Babylon A.D.
A mercenary learns that the woman in his charge is carrying a synthetic virus. Rated PG-13. At Flatiron, Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.

Body of War
A look at one American veteran who has been injured in the Iraq war. The film focuses on his struggles with returning home to critical indictment of the government’s handling of the invasion. Not rated. At Esquire.

Bottle Shock
A retelling of the famous “Judgment of Paris,” a blind wine tasting in which early California wine makers pitted their products against French vineyards. The results took the wine world by storm, and this film is stirring up controversy of its own with claims of skewed portrayals. Rated PG-13. At Century and Mayan.

Brideshead Revival
In some scenes, Laurence Olivier took more time sipping his tea in the 1981 British TV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited than it takes to watch all of this brisk, disheveled film version of the Evelyn Waugh novel. Matthew Goode plays Charles Ryder, religious skeptic and Oxford student. He befriends Sebastian (Ben Whishaw), disreputable son of the aristocratic Marchmain household. The film heightens the relationship between Charles and Sebastian’s younger sister (Hayley Atwell). It also positions the fearsome Lady Marchmain (Emma Thompson) front and center. Rated PG-13 (some sexual content). At Esquire and Chez Artiste. — Michael Phillips

College
Three high school seniors visit a prospective college for a weekend of debauchery. Rated R. At Flatiron, Colony Square and Century.

The Dark Knight
Sensational, grandly sinister and not for the kids, The Dark Knight elevates pulp to a very high level. Heath Ledger’s Joker takes it higher still, and the actor’s death earlier this year of an accidental overdose lends the film an air of a funeral and a rollicking, out-of-control wake mixed together. The film, which improves upon the solemn authority director Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne brought to Batman Begins, has an atmospheric shimmer all its own. It’s a brooding crime saga with some spectacular action sequences. Rated PG-13 (intense sequences of violence and some menace). At Flatiron, Century and Colony Square. — Michael Phillips

Death Race
See full screen review on page 59. Rated R. At Flatiron, Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.

Disaster Movie
Another spoof flick with an attractive cast that must dodge catastrophic events. Rated PG-13. At Flatiron, Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century. 

Elegy
In this careful, tasteful adaptation of the Philip Roth novella The Dying Animal, a Columbia University professor and cultural gadabout (Ben Kingsley) embarks on an affair with an ex-student. Penelope Cruz plays Consuela, who turns the decades-older prof into a puddle of jealous confusion. The film, sincere and well-acted, saps some of the unruly, politically incorrect life from the sexual dynamic. Rated R (sexuality, nudity and language). At Esquire.

Fly Me to the Moon
An animated 3-D snore about three houseflies who stow away aboard Apollo 11. The animation is hard on the eyes, and the script is full of witless Russian-vs.-American cliches. Kelly Ripa does the voice of one of the fly moms. Rated G. At Century. — Michael Phillips

Frozen River
Two single mothers — one Mohawk and one white — are drawn into the world of border smuggling in upstate New York. Rated R. At Mayan.

Hamlet 2
Steve Coogan is the whole show in this uneven comedy about an enthusiastic schlep trying to teach drama, or something like it, to a surly group of high school students in Tucson. The humor (not to mention the technique) is wildly hit-or-miss, but Coogan snags every available laugh. Rated R (language including sexual references, brief nudity, and some drug content). At Flatiron, Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks. — Michael Phillips

The House Bunny
A Playboy bunny, kicked out of the mansion, turns to a sorority for solace. With her fellow clueless sisters, she must fight to keep their house using blonde-girl catch-phrases and a horrifying amount of perkiness — enough to make any feminist’s stomach churn. Could this be the worst plot of the year? We think so. Rated PG-13. At Flatiron, Century, Twin Peaks and Colony Square.

The Longshots
The best thing in this thoroughly conventional sports-underdog movie based on the story of the first female ever to quarterback a Pop Warner football team is Keke Palmer, who plays the QB. But even the talented young actress, who brings more delicacy and depth to the material than it deserves, can’t get around the flat, cliche-driven script. It’s almost always rewarding to watch an underdog triumph, but Longshots is one underdog that’s hard to love. Rated PG (some thematic elements, mild language and brief rude humor). At Flatiron and Twin Peaks. — Tasha Robinson

Mamma Mia!
It’s funny what you buy completely onstage and resist on-screen. Case in point: Mamma Mia! — the ABBA-fueled stage phenomenon that is now a movie. Meryl Streep handles the ABBA tunes with aplomb, but it’s disappointing to see the film version turn out this way — not lousy, but pushy. Free spirit Donna (Streep) lives with her daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) on a Greek island. Sophie, about to marry, learns her father, whom she never knew, is one of three possible candidates (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard), and all are coming to the wedding. Rated PG-13 (some sex-related comments).  At Century, Flatiron and Colony Square. — Michael Phillips

Man on Wire
A documentary that follows Philippe Petit’s 1974 high-wire routine performed between the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York City. The act was hailed as the “artistic crime of the century.” Rated PG-13. At Chez Artiste.



Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Bring out your dead! It’s time to geek out with our favorite British lads as they go on the ultimate medieval mission. At the request of God, King Arthur must seek out the Holy Grail with his trusty knights: Sir Galahad the Pure, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Quiet Sir Bedevere and Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir-Lancelot. Throughout their travels, the group come into contact with attack rabits, limb loss (really just mere flesh wounds), knights who say “Ni!” and plenty of coconuts. Wait, are you suggesting that coconuts migrate? Rated PG. At Boulder Outdoor Cinema.

The Pineapple Express
A dope dealer (James Franco) and his steady customer (Seth Rogen) go on the run after the latter witnesses a drug-related murder and drops a precious joint at the scene of the crime. Few recent comedies have started so well and ended so poorly. At its sharpest, the script by Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who co-wrote Superbad, recalls what made Superbad worth seeing: the sidewinding conversational riffs, the why-am-I-laughing? wordplay. Then, around the midpoint, the film falls apart, the violence overshadowing the laughs. Rated R (pervasive language, drug use, sexual references and violence). At Century and Flatiron. — Michael Phillips

The Rocker
See full screen review on page 59. Rated PG-13. At Flatiron, Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
The four stars of the original Sisterhood (America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, Blake Lively, Alexis Bledel) are back for this smart, confident second act, reprising their roles as friends who share some remarkable blue jeans that mysteriously transform to fit each of them. Nothing about this movie feels revolutionary, but don’t let its easy charm fool you: Serious issues lurk beneath the cinematic sheen. Rated PG-13 (mature material and sensuality). Rated PG-13. At Century. — Jessica Reaves

Star Wars: The Clone Wars
This animated feature was executive-produced by George Lucas, who may be feeling a tad sheepish about the results. A mechanical overture to the forthcoming Clone Wars TV series, the movie is one long, grinding battle scene, and the visual style is genuinely ugly. It’s coming soon, free, to a TV near you, so save your money, younglings. Rated PG (sci-fi action violence throughout, brief language and momentary smoking).  At Flatiron, Century and Colony Square. — Michael Phillips

Superbad
The best of this teen comedy, in which writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg recall their hormonally beserk high school years, combines extreme raunch and unexpected tenderness. Jonah Hill and deadpan ace Michael Cera share the screen with a true adenoidal wonder, Fogell, played by the impossibly well-cast newcomer Christopher  Mintz-Plasse. Greg Mottola directed. Rated R (pervasive crude and sexual content, strong language, drinking, some drug use and a fantasy/comic violent image — all involving teens). At Boulder Outdoor Cinema. — Michael Phillips

Tell No One
This French thriller focuses in on Alexander, a pediatrician wrongfully accused but never prosecuted for the death of his wife, Margot. Eight years after the incident, two bodies are found near Margot’s former resting spot and the case reopens. Things get stickier when Alexander receives an e-mail, showing his wife alive and older. Not rated. At Mayan.



Traitor
An ex-Special Ops soldier who now aids terrorists is hunted by a federal agent. Rated PG-13. At Flatiron, Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.

Transsiberian
A crime thriller in which an American couple encounters a mysterious characters on a Transsiberian train from China to Moscow. Rated R. At Chez Artiste.

Tropic Thunder
Ben Stiller’s big-budget comedy is about the runaway production of a Vietnam War epic. Robert Downey Jr., playing an Oscar-winning actor who undergoes a skin treatment to portray an African-American platoon sergeant, is by far the best thing in Tropic, which has taken heat for its “retard” references, anti-Semitic stereotyping and Downey’s risky impersonation of Russell Crowe doing Fred Williamson. While the film is funny, its size and scale inform the joke half of the time and compete with it the other half. Rated R (pervasive language including sexual references, violent content and drug material). At Flatiron, Century and Colony Square. — Michael Phillips

Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Woody Allen’s liveliest feature in years. Two Americans (Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall) spend a summer in Spain, where their romantic fortunes intertwine with those of a sensually forthright painter (Javier Bardem) and, later, his violently jealous ex-wife and muse (Penelope Cruz). It’s modest but satisfying, and Hall is a major screen actress in the making. Rated PG-13 (mature thematic material involving sexuality, and smoking). At Flatiron, Colony Square and Century. — Michael Phillips
 
Wall-E
A hunk of metal with binoculars for eyes — can this be the screen’s latest true hero? Yes. In Pixar’s marvelous new feature, set 700 years from now, planet Earth has become an uninhabitable garbage dump, whose last resident (besides a roach) is the title robot. How he saves the planet is the subject of director Andrew Stanton’s story, beautifully realized. Rated G. At Flatiron. — Michael Phillips

We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen
We Jam Econo: The Story Of The Minutemen traces the history of The Minutemen — one of the most eclectic, intelligent, uncompromising and promising bands of the hardcore era, one that was cut brutally short by the untimely death of singer-guitarist D. Boon in 1985. Not rated. At Starz. — Denver Film Society

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