Short Takes

Special Screenings

After Dark Horrorfest

Screenings of eight new independent horror films: The Deaths of Ian Stone, Nightmare Man, Crazy Eights, Unearthed, Borderland, Mulberry Street, Tooth and Nail, Lake Dead. Multiple locations. Thru 11/18, various times and prices. Info: www.horrorfestonline.com.

Anime Academy for Adults

Viewing and discussion group for ages 18+. Watch episodes of classic anime, followed by roundtable discussion of today’s shows. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, 507-3458. 11/17, 11 am, free.

Batman

Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger. Directed by Tim Burton. 126 minutes. Rated PG-13.

The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being the clownishly homicidal Joker. Whitney Library, 5175 E. Tropicana Ave., 507-4010. 11/18, 11:30 am, free.

Dodge City

Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Ann Sheridan. Directed by Michael Curtiz. 104 minutes. Not rated.

This large-scale western, inspired by the exploits of Wyatt Earp, revolves around the struggle between hard-working cattlemen and a corrupt local official. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, 507-3400. 11/20, 1 pm, free.

Garth Brooks Live

Encore broadcast of Brooks’ concert from Kansas City. Regal Cinemas Colonnade, Santa Fe Station, Village Square; Century Orleans, Sam’s Town. 11/15, 6 pm, $10. Info: www.fathomevents.com.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

John Cameron Mitchell, Michael Pitt, Miriam Shor. Directed by John Cameron Mitchell. 95 minutes. Rated R.

A transsexual punk rocker from East Berlin tours the U.S. with her band as she tells her life story and follows the ex-boyfriend/bandmate who stole her songs. Film and live cast performance. Tropicana Cinemas, 3330 E. Tropicana Ave., 243-7469. Second & fourth Sat of month, 9 pm, $10. Info: www.rhpsvegas.com.

IMAX Theatre

Deep Sea 3D, Fighter Pilot, Mystery of the Nile, Dinosaurs 3D: Giants of Patagonia, Lions 3D: Roar of the Kalahari

Call for showtimes. $11.99 each show. Luxor, 3900 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 262-4629.

My Little Pony: A Very Minty Christmas

Voices of Kathleen Barr, Adrienne Carter, Janyse Jaud. Directed by Victor Dal Chele. 44 minutes. Rated G.

A new Christmas adventure starring the My Little Pony characters. Galaxy Cannery, 2121 E. Craig Road, 639-9779. Thru 11/30, noon, $3.

Native Voices: Documentary Films From a Native Perspective

Feature and short documentaries about indigenous peoples. 11/15, Mohawk Girls, First Stories Vol. 1. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, 507-3400. Thursdays, 7 p.m., free.

Catherine Frot, Deborah Francois, Pascal Greggory. Directed by Denis Dercourt. 85 minutes. Not rated. In French with English subtitles.

A talented girl’s dreams of being a professional pianist were crushed when a famous pianist rejected her performance. Ten years later, she slithers her way into the concert pianist’s life and earns the position of page-turner—the perfect place to exact revenge. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, 507-3400. 11/20, 7 pm, free.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Tim Curry. Directed by Jim Sharman. 100 minutes. Rated R.

The perennial 1975 cult classic is a mix of horror, comedy and musical, featuring sex, transvestites and the Time Warp. Augmented by a live cast and audience participation. Onyx Theater inside The Rack in Commercial Center, 953 E. Sahara Ave., #101. First & third Sat of month, 11:30 pm, $7. Info: 953-0682 or www.divinedecadence.org.

Spider-Man 3

Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco. Directed by Sam Raimi. 139 minutes. Rated PG-13.

A strange black entity from another world bonds with Peter Parker and causes inner turmoil as he contends with new villains, temptations and revenge. The District at Green Valley Ranch, 2300 Paseo Verde Parkway, Henderson, 564-8595. 11/17, 7 pm, free.

Star Trek

Showing of original-series two-part episode “The Menagerie,” plus behind-the-scenes feature on the remastering of the show. Regal Cinemas Sunset Station, Red Rock, Texas Station, Village Square, 221-2283. 11/15, 7:30 & 10:30 pm, $12.50. Info: www.fathomevents.com.

The Wizard of Oz

Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger. Directed by Victor Fleming. 101 minutes. Rated G.

