By Neil Pedley

After last week's ridiculously crowded release schedule, this week's is somewhat more manageable.

"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian"
Fans salivating at the prospect of some post-Middle Earth fantasy creature smackdown were left disappointed last time around as, for all its promise, initial "Narnia" installment "The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe" possessed about as much bite as a hibernating tortoise. Looking to fill the hole left by a certain boy wizard in the summer release schedule, the second adventure into Narnia sees the four Pevensie siblings summoned back to the fantastical world to find that 1300 years have passed and their former kingdom lies in ruins. Joining forces with heir to the throne Prince Caspian (Ben Bames), the children lead a renegade army into battle against the tyrannical King Miraz, seeking to restore Narnia and bring about peace once more.
Opens wide.

By Neil Pedley

This week sees the return of the Wachowski brothers, Tarsem Singh ("The Cell") and Henry Bean ("The Believer") to the big screen, not to mention new films from documentarians Nick Broomfield ("Tupac and Biggie") and Doug Pray ("Scratch"). On the other hand, after running around Tribeca, we still need to catch up on last week's releases.

"The Babysitters"
The idea of the spunky teenage boy succumbing to the allure of an experienced older woman is the kind of Hollywood golden goose that launches major careers (think Dustin Hoffman). But when the roles are reversed, the result is the directorial debut of David Ross that sees an entrepreneurial high schooler (Katherine Waterston, daughter of Sam) and her friends turn their babysitting ring into a call girl service, realizing there are alternative ways to pay for college besides waiting tables. It stars when one local dad (John Leguizamo) goes a little too far one night, and Waterston's Shirley sees the opportunity for a full scholarship (and a phone call to Chris Hansen).
Opens in New York.

By Neil Pedley

The Tribeca Film Festival is in full swing, but if you don't live in New York, there's no need to fret. No less than three films ("From Within," "Mister Lonely" and "Redbelt") on this list of coming attractions have played the festival in recent days. Then again, if you are in New York and want to catch something outside the fest, there's always that intimate character drama starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and a red and gold metal suit of armor.

"The Favor"
Writer/director Eva J. Aridjis brings us a quiet tale of angst and alienation starring former New York subway busker Ryan Donowho as Johnny, a high school loner who's taken in by Lawrence (Frank Wood), a quiet pet photographer, after his mother (Paige Turco) is killed in an accident. In order to be the father he needs, Lawrence must fight through Johnny's rebellious behavior and enlist the help of the one person he responds to — Marianna (Isidra Vega), a gentle neighborhood girl.
Opens in limited release.

By Neil Pedley

While we pace the carpet back and forth in anticipation of the fast-approaching Tribeca Film Festival (kicking off on Wednesday), we can bide our time with a puppet kidnapping, some Bollywood royalty and an Ewan McGregor sighting.

"Baby Mama"
If the fad of pregnancy movies began with last year's "Knocked Up," it reaches its second trimester with "Baby Mama," which stars comedy goddess Tina Fey as a wannabe mom who's fast approaching 40 and Fey's one-time Weekend Update deskmate Amy Poehler as the uncouth oddball who offers up the use of her womb in exchange for a bit of cash. Appropriately enough, former "SNL" scribe Michael McCullers makes his directorial debut with the offbeat comedy, which could serve as "Juno" for people deemed too fuddy-duddy to find the term "home skillet" amusing. "Baby Mama"'s also serving as Tribeca's opening night film.
Opens wide.

By Neil Pedley

With such variety this week, we could be tempted to go nuts and combine them into one super movie. Osama Bin Laden would have 88 minutes to paint an anamorphic picture that disproved Darwinism while riding the winner of the Kentucky Derby through ancient China with his gay lover who is also an Oscar nominated composer moonlighting as a zombie stripper...we smell a Golden Globe!

"Anamorph"
Utilizing the painting technique of anamorphosis, whereby the nature of an image changes depending on the viewer's vantage point, filmmaker Henry Miller marks his directorial debut with this intricate and cerebral thriller that reads like "Saw" by way of "The Da Vinci Code." Willem Dafoe stars as the dogged but haunted Detective Aubray, on the trail of carefully placed clues and elaborate puzzles, trying to catch a serial killer whose crimes bare a striking resemblance to an old case he is desperate to forget.
Opens in New York; opens in Los Angeles on May 2nd.

By Neil Pedley

Prom queens and street kings hold court this week at the multiplexes while the college professors of "Smart People" and "The Visitor" preside at the art houses.

