What to See This Weekend: 'Burlesque,' 'Love and Other Drugs,' 'Tangled,' 'Faster'

Just in time for the Thanksgiving feast, your cineplex offers some new sizzling, saucy treats for grownups, as well as some tasty toons for those at the kids' table.

New and Noteworthy: 'Burlesque'

Starring: Christina Aguilera, Cher, Cam Gigandet, Stanley Tucci, Kristen Bell
Directed by: Steve Antin
What's It About? Xtina stars as an aspiring singer/dancer who gets her big break in the Pussycat Dolls-style revue at a neo-burlesque club owned by Cher. Bell is the bitchy rival, 'Dancing With The Stars' pro Julianne Hough is the nice girl who helps Aguilera, Gigandet ('Twilight') is the poor love interest, Eric 'McSteamy' Dane is the rich love interest, Tucci is the stage-savvy mentor and Alan Cumming is (of course) the sexually ambiguous emcee.
Why Should You See It? It's Aguilera's first dramatic film role and Cher's first movie in ages. It's an old-fashioned movie musical of the kind hardly anyone makes anymore. There should be no shortage of camp, whether that's something you revel in or cackle at. Did we mention Cher? Well, we did, but she's officially a force of nature now, so ignore her at your peril.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'Chicago,' 'Glee'

•Showtimes & Tickets
•Trailers & Clips
•Unscripted: Interview with Cher and Christina Aguilera (VIDEO)
•At the 'Burlesque' Premiere
•Reviews

'Burlesque' - Trailer No. 1

'Love and Other Drugs'

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jake Gyllenhaal
Directed by: Edward Zwick
What's It About? Jamie Reidy's memoir 'Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman' may not sound like the stuff of romantic drama to you, but it's the source for this romance about a pharmaceutical sales rep (Gyllenhaal) who falls in love with a free spirit (Hathaway).
Why Should You See It? Reunited for the first time since they got naked together in 'Brokeback Mountain,' Hathaway and Gyllenhaal offer a rare, adult take on romance that includes plenty of frank sexuality, in which they discuss emotional issues with a candor and openness and casual attitude toward nudity seldom shown in mainstream romantic movies these days. Also, the stars spend a lot of time nude.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'Sweet November,' 'Autumn in New York,' 'Love Story'

•Showtimes & Tickets
•Trailers & Clips
•Exclusive: Jake Gyllenhaal Remembers Co-star Jill Clayburgh

'Love and Other Drugs' - Trailer No. 1

'Tangled'

Starring: Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy, Ron Perlman, M.C. Gainey
Directed by: Nathan Greno, Byron Howard
What's It About? It's Disney's take on the Rapunzel fairy tale, in which the long-tressed princess (voiced by Moore) doesn't just wait to be swept off her feet. Instead, she must venture out of the tower to find her true love.
Why Should You See It? It bears the Disney stamp, it has strong advance buzz and it's reportedly the last time Disney will dip into the fairytale princess well.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'The Princess and the Frog,' 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'The Little Mermaid'

•Showtimes & Tickets
•Trailers & Clips
•'Tangled' Stars and Directors Talk PG Rating, 'Sassitude' and a Potential 'Chuck' Musical Episode
•'Tangled' Will Be Final Disney Fairytale - Is That a Good Thing?
• Reviews: Cinematical

'Tangled' - Trailer No. 2

'Faster'

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Maggie Grace, Carla Gugino
Directed by: George Tillman, Jr.
What's It About? Once he's released from a 10-year stretch, ex-con Driver (Johnson) immediately sets about crossing names off his revenge to-do list. Driver is pursued in turn by a burned-out cop (Thornton) and a slick hitman (Jackson-Cohen).
Why Should You See It? It's an action pic, it's called 'Faster,' it stars The Artist Formerly Known as The Rock -- what else do you need to know? Also, it's the only action movie opening this weekend.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'The Rundown,' 'Payback,' 'Kill Bill'

•Showtimes & Tickets
•Trailers & Clips
•Reviews

'Faster' - Trailer No. 2'

In Limited Release

'The King's Speech' is earning strong Oscar buzz for Colin Firth's performance as George VI, who finds himself unexpectedly on the English throne on the eve of World War II, and who enlists a speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush) to help him inspire the nation.
Showtimes & Tickets | Stars Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Director Tom Hooper Talk 'The King's Speech' (VIDEO) | 'The King's Speech' Premiere (VIDEO)
'The Nutcracker in 3D,' from Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky, turns the classic Tchaikovsky Christmas ballet into an effects-laden live-action adventure, starring Elle Fanning, Nathan Lane, and John Turturro.
Showtimes & Tickets
Still in Theaters, Still Awesome

•'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I' - See it again, for Dobby's sake. | Showtimes & Tickets
•'The Next Three Days' - Who'd win in a tag team match between Team 'Faster' (Dwayne Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton) and Team 'Next Three Days' (Russell Crowe, Liam Neeson). Don't know, but we'd pay to watch. | Showtimes & Tickets
•'For Colored Girls' - Janet Jackson, Anika Noni Rose, Thandie Newton, Whoopi Goldberg, Kerry Washington, Phylicia Rashad -- where else are you going to see a cast like this? | Showtimes & Tickets
Staying In This Weekend?

