Zombies, Lies and Videotape

The Coen brothers get "Serious," Drew whips her latest into shape, and "Toy Story" goes 3D.

“A Serious Man”
Were this film delivered by virtually any other Oscar-winning filmmaker, you’d guess it was the former half of “one for me and one for them.” Except that’s a label that applies to just about everything Joel and Ethan Coen do — it’s nice if we like them, but they don’t really care either way. They return to the Midwestern milleu of their youth for the story of a feeble, neurotic academic (Michael Stuhlbarg) who must confront his wife’s (Yari Lennick) abrupt request for a divorce while balancing his two teenage children, an application for tenure at work, the allure of an attractive next door neighbor and the staunch refusal from his brother (Richard Kind) to move out of their living room at the tail end of the ’60s.
Opens in limited release.

“Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D”
Amazingly, 15 years have passed since Pixar turned the world of animation on its head with the first computer-generated animated feature and to celebrate, Woody, Buzz and the gang are getting a 3D touch-up to relive their adventures for a two-week double feature event. Not coincidentally, the re-release arrives in preparation for the threequel hitting theaters next summer.
Opens wide in 3D.

“Where is Where?”
A regular at the Museum of Modern Art, celebrated Finnish artist and filmmaker Eija-Liisa Ahtila returns with her latest picture, an experimental, kaleidoscopic exploration on the cyclical nature of violence. Employing multiple images on the screen at any one time, Ahtila tells the story of a French boy murdered by two Algerian friends from the simultaneous perspectives of the boys, a poet and Death, each one struggling to make sense of this seemingly senseless act.
Opens in New York.

“Whip It!”
Given the colorful indiscretions of her own youth, it’s not difficult to see why Drew Barrymore identified with author-turned-screenwriter Shauna Cross’ tale of a teen oddball railing against the future that has been mapped out for her in small-town Texas. Ellen Page stars as Bliss Cavander, a reluctant pageant princess who swaps her tiara for skates in a bid to join the ranks of the local roller derby league. She’s joined by Kristen Wiig, Alia Shawkat, “Grindhouse”‘s Zoe Bell, Eve and Juliette Lewis in Barrymore’s directorial debut, which was widely applauded when it premiered in Toronto.
Opens wide.

“Zombieland”
As evidenced by author Seth Grahame-Smith’s riotous parody novel “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” there is no genre that cannot be exponentially improved via the simple application of flesh-eaters. With that in mind, veteran TV director Ruben Fleischer and screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick turned this potential pilot into a blackly comic full-length riff on an odd couple who take on the undead. Woody Harrelson stars as Tallahassee, a madcap redneck survivalist, who alongside Jesse Eisenberg’s dorky dreamboat, Columbus, journeys across the post-apocalyptic ruins. Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin co-star as a pair of stragglers our heroes stumble upon along the way.
Opens wide.

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