Clooney, Pitt, Craig burst into theaters

Want Oscar bait? How about Angelina Jolie in a Clint Eastwood-directed role? Need a 007 fix? Well, Daniel Craig is back and ready to quench your thirst for his dark superspy. Laughs? George Clooney and Brad Pitt play dueling idiots in the latest Coen brothers offering. Highbrow literary fare on the big screen? Viggo Mortensen breathes life into Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road.” Something to make the teenage girls go crazy? Try the vampire story “Twilight.” Ah, fall, that special time of year that blends award-worthy performances and audience-pleasing movies.

“Quantum of Solace”
Starring: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Judi Dench, Gemma Arterton, Jeffrey Wright
Director: Marc Forster
Story: Latest film picks up hours after “Casino Royal” ended with Bond (Craig) and M (Dench) interrogating Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) to find out more about the organization that blackmailed Vesper Lynd. Bond heads to Haiti to find an MI6 traitor and meets Camille (Kurylenko), a woman with her own agenda who leads Bond to the devious Dominic Greene (Amalric). Greene has a plan to take over Bolivia’s water supply, and it’s up to Bond to stop him. But will he be able to keep his need to avenge Vesper’s death in check?

Video   ‘Quantum of Solace’: Nov. 7 James Bond (Daniel Craig) is on a quest for vengeance in the latest 007 thriller. Buena Vista Pictures

One to watch? Yes. Director Forster (“Finding Neverland”) takes over for “Casino Royale’s” Martin Cambell, but the intention looks much the same: A darker, tougher Bond. In behind-the-scenes clips posted on Yahoo.com, it's clear Forster felt the pressure. “It's, like, scary. It's a hard thing to do.” And Craig added, “Our only criteria, we just make a good movie. That we can look back in 10 years and go, ‘We're really proud of it.’” As for the new Bond girl, Forster calls her “almost a counterpart to Bond himself.” Bond villain Amalric (“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”) takes on a really different role here, and he enjoyed it. He told IGN.com, “Being the villain you're allowed to do things that you're not allowed to do in real life. Especially with the women!”
Web site:  http://www.007.com/
Release date:  Nov. 7

“Twilight”

Video   ‘Twilight’: Nov. 21 Kristen Stewart is a 17-year-old girl who moves to a small town and becomes enamored with a mysterious classmate (Robert Pattinson), who turns out to be a vampire.

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Nikki Reed, Ashley Greene, Jackson Rathbone
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Story: When Bella Swan (Stewart) moves to a small Washington town, she meets the beautiful Edward Cullen. But Edward isn’t like other boys; he can run as fast as a cougar, his skin is cold to the touch, and he hasn’t aged since 1821. This vampire has waited 90 years to meet a girl like Bella, but her scent may drive Edward to attack rather than snuggle. And when Edward’s two vampire enemies come to town, Bella is in danger. One to watch? Looks hopeful. According to Entertainment Weekly, more than 6,500 fans showed up to see the cast at Comic-Con. Stewart told Entertainment Weekly, “The only thing I could bring to Bella was to be myself. She's an honest, up-front, seemingly logical girl. She's alone but not lonely.” Pattinson joked with the L.A. Times about playing the “beautiful” Edward: “There was also a very real possibility that you could get so freaked out by having to look ‘beautiful’ all the time that you just end up doing the whole thing, like, pouting.” If you thought “Sex and the City” brought women to the box office, just wait to see how many of them turn out for “Twilight.”
Web site: http://www.twilightthemovie.com/
Release date: Nov. 21

“W.”

Video   ‘W.’: Oct. 17 Josh Brolin stars as George W. Bush in Oliver Stone new film about Bush’s rocky path to the presidency.

Starring: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Banks, Richard Dreyfuss, James Cromwell, Ellen Burstyn, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright
Director: Oliver Stone
Story: A look at George W. Bush’s (Brolin) journey from troubled young man to president. Banks plays First Lady Laura Bush, Dreyfuss is Vice President Dick Cheney, Cromwell is former President George H.W. Bush, Newton is Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Wright is Gen. Colin Powell. The film reportedly has three acts: Bush as a young man, Bush’s conversion and the invasion of Iraq.
One to watch? Yes. Stone discussed his inspiration with Variety: “How did Bush go from an alcoholic bum to the most powerful figure in the world? It's like Frank Capra territory on one hand, but I'll also cover the demons in his private life … It will contain surprises for Bush supporters and his detractors.” And for those who worry that his film will just be an attack on Bush, Stone added, “I have empathy for Bush as a human being, much the same as I did for Castro, Nixon, Jim Morrison, Jim Garrison and Alexander the Great.” He described Bush’s popularity to Screen Daily, saying, “As someone told me the other day: he liked Bush because he doesn't try to pretend and try to be something he isn't; he tells it like it is.” The New York Post got an early look at the script, which contains lines such as Bush saying to Cheney, “Vice, when we're in meetings I want you to keep a lid on it. Keep your ego in check. Remember, I'm the president.” Should be a talker.
Web site: http://www.wthefilm.com/
Release date: Oct. 17

“Burn After Reading”

Video   ‘Burn After Reading’: Sept. 12 Joel and Ethan Coen present this comedic tale of espionage about a CIA agent who is currently in the process of writing a book and loses the disc containing his only manuscript.

Starring: George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins, Brad Pitt
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Story: CIA agent Ozzie Cox (Malkovich), who’s recorded his memoirs on a disc, accidentally leaves it at the gym. Trainer Chad Feldheimer (Pitt) finds it and decides to blackmail Cox with some help from his boss (McDormand). Harry Pfarrer (Clooney) is assigned to get the disc back, and he also just happens to be sleeping with Cox’s wife (Swinton).
One to watch? Yes. The folks at New York magazine’s Vulture.com got their hands on the script and said it was “awfully funny,” adding that it completed Clooney’s “idiot trilogy” with the Coens (along with “Intolerable Cruelty” and “Oh Brother Where Art Thou”). “I think that’s pretty safe to say, yeah, it’s a dueling idiots movie,” Joel Coen told About.com, referring to both Clooney and Pitt’s roles. If it’s truly funny, this one could be “Lebowski” quality.
Web site: NA
Release date: Sept. 12

“Changeling”

Universal Pictures

Starring: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Colm Feore, Amy Ryan, Michael Kelly
Director: Clint Eastwood
Story: Set in 1928 Los Angeles and based on true events, this film tells the story of Christine Collins (Jolie), a woman desperate to find her missing child. But when the authorities bring her a boy who claims to be her son Walter, she’s sure it is not him. She pushes the authorities to keep looking for her son, but they don’t believe that Walter isn’t who he says he is and think that she is delusional and an unfit mother. She turns to church minister Rev. Briegleb (Malkovich) and resolves to keep looking.
One to watch? Yes. The Los Angeles Times’ Kenneth Turan wrote, “The powerful, disturbing ‘Changeling’ is hopeful as well as unnerving, concerned as it is with both the implacability of evil and the power of belief.” Variety’s Todd McCarthy wrote, “A thematic companion piece to ‘Mystic River’ but more complex and far-reaching, ‘Changeling’ impressively continues Clint Eastwood's great run of ambitious late-career pictures.” Jolie is a lock for a best actress nomination come Oscar time.
Web site: NA
Release date: Oct. 24

“The Road”

Dimension Films

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Director: John Hillcoat
Story: Based on the award-winning Cormac McCarthy novel, the film tells the story of a father (Mortensen) and son (Smit-McPhee) making their way across post-apocalyptic America. Lack of food, bands of cannibals and terrible weather are just three of the hardships they must deal with. And at the end of their journey, what really awaits them?  
One to watch? Yes. Hillcoat (director of the excellent “The Proposition”) seems just the director for this weighty material. He told The New York Times, “What we wanted is a kind of heightened realism, as opposed to the ‘Mad Max’ thing, which is all about high concept and spectacle. We’re trying to avoid the clichés of apocalypse and make this more like a natural disaster.” And Mortensen said of his young co-star, “I don’t even think of him as a kid ... there are many adult actors who never have a moment like he has every day. I can’t say I’ve ever worked with a better partner.” Mortensen also told USA Today, “I think what's made this story so universally loved is because it's really about protecting your child, no matter what the circumstances.” This movie is ripe for Oscar contention.
Web site: NA
Release date: Nov. 14

Note: Dates are subject to change.

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