Gibsons Tom Craven is a veteran Boston police detective (replete with accent) whose reunion with daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic) is twice interrupted first by Emmas violent illness, then by her violent death via a masked gunman waiting outside her door.

The great Christopher Plummer plays the title role, that of the immortal (and occasionally inebriated) carnival barker and magician who rattles through contemporary London in his rickety, horse-drawn carriage, stopping only to present one of his...

Jackson doesn't specifically depict Susie's murder, thereby maintaining a more audience-friendly PG-13 rating (and, by contrast, angering some of the novel's more fervent admirers), yet the build-up to the act is so excruciatingly suspenseful that a more explicit approach is hardly necessary.

Screenwriter Oren Moverman makes an auspicious directorial debut with The Messenger, a topical and hard- by Mark Burger hitting drama contributing columnist that ranks among 2009's best films.

These include Marion Cotillard as his adoring but long-suffering wife, Luisa; Penelope Cruz as his impetuous mistress, Carla; Nicole Kidman as his leading lady and screen muse Claudia, whos requesting to see the screenplay that Guido hasnt...

Without question one of the year's best and brightest films, Up in the Air is a sparkling adaptation of Walter Kirn's novel, intelligently realized by screenwriters Jason Reitman, who also directed, and Sheldon Turner.

And with that, I'll close the books on 2009, and on my run as your humble film critic (see the staff column in this week's Voices section for more on that). Next week and hereafter, I leave you in the capable hands of my colleague Mark Burger, who will be taking my place in this spot.

The world according to Joel and Ethan Coen is a profoundly unsettling place. Even in the best of times, it is filled with uncertainty and pettiness. Violence bubbles beneath the surface, waiting for a crack big enough to explode through. And honest people constantly find themselves struggling against a merciless tide with little to steady them.

Forget all that hooey about decking the halls and roasting chestnuts on open fires. What the holidays are really about is the exercise of passive aggression toward your loved ones. You could be forgiven for thinking so after watching Everybody's Fine. Or, as I have come to know it, The Sad Old Man and His Four Horrible Children.

The One Last Heist structure is an old one, but not unwelcome here: Mr. Fox (George Clooney) loves raiding chicken coops, but Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) doesn't like the very real element of danger in the work. Pregnant with their first child, she asks him to look for work that doesn't involve getting shot at by angry farmers.

Things begin to turn around when Precious enrolls in an alternative school to work toward her GED. Under the guidance of her teacher, Ms. Rain (Paula Patton), she improves her reading aptitude, makes a few friends and learns to speak out, a skill that had almost been beaten out of her.

Before 'Nazi' became a convenient, all-purpose analogy for anyone who disagrees with your political views, it was the name for members of a fascist movemen responsible for the most protracted, detestable act of violence in the modern age.

Watching a bad movie is sort of like watching the postseason NIT. Sure, its not the Big Dance, but that doesn't mean there isn't a victory to be had. It's clear almost immediately that Orphan is not a good movie, but it is so audacious in its badness it surely qualifies for a trophy of some kind. The film, a Hand That Rocks The Cradle-style piece of suburban suspense, examines what happens when well-meaning, well-to-do John and Kate

Heres one dubious advantage the new Friday the 13 th has over other unnecessary horror franchise revamps: No matter how bad it is, it couldnt possibly be worse than, say, Friday the 13 th Part VI. Any promise this series once had has been, like Jason Vorhees himself, dismembered, drowned, burned and buried over 10 progressively idiotic chapters (11 if you count Freddy vs. Jason).

Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair aside, professional wrestling isnt generally an old mans game. What happens to those guys who age out of the big time? For a lot of them, the obscurity after the spotlight is tough, and a lifetime of premature joint and back pain doesnt make it any easier.

Along the way, they'll contend with relationship difficulties between Hellboy and his girlfriend, Liz (Selma Blair); a new love interest for egghead fish-man Abe Sapien (Doug Jones); and the introduction of a brilliantly-conceived, entirely gaseous team leader voiced by "Family Guy"Seth McFarlane.

Green Lantern. But he can fly--even drunk, which comes in handy--and he is invulnerable to bullets. He's also all alone in the spotlight, which means that when the world needs saving, its choices are limited. Mr. Fourth of July, Will Smith, plays Hancock, a besotted, raggedy-ass misanthrope of a superhero who fights crime with a raging hangover.

If you haven't ventured out to the theater in the past few months, I can't really blame you. Maybe you're over the superhero craze; maybe you like your Indy wrapped up in a neat little trilogy; maybe it's been years since you laughed at either Adam Sandler or Mike Myers. And that's okay. I'll be the first to admit it's been a lukewarm season so far for humans.

Film adaptations of television shows don't have to be bad. It's just that they usually are. I've sat through remakes of Bewitched, The Brady Bunch, Lost in Space and Starsky and Hutch, among others, and still I've retained my optimism. Against all odds, I was hoping Get Smart would buck the trend. I'm a Steve Carell fan, and thought him perfectly suited for a modern-day Maxwell Smart.

Still waiting for M. Night Shyamalan to make another Sixth Sense? The Happening might finally break you of that habit. Shyamalan is, for good or ill, the only creator I know currently at work in the major-studio system who retains sole writing, directing and production credits on each of his films. I respect his passion, but like so many raging egos, what he obviously, painfully lacks - if his last few films are any indicator - is someone to help him separate the good ideas from the bad.