Moviecrazed

WILLEM DAFOE

BORN
APPLETON, WISCONSIN, 7/22/55

FILM DEBUT
HEAVEN’S GATE (1980)

CAREER HIGHS
SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE; WILD AT HEART; PLATOON; THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST; EXISTENZ; TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A.; MISSISSIPPI BURNING; AFFLICTION; THE ENGLISH PATIENT

CAREER LOWS
BODY OF EVIDENCE; MANDERLAY; AUTO FOCUS

IN HIS OWN WORDS
“The relationship between actor and director is a private relationship, and even in the best relationships, so much is left unspoken. Marty Scorsese and I haven't talked about how we feel about each other; we've just known each other intimately through the work. So to go public is a weird kind of kiss-and-tell.” From Guy Flatley’s 2001 profile of Willem Dafoe in Interview magazine. Click here to read the entire article.

NEXT UP FOR DAFOE

ADAM RESURRECTED: Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe (Directed by Paul Schrader; Written by Noah Stollman) Unless you have access to Jerry Lewis’s private film collection, you probably have never seen “The Day the Clown Cried,” the 1972 holocaust drama in which the slapstick comic-director got tragic, playing a German entertainer who, while drunk, does a wicked impersonation of Hitler. His life is spared by the Nazis, however, and he is sent to a concentation camp where his job is to bring a little joy into the lives of Jewish children on their journey to the gas chamber. Small wonder the film never found a distributor and that Lewis opted to keep it out of sight. The wonder now is that what sounds like a strikingly similar story is scheduled for shooting. Based on a novel by Yoram Kaniuk, Noah Stollman’s screenplay will focus on a charismatic Nazi-era entertainer who performs for doomed concentration camp dwellers in the final hours of their lives. So what does he do after the war? Resourceful chap that he is, he gets a gig as the boss of an asylum for Holocaust survivors. It’s enough to make Jerry--and maybe even Mel--cry. Opening date to be announced

FIREFLIES IN THE GARDEN: Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Ioan Gruffudd, Hayden Panettiere, Cayden Boyd, Shannon Lucio, George Newbern, (Written and directed by Dennis Lee; Senator International) Need proof that midwestern American families can be every bit as dysfunctional as the East Coast variety? You’re apt to find it in this semi-autobiographical drama by Dennis Lee, auteur of the well-received short, “Jesus Henry Christ.” The troubled, accident-prone Taylor clan--headed by dictatorial professor/wannabe writer Charles (Willem Dafoe) and relentlessly sacrificing mom Lisa (Julia Roberts)--suffer profusely, as do their kids, in the grim present, as well as in a string of painful incidents shown in flashback. Among the family’s favorite diversions: tormenting the titular fireflies in the garden and exploding fish on the Fourth of July. In charge of photographing all this tragic frivolity: Danny Moder, A.K.A. Julia Roberts’ husband. Click here to read the Variety review of "Fireflies in the Garden." Opening date to be announced

MATT DAMON

BORN
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, 10/8/70

FILM DEBUT
MYSTIC PIZZA (1988)

CAREER HIGHS
THE DEPARTED; THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY; GOOD WILL HUNTING; THE BOURNE IDENTITY; THE BOURNE SUPREMACY; THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM; SAVING PRIVATE RYAN; COURAGE UNDER FIRE; OCEAN’S ELEVEN; OCEAN’S THIRTEEN; SYRIANA

CAREER LOWS
THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE; FINDING FORRESTER; STUCK ON YOU

NEXT UP FOR DAMON

GREEN ZONE: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Amy Ryan, Brandan Gleeson, Jason Isaacs, Antoni Corone (Directed by Paul Greengrass; Written by Paul Helgeland; Universal) The army officer played by Matt Damon is assigned to work with a CIA official on a mission to track down Saddam Hussein’s vanished weapons of mass destruction. One of the problems is that the duo spend most of their time in the Green Zone, the turf that is as safe as it gets in Iraq but also so sheltered that it is difficult to get a view of what’s truly going on in the rest of the country. The thriller, based on Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s “Imperial Life in the Emerald City,” also stars Amy Ryan (“Gone Baby Gone”) as a New York Times reporter investigating the mystery of the missing weapons. Opening date to be announced

