Film

You may know Irish actor Gabriel Byrne from The Usual Suspects, or from Miller's Crossing, or from Into the West — a film he helped produce, as well as perform in. But before finding his way into acting in his late 20s, he tried his hand at archeology, teaching and even short-order cooking. His new movie is Jindabyne.

Children of Men, the breathtaking Alfonso Cuaron film based on P.D. James' dystopian-futurist novel, has just come out on DVD. Critic-at-large John Powers takes a look at one of 2006's most talked-about movies.

Mike White is the Hollywood screenwriter behind hit films including The School of Rock, The Good Girl and Chuck & Buck. Now he has directed Year of the Dog, a "not very funny" comedy about a woman grieving for her lost pet; it stars Peter Sarsgaard and Saturday Night Live veteran Molly Shannon.

Zombies, car chases, and fake trailers for a string of films that don't exist: Grindhouse is a kind of meta-exploitation double feature from directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino.

With nearly 40 films to his credit, including Days of Heaven, American Gigolo, An Officer and a Gentleman, The Cotton Club, and Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Richard Gere knows an iconic character when he sees one.

In his latest film, The Hoax, Gere plays a scam artist who lands a seven-figure book deal with a major publisher. It's based on the true story of Clifford Irving, who claimed to be an authorized biographer of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.

In the new film Blades of Glory, comic actor Will Ferrell plays a boorish figure skater forced to team up with another man in a pairs skating competition. The role is Ferrell's latest in a series of characters that have parodied macho men.

A new Criterion four-DVD box set — Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist features several of Robeson's films and an abundance of documentary material.

Mike Binder has directed nine feature films, although before his last, The Upside of Anger, he was best known as an actor and for the television series The Mind of the Married Man.

In Reign Over Me, he gives a serious — an extremely serious — part to the comic Adam Sandler, who plays a man whose life is destroyed by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Shes up for an academy award for her portrayal of the mother of a drug addict who is also an addict herself in the film –Requiem for a Dream.— This is her 5th nomination and could be her second win. She won the Academy Award for the 1974 film –Alice Doesnt Live Here Anymore.— Burstyns other films include –The Last Picture Show,— –The Exorcist,— and –Same Time, Next Year— (she starred in the Broadway version too and won a Tony).

In the year 2000, a civilian employee of the U.S. military in Seoul, South Korea, ordered a Korean subordinate to dump a large amount of formaldehyde into a sewer pipe leading to the Han River. The incident aroused violent anti-American sentiment in Korea, and led to the birth of a monster — a monster movie, called The Host.