MOVIES

OPENING THIS WEEK

ANG TANGING INA NYONG LAHAT

A sequel to the 2003 Filipino hit "Ang Tanging Ina," this comedy reunites director Wenn V. Deramas and star Ai-Ai de las Alas, who returns as Ina, the slapstick-prone, multi-widowed mother of a dozen children. This time around, Ina's loudmouth best friend Rowena (Eugene Domingo) helps her land a job as the president's chambermaid -- only to wind up as the chief executive herself. In Tagalog. At Village Square. (105 min.) NR; general audiences.

THE READER

Reviewed on Page 23.

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.

APPALOOSA

(B) Home on the range: City fathers of the titular town hire seasoned saddle pals Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen (both terrific) to stop a ruthless rancher (Jeremy Irons). Harris also co-writes and directs a refreshingly old-fangled Western (based on "Spenser" creator Robert B. Parker's novel) that consciously echoes classic oaters yet serves up interesting twists on time-honored themes, riding tall in the saddle as it rides into the sunset. (114 min.) R; violence, profanity. (C.C.)

AUSTRALIA

(B-) Good on ya: Nicole Kidman reunites with "Moulin Rouge!" director Baz Luhrmann for this sprawling saga, set on the eve of World War II, about a starchy British aristocrat (Kidman) who inherits a remote cattle station and reluctantly teams up with a hard-riding drover (Hugh Jackman) to save it from a rival beef baron (Bryan Brown). Defiantly old-fashioned, this overlong, over-the-top Down Under Western-meets-war-movie scrambles romance, action, melodrama and historic revisionism into a crazy cinematic salad that's often utterly ridiculous -- and, even more often, ridiculously entertaining. (165 min.) PG-13; violence, sexual references, brief profanity. (C.C.)

BEDTIME STORIES

(C+) A typically sophomoric Adam Sandler goes the family-friendly route in this Disney romp, playing a hotel handyman whose life changes when the outlandish bedtime tales he tells his niece and nephew -- from racing an ancient chariot to rescuing a medieval damsel in distress -- magically come true. Keri Russell, Courteney Cox, Guy Pearce and Russell Brand co-star for "Hairspray" director Adam Shankman in a movie that's baloney on Wonder Bread with a Kraft Single and some Miracle Whip. In other words, it's edible but not exactly nutritious -- or delicious. (99 min.) PG; mild rude humor, mild profanity.

BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA

(C) To the dogs: Vacationing in Mexico, the pampered title pooch (voiced by Drew Barrymore) finds herself lost -- and needs the help of the local canine contingent to get home. Andy Garcia, George Lopez, Paul Rodriguez, Edward James Olmos, Luis Guzman, radio's Eddie "Piolin" Sotelo and (believe it or not) Placido Domingo round out the vocal cast of this Disney canine comedy. It's not the apocalypse-signaling cultural abomination its trailers make it out to be, but that's pretty much the best thing you can say about it. (91 min.) PG; mild thematic elements.

BOLT

(B) A coddled canine TV star (voiced by John Travolta) discovers he's not quite the super-dog he plays on TV when he's forced to deal with the real world on an accidental New York-to-Hollywood trek. Disney's latest computer-animated romp (showing in both 2-D and 3-D versions) covers familiar territory and lacks the magic (and emotional impact) of "Wall-E" and other Pixar triumphs, but this charmer shows that the Disney folks still know how to bring a story to life. (96 min.) PG; mild action and peril.

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS

(B) Bruno (Asa Butterfield), the 8-year-old son of a Nazi official (David Thewlis), is none too pleased when the family moves from Berlin to a rural area where his father's been stationed during World War II, but finds an unlikely friend in the title character, Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), who lives behind the fence that divides Bruno's home from Shmuel's: a concentration camp. This kid's-eye view of the Holocaust suffers from lapses in logic, but writer-director Mark Herman adapts John Boyne's novel with admirable restraint, delivering a poignant and powerful tale. (98 min.) PG-13; mature themes, violence.

CADILLAC RECORDS

(B) Don't let the title fool you -- this is the rockin', raucous story of Chess Records, the house that Muddy Waters (the terrific Jeffrey Wright), Howlin' Wolf (a feral Eamonn Walker), Chuck Berry (Mos Def, a duck-walking hoot) and Etta James (Beyoncé Knowles, demonstrating marked improvement since "Dreamgirls") built. As history, it's downright suspect, and writer-director Darnell Martin ("I Like It Like That") stocks this ensemble (melo)drama with enough conflict and characters for five movies. That makes it merely adequate as drama -- but, as a jukebox musical, you can't stop (or resist) the beat. (109 min.) R; profanity, sexuality. (C.C.)

