Movie Picks 

Films recommended by our reviewers are indicated by an *.

2012 (PG-13)

As the end of the world nears, as predicted by the Mayan calendar, a group of would-be heroes struggles to survive. — Not reviewed

Picture Show

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (PG)

Alvin and the Chipettes are back in this animated follow-up to 2007's singing chipmunk holiday film. — Not reviewed

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Picture Show

Avatar (PG-13)

Avatar is set in a computer-generated world called Pandora, a planet inhabited by the Na'vi, who are rich in a coveted resource ridiculously named Unobtainium. — Tricia Olszewski

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown

The Blind Side (PG-13)

The Blind Side takes on the real-life underdog-makes-good story of Michael Oher, currently a first-year left tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. — Scott Renshaw

Chapel Hills 15, Tinseltown

The Book of Eli (R)

Walker (Denzel Washington) wanders through a post-apocalyptic world holding the last known copy of the King James Bible. All he knows is that he's headed west, and that he must keep the book safe.— Jonathan Kiefer

Carmike 10, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

Cop Out (R)

Cop Out, which teams Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis as New York police officers, doesn't offer an ounce of imagination as a buddy-cop action-comedy hybrid. — Tricia Olszewski

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown

The Crazies (R)

Loosely based on the George Romero horror classic, this remake takes place in a small Iowa town where a toxin is turning people into psychopaths. — Not reviewed

Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown

*Crazy Heart (R)

Expand the story in your average old-fashioned country song to feature-film length, and it would look a lot like Crazy Heart, writer-director Scott Cooper's debut about drinkin', lovin' and livin' too hard. — Tricia Olszewski

Hollywood Interquest, Kimball's Peak Three, Tinseltown

Daybreakers (R)

In a near-future world, a strange disease has swept the planet, turning much of humankind into vampires. — Not reviewed

Picture Show

Dear John (PG)

John Tyree, a young soldier home on leave, falls in love with an idealistic college student. — Not reviewed

Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown

Did You Hear About the Morgans? (PG-13)

Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker star as a New York couple who witness a murder and are moved to a tiny Wyoming town for their protection. — Not reviewed

Picture Show

Extraordinary Measures (PG)

Brendan Fraser plays a man who abandons his high-paying job when his two children contract a terminal illness, and works with a doctor (Harrison Ford) to search for an unlikely cure. — Not reviewed

Picture Show

*Invictus (PG-13)

Directed by Clint Eastwood, this film set in post-Apartheid South Africa stars Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, in a true story of human-rights hero Nelson Mandela and rugby player Francois Pienaar. — Jonathan Kiefer

Picture Show

*It's Complicated (R)

Jane Adler (Meryl Streep) thought she had life figured out, until an empty nest drives her into an affair with a married man — her ex-husband (Alec Baldwin). — Scott Renshaw

Picture Show

*The Last Station (R)

A charming and energetic film about the last months of War and Peace author Leo Tolstoy's life in 1910 Russia, starring Oscar-nominated actors Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy and Helen Mirren as his wife Sofya. — Scott Renshaw

Kimball's Twin Peak

The Lovely Bones (PG-13)

Directed by Peter Jackson and adapted from Alice Sebold's 2002 novel, this tense but ultimately disappointing drama follows murdered 14-year-old Susie Salmon as she tells her tale from the grave and watches over her family from a limbo-like afterlife. — Scott Renshaw

Picture Show

Old Dogs (PG)

Robin Williams and John Travolta star as middle-aged bachelors who unexpectedly find themselves in charge of 6-year-old twins. — Not reviewed

Picture Show

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (PG)

Based on the book by Rick Riordan, a teen learns that he's descended from the mythological figure Poseidon. — Not reviewed

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown

Planet 51 (PG)

In this animated adventure, the residents of a far-off planet live in dread of aliens invading their homeland, when an astronaut shows up confirming their fears. — Not reviewed

Picture Show

The Princess and the Frog (G)

Disney finally gives us a black princess ... and she spends most of the movie as an amphibian? — MaryAnn Johanson

Picture Show

*Sherlock Holmes (PG-13)

Though director Guy Ritchie's adaptation has more in common with the director's other films than with the Sherlock Holmes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories, the spirit of Holmes remains intact. — MaryAnn Johanson

Hollywood Interquest

*Shutter Island (R)

Director Martin Scorsese seems to enjoy this rather commercial exercise, a suspense thriller as Gothic horror noir throwback. And, it lets him prove the reasons for his faith in Leonardo DiCaprio, who delivers as a U.S. Marshal pursuing a prison escapee. — Jonathan Kiefer

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown

*A Single Man (R)

Directed by fashion designer Tom Ford, George (Colin Firth) is a college professor in early 1960s Los Angeles mourning the death of his longtime partner.— MaryAnn Johanson

Tinseltown

Tooth Fairy (PG)

When a hockey player (Dwayne Johnson) crushes a little girl's belief in the tooth fairy, he must spend a week performing the fairy's duties. — Not reviewed

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (PG-13)

This second installment, based on the Stephenie Meyer books, features a love triangle between the vampire Edward, his human girlfriend Bella, and Bella's werewolf friend Jacob. — MaryAnn Johanson

Picture Show

Valentine's Day (PG-13)

Valentine's Day covers approximately 20 main characters and 10 significant romantic angles in 120 minutes. Do the math, and what can each subplot possibly deliver besides a cutesy intro, perfunctory conflict and shallow happily-ever-after? — Scott Renshaw

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown

When in Rome (PG-13)

When a young, hopelessly single New Yorker travels to Rome, her love life is turned upside down. — Not reviewed

Chapel Hills 15

The Wolfman (R)

A man discovers that he is also a wolf. Hey, it happens. Just look at the past 75 years of movie history. Unfortunately, this film never rises above the sad spectacle of an archetype reduced to the wrong kind of howler. — Jonathan Kiefer

Carmike 10, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown