Appaloosa
This leisurely, off-and-on buddy Western, set in the New Mexico territory in 1882, stars Ed Harris (who also co-wrote the screenplay and directed) as a gunslinger who goes up against a ruthless rancher (Jeremy Irons). This film could have used a real sense of danger to go along with all the neat, tidy, highfalutin’ honor and decency. Rated R (some violence and language). At Colony Square and Twin Peaks. — Michael Phillips

Beverly Hills Chihuahua
A pampered chihuahua from Beverly Hills becomes lost in the mean streets of Mexico. Seriously. Rated PG. At Flatiron, Century and Twin Peaks.

Body of Lies
Ridley Scott directs this slick, busy international thriller that stars Leonardo DiCaprio as the CIA’s top man in Jordan, on the hunt of an Osama bin Laden-style terrorist. Russell Crowe gets most of screenwriter William The Departed Monahan’s best lines as the spymaster back home. Rated R (strong violence, including some torture, and language throughout). At Flatiron. — Michael Phillips

Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Set during the horrors of WWII, Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a film presented through the eyes of an 8-year-old boy whose father is an SS officer at a concentration camp. He maintains a secret relationship with a Jewish boy inside the camp, with unexpected consequences. Rated PG-13. At Mayan.

Burn After Reading
An imperious former spook (John Malkovich) accuses his blackmailers (Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand) of heading a “league of morons,” in the latest film from Joel and Ethan Coen. As in all Coen japes, stupid has at least a 40 percent chance of getting you killed in spectacularly violent fashion. But the cosmic joke being played on the morons here isn’t much fun in the telling. Rated R (pervasive language, some sexual content, and violence). At Flatiron, Century and Starz. — Michael Phillips

Changeling
Based on Southern California’s infamous Wineville chicken coop murders of the 1920s, this film, a combination of serial-killer saga and triumph of the human spirit, is a solid addition to Clint Eastwood’s directorial career. Eastwood tells a painful true story neatly and well, with one foot in rousing Hollywood melodrama and the other in a story that resists tidy resolution. Angelina Jolie shines as the mother of a missing boy, crusading against the law-enforcement officials who shut her away in hopes of shutting her up. Rated R (some violent and disturbing content and language). At Flatiron and Century. — Michael Phillips

Children of Winter
The latest extreme snow sports flick from winter film guru, Warren Miller. For more information, see article on page 33. At Boulder Theater.

The Duchess
This film dramatizes Amanda Foreman’s popular biography of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (played by Keira Knightley), a cultishly adored (and sometimes loathed) celebrity of the 18th century known for her outspoken politics as much as her influence over British fashions. The Duchess is a beautifully crafted period piece, but it’s also disturbingly shallow, focused so tightly on one woman’s feelings of repression and loneliness that it lacks any perspective on her causes. Rated PG-13 (sexual content, brief nudity and thematic material). At Colony Square and Chez Artiste. — Tasha Robinson

Eagle Eye
Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan are dragooned into a vast cyber conspiracy involving a super-secret Pentagon surveillance weapon that’s basically a humorless female version of HAL 9000. The screenplay tries like the devil to get you all fussed up about omnivorous cyber-surveillance on a scale George Orwell never imagined, but the result is a hyperactive jumble that fails to whip up the right mixture of dread and propulsion. Rated PG-13 (intense sequences of action and violence and for language). At Flatiron. — Michael Phillips

Fear(s) of the Dark
A series of animated black-and-white shorts that revolve around the human fear of darkness. Not rated. At Mayan.

Happy-Go-Lucky
This is accomplished director Mike Leigh’s most buoyantly comic feature, and it’s a marvelous showcase for Sally Hawkins, who stars as the perpetually cheery Poppy, a grade-school teacher in North London. Happy-Go-Lucky is an ode to the power of irrational exuberance, and Leigh keeps the narrative machinery to a minimum. Everything is a bit neat, but a lot of Leigh’s work tends toward a heightened theatrical neatness. When it works, the result is a slice of life that, in terms of honest cinematic storytelling, is more like a slice of cake. Rated R (language). At Esquire. — Michael Phillips

The Haunting of Molly Hartley
Molly Hartley is a girl with a troubled past who looks to start fresh at a new school. After sparking with a popular student, her secrets start to seep out. Rated PG-13. At Flatiron and Colony Square.