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

(C+) Brad Pitt reunites with "Se7en" director David Fincher (and "Babel" co-star Cate Blanchett) for this ambitious tale, set in post-World War I New Orleans, about the title character, who's born with the face and ailments of an 80-year-old man and ages in reverse, getting younger -- and wiser -- as the years roll by. Overlong and overdone, "Benjamin Button" (loosely based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald tale and adapted by "Forrest Gump" Oscar-winner Eric Roth) emerges as a technical marvel, but in pondering the Big Picture, the movie too often falls under the spell of its own epic sweep, inviting us to join its makers in marveling at the marvelousness of it all. (167 min.) PG-13; brief war violence, sexual content, profanity, smoking. (C.C.)

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL

(C+) An extra-terrestrial (the amusingly impassive Keanu Reeves) comes down to Earth, accompanied by his faithful robot companion Gort, to warn heedless humans of impending doom in this remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic featuring Jennifer Connelly, John Cleese and Jaden Smith (who co-starred with his dad, Will Smith, in "Pursuit of Happyness"). Gravity gets the best of this environmentally conscious reworking, which soars in the first half but plummets in the second, as flashy effects replace coherent storytelling and everyone goes all weepy over the innate decency of humanity. (103 min.) PG-13; sci-fi disaster images, violence.

DOUBT

(B-) In 1960s New York, a hard-case nun who runs a Catholic school (Meryl Streep) and an innocent underling (Amy Adams) suspect the parish priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) of molesting the school's lone black student. A scene-stealing Viola Davis co-stars for writer-director John Patrick Shanley, who adapts his own Tony-winning drama -- and demonstrates that Shanley the writer should never hire Shanley the director ever again. As director, he undermines (and overplays) some great performers with ominous, overly obvious symbols (from howling winds to burned-out lightbulbs) and odd camera angles -- all of which fail to render "Doubt" anything but stagebound. All the ingredients for a standout movie are here; alas, Shanley doesn't know what to do with them. (104 min.) PG-13; sexual references, mature themes. (C.C.)

THE DUCHESS

(B-) The toast of 18th-century London, the aristocratic Duchess of Devonshire (Keira Knightley) turns heads with her outrageous fashions, her political activism -- and a loveless marriage that prompts her to turn to a rising politician (Dominic Cooper of "Mamma Mia!"). Any similarities to the duchess' descendant, Princess Diana, are hardly coincidental in this handsome, if superficial, drama; only the dependably subtle Ralph Fiennes (as the duchess' dour duke, a prisoner of his own exalted station) manages to suggest the emotional eddies churning beneath the stiff exterior. (110 min.) PG-13; sexual content, brief nudity, thematic material. (C.C.)

FOUR CHRISTMASES

(C) Ho, ho, ho? So, so, so. Leisure-obsessed San Franciscans (Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn) find themselves fogbound and unable to take their annual exotic holiday vacation, forcing them to endure multiple Yuletide celebrations with multiple divorced (and remarried) parents (played by Oscar-winning pros Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen and Jon Voight). The jokes may be old, but they hit as often as they miss in what turns out to be the cinematic equivalent of a gift card: utterly generic, but still deserving of a little gratitude. (88 min.) PG-13; sexual humor, profanity.

FROST/NIXON

(A-) Tony-winner Frank Langella and "The Queen's" Michael Sheen reprise their Broadway roles as the disgraced ex-President and the debonair British TV personality in Peter Morgan's adaptation of his hit play about the landmark 1977 interview between the two. Director Ron Howard maintains the dramatic core of Morgan's play while expanding its cinematic vision; Oscar-caliber performances from Langella and Sheen do the rest, with able assistance from Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell, Matthew Macfadyen ("Pride & Prejudice"), Toby Jones (alias Karl Rove in "W.") and Rebecca Hall ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona's" Vicky). Compared to the clunky "Doubt," this is a textbook example of how to transfer a stage hit to the screen with its attributes not only intact but amplified. (122 min.) R; profanity. (C.C.)

I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG

(B+) "English Patient" Oscar nominee Kristin Scott Thomas is generating major Oscar buzz again -- and deservedly so -- for her quietly wrenching portrayal (in French) of a woman who moves in with her sister's family as she attempts to restart her life after 15 years away. Elsa Zylberstein ("Farinelli," "Jefferson in Paris") provides sensitive support as the sister in writer-director Philippe Claudel's feature debut. Alas, it's a bit too neat and tidily plotted to live up to Thomas' heartbreakingly nuanced performance, which is one of the best of this (or any) year. In French with English subtitles. (115 min.) PG-13; mature themes, smoking. (C.C.)

MARLEY & ME

(B-) Animal magnetism: Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson bond with a naughty, neurotic -- and utterly lovable -- yellow Labrador retriever in this adaptation of John Grogan's best-seller featuring Alan Arkin, Kathleen Turner and McSteamy himself, Eric Dane of "Grey's Anatomy." A shaggy-dog tale in more ways than one, anybody who agrees with the assertion that happiness is a warm tongue bath will lap up this heartwarming canine comedy. Those who don't will dismiss it as a long-winded yarn in which nothing -- and everything -- happens. (123 min.) PG; thematic material, suggestive content, profanity.

MILK

(B+) If you've seen the Oscar-winning 1984 documentary "The Times of Harvey Milk," you've already seen the definitive cinematic account of the first openly gay man elected to a major political office -- until Dan White, his former colleague on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, gunned him down, along with his political ally, Mayor George Moscone, in 1978. For those who haven't seen the documentary, however, this not only showcases a standout title-role performance by Sean Penn (along with sterling support from Josh Brolin, James Franco and Emile Hirsch) but offers a timely introduction to a pivotal public figure who still inspires, three decades after his death. (128 min.) R; profanity, sexual content, brief violence. (C.C.)

NOTHING LIKE THE HOLIDAYS

(C) In Chicago's Puerto Rican enclave of Humboldt Park, feuding spouses Edy (Alfred Molina) and Anna (Elizabeth Peña) welcome assorted offspring (John Leguizamo, Freddy Rodriguez, Vanessa Ferlito) and assorted friends and lovers (Debra Messing, Luis Gonzalez, Jay Hernandez, Melonie Diaz) in the cinematic equivalent of that time-honored holiday dish that turns up on the table every year, even though everybody's sick of it by now. Heavy on the Latino flavor, but underneath the spices, it's the same old holiday mush. (98 min.) PG-13; thematic elements, including sexual dialogue and brief drug references. (C.C.)

QUANTUM OF SOLACE

(C) Bland, James, bland: After a slam-bang reboot in 2006's "Casino Royale," the James Bond franchise suffers definite sophomore slump as a vengeful Bond (Daniel Craig, icy as ever) globe-trots from Europe to South America in pursuit of an enigmatic eco-entrepreneur ("The Diving Bell and the Butterfly's Mathieu Amalric) -- and his own inner demons. We get bullets flying, stuff blowing up real good and slice-and-dice editing that renders all that action all but impossible to follow. And while Bond's always movie, he's never moved. Neither are we. Or, as 007 himself might summarize it, not shaken -- and definitely not stirred. PG-13; intense action violence, sexual content. (C.C.)

QUARANTINE

(C) Assigned to spend the night shift with L.A. firefighters, a TV reporter (Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman (Steve Harris) respond to a routine 911 call at an apartment building, where something unknown has attacked one of the residents -- prompting the Centers for Disease Control to quarantine the building and cut off all telephone, Internet, TV and cellular access to those locked inside, who seem to be turning into rabid, homicidal zombies. Like any imitation, this remake of a 2007 Spanish thriller, isn't as good as the original. But this is really about cheap thrills -- and there aren't nearly enough. (89 min.) R; bloody, violent and disturbing content, terror, profanity.

RACHEL GETTING MARRIED

(B) Sprung from rehab to attend her sister's wedding, a troubled young woman (Anne Hathaway) demonstrates her insatiable need to steal the spotlight, even from the bride (Rosemarie DeWitt). Yet another portrait of yet another dysfunctional family, but the acutely observed screenplay (by Jenny Lumet), slice-of-life direction (by "Silence of the Lambs" Oscar-winner Jonathan Demme) and standout performances (including Oscar-worthy support from Bill Irwin and Debra Winger as the bride's divorced parents) put us in the midst of the jittery gathering -- and the jittery people trying desperately to ignore their jitters. (113 min.) R; profanity, brief sexuality. (C.C.)

ROLE MODELS

(B) As punishment for their wild behavior, a pair of energy drink reps (Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott) become Big Brother-type mentors to a pair of misfit kids (Bobb'e J. Thompson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, alias "Superbad's" McLovin). The premise is completely formulaic and potentially cheesy, but it's the wildly, hilariously crude way that director David Wain and Co. approach the concept that makes "Role Models" so disarming -- and consistently, laugh-out-loud funny. (99 min.) R; crude and sexual content, profanity, nudity.