"Body of War"
Talk show legend Phil Donahue hands over the mic to Iraqi war veteran Tomas Young in this hard-hitting documentary that contrasts Young's struggle to re-enter civilian life as a paraplegic and anti-war activist with archival footage of an overeager U.S. Congress and what the filmmakers view as their hasty decision to greenlight the invasion. Although the film, co-directed by Donahue and Ellen Spiro, was named best documentary of 2007 by the National Board of Review, "Body of War" has earned equal attention for its soundtrack led by two tracks from Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, with all proceeds going to the non-profit organization Iraq Veterans Against The War. (Check out our interview with Spiro and Donahue.)
Opens in New York.

By Neil Pedley

This week is something of a nostalgia trip with a period comedy, Freddie Prinze Jr. and a concert documentary about a group of men who, by all the laws of man and nature, should not still be alive and walking around.

"The Flight of the Red Balloon"
After being nominated for the Palme d'Or an incredible five times at Cannes, it's no wonder that director Hou Hsiao-hsien has become a Francophile. In his first film outside of Asia, the "Three Times" auteur directs the country's first lady of cinema, Juliette Binoche, in a story about an overburdened mother who receives a much-needed lift from her son's Chinese nanny (Song Fang) as they turn the City of Lights into a magical playground for the 7-year-old Simon — a tribute to Albert Lamorisse's 1956 short. In French with subtitles.
Opens in limited release.

"Jack and Jill vs. the World"
"Kiss the Bride" director Vanessa Parise corrals a cast of familiar faces to fill out what's been dubbed by the film's distributor as "a love story for cynics." If penning a relationship manifesto together is the new foreplay, then Freddie Prinze Jr. and Taryn Manning are well on their way as a couple who demand complete honesty from each other, only to have one keep a grievous secret with the potential to destroy what they've built. Ah, wasn't life easier when Prinze Jr. only had Matthew Lillard to contend with?
Opens in Los Angeles.

By Neil Pedley

Apparently, less is more this week, as "Flawless" and "Priceless" both head to the big screen and work from minimalist Alexander Sokurov balances out over-the-top offerings like "Superhero Movie" and "21."

"Alexandra"
Russian avant-garde director Alexander Sokurov's melancholic drama landed itself a Palme D'Or nomination last year at Cannes. Set in a nameless, war-torn place that bares more than a passing resemblance to Chechnya, "Alexandra" has for its star veteran opera singer Galina Vishnevskaya, who plays an elderly woman who sets off to visit her grandson, a soldier stationed at the edge of a wasteland. In Russian with subtitles.
Opens in New York.

By Neil Pedley

SXSW recently concluded a week-long unveiling of some of the best and brightest new talent that indie film has to offer, but that didn't deter established players from forging ahead with the fine traditions that have this week brought us an Owen Wilson kiddie comedy, a poker mockumentary and an imitation of whatever Asian cinema was doing four years ago.

"Boarding Gate"
Three-time Palme D'Or nominee Olivier Assayas delivers a sleek and sexually charged thriller that stars the irresistible Asia Argento as a gal on the run from Europe to Asia as she indulges in affairs with both Michael Madsen's high-flying financier and the hit man sent to target him. If you can take your eyes off of Argento, keep one eye open for a supporting turn by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon.
Opens in limited release.

By Neil Pedley

This week, our cup runneth over with a "Karate Kid" knockoff, a shot-for-shot remake and more documentaries than Michael Moore can shake an overpriced hot dog at.

"Blind Mountain"
The recipient of plenty of acclaim at last year's Cannes Film Festival, director Li Yang has a casual yet immediate style that's been touted as something of a Chinese answer to Ken Loach. "Blind Mountain" offers an uncomfortable but powerful indictment of China's one child policy and the sex trade that has flourished under it. The film follows the desperate struggle of a young woman who accepts a job in a remote mountain village, only to discover that she has unwittingly been sold into marriage as a slave.
Opens in New York.

"Doomsday"
Before anyone had heard of Angelina Jolie, model-turned-actress Rhona Mitra was the original face of "Tomb Raider"'s Lara Croft. Ten years later, she's traded in pixels for pictures as the lead in director Neil Marshall's post-apocalyptic fusion of "Mad Max" and "Escape From New York," playing the head of an elite commando unit tasked with finding a cure for a deadly virus plaguing Scotland.
Opens wide.