High School Musical 3
The High School Musical series isn’t aimed at high schoolers, who presumably know by now that grades 9-12 aren’t a candy-coated wonderland. It’s aimed at preteens willing to bet high school will be the best thing ever. The first two HSM movies, made for TV’s Disney Channel, broke cable viewership records, and the first film’s soundtrack was 2006’s top-selling record. HSM 3 may be shallow, but what it lacks in narrative ambition, it makes up for in dazzling choreography that’s certain to leave its target audience transfixed. Consider it is harmlessly fluffy fun. Rated G. At Flatiron, Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks. — Tasha Robinson

Let’s Get Lost (1988)
An intimate black-and-white documentary about legendary jazz musician, Chet Baker. Not rated. At International Film Series.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
The zoo-raised animals of the first Madagascar find themselves stranded on the shores of Africa, and must decide if life is better in City Park. Rated PG. At Flatiron, Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.

Nerdcore Rising
Nerdcore Rising introduces a new wave of hip-hop to the world called Nerdcore, the newest, dorkiest wave of rap music. The film follows the godfather of the genre, MC Frontalot on his first national tour. Frontalot and band interact with fans across the country: a special breed of loyal and super smart dorks who can’t get enough of the Front, making Nerdcore hip hop a fascinating and endearingly comedic sociological phenomenon. Commentary from industry notables like Weird Al Yankovic, Prince Paul and Jello Biafra pepper the film to examine the legitimacy of Nerdcore as a subgenre of hip hop, the larger rise of geek culture, and the desperation of one MC who’s trying to achieve nerd stardom. Not rated. At Starz. — Denver Film Society

Rachel Getting Married
Jonathan Demme’s most bracing narrative feature since The Silence of the Lambs combines a wedding with a tense family reunion, starring Anne Hathaway as a recovering addict returning home for her sister’s nuptials. A triumph of ambience, this is the first Demme film since the 1980s that feels like a party — bittersweet, but a party nonetheless. Rated R (language and brief sexuality). At Century, Flatiron and Mayan. — Michael Phillips

Religulous
Bill Maher and director Larry Charles get a fair number of laughs as they take aim at religious extremism in many forms. Yet even if you share Maher’s skepticism on his subject, you may wish he’d set up his straight men and straight women in a way that doesn’t merely score the cheapest possible laughs. Rated R (some language and sexual material). At Century and Esquire. — Michael Phillips

RocknRolla
See full screen review on page 27. Rated R. At Flatiron and Century.

Role Models
Two wild energy-drink reps are ordered to mentor kids as part of their community service. Rated R. At Flatiron, Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.

Saw V
In the latest of the Saw series, a detective who was supposedly the last to see Jigsaw alive must hunt to eliminate all of the loose ends of the Jigsaw legacy. Rated R. At Flatiron and Century.

Secret Life of Bees
Based on Sue Monk Kidd’s 2002 novel, a hugely popular exploration of family, love and the brutal politics of race in 1964 South Carolina, this adaptation forces the characters through their paces at breakneck speed, never allowing a moment for reflection. Dakota Fanning plays Lily, a lonely budding writer who ends up in the care of four black women (Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo). It’s all very neat and tidy, but not very satisfying. Rated PG-13 (thematic material and some violence). At Flatiron, Century and Colony Square. — Jessica Reaves

Soul Men
Two estranged singers reunite for a soul show at The Apollo to honor their deceased band leader. Rated R. At Flatiron, Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.

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  Starz. — Michael Phillips

W.
Oliver Stone’s film about the life and exceptional good luck enjoyed (and squandered, if you agree with Stone) by George W. Bush may be ill-timed, unnecessary and no more psychologically probing than any other Stone movie. But much of it works as deft, brisk, slyly engaging docudrama. As with any Stone film, the swing between truth and fantasy is willful and wide. A wily and exacting Josh Brolin plays W., going just far enough with certain traits to ring the bell (the little heh-heh-heh chuckle, for instance). Rated PG-13 (language including sexual references, some alcohol abuse, smoking and brief disturbing war images). At Flatiron,Century and Colony Square. — Michael Phillips

What Just Happened
Small, mild, easy to watch and easier to forget, this adaptation of producer Art Linson’s Hollywood memoirs has the virtue of breeziness, and of Robert De Niro unwinding, after one too many tense performances, in the role of Linson’s alter ego, a twice-divorced and multi-directionally frazzled movie producer. Yet you leave wanting more, and funnier. Rated R (language, some violent images, sexual content and some drug material). At Mayan. — Michael Phillips

Yella
In this unofficial remake of 1962’s Carnival of Souls, a woman makes the trek from eastern Germany to west to escape her failed marriage and career. Not rated. At International Film Series.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno
See full screen review on page 27. Rated R. At Flatiron, Century, Twin Peaks and Colony Square.

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