Cop Out

Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis are wisecracking New York cops on the trail of Mexican toughs in this Kevin Smith-directed comedy.

The Crazies

Bad drinking water turns residents of a rural Iowa town into zombies, ones who manage to hang on to their human capabilities while turning nine shades of evil.

The Ghost Writer

Roman Polanski’s terrific new thriller burns with style and sophisticated technique. The story centers on a ghost writer whos hired to pen the autobiography of a prime minister with lots of skeletons in his closet.

Saint John of Las Vegas

Steve Buscemi plays a down-on-his-luck guy who faces his demons on a road trip through Oddsville, U.S.A. Also starring Romany Malco, Sarah Silverman and Peter Dinklage.

Fish Tank

Writer-director Andrea Arnold’s frank and powerful glimpse of a dead-end British teenage life follows Katie Jarvis as a girl on her way to a serious date with trouble.

Chat With the Experts: Join the movies staff’s weekly discussion on the Oscar nominees at noon today. This week’s category: best animated feature film.

Previous chats: Read the critics’ thoughts on the nominees for best supporting actor and actress and best leading actor and actress

AMC Best Picture Showcase: Catch all 10 best picture nominees at your local theater.

Full list of nominees: Study up on who’s up for which awards.

Oscars night on The Screening Room: Watch the show with the movies staff beginning at 7 p.m. March 7.

44 Inch Chest: Ray Winstone’s wife cheated on him, and his friends put revenge into his hands.

Alice in Wonderland: Director Tim Burton takes on Lewis Carroll’s tale. Johnny Depp stars as the Mad Hatter.

Brooklyn’s Finest: Wesley Snipes (playing a drug dealer), Ethan Hawke, Richard Gere and Don Cheadle star in this crime drama from Antoine Fuqua (Training Day).

District 13: Ultimatum: Two partners reunite to save a volatile ghetto in this action sequel written by Luc Besson (Taken).

Shutter Island

A slow burning freak-out from director Martin Scorsese about two federal marshals (Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo) investigating a disappearance at a mental hospital for the criminally insane.

The White Ribbon

Sinister things are happening, always with children around, in a quiet hamlet in pre-World War I Germany. Beautifully shot in black and white, this chilling film raises questions about the nature of evil.

Happy Tears

Directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein, this film follows two sisters (Parker Posey and Demi Moore) who come together to care for their demented father.

Blood Done Sign My Name

Nate Parker stars in this drama about a relatively unknown murder in 1970 that helped galvanize the civil rights struggle in North Carolina.

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NEW RELEASES THIS WEEK

More movie reviews

OPENING WEDNESDAY, FEB. 17 From Guidelive.com

OPENING FRIDAY, FEB. 19 From Guidelive.com

From Paris With Love

A mousey diplomatic assistant (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is paired with a real-life super spy (John Travolta) for a hazily defined mission involving drug dealers and terrorists.

Dear John

Young lovers are separated by war but keep their romance alive through letters. Lasse Hallström blandly directs his low-heat stars in this romantic drama based on the Nicholas Sparks novel.

Frozen

The fears in this low-budget and intermittently suspenseful film, in which a trio of friends are stranded in a ski lift, are rooted in the seemingly mundane reality of nature inexorably taking its course.

Killing Kasztner: The Jew Who Dealt With Nazis

This documentary pores over the life and legacy of Rudolf Kasztner, a leader of a Hungarian organization in World War II that helped Jewish refugees escape from Nazi-occupied Europe.

Beeswax: Jeannie and her estranged business partner Amanda have a falling out leading Jeannie to bond more with her non-paralyzed twin Lauren.

Creation: Paul Bettany plays Charles Darwin as he wrestles with The Origin of Species. Real-life spouse Jennifer Connelly plays wife, Emma Darwin.

The Last Station: Christopher Plummer received an Oscar nomination for his role as Leo Tolstoy.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief: Greek god Poseidon’s half-human son Percy and his friends are caught between Mount Olympus’ warring factions in this film based on the popular young-adult novels.

Saint John of Las Vegas: A compulsive gambler (Steve Buscemi) faces temptation and meets an assortment of odd characters when he travels to Las Vegas to investigate an insurance claim.

Valentine’s Day: Julia Roberts and Jamie Foxx are just two of the actors in this star-studded movie about intersecting LA love stories on the titular day.

The Wolfman: Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins star in the much-anticipated (read: delayed) remake.

1. Avatar
2. Edge of Darkness
3. When in Rome
4. Tooth Fairy
5. The Book of Eli

Edge of Darkness

Mel Gibson stars as a lone widower cop whose daughter is killed in what everybody assumes was a hit meant for him. Further investigation suggests otherwise in this thriller based on the 1980s British miniseries.

When in Rome

Kristen Bell plays a woman looking for love who falls for the wrong man. After a drunken dip in a fountain where she steals some coins, the men who tossed them are instantly smitten with her.

