Aeon Flux (PG-13 for sexuality and violence). Charlize Theron handles the title role in the live-action adaptation of the short-lived, MTV animated series, set in the 25th Century, about an acrobatic assassin out to topple the totalitarian regime oppressing the remnants of a civilization already crumbling from a rampaging virus. With Frances McDormand, Sophie Okonedo, and Marton Csokas.
Bee Season (PG-13 for some sensuality, brief profanity, and mature themes). Richard Gere and Juliette Binoche co-star in this dysfunctional family drama as the emotionally-estranged parents of an 11 year-old spelling savant. The parents would rather obsess on their daughter's (Eliza Cross) efforts to enter the national bee than to deal with their crumbling marriage. With Kate Bosworth as a devotee of Hare Krishna who dates the couple's teenage son (Max Minghella).
Capote (R for violence and profanity). Philip Seymour Hoffman handles the title role of this bio-pic about the period in author Truman Capote's life when he was researching the events surrounding the 1959 murders in Kansas which were the subject of his award-winning best seller In Cold Blood. Co-starring Catherine Keener as Harper Lee.
Chicken Little (G). Disney puts a new twist on the classic fable in this animated adventure about a young chicken (Zach Braff) who creates a panic after an acorn falls on his head because he believes that the sky is still falling. Distinctive voicework provided by Joan Cusack, Don Knotts, Steve Zahn, Catherine O'Hara, Fred Willard, Harry Shearer, Adam West, Garry Marshall, and Patrick Stewart.
Derailed (R for sex, expletives, and violence). Jennifer Aniston and Clive Owen star in this psychological thriller as philandering commuters in the midst of a passionate affair who find themselves blackmailed by the thug threatening to reveal their secret.
First Descent (PG-13 for brief profanity and a drug reference). Daring documentary chronicles the rise of snowboarding by revisiting the exploits of five of the sport's pioneers in some steep, snow-blanketed mountains of Alaska.
Good Night, and Good Luck (PG for adult themes and brief profanity). George Clooney wrote, directed and co-stars in this fifties docu-drama, shot in black & white, which revisits CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow's (David Strathairn) determination to expose the overzealous efforts of the House Un-American Activities Committee as a witch hunt, despite being called a Communist by Senator Joe McCarthy. With Patricia Clarkson and Jeff Daniels.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (PG-13 for fantasy violence and frightening images). Rapidly-maturing, principal cast intact, Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) assumes the helm to direct the fourth installment in the franchise based on J.K. Rowling's series of children's novels. The now 14 year-old boy wizard (Daniel Radcliffe) with a penchant for ending up in dire predicaments finds himself back at Hogwarts where he is chosen to compete in the big tournament against students from a couple of other schools dedicated to the occult.
The Ice Harvest (R for sex, expletives, nudity, and violence). Holiday comedy, set in Kansas on Christmas Eve, pairs partners-in-crime John Cusack and Billie Bob Thornton as a sleazy attorney and a strip club owner on the run after swindling a couple of million from a local mobster (Randy Quaid). Cast includes Connie Nielsen and Oliver Platt.
In The Mix (PG-13 for sex, expletives, and violence). Hip-hop icon Usher stars in this Mafia comedy as a DJ-turned-bodyguard who falls in love with the daughter (Emmanuelle Chriqui) of the don (Chazz Palmintieri) he is hired to protect.
Just Friends (PG-13 for sex content). Romantic comedy about a lovable loser (Ryan Reynolds) who summons up the courage to tell the girl of his dreams (Amy Smart) his true feelings about her. With Chris Klein, Anna Faris and Alanis Morissette.
Pride and Prejudice (PG for mature themes). Tenth adaptation of the Jane Austen classic exploration of late 18th Century British gentility revolves around a meddling mom's (Brenda Blethyn) efforts