Ed Harris

Jackson Pollock was a tormented soul who was able, until they overcame him, to pour those torments onto a canvas and make art of a kind no one had seen before. "Pollock," a labor of love that Ed Harris not only stars in (and for which he's received an Oscar nomination), but also directed and co-produced, gets the torments right. There's no doubt that the Pollock depicted here is wrestling with some serious demons and that the only times he's able to best them is when he's painting. But it never really addresses the question of where those demons came from or what it was about painting that salved Pollock's soul so completely.

The last time Victoria Dinatale had an acting gig was in 1978, when she played a tree in a North Carroll High School production of a play whose name she can't even recall. But she still remembers the thrill of the spotlight, which is what drew her and hundreds of others to a casting call for extras in "Game Change," an HBO movie about the 2008 presidential race that started filming in Baltimore late last month. Aspiring extras filed into a theater at Stevenson University for hours Saturday, bringing with them headshots that in some cases had to have been taken decades before, on the best hair days of their lives.

Who knew? Who could have guessed that an ordinary guy like Ed Harris would have the acting chops to take an otherwise run-of-the-mill film like "The Third Miracle," opening today at the Charles, and make it quite entertaining? Well, if you've been paying attention, Harris' gifts have been increasingly apparent. He's captured Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for his roles in "The Truman Show" (1998) and "Apollo 13," (1995) after all, and he even managed to make a sorry film like "Milk Money" (1994)

Starring Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen. Directed by Ed Harris. New Line Home Video $28.98, blu-ray $35.98 *** Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen make quite the pair in Appaloosa, a Western that combines the suspense and pacing of movies such as 3:10 to Yuma with camaraderie straight out of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Virgil Cole (Harris) and Everett Hitch (Mortensen) are lawmen-for-hire, wandering through the Old West, circa 1882, looking for towns in need of a firm hand. They find just that in Appaloosa, a town so in fear of local rancher Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons)

The last time Victoria Dinatale had an acting gig was in 1978, when she played a tree in a North Carroll High School production of a play whose name she can't even recall. But she still remembers the thrill of the spotlight, which is what drew her and hundreds of others to a casting call for extras in "Game Change," an HBO movie about the 2008 presidential race that started filming in Baltimore late last month. Aspiring extras filed into a theater at Stevenson University for hours Saturday, bringing with them headshots that in some cases had to have been taken decades before, on the best hair days of their lives.

Starring Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen. Directed by Ed Harris. New Line Home Video $28.98, blu-ray $35.98 *** Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen make quite the pair in Appaloosa, a Western that combines the suspense and pacing of movies such as 3:10 to Yuma with camaraderie straight out of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Virgil Cole (Harris) and Everett Hitch (Mortensen) are lawmen-for-hire, wandering through the Old West, circa 1882, looking for towns in need of a firm hand. They find just that in Appaloosa, a town so in fear of local rancher Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons)

"Stepmom" should set the gold standard for tear-jerkers for months to come. Tasteful, genuine and winningly acted by Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon and Ed Harris, this well-paced family melodrama recalls those well-appointed weepers of the 1950s, commonly called "women's pictures.""Stepmom" may concern itself with the relationship of two women who find an unexpected bond, but it is very much about modern-day American families at their most fractured. And if the image of a happily blended family it offers is pure fantasy, it will touch anyone who has first-hand experience with divorce, adult dating and less-than-perfect parents -- in other words, just about everyone.

Earlier in the month, an Iranian human rights activist was glorified by the Nobel Peace Prize committee, while just this week Mother Teresa was beatified by the pope. Hollywood, not to be outdone, has canonized a white football coach who took it upon himself to be nice to a young black man of limited intellectual capacity. The coach's beneficence was doubly worthy of a major motion picture, we are to infer, because the events transpired in a South Carolina village at a time (early '70s)

Appaloosa : *** 1/2 ( 3 1/2 Stars) Starring Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris (who also directed) as Old West lawmen intent on cleaning up a frontier town, Appaloosa is an actor's duet scored for shotguns and six-shooters. It has been delighting Western fans and cowboy-picture neophytes for weeks, but it appears to be heading for its last theatrical roundup. Catch it while you can on the big screen, where you can really savor its Southwestern vistas. next friday Changeling : (Universal Pictures)

Buffalo Soldiers offers razor-fanged black humor about the American military going loco during peacetime. A kinetic riff on U.S. Army mores and the go-getting Yankee character, it moves so confidently and brightly that it's ticklish as well as chilling - and, in its own dark way, enthralling. Set on a U.S. Army base in Germany at the end of the Cold War, it's about what happens when security forces become insecure in purpose and morality. Postponed initially because of 9/11, this movie actually flatters wartime service, by inference.