SEVEN POUNDS

(C-) An enigmatic IRS agent (Will Smith, in full messianic mode) embarks on a quest for redemption that involves seven strangers -- who might not be strangers at all. Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson and Barry Pepper co-star in a convoluted holiday tearjerker (from Smith's "Pursuit of Happyness" director Gabriele Muccino) that turns out to be an inspirational bummer suffering from murky camerawork and even murkier emotions. Not even the obligatory uplift at the end can make up for the melodramatic (and less-than-credible) plot contrivances we have to sit through to get there. (123 min.) PG-13; mature themes, disturbing content, sexual references. (C.C.)

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

(B+) A beguiling Bollywood fairy tale (complete with plucky hero, damsel in distress, powerful villain and daunting trials in which our hero must prove his mettle), as an orphaned Mumbai teen (Dev Patel) becomes an unlikely contestant on the Hindi version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" -- not for money, but for love. Director Danny Boyle ("Trainspotting," "28 Days Later") scores with yet another trademark combination of humor, hope and horror that soars on the strength of its winning characters and exotic setting. By the time the cast members assemble for the all-dancing finale, you may be tempted to join in. (120 min.) R; violence, disturbing images, profanity. (C.C.)

THE SPIRIT

(D+) Dispiriting: Rookie cop Dennis Colt (charisma-challenged Gabriel Macht), gunned down on the mean streets of Central City, returns as the title crimefighter in this adaptation of Will Eisner's comic book series from graphic novelist-turned-director Frank Miller ("Sin City," "300"). Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson and Jaime King co-star in a hard-boiled, half-baked movie mangled by an almost incomprehensible plot, ludicrous dialogue and instantly forgettable characters. Gorgeous cinematography and design can't mask the hollow core and bizarre ugliness of this mishandled cartoon. (103 min.) PG-13; intense stylized violence and action, sexual content, brief nudity.

THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX

(C+) Mighty (and mighty cute) mouse Despereaux Tilling, who prefers reading books to eating them, befriends a banished rat, falls in love with a lonely princess -- and rescues his kingdom from the tyranny of grief -- in this computer-animated adaptation of Kate DiCamillo's award-winning best-seller. Matthew Broderick, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Watson and Tracey Ullman lead the vocal cast, but they can't disguise the fact that "Despereaux" -- with echoes of (in no particular order) "Ratatouille," "Flushed Away," "Gulliver's Travels," "Shrek" and several Grimm fairy tales -- is a bit too derivative, and desperate, to be loved. (94 min.) G; all ages.

TWILIGHT

(B-) This adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's best-selling tale of the ultimate star-crossed romance (OK, except maybe for "Romeo and Juliet" "Wuthering Heights" and ...) emerges as a fanciful, if fitfully engaging, amalgam of teen angst and vampire lore, as high school junior Bella Swan (appealingly direct Kristen Stewart) falls under the spell of dreamy biology lab partner Edward Cullen (brooding Robert Pattinson) -- who's been undead since the Spanish flu epidemic of 1917. "Thirteen" director Catherine Hardwicke's affinity for everyday teen traumas keep the movie grounded in emotional reality, even during its most far-fetched flights of fantasy. (120 min.) PG-13; violence, sensuality. (C.C.)

VALKYRIE

(B-) Cruise control: During World War II, high-ranking German officers plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, seize power from the Nazis and negotiate an end the war in a fact-based thriller that reunites director Bryan Singer ("X-Men," "Superman Returns") and his Oscar-winning "Usual Suspects" screenwriter, Christopher McQuarrie. Despite the gripping story and Singer's able direction, there's an inescapable vacuum at the center of the enterprise: star (and executive producer) Tom Cruise. His contemporary, all-American presence as the plot's ringleader clashes with the understated dramatic power displayed by the an all-star, all-British supporting cast, led by Bill Nighy, Terence Stamp, Tom Wilkinson, Eddie Izzard and Kenneth Branagh. They're a lot more convincing than Cruise -- and the rest of the movie. (121 min.) PG-13; violence, brief profanity. (C.C.)

YES MAN

(B-) Jim Carrey makes a welcome return to comedy as a chronically depressed loan officer who accentuates the positive -- by becoming a guy who can't say no for an entire year. Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, John Michael Higgins and Terence Stamp co-star for director Peyton Reed ("The Break-Up," "Down With Love"). Despite some brief vulgarity, this formulaic yet diverting comedy also boasts charm and (surprise!) and a worthwhile message. Given the gloom of this season's holiday releases, it's positively cheering just to see a character turn his frown upside down. (104 min.) PG-13; crude sexual humor, profanity, brief nudity.