Showtimes are through Thursday unless otherwise indicated. Openings and times are subject to change.

Opens today

Driving Lessons (C-)

In a slight twist in formula, 17-year-old Ben (Rupert Grint) is a repressed lad from a fanatically conservative household who hooks up with Evie (Julie Walters), an easygoing retiree who teaches him to let the starch out of his collar. There's nothing wrong with "Driving Lessons," but you feel like you've seen it seven times already and it was at least a little better each time before. Ben, looking for any escape from his domineering mom, Laura (Laura Linney), takes a job assisting Evie, who insists he drive her around. She gives him advice on dating and self-determination, and he makes her feel young and involved again. Strong performances deserve better than this weak, played-out material. Writer/director Jeremy Brock chose a lame, threadbare premise for his debut. Rated PG-13 for language and sexual content; 98 minutes. (Reviewed on Page Cx by Phil Villarreal of the Arizona Daily Star.)

Century Downtown 1:15, 3:55, 6:45, 9:10

Lunacy (B+)

A crazy movie about the utterly relative nature of craziness, "Lunacy" is Czech animator Jan Svankmajer's most successful venture into live-action filmmaking yet. He is still enchanted by the sight of stop-motion meat skittering around and homesteading in empty cow skulls and Venus statues. How all this pixilated raw flesh figures in a movie that's already bursting with imagery from Edgar Allen Poe and the Marquis de Sade is a bit of a puzzle. Fortunately, the main body of the film is far more intellectually rigorous, if no less perverse. We never know what's coming next, nor whom to trust, in "Lunacy." Cruelty abounds, sensuality runs riot, and it's all naughty, nutty fun. Not rated; 118 min. (Reviewed on Page Cx by Bob Strauss of the Los Angeles Daily News.)

Guild/b> F-Su: 3, 5:30, 8

The Nativity Story (C+)

This is a glossy, gritty, reverent and respectful dramatization of the birth of Jesus. It does nothing controversial, but neither does it do anything very imaginative. Aside from letting some modern sensibilities sneak in, director Catherine Hardwicke ("Thirteen," "Lords of Dogtown") seems content to play it straight, and safe. Mary (Keisha Castle-Hughes, "Whale Rider") is a Nazareth teenager who works odd jobs to help her family make ends meet. Joseph (Oscar Isaac), a carpenter who is several years older, asks to marry Mary, and her parents agree. Screenwriter Mike Rich follows the familiar skeleton of the story. It's a shame Rich didn't show as much imagination in the Bethlehem scenes as he did with Mary's early story and the trek to Bethlehem. "The Nativity Story" is artful but not awe-inspiring. Rated PG for violence; 93 minutes. (Reviewed on Page Cx by Betsy Pickle of Scripps Howard News Service.)

Century Downtown 12, 2:25, 4:50, 7:15, 9:40

Century Rio Daily: 11:55, 1:15, 2:25, 3:45, 5, 6:15, 7:30, 8:45, 10; F-Sa: 11:20 p.m.

Cottonwood 11, 1:30, 4, 7:05, 9:30

High Ridge Daily: 10:30, 12:50, 3:10, 5:30, 7:50; F-Su: 10:10 p.m.

Winrock 1:15, 4, 7:20, 9:50

13 (Tzameti) (A-)

This is an existential horror film, a metaphor for modern Europe, and a first-time director's startling calling card. Filmed in crisp, watchful black-and-white, "13 (Tzameti)" starts slowly, laying out the pieces of its central puzzle with deceptive randomness. The plot involves a lethal and clandestine game in which men wager on other men's lives. The contest is the meat of the film, and it's filmed with a matter-of-factness that in itself is surreal. Not rated; 90 min. (Reviewed on Page Cx by Ty Burr of the Boston Globe.)