MARGARET: Anna Paquin, Matt Damon, Mark Ruffalo, J. Smith-Cameron, Jeannie Berlin, Matthew Broderick (Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan; Fox Searchlight) One of the funniest and most moving films of 2000 was “You Can Count on Me,” written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, whose biggest prior claim to movie fame was his screenwriting contribution to “Analyze This,” the Robert De Niro-Billy Crystal comedy released the year before. If you saw “You Can Count on Me,” you know that the tyro director drew astonishing performances from Laura Linney as a single mother, Mark Ruffalo as her screwed-up brother, and Matthew Broderick as the petty, despotic boss who unexpectedly becomes her red-hot lover, even though he is already married to a conspicuously pregnant bore. Now Lonergan is about to go behind the camera again, this time as the director of his own screenplay about a Manhattan teenager with plenty of problems, not the least of which is her mom, a neurotic actress. Plus she is a bit unhinged about a bus accident she recently witnessed--an accident that may not have been an accident. The troubled teen is being played by Anna Paquin, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “The Piano” when she was a mere tot. Maybe this time it will simply be a Best Actress Oscar. To read Guy Flatley's 1998 interview with Anna Paquin, click here. Opening date to be announced

PAUL DANO

BORN
WILTON, CONNECTICUT, 6/19/84

FILM DEBUT
THE NEWCOMERS (2000)

CAREER HIGHS
THERE WILL BE BLOOD; LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE; L.I.E.; FAST FOOD NATION; THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE; THE KING; THE EMPEROR’S CLUB

CAREER LOWS
LIGHT AND THE SUFFERER; THE GIRL NEXT DOOR; TAKING LIVES

NEXT UP FOR DANO

THE STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT: Ryan Phillippe, Channing Tatum, Paul Dano, Giovanni Ribisi, Charlie Hunnam, Kieran Culkin, Jesse Eisenberg, Ben McKenzie (Directed by Christopher McQuarrie; Written by Christopher McQuarrie and Tim Talbott; Icon Entertainmet Intl.) Is it conceivable that a highly respected doctor/sociologist could set up a faux prison at a prestigious college--using some student volunteers as prisoners and others as guards--for the purpose of conducting a serious exploration of human behavior? Well, you’d better believe it, because it’s true. Doctor Philip Zimbardo conducted his controversial study at Stanford University in 1971, and the student role-players slipped so deeply into character--some of them becoming outrageously cruel and sexually abusive--that the good doctor had to call a halt to his campus charade at the halfway mark. Christopher McQuarrie, the screenwriter who won an Oscar for “The Usual Suspects” (1995) and reaped positive reviews for his writing and direction of “The Way of the Gun” (2000), is directing the “The Stanford Prison Experiment” screenplay that he co-authored with Tim Talbott. Opening date to be announced

GIGANTIC: Paul Dano, Zooey Deschanel, John Goodman, Jane Alexander (Directed by Matt Aselton; Written by Matt Aselton and Adam Nagata; Killer Films and Epoch Films) Lots of warm-hearted, noble-intentioned folks yearn to adopt a child from China. But very few exhibit less parental potential than Brian, a New York mattress salesman who also harbors unrealistic dreams of a sleep-in relationship with Harriett, a red-hot Manhattanite. Will Brian get the girl and the baby, too? Possibly, if he can first manage to out-maneuver the maniacal homeless man who’s bent on terminating him. Brian is being played by Paul Dano, who demonstrated his astonishing range as the semi-catatonic lad in “Little Miss Sunshine” and the shrieking religious fanatic in “There Will Be Blood.” Another bonus: the invariably wonderful Zooey Deschanel has been cast as Harriett. Opening date to be announced

DANIEL DAY-LEWIS

BORN
LONDON, 4/29/57

FILM DEBUT
SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY (1971)

CAREER HIGHS
THERE WILL BE BLOOD; MY LEFT FOOT; GANGS OF NEW YORK; MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE; THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING; THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS; THE AGE OF INNOCENCE; THE BOXER; IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER; A ROOM WITH A VIEW; THE CRUCIBLE; THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE

NEXT UP FOR DAY-LEWIS

NINE: Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, Judi Dench (Directed by Rob Marshall; Written by Michael Tolkin; Weinstein Company) Who could forget “8 1⁄2,” the stunning 1963 film in which Marcello Mastroianni, under the direction of Federico Fellini, played a Felliniesque director who made more women than movies? Certainly, composer Maury Yeston and dramatist Arthur Kopit could not erase this classic from their memories. That’s why, in 1982, they came up with a Broadway musicalization of it starring the late, great Raul Julia as the womanizing auteur on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The show, called “Nine,” was successfully revived in 2003, showcasing the song-and-dance skills of Antonio Banderas. And now, here comes the movie version of the hit musical, directed by Rob Marshall, who gave us “Chicago,” and starring Daniel Day Lewis, one of the few actors now working who could be ranked alongside Marcello Mastroianni. Penelope Cruz plays his mistress, Marion Cotillard, who triumphed as Edith Piaf in “La Vie en Rose,” is his shortchanged wife, Nicole Kidman is an actress who greatly inspires him, and Sophia Loren will haunt us as the ghost of his Mama. Opening date to be announced

ROBERT DE NIRO

BORN
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 8/17/43

FILM DEBUT
GREETINGS (1968)

CAREER HIGHS
RAGING BULL; TAXI DRIVER; GOODFELLAS; MEAN STREETS; CASINO; NEW YORK, NEW YORK; THE KING OF COMEDY; ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA; THIS BOY’S LIFE; THE GODFATHER: PART II; THE UNTOUCHABLES; TRUE CONFESSIONS; THE DEER HUNTER; BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY

CAREER LOWS
THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY & BULLWINKLE; FLAWLESS; THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY; GUILTY BY SUSPICION; ANGEL HEART; WE’RE NO ANGELS; NIGHT AND THE CITY; AWAKENINGS; FALLING IN LOVE, STANLEY & IRIS; BACKDRAFT

WHEN BOBBY FREAKED OUT SHELLEY
“Bobby gets to the soul of a character and refuses to let go,” Shelley Winters told Guy Flatley in a 1973 interview. “This is going to sound crazy, but…Bobby got killed in ‘Bloody Mama,’ his part was over and he could have gone home. On the day we were to shoot the burial scene, I walked over to the open grave, looked down and got the shock of my life. ‘Bobby!,’ I screamed. ‘I don’t believe this! You come out of that grave this minute!'” Click here to read the entire New York Times article.

NEXT UP FOR DE NIRO

RIGHTEOUS KILL: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Carla Gugino, John Leguizamo, Donnie Wahlberg, 50 Cent, Brian Dennehy, Dan Futterman (Directed by Jon Avnet: Written by Russell Gewirtz; Overture Films) As anyone who saw “The Godfather Part II” knows, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino were terrific in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 masterwork. But they weren’t terrific together. That’s because De Niro appeared as the young Vito Corleone only in flashbacks and Pacino’s Michael remained very much in the present. They were terrific together, however, in Michael Mann’s “Heat” (1995), but only in the two brief scenes they shared. Well, that was then, and this is now. So you’ll see them together--and presumably terrific--throughout the entirety of this hardboiled thriller. What’s more, they’re even getting trendy, playing a pair of cops determined to capture a popular staple of the current movie scene--you guesed it, a serial killer! To read Guy Flatley’s 1973 interview with Al Pacino, click here. Opens 9/12/08

LITTLE FOCKERS: Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner (Directed by Jay Roach; Written by Larry Stuckey; Universal) They’re baaaack! We’re talking about the unstoppable Fockers--horny, long-in-the-tooth hippies Bernie and Roz (Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand) and their terminally nerdy son (Ben Stiller). We’re also talking about the Byrnes clan, former CIA operative Bernie and his uptight wife (Robert De Niro and Blythe Danner) and their flaky daughter (Teri Polo), who has more or less glued the family to the Fockers. Who knows what the future holds for members of this lucrative franchise, but the title does give one the sinking feeling that we’ll be present at the birth of a whole flock of Fockerettes. To read Guy Flatley's 1979 interview with Dustin Hoffman, click here; for Guy's 1973 interview with Barbra Streisand, click here; and for Diane Baroni's 2000 interview with Teri Polo, click here. Opening date to be announced

