"High School Musical 3: Senior Year" (G). Not reviewed. Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens return for the Disney musical franchise's second sequel, which has the characters readying one last musical before graduating. Opens Friday, Oct. 24.
"Pride and Glory" (R). Not reviewed. Edward Norton and Colin Farrell star in this crime drama as cops whose own families are implicated in a corruption investigation. Gavin O Connor directs. Opens Friday, Oct. 24.
"Saw V" (R). Not reviewed. David Hackl director directs this fifth sequel of the horror franchise. Opens Friday, Oct. 24.
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"An American Carol" (PG-13). Director David Zucker ("Airplane!") unleashes a hit-and-mostly-miss satire about a Michael Moore-type filmmaker who wants to abolish the Fourth of July until he is visited in "Christmas Carol" fashion by the ghosts of George Washington, General George Patton and John F. Kennedy. With Kevin Farley, Kelsey Grammer, Leslie Nielsen, Dennis Hopper, Jon Voight and James Woods. Grade: C Muvico Egyptian 24
"Appaloosa" (R). Director Ed Harris oversees a straightforward western about a sheriff (Harris) in a rough New Mexico town who tangles with a ruthless businessman (Jeremy Irons) while embarking on a romance with a newly arrived widow (Renee Zellweger). Grade: B Snowden Square 14, AMC Columbia Mall 14, Muvico Egyptian 24
"Beverly Hills Chihuahua" (PG). Unless you adore movies about talking animals, stay far away from this slight comedy about a pampered L.A. dog lost in Mexico. The voice of Drew Barrymore stars as the dog, along with such human actors as Jamie Lee Curtis and Piper Perabo. Grade: C Snowden Square 14, AMC Columbia Mall 14, Muvico Egyptian 24
"Body of Lies" (R). The slick professionalism of director Ridley Scott, the starring presence of Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe as C.I.A. employees, and the obvious importance of international terrorism somehow don't fully spark a busy spy story that roams the world and yet doesn't go very deep. Grade: B- Snowden Square 14, AMC Columbia Mall 14, Muvico Egyptian 24
"City of Ember" (PG). This juvenile-targeted science fiction story concerns a troubled underground city whose future may lie with enterprising teens played by Saoirse Ronan and Harry Treadaway. The movie can't decide whether it wants a serious or satirical tone, and it's embarrassing to watch Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Martin Landau and Mary Kay Place wandering through all this stylistic confusion. Grade: C Snowden Square 14, AMC Columbia Mall 14, Muvico Egyptian 24
"Eagle Eye" (PG-13). The relentless chases, hyperkinetic editing and explosive score amount to noisy bells and whistles masking the fact that this political thriller is skimpy when it comes to characterization and motive. With Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Rosario Dawson and Billy Bob Thornton. Grade: C+ Snowden Square 14, AMC Columbia Mall 14, Muvico Egyptian 24
"The Express" (PG). The life of Ernie Davis, the first black college football player to win the Heisman trophy, is the inspirational basis for this story about Davis (Rob Brown) and his white coach (Dennis Quaid) contending with racist attitudes in the early 1960s. Despite noble intentions, the film is totally predictable. Grade: C+ Snowden Square 14, AMC Columbia Mall 14, Muvico Egyptian 24
"Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist" (PG-13). Two high school kids (Michael Cera and Kat Dennings) tentatively embark on a romance while visiting hip Manhattan clubs in a single very long night. The film's sweet tone unfortunately encompasses a lot of meandering scenes. Grade: C+ Snowden Square 14, AMC Columbia Mall 14, Muvico Egyptian 24
"Quarantine" (R). Handheld subjective camerawork is now overused in horror movies, but this one has some effectively jolting moments as it documents how firefighters and the TV news reporter doing a story on them are suddenly placed in quarantine inside an apartment building plagued with a strange virus. Grade: C+ Snowden Square 14, AMC Columbia Mall 14, Muvico Egyptian 24
"Religulous" (R). Bill Maher's irreverent documentary about mass religion is destined to spark discussion. This comedian is very funny, but he and the film's director, Larry Charles, tend to jump around and repeat themselves. Grade: B Muvico Egyptian 24
"The Secret Life of Bees" (PG-13). Based on a bestselling novel and featuring Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson and Queen Latifah, this honey-drenched story about a girl growing up in racially segregated South Carolina in 1964 is easy to like, but its thematic messages are so bluntly delivered that it has a paint-by-number quality. Grade: B- Snowden Square 14, AMC Columbia Mall 14, Muvico Egyptian 24
"Sex Drive" (R). This is a road trip that pretty much goes where you expect raunchy teen comedies to go. It's rudely funny at times, but not exactly a trip you need to take. Grade: C Snowden Square 14, AMC Columbia Mall 14, Muvico Egyptian 24
"W." (PG-13). It's probably inevitable that director Oliver Stone's group biography of President George W. Bush's administration seems like a wax museum come to life. Although Stone mostly scores obvious satirical points, the whole exercise does possess curiosity value. With Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Banks, Ellen Burstyn, James Cromwell, Richard Dreyfuss, Scott Glenn, Toby Jones, Stacy Keach, Thandie Newton and Jeffrey Wright. Grade: C+ Snowden Square 14, AMC Columbia Mall 14, Muvico Egyptian 24,
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