Southwest Film Center F: 6, 9:30, Sa: 3, 6, 9; Su: 1, 3:30

Turistas (C)

This is more of a thriller than a gorefest - it's definitely no "Saw" - though technically the thrills are few and far between. The primary reason for this movie's existence is flesh, not gore. Shirtless hunks and scantily clad babes may not add up to horror thrills, but watching them romp on a beautiful beach in Brazil makes for a pleasant way to spend a chilly afternoon. "Turistas" combines time-honored parental warnings with a variation on an urban legend. It's about three Americans - Alex (Josh Duhamel of TV's "Las Vegas"), his younger sister, Bea (Olivia Wilde), and her friend, Amy (Beau Garrett) - and their adventures. "Turistas" blessedly avoids the sadistic bent of recent scary movies. It's more interested in mind games. Rated R for violence, sexuality, nudity, drug use and language; 89 min. (Reviewed on Page Cx by Betsy Pickle of Scripps Howard News Service.)

Century Rio 12:40, 3:05, 5:25, 7:55, 10:20

Cottonwood 12, 2:30, 5, 7:45, 10:20

Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj

Apparently Ryan Reynolds has moved on with his life, if not his career, so this sequel to the young-male guilty-pleasure classic focuses on Van Wilder's sidekick. Rated R for sexual content, nudity and language; 95 min. (No reviews available.)

Century Downtown 12:20, 2:40, 5:05, 7:30, 9:50

Century Rio 12:10, 2:40, 5:15, 7:50, 10:15

Cottonwood 11:10, 1:40, 4:40, 7:35, 10

Four Hills 11:20, 2:05, 4:50, 7:30, 10:10

Opens Monday

After Innocence (B)

Jessica Sanders' documentary focuses on men who have been released with the help of the Innocence Project. The process of rejoining the living isn't easy before the cell doors open, and it's not easy afterward. In many cases, the men's criminal records still stand, making it nearly impossible to find work. On the most prosaic level, their lives remain crippled. The willful institutional blindness on display here is breathtaking. Sanders is more interested in specific human struggles than in larger political points, but she knows these men form a mosaic with a message that's unmistakable. A double feature with "Shakespeare Behind Bars" at the Guild. Not rated; 93 min. (Reviewed on Page Cx by Ty Burr of the Boston Globe.)

Guild M-Th: 5, 8:35

Shakespeare Behind Bars (B)

Hank Rogerson's documentary tracks a theater rehabilitation program in Kentucky in its seventh year. Hard men take like blooming flowers to sunshine as they recite their lines in iambic pentameter. In interviews, the convicts come across as self-effacing and insightful, if understandably rough-hewn when they recite their crimes. This is expert manipulation on the director's behalf, and the technique injects ambiguity into what, to that point, had been a feel-good heart-warmer. A double feature with "After Innocence" at the Guild. Not rated; 93 min. (Reviewed on Page Cx by Phil Villarreal of the Arizona Daily Star.)

Guild M-Th: 3:10, 6:45

Opens Thursday

Unknown White Male (B+)

What would it be like if one day you discovered that you didn't remember anything - not your name, the mother who died, the friends who didn't? Such is the premise of this thought-stirring documentary, which recounts the bizarre saga of Doug Bruce, who in July 2003 walked into a hospital claiming not to know who he was, thereupon becoming either a heart-wrenching casualty of a medical anomaly or the prime suspect in a mystery yet to be solved. Rated PG-13; 88 min.

Southwest Film Center Th: 6, 9

Returning

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T

Hans Conreid is a mad piano teacher in this surreal schlock from the mind of Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss. Not rated; 89 min.

Guild F-Sa: 10:30 p.m.

Previews

Blood Diamond

Century Rio Sa: 7:30

Cottonwood Sa: 7

The Holiday

Century Rio Sa: 7

Cottonwood Sa: 7:10

Continuing

Babel (A-)

This tells four stories, disclosing bit by bit the chronology and causality that link them and making much of the linguistic, cultural and geographical distances among the characters. The languages used by the astonishingly diverse cast include Spanish, Berber, Japanese, sign language and English. The misunderstandings multiply accordingly. The sheer reckless ardor of Alejandro Gonzalez I¤arritu's filmmaking suggests a virtually limitless confidence in the power of the medium to make connections out of apparent discontinuities. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett play an American couple on a desultory vacation in Morocco, trying to repair the damage done to their marriage by the death of their infant son. In Tokyo, a deaf teenage girl named Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi) spins through the emotional upheavals of adolescence. The splintered, jigsaw-puzzle structure of "Babel" will be familiar to viewers who have seen "Amores Perros" or "21 Grams," the other two features Gonzalez I¤arritu has made. It's a folly, and also, perversely, a wonder. Rated R; 143 min.

