Star Turns--What You Should Know About The Current And Upcoming Projects of your Favorite Players

By Guy Flatley

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AL PACINO

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! Now Playing


ELLEN PAGE

PEACOCK

Cillian Murphy, Ellen Page, Susan Sarandon, Josh Lucas, Bill Pullman, Jaimi Paige, Virginia Newcomb, Paul Cram (Directed by Michael Lander; Written by Michael Lander and Ryan Roy; Mandate Pictures)

Nothing much ever happened in the tiny town of Peacock, Nebraska--unless you count the day a train ran into the back yard of a humble bank clerk mamed John Skillpa (Cillian Murphy). That was the same day folks became aware that John had a housemate, a woman they took to be his wife. Peacockians being Peacockians, no one made much of the fact that John and his spouse never appeared in the same place at the same time. Finally, somebody took notice--a perky single mom (played by "Juno's" Ellen Page) began to suspect that something strange, maybe even sick, was going on in John's house.

How could this well-intentioned snoop bring John's story to a happy ending? Persuade John to put his wife up for adoption? Or, discovering that the guy had been getting off on slipping into something silky and masquerading as his own wife, should she try to convince him that she herself would make the best of all possible Mrs. Skillpas?

Or maybe she should simply get the hell out of Peacock. Opening date to be announced


GWYNETH PALTROW

COUNTRY STRONG

Gwyneth Paltrow, Garrett Hedlund, Tim McGraw, Leighton Meester (Written and directed by Shana Feste; Screen Gems)

In the mood for a musical quartet? Then “Country Strong” may be the movie for you, even though not every member of the film’s foursome is a musician, and the music involved is far from classical. In truth, it’s purely, proudly country music, the homespun, sexy, heartbreaking stuff that would be completely at home in Nashville.

Here’s the cast of characters: Kelly Canter (Gwyneth Paltrow), a been-there-done-that-too-many-times singer-guitarist who’s definitely on the skids; Beau Williams (Garrett Hedlund), a rising singer-composer star who wants to help Kelly get back on track—and into bed with him; Kelly’s loyal hubby Ed (Tim McGraw), who manages what’s left of his wife’s career; and Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester, of “Gossip Girl” fame), a beauty pageant champ who’s determined to become a country western superstar, preferably one who sings with the ever-charismatic Beau Williams.

The writer-director of this film, Shana Feste, performed the same double-duty service on “The Greatest,” her 2009 feature debut starring Carey Mulligan, Susan Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan. It should also be noted that the original title for Feste’s second directorial effort was “Love Don’t Let Me Down.” Can’t help wondering who the genius was that thought “Country Strong” was a more marketable title. Now Playing

THE DANISH GIRL

Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow (Directed by Thomas Alfredson; Written by Lucinda Coxon;Pretty Pictures, Harrison Productions, Blossom Films)

Who was the first man in history to volunteer for the intricate, experimental surgery that would, with luck, turn him into a woman? He was a Danish artist by the name of Einar Wegener, and he embarked on his/her new life as the ultra feminine Lili Elbe immediately after being wheeled out of a Dresden operating room one earthshattering day in 1931.

In “The Danish Girl,” David Ebershoff’s well reviewed, vigorously fictionalized version of the facts, published in 2000, Wegener-Elbe was still legally married to Greta Waud, a wealthy painter from Pasadena, California, at the time of the surgery. And, according to novelist Ebershoff, Greta did not easily give up on her man, even after he’d became a woman—something Einar might never have dreamed of doing had his wife not persuaded him to slip into a lovely silk frock and sexy stockings and pose for a portrait she was working on.

The instant physical and emotional transformation astonished both Einar and Greta, and one can only imagine the depth and delicacy Nicole Kidman and Gwyneth Paltrow will bring to the roles of husband and wife, respectively, as they explore a brave, if baffling, new world.

The question is: Will Nicole, in the early, pre-op, scenes of the film, be half the man that Gwyneth was in “Shakespeare in Love”? Opening date to be announced


ANNA PAQUIN

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 has gone 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.

But first the movie, which has been sitting mysteriously on the shelf for quite some time, has to be released—an embarrassment which has caused Lonergan to grumble in public. In his opinion, “Margaret” contains the best screenplay he has ever written, so why should it be hidden from view? Maybe we’ll be able to answer that question for ourselves one day. Opening date to be announced?