Dorothy Gale is swept away to a magical land in a tornado and embarks on a quest to see the Wizard who can help her return home. The District at Green Valley Ranch, 2300 Paseo Verde Parkway, Henderson, 564-8595. 11/16, 7 pm, free.

New this week

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead **1/2

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Marisa Tomei. Directed by Sidney Lumet. 116 minutes. Rated R.

See review.

Beowulf ****

Voices of Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Crispin Glover. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. 113 minutes. Rated PG-13.

See review.

Control *1/2

Sam Riley, Samantha Morton, Joe Anderson. Directed by Anton Corbijn. 121 minutes. Rated R.

See review.

Love in the Time of Cholera **

Javier Bardem, Benjamin Bratt, Giovanna Mezzogiorno. Directed by Mike Newell. 138 minutes. Rated R.

See review.

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (Not reviewed)

Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Jason Bateman. Directed by Zach Helm. 93 minutes. Rated G.

Molly Mahoney (Portman) is the awkward and insecure manager of Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, the strangest, most fantastic toy store in the world. But when Mr. Magorium (Hoffman) bequeaths the store to her, a dark and ominous change begins to take over the Emporium.

No Country for Old Men ****

Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones. Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. 122 minutes. Rated R.

See review.

Now playing

30 Days of Night ***1/2

Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston. Directed by David Slade. 113 minutes. Rated R.

In 30 Days of Night, the sense of helplessness, of being cut off from any aid the outside world could offer, is intensified and used to great effect, making the small town of Barrow, Alaska, feel like a terrifying prison for the movie’s main characters. That’s because they’re being stalked and killed by vampires, drawn by Barrow’s titular month of darkness. Night sometimes stretches to make its story fit to feature length, adding numerous secondary characters who serve mostly as fodder for the vampires. But director Slade effectively builds suspense throughout most of the film, giving those minor characters enough personality that you care whether they live or die. –JB

3:10 to Yuma ***1/2

Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, Logan Lerman. Directed by James Mangold. 117 minutes. Rated R.

Crowe plays bandit Ben Wade as an alluring commander of men. His “pack of dogs” follow him anywhere, but at the same time, he looks about ready to retire. When Wade is captured, the debt-ridden farmer Dan Evans (Bale) agrees—for a substantial reward—to escort him to the train bound for Yuma Prison, with Wade’s men hot on their trail. Mangold directs with a B-movie energy and a minimum of fuss. The characters, far from white-hatted good guys and mustached bad guys, dwell in uncomfortable gray areas, constantly asking themselves complex moral questions. –JMA

Across the Universe ***

Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Joe Anderson. Directed by Julie Taymor. 131 minutes. Rated PG-13.

A psychedelic take on the stage trend of the “jukebox musical,” Universe uses more than 30 Beatles songs in service of the rather bland story of young lovers Jude (Sturgess) and Lucy (Wood), set against the turmoil of the 1960s. Just as often silly as it is clever, Universe is the work of a filmmaker whose large and wonderful visions feel cramped inside a trite and forgettable little fable. –JB

American Gangster ***1/2

Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Josh Brolin. Directed by Ridley Scott. 157 minutes. Rated R.

Gangster switches back and forth between 1970s Harlem drug kingpin Frank Lucas’ (Washington) empire-building and New Jersey narcotics cop Richie Roberts’ efforts to take him down. It’s a sweeping period epic, based on a true story, and Washington and Crowe (as Roberts) bring the requisite heft to lift the film to grand heights. Beginning with the death of Lucas’ mentor, the previous drug lord of Harlem, Scott meticulously charts the former bodyguard’s rise to prominence. With the pieces in place, Scott moves them expertly toward their inevitable collision; when Washington and Crowe finally share a scene toward the end of the film, it’s well worth the wait. –JB

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford *****

Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell. Directed by Andrew Dominik. 160 minutes. Rated R.

Pitt stars—and deserves Oscar consideration—as Jesse James at the tail end of the bandit’s illustrious career. He pulls his last job, robbing a train, with the help of his older brother and a band of hired goons and half-wits. One of the goons is Charley Ford (Rockwell), brother of Robert Ford (Affleck), who is one of the biggest fans James ever had. Assassination is a surprising near-masterpiece, certainly one of the year’s best films, and the best Western to come across the range since Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven and Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man. –JMA

Bee Movie **1/2

Voices of Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger, Matthew Broderick. Directed by Steve Hickner and Simon J. Smith. 90 minutes. Rated PG.

