In addition to boasting the most fascinating cast-Streep, Moore and Kidman-of the season, it's a production of the beautiful Michael Cunningham novel, which is based on Virginia Woolf's even more beautiful "Mrs. Dalloway."

Chicago

"Moulin Rouge" might not quite have revived the musical, but based on previews and buzz, this splashy version of the story of murderesses Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) looks to be irresistibly and unabashedly electrifying.

Gangs of New York

Martin Scorsese's long-delayed film about the bloody street gang wars in turn-of-the-century New York is worth seeing even just to witness the showdown between thespian titans Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis.

Adaptation

The plot basically defies description. Frustrated screenwriter Charlie Kaufman sat down and wrote the story of Charlie Kaufman struggling to write a screenplay about Charlie Kaufman struggling to write a screenplay based on a book. The reason to see it: it's from the writer-director team of "Being John Malkovich."

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

As if the fact that this is George Clooney's directorial debut weren't reason enough to see it, the story is ridiculously intriguing. It's based on "The Gong Show" host Chuck Barris' autobiography, in which he claimed to have moonlighted as a CIA assassin.

Catch Me if You Can

Ordinarily I'd recoil at the thought of yet another Spielberg-Hanks pairing. But this isn't another WWII sermon; rather, it's the rollicking true tale of a 17-year old (Leonardo DiCaprio) who managed, among other things, to forge over $2 million in checks before being caught by the FBI.