EVERYBODY’S FINE: Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockwell (Written and directed by Kirk Jones; Miramax) A lonely, no-longer-young widower just doesn’t know what to do with himself. Then, one day, it strikes him that what he really needs to make his life meaningful is to hook up with each of his geographically scattered kids again. He could be dead wrong about that. De Niro is the wandering dad, of course, in this remake of Giuseppe Tornatore’s 1990 Italian comedy-tearjerker, “Stanno Tuti Bene,” and Barrymore, Beckinsale and Rockwell are his grown-up brats. To read about more movie remakes, click here. Opening date to be announced

SUGARLAND: Jodie Foster, Robert De Niro (Directed by Jodie Foster; Written by Daniel Barnz and Ned Zeman; Universal) When last seen together on screen, she was a post-adolescent prostitute and he was a psychotic cabbie treating her to free rides on the wild side of Manhattan. That was in Martin Scorsese’s 1976 “Taxi Driver.” After that memorable bloodbath, Jodie Foster and Robert De Niro went their separate, Oscar-winning ways. But at long last they are teamed again, this time in an adaptation of Marie Brenner’s “In the Kingdom of Big Sugar,” a true story about two brothers, Alfy and Pepe Fanjul, who were accused of seriously abusing migrant workers in Florida. Brenner’s gripping account was published in the February 2001 issue of Vanity Fair. Foster, gutsy enough to both direct and star in the film, plays a crusading attorney, and De Niro plays a powerful sugar baron with strong political connections. To read about many more new biopics, click here. Opening date to be announced

FIRST MAN: Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep (Written and directed by Diane English; Disney) If a guy’s got tons of self esteem and doesn’t give a hoot if people ridicule him for giving up his personal ambition to give his wife a career boost, that’s a thing of beauty. Especially if his wife has her heart set on the White House. The question is, will hubby take charge of her campaign and eventually become co-president? Opening date to be announced

BENICIO DEL TORO

BORN
SANTURCE, PUERTO RICO 2/19/67

FILM DEBUT
BIG TOP PEE-WEE (1988)

CAREER HIGHS
21 GRAMS; TRAFFIC; THE PLEDGE; THE USUAL SUSPECTS; SNATCH; SWIMMING WITH SHARKS; THE FUNERAL; THE INDIAN RUNNER; SIN CITY; THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE

NEXT UP FOR DEL TORO

THE ARGENTINE: Benicio Del Toro; Franka Potente, Julia Ormond, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Demian Bichir (Directed by Steven Soderbergh; Written by Peter Buchman; Focus Features) In “The Motorcycle Diaries,” director Walter Salles focused on the youthful Ernesto "Che" Guevara (played by Gael Garcia Bernal) as the budding revolutionary biked his way through South America and witnessed acts of injustice he would never forget. If you loved Salles’ 2004 hit movie, the odds are that you will be similarly moved by this follow-up film from director Steven Soderbergh. In place of the beautiful, magnetic Bernal, we now have the less beautiful but equally magnetic and talented Benicio Del Toro as the mature Argentine doctor who leaves his country and his profession and becomes known as Che, the idealistic but tough disciple of Cuban crusader Fidel Castro. The first of two new Soderbergh takes on Che, "The Argentine" will be followed by "Guerrilla." Click here to read A. O. Scott's New York Times review of "The Argentine." Opening date to be announced

GUERRILLA: Benicio Del Toro, Lou Diamond Phillips, Franka Potente, Julia Ormond, Oscar Iaac, Meg Gibson, Alex Manette, Paul Vasquez, Rob Macie (Directed by Steven Soderbergh; Written by Peter Buchman; Focus Features) This sequel to Soderbergh's "The Argentine" deals with the post-Cuban Revolution adventures of Che Guevara, once again played by Benicio Del Toro. Demian Bichir is also back as Fidel Castro. Click here to read A. O. Scott's New York Times review of "Guerrilla." Opening date to be announced

THE RUM DIARY: Johnny Depp, Josh Hartnett, Benicio del Toro, Nick Nolte (Written and directed by Bruce Robinson; FilmEngine) It’s been 10 years since Johnny Depp played Raoul Duke, a hell-raising journalist, in the film version of Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” Nobody, including the author, believed that Duke was anyone other than Thompson himself. Now Depp is playing Paul Kemp, an eccentric reporter in “The Rum Diary,” the autobiographical novel the late Hunter published when he was 22. Set in San Juan, Puerto Rico, during the fifties, “Diary” depicts the chaotic, booze-and-drugs fueled adventures of a brawling Hunteresque freelancer from New York who tries to twist himself into a latter-day Hemingway. Playing his unruly expatriate pals: Nick Nolte, Benicio del Toro and Josh Hartnett. Sounds like a high time will be had by all. To read Guy Flatley's 1979 interview with Nick Nolte, click here. Opening date to be announced