Disaffected honeybee Barry B. Benson (Seinfeld) is unwilling to commit himself to a regimented life of honey production and eager to experience life beyond the hive. So Barry ventures into the human world, where he breaks the bee law against communicating with people and strikes up a friendship with florist Vanessa (Zellweger). There are a few funny lines here and there, and the bee society is sometimes creative and clever. But the film is mostly a collection of tired celebrity voice cameos and stale Seinfeld riffs repackaged to relate to the bee world. –JB

Bella *1/2

Eduardo Verastegui, Tammy Blanchard, Manny Perez. Directed by Alejandro Gomez Monteverde. 91 minutes. Rated PG-13.

Bella tells the story of Jose (Verastegui) and Nina (Blanchard), a chef and waitress at a Mexican restaurant. One day, Nina shows up late to work, so the restaurant owner, Jose’s brother, fires her. Inexplicably, Jose decides to walk out on his brother, leaving the kitchen in shambles, and spends an impromptu day with Nina in New York City. We get a handful of cute moments followed by a serious talk about family or abortion, and then the whole process repeats. The circumstances surrounding these conversations are completely random and interchangeable, and there’s rarely a sensible catalyst for why the pair go where they go or do what they do. –MSH

The Bourne Ultimatum ***1/2

Matt Damon, David Strathairn, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles. Directed by Paul Greengrass. 115 minutes. Rated PG-13.

Everything that Jason Bourne (Damon) does is in pursuit of his single goal: to discover who he was and how he became the ruthless government super-agent he no longer wishes to be. In the last movie, Bourne’s girlfriend was killed, and he was framed for the murder of two U.S. agents; after extracting a confession for those crimes from a high-ranking CIA official at the end of The Bourne Supremacy, Bourne is still on the run from the U.S. government, determined to track down the people responsible for his training. Ultimatum is a smart, exciting and stylish mix of 1970s conspiracy thrillers, modern over-the-top action movies and new-world-order espionage like TV’s 24. –JB

The Brave One ***

Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard, Naveen Andrews. Directed by Neil Jordan. 119 minutes. Rated R.

Erica Bain (Foster) is victimized as she walks, blissfully happy, through Central Park with her perfect dog and her perfect fiancé (Andrews). A gang of thugs appears at the dark end of a tunnel, steals the dog and beats both lovers senseless. Erica wakes up in the hospital, but her husband-to-be is gone. She buys a gun and begins to exact her own revenge. Lucky for her, wherever she goes, violence rears its ugly head, and she is able to use her new weapon to punish it. The highly skilled Jordan relies on two very strong performances and their interesting chemistry, as well as a feel for the big city. He presents the material with intelligence. –JMA

The Comebacks (Not reviewed)

David Koechner, Carl Weathers, Melora Hardin. Directed by Tom Brady. 84 minutes. Rated PG-13.

Koechner stars as an underdog coach in this spoof of inspirational sports movies.

Dan in Real Life *

Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook. Directed by Peter Hedges. 95 minutes. Rated PG-13.

That Carell is able to make newspaper advice columnist Dan Burns even somewhat likable is a testament to the actor’s charisma, since Dan engages in stupid and insensitive behavior almost from the moment that he shows up at his parents’ house for a family-reunion weekend. A widower raising three daughters on his own, Dan starts out as a fairly typical lunkheaded sitcom-style dad. He runs into Marie (Binoche), with whom he makes an immediate connection. He returns to the family home only to discover that Marie is actually the new girlfriend of his brother Mitch (Cook). None of the characters behaves in a way that even approaches believability, and for a film that is supposed to be life-affirming and heartwarming, Real Life has about as much genuine feeling as a cheap greeting card. –JB

The Darjeeling Limited **

Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody. Directed by Wes Anderson. 91 minutes. Rated R.

In rural India, Darjeeling’s trio of protagonists, the brothers Whitman—Francis (Wilson), Jack (Schwartzman) and Peter (Brody)—have embarked on a “spiritual quest” not long after the accidental death of their father. Their vehicle of choice is the titular train, yet despite this lovingly detailed, signifier-laden movie-movie setting and its inevitable forward motion, there’s little in the way of narrative propulsion. About a third of the way through Anderson’s latest pop-tune-inflected, visually overstuffed meditation on cocked-up filial longing, the giddiness of its exotic locale and the charm of its verbally sparring leading men wear off, and it becomes apparent that the movie isn’t so much boring as bored. Why should anyone watching it feel differently? –MH

Deep Water ****

Directed by Louise Osmond and Jerry Rothwell. 92 minutes. Rated PG.

