MOVIES

OPENING THIS WEEK

THE LAST STATION

Read Carol Cling's review.

OSCAR-NOMINATED SHORTS

Be the expert in your Oscar betting pool by checking out these two separate programs (one for animated, one for live-action) devoted to this year's Academy Award-nominated shorts. The animated program includes the latest "Wallace and Gromit" romp, "A Matter of Loaf and Death" -- and the live-action nominees hail from Australia, Denmark, India, Ireland and the U.S. At the Palms. NR.

PREACHER'S KID

In this faith-based drama, a minister's 23-year-old daughter (Letoya Luckett) breaks free of her dutiful existence to hit the road in an R&B singer's gospel musical. Durrell "Tank" Babbs, Gregory Alan Williams, Tammy Townsend and Essence Atkins co-star for writer-director Stan Foster. At Sam's Town. (101 min.) PG-13; sexual content, violence, brief drug use.

SHUTTER ISLAND

The all-star duo of director Martin Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Departed," "The Aviator") reunites for this adaptation of "Mystic River" author Denis Lehane's novel, set in 1954, about a U.S. marshal searching for a murderess who's escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane -- and is presumably hiding on the title island. Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, Jackie Earle Hayley and Patricia Clarkson lead the supporting cast. At multiple locations. (138 min.) R; disturbing violent content, profanity, nudity.

ALREADY IN THEATERS

Movies are rated on a letter-grade scale, from A to F. Opinions by R-J movie critic Carol Cling (C.C.) are indicated by initials. Other opinions are from wire service critics.

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKQUEL

(D) The title trio (voiced by Justin Long, Jesse McCartney , Matthew Gray Gubler) faces competition from rival cuties the Chipettes (Amy Pohler, Anna Faris, Christina Applegate) in this "squeakquel" to the 2007 hit. Your kids will love it, but you'll need a hazmat suit. (88 min.) PG; mild rude humor.

AVATAR

(B-) Writer-director James Cameron ("Titanic") takes us to the 22nd-century planet Pandora, where paraplegic ex-Marine Jake Sully (clunky hunk Sam Worthington) joins a corporate mining operation's scientific program -- and finds a new life when he encounters the native Na'vi. A spectacular effects extravaganza that might have been a genuine landmark -- if only Cameron had paid as much attention to story as he does to technology. Nominated for nine Academy Awards, including best picture, director and visual effects. (162 min.) PG-13; intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sexual references, profanity, smoking. (C.C.)

THE BLIND SIDE

(B-) This heartwarming, fact-based crowd-pleaser focuses on future NFL tackle Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a gentle giant who rises from virtual homelessness to football stardom with an assist from a force-of-nature Southern belle (sassy Oscar nominee Sandra Bullock) who takes him under her wing, and her roof. If it weren't a true story, it would be tough to believe. Nominated for two Academy Awards: best picture, actress. (126 min.) PG-13; brief violence, drug and sexual references. (C.C.)

THE BOOK OF ELI

(C) A loner (a well-cast Denzel Washington) fights his way across country to protect a sacred book that may hold the key to saving humanity: the last remaining Bible. Gary Oldman (as the resident bad guy) and Mila Kunis co-star for filmmaking twins Albert and Allen Hughes ("From Hell"), who mix preachiness and bloodshed to queasy effect; this is "The Road" with twice the plot, four times the ammunition -- and half the brains. (118 min.) R; brutal violence, profanity.

CRAZY HEART

(B+) Running-on-empty country singer Bad Blake (Oscar front-runner Jeff Bridges) strikes a chord with an aspiring music journalist (Oscar nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal), who just might be just the good-hearted woman to save a good-timin' man for whom the good times ended long ago. Actor-turned-filmmaker Scott Cooper takes us down a well-traveled road, but his keen eye for detail -- and Bridges' subtle spellbinder of a performance -- make the journey worthwhile. Nominated for three Academy Awards: best actor, supporting actress, original song. (111 min.) R; profanity, brief sexuality. (C.C.)

DAYBREAKERS

(C-) It's 2019, and a plague has transformed most humans into vampires -- including an undead scientist (Ethan Hawke) unwittingly caught up in a scheme to reverse the disease. Sam Neill and Willem Dafoe (as an ex-bloodsucker named Elvis) co-star for filmmaking brothers Michael and Peter Spierig ("Undead") in yet another aren't-we-clever resurrection of the vampire genre. Alas, this one plays like a dirge, striking one long, monotonous note of gloom. (98 min.) R; strong bloody violence, profanity, brief nudity.

