There’s a bunch of good stuff coming out this week. Much better than last week’s snooze-fest. First up is an adaptation of a book that shot to the top of my favorites list when I read it last year.

Choke :: Choke stars the always excellent Sam Rockwell as a lovable, if morally bankrupt sex addict who goes to Sex Addicts Anonymous to pick up women. He makes money by pretending to be a choking victim at restaurants, and uses it to keep his mother in a high-end institution due to her advanced dementia. Oh, and he works at a colonial theme park. So what is a loser like this to do when he meets the woman of his dreams? I read the book by Chuck Palahniuk, who also wrote Fight Club, and I like Sam Rockwell, so I can’t wait to see what he will to with Victor Mancini.

Body of Lies :: Leo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe star in an action-packed political thriller by director Ridley Scott.  While investigating a terrorist cell operating out of Jordan, a CIA agent (DiCaprio) begins to wonder just how much he can trust his superior officers and his supposed allies.  This looks like a seat-of-your-pants ride, and I can’t wait to see it.

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People :: Simon Pegg stars in a different kind of movie than his usual wacky British comedy, but he does a wonderful job as Sidney Young, the new editor for an iconic fasion magazine.  His attempts to fit in with the egotistical and superficial people who now fill his days is simply hilarious to watch.  Simon Pegg shines in everything I’ve seen him in, and this one is no exception.

Quarantine :: A television reporter and her cameraman are trapped in an inner-city hotel after it falls under a mysterious quarantine order.  After that order is lifted, the cameraman’s footage provide the only clues to the gruesome events that transpired in that hotel.

Changeling :: Changeling stars Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich in a (somewhat) true story “Inspired by actual events” in 1920’s Los Angeles.  When a woman’s son goes missing in 1928, an all-out effort to find him fails.  Months later, she is presented with a boy and told that it is her son.  The only prolem?  It is obvious to Christine that this isn’t her son, but nobody in the corrupt L.A. beaurocracy will believe her.

Hounddog :: Hounddog is a drama starring Dakota Fanning as a troubled girl living in 1950’s-era Alabama.  With her home-life a mess, Lewellen takes refuge in the music of the King, Elvis Presley.