By Neil Pedley

[Photo: Stephen Chow's "CJ7," Sony Pictures Classics, 2008]

Still nursing a hangover from a week of drunken rage spent stumbling half-naked through the subways of New York, shouting at strangers and ticket machines about how "Michael Clayton" was robbed for best screenplay, I thought I was back in 2007. After all, there's an ancient epic from Warner Bros., a new Martin Lawrence comedy and... well, Jason Statham seems to have a new movie every month. Upon further investigation, however, "300" and "Wild Hogs" haven't been retitled and my life returns to some semblance of order.

"10,000 B.C."
You've overseen the invasion of planet Earth by alien forces, trashed New York City by way of a gigantic lizard and buried the entire northern hemisphere under 300 feet of ice and snow. What's next? Simple, really — you travel back in time 12,000 years and try to find shit to destroy there, instead! Director Roland Emmerich goes medieval on the prehistoric era with an extravagant epic employing 2000 A.D-era computer graphics to breathe life into huge woolly mammoths.
Opens wide.

By Neil Pedley

The Oscars have passed, the Spirits have been lifted, and the end is nigh for the godawful release graveyard that is the month of February -- a cinematic black hole where the discarded and unwanted trudge their way onto a big screen somewhere near you in hopes you might glance at their poster as you make a mad last dash to see that Oscar-saddled show pony before it's pulled on Monday after it fails to win in any of the categories in which it's been nominated. Meanwhile, there are 11 other films opening this week to quench that post-awards season thirst, including some with an Oscar pedigree.

"Bonneville"
Quality roles for aging actresses that accurately reflect the middle-aged female demographic have become the veritable unicorn in Hollywood of late. Director Christopher N. Rowley goes back to the tried and tested formula of the road movie in an attempt to change some of that with the mourning after tale of Arvilla (Jessica Lange), a woman who sets off on a pilgrimage with her two best friends (Kathy Bates and Joan Allen) after she loses her husband of 20 years. Ordinarily, cramming three gal pals in headscarves and sunglasses into a vintage convertible and pointing them west would set off some serious alarm bells, but this decorated veteran cast of Oscar baiters is loaded with enough talent to elevate the premise well above the redundant.
Opens in limited release; expands March 21st.

By Neil Pedley

If last week's avalanche of Valentine's Day-inspired fare forced you to spend the week alone in your apartment like yours truly -- eating ramen noodles in the dark and crying -- then take heart. This week is a fresh slate of brand new movies with nary a rom-com in sight.

"Be Kind Rewind"
If a million monkeys sat at a million typewriters for a million years, they might out something like the storyline for this film. When Jerry (Jack Black) unwittingly erases every tape in the video store at which his friend Mike (Mos Def) works, the two decide to recreate the movies themselves with a camcorder in hopes the customers won't notice. Given that this is the brainchild of writer/director Michel Gondry, the man behind such mindbenders as "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "The Science of Sleep," you get the feeling that this was little more than an excuse for all involved to have a bit of a giggle.
Opens wide.

By Neil Pedley

It's Valentine's Day week, so there's a preponderance of three kinds of films coming out: romantic dramas, date movies and flicks for the kids (so the adults can sneak into the first two while their children text message each other and throw chocolate raisins around in the theater next door).

"Definitely, Maybe"
It must be Valentine's Day if there's a romantic comedy to reaffirm theaters full of late thirtysomethings that even if they're divorced, it's not too late for second chances. This year's entry from "Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason" scribe Adam Brooks sees Ryan Reynolds starring as Will Hayes, a fast-talking political consultant with an answer for everything, until he's stumped as to how to explain his impending divorce to his 10-year-old daughter, Maya (played by pint-sized Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin). As Will recounts his romantic history to Maya, she attempts to piece together the mystery and guess which woman eventually became her mother. Along the way, she realizes that matters of the heart are much more complicated than she first thought -- if it sounds familiar, we're pretty sure this at least has more laughs than "Atonement."
Opens wide (official site).

By Christopher Bonet

A round-up of the best (or worst) $10 you'll spend next week.

"A Walk to Beautiful"
Documentarians Mary Olive Smith and Amy Bucher's first collaborative feature documentary tells the story of five Ethiopian women exiled from their communities after complications during childbirth. As each of these women search out a special hospital in Addis Ababa in order to find a home where they won't be persecuted for the first time in years, Smith and Bucher's camera captures their attempts to rebuild their lives. The film premiered at the 2007 San Francisco Film Festival.
Opens in New York (official site).