JUDI DENCH

BORN
YORK, NORTH YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 12/9/34

FILM DEBUT
THE THIRD SECRET (1964)

CAREER HIGHS
IRIS; NOTES ON A SCANDAL; MRS. BROWN; SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE; GOLDENEYE; PRIDE & PREJUDICE; A ROOM WITH A VIEW; HENRY V; A HANDFUL OF DUST

CAREER LOWS
MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS; THE SHIPPING NEWS; TEA WITH MUSSOLINI

NEXT UP FOR DENCH

JOHNNY DEPP

BORN
OWENSBORO, KENTUCKY, 6/9/63

FILM DEBUT
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984)

CAREER HIGHS
WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE; ED WOOD; SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET; ED WOOD; SCISSORHANDS; PLATOON; CRY-BABY; BENNY & JOON; PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL; CHOCOLAT; DONNIE BRASCO; BEFORE NIGHT FALLS

CAREER LOWS
DON JUAN DeMARCO; THE BRAVE; THE NINTH GATE; THE ASTRONAUT’S WIFE; BLOW; SECRET WINDOW

NEXT UP FOR DEPP

PUBLIC ENEMIES: Johnny Depp (Directed by Michael Mann; Universal) John Dillinger was not as scary as Sweeney Todd, but don't be surprised if Johnny Depp makes the gun-toting terror of thirties Chicago almost as chilling as he makes the demon barber of Fleet Street in Tim Burton's current musical. “Public Enemies” is based on the book by Bryan Burrough about FBI biggie J. Edgar Hoover's crusade to bring Dillinger and other dirty rotten scoundrels to justice. At one point, Leonardo DiCaprio was reportedly in discussion with director Michael Mann about participating in this project. If he's still available, somebody should tell him that the plum role of Baby Face Nelson has yet to be cast. Opening date to be announced

THE RUM DIARY: Johnny Depp, Josh Hartnett, Benicio del Toro, Nick Nolte (Written and directed by Bruce Robinson; FilmEngine) It’s been nearly 10 years since Johnny Depp played Raoul Duke, a hell-raising journalist, in the film version of Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” Nobody, including the author, believed that Duke was anyone other than Thompson himself. Now Depp is playing Paul Kemp, an eccentric reporter in “The Rum Diary,” the autobiographical novel the late Hunter published when he was 22. Set in San Juan, Puerto Rico, during the fifties, “Diary” depicts the chaotic, booze-and-drugs fueled adventures of a brawling Hunteresque freelancer from New York who tries to twist himself into a latter-day Hemingway. Playing his unruly expatriate pals: Nick Nolte, Benicio del Toro and Josh Hartnett. Sounds like a high time will be had by all. To read Guy Flatley's 1979 interview with Nick Nolte, click here. Opening date to be announced

SHANTARAM: Johnny Depp, Emily Watson, Abhishek Bachchan, Franka Potente (Directed by Mira Nair; Written by Eric Roth and Gregrory David Roth; Warner Bros.) An Australian named Lindsay (Johnny Depp) has a major heroin habit which sends him to what promises to be a long, harsh term of imprisonment. As in the Gregory David Roberts novel from which this drama stems, however, Lindsay escapes and lands in a crime-crammed Bombay slum, where he manages to pass himself off as a crackerjack physician--one who engages in gunrunning and smuggling in order to give his poor patients the kind of care they so richly deserve. The next stage of Lindsay’s physical and spiritual journey is Afghanistan, where he joins the insurgents in their struggle to oust the Russians. Tomorrow Iraq? Peter Weir, who was set to direct "Shantaram," dropped out when the folks at Warner Bros. informed him that his take on the material was all wrong. He was replaced by Mira Nair, director of "Monsoon Wedding" and "The Namesake." Opening date to be announced

