Movie Picks 

*3:10 to Yuma (R)
A remake of the 1957 western, this solid adaptation of an Elmore Leonard short story stars Christian Bale and Russell Crowe on opposite sides of the law. Jeff Sneider

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30 Days of Night (R)
During the darkest month of the year, a small Alaskan town is attacked by a gang of vampires. Not reviewed

Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

*American Gangster (R)
Russell Crowe plays a rough-edged, working-class cop. Denzel Washington is a Mafioso. And you can't forget either of them. Mary Ann Johanson

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (R)
Outlaw gang member Robert Ford (Casey Affleck) both admires and resents the notoriety of anti-hero Jesse James (Brad Pitt). Not reviewed

Tinseltown

Bee Movie (PG)
Jerry Seinfeld provides the voice of Barry Benson, a bee from college in Hive City. The film boasts a fair number of funny individual jokes. What it lacks is any idea how to tie them all together. Scott Renshaw

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

Bella (PG-13)
A former soccer star and a waitress overcome odds and come together through the power of love and kindness. Not reviewed

Cinemark 16

*The Bourne Ultimatum (PG-13)
The third installment in Bourne's story improves upon a franchise that just keeps getting better. The badass with a grudge may be an action-movie staple, but few play it with this kind of resigned, single-minded determination. Scott Renshaw

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The Brave One (R)
This drama, starring Jodie Foster, could have been a smart, complex study of feeling impotent in the face of evil, but it takes an idiotic walk down a dark alley and never comes back. Scott Renshaw

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*Dan in Real Life (PG-13)
Steve Carell stars as an advice columnist in this film about family and it's about family in a more genuine way than most movies are able to manage. Jeff Sneider

Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

*The Darjeeling Limited (R)
Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman star in this melancholic, serio-comedy about three estranged brothers who reunite for a journey to India. With this film, director Wes Anderson cements his status as one of the most distinctive and original voices working in American cinema today. Jeff Sneider

Kimball's Twin Peak

Fred Claus (PG)
Vince Vaughn plays Santa's not-so-warm-and-fuzzy older brother as they are reunited at the North Pole.

Not reviewed

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

The Game Plan (PG)
A professional football player and confirmed bachelor discovers that he has a 7-year-old daughter as the result of an earlier fling. Not reviewed

Cinemark 16

*Hairspray (PG)
There are sprigs of bitter irony, but, mostly, Hairspray wears its tender heart on its sleeve, singing itself hoarse on chipper tunes about being nice, being in love and being yourself no matter what anyone thinks.

MaryAnn Johanson

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*Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (PG-13)
With an unexpected directorial flair, David Yates has managed to take a blockbuster fantasy and craft a dark, coming-of-age drama. Scott Renshaw

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Horrorfest 2007 (R)
This film festival features eight recently released horror films including Borderland, Crazy Eights, Deaths of Ian Stone, Lake Dead, Mulberry Street, Nightmare Man, Tooth and Nail and Unearthed. Not reviewed

Tinseltown

*Into the Wild (R)
Director Sean Penn thoroughly and satisfyingly retells the tale of Christopher McCandless' wilderness journeys, which author Jon Krakauer first eloquently brought to light in his 1996 best-selling book. Cole Smithey

Kimball's Twin Peak, Tinseltown

*Lars and the Real Girl (PG-13)
It's debatable as to whether audiences are interested in a mature, adult film with a ridiculous, almost juvenile, premise about a man who falls in love with a life-size, anatomically correct silicone doll. But the truth is that the film is one of the year's most pleasant surprises. Jeff Sneider

Kimball's Twin Peak

*Lions for Lambs (R)
Plenty of people will be put off by this film " perhaps by its Blue State sensibility or nakedly emotional call to action. I can nod in agreement, even as I find it impossible to deny that the earnest, awkward little movie did something special: It made me want to be a better American. Scott Renshaw

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

*Martian Child (PG)
John Cusack plays a fiction writer who has adopted Dennis, a troubled 8-year-old who has created a fiction for himself, believing that he's "from Mars." This is, wonderfully, a smart and snappy yet never sappy portrait of a budding family.

Mary Ann Johanson

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

No Reservations (PG)
This romantic comedy features Catherine Zeta-Jones as a chef whose high-powered career path is altered when she receives custody of her niece. Not reviewed

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P2 (R)
On her way home from work, a woman is trapped in a parking garage and chased by her psychopathic captor. Not reviewed

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Tinseltown

Ratatouille (G)
For the most part, Ratatouille marks the first occasion where a Pixar film manages to get only the visual presentation right, while serving up a recipe we've sampled many times before. Scott Renshaw

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Rush Hour 3 (PG-13)
Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker accidentally get themselves involved with the Chinese Triad crew. Not reviewed

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Saw IV (R)
Detectives are thrown into a madman's deadly trap while searching for answers to his grizzly murders. Not reviewed

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure (NR)
Dolly, a curious dolichorhynchops of the Late Cretaceous period, maneuvers her way through dangerous waters and encounters fellow sea creatures in this computer-animated journey. Not reviewed

Cinemark 16 IMAX

The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (PG)
On his birthday, a boy discovers that he belongs to a group dedicated to defending all of humankind from the Dark, an evil entity. Not reviewed

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Shrek the Third (PG)
It's ... fine. It's fine. But it's not Shrek. Or Shrek 2. This effort exists on only one level as fluff. MaryAnn Johanson

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Superbad (R)
There's a thin line between smart juvenilia and plain silliness and Superbad weaves back and forth across it like Lindsay Lohan at a traffic stop. Scott Renshaw

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Underdog (PG)
Based on the classic cartoon series, this live-action film stars Shoeshine, a crime-fighting dog with superpowers. Not reviewed

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