Movies

THE GOLDEN COMPASS: This sumptuous adaptation of the first book of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials fantasy trilogy benefits from perceptive direction by Chris Weitz, who also wrote the screenplay, and impeccable acting. Newcomer Dakota Blue Richards gives a gutsy performance as the courageous 12-year-old Lyra, and Nicole Kidman has never been better or more iridescent as the stunning, silky-voiced Mrs. Coulter, who faces off against the resourceful young heroine.

27 DRESSES: Katherine Heigl's Jane is always a bridesmaid and never a bride. She's secretly in love with her boss (Edward Burns) but, naturally, there's another guy out there (James Marsden) with whom she initially clashes and then falls for. The film is so full of romantic-comedy clichés, it comes close to parody. Directed by Anne Fletcher.

THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY: True story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, a successful French Elle editor who suffers a stroke and is left to communicate solely through his left eye. The movie is less about his triumph in dictating a book through blinking and more about the beauty of life and Mr. Bauby's fruitful imagination. Starring Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josée Croze and Anne Consigny. Directed by Julian Schnabel.

HOW SHE MOVE: This laughably over-familiar melodrama focuses on a girl who competes in a step contest to earn money for college. Most of the characters are clichés, and the "big contest" finale is a given. Only the setting and the street-real grit and energy of the cast keep it on its feet. Starring Rutina Wesley, Dwain Murphy and Tre Armstrong. Directed by Ian Iqbal Rashid.

NANKING: Nominated for a 2008 Academy Award, this documentary uses the testimony of survivors to tell the story of the Japanese invasion of Nanking, China, at the onset of World War II. With Jürgen Prochnow, Mariel Hemingway and Graham Sibley.

Ace of Hearts

The Business of Being Born

First Sunday

Over Her Dead Body

P.S. I Love You

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