SASHA'S STORY: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A RUSSIAN SPY: Johnny Depp (Warner Bros.) Will moviegoers glut themselves on a double serving of the true-life tragedy of Alexander “Sasha” Litvinenko, the KGB agent-turned-superspy who suffered a hideous death last November after dining on sushi containing polonium-210? Possibly so, if both Warner Bros. and Columbia follow through with plans to fast-track competing versions of the same raw-deal tale. The Warner Bros. project, "Sasha's Story: The Life and Death of a Russian Spy," is based on a Doubleday book being written by Alan Cowell, the New York Times bureau chief who has covered the story extensively for The Times. It’s extremely likely that Johnny Depp, whose Infinitum Nihil production company is partnered with Warner Bros., will play the bigger-than-life character who, on his deathbed, accused Vladimir Putin of plotting his murder. While the people at Columbia will not have the pleasure of Johnny Depp’s company on their Litvinenko take, they will surely be working with solid pros, starting at the top with director Michael Mann, and including Marina Litvinenko, the former spy’s widow, and Alex Goldfarb, her collaborator on “Death of a Dissident,” a book scheduled to be published by Free Press, a Simon & Schuster subsidiary, in May. No word on who’ll play Litvinenko in “Death of a Dissident.” But the names of Tom Cruise and Sacha Baron Cohen do flutter to mind. Opening date to be announced

ZOOEY DESCHANEL

BORN
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, 1/17/80

FILM DEBUT
MUMFORD (1999)

CAREER HIGHS
THE GOOD GIRL; ALMOST FAMOUS; ALL THE REAL GIRLS; THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD; ELF; THE HAPPENING

NEXT UP FOR DESCHANEL

CAMERON DIAZ

BORN

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, 8/30/72

FILM DEBUT
THE MASK (1994)

CAREER HIGHS
THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY; BEING JOHN MALKOVICH; MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING, SHE’S THE ONE; A LIFE LESS ORDINARY; CHARLIE’S ANGELS

CAREER LOWS
VANILLA SKY; VERY BAD THINGS; THE INVISIBLE CIRCUS

CURRENT FILM

THE HOLIDAY: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black, Edward Burns, Rufus Sewell, Eli Wallach, Shannyn Sossamon (Written and directed by Nancy Meyers; Columbia) It’s difficult to imagine either Cameron or Kate getting dumped by any man, but that’s precisely what sets this romantic comedy spinning. The women meet soon after being jilted and become instant bosom buddies. But they still yearn for male companionship. Eventually, Kate the Brit seems to find a suitable candidate in a decidedly non-Anglo composer of movie music (Jack Black), while all-American Cameron doesn't do so badly with British-to-the-core Jude Law. To read Guy Flatley's 2000 interview with Jack Black, click here.

LEONARDO DiCAPRIO

BORN

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, 11/11/74

FILM DEBUT
CRITTERS 3 (1991)

CAREER HIGHS
THE DEPARTED; WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE; THIS BOY’S LIFE; THE AVIATOR; CATCH ME IF YOU CAN; TITANIC; GANGS OF NEW YORK; ROMEO + JULIET; MARVIN’S ROOM; BLOOD DIAMOND; CELEBRITY; THE BASKETBALL DIARIES

CAREER LOWS
THE QUICK AND THE DEAD; TOTAL ECLIPSE; THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK; THE BEACH

NEXT UP FOR DiCAPRIO

BODY OF LIES: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe (Directed by Ridley Scott; Written by William Monahan; Warner Bros.) Based on David Ignatius’ novel, this thriller is categorized as fiction, but it sounds scarily true. A brilliant, risk-taking journalist (Leonardo DiCaprio) covers the war in Iraq all too thoroughly and, as a result, is seriously wounded. Back in the states, his period of recuperation is interrupted by a forceful CIA operative (Russell Crowe) who persuades him to travel to Jordan in the hope of nailing a major Al Qaeda leader. The screenplay is by William Monahan, who provided DiCaprio with a whopper of a role in “The Departed.” Opens 10/10/08

