Ken Watanabe

When filming for "Letters From Iwo Jima" wrapped on that historic island in the Pacific, the movie's star, Ken Watanabe, scaled its dormant volcano with American members of the movie's crew. The group prayed at the cemetery atop Mt. Suribachi, which memorializes the Japanese soldiers who perished in the crucial World War II battle. Then crew members handed him two flags -- the Stars and Stripes and Japan's rising sun -- and snapped his photo.

If moviegoers didn't exactly show an appetite for the second Truman Capote biopic within a year (the box-office gross of "Capote" was 25 times that of the straggling "Infamous"), it's hard to imagine they'll have much use for a second Alzheimer's weepie within a month.

If moviegoers didn't exactly show an appetite for the second Truman Capote biopic within a year (the box-office gross of "Capote" was 25 times that of the straggling "Infamous"), it's hard to imagine they'll have much use for a second Alzheimer's weepie within a month.

When filming for "Letters From Iwo Jima" wrapped on that historic island in the Pacific, the movie's star, Ken Watanabe, scaled its dormant volcano with American members of the movie's crew. The group prayed at the cemetery atop Mt. Suribachi, which memorializes the Japanese soldiers who perished in the crucial World War II battle. Then crew members handed him two flags -- the Stars and Stripes and Japan's rising sun -- and snapped his photo.

In "The Last Samurai," Tom Cruise is a former Civil War officer who finds himself in Japan training the emperor's new army in the ways of modern warfare. He is defeated and captured by a band of samurai fighting to hold onto their way of life and clinging to their code of conduct known as Bushido. Their leader, Katsumoto, spares Cruise's life in no small part to have someone to practice English with.

Dreaming is life's great solitary adventure. Whatever pleasures or terrors the dream state provides, we experience them alone or not at all. But what if other people could literally invade our dreams, what if a technology existed that enabled interlopers to create and manipulate sleeping life with the goal of stealing our secret thoughts, or more unsettling still, implanting ideas in the deepest of subconscious states and making us believe they're...

Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart, welcome to Hollywood's elite and gaudy Arkham club. In the highly anticipated new Batman film "The Dark Knight," which opens July 18, Ledger is stepping into the purple suit of the Joker, while Eckhart will portray Gotham City Dist. Atty. Harvey Dent, who starts the movie as a handsome lawman but ends up as Two-Face, the villain driven insane by disfiguring wounds.

Here follow some musings on the year's outstanding performances from a member of the nominating committee for the 10th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards: Nominations in the Academy Award acting categories may not mirror the SAG Award nominations as much as the directing nods seem to reflect the DGA Awards, but it's interesting to note how Kenneth Turan's Oscar picks ("It's January -- Roll Out the Oscar Picks," Jan. 18) are similar to our nominations. We're all in agreement on the outstanding performances of Ben Kingsley, Sean Penn and Bill Murray -- and I certainly understand that Johnny Depp of "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "The Station Agent's" Peter Dinklage are Oscar long shots -- but Russell Crowe and Jude Law?

Production of the long-in-the-works movie version of "Memoirs of a Geisha" will begin next month in Los Angeles and Japan with Rob Marshall in the director's chair, Columbia Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures announced. Chinese-born Zhang Ziyi of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" will play the title role of the young girl Sayuri who becomes a geisha, and Japanese star Ken Watanabe, who appeared as the title character in "The Last Samurai," will portray the businessman with whom she falls in love.

Summer's biggest hits at the U.S. box office had a huge weekend overseas. "Inception" debuted in several major foreign countries and generated strong receipts in all of them, proving that its sophisticated plot can translate well around the world. Japan was the biggest market for "Inception," thanks in part to publicity work done by native costar Ken Watanabe. The movie took in $8.9 million in the country. It opened to $8.1 million in France, $6.8 million in South Korea, virtually the same in Russia and $6.4 million in Australia.

In "The Last Samurai," Tom Cruise is a former Civil War officer who finds himself in Japan training the emperor's new army in the ways of modern warfare. He is defeated and captured by a band of samurai fighting to hold onto their way of life and clinging to their code of conduct known as Bushido. Their leader, Katsumoto, spares Cruise's life in no small part to have someone to practice English with.

Flashback (60/80). Shooting in Colorado. Dennis Hopper, Kiefer Sutherland and Carol Kane star in a contemporary action comedy of a '60s radical (Hopper) entrusted to the care of a young FBI agent (Sutherland). Producers Marvin Worth and David Loughery. Director Franco Amurri. Screenwriter Loughery. Distributor Paramount. Heaven and Earth (Kadokawa). Shooting in Japan and Calgary. Based on a novel by Chogoro Kaiongi, this $40-million epic traces the conflict between two young 15th-Century military leaders--each intending to conquer and rule in Japan.

Disney / Touchstone Spellbinding turns in "The Prestige" by Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale and Scarlett Johansson. Rudy Youngblood has an outside chance for "Apocalypto." Focus Features Derek Luke has momentum for "Catch a Fire." Fox Searchlight Oscar may shine on Forest Whitaker ("The Last King of Scotland"), Richard Griffiths ("The History Boys"), Aaron Eckhart ("Thank You for Smoking") and, possibly, Abigail Breslin ("Little Miss Sunshine").