MARY-LOUISE PARKER

SOLITARY MAN

Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, Mary-Louise Parker, Jenna Fischer, Jesse Eisenberg, Imogen Poots, David Costabile (Directed by David Levien and Brian Koppelman; Written by Brian Koppelman; Anchor Bay Films)

Some men cheat on their wives. Some men cheat on their wives by attempting to rekindle a relationship with their ex-wives. Some men even cross a dangerous line with the nubile daughters of their latest wives. And, forgetting women for a second, it’s true that some men are at their most untrustworthy in the cold-blooded pursuit of big bucks.

Rarely does all of the above apply to one solitary man. But, happily, Ben Kalman, the mendacious car salesman and dedicated womanizer superbly played by Michael Douglas in this wickedly dark comedy, is a notable exception. And he deserves a round of applause from all serious moviegoers. Now Playing

SARAH JESSICA PARKER

SEX AND THE CITY 2

Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, John Corbett, Chris Noth, David Eigenberg, Evan Handler, Jason Lewis, Willie Garson, Mario Cantone, Alice Eve, Liza Minnelli, Penelope Cruz (Written and directed by Michael Patrick King; Warner Brothers)

This sequel to the popular comedy about a quartet of boringly libidinous Manhattan babes may not collect any year-end awards. On the other hand, it did collect what will almost certainly be the year's most scathing set of reviews. As A. O. Scott put it, “Your watch will tell you that a shade less than two and a half hours have elapsed, but you may be shocked at just how much older you feel when the whole thing is over.” Click here for the full New York Times review. Now Playing


GUY PEARCE

THE ROAD

Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce, Molly Parker, Garret Dillahunt, Michael K. Williams (Directed by John Hillcoat; Written by Joe Penhall Weinstein Company)

It is impossible to imagine words more vivid and haunting than those employed to depict the end of our world in “The Road.” So you mustn’t count on being perked up when you slap down your bucks at the box office for this Australian adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 masterpiece.

Cormac who? Cormac McCarthy—you know, the novelist who provided the Coen Brothers with their most merciless scenario ever in 2005’s “No Country for Old Men.” Enough said?

Assuming director John Hillcoat and screenwriter Joe Penhall remain faithful to their source, whatever shred of pleasure you may derive from their film will be coated with monstrous pain. Here's the way The New York Times’ Janet Maslin, in her 2006 review of the book, described the journey of mankind’s last father & son team as they trudged down “The Road” to post-apocalyptic nothingness...

“The ruined setting of ‘The Road’ is strewn with terrible, revealing artifacts. There is one lone bottle of Coca-Cola, still absurdly fizzy when all else is dust. There are charred corpses frozen in their final postures, like the long-dead man who sits on a porch like ‘a straw man set out to announce some holiday.’ Sometimes these prompt the father to recall ‘a dull rose glow in the windowglass’ at 1:17 in the morning, the moment when the clocks stopped forever.

"The weather is bitter, the landscape colorless, the threat of starvation imminent. There is also the occasional interloper or ominous relic, since the road is not entirely abandoned. Spear-carrying marchers on the road offer hints about recent history. Groups of people are stowed away in hidden places as if they were other people’s food supply. In a book filled with virtual zombies and fixated on the living dead, it turns out that they are.”

If you caught Viggo Mortensen in "A History of Violence," “Eastern Promises” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, you will not be surprised by his bravura turn as the driven dad in “The Road.” You will almost certainly be stunned, however, by the awesome performance of Kodi Smit-McPhee as Viggo’s son. Now Playing


AMANDA PEET

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. Now Playing

SEAN PENN

FAIR GAME

Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Sam Shepard, Norbert Leo Butz, Brooke Smith, Simon Baker, Ty Burrell, Bruce McGill, David Denman, Michael Kelly, Noah Emmerich, Remy Auberjonois, Geoffrey Cantor, David Andrews, Melody Weiss (Directed by Doug Liman; Written by Jez Butterworth and John Butterworth; Warner Bros.)

There was no way Hollywood could ignore the Valerie Plame Wilson story for long. The true-life tale was dramatic, scary, enraging, tender and surprisingly romantic. As we know, the keen, classy-looking blonde CIA agent’s cover was blown by conservative Washington Post columnist Robert Novak in 2003--with the aid of strategically-placed Bushies--as an apparent act of punishment to her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, who had written a New York Times op-ed article poking holes in the Bush administration’s claims about Iraq’s secret stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction.

Life became close to unbearable for the Wilsons and their 2-year-old twins, and Valerie came to doubt her own sanity. But this story, like so many Hollywood stories, has a happy ending. In 2007, Valerie achieved sweet revenge in “Fair Game,” a tell-all tome that did not send Ari Fleischer, Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and other key players in this nasty drama rushing to the Barnes & Noble book-signing party.

Still, Fleishcer, as played by David Andrews, does pop up in the movie, as does Libby, who’s played by Geoffrey Cantor. Nobody seems to have been assigned to play Cheney, however. But Melody Weiss did land the plum role of his secretary.

In the end, “Fair Game” is apt to succeed on the strength of its undeniably appealing star-team--Naomi Watts, replacing the originally announced Nicole Kidman, and Sean Penn, taking over for the presumably no-longer-available Russell Crowe. And it certainly doesn’t hurt to have Doug Liman, the sharp, resourceful director of "Swingers," "The Bourne Identity" and "Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” at the helm. Now Playing


MICHELLE PFEIFFER

CHERI

Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Friend, Kathy Bates, Felicity Jones, Frances Tomelty, Anita Pallenberg, Harriet Walter, Iben Hjejle (Directd by Stephen Frears; Written by Christopher Hampton; Miramax)

Cheri (Rupert Friend), a young, handsome, and deeply romantic Parisian, is tutored in the ways of love by Lea (Michelle Pfeiffer), an aging, equally romantic courtesan. What she is actually teaching this son of an old friend, who is now a wealthy prostitute, is how to be not just a gigolo, but a perfect gigolo. Naturally, the affair turns tres torrid. Collette’s classic short novel has been adapted by Christopher Hampton, who collaborated brilliantly with director Frears and star Pfeiffer in 1988’s “Dangerous Liaisons.” Now Playing

RYAN PHILLIPPE

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


JOAQUIN PHOENIX

RESERVATION ROAD

Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly, Mira Sorvino, Elle Fanning, John Slattery, Antoni Corone (Directed by Terry George; Written by John Burnham Schwartz; Focus Features)

Dwight Arno, speeding through the night to return his 10-year-old son to his ex-wife on time, turns a bend, hits a boy who’d been walking on the side of the road, and drives on. Nearby, Ethan Learner, the father of the fatally injured boy, sits behind the wheel of his own car.

Before long, Ethan will be consumed by grief, guilt and a deep thirst for revenge. If you’ve read John Burnham Schwarz’s 1998 novel, “Reservation Road,” you already know how this story ends, but you’ll probably rush to see the movie version all the same. Adapted by the novelist, the film is being directed by Terry George (“Hotel Rwanda”) and stars Mark Ruffalo as the fleeing father and Joaquin Phoenix as his potential avenger. Jennifer Connelly, who co-starred with Phoenix in 1997’s “Inventing the Abbotts,” plays his distraught wife on this occasion. Now Playing

CHRIS PINE

UNSTOPPABLE

Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Kevin Dunn, Ethan Suplee, Kevin Corrigan, Lew Temple, Kevin Chapman, J.J. Miller, Jessy Schram, David Warshofsky (Directed by Tony Scott; Written by Mark Bomback; 20th Century Fox)

Stop me if you’ve heard or seen this one before. A train with numerous cars—some of them containing lethally explosive cargo—is suddenly speeding out-of-control through densely populated communities. Is there anyone on board capable of preventing massive death and dismemberment? Probably not. But wait a minute! What about this odd couple—an aging, but still cool, engineer, played by the ever-energetic Denzel Washington, and a youthful, new-on-the-job, notably surly conductor, played by rising screen hunk Chris Pine? Can they possibly bring a happy end to this long day’s choo-choo journey into a seemingly permanent night? Plop down the price of a ticket, hop aboard and find out for yourself. Now Playing

BRAD PITT

THE INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, David Krumholtz, Mike Myers, Diane Kruger, Rod Taylor, B.J. Novak, Eli Roth, Til Schweiger, Paul Rust, Samm Levine, Cloris Leachman, Maggie Cheung, Daniel Bruhl (Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino; The Weinstein Company)

Is there more than one way to scalp a Nazi? Maybe. We’ll find out for sure when we see Quentin Tarantino’s take on the German occupation of France during World War II. The story dreamed up by the feverish writer-director revolves around a band of brave, highly skilled U.S. soldiers who, under the leadership of Lieutenant Brad Pitt, roam the dark streets of Paris exterminating Hitler’s finest.

But before they butcher them, they barber them. Why? Don’t ask. Only the creator of “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction” knows the answer to that question, as well as the reason for spelling “Inglorious Bastards” the way he does. Now Playing


CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER

THE LAST STATION

Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer, Paul Giamatti, James McAvoy, Anne-Marie Duff (Directed by Michael Hoffman; Written by Jay Parini; Notro Films)

Anthony Hopkins was set to play Count Leo Tolstoy, the author of "War and Peace" who was strugglig to live out his final days with dignity and grace. But somewhere along the line Hopkins dropped out and Christopher Plummer dropped in.

