Holiday movie preview

NOV. 17

Casino Royale

As countless Bond fans have pointed out, Daniel Craig doesn’t exactly look the part. While the blond bruiser may not have the polished GQ sheen of a Pierce Brosnan or Roger Moore, he does possess the look of a guy who wouldn’t think twice about kicking a dude’s teeth in if necessary. Casino Royale is based on spy author Ian Fleming’s debut 007 novel and reveals how Bond earned his license to kill and took down the mastermind of a vast terrorist network. If Layer Cake and Munich are any indication, Craig will do a bang-up job. Also starring Judi Dench and Eva Green. sonypictures.com/movies/casinoroyale/site.

NOV. 22

Bobby

Emilio Estevez returns from oblivion as writer/director of this Altman-esque period drama detailing the lives of a whopping 22 guests of the Ambassador Hotel the night Robert F. Kennedy

was assassinated there. The cast runs from the brilliant —Anthony Hopkins, William H. Macy—to the bizarre—Ashton Kutcher and Lindsay Lohan? The intertwined stories of campaign volunteers and financiers, an alcoholic lounge singer and a racist restaurant manager swirl and culminate in the hours leading up to Kennedy’s untimely death.

DEC. 8

Apocalypto

What did ninth-century Mayans think would appease the gods and slow their empire’s inevitable collapse? More human sacrifices. Mel Gibson’s follow-up to The Passion of the Christ tells the story of Jaguar Paw, a young Mayan who is forced to flee his home after getting pegged for ritual sacrifice. Shot in Mexico with local actors, Apocalypto should be a dense, engrossing and mind-bending adventure along the lines of Apocalypse Now and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Oh yeah, and the dialogue is all Mayan. apocalyptomovies.go.com.

DEC. 15

The Pursuit of Happyness

If the trailer didn’t make you misty, the whole of Italian phenom Gabriele Muccino’s English-language debut probably will. Will Smith goes dramatic and middle-aged as Christopher Gardner, a wayfaring single dad who pours himself out for his son and tries desperately to avoid the mistakes his own father made. The real-life Gardner is now a self-made millionaire and director of the NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education. sonypictures.com/movies/thepursuitofhappyness.

DEC. 22

We Are Marshall

On Nov. 17, 1970, 75 Marshall University players,

coaches and fans died in a plane crash after an away game. As the closest thing to a family film this Christmas, We Are Marshall deals with the aftermath of the crash as the university mourns its loss and tries to turn tragedy into triumph by putting the pieces of its football program back together. Matthew McConaughey stars as coach Jack Lengyel, and Matthew Fox plays his guilt-ridden assistant, Red Dawson, who was supposed to be on the ill-fated flight but went on a recruiting trip instead.