In 1968, soon after the completion of the first around-the-world boat trip by a solo sailor, the Sunday Times of London sponsored a contest to one-up that record and sail all the way around the world, alone, without stopping once. A cash prize was offered for the fastest time, and nine men took up the challenge. Eight of them were experienced seamen, and the last was amateur Donald Crowhurst, the subject of this fascinating documentary. As a portrait of obsession, competition and, finally, delusion, Deep Water is haunting and engrossing, and one of the best nonfiction movies of the year. –JB

Elizabeth: The Golden Age *

Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush. Directed by Shekhar Kapur. 114 minutes. Rated PG-13.

For about 20 minutes of Kapur’s new sequel, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Blanchett in her lead role captures the radiant brilliance that excited so many people in the 1998 predecessor, Elizabeth. She lords over her court, bolt rigid, but allowing for a subtle wink or smile for those who please her. But when she meets the dashing explorer Sir Walter Raleigh (Owen), she begins emoting all over the place, dropping all of her control and essentially showing her hand. As the film rolls on toward the final battle, Kapur’s direction and the amateurish editing totally crumble. –JMA

Fred Claus *

Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson, John Michael Higgins. Directed by David Dobkin. 116 minutes. Rated PG.

What if Santa Claus had a brother, and that brother was Vince Vaughn? That’s the premise behind Fred Claus, and it’s just as thin as Santa’s latex-covered hands are thick. The problem is that for all of Vaughn’s fast-paced babbling, nothing winds up being very funny. In an attempt to compensate, the film struggles to find something else to be about, but every subplot is so random and poorly thought-out, it just leaves us scratching our heads. –MSH

The Game Plan *

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Madison Pettis, Roselyn Sanchez, Kyra Sedgwick. Directed by Andy Fickman. 110 minutes. Rated PG.

Johnson (slowly phasing out his pro-wrestling nickname) gets stuck in the Disney production The Game Plan, doing his best to smile his way through the story of star football player Joe Kingman, who is suddenly saddled with a daughter he never knew he had. Everything that follows is right out of the proverbial playbook, as the two antagonize each other at first and then of course form a strong bond, while both becoming better people. Director Fickman and the three screenwriters drag this inevitability out for close to two hours, with a tiresome back-and-forth of conflicts and reconciliations. –JB

Gone Baby Gone ***1/2

Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Ed Harris. Directed by Ben Affleck. 114 minutes. Rated R.

Longtime residents of Boston’s working-class Dorchester neighborhood, private-dick couple Patrick Kenzie (Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Monaghan) are hired to investigate the kidnapping of a 4-year-old girl, ostensibly because potential witnesses are more likely to talk to them than to the cops. The deeper they look, however, the murkier things get—and even when the case is “solved” (sooner than you expect), uneasy questions linger, as does the film’s all-enveloping sense of moral turpitude. Quietly morose rather than operatically overheated, Affleck’s film won’t likely win any major Oscars, despite featuring the single best performance I’ve seen all year. But it should earn its director something more valuable still: respect. –MD

Good Luck Chuck (Not reviewed)

Dane Cook, Jessica Alba, Dan Fogler. Directed by Mark Helfrich. 96 minutes. Rated R.

In order to keep the woman of his dreams (Alba) from falling for another guy, Charlie Logan (Cook) has to break the curse that has made him wildly popular with single women: Sleep with Charlie once, and the next man you meet will be your true love.

Halloween **1/2

Scout Taylor-Compton, Tyler Mane, Malcolm McDowell. Directed by Rob Zombie. 109 minutes. Rated R.

The primary difference, plot-wise, between Zombie’s new remake of the horror classic Halloween and John Carpenter’s 1978 original is that while Carpenter’s film was a story about suburban babysitter Laurie Strode, Zombie’s film is a story about serial killer Michael Myers. Unfortunately, what makes Michael tick doesn’t turn out to be all that interesting, even though Zombie devotes fully half of his film to teasing it out (Laurie doesn’t show up until almost an hour into the movie). By the time we cut to 15 years later and get introduced to high-schooler Laurie (Taylor-Compton), Michael’s forthcoming actions have been explained so thoroughly that they almost seem beside the point. –JB

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ***

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint. Directed by David Yates. 138 minutes. Rated PG-13.