DEAR JOHN

(C) The spring-break romance between a young Army Ranger (a strained, pained Channing Tatum) and an idealistic college student (beatific Amanda Seyfried of "Mamma Mia!") is sorely tested by the events, and impact, of Sept. 11, 2001. The latest in a seemingly endless line of movies based on a seemingly endless line of Nicholas Sparks best-sellers ("The Notebook," "Message in a Bottle," etc.), this one's another big ol' sloppy tub of mush. (105 min.) PG-13; sexual references, violence. (C.C.)

EDGE OF DARKNESS

(C+) It's been seven years since his last starring role, but Mel Gibson's still playing martyr, this time as a vengeful Boston cop investigating the murder of his activist daughter. Martin Campbell ("Casino Royale") directs this remake of an award-winning British miniseries, which benefits from strong performances by Ray Winstone and Danny Huston. But it's Gibson's urgent, contemporary rage that gives this a definite, if unsettling, edge. (117 min.) R; strong bloody violence, profanity.

AN EDUCATION

(A) This smashing coming-of-age drama, set in early-'60s Britain, focuses on a college-bound teen (Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan) who becomes involved with a smooth-talking sophisticate (Peter Sarsgaard) almost twice her age. Screenwriter Nick Hornby ("About a Boy") and director Lone Scherfig capture the endless, timeless conflict between book learning and the school of heartbreak with witty, rueful power. Nominated for three Academy Awards: best picture, actress, adapted screenplay. (95 min.) PG-13; mature thematic material involving sexual content, smoking. (C.C.)

EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES

(C+) A desperate dad (earnest Brendan Fraser) recruits a mavericky scientist (dependably grouchy Harrison Ford) to find a treatment, if not a cure, for his two youngest kids, victims of a rare (and fatal) genetic disorder. Nice to see action heroes Fraser and Ford engaged in a literal life-or-death drama, but their frequent forays into the swamp of biotech research prove more compelling than their search for a medical miracle. An extraordinary fact-based story, but far from extraordinary filmmaking. (105 min.) PG; thematic material, profanity, mild sexual references. (C.C.)

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

(B+) Quirky director Wes Anderson ("Rushmore," "The Royal Tenenbaums") goes from live-action to stop-motion animation with a captivating tale of a sly fox (voiced by George Clooney) who outsmarts the vengeful farmers out to get him in this fanciful story from Roald Dahl ("Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"). Nominated for two Academy Awards: best animated feature, original score. (87 min.) PG; action, smoking, slang humor. (C.C.)

FROM PARIS WITH LOVE

(D) In Paris, a loose-cannon CIA agent (John Travolta) and a young U.S. embassy employee (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) team up to thwart a terrorist attack. Director Pierre Morel transformed Liam Neeson into a kick-butt hero in "Taken," but Travolta and Meyers just don't have the rough-and-tough edge for this assignment; the bodies may pile up, but "Paris" never feels like anything more than action movie dress-up. (95 min.) R; strong bloody violence, drug content, pervasive profanity, brief sexuality.

THE HURT LOCKER

(A) Three members of an Army bomb-defusing squad -- a cocky sergeant (Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner), his steady second-in-command (Anthony Mackie) and a scared-spitless rookie (Brian Geraghty) -- hit the streets of Iraq hoping to save lives, including their own, in this riveting action drama. Nominated for nine Academy Awards, including best picture, actor, director and original screenplay. (131 min.) R; war violence, profanity. (C.C.)

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS

(B-) When an enigmatic charmer (the late Heath Ledger) joins a traveling sideshow, the stage is set for phantasmagorical visions and philosophical musings from writer-director Terry Gilliam. Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law step in to complete scenes unfilmed at the time of Ledger's death, while delightful portrayals from Christopher Plummer (as the imaginative title character), Lily Cole (as his bewitching daughter) and Verne "Mini-Me" Troyer (as his sarcastic sidekick) keep the humor, and the humanity, in motion. Nominated for two Academy Awards: best art direction, costume design. (122 min.) PG-13; violent images, sensuality, profanity, smoking. (C.C.)

INVICTUS

(B-) In post-apartheid South Africa, president Nelson Mandela (best actor Oscar nominee Morgan Freeman) enlists the captain of the country's white-dominated rugby squad (supporting Oscar nominee Matt Damon) to help unite the divided nation as the team competes for the 1995 world championship. Clint Eastwood's fact-based drama uneasily blends elements of the great-man movie and the underdog-sports movie to rousing, if conventional, effect. Nominated for two Academy Awards: best actor, supporting actor. (134 min.) PG-13; brief profanity. (C.C.)

LEGION

(D) God's given up on the human race and plans to wipe it out -- again -- as the archangel Michael (Paul Bettany) teams up with some folks at an isolated desert diner (Dennis Quaid, Lucas Black, Tyrese Gibson and Charles S. Dutton among them) to battle for humanity's survival. Profane, profanely silly and blasphemous to beat the band, this may traffic in signs of the apocalypse -- but only proves we're stranded in movie hell. (100 min.) R; strong bloody violence, profanity.

