By Neil Pedley

Superpowers, real or imagined, along with a bevy of culture clash dominate this week's offerings. Prince Caspian tries to score big in London, renowned cinematographer Ellen Kuras tells of a family who fled Laos, and a group of vampires run wild in Northern Washington, during the day - the day!

"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"
Co-director Thavisouk Phrasavath teams up with veteran cinematographer Ellen Kuras to bring his heart-wrenching story to the screen, a film about courage and survival that's been 23 years in the making. Recounting the bitter memories of the U.S withdrawal from Laos that left the communists in power and his family in tatters, Phrasavath describes how he swam to a Thai refugee camp after his father, a CIA operative, was branded an enemy of the state, and subsequently moved to a Brooklyn slum with his ailing mother and nine siblings in tow. In English and Lao with subtitles.
Opens in New York.

"Bigga Than Ben"
With immigration still a contentious issue on both sides of the pond, Brit writer/director Suzie Halewood's latest effort will no doubt have the Fox News audience waking up in cold sweats in the middle of the night. "The Chronicles of Narnia"'s Prince Caspian, Ben Barnes and Andrei Chadov star as two wily Russian shysters who wash up on London's shoreline with the aim of fleecing the welfare system for all they can, spending their days hard at work ensuring they'll never have to be hard at work, one state benefit scam at a time.
Opens in limited release.

"Bolt"
After a lengthy spell in development that saw at least one "start over" decree from the powers that be, Disney's latest animated outing has a synopsis that reads like "Underdog" by way of "Tropic Thunder." Badly in need of a Robert Downey Jr.-sized comeback himself, John Travolta lends his voice to Bolt, a courageous canine who plays a superhero on TV, but finds that his special-effects-aided superpowers don't work when he's mistakenly shipped cross-country to New York City. With the help of a cat named Mittens (Susie Essman) and his biggest fan, Rhino the hamster (Mark Walton), Bolt attempts to return to the creature comforts of Hollywood and his owner, Penny (Miley Cyrus).
Opens wide.

"Harvard Beats Yale 29-29"
One of the most storied rivalries in all of college sports, the annual football game between the Harvard Crimson and the Yale Bulldogs carries a fierce tradition stretching back over 130 years. Documentary filmmaker Kevin Rafferty casts us back to 1968 to an epic encounter considered by many amongst the inner circles of the Ivy League powerhouses as the greatest of all time. Rafferty, the co-director of "The Atomic Café" and the first cousin of a certain Yale cheerleader (who'd become the 43rd U.S. president), blends archival footage with testimony from players involved (including defensive tackle Tommy Lee Jones) and others who were there to witness Harvard's historic comeback to score 16 points in the final 42 seconds to reach the unlikeliest of outcomes.
Opens in limited release.

"I Can't Think Straight"
After turning her debut autobiographical novel into her debut film with "The World Unseen," writer/director Shamim Sarif again mines her own life experience for this tender coming-of-age culture clash drama centered on an immigrant Palestinian family now living in England. Former model Lisa Ray stars as Tala, the rebellious daughter of traditionalist parents who lament her habit of breaking off engagements to well-to-do local boys. Imagine their surprise when Tala finds a girlfriend in Leyla (Sheetal Sheth), an aspiring writer who stirs some long repressed feelings in Tala and forces her to finally reveal her true self to her disapproving family.
Opens in limited release.

"Special"
Considering how much time and money major studios pump into ramming this particular wish fulfillment fantasy down our throats year after year, it's surprising the indie world hasn't seized upon the genre. In this decidedly oddball comedy from writer/director team Hal Haberman and Jeremy Passmore, Michael Rapaport stars as Les, a comic book geek who signs up to be part of a trial for a new anti-depressant for a big pharmaceutical company. Believing the drug has gifted him with superpowers, Les takes to the streets to fight crime to the chagrin of the drug corporation who, fearful of bad publicity, dispatches its own agents, "The Suits," to take Les down.
Opens in New York and Los Angeles.

"Twilight"
Noting both its tiny legion of pre-packaged followers combined with some impressive advanced ticket sales, there are unusually high hopes for director Catherine Hardwicke's screen adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's supernatural romance, with one or two quiet rumblings going so far as to anoint it the heir apparent to "Harry Potter." Kristen Stewart takes the role of Bella, a new arrival to a sleepy Washington town who finds herself irresistibly drawn to classmate Edward (Robert Pattinson), a benign and reclusive vampire. Finding comfort with one another, their brief moment of bliss is shattered when a rival clan comes to town in search of a fresh feeding ground.
Opens wide.

"Yuvvraaj"
Known throughout Bollywood for his grand scale epics, director Subhash Ghai offers something a little more intimate with this prim and proper tale of three squabbling aristocratic brothers who reunite around their ailing father to feud over the family fortune. Set to a number of rousing routines orchestrated by "Slumdog Millionaire" composer A.R. Rahman, the film features Salman Kahn as Deven, a struggling singer caught in a contract with his girlfriend's father that states he cannot marry her until he becomes a billionaire. Only his two brothers, Gyanesh (Anil Kapoor) and Danny (Zayed Kahn), now stand between him and his dreams. In Hindi with subtitles.
Opens in limited release.

[Photo: "The Betrayal (Nerakhoon," Cinema Guild, 2008]

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