Century Downtown 12:30, 3:35, 6:40, 9:45

Century Rio 12:50, 6:55

High Ridge Daily: 10:30, 1:30, 4:30, 7:30; F-Su: 10:30 p.m.

Bobby (C)

Director Emilio Estevez tries to produce a feeling of collective life. Beyond that, he tries to link the intimate stories of nearly two dozen characters to a large and consequential public event - the assassination of Robert Kennedy - and to capture the heady combination of anxiety, anger, hope and idealism that supposedly characterized the United States in 1968. The Mexican-American kitchen workers (Freddy Rodriguez and Jacob Vargas) argue about social justice with the wise black cook (Laurence Fishburne) and trade scowls with their bigoted boss (Christian Slater). And a young woman (Lindsay Lohan) prepares to marry a young man (Elijah Wood) to keep him out of Vietnam. The technique gives "Bobby" a degree of fluidity and momentum, but the multiple story lines coalesce in a manner more reminiscent of "The Towering Inferno" than "Nashville." Nonetheless the ambition is large and serious. Rated R; 111 minutes.

Century Downtown 1:05, 4:10, 7:15, 9:35

Century Rio 11:15, 1:50, 4:30, 7:10, 9:50

Cottonwood 1:10, 4:10, 7:10, 10:10

High Ridge Daily: 10:45, 1:45, 4:20, 7; F-Su: 9:45 p.m.

Borat (B+)

In America, people can be bigoted. And homophobic and misogynistic, and just closed-minded in general. And that becomes glaringly, uproariously clear through the innocent eyes of Borat Sagdiyev, a Kazakh TV journalist who travels to the United States to make a documentary and bring his findings back to his homeland. The brash but strangely likable Borat is the creation of Sacha Baron Cohen. His targets can be a little obvious - old, white people and young, drunk frat boys from the South - and sometimes his ruse is a bit mean. But the film is consistently double-over-laughing hilarious. Rated R; 82 min.

Century Rio Daily: 12:35, 2:50, 5:05, 6:25, 7:25, 8:35, 9:35; F-Sa: 10:45, 11:45 p.m.

Cottonwood 12:40, 3, 5:20, 7:45, 10:05

High Ridge Daily: 10:50, 1, 3, 5:10, 7:20; F-Su: 9:40 p.m.

Casino Royale (A-)

The latest James Bond film is riveting, clever and well-choreographed, yet the appeal this time lies much heavier on Bond as a person, on his development as one of cinema's deadliest killers and most heartless womanizers. Daniel Craig stacks up well against his five Bond predecessors. He's no Sean Connery (who is?) but he delivers one of the finest performances ever in a 007 flick. Craig has the spirit of the character, rascally yet dark, blithe yet brutish, amorous yet lethal. The film is based on the first of Ian Fleming's novels about the British agent. Bond is assigned to play in a high-stakes poker match in Montenegro orchestrated by Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a financier of global terrorism who needs to win the $100-million-plus stake to pay back clients' money he squandered on an investment. A Treasury official - beautiful, of course - is assigned to keep tabs on Bond's gambling stake. Eva Green's Vesper Lynd is everything most Bond girls are not - smart, sarcastic, willful and fiercely independent enough not to give in to Bond's charms. Rated PG-13; 144 minutes.

Century Downtown 12:35, 1:55, 3:45, 5:10, 6:55, 8:15, 10

Century Rio Daily: 11:15, 12, 12:45, 1:30, 2:30, 3:15, 4, 4:45, 5:45, 6:30, 7:15, 8, 9, 9:45, 10:30; F-Sa: 11:15 p.m.