New on DVD This Week: 'Eat Pray Love' sounds like a Thanksgiving to-do list, but it's also Ryan Murphy's adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's account of her round-the-world trek in search of gastronomic, spiritual, and romantic fulfillment. Julia Roberts is your genial guide for this glossy travelogue. Buy or rent the DVD | More new DVD releases

Movie Homework: Once upon a time, 'Faster's' Billy Bob Thornton wasn't the world-weary cop chasing a fugitive, he was the fugitive. He plays a particularly brutal thug in 1991's 'One False Move,' which he also co-wrote. Bill Paxton is the cop, and Cynda Williams is the femme fatale who comes between them. A dark, haunting little thriller that deserves to be better known. Buy or rent the DVD

On My Netflix Queue: Usually, my favorite Thanksgiving movie, 1995's 'Home for the Holidays,' is a November staple on TV, but no one seems to be airing it this year, so it's time to rent Jodie Foster's underrated comedy about a Turkey Day celebration gone awry, as Holly Hunter and Robert Downey Jr. discover once again how embarrassingly easy it is for our parents to make us into little children again. Buy or rent the DVD.
•Follow Gary Susman on Twitter @garysusman.

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Actors Who Do Their Own Stunts: Tom Cruise and 8 Other Daredevil Stars

Last week, Tom Cruise scaled the world's tallest building while filming his own stunts for 'Mission: Impossible 4.' The idea of a 48-year-old Scientologist peering through the windows at tourists visiting the indoor observation area on the 124th floor is certainly a compelling one, but Cruise is hardly the first big star to perform his own stunts.

Let's take a look at other highly paid actors from recent years who have risked life and limb in pursuit of making things look just a little more authentic on-screen. Keep reading to learn about hardcore stars such as Jason Statham and Chloe Moretz who have elected to take the action into their own hands.

Jackie Chan

Chan, who holds the Guinness World Record for "most stunts performed by a living actor," has to appear first on any list like this. And while his recent fare, such as 'The Karate Kid' and 'The Spy Next Door' haven't been as physically impressive as, say, that bit in 'Police Story' where he uses an umbrella handle to hook onto a speeding city bus, he's still the living master at putting your body out there in order to get the shot. Jason Statham Movie Videos & Movie Scenes at MOVIECLIPS.com
The British bulldog of absurdist kicks-and-explosions spectacles since the turn of the millennium, Statham is a former Olympics diver who does almost all of his own stunts -- including the driving -- which is extra impressive given how much abuse his characters in series like 'The Transporter' and 'Crank' take. While he wasn't behind the wheel for the mind-blowing 'Transporter 3' Audi-on-two-wheels-caught-between-two-semi-trucks stunt, much of the bad-ass BMX sequence was all him -- as were about a zillion other things you've seen him do on-screen. Christian Bale Movie Videos & Movie Scenes at MOVIECLIPS.com
Bale thrills at the prospect of radically transforming his body as a sort of visual stunt, depending on the role he's playing -- he famously dropped down to 121 pounds for his role in 2004's 'The Machinist', then immediately bulked up to 230 to play Batman the following year. But for the director Werner Herzog, Bale was also willing to put his body at more immediate risk: For 'Rescue Dawn,' he refused to let a stuntman dangle from a moving helicopter in his stead, telling About.com that, "F**k yes, I want to be doing that." Harrison Ford Movie Videos & Movie Scenes at MOVIECLIPS.com
There were plenty of things to find unimpressive about 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,' but Harrison Ford's intestinal fortitude on set wasn't one of them. The 65-year-old did "90% of his own stunts," according to costar Shia LeBeouf. While Ford doesn't jump off of motorcycles in his movies, pretty much every time you see Indy take a punch, that's Ford doing the physical stuff. Viggo Mortenson
Like an American Jackie Chan, Mortenson performed all of his own stunts as Aragorn in the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy and followed that up with an intense horse-racing period piece, 'Hidalgo,' in which he engaged in high-speed action while on horseback. (According to Internet lore, he was willing to film scenes that even the stuntmen refused.) Meanwhile, in 'Lord of the Rings,' he insisted on carrying a real steel sword for his scenes rather than an aluminum or rubber proxy. After filming 'Hidalgo,' he even bought the horse he rode for much of the action. Chloe Moretz
The stunts Moretz performs in 'Kick-Ass' may not be as physically daring as, say, those done by Statham in 'Crank,' but for a 13-year-old, she holds her own pretty well. She did nearly all of her own work, except for the part where Hit-Girl scurries up a wall. In the end, according to an interview with the Winnipeg Free Press, she had more trouble with the swearing than the action. Angelina Jolie Movie Videos & Movie Scenes at MOVIECLIPS.com
While Tom Cruise was dangling 124 stories up for the 'M:I 4' stunt, he was supported by a full harness with a number of redundant safety wires. When Angelina Jolie walked a narrow ledge 12 stories high for 'Salt,' meanwhile, she had only a single wire there in case she fell. That bit in the trailer where the secret agent (or whatever it is she plays in that movie) jumps off of a bridge? All Jolie, as well. Her motivation? She told 'Entertainment Weekly' that she wanted to do her own stunts to impress her kids. Cameron Diaz Movie Videos & Movie Scenes at MOVIECLIPS.com
While filming 'Knight and Day,' Cruise wasn't the only star getting in on the action: Cameron Diaz did much of her own driving for the film's chase sequences. While she did use a stunt double for some of the movie's more unbelievable sequences, she threw her own kicks and punches in many of the action sequences and even took an 'Entertainment Tonight' reporter along with her for a test-drive of the stunt car on-set.

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