FINGLETON (Jesse Spencer) longed for the approval of his father (Geoffrey Rush), a bossy alcoholic who obviously preferred the company of his other high-achieving sons. Then Tony discovered he had a skill his brothers did not have--he could swim really, really well. As sports fans and readers of screenwriter Anthony Fingleton’s fact-based novel know, Tony went on to become a true champ. Did he finally grab some attention from his dad? See the movie and find out.

INSIDE DEEP THROAT: (Written and directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato; Universal) This documentary is not about Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s secret Watergate source. It’s about LINDA LOVELACE, the orally adept actress whose 1972 performance in “Deep Throat,” the highest grossing independent film of all time, put her on the porn-movie map but did not make her a happy person. Lovelace, who died in a car crash in 2002 at the age of 53, was interviewed for this film and is also seen in archival footage. Writer-directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato were responsible for the 2000 documentary “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” as well as last year’s “Party Monster,” a biopic starring Macaulay Culkin as Michael Alig, the not-so-smooth operator who bragged in public about murdering his drug-dealing roommate. “Inside Deep Throat,” produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, deals more with the social and financial aspects of the porn industry than with the actual making of the movie that made it all happen.

DOWNFALL: Bruno Ganz (Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel; Written by Bernd Eichinger) The great Bruno Ganz plays the not so great dictator ADOLF HITLER in a film that has rattled contemporary Germany. Juliane Kohler is Eva Braun, Adolf’s infamous bunker-mate, and Ulrich Matthes is master propagandist Joseph Goebbels. Many who saw this movie found it so disturbingly realistic that they couldn’t stop thinking of it as a documentary.

MADISON: Jim Caviezel, Bruce Dern, Mary McCormack, Jake Lloyd (Directed by William Bindley; Written by William and Scott Bindley; MGM) You stomped and cheered for "Rocky," "The Karate Kid," "Prefontaine," "The Rookie" and all those other fanatical jocks who came from behind and finished first. Now prepare to go berserk again when you see this true tale, set in idyllic Indiana, about JIM McCORMICK (Caviezel), a simple, ordinary guy determined to become a hydroplane-racing hero in the eyes of his son (Lloyd). Howard Hughes he may not have been, but at least sky-dreamer McCormick felt no need to scrub his hands more than three times a day.

TELL THEM WHO YOU ARE: Haskell Wexler, Mark Wexler, Jane Fonda, Paul Newman, Michael Douglas, Ron Howard, Julia Roberts, Sidney Poitier, Billy Crystal, Dennis Hopper, George Lucas, Tom Hayden, Peter Bart, Verna Bloom, Milos Forman, Norman Jewison, Martin Sheen, Jonathan Winters (Directed by Mark Wexler; Written by Robert DeMaio and Mark Wexler; THINKFilm) HASKELL WEXLER, legendary cinematographer and director of 1969’s ground-breaking, scarily contemporary “Medium Cool,” expounds on many subjects in his own fearless fashion and spars verbally with his son, documentarian Mark Wexler. To read Guy Flatley’s New York Times interview with Haskell Wexler, done at the time of “Medium Cool’s” initial release, click here.

CINDERELLA MAN: Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Connor Price, Craig Bierko, Paul Giamatti, Paddy Considine (Directed by Ron Howard; Written by Akiva Goldsman, Cliff Hollingsworth and Charlie Mitchell; Universal) Even before The Great Depression, JAMES BRADDOCK had a tough time scraping together enough money to put spuds and burgers on the humble family table, and things certainly didn’t get better after the 1929 crash. So Braddock did what he had to do—he became a boxer, one who was capable of enduring extraordinarily brutal blows in the ring. Even when his hands nearly gave out, he continued to slug away and, in 1935, he went up against formidable champ Max Baer. Crowe had to brush up his New York accent to portray the real-life scrapper in this gritty drama; as for Zellweger, nobody was surprised that she managed to bring bring plenty of "Cold Mountain" scrappiness to the role of the valiant Mrs. Braddock.

MODIGLIANI: Andy Garcia, Elsa Zylberstein, Omid Djalili,
Miriam Margolyes, Hippolyte Girardot, Udo Kier (Written and directed by Mick Davis; Bauer Martinez Sudios) Innovative, mercurial Italian painter AMADEO MODIGLIANI died in 1920 at the age of 35. The cause of his death was tuberculosis, coupled with a craving for drugs and booze. But Amadeo did manage to have a laugh or two in naughty Paree with a little help from his friends--and we’re talking here about Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein and folks of that ilk. Judging by Stephen Holden’s review in The New York Times, you’ll have more than a laugh or two should you wander into a theater playing this heavy-duty drama. Click here to read Holden’s review.

