Brad Pitt, Will Ferrell, Christian Bale and Russell Crowe look to knock off Borat

It should be an interesting weekend at the box office with several new flicks hitting the big screen looking to topple the Kazakhstani juggernaut, Borat. Sacha Baron Cohen raked in over $26 million last weekend in only 837 theaters, but Borat made quick friends and this weekend he will be in over 2,000 cinemas, ready to take on all newcomers. 

Will Ferrell, whose credits include Old School, Wedding Crashers, Talladega Nights and Anchorman, is no stranger to filling theaters. His latest flick with Emma Thompson, Stranger than Fiction, has the best chance to send Borat packing. Columbia Pictures has spent a lot of money advertising and hyping the comedy about an IRS auditor (Ferrell) who begins to hear some omniscient voice (Thompson) that seemingly narrates his life and leads him to near madness.

Babel, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, hits theaters today as well. The movie tells three separate stories yet weaves them into one by the end of the movie. From an American death in a predominately Muslim country, the story turns to a deaf-mute Japanese girl, and then to a Mexican housekeeper who has to carry American children across the border. Babel has received a lot of comparisons to the movie Crash for its elaborate plot and intermeshing of subplots.

Russell Crowe teams up with Ridley Scott again (Gladiator) for the movie A Good Year. After inheriting a vineyard Crowe meets a woman who claims to own the land. Having led a seemingly hollow life for some time, Crowe’s encounter with this woman results in him learning what is truly important in life.

Fur brings Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey Jr. together to tell the story of Diane Arbus, a young woman from a wealthy family who opts to follow a different path. Arbus (Kidman) meets Lionel Sweeney (Downey Jr.) who introduces her to the world of the marginalized. Arbus’ photographs of these individuals led her to become one of the most famous photographers of her time.
 
Christian Bale returns to theaters this weekend with Eva Longoria in Harsh Times, a story that tells the tale of two best friends (Bale and Freddy Rodríguez) in South Central Los Angeles. As an ex-special forces soldier without a job, Bale finds violence and crime as an outlet for his frustration.

Also opening today is The Return with Sarah Michelle Geller. Another horror movie for Geller, this time she has nightmares about a murder that took place 15-years-ago and finds herself drawn to the farmhouse where the murder took place.