La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet

Director Frederick Wiseman takes his camera into the Palais Garnier in Paris for a film that’s a feast for ballet lovers, as well as one of the finest dance movies ever made.

Preacher’s Kids
Tired of being a preacher’s daughter and longing to experience more of life, 20-something Angie King strikes out on her own and joins a traveling gospel show. This film did not screen in advance for critics.

New video, DVD and Blu-ray releases: Michael Jackson’s This Is It, Saw VI, Whip It and more

The Screening Room: Blogging views, news and nuggets on all things movies

More features: Find a theater | Festivals/screenings

Dear John: Channing Tatum is a young soldier who falls in love with a college girl (Amanda Seyfried).

From Paris With Love: John Travolta puts on his U.S. intelligence agent face and tries to stop a terrorist attack in Paris. Jonathan Rhys Meyers also stars.

Killing Kasztner: This documentary examines assassinated Hungarian Jew Rezso Kasztner, who negotiated to save more than 1,600 Jews on a rescue train but was later accused of being involved in the deaths of thousands more.

Tooth Fairy

Dwayne Johnson plays a cynical bruiser on a minor-league hockey team who is infamous for knocking out bicuspids. He is summoned to Fairyland, where he’s sentenced to two weeks of Tooth Fairy duty.

Extraordinary Measures

A sometimes moving, solid if unsurprising account of a father’s tireless efforts to use his business acumen to develop a cure for his children’s fatal genetic disorder.

35 Shots of Rum

A beguiling and keenly observational domestic drama from director Claire Denis in which a family on the outskirts of Paris copes with an unidentified tragedy. In French with English subtitles.

Legion
Paul Bettany plays the archangel Michael, who helps strangers turned compatriots in a battle to save humanity from God.
This film did not screen in advance for critics.

New video, DVD and Blu-ray releases: Gamer, The Invention of Lying, Pandorum and more

The Screening Room: Blogging views, news and nuggets on all things movies

More features: Find a theater | Festivals/screenings

Edge of Darkness: Mel Gibson stars in director Martin Campbells film version of his BBC miniseries.

La Danse: Using footage from the rehearsals and performances of seven productions, director Frederick Wiseman explores all aspects of the Paris Opera Ballet Company.

When in Rome: Kristen Bell takes a trip to Rome and finds many men fighting for her heart.

The White Ribbon: Germanys Michael Haneke delivers a World War I mystery.

The Lovely Bones

Director Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Alice Sebold’s acclaimed novel stars Saoirse Ronan as the adolescent girl who narrates from a perch just shy of heaven after she is murdered by a creepy neighbor.

The Book of Eli

Don’t let the post-apocalyptic setting fool you. What co-directors Albert and Allen Hughes have made is a 21st-century samurai film in which warrior hero Eli is on a quest to complete an urgent but elusive task.

The Spy Next Door

A mild-mannered pen salesman (Jackie Chan) is actually a superspy. He is courting a woman whose bratty kids look down on him for not being cool.

Black Dynamite

This is the story of 1970s African-American action legend Black Dynamite (Micheal Jai White), who is fighting “The Man.”

The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond

Bryce Dallas Howard plays a rich heiress in Tennessee whose father has done something criminal and scandalous. A party turns into an agonizing series of humiliations for her.

35 Shots of Rum: A drama surrounding a suburban French family.

Extraordinary Measures: Harrison Ford stars in this story ripped from the headlines about a couple trying to cure their children of a rare fatal disease.

Legion: Paul Bettany plays the archangel Michael, who helps strangers turned compatriots in a battle to save humanity – from God.

The Tooth Fairy: Ex-wrestler Dwayne Johnson is an ex-hockey player who is now a tooth fairy.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

The singing pre-teen chipmunk trio return to contend with the pressures of school, celebrity, and a rival female music group known as The Chipettes.

Sherlock Holmes

Purists may take offense at the down-and-dirty portrayal of Arthur Conan Doyle’s master detective, but director Guy Ritchie has crafted a rip-roaring action-adventure film of high order.

It’s Complicated

Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin show the whippersnappers how it’s done in this breezy, tension-free comedy of infidelity and second chances.

Nine

Daniel Day-Lewis plays an Italian director struggling to make a new film with major distractions coming from the many women in his life. A remake of Federico Fellini’s masterpiece 8 1/2.

A Single Man

Fashion magnate Tom Ford makes an impressive directorial debut with this tale of George Falconer, a closeted gay man adrift in the ’60s.

Crazy Heart

Jeff Bridges plays a dissolute, overweight, alcoholic country singer trapped on a dead-end concert circuit. Oscar-worthy Bridges makes this potentially repellent character both fascinating and endearing.

Broken Embraces

Director Pedro Almodóvar extends the riff from 2004′s Bad Education: the filmmaker as agent of both redemption and doom, returning to settle unfinished business. In Spanish with English subtitles.