Star Turns--What You Should Know About The Current And Upcoming Projects Of Your Favorite Players

By Guy Flatley

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CHANNING TATUM

KNOCKOUT

Gina Carano, Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Bill Angarano, Mathieu Kassovitz (Directed by Steven Soderbergh; Written by Lem Dobbs; Lionsgate)

Can a stunner celebrated for her Martial Arts achievements make the tricky jump to major movie stardom? We’ll find out when this globe-hopping thriller from ever-innovative Steven Soderbergh descends on our local cineplex. At the center of the intrigue and action is agile Gina Carano, playing secret agent Mallory Kane, a woman who thinks nothing at all about breaking local laws, sometimes lethally, as she flits from tight spot to tight spot, including dark alleys in Spain, Ireland and, yes, the USA.

But, wouldn’t you just know that Our Gal Mal is headed for a heap of deep trouble? It comes in the form of a nasty double-cross, one that is probably engineered by some villainous male. Among the suspects are the gents played by Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas and Antonio Banderas. Opening date to be announced

THE DILEMMA

Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly, Winona Ryder, Channing Tatum, Queen Latifah (Directed by Ron Howard; Written by Allan Loeb; Universal)

They are so close that they could be mistaken for Siamese twins. Ronny and Nick, played by Vince Vaughn and Kevin James, certainly look alike, though one is chubbier than the other. Clearly, they act and think alike, which is to say they are both addicted to rough-housing, beer swilling, fistfighting and making gross jokes at the expense of one another. Down deep, however, these long-time buddies and business partners are as tender and protective as lovers can possibly be.

So, are Ronny and Nick literally lovers? No way! When not zanily engaged in punching and maiming each other, they have a whole other agenda. Ronny concentrates on wooing and summoning up the nerve to propose to sexy Beth (Jennifer Connelly), and Nick marvels at the fact that he’s been lucky enough to bed and wed the classy, if complicated, Geneva (Winona Ryder). Since this situation merely proves that even though boys will be boys, they still need girls to complete the picture, what is the problem here?

Well, the catastrophic truth is that Ronny has accidentally glimpsed Geneva kissing a musclebound male (Channing Tatum), a guy who bears no resemblance whatsoever to his pal Nick. So what is Ronny to do? Be honest and break the bad news to his best friend? Or remain selfishly mum so his business partner doesn’t go berserk and screw up a major deal they're on the verge of sealing with Chrysler? That is the problem—and the crucial dilemma--in this sad-at-heart comedy. For the record, Queen Latifah is on hand to serve up strictly upbeat laughs. Now Playing

CHARLIZE THERON

THE BRAZILIAN JOB

Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, Seth Green (Written by David Twohy; Paramount)

Wahlberg, Theron, Statham and Green--the slick, stylish quartet of thieves who thrilled us with their bravado in 2003’s “The Italian Job”--are set to thrill us again, this time by pulling a red-hot heist in Rio de Janeiro. All they need is a director who can whip up the smart combination of humor, action and sexiness that made crime pay the last time around. That key figure may or may not turn out to be F. Gary Gray, the man who orchestrated the original caper.

In truth, the original Italian caper, back in 1969, was directed by Peter Collinson and starred Michael Caine, Noel Coward, Raf Vallone, Rossano Brazzi and Margaret Blye. And that was good criminal fun, too. Opening date to be announced

EMMA THOMPSON

BRIDESHEAD REVISITED

Matthew Goode, Hayley Atwell, Ben Whishaw, Emma Thompson, Michael Gambon (Directed by Julian Jarrold; Written by Jeremy Brock and Andrew Davies; Miramax)

This is as good a time as any to revisit Captain Charles Ryder, the stylishly disenchanted protagonist of Evelyn Waugh’s 1946 classic seriocomic novel. Toward the end of World War II, Ryder (played by Jeremy Irons in a memorable 1981 British TV miniseries and now played by Matthew Goode) is stationed at Brideshead, a sprawling castle that was once home to the Flytes, an aristocratic Catholic--and exceedingly sinful--family.

Ryder’s wartime assignment stirs memories of a long-ago time spent with the mad, mad residents of the castle, including Lord and Lady Marchmain (Michael Gambon and Emma Thompson) and particularly siblings Sebastian and Julia (Ben Whishaw and Hayley Atwell), one an eccentric who became Ryder’s good drinking buddy and the other a beautiful, married neurotic who became his illicit lover.

Ryder, by the way, never felt guilty about cheating on his own wife, since he knew that she was caught up in her own little world of sexual deceit. Now Playing

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Rooney Mara, Max Minghella, Armie Hammer, Joseph Mazzello, Bryan Barter, David Selby (Directed by David Fincher; Written by Aaron Sorkin; Columbia)

It was 2003, and they didn’t have Facebook then. But before the year was out, they were well on their way with a revolutionary internet forum for making mostly unseen, occasionally unworthy friends out of total strangers. The person generally credited with bringing this miracle to global life was a nerdy Harvard undergraduate student and computer programmer named Mark Zuckerberg, played here by the scarily persuasive Jesse Eisenberg. And, as we all know, this chilly, self-centered, socially gauche, morally cloudy entrepreneur became the youngest billionaire the world has ever known. He also became a mega-celebrity looked up to by millions and put down by millions more. As the poster for the film so eloquently points out, "You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies."

In Rashomon fashion, the meteoric rise of this Citizen Kane-like character is viewed by director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin from the perspective of various associates and friends of Zuckerberg, many of whom were discarded along the way and some of whom had their bitter days in court with him, battling for a slice of the astronomical Facebook profits.

Top critics have heaped praise on Fincher and Sorkin and on their fresh, largely unfamiliar cast. You’d probably be smart to bet on “The Social Network” in numerous Oscar categories. If you don't feel sure about your selections, why not check with some of your friends on Facebook? But only the ones you can trust. Now Playing

JOHN TRAVOLTA

FROM PARIS WITH LOVE

John Travolta, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Kasia Smutniak, Richard Durden, Yin Bing, Amber Rose Revah, Eric Gordon (Directed by Pierre Morel; Written by Adi Hasak; Lionsgate)

Thanks to swarms of menacing Chinese drug traffickers and a platoon or two of Pakistani terrorists, life is no picnic for window-shoppers along the Champs Elysees, strollers in the Luxembourg Gardens, or travelers attempting to weave their way through mobs of potential assassins at Charles De Gaulle.

That’s why there is an urgent need for the services of U.S. Special Agent Charlie Wax, played by a wild-eyed, earring-embellished, leather-sporting, weapons-wielding, stunningly bald John Travolta. With savage glee, explosive skill, and a rhythmic grace not seen since “Saturday Night Fever,” this strutting, gutsy patriot—assisted by an ambitious, slippery CIA agent (Jonathan Rhys Meyers)—blasts tons of these un-American, not to mention un-French, baddies off to oblivion.

Not to worry. The whole bloody, razzle-dazzle show is played strictly for laughs! Now Playing