MURDERBALL: Mark Zupan, Joe Soares, Robert Soares, Bob Luiano, Scott Hogsett, Christopher Igoe, Keith Cavill, Bob Lujano, Steve Costa (Directed by Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro; ThinkFilm) If you think a documentary about the rivalry between a United States rugby team and a Canadian rugby team is not for you, you’re almost certainly wrong. For the rugby here is a very special sport: the players speeding, smashing and crashing their ferocious way through a match of “murderball” are in wheelchairs. That’s because these rugged, salty athletes are quadriplegics determined to triumph on and off the court. Many of their conflicts have more to do with the game of life than with rugby. Audiences at the 2005 Sundance Festival cheered and stomped their approval of the movie and its real-life heroes. To read a livelyUSA Today interview with "Murderball" superstar MARK ZUPAN, click here.

THE PRIZE WINNER OF DEFIANCE, OHIO: Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, Laura Dern, Ellary Porterfield (Written and directed by Jane Anderson; DreamWorks) EVELYN RYAN (Julianne Moore), mother of 10 and wife of a bitter alcoholic (Woody Harrelson), fought off poverty by entering and winning small-scale jingle contests during the 1950’s. How did she retain her sanity and manage to hold her family together? See this offbeat comedy-drama biopic--written and directed by Jane Anderson, who won a Best Screenplay Emmy in 1993 for "The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom"--and find out.

CAPOTE: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Clifton Collins Jr., Mark Pellegrino, Bruce Greenwood, Chris Cooper, Amy Ryan, Bob Balaban (Directed by Bennett Miller; Written by Dan Futterman; Sony Pictures Classics) To the rich and beautiful Manhattanites who blackballed him, TRUMAN CAPOTE was a brilliant, flamboyantly gay gossip who charmed them with fluff like “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” but eventually told one too many scandalous tales out of school to be trusted; to devotees of juicily ripe southern-gothic yarns, he was cherished for “Other Voices, Other Rooms,” his debut novel, published when he was 23; to literary critics and just-plain-readers, Capote is best remembered for “In Cold Blood,” a masterful depiction of the murder of a Kansas family and a disturbingly sympathetic study of Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, the young drifters responsible for the bloodbath. In 1967, Richard Brooks turned this real-life story into a searing film, one that contained a memorable performance in the role of homicidal Perry Smith by Robert Blake. In researching his book, Capote, played here by the remarkably versatile Philip Seymour Hoffman (shown above), developed an intense rapport with Smith (acted by Clifton Collins Jr. on this occasion), and “Capote” devotes extensive footage to their bonding process. Capote’s close friend, Harper Lee, author of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” is played by Catherine Keener. To read A. O. Scott's New York Times review of "Capote,"click here.

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PETER SELLERS: Geoffrey Rush, Charlize Theron, Emily Watson, John Lithgow, Miriam Margolyes, Peter Vaughan, Sonia Aquino, Stanley Tucci, Stephen Fry, Henry Goodman, Alison Stedman, Nigel Havers, Heidi Klum (Directed by Stephen Hopkins; Written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely; HBO) Peter Sellers, who died in 1980 at the age of 55, was beloved by fans of “I’m All Right, Jack,” “Lolita,” “The Pink Panther,” “Dr. Strangelove” and “Being There,” but those close to him claim that, off-screen, he was a royal pain in the ass--a point that is hammered across in this film. Despite its impressive cast--Geoffrey Rush as Sellers, Charlize Theron and Emily Watson as two of the women he married, Stanley Tucci as Stanley Kubrick, John Lithgow as Blake Edwards--the unsparing portrait of this apparent weirdo did not charm audiences on the festival circuit and that undoubtedly accounts for HBO's decision to send it directly to cable. Nevertheless, the movie managed to win tree Emmys, including one for Geoffrey Rush as Best Actor.

GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK: George Clooney, David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Daniels, Frank Langella, Robert John Burke, Tate Donovan, Ray Wise, Matt Ross, Alex Borstein, David Christian, Thomas McCarthy, Glenn Morshower, Matt Ross, Reed Diamond, Simon Helberg (Directed by George Clooney; written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov; Warner Bros.) In the mid-1950’s, Senator Joseph McCarthy, a prime force behind the scary anti-red hearings and witch hunts, saw more subversives around more corners than did John Ashcroft in recent times. His long lists of Communist spies allegedly working in the government turned out to be lists of lies, but his tyrannical bullying destroyed many lives and careers before he was finally undone. One of the people responsible for his slide into shame was courageous CBS News anchor EDWARD R.MURROW, played here by David Strathairn. Another was FRED FRIENDLY, Murrow’s producer, who is portrayed by star/director Clooney, his first time to play both sides of the camera since his debut with “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” in 2002. To read Guy Flatley's review of "Good Night, and Good Luck," click here.

DOMINO: Keira Knightley, Christopher Walken, Mickey Rourke, Lucy Liu, Jacqueline Bisset, Mena Suvari, Delroy Lindo, Dabney Coleman, Edgar Ramirez, (Directed by Tony Scott; Written by Richard Kelly; New Line) DOMINO HARVEY was the daughter of the cool (some say cold) Laurence Harvey, the late actor best known for his performances as the unscrupulous social climber in “Room at the Top” and the brainwashed assassin in “The Manchurian Candidate.” Domino grew up to be a stunning Ford model; then she grew up some more and became a crackerjack bounty hunter; recently she was arrested on drug charges and faced the possibility of a long stretch in prison--a development that necessitated more shooting on this film. Director Tony Scott resisted the temptation, however, to shoot a scene showing Domino's mysterious death last June in her West Hollywood home. This then is the story of Domino, as played by Keira Knightley, though it seems not to be the whole story. According to reports, Domino, who sometimes preferred women to men, was furious over the movie’s hot heterosexual love scenes. For a detailed account of Domino's tragic life and death, click here; to read Guy Flatley's 1980 interview with Christopher Walken, click here.

WALK THE LINE: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick, Shelby Lynne, Johnny Holiday (Directed by James Mangold; Fox) If the combination of Joaquin and Reese makes you think of JOHNNY and JUNE CASH, you're the perfect audience for this biopic of the iconic country & western couple. The director, James Mangold, is the man who teamed Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman as "Kate & Leopold," but let's be big and not hold that against him. P.S. Mangold must have done something right, since both Phoenix and Witherspoon were Oscar-nominated.

THE LIBERTINE: Johnny Depp, Samantha Morton, John Malkovich, Rosamund Pike, Tom Hollander, Kelly Reilly, Jack Davenport, Richard Coyle, Francesca Annis, Rupert Friend, Claire Higgins (Directed by Laurence Dunmore; Written by Stephen Jeffreys; The Weinstein Company) Was there ever a more brazenly decadent individual than JOHN WILMOT (a.k.a. the second EARL OF ROCHESTER), the syphilitic, drunken Restoration poet who managed to live until the age of 31--something of a miracle, considering his lewd track record. Based on screenwriter Stephen Jeffreys’ play, the movie does not hold back on the kinky details of Rochester’s downward spiral. Johnny Depp, possibly out-camping his performance in “Pirates of the Caribbean,” runs with the role of the lascivious poet, Samantha Morton plays one of his numerous conquests, and John Malkovich is England’s kooky King Charles II.

SYRIANA: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Amanda Peet, Chris Cooper, Michelle Monaghan, Jeffrey Wright, Greta Scacchi, Tim Blake Nelson, Gina Gershon, Max Minghella, Christopher McDonald, Dagmara Dominczyk, David Clennon, Viola Davis, John Higgins (Written and directed by Stephen Gaghan; Warner Bros.) Some bad-guy Iranians relieve George Clooney of his fingernails--and that’s just for starters--in this thriller based on the adventures of ROBERT BAER, as related in his memoirs, “See No Evil: The True Story of a Foot Soldier in the CIA’s War on Terrorism.” Politics, oil, greed and deceit figure prominently in the plot. For what it’s worth, Clooney was required to gain 20 pounds in order to make a believable Baer. In the old days, they used padding. To read Guy Flatley's 2000 interview with Amanda Peet, click here.

MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS: Judi Dench, Bob Hoskins, Will Young, Kelly Reilly, Thelma Barlow, Christopher Guest (Directed by Stephen Frears; Written by Martin Sherman; The Weinstein Company) What’s a wealthy, restless widow to do with the time on her hands? Sit around and count her money? Not if she’s LAURA HENDERSON. Who? Mrs. Henderson, the real-life Brit who dug into her purse to purchase a run-down theater in thirties London and turn it into the Windmill Theatre, a cheery home to numerous musical revues. When other theaters mimicked the Windmill, attendance fell off, so Mrs. Henderson (Judi Dench) was forced to come up with something daring and different. What she came up with was a plentitude of artfully posed nudes, and those ladies made theatergoers blush and beam throughout the blitz of World War II.

CASANOVA: Heath Ledger, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Lena Olin, Oliver Platt, Lauren Cohan, Charlie Cox, Christopher Egan, Tommy Korberg (Directed by Lasse Hallstrom; Written by Michael Cristofer, Jeffrey Hatcher, Kimberly Simi and Tom Stoppard; Disney/Touchstone Pictures) Are you under the impression that GIOVANNI GIACOMO CASANOVA was an insatiable make-out artist from start to finish, from fresh, horny youth to dreary, dirty old man? You may change your mind when you see this revisionist biopic. It portray the 18th-century Venetian adventurer, who boasted that he slept with 122 women, as a sensitive soul determined to unravel the true meaning of love because of the bewilderment he experienced when rejected by a babe he felt was a sure thing.

THE NEW WORLD: Colin Farrell, Q’Orianka Kilcher, Christian Bale, Christopher Plummer, August Schellenberg, Wes Studi, David Thewlis, Raoul Trujillo, Noah Taylor, Ben Mendelsohn, Roger Rees (Written and directed by Terrence Malick; New Line) Although you might not have learned this particular lesson in school, the truth is that the majority of 16th and 17th-century Native Americans resented British invaders every bit as much as Native Iraqis resent contemporary British (and U.S.) invaders. That point will presumably be made clear in this film from writer-director Terrence Malick, whose small but impressive body of work includes such innovative gems as “Badlands,” “Days of Heaven” and “The Thin Red Line.” Colin Farrell, atoning perhaps for “Alexander,” plays the awesomely romantic CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH to Q’Orianka Kilcher’s POCAHONTAS, the beguiling maiden who eventually married JOHN ROLFE (Christian Bale) and moved with him to England. What did Kilcher, a Peruvian Indian teenage singing sensation (shown above), do to deserve this plum? She made a big impression as a member of the little choir in Jim Carrey’s 2000 extravaganza, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

GLORY ROAD: Josh Lucas, Derek Luke, Austin Nichols, Jon Voight, Evan Jones, Schin A.S. Kerr, Alphonso McAuley, Emily Deschanel (Directed by James Gartner; Written by Christopher Cleveland and Bettina Gilois; Disney) Seemingly from out of nowhere, El Paso’s unheralded Texas Western college basketball team blazed a path to victory and wound up stealing the 1966 national championship title from UCLA. The all-black team’s triumph was largely responsible for the subsequent integration of college basketball throughout the south, and more than a little credit for this major advance goes to DON HASKINS. He’s the white coach who fought bigotry and made many personal sacrifices in order to stand by his men. Haskins is played by Josh Lucas, and Derek Luke is cast as high hooper BOBBY JOE HILL.

MRS. HARRIS: Annette Bening, Ben Kingsley, Ellen Burstyn, Chloe Sevigny, Cloris Leachman, Mary McDonnell, Michael Gross, Philip Baker Hall, Frank Whaley, Frances Fisher, Bill Smitrovich, John Patrick Amedori, Brett Butler (Written and directed by Phyllis Nagy; Killer Films) Remember when the rigid Scarsdale diet was all the rage? That was in the eighties, and the cardiologist responsible for it (and who made a fortune off of it) was Dr. HERMAN TARNOWER. He had everything going for him, including a libido that simply would not stop coupled with a yen for a wide range of bedmates--a fact that enraged his long-time mistress. Her name was JEAN HARRIS, she was the headmistress of a ritzy girls’ academy, and she eventually spent a long time in the slammer for murdering the diet guru. Written and directed by theater veteran Phyllis Nagy, this biopic is a provocative, deeply involving drama, with a stunning performance by Annette Bening as Harris that would surely have received an Oscar nomination if HBO had given the film a theatrical release instead of sending it directly to cable. So watch for her at next year’s Emmy bash.