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, Zoe Kazan, Michael Shannon, Ty Simpkins (Directed by Sam Mendes; Written by Justin Haythe; DreamWorks) The last time this young and beautiful couple set sail together, they were so blinded by love that they failed to notice they were headed straight for an iceberg. This time, the still beautiful but not-so-young “Titanic” couple knows enough not to go near the water. Which doesn’t necessarily mean they are on course for a happy ending. In Justin Haythe’s adaptation of the haunting 1961 novel by Richard Yates, DiCaprio and Winslet play Frank and April Wheeler, brilliant, sexually-charged newlyweds who believe their arsenal of sophistication, talent and magnetism will transport them to a charmed life among scintillating European intellectuals. Following a couple of unplanned pregnancies and career setbacks, however, they find themselves stranded in the stifling suburbs of 1950s Connecticut. Inevitably, Frank has a demoralizing affair with a colleague in his Manhattan office, and April beds down with the husband of a close friend. And don’t for a minute imagine that their kids are happy troopers. In her rave review of “Revolutionary Road,” The New York Times’ Michiko Kakutani said that Richard Yates’ “portrait of these thwarted, needlessly doomed lives is at once brutal and compassionate.” Another reason to look forward to this re-teaming of Leo and Kate: It’s being directed by Kate’s husband, Sam Mendes--the man responsible for the memorably lacerating “American Beauty.” Opens 12/26/08

SHUTTER ISLAND: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Max Von Sydow, Emily Mortimer, Elias Koteas, Patricia Clarkson, John Carroll Lynch, Jackie Earle Haley (Directed by Martin Scorsese; Written by Laeta Kalogridis; Paramount) Based on the frenzied 2003 novel by Dennis Lehane, author of “Mystic River” and “Gone Baby Gone,” “Shutter Island” spins a dark, dizzy tale. Set in 1954, it revolves around the efforts of U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio), a crazed war vet and recent widower, and his gullible partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) to capture a murderess who has escaped from Ashecliffe Hospital, a home away from home for the criminally insane. As it turns out, this funny farm, located on a rocky island off Boston Harbor, is no laughing matter. The warden himself boasts, “We take only the most damaged patients...we take the ones no other facility can manage.” And it’s clear that some of the doctors and nurses are even more damaged than the patients and may be on the verge of hatching a horrific scheme. All that the increasingly edgy Teddy and the seriously deranged occupants of Ashecliffe need are a raging hurricane, hordes of rampaging rodents, and the sudden return of the slippery, blood-thirsty femme fatale. Which is undoubtedly what director Martin Scorsese will give them in his bid to top the unblushing Grand Guignol of “Cape Fear” and “The Departed.” Opens 10/2/09

UNTITLED MICHAEL MANN: Leonardo DiCaprio (Directed by Michael Mann; Written by John Logan; New Line) Hollywood’s best year ever, according to many critics and movie buffs, was 1939. MGM’s release schedule alone included “Gone With the Wind,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Ninotchka,” The Women,” “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” and “Babes in Arms.” So it seems fitting that much of the scandal-smeared action of this crime drama takes place on MGM’s Culver City lot during that golden year. What scandals are we talking about? The juicy ones that the hard-working private eye played by Leo DiCaprio is being paid big bucks by MGM and other studios to keep secret from the press, the public and, if possible, the cops. It sounds like good not-so-clean fun, so long as the movie doesn’t reveal the scandalous side of the Munchkins. Opening date to be announced

THE RISE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT: Leonardo DiCaprio (Directed by Martin Scorsese; Written by Nicholas Meyer; Paramount) Leo for president? Why not? Martin Scorsese, who directed him in “Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator” and “The Departed,” thinks Leo is just the man for the job of portraying the remarkably complex 26th president of the U.S. in the adaptation of Edmund Morris’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt.” As in the book, Teddy will go from a frail, asthmatic Harvard grad to the bear of a man who commanded the Rough Riders, governed the state of New York, and eventually called the White House home. Hail to the chief! For Guy Flatley's 1973 interview with Martin Scorsese, click here; to read about more new biopics, click here. Opening date to be announced

MATT DILLON

BORN

NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK, 2/18/64

FILM DEBUT
OVER THE EDGE (1979)

CAREER HIGHS
CRASH; FACTOTUM; DRUGSTORE COWBOY; TO DIE FOR; THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY; THE FLAMINGO KID; TEX; IN & OUT; CITY OF GHOSTS; WILD THINGS; MY BODYGUARD; THE OUTSIDERS; RUMBLE FISH

CAREER LOWS
BLOODHOUNDS OF BROADWAY; ONE NIGHT AT McCOOL’S; DEUCES WILD; ALBINO ALLIGATOR

NEXT UP FOR DILLON

TETRO: Matt Dillon (Written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola; American Zoetrope) Matt Dillon, so persuasive playing radically different characters in the recent “Crash” and “Factotum,” has yet to achieve the major stardom widely predicted for him back in 1983, the year he broke through with magnetic performances in “The Outsiders” and “Rumble Fish,” both directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Maybe Dillon will get the attention he deserves when he takes on the role of one of the more emotionally explosive members of a fiery family of Italian immigrants pursuing a semblance of calm in Buenos Aires. And wouldn’t it be thrilling if maestro Coppola soared to Godfatherly heights again? Opening date to be announced

ROBERT DOWNEY JR.