Cottonwood 11;45, 3:10, 6:40, 10

Four Hilld 11:30, 2:50, 6:30, 9:50

Winrock 12:30, 3:45, 7, 10:05

Deck the Halls (C-)

Matthew Broderick plays optometrist Steve Finch, a sweater-wearing suburban family man who's nuts about Christmas. Broderick, a straight man for the ages, is thrown off his wave of yuletide adulation when car salesman Buddy Hall (Danny DeVito) and his family move in next door. Buddy quickly becomes obsessed with making his house visible from space, covering it with Christmas lights and forming a live-animal nativity scene on his front lawn. Needless to say, this upsets the anal Finch. The two quickly become rivals. The comedic talents of Broderick and DeVito are too considerable for "Deck the Halls" to pass without some legitimately funny scenes. But the sin of "Deck the Halls" is its regifting. The humor inherent in a man focused on covering his house with Christmas lights has already been memorably put to film in 1989's "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation." Rated PG; 95 min.

Century Downtown 2:35, 7:20

Century Rio Daily: 11:50, 1, 2:20, 3:25, 4:40, 5:50, 7:05, 8:10, 9:30, 10:35; F-Sa: 11:50 p.m.

Cottonwood 11:45, 2:15, 4:45, 7:30, 9:45

Four Hills 11:10, 1:40, 4:20, 7:05, 9:45

Winrock 12:45, 3:15, 7:10, 9:45

Déjà Vu (B+)

This is not the same old thriller. It's a smart, complex ride with powerful emotions and riveting suspense. Federal agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) has investigated tragedies, including the Oklahoma City bombing. After blasts and fire ravage a New Orleans ferry, killing more than 500 people, Carlin determines that foul play was involved. FBI Special Agent Pryzwarra (Val Kilmer) recruits him to reconstruct the crime and find the bomber. Carlin suspects the key to solving the crime lies with a woman's body that washed up on shore. He starts to feel as though he knows the victim (Paula Patton), and the case takes on a personal urgency. Washington is superb as the battle-weary agent who learns to reconnect with humanity. Rated PG-13; 128 min.

Century Downtown 12:45, 3:50, 7:05, 9:55

Century Rio Daily: 11:45, 1:10, 2:40, 4:05, 5:30, 7, 8:30, 9:55; F-Sa: 11:30 p.m.

Cottonwood 12:15, 1, 3:45, 4:20, 7, 7:35, 10:05, 10:35

Four Hills 11:45, 2:55, 6:45, 9:55

High Ridge Daily: 10:40, 1:40, 4:40, 7:40; F-Su: 10:30 p.m.

The Departed (B+)

While this is an Americanized version of the 2002 Hong Kong hit "Infernal Affairs," it's vintage Martin Scorsese - for a while at least. The veteran director has made two-thirds of a great film about Boston cops and mobsters, with dazzlingly rich performances from a dizzyingly stellar cast and an ambience that screams Scorsese's typical cultural authenticity. Rated R; 150 minutes.

Cottonwood 9:40 p.m.

Flushed Away (B-)

The claymation masterminds behind "Wallace & Gromit" got together with the computer gurus at DreamWorks Animation, which brought us "Shrek." But this is one of those times in which the whole isn't greater than the sum of its parts. This comic tale about Roddy (voiced by Hugh Jackman), a pampered pet rat who gets flushed down the toilet of his posh London penthouse and into the sewer, has thrilling moments. But it simply lacks the simple, delicate charm that has marked everything Aardman Features has produced on its own. It's too much like every other all-star, animated, talking-animal movie that's come out this year. Rated PG; 84 min.

Century Rio Daily: 12:25, 2:35, 4:45, 6:55, 9:10; F-Sa: 11:2 p.m.

Cottonwood 11:30, 1:50, 4:05, 6:30, 9

Four Hills 11:40, 1:50, 4:15, 7, 9:30

Winrock 1, 3, 6:40, 9:40

For Your Consideration (B)

While showbiz types will enjoy the send-up of their town's strange creatures and goings-on, much of the humor will be lost on general audiences. Still, it allows director Christopher Guest, co-writer Eugene Levy and their wonderful troupe of co-stars to ham it up as if their shaky careers depended on it. This is a narrative feature from the mockumentary specialists and their regulars from "Best in Show" and "Waiting for Guffman." Catherine O'Hara and Harry Shearer dominate the story; the pathos they radiate late in the movie is almost awards-worthy in itself. Rated PG-13; 86 min.

Century Downtown 12:25, 5, 9:35

Century Rio 3, 7:25

High Ridge Daily: 11:05, 1:10, 3:15, 5:20, 8; F-Su: 10:15 p.m.

