I am not a gullible person but “Cold Creek Manor’s” trailer had me completely fooled. I assumed from watching the suspenseful publicity tool that the movie would be intriguing, maybe a little scary, and yes - suspenseful. Boy was I had. Shame on me.

Sharon Stone and Dennis Quaid play parents of two young kids growing up in the big city. When an accident causes them to reassess their lives, they take the seemingly over-reactive step of selling their NY home and moving to the country. They purchase Cold Creek Manor, a huge house filled with the previous owner’s furniture, clothing, and most personal and private possessions.

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CW Briggs is a veteran insurance investigator, with many successes. Betty Ann Fitzgerald is a new employee in the company he works for, with the task of reorganizing the office. They don’t like each other - or at least that’s what they think. During a night out with the rest of the office employees, they go to watch Voltan, a magician who secretly hypnotizes both of them, in order to use them for his dirty schemes. The next evening already, Briggs makes his first robbery, and when he wakes up in the morning he has no memory of it. Things get really complicated when he starts investigating the case. Will he be able to uncover… himself? Written by Chris Makrozahopoulos {makzax@hotmail.com}

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Sydney Pollack returns to the land of thrillers with “The Interpreter,” a timely, thought-provoking drama with a superb cast and an interesting premise. A little long-winded and sometimes confusing, “The Interpreter” benefits from solid performances by Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, and Catherine Keener.

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Hype machines be damned. Forget the rumors of derision behind the scenes, forget the cost over-runs and lack of onscreen chemistry between two of the leading actors. Forget that Miramax and Harvey Weinstein had anything whatsoever to do with cutting, budgeting or otherwise exercising creative control over the finished product. “Gangs of New York” is pure Scorsese through-and-through and for that audiences should be eternally grateful. We’re not force-fed a toned down, been-there-done-that formula film. Instead Scorsese delivers an epic motion picture showcasing a critical time in our nation’s history.

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In this film, muckraker Michael Moore turns his eye on George W. Bush and his War on Terrorism agenda. He illustrates his argument about how this failed businessman with deep connections to the royal house of Saud of Saudia Arabia and the Bin Ladins got elected on fraudulent circumstances and proceeded to blunder through his duties while ignoring warnings of the looming betrayal by his foreign partners. When that treachery hits with the 9/11 attacks, Moore explains how Bush failed to take immediate action to defend his nation, only to later cynically manipulate it to serve his wealthy backers’ corrupt ambitions. Through facts, footage and interviews, Moore illustrates his contention of how Bush and his cronies have gotten America into worse trouble than ever before and why Americans should not stand for it. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com