There are at least a few significant things going on in Phoenix, which once again finds Harry (Radcliffe) at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, facing the imminent threat of Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). When you have a film series that’s seven installments long, eventually you are going to get to the placeholder chapter, and that’s where the Harry Potter series has ended up with its fifth big-screen outing. Longtime Potter fans will probably be eager to forgive Phoenix’s flaws, and even casual viewers will still find plenty to like, but the feeling of marking time, of nothing especially momentous going on in the latest incremental step toward Harry’s final showdown with evil wizard Voldemort, is fairly hard to shake. –JB

The Heartbreak Kid **1/2

Ben Stiller, Michelle Monaghan, Malin Akerman. Directed by Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly. 115 minutes. Rated R.

When Eddie (Stiller) finally makes a bold decision and marries Lila (Akerman), a woman he’s known for only six weeks, he at first feels good about trusting his instincts for once. That good feeling doesn’t last very long, though, as Lila turns out to be an unstable, controlling shrew, and by the time the two get to their honeymoon destination in Mexico, Eddie is ready to bolt. How convenient then that he meets Miranda (Monaghan), vacationing with her family and just coming off a break-up. Heartbreak easily turns into your typical romantic comedy, with the meant-for-each-other couple kept apart by outside forces and contrived misunderstandings. –JB

Into the Wild ***1/2

Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt. Directed by Sean Penn. 147 minutes. Rated R.

Christopher McCandless was a young Emory grad who donated his life savings to Oxfam International, broke off all contact with his family and spent two years as a wandering nomad, eventually starving to death alone in an abandoned bus outside Alaska’s Denali National Park. Penn opens Into the Wild with Chris’ trek into the Alaskan wilderness, and after a quick flashback to his college graduation, the film alternates between his final, fatal weeks in Alaska and the various pit stops he made during the nearly two years it took him to get there. However insufferable one may find Chris’ general attitude, it’s impossible not to be charmed by the open, welcoming relationships he forms with practically everyone he encounters. The film isn’t so much a character study as it is a genial portrait of self-marginalized America as seen through the eyes of its newest and most eager member. –MD

Jimmy Carter Man From Plains ***1/2

Directed by Jonathan Demme. 125 minutes. Rated PG.

Oscar-winner Demme arranged to film Carter nonstop, wake-up-till-bedtime, during the promotional tour for his provocatively titled book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. Demme takes a fly-on-the-wall, verité approach, with no interviews and only rare acknowledgment of the camera. He has intercut the resulting footage with historical material to create a sketchy biographical portrait and, more prominently, a snapshot of an 82-year-old man venturing forth to face those who regard even the name of his book to be anti-Israel and possibly anti-Semitic. The portrait is almost wholly positive, with Carter’s worst trait appearing to be justifiable impatience. –AK

The Kingdom ***1/2

Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, Jason Bateman, Ashraf Barhoum. Directed by Peter Berg. 110 minutes. Rated R.

The movie focuses on the aftermath of the bombing of a compound for American workers in Riyadh. Although it takes place in such a volatile area and does address the issue of the American presence in the Middle East, this is not an issue film nearly as much as it is a thriller. Director Berg approaches the events more like something out of a Jack Ryan movie than a sober drama, and rather than seeming annoyingly glib, this technique immediately draws you into the story, putting you right in the shoes of the characters who are left to pick up the pieces. –JB

Lars and the Real Girl **1/2

Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider. Directed by Craig Gillespie. 106 minutes. Rated PG-13.

If the title character of Lars and the Real Girl were in fact real, he’d be locked up in a mental institution where he belonged. He’d be getting professional psychiatric help to deal with his extreme fear of human contact, his abandonment issues and his long-term delusion that a lifelike sex doll he names Bianca is actually his half-Brazilian, half-Dutch wheelchair-bound girlfriend. But he’s not real; he’s a character in a movie, so instead Lars (Gosling) is encouraged in his delusion by his entire hometown. By dialing down the comedy and playing up the pathos, Gillespie puts the movie in a sort of empty middle space, with situations that are patently absurd but meant to be somehow touching and sweet. –JB

Lions for Lambs *

Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Michael Pena, Derek Luke. Directed by Robert Redford. 88 minutes. Rated R.

