THE GOOD SHEPHERD

Directed By: Robert De Niro

Starring: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Robert De Niro, Alec Baldwin, Joe Pesci, John Turturro, William Hurt and Michael Gambon

Okay, I like a good spy flick, and if you mix in a little historical info that makes me feel a little smarter leaving the cineplex, we can begin picking out kitchenware together. Judging from the trailer, it appears The Good Shepherd should deliver as an in-depth look at the origins of the C.I.A. The cast looks stellar, and I'm a big fan of De Niro's last directorial outing, Bronx Tale. The trailer is put together nicely enough and gives you the impression of a real epic (the trailer advertises this is a thirty-year story). Now, is it me or has that haunting score from The Island been playing on more than a few trailers lately? It's nice to see somebody making use of a bad Michael Bay movie. The real question is, will the movie be more entertaining than Damon's last appearance on Jimmy Kimmel?.

FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Adam Beach, Jamie Bell, Jesse Bradford, Barry Pepper, Ryan Phillippe and Paul Walker

You know the Oscars are peeking around the corner when we get the new trailer to Clint Eastwood's latest opus. The trailer makes good on the promise that this is a sure-fire Oscar contender with Phillippe and Bradford seemingly getting the meatiest of the roles. The film is a look at the lives of the men who raised the flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima. Eastwood has taken a queue from producer Steven Spielberg and gone with the bleached look that worked so well in Saving Private Ryan. Flags is the first of Eastwood's tag-teaming Iwo Jima films coming out (possibly) this year. You can get a glimpse of Eastwood's Letters From Iwo Jima in the international trailer, which contains scenes from both films. And if you're not in-the-know (see: have more of a life than me), Letters is also a look at the Battle of Iwo Jima, this time from the Japanese perspective. Based on pure sentiment, you would assume Flags has the edge in the Oscar race, but who knows ... Letters From Iwo Jima could end up being the better film.

Dre Rivas