FIND ME GUILTY: Vin Diesel, Peter Dinklage, Annabella Sciorra, Linus Roache, Ron Silver, Richard Portnow, Alex Rocco, Aleksa Palladino (Directed by Sidney Lumet; Written by T.J. Mancini and Robert McCrea; Stratus Films) Starting with “12 Angry Men” 49 years ago and running through “Serpico,” “Prince of the City” and “The Verdict,” director Sidney Lumet has demonstrated a remarkable skill for exposing the dark complexities of American crime and punishment, from street violence to courtroom connivance. Now, at age 80, he’s focusing on the true drama of JACK DiNORSCIO (Vin Diesel), a mobster who grew weary of his wicked way of life and decided to confront the serious federal charges against him. The one hitch: DiNorsio insisted on serving as his own defense lawyer. To read Guy Flatley’s 1974 interview with Lumet, click here.

THE ZODIAC: Justin Chambers, Robin Tunney, Rory Culkin, Philip Baker Hall, William Mapother (Directed by Alexander Bulkley; Written by Kelley Bulkeley and Alexander Bulkley; ThinkFilm) “The Zodiac” is not to be confused with “Zodiac,” which will open later this year. On the other hand, both movies deal with the real-life Zodiac Killer, a fiend who roamed San Francisco and murdered at least 37 people during the sixties and seventies. And he’s still on the loose. The director and the man who co-wrote this film with him are said to be brothers; yet they can’t seem to agree on how to spell their family name (see above). But, hey, some brothers are like that.

THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE: Gretchen Mol, Lili Taylor, David Strathairn, Chris Bauer, Jared Harris, Jonathan Woodward, Cara Seymour, John Cullum, Austin Pendleton, Norman Reedus, Tara Subkoff, Kevin Carroll (Directed by Mary Harron; Written by Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner; Picturehouse) If you were around in the fifties and enjoyed flipping through skin magazines, you probably stopped flipping and started lingering over the photos of a stark naked cutie named Bettie Page. Who was she and where did she come from? Bettie (Gretchen Moll), a proper Christian girl, was born, schooled, married (briefly) and then gang-raped in Nashville. She had a somewhat better time once she moved to New York and stumbled into a modeling career that eventually catapulted her into the center of an investigation of the porn industry led by Senator Estes Kefauver (David Strathairn). In the end, she re-connected with Jesus.

HOLLYWOODLAND: Ben Affleck, Diane Lane, Adrien Brody, Kathleen Robertson, Bob Hoskins, Robin Tunney, Lois Smith, Joe Spano, Jordan Barker, Jeff Teravainen, Larry Cedar, Steve Adams (Directed by Allen Coulter; Written by Paul Bernbaum and Howard Korder; Focus Features) GEORGE REEVES, who played the minor role of one of Scarlett O’Hara’s many swains in “Gone With the Wind,” is perhaps best remembered as Superman, a role he played on live television for six years during the fifties. In a funk because he couldn’t shed the tacky small-screen image of the caped wonder and ascend to major stardom, he put an end to his frustration with a bullet to his head in 1959 at the age of 45. Or did he? Some suspect that he was murdered in the bedroom of his Hollywood mansion by somebody who did not approve of his affair with the wife of MGM executive Eddie Mannix. Ben Affleck, a daredevil if ever there was one, takes on the role of the failed superhero for which Hugh Jackman was originally slated, Diane Lane plays his not-so-secret lover, and Adrien Brody, replacing the hyper-busy Benicio Del Toro, is cast as a gumshoe who works up a sweat trying to solve the mystery surrounding Reeves’ death. While there was no happy ending to Reeves' life, there was a happy ending of sorts when "Hollywoodland" played the 63rd Venice Film Festival--Ben Affleck won the award for Best Actor.

THE BLACK DAHLIA: Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Mia Kirshner, William Finley, Fiona Shaw, Pepe Serna (Directed by Brian De Palma; written by Josh Friedman; Universal) In 1947, the mutilated body of ELIZABETH SHORT was discovered in one of Hollywood’s seedier neighborhoods. The vicious murder of this woman who became known as The Black Dahlia prompted a huge manhunt and was a front- page story for many months. To this day, the killer has not been tracked down. Nor has the bloody murder of James Ellroy’s mother ever been solved, one of the reasons the noir author became obsessed with the case of Elizabeth Short and eventually wrote “The Black Dahlia,” the 1987 cult novel that probed the mystery of Short’s life and death. Hartnett and Eckhart play detectives driven to frustration bordering on madness, Johansson and Swank are women who further complicate their lives, and Kirshner plays Short. To read the Variety review, click here.