OCTOBER 2008

BODY OF LIES: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Carise van Houten (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.” To read about more new movies based on books, click here. Opens 10/10

RACHEL GETTING MARRIED: Anne Hathaway, Debra Winger, Bill Irwin, Rosemarie DeWitt, Anna Deavere Smith, Dorian Missick, Tamyra Gray, Daphne Rubin-Vega (Directed by Jonathan Demme; Written by Jenny Lumet; Sony Pictures Classics) In 1983, director James Brooks skillfully explored the complicated relationship between an impetuous, disorderly rebel and her sweet, impeccably behaved daughter. Both Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger received Academy Award nominations for Best Actress of 1983, and mama MacLaine took home the Oscar. Now, 25 years later, esteemed director Jonathan Demme is focusing on another intriguing mother-daughter combo in “Rachel Getting Married.” This time, it’s Debra Winger who plays mom, a divorcee who is not at all happy when her estranged daughter, a neurotic ex-model recently released from rehab, decides to come home for her sister’s wedding. Perhaps Winger, whose career could stand a little rehabilitation, will nab an Oscar as Best Actress of 2008--though it’s possible that the winner could be Anne Hathaway, who no doubt welcomes the chance to soil her squeaky clean image in the role of Winger’s wayward sprout. And speaking of daughters, “Rachel's” screenwriter is Jenny Lumet, whose father is 83-year-old director Sidney Lumet. Maybe Demme will make this a truly family affair by giving Lumet, a former child actor, a cameo in his grown-up little girl's flick. Opens 10/17

W.: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Banks, Ioan Gruffudd, Thandie Newton, Richard Dreyfuss, Scott Glenn, Jeffrey Wright, Ellen Burstyn, James Cromwell, Rob Corddry, Toby Jones, Michael Gaston (Directed by Oliver Stone; Written by Stanley Weiser; Lionsgate) In case you’re having trouble sorting through the merits and flaws of the Junior Bush administration, Oliver Stone will lend you a hand with “W.,” which is scheduled to open just before the 2008 presidential election. This inevitably absurdist extravaganza stars Josh Brolin, shown above, as George II--from hell-raising, booze-guzzling rogue to chatting-with-Jesus commander in chief. Richard Dreyfuss plays gun-toting, bunker-hugging VP Dick Cheney and Thandie Newton has been cast as the scholarly, vigorously inattentive Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Scott Glenn is the you-fight-with-the-army-you’ve-got Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld; Elizabeth Banks is stand-by-your-cowboy Laura; and the senior Bushes are played by James Cromwell and Ellen Burstyn. Can we count on Stone, the man who zeroed in on “JFK,” “Nixon” and “Natural Born Killers,” to capture these history-making characters, warts and all? Opens 10/17/08