BORN

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 4/4/65

FILM DEBUT
POUND (1970)

CAREER HIGHS
IRON MAN; CHAPLIN; LESS THAN ZERO; SHORT CUTS; ZODIAC; A SCANNER DARKLY; NATURAL BORN KILLERS; SOAPDISH; WONDER BOYS; GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK; HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS; BOWFINGER

CAREER LOWS
FUR: AN IMAGINARY PORTRAIT OF DIANE ARBUS; THE PICK-UP ARTIST; 1969; AIR AMERICA; RESTORATION

NEXT UP FOR DOWNEY

TROPIC THUNDER: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Nick Nolte, Brandon Jackson, Steve Coogan, Justin Theroux, Danny McBride, Bill Hader, Jay Baruchel, Matt Levin, Andrea De Oliveira, Tom Cruise (Directed by Ben Stiller; Written by Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen; DreamWorks) What would you do if you were lucky enough to be cast in a gritty war movie, went on the shoot--and got shot at because a real-life (and death) war was taking root? Director/star Ben Stiller and his zany crew will help you ponder this question. Let's hope their slapstick war doesn't turn out to be a big bomb. You'd probably be safe in betting that Tom Cruise's cameo as a slimy, foul-mouthed Hollywood producer will remind moviegoers that the mostly serious actor can, on occasion, be one classy comic. To read about more new comedies, click here. Opens 7/11/08

DAVID DUCHOVNY

BORN
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 8/7/60

FILM DEBUT
WORKING GIRL (1988)

CAREER HIGHS
THE X-FILES; FULL FRONTAL; KALIFORNIA, THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE

CAREER LOWS
EVOLUTION; RETURN TO ME; CONNIE AND CARLA; PLAYING GOD; ZOOLANDER; HOUSE OF D; TRUST THE MAN

NEXT UP FOR DUCHOVNY

THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE:David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, Xzibit, Mitch Pileggi (Directed by Chris Carter; Written by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz; Fox) Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, the (very) special agents and occasional lovers who attained cult status on TV and then, in 1998, on film, are back in a long-overdue new big-screen installment of “The X-Files.” Happily, Mulder and Scully are again being played by the magnetic combo of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, and they will undoubtedly rekindle that old spark, either here on earth or on some other thrill-packed planet. Joining them will be Billy Connolly as an irreverent man of the cloth, plus Amanda Peet and Xzibit as a flashy pair of FBI agents. Opens 7/25

KIRSTEN DUNST

BORN

POINT PLEASANT, NEW JERSEY, 4/30/82

FILM DEBUT
NEW YORK STORIES (1989)

CAREER HIGHS
THE CAT’S MEOW; MARIE ANTOINETTE; SPIDER-MAN; THE VIRGIN SUICIDES; DICK; ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND; MONA LISA SMILE; INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE; LITTLE WOMEN; WAG THE DOG; BRING IT ON

CAREER LOWS
THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES; ELIZABETHTOWN; WIMBLEDON

NEXT UP FOR DUNST

ALL GOOD THINGS: Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst, Frank Langella, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kristin Wiig, Trini Alvarado, Philip Baker Hall, Diane Venora, Lily Rabe, John Cullum, Nick Offerman (Directed by Andrew Jarecki; Written by Andrew Jarecki, Marc Smerling and Marcus Hinchey; The Weinstein Co.) Real estate is almost always a profitable game to play in Manhattan, but sometimes it can be murder. Literally, as it turns out in this thriller about a wealthy family that plays--and perhaps slays--together. The movie marks the fictional-feature debut of Andrew Jarecki, who directed “Capturing the Friedmans,” the chilling documentary about a very different sort of family. Opening date to be announced

FOR A COMPLETE ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF STAR TURNS, CLICK HERE.