THE LOVELY BONES

(C) A strangely lifeless adaptation of Alice Sebold's 2002 best-seller, about a murdered teenager ("Atonement's" radiant Saoirse Ronan) who witnesses the aftermath of her death from a dreamlike limbo halfway between heaven and earth. Rather than focus on her tormented parents (Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz) and her equally tormented killer (Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci), "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson busies himself with special effects, blunting the emotional impact of what ought to be a heart-wrenching tale. Nominated for one Academy Award: best supporting actor. (135 min.) PG-13; mature themes involving disturbing violent content and images, profanity. (C.C.)

MY NAME IS KHAN

(B) In this Bollywood drama set mainly in the U.S., an Indian Muslim afflicted with Asperger's Syndrome (Shahrukh Khan) fights to clear his name -- and takes his quest all the way to the White House -- when airport authorities mistake his disability for suspicious behavior. An effective exercise in Bollywood high emotionalism. In Hindi and English, with English subtitles. (160 min.) PG-13; some violence, sexual content, profanity.

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF

(C) This latest attempt to find a new "Harry Potter" (from Chris Columbus, who directed the first two Potter movies) adapts the first installment of Rick Riordan's five-book series about a teen ("3:10 to Yuma's" Logan Lerman) who discovers he's the descendant of a Greek god -- and must undertake an odyssey to Mount Olympus, via Las Vegas (as seen in second-unit footage filmed here). Uma Thurman's snake-haired Medusa and studly Pierce Brosnan's mythical centaur are almost enough to make this worth seeing. (119 min.) PG; action violence and peril, scary images, suggestive material, mild profanity.

PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL "PUSH" BY SAPPHIRE

(B) Set in 1987 Harlem, director Lee Daniels' drama focuses on a black teen (Gabourey Sidibe) who's pregnant (for a second time) by her absent father, stuck at home with her abusive mother (Mo'Nique), virtually illiterate -- and determined to find dignity in, and endure, her unendurable situation. Marked by heroic performances (especially from Sidibe and Mo'Nique), "Precious" looks squarely in the wounded eyes of its title character and sees the poetry within. Nominated for six Academy Awards, including best picture, actress (Sidibe), supporting actress (Mo'Nique), director and adapted screenplay. (109 min.) R; profanity, violence, sexual abuse. (C.C.)

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG

(A) The magic's back in this Disney delight, a traditionally animated tale set in Roaring '20s New Orleans, about nose-to-the-grindstone Tiana (voiced by "Dreamgirls' " Anika Noni Rose), who dreams of running her own restaurant -- until a close encounter with a voodoo-cursed prince changes everything. The scrumptious jambalaya is the best traditionally animated Disney feature since "Beauty and the Beast." Nominated for three Academy Awards, including best picture and original song. (97 min.) G; all ages. (C.C.)

SAINT JOHN OF LAS VEGAS

(C-) This offbeat comedy, which opened last year's CineVegas film festival, follows Dante's "Inferno" -- and a reformed gambling addict (Steve Buscemi) turned Albuquerque insurance claims adjuster, who returns to Sin City (and temptation) when he joins a fast-talking colleague (Romany Malco) on a fraud investigation. Despite the endearingly idiosyncratic cast, debut writer-director Hue Rhodes is so busy trying to echo his literary inspiration he goes off the charts on the quirk-o-meter -- and overlooks the humanity that might make his characters more than weird for weird's sake. (85 min.) R; profanity, nudity. (C.C.)

SHERLOCK HOLMES

(C-) In Victorian-era London, the title sleuth (Robert Downey Jr.) and his faithful companion Dr. Watson (Jude Law) take on a sinister serial killer ("The Young Victoria's" Mark Strong) in an anachronistic adventure that trashes one of the world's most beloved literary characters, transforming him into a brash action hero. Nominated for two Academy Awards: best art direction, original score. (128 min.) PG-13; intense sequences of violence and action, startling images, suggestive material. (C.C.)

A SINGLE MAN

(B) In early-'60s Los Angeles, a grief-stricken British professor (best actor Oscar nominee Colin Firth) tries to carry on -- and contemplates ending it all -- after the sudden death of his longtime lover ("Leap Year's" Matthew Goode). Firth's marvelously restrained, deeply moving performance (and that of Julianne Moore as his brittle, bitter friend) breathe welcome life into this adaptation of Christopher Isherwood's novel from designer-turned-director Tom Ford. (99 min.) R; disturbing images, nudity, sexual content. (C.C.)