Appaloosa : *** 1/2 ( 3 1/2 Stars) Starring Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris (who also directed) as Old West lawmen intent on cleaning up a frontier town, Appaloosa is an actor's duet scored for shotguns and six-shooters. It has been delighting Western fans and cowboy-picture neophytes for weeks, but it appears to be heading for its last theatrical roundup. Catch it while you can on the big screen, where you can really savor its Southwestern vistas. next friday Changeling : (Universal Pictures)

Appaloosa What it's about : A taciturn marshal (Ed Harris) and only slightly more talkative deputy (Viggo Mortensen, above) tame the title town and rule supreme - until the love of an elusive gal (Renee Zellweger) complicates law and order. Rated : R The scoop : Harris and Mortensen deliver delicious, virtuoso understatement, and as a director, Harris makes this old-fashioned Western go down like a single malt aged for 25 years. Grade: *** 1/2 (3 1/2 STARS) Beverly Hills Chihuahua What it's about: A spoiled Chihuahua named Chloe (voice of Drew Barrymore)

Earlier in the month, an Iranian human rights activist was glorified by the Nobel Peace Prize committee, while just this week Mother Teresa was beatified by the pope. Hollywood, not to be outdone, has canonized a white football coach who took it upon himself to be nice to a young black man of limited intellectual capacity. The coach's beneficence was doubly worthy of a major motion picture, we are to infer, because the events transpired in a South Carolina village at a time (early '70s)

Buffalo Soldiers offers razor-fanged black humor about the American military going loco during peacetime. A kinetic riff on U.S. Army mores and the go-getting Yankee character, it moves so confidently and brightly that it's ticklish as well as chilling - and, in its own dark way, enthralling. Set on a U.S. Army base in Germany at the end of the Cold War, it's about what happens when security forces become insecure in purpose and morality. Postponed initially because of 9/11, this movie actually flatters wartime service, by inference.

Jackson Pollock was a tormented soul who was able, until they overcame him, to pour those torments onto a canvas and make art of a kind no one had seen before. "Pollock," a labor of love that Ed Harris not only stars in (and for which he's received an Oscar nomination), but also directed and co-produced, gets the torments right. There's no doubt that the Pollock depicted here is wrestling with some serious demons and that the only times he's able to best them is when he's painting. But it never really addresses the question of where those demons came from or what it was about painting that salved Pollock's soul so completely.

Who knew? Who could have guessed that an ordinary guy like Ed Harris would have the acting chops to take an otherwise run-of-the-mill film like "The Third Miracle," opening today at the Charles, and make it quite entertaining? Well, if you've been paying attention, Harris' gifts have been increasingly apparent. He's captured Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for his roles in "The Truman Show" (1998) and "Apollo 13," (1995) after all, and he even managed to make a sorry film like "Milk Money" (1994)

Appaloosa What it's about : A taciturn marshal (Ed Harris) and only slightly more talkative deputy (Viggo Mortensen, above) tame the title town and rule supreme - until the love of an elusive gal (Renee Zellweger) complicates law and order. Rated : R The scoop : Harris and Mortensen deliver delicious, virtuoso understatement, and as a director, Harris makes this old-fashioned Western go down like a single malt aged for 25 years. Grade: *** 1/2 ( 3 1/2 STARS) Burn After Reading What it's about: Espionage gets mixed up with a gym worker's desire to get a Hollywood body, a CIA wife's move to get a divorce, and a U.S. Treasury agent's propensity to get some thrills whenever his current flame flicks him the wrong way. Rated: R The scoop : You can't fault the ensemble (George Clooney, above, and Frances McDormand are especially spirited)

"Stepmom" should set the gold standard for tear-jerkers for months to come. Tasteful, genuine and winningly acted by Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon and Ed Harris, this well-paced family melodrama recalls those well-appointed weepers of the 1950s, commonly called "women's pictures.""Stepmom" may concern itself with the relationship of two women who find an unexpected bond, but it is very much about modern-day American families at their most fractured. And if the image of a happily blended family it offers is pure fantasy, it will touch anyone who has first-hand experience with divorce, adult dating and less-than-perfect parents -- in other words, just about everyone.