Opening

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN—Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson present a motion-capture 3D adaptation of the internationally popular comic strip character that failed to set the US on fire when HBO presented it in 1991. Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

THE DARKEST HOUR—Moscow teens battle alien energy suckers. Starring Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella and Rachael Taylor. Directed by Chris Gorak (Right at Your Door). Flix, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO—American adaptation of the international best selling books previously filmed in Sweden. Starring Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer and Stellan Skarsgård. Directed by David Fincher (Seven). Reviewed this issue. Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL—Sequel. Staring Tom Cruise. Directed by Brad Bird (Ratatouille). Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

WAR HORSE—Steven Spielberg’s second film of the week is an adaptation of the hit play about World War I as seen through the eyes of the horse. Big difference: in the film, the horses are not puppets. Starring Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, Niels Arestrup, David Thewlis, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Reviewed this issue. Amherst, Flix, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

WE BOUGHT A ZOO—Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson buy a zoo. Wackiness ensues. Or so we presume: the studio didn’t preview this one, and you know what that usually means. With Thomas Haden Church, Colin Ford and Maggie Elizabeth Jones. Directed by Cameron Crowe (Elizabethtown). Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, McKinley, New Angola, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Walden Galleria

ETC:

ESSENTIAL KILLING—Even though he doesn’t speak a word in the film, Vincent Gallo was named best actor at the Venice Film Festival for this performance as an Afghani who is captured and interrogated (harshly) by the US military before escaping somewhere in rural Eastern Europe. Venice also gave its special jury prize to veteran director Jerzy Skolimowski, who dismisses charges that the film seeks sympathy for a terrorist (an ambiguous charge): he’s concerned not with war but with depicting one man’s attempt to survive. Screening Room

FOOTPRINTS—An amnesiac (Sybil Temtchine) wakes up in front of Graumann’s Chinese Theater and spends the day using the famous location to retrace her memories. Co-starring H.M. Wynant, Pippa Scott and John Brickner. Directed by Steven Peros. Reviewed this issue. Screening Room

JANIE JONES—Looking a bit like the teenaged Jodie Foster, Little Miss Sunshine’s Abigail Breslin edges toward adult roles in this drama as a girl foisted on the over-the-hill rock star her mother claims is her father. The story is surprisingly unsurprising, but there’s real charm in the performances by Breslin and Alessandro Nivola, and some decent tunes as well. Screening Room

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)—Jimmy Stewart gets to see what life for his friends and community would have been like had he never lived in Frank Capra’s holiday classic. Co-starring Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers, Beulah Bondi, Frank Faylen, Ward Bond, Gloria Grahame, H.B. Warner, Frank Albertson, Sheldon Leonard, and Charles Lane. Screening Room

SCROOGE (England, 1935)—Considered on of the best adaptations of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, this is one of the most visually striking versions of the oft-told tale, with sets and lighting influenced by German expressionism. Sir Seymour Hicks had been playing Scrooge on stage since 1913. Directed by Henry Edwards. Screening Room

STOOGEFEST—Eyeballs will be poked, craniums will be smacked, and nyuk-nyuks will be nyuked by Curly, Larry and Moe, and possibly Shemp too. Hamburg Palace