The film switches among three intersecting stories, two of which involve little more than people sitting in a room and debating issues. A world-weary reporter (Streep) interviews an ambitious young senator (Cruise) about a new military strategy in Afghanistan, while an equally world-weary college political-science professor (Redford) debates a jaded student who refuses to engage with class material. Meanwhile, a pair of soldiers (Pena, Luke) are shot down and stranded on a mountain in Afghanistan. All the good intentions in the world can’t make up for Lions’ complete failure as drama, or its wooden, statistics-laden dialogue that comes off more like dueling position papers than actual human beings having a conversation. –JB

Lust, Caution ***1/2

Tony Leung, Tang Wei, Joan Chen. Directed by Ang Lee. 157 minutes. Rated NC-17. In Mandarin with English subtitles.

Stealth and sneakiness happen to be the watchwords of Wang Jiazhi (Tang), who, when we first meet her, in Japanese-occupied Shanghai circa the waning years of WWII, appears to be the indolent, glamorous young wife of a prosperous businessman. In the extended flashback that makes up most of the movie, however, we discover that Wang is actually a fiercely patriotic former drama student who’s volunteered to seduce high-ranking collaborator Mr. Yee (Leung), who’s reputed to be in charge of interrogations that double as murders. If you can adjust your expectations a bit, and look at Lust, Caution as the Asian equivalent of a first-rate Merchant-Ivory picture—literate, resolutely old-fashioned, maybe a tad stodgy—you’ll find that its emotional power sneaks stealthily up on you. –MD

Martian Child ***

John Cusack, Bobby Coleman, Amanda Peet. Directed by Menno Meyjes. 108 minutes. Rated PG.

Cusack’s David Gordon is a successful science-fiction writer and widower who decides to take the plunge and adopt a precocious young boy named Dennis (Coleman). As it turns out, the kid claims to be from Mars, which may help explain some of his eccentricities. At heart, though, this is a father-son story. Cusack retains the rare ability to earn an audience’s sympathy without reaching for it. Meanwhile, Coleman gives such a transparent performance as the damaged Dennis that his wild claims and earnest sentiments come off with equal conviction. If you can’t feel affection for these two, you’re not from this planet. –BS

Michael Clayton ***1/2

George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton. Directed by Tony Gilroy. 119 minutes. Rated R.

Michael Clayton (Clooney) works at a high-powered Manhattan law firm where he is the in-house “fixer,” the man who makes nasty problems go away. The film finds Clayton trying to clean up the mess caused by his friend and mentor, Arthur Edens (Wilkinson), after Edens suffers a nervous breakdown in the middle of a deposition for a multibillion-dollar lawsuit. The movie proceeds so smoothly and efficiently that at times it seems almost mechanical, and the sequences that fill in Clayton’s back story feel a bit incomplete. But Clooney fills in the emotional blanks with his alternately steely and haggard performance, making Clayton more than just a piece in a puzzle. –JB

Mr. Woodcock (Not reviewed)

Billy Bob Thornton, Seann William Scott, Susan Sarandon. Directed by Craig Gillespie. 87 minutes. Rated PG-13.

John Farley (Scott), author of a best-selling self-help book about letting go of the past, learns to his horror that his widowed mother (Sarandon) is engaged to be married to none other than Mr. Woodcock (Thornton), the gym teacher whose sadistic exploits were the bane of John’s youth.

The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (Not reviewed)

Voices of Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, William Hickey. Directed by Henry Selick. 76 minutes. Rated PG.

3D re-release of the stop-motion film about the king of Halloweentown taking over Christmas.

P2 (Not reviewed)

Rachel Nichols, Wes Bentley, Simon Reynolds. Directed by Franck Khalfoun. 98 minutes. Rated R.

A businesswoman is pursued by a psychopath after being locked in a parking garage on Christmas Eve.

Rendition ***1/2

Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep. Directed by Gavin Hood. 120 minutes. Rated R.

Rendition tells the story of Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally), an Egyptian-born man living in the U.S. who’s abducted by the CIA on suspicion of terrorist ties. Without due process or even informing his American family, CIA official Corrine Whitman (Streep) orders “extraordinary rendition,” and Anwar is flown to the Middle East for interrogation. I loved every gut-wrenching, frustrating moment of this film, but that’s one of Rendition’s weaknesses. It plays like partisan radio, preaching to the choir. –MSH

Rush Hour 3 *

Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan, Yvan Attal. Directed by Brett Ratner. 91 minutes. Rated PG-13.

At the start of this inept, brain-dead new sequel, Tucker’s detective James Carter has been understandably demoted to directing traffic, while Chief Inspector Lee (Chan) has been assigned to protect a Chinese ambassador, who in turn is assigned to bring down the Triads. Of course, the ambassador is murdered, and Carter and Lee find themselves flying to Paris to find a secret list that contains the names of the top 13 Triad leaders. If you can’t make the connection between an assassinated Chinese ambassador and Paris, neither can writer Jeff Nathanson, who leaves plot holes big enough for the Eiffel Tower to pass through. Nathanson and director Ratner’s biggest crime, however, is their inability to combine comedy and action, to say nothing of their ineptitude at each element by itself. –JMA

Saawariya (Not reviewed)

Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Ranbir Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor. Directed by Sanjay Leela Bansali. 142 minutes. Rated PG. In Hindi with English subtitles.

Two people arrive in a small town, one on vacation, the other to meet a lover. They spend the most magical days of their lives in that town, with each other.

Saw IV (Not reviewed)

Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Scott Patterson, Lyriq Bent. Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman. 108 minutes. Rated R.

Sadistic killer Jigsaw subjects more people to elaborate torture devices.

The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising (Not reviewed)

Alexander Ludwig, Ian McShane, Frances Conroy. Directed by David L. Cunningham. 94 minutes. Rated PG.

An 11-year-old boy (Ludwig) learns that he is the last of a group of immortal warriors who have defended the Earth from evil forces throughout history.

Sharkwater (Not reviewed)

Directed by Rob Stewart. 89 minutes. Rated PG.

This documentary demonstrates importance of sharks to the world’s ecosystems.

Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? (Not reviewed)

Tyler Perry, Janet Jackson, Jill Scott, Sharon Leal. Directed by Tyler Perry. 118 minutes. Rated PG-13.

Eight married friends take their annual reunion vacation in the Colorado mountains. Revelations of infidelity involving one pair shatter the mood, forcing the remaining friends to take a hard look at the strength of their own marriages.

We Own the Night ***

Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, Robert Duvall. Directed by James Gray. 117 minutes. Rated R.

Night stars Wahlberg and Phoenix as brothers on opposite sides of the law: Wahlberg’s stolid, forthright Joe has followed their hardass police-chief father (Duvall) into blue, while Phoenix’s laid-back, fun-loving Bobby runs a Brooklyn nightclub that’s become the hot spot for scary Russian mobsters. When Joe is gunned down by one of them, Bobby reluctantly agrees to go undercover. Not a bad idea, except that Gray has an unfortunate tendency to spell everything out in clunky capital letters. The film’s dialogue is almost painfully literal, stating ideas and themes as starkly as a Cliff’s Notes chapter summary. And while Phoenix and Wahlberg can be superb actors, they’re both superb in a modern, anti-iconic way that works against the grain of Gray’s conception. –MD

Wristcutters: A Love Story ***

Patrick Fugit, Shannyn Sossamon, Shea Whigham. Directed by Goran Dukic. 88 minutes. Rated R.

Apparently, after killing oneself, one ends up in a place not unlike Earth, but just a little grimmer and a little more depressing. Zia (Fugit) arrives, and meets Eugene (Whigham), who lives, oddly enough, with his entire family. They spend a lot of time drinking until Zia learns that his ex-girlfriend has also arrived. So he and Eugene hit the road in search of her. It’s not long before they pick up the requisite cute hitchhiker, Mikal (Sossamon), and we wait until Zia realizes that his true love sits right there beside him. Director Dukic keeps things simple and funny. The same tone pervades throughout, and in the back of the film is the happy doubt that Dukic doesn’t pay much credence to rules. –JMA

JMA Jeffrey M. Anderson; JB Josh Bell; MD Mike D’Angelo; MH Mark Holcomb; MSH Matthew Scott Hunter; AK Andy Klein; BS Benjamin Spacek