Redeeming my Sunday Afternoons

As my usual Sunday routine, I purchased my New York Times. Yes, I had to explain to the pimply faced kid at the checkout that it really WAS $5 and that yes, it really WAS worth every penny.

This week is exceptional because this is the week that the new season's movies are detailed in the Time Entertainment section. It's been a long, rainy, horrible movie season for me. I cannot remember the last time I walked out of not only one but two movies that I paid full price to see. That happened this year with "No Reservations" and uhm, I can't remember the other one's name. Always disappointing to see even mediocre actors trapped in lifeless plots and dull dialogue.

So it is with great relief I read about upcoming films. Here's a list of what I'm going to head out to see...

"The Brave One" starring Jodie Foster. I love Foster because she selects gritty difficult roles and plays them with aplumb. Although lovely in character and face, she goes beyond the shallow roles and finds complex characters that we love even though we are faced with their dark sides. Her new movie is being compared a lot to what brought her to the forefront "Taxi Driver" and I'll be standing first in line when this one premieres.

Robert Redford has directed his first feature in seven years with "Lions for Lambs". Redford's movies are always beautiful. Each frame looks like a portrait, carefully drawn by an artist. And they have another quality that is lacking often in most movies - characters that we can care about and a storyline that can succeed without animation or wild special effects. Even though he has Tom Cruise in this one, I'll go see it -- Meryl Streep's presence will surely balance the younger actors arrogance and cardboard character acting. (Streep is also in "Rendition" paired with Alan Arkin and you can bet I'll be there for that. Streep is Hollywood's diva - no one gets her characters more spot on, no one can make you hate or love so much. In my opinion, she has no match with her ability to transform on the screen into whomever she wants us to believe she is.)

Joaquin Phoenix fans can celebrate that he's returning to big screen in "We Own the Night" by director James Gray who also directed "The Yards" in 200. I'm not a big Gray fan, but Phoenix has the ability to play difficult characters with depth and charm. I'm in for this one in a big way.

I'm always hesitant to recommend a Billy Bob Thornton flick. Although I love this twisted guy, his pictures often leave me disappointed. He might have a winner with upcomoing "Mr. Woodcock" simply because Susan Sarandon has agreed to play it. Sarandon is my all around heroine simply because she's over 40, looks great, plays great parts and oh yeah, she's married to that Tim guy. Seriously, she's the best actress in Hollywood - -no matter what age you look in - and I'll go to anything she is in. She's smart, funny and can play characters that are tortured and twisted and still, we love them. Anybody can play beauty queens and make us love them, Sarandon plays menopausal forty-somethings and we all cheer.

And hooray, hooray! John Cusack is back in a film that I won't be afraid to see alone. He has selected a couple of duds (Must Love Dogs) and then that thriller thing that I couldn't see without my kids in tow or I'd have nightmares for weeks. This time, Cusack is in "Grace is Gone" a political treatise about the Iraq war. I'm skeptical about the theme - Hollywood seems to oversimplify difficult political ideas into shlock, but Cusack is a man that I love to watch. He has the ability to play main guy charm but often offers up characters that surprise and delight us, as he did in "Grifters" all those years ago. This one I can't wait to see.

I will, of course, go to see "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" if nothing else for the beautiful wardrobes. I also adore Cate Blanchett and thinks she often gets short shrift for her acting. She has an amazing tranquil beauty that both startles and illuminates the screen...I love her for the fact that she goes way, way beyond that and offers up characters that make us think and feel for.

Finally, I'm always up for a great cop flick and there are at least two that I will not miss:

"American Gangster" with Denzel (is there a better looking man on the planet??) and Russell Crowe (OK, maybe him.) And even though their good looks would get me into the theater, their acting ability - particularly Crowe's -- would even get me to splurge on popcorn and coke for a matinee. And yeah, anything with Ridley Scott and Brian Grazer in the credits has me hooked.

"Hunting Party" with Terrence Howard and Richard Gere should also offer up good acting chemistry along with good storytelling. Although this is less a cop flick than a comedy, I'm eager to see what these two can do. I have loved Howard in every film I've seen him in...he has that hang dog look that can make you swoon, make you believe he'll make good this time.

A word about my all time fave - Pacino. I will go see "Cruising" because of films like "Scent of a Woman" and a million others where I get to see him cinematic genius erupt. I think part of the fun of watching Pacino is to see when he will explode and where he goes with the blasst. But of late, I've been disappointed with his choices on films...they seem to mimic his ability of past successes and I hope this film will be better. No one loves Pacino more than me - no one, and no one wants to see him do what he does best - make us care about the underdog, the rebel or the fighter.

Looks like Sunday afternoons will be more than cleaning out closets.