The Fountain (B)

The writer-director of "Requiem for a Dream" and "Pi" serves up his most ambitious and expensive movie to date. It's also his most puzzling and, at the same time, his most conventional, with its confusing Hollywood time-mangling and meta-spirituality. The movie has a lot on its plate: three intertwined narratives set during the Spanish Conquest, the present and an outer-space future; visual opulence and a strobe-o-scopic editing scheme that mean to rival Kubrick; and, of course, a love story that knows no bounds. But what all this adds up to beyond a lot of very cool images in service to some big, fuzzy ideas remains a quandary, although you have the option of just digging the ride. You'll likely have trouble following a lot of the details in the stories, strained connective elements or not. It's like "2001" meets "Aliens" meets "The Secret Life of Plants." With Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. Rated PG-13; 96 min.

Century Downtown 12:15, 2:30, 4:55, 7:25, 9:45

Century Rio 12:30, 2:50, 5:20, 7:40, 10:05 (no 7:40 show Sa)

Cottonwood 11:20, 1:50, 4:30, 7, 9:50 (no 7 show Sa)

Winrock 12:30, 3, 6:50, 9:35

A Good Year (C+)

This often feels desperately strained in its whimsy, and as it morphs from travelogue to slapsticky French farce to shameless chick flick, it grows nauseating in its sickly sweet romantic dialogue. For a while, though, it is a refreshing change to see Russell Crowe try on light, physical comedy. It finds Crowe's Max Skinner traveling to Provence after the death of his beloved uncle, who raised him there on his sprawling vineyard. Just as he's trying to unload the estate, a young woman (Abbie Cornish, "Somersault") shows up claiming to be Uncle Henry's long-lost daughter. Director Ridley Scott manages this chaos with all the finesse of a sitcom. Rated PG-13; 118 minutes.

Four Hills 11:05, 1:55, 4:45, 7:25, 10:05

Happy Feet (A-)

Like the classic animated Disney movies from decades ago, this isn't afraid to mix in some substance with its style. That's also what makes it so different from other computer-animated movies. You've got your all-star voice cast (Elijah Wood, Nicole Kidman, Robin Williams, Hugh Jackman), your soundtrack that's chock full of pop tunes (Prince, Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder), and of course, your talking animals. This time they're penguins - and they're cute. The visuals can be both intimate and breathtakingly grand. The story has real meaning; it can be deeply poignant and isn't just a nonstop, madcap frenzy of color, noise and cutesy pop-culture references. Young Mumble (Wood) is incapable of belting out his own unique song, something inside every penguin. The one talent he's had since day one, his dancing ability, is deemed weird among the other penguins. So he is a total outcast - though he should be the most popular guy on the iceberg with Savion Glover providing his tap moves. "Happy Feet" follows Mumble on a journey of discovery, of himself and the world, which can be both harrowing and thrilling. Rated PG; 98 min.

Century Downtown 12:10, 1:25, 2:45, 4:05, 5:20, 6:50, 9:20

Century Rio Daily: 11:20, 12:15, 1:05, 2, 2:55, 3:50, 4:35, 5:35, 7:20, 8:15, 10; F-Sa: 10:55 p.m.

Cottonwood 10:45, 11:15, 1:30, 2, 4:15, 4:45, 6:45, 7:15, 9:15 (no 10:45 show Su)

Four Hills 10:55, 11:35, 1:45, 2:15, 4:30, 5, 7:15, 7:45, 10, 10:30

Winrock 1, 3:30, 7:30, 10

Let's Go to Prison (B-)

TV favorites Dax Shepard ("Punk'd"), Will Arnett ("Arrested Development") and Chi McBride ("Boston Public") star in a comedy of incarceration from Bob Odenkirk (from the subversive HBO sketch comedy "Mr. Show"), who showed his directing chops with his feature debut, "Melvin Comes to Dinner," in 2003. The plot here: A felon gets revenge on the judge who once sent him to prison by intentionally re-offending so that he can return to prison and make trouble for the judge's son, who has been wrongly convicted of a crime. High concept, but expect some low-brow gags. Music by Queens of the Stone Age. Rated R; 84 min.

