Capsule reviews are by Kenneth Turan (K.Tu.), Betsy Sharkey (B.S.) and other reviewers. Compiled by Anthony Miller.
Openings
FRIDAY
Chloe A remake of the 2004 French film "Nathalie" about the effect of a mysterious young girl on the lives of a flirtatious college professor and his wife. With Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried. Written by Erin Cressida Wilson. Directed by Atom Egoyan. (1:36) R.
Story on Page D10The Eclipse A widower still reeling from the death of his wife is plagued by terrifying apparitions and finds himself drawn to an empathetic author of supernatural fiction. With Ciarán Hinds, Iben Hjejle, Aidan Quinn and Hannah Lynch. Screenplay by Conor McPherson and Billy Roche, based on Roche's "Tales from Rainwater Pond." Directed by McPherson. (1:28) NR.
The Harimaya Bridge Daniel Holder's father was killed fighting the Japanese in the Second World War so when Daniel's beloved artist son Mickey takes a job in Japan teaching English, it creates a rift between them and leads to unexpected discoveries for Daniel. With Ben Guillory, Saki Takaoka and Misa Shimizu. Directed by Aaron Woolfolk. (2 hours) NR.
Harmony and Me After a breakup, a hipster wallows in his unrewarding job, a family devoid of warmth, a circle of indifferent friends and sad songs in a series of comically deadpan episodes. With Justin Rice, Kevin Corrigan and Kristen Tucker. Directed by Robert Byington. (1:15) NR.
Hot Tub Time Machine A group of best friends bored with their adult life wake up after a night of drinking in a ski resort hot tub to find themselves in the year 1986 and set out to change their futures. With John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Crispin Glover, Lizzy Caplan and Chevy Chase. Directed by Steve Pink. (1:40) R.
How to Train Your Dragon An animated comedy adventure of a misfit Viking teen who encounters a dragon that challenges his tribe's tradition of heroic dragon slayers. With the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Kristen Wiig. Based on the book by Cressida Cowell. Directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders. (1:38) PG.
Sweetgrass The film follows the last sheepherders to trail their flocks up into Montana's Beartooth Mountains for summer pasture. Directed by Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor. (1:45) NR.
Vincere A chronicle of the largely unknown story of the secret marriage of Benito Mussolini to Ida Dalser. With Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Fausto Russo Alesi and Filippo Timi. Directed by Marco Bellocchio. In Italian with English subtitles. (2:08) NR. Story on Page D8
Waking Sleeping Beauty A documentary which chronicles Disney from 1984 to 1994, when clashing egos, out-of-control budgets, escalating tensions combined to create one of the most extraordinary creative periods in animation history. With Roy Disney, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Michael Eisner. Written by Patrick Pacheco. Directed by Don Hahn. (1:26) PG.
West of Pluto A look at a day in the lives of twelve Quebec high schoolers captures the nature of their teenage years. Written and directed by Henry Bernadet and Myriam Verreault. In French with English subtitles. (1:35) NR.
Critics' Choices
Ajami One of the five foreign-language Oscar finalists, this look at cultures in conflict in today's Israel has a complex, elliptical structure, and uses unconventional filming techniques to tell a bleak and fatalistic story that's conveyed with an unnerving sense of verisimilitude. (K.Tu., Feb. 19) (2 hrs.) NR.
An Education Invariably funny and inexpressibly moving in the way it looks at a young girl's journey from innocence to experience, this film does so many things so well, it's difficult to know where to begin cataloging its virtues. What's easy is knowing where you'll end up, which is marveling like everyone else at the performance by Carey Mulligan that is the film's irreplaceable centerpiece. (K.Tu., Oct. 16) (1:35) NR.
The Art of the Steal An energetically entertaining if a bit one-sided documentary that shows how the Philadelphia establishment committed an act of cultural vandalism by engineering a move of the Barnes collection from its iconic home in suburban Merion, Penn., to a proposed new museum in the heart of downtown Philadelphia. It's a move that illustrates as few other things how art and culture have become commodified into big money industries. (K.Tu., March 12) (1:41) NR.
Avatar Think of "Avatar" as "The Jazz Singer" of 3-D filmmaking. Think of it as the most expensive and accomplished Saturday matinee movie ever made. Think of it as the ultimate James Cameron production. Whatever way you choose to look at it, "Avatar's" shock and awe demand to be seen. You've never experienced anything like it, and neither has anyone else. (K.Tu., Dec. 17) Also in Imax 3-D. (2:30) PG-13.
