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Will "Thirteen Days" Dominate the Weekend Box Office?

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DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're in the post-Hollywood period. It should be -- post holiday-period for Hollywood. It should be a big weekend with the box office: a lot of new movies coming out. Let's take a look at one of the most hyped, with a big star: "Thirteen Days."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THIRTEEN DAYS")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Sir, I think we have to issue pre-invasion orders for our forces.

BRUCE GREENWOOD, ACTOR: There's no choice. It's going to cost lives any way we go.

KEVIN COSTNER, ACTOR: We're talking about possible nuclear war.

STEVEN CULP, ACTOR: We've got a bunch of smart guys. We lock them in a room. They come up with some solutions.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: The full spectrum of air strikes is the minimum response the Joint Chiefs will accept.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: No, no, no. There is more than one option here.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: You're in pretty a bad fix, Mr. President.

GREENWOOD. Well, maybe you haven't noticed, you are in it with me.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Those damn Kennedys are going to destroy this country if we don't do something about this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Looks like a historical thriller. We have Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" magazine. Also, he's -- come on, you're our regular MORNING NEWS film guy too, Peter.

PETER TRAVERS, FILM CRITIC, "ROLLING STONE": Here I am!

KAGAN: Here you are, a regular guy.

TRAVERS: Here I am. Yes. KAGAN: Good morning.

TRAVERS: Good morning.

KAGAN: What about "Thirteen Days"? Is it worth checking out for a few bucks?

TRAVERS: You know, it really is. What you saw in those clips, too, were a lot of clips of men talking, you know?

KAGAN: Yes.

TRAVERS: And we're used to men shooting. And somehow the spectacle of watching men talking about something as serious as the Cuban Missile Crisis is actually exciting movie-making. Now, that is Kevin Costner over there in the corner.

KAGAN: That sure is -- with a short haircut.

TRAVERS: And we're not listening to him speak. And he's got this Boston accent about the "car" and the "job" that will drive you...

KAGAN: Does he pull it off?

TRAVERS: He does not.

KAGAN: Oh.

TRAVERS: It made me insanely crazy for about 20 minutes. And then you get used to it. And I think the director said to him: Well, don't do it so much, Kevin. Don't do it anymore, because we don't want to hear this accent.

And then the movie just takes off, because history makes it take off. And it's really exciting. I'm telling you to see that one, Daryn.

KAGAN: OK, I'll write that one down.

Our next movie has a lot of good stories behind it beside just the movie itself -- "Finding Forrester" -- Sean Connery, but also a discovery: Rob Brown.

TRAVERS: Yes, Rob Brown is a 16-year-old who has never acted before, never done anything. And here he is put up against the great Scot, Sean Connery. You know, I can do my Sean Connery impression, if you really want to hear it.

KAGAN: Yes, and you sound like Kevin Costner doing Boston accent.

TRAVERS: Thank you for that. And I'll remember that.

KAGAN: OK. TRAVERS: But, you know, Connery is terrific. And he's playing a reclusive J.D Salinger-like author who hasn't come out of his apartment in 20 years. And he helps this student to write. He tells him what writing is. You know, this sounds cornball. And a little of it is. It sounds manipulative. And a little of it is. But you know what, Daryn? It's also terrific, because Connery is terrific, and so is this kid, Rob Brown.

And to watch the both of them together is a pleasure. I think that Connery will be one of the five who's nominated for a best actor this year,

KAGAN: Really, based on this performance?

TRAVERS: And should be -- should be, yes.

KAGAN: Isn't this from the same director who brought us "Good Will Hunting"?

TRAVERS: Yes. And it's a little bit like "Good Will Hunting." You're going to hear that. It's the -- you know, the older tutor helping somebody else. And yet Connery is like nobody else in this world. And I think this weekend is going to be a big movie at the box office. This may be the biggest of those movies that comes out.

KAGAN: All right, a big directing pair out there, the Coen brothers: They did one of my favorite movies ever: "Raising Arizona." They have a new one out with George...

TRAVERS: What about "Fargo"?

KAGAN: I love "Fargo," too.

TRAVERS: All right.

KAGAN: But having lived in Arizona, I'm partial to "Raising Arizona."

TRAVERS: OK.

KAGAN: It's called "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" George Clooney is in it. He kind of sings, kind of doesn't. Let's listen and then we'll talk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR (singing): I am a man of constant sorrow. I've seen trouble on my day. I bid farewell to old Kentucky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Interest of fairness, George Clooney is lip-synching there. He said he tried to sing. But they -- it didn't cut. Does the movie cut it, Peter?

TRAVERS: It just doesn't work out with the singing. You know, I could sing and do my George Clooney impression, but I won't. But, yes, the movie does cut it. It is the Coen brothers. If you like their movies -- and I say, "Who doesn't?" -- you cannot think of missing this one.

KAGAN: Really? OK, well, I'll definitely write that one down. It looks strange, but the Coen brothers do strange oh so well.

TRAVERS: That is three goodies, Daryn.

KAGAN: I know. And you're so positive. And on that say, we're going to say goodbye.

TRAVERS: Yes. OK.

KAGAN: Peter, it was great to see you. We fit you in there at the end.

TRAVERS: Same here. Bye-bye.

KAGAN: Peter Travers from "Rolling Stone" magazine with three movies he wants us to see over the weekend.

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