The first trailer is now out for what might be one of the fall
movie season's more politically contentious films: Bill Condon's
take on Julian Assange, The Fifth Estate, starring Benedict
Cumberbatch in what could be a career-defining role.   If you
still somehow don't know who Cumberbatch is, you will by the end
of this year: he's not only in Fifth Estate, but also voices the
titular dragon in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and has
roles in the awards-bait dramas 12 Years a Slave and August:
Osage County. But Assange is probably his best chance at an
Oscar.   Cumberbatch is great at playing characters who are
somehow both magnetic and repellant. Oftentimes his bad guys
possess a certain nobility of purpose, while his good guys
flicker with hints of danger or menace. His Khan in Star Trek
Into Darkness—if this is a spoiler for you at this point,
consider yourself spoiled—had pathos despite his dark
intentions. His ultimately well-meaning Sherlock, on the
eponymous BBC show, had so many sociopathic tics t