Century Rio Daily: 12:40, 5:10, 9:40; F-Sa: 11:55 p.m.

The Queen (A-)

Stephen Frears' marvelous film gets the details right because it puts aside satirical broadsides in favor of a psychologically precise look at the behavior of Britain's royal family in the week following Princess Diana's fatal car crash. It's an approach that manages to be humane and hilarious. Underneath its struggle between Queen Elizabeth's stiff-upper-lip, old-guard attitude and Tony Blair's misty-eyed emotiveness, "The Queen" is a tough-minded skewering of the House of Windsor, as well as an examination of the primacy of image over substance. "Nowadays, people want the grand performance," a defiant Elizabeth (Helen Mirren) complains when forced to go public with a reaction to the death of a woman she intensely disliked. With Mirren, moviegoers have that performance, and it's one to cherish. Rated PG-13; 103 minutes.

Century Downtown 12:05, 2:20, 4:45, 7:10, 9:25

High Ridge Daily: 11, 1:55, 4:35, 7:45; F-Su: 10:10

Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause

Tim Allen is St. Nick again, battling Jack Frost (Martin Short) who has hijacked Christmas. Tricking Allen's character into magically returning to the instant he first put on the red suit and became Santa, Jack Frost makes off with the duds and turns Christmas into "Frostmas." Rated G; 98 min.

Century Rio Daily: 11:30, 1:55, 4:20, 6:50, 9:20; F-Sa: 11:45 p.m.

Cottonwood 11, 1:55, 4:20, 7:20, 9:40 (no 11 show Su)

Four Hills 11, 1:30, 4, 6:40, 9:40

Saw III (C+)

A deadening barrage of grungy rooms, mortified flesh and elaborate torture. This time Jigsaw/John Kramer (Tobin Bell), the masked sadist whose fondness for men in chains continues unabated, has decided to play marriage counselor to a couple whose young son has been killed in a car accident. The most depressing thing about this series is not the creativity of the bloodletting but the bleak view of human nature, specifically our talent for ruining the present to avenge the past. Rated R; 107 min.

Century Rio 4:10, 10:25

Stranger than Fiction (B+)

After a slow start, "Stranger Than Fiction" establishes itself as a movie that plays around with ideas in ways that can be amusing and smart. It also allows Will Ferrell to give his best performance and makes room for the always enjoyable Emma Thompson, who plays a writer trying to figure out how to bring her latest novel to a close. Director Marc Forster ("Monster's Ball," "Finding Neverland") brings a gentle touch to proceedings that revolve around Crick's increasing awareness that his life needs a jolt. The awakening arrives in the form of Maggie Gyllenhaal. With Dustin Hoffman and Queen Latifah. Rated PG-13; 105 min.

Century Downtown 1:10, 4, 7, 9:30

Century Rio F, Su-Th: 11:35, 2:15, 4:55, 7:35, 10:20; Sa: 11:15, 1:55, 4:35, 9:35

Cottonwood F, M-Th: 11:15, 1:55, 4:40, 7:20, 9:55; Sa: 11:15, 1:55, 4:40, 10:35; Su: 1:55, 4:40, 7:20, 9:55

High Ridge Daily: 10:55, 1:50, 4:25, 7:10; F-Su: 9:50 p.m.

Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny (D+)

Only the most die-hard Tenacious D fans could love this inside joke that runs out of laughs five minutes in yet lingers through an hour and a half of self-satisfied mugging that's irritating. Director Liam Lynch, a pal of Jack Black and Kyle Gass, shares screenwriting credit with the two stars. What they came up with is no more trite than, say, "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," but that musical odyssey offered genuine and consistent mainstream laughs. The playful rambles of Tenacious D's music occasionally enliven the movie, but the personae of JB and KG are so cartoonishly dumb and boorish, it's hard to relate to them as much more than flat characters in a mediocre bit of sketch comedy. Rated R; 94 min.

Century Downtown 8

Century Rio 12:20, 2:45, 5:10, 7:45, 10:10

Cottonwood 11:30, 2:20, 4:50, 7:40, 10:20

Four Hills 11:25, 2, 4:25, 6:55, 9:35