Getting back to Leo--who on earth was making it difficult for him to travel a peaceful path into the hereafter? It was none other than Sofya Andreyevna, his luxury-loving, more warring than peaceful, wife. And--like Anthony Hopkins--Meryl Streep, cast as Sofya, made an exit, leaving her role to Helen Mirren. Paul Giamatti plays a loyal friend of Tolstoy's who does his best to rein in Sofya, James McAvoy plays Tolstoy's secretary, and Anne-Marie Duff--McAvoy's real-life wife--plays the tormented literary lion's daughter.
Jay Parini's screenplay for "The Last Station" is based on his 1990 novel, which in turn was based on the actual diaries of the contentious Tolstoys and their piles of relatives and friends. The director here is Michael Hoffman, whose eclectic oeuvre includes “Soapdish” (Robert Downey Jr. & Sally Field), “Restoration” (Hugh Grant & Meg Ryan), and “One Fine Day" (George Clooney & Michelle Pfeiffer). Now Playing

TERI POLO

LITTLE FOCKERS

Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner, Owen Wilson, Jessica Alba, Harvey Keitel, Laura Dern, Raven-Symone (Directed by Paul Weitz; Written by John Hamburg and Victoria Strouse; Universal Pictures)

They’re baaaack! We’re talking about the unstoppable Fockers--horny, long-in-the-tooth Bernie and his sex-therapist spouse Roz (Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand) and their incurably nerdy son (Ben Stiller). We’re also talking about the Byrnes clan, former CIA operative Bernie and his long-suffering wife (Robert De Niro and Blythe Danner) and their flaky daughter (Teri Polo), who has married the nerd of the Focker family and more or less glued her clan to his clan.

You may or may not be stunned to learn that the stickiest glue holding the families together is a precious, notably photogenic set of twins named Henry and Samantha. And if this installment of the lucrative franchise works out as expected, we may soon behold the blessed event of little Focker triplets! Now Playing

NATALIE PORTMAN

BLACK SWAN

Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder, Benjamin Millepied (Directed by Darren Aronofsky; Written by Mark Heyman, Andrew Heinz and John McLaughlin; Fox Searchlight)

How does one top the spectacle of Mickey Rourke as a physically battered, emotionally numb, spiritually dumb wrestler lurching bloodily about inside the ring and crashing even more catastrophically outside it?

It can’t be easy, but here’s how Darren Aronofsky, the director who transformed laughable loser Mickey Rourke into a serious Oscar contender for “The Wrestler,” performed still another impressive miracle. He took the ravishingly cool, ethereal Natalie Portman, heated her up, and then dumped her, feet first, into the cuttingly competitive, sometimes ghoulish, arena of classical ballet.
Portman plays Nina Sayers, an obsessive, self-lacerating, borderline psychotic who simply must be a diva or die. Literally.

Living in a cramped Upper West Side apartment with her toxically adoring stage mama (Barbara Hershey), Nina pirouettes her way to the brink of stardom in a bizarre staging of “Swan Lake” slotted for Manhattan’s Lincoln Center. But a totally unrehearsed twist of plot suddenly casts a sinister shadow on Nina’s fairytale dream: her rogue of a choreographer (Vincent Cassel) insists that the sultry allure she needs to project on stage can best be achieved just a few steps beyond his bedroom door.

What’s a poor virginal girl to do? Possibly the key to Nina’s psychosexual lock may be located in the intimate company of Beth MacIntyre, the incurably high-strung dancer played by Winona Ryder. Or, better still, the sizzly little number named Lily (Mila Kunis), with whom Nina eventually collaborates on a notably uninhibited, strictly offstage, scene.

But where will it all end? Well, have you never seen “The Red Shoes”? Now Playing

LUCY PUNCH

YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER

Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Gemma Jones, Freida Pinto, Lucy Punch, Naomi Watts, Anna Friel, Ewen Bremner, Carla Bruni, Pauline Collins, Christian McKay, Neil Jackson, Jim Piddock (Written and directed by Woody Allen; Sony Classics)

Woody’s latest flick, in which he does not appear, has its very own Facebook page. Here’s what it has to say about “Dark Stranger’s” story line. "A little romance, some sex, some treachery, and apart from that, a few laughs. The lives of a group of people, whose passions, ambitions and anxieties force them all into assorted troubles that run the gamut from ludicrous to dangerous.” Any questions? Click here for a Critics Roundup on "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger"; for Guy Flatley's review of the film, click here. Now Playing