THE SPY NEXT DOOR

(C-) Former CIA agent Bob Ho (Jackie Chan) finds himself back in the spy game while babysitting his girlfriend's kids -- one of whom accidentally downloads a top-secret formula, prompting a visit from Bob's longtime nemesis, a Russian terrorist. Amber Valletta, Billy Ray Cyrus and George Lopez round out the eclectic starring cast of yet another lazy, kid-pleasing comedy about a man unprepared for fatherhood who's suddenly saddled with children he must win over in order to win the heart of their hot single mom. (92 min.) PG; action violence, mild rude humor.

TOOTH FAIRY

(C) When a minor-league hockey player (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) tells a youngster the Tooth Fairy doesn't really exist, he gets his comeuppance when he's transformed into the title character, complete with tutu and wings. Stealing liberally from "Monsters Inc." and "Elf" (among others), this is exactly what you'd expect: a harmless tale of optimism overcoming disbelief, complete with comical casting (including Julie Andrews as a Fairy Godmother) and a heaping helping of Johnson's game, antic charm. (101 min.) PG; mild language, rude humor, sports action.

2012

(C-) It's a disaster movie, all right, but what else can you expect from master of disaster Roland Emmerich ("The Day After Tomorrow," "Independence Day")? Once again, the director demonstrates how to blow stuff up real good, putting everyone on Earth on a collision course with oblivion -- including a few plucky souls (led by quirky Everyman John Cusack and Noble Scientist Chiwetel Ejiofor) who prove humanity's resilience while faceless billions perish. (158 min.) PG-13; intense disaster sequences, profanity. (C.C.)

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON

(C-) In this chapter of Stephenie Meyer's best-selling series, Bella (Kristen Stewart) discovers that the course of true love never does run smooth, especially when her beloved Edward Cullen (brooding Robert Pattinson) leaves town with his vampire family rather than endanger her life. Good thing her friend Jacob Black (hunky Taylor Lautner) is still around -- but he's got a deep dark secret all his own. (130 min.) PG-13; violence and action. (C.C.)

UP IN THE AIR

(B+) A cynical corporate terminator (Oscar nominee George Clooney), whose job is telling other people they've lost theirs, struggles to make connections -- between flights and between people. Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick also earned Oscar nominations in this witty, sometimes wise comedy-drama from writer-director Jason Reitman ("Juno," "Thank You for Smoking"), which blends timely and timeless themes with throwaway ease. Nominated for six Academy Awards, including best picture, actor, supporting actress and director. (109 min.) R; profanity, sexual content, brief nudity. (C.C.)

VALENTINE'S DAY

(C) On a sunny L.A. Valentine's Day, an all-star cavalcade takes up, breaks up and makes up in a frothy romantic comedy that's a game of cinematic musical chairs -- the story whirls 'round and 'round, pausing just long enough for each character to take center stage. Anne Hathaway and Topher Grace make the most of their brief time in the spotlight, but Jamie Foxx, Jessica Biel, Ashton Kutcher, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Garner, Queen Latifah, Bradley Cooper and even Shirley MacLaine all have their moments. (125 min.) PG-13; some sexual material, brief partial nudity. (C.C.)

WHEN IN ROME

(D+) On a whirlwind trip to Rome, an unlucky-in-love New Yorker (Kristen Bell) steals some coins from a legendary fountain of love -- and finds herself pursued by several ardent suitors, including a sausage magnate (Danny DeVito), a street magician (Jon Heder), a painter (Will Arnett), a narcissistic model (Dax Shepard) and a charming reporter (Josh Duhamel) who might just be Mr. Right. It's all exceptionally predictable and disappointingly laugh-free. (91 min.) PG-13; suggestive content.

THE WOLFMAN

(D) This toothless, misbegotten reboot of the old Universal horror franchise stars a miscast Benicio Del Toro as the long-estranged son of a British nobleman (Anthony Hopkins) who returns to his ancestral home to investigate his brother's mysterious death -- until a bloodthirsty creature's bite turns him into a hairy, howling homicidal maniac. Despite eerie Victorian-era atmosphere and state-of-the-art makeup and effects, this is a gruesome, bloody fondue, dominated by the unsavory flavors of actorly ham and studio cheese. (125 min.) R; bloody horror violence and gore. (C.C.)

THE YOUNG VICTORIA

(B) The turbulent early years of Britain's Queen Victoria ("The Wolfman's" Emily Blunt), who tries to survive multiple power plays as she ascends to the throne -- and discovers true love with Prince Albert ("Chéri's" Rupert Friend). This old-fashioned period drama (scripted by "Gosford Park" Oscar-winner Julian Fellowes) isn't terribly lively or insightful, but it's rich in pageantry and dramatic moments, all of which hinge on Blunt's beguiling performance. Nominated for three Academy Awards, including best art direction and costumes. (100 min.) PG; mild sexual references, brief violence, brief profanity, smoking.