Contents PRIME TIME: With Good Night, and Good Luck and Syriana, George Clooney continues to defy the expectations of Hollywood stardom. Matthew Ross speaks with Clooney.

CASUALTIES OF FAME: Wiith a deeply layered performace by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bennett Miller's Capote explores the great cost of artistic creation. By Peter Bowen.

THE WILD MAN: Matthew Ross talks with master cinematographer Chris Doyle about Asian pride and the problem with America.

RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY: After two grueling epic movies, Ang Lee makes Brokeback Mountain, a small film with an awfully big heart about gay cowboys. By Peter Bowen.

THE PARENT TRAP: Noah Baumbach's Sundance Award-winning The Squid and the Whale is a richly observed, semi-autobiographical tale about a Brooklyn family struggling with divorce in the 1980s. By Howard Feinstein.

NEW GIRL IN TOWN: Walter Salles speaks with Scott Coffey, who's made a sly and hilarious ode to the world of struggling L.A. actors with Ellie Parker.

ASIA EXTREME: For her second feature, The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things director and actress Asia Argento pushes limits with a harrowing depiction of child abuse adapted from the JT Leroy story collection. Travis Crawford catches up with Argento.

A QUESTION OF CONTROL: Chris Cunningham may be the most important film- maker who has not yet made a feature. While we wait, he's released a new short, 'Rubber Johnny,' and extends his mastery of special effects to new dimensions. By Dan Ouellette.

MASCULINE/FEMININE: Duncan Tucker's Transamerica, about a pre-op transsexual's relationship with his newly discovered son, premiered under the radar at Berlin before landing a deal with the Weinstein Company and IFC. Jason Guerrasio details the making of the film.