Movie Picks 

*Alpha Dog (R)
Alpha Dog is a snarling, frightening look at what happens when spoiled twenty-something Californians confuse affluence with influence. The film impresses not because it has enough bark and bite to spare, but because it has a bullet's worth of conviction. Jeff Sneider

Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

*Apocalypto (R)
Set in the Mayan kingdom of pre-Columbus America, the film tells the story of a man fleeing his fate as a human sacrifice. Director Mel Gibson has created an adventure that moviegoers will find gripping. Scott Renshaw

Cinemark 16

Arthur and the Invisibles (PG)
A 10-year-old boy seeks help from the Minimoys, small elfin creatures who live in harmony with nature, to save his grandparent's home from a real estate developer. Not reviewed

Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

Babel (R)
At least one-fourth of Babel ranks among the year's finest pieces of filmmaking. The problem is the rest of the story isn't nearly as captivating. Portions of the intertwined stories seem to function strictly as ethnography, rather than fulfill their promise to illuminate how we are separated by continent, culture and language. Scott Renshaw

Chapel Hills 15

Blood Diamond (R)
Two very different African men, one a mercenary (Leonardo DiCaprio) and the other a Mende fisherman (Djimon Hounsou), band together to retrieve a rare diamond. Not reviewed

Tinseltown

*Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (R)

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*Casino Royale (PG-13)
In lots of little ways, the film stays true to the 40-year-old formula, but this adventure is more invigorating than any Bond film in years and Bond (Daniel Craig) is more than just a tuxedo holding a martini. Scott Renshaw

Chapel Hills 15

Charlotte's Web (PG)
Based on the children's book, this film features Wilbur the pig and his friend Charlotte, a spider, who devises a plan to keep her friend off the dinner table. Not reviewed

Carmike 10, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

*Children of Men (R)
In this film's dystopian vision of the future, women can no longer have children and the world is mourning the loss of its youngest inhabitant, an 18-year-old. It's a gritty, grainy and dirty flick, so magnificently thought-provoking and entertaining that few people will walk away unmoved. Jeff Sneider

Chapel Hills 15, Tinseltown

Code Name: The Cleaner (PG-13)
In this comedy, Jake (Cedric the Entertainer) suffers amnesia after a knock on the head and thinks he is a secret agent. Not reviewed

Carmike 10

Curse of the Golden Flower (R)
In 10th Century China, the Imperial Family struggles quietly with dark secrets and surprises while attempting to uphold a facade of grandeur for the Chong Yang Festival. Not reviewed

Carmike 10, Tinseltown

Deck the Halls (PG-13)

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Dj Vu (PG-13)

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Dreamgirls (PG-13)
Dreamgirls works best as an old-fashioned backstage melodrama, full of strong performances and big production values. On a certain level, it may feel like only a minor variation on the hundreds of other weepies about the perils of reaching for fame but a story like this can soar with a score. Scott Renshaw

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

*Employee of the Month (PG-13)

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Eragon (PG)
A boy finds a dragon's egg, an event that launches him on an adventure to protect his homeland against a villainous king. Not reviewed

Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

Flags of Our Fathers (R)

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Flushed Away (PG)

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Freedom Writers (PG-13)
In a story based on real events, Hilary Swank plays a teacher in a tough classroom who inspires her pupils to become more. Not reviewed

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

The Good Shepherd (R)
Matt Damon stars as a Yale student recruited by the CIA during World War II to monitor a professor suspected of having Nazi ties, in a disappointing effort from director/actor Robert De Niro. Jeff Sneider

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

Happily N'Ever After (PG)
A group of evil characters plot to take over Fairy Tale Land, but Ella (Sarah Michelle Gellar) recognizes the threat and leads the resistance in this animated feature. Not reviewed

Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

The Nativity Story (PG)

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Night at the Museum (PG)
Trouble erupts at a natural history museum when a night watchman unknowingly triggers an ancient curse that causes the museum's exhibits to come to life. Not reviewed

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Cinemark 16 IMAX, Tinseltown

Open Season (PG)

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*The Painted Veil (R)
Edward Norton and Naomi Watts produced and star in this smart adaptation of a Somerset Maugham novel. A lushly executed romantic drama of 1920s China and the cholera epidemic, The Painted Veil is unabashedly old-fashioned, shot through with the bite of human cruelty and the redeeming power of hard-earned love. Kathryn Eastburn

Kimball's Twin Peak

The Prestige (PG-13)

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Primeval (R)
A TV news crew travels to Africa in search of a 25-foot alligator, and becomes the target of a dangerous warlord in a story inspired by real events. Not reviewed

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

*The Pursuit of Happyness (PG-13)
Will Smith stars as a down-on-his-luck salesman attempting an ambitious career change when his wife leaves him and their 5-year-old son (played by Smith's real-life son). Call it corny, but it's an old-school human drama that just works. Scott Renshaw

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

*The Queen (PG-13)
A shoo-in for Best Actress awards (Helen Mirren), and deserving of many others, The Queen is a surprisingly arch, moving, non-sentimental and often funny treatment of the days following the death of Princess Diana, the response of the British royal family and the enormous weight of the monarchy on mere mortals not to mention a candid glimpse of Tony Blair's decidedly un-tidy living room. Kathryn Eastburn

Chapel Hills 15, Kimball's Twin Peak

Rocky Balboa (PG)
Sylvester Stallone is back as Rocky, who is widowed and running a restaurant, when he feels the urge to fight again. The movie is moderately enjoyable though less for what Rocky has become than as a paean to everything Rocky once was. Scott Renshaw

Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (G)

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Stomp the Yard (PG-13)
After his brother dies, a 19-year-old street dancer is sent to an Atlanta university where two groups vie for his dance moves to win a national competition. Not reviewed

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

Stranger than Fiction (PG-13)

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We Are Marshall (PG)
Based on a true story, the film follows the Marshall University football team and its coach as they struggle to recover and rebuild after a tragic plane crash claims the lives of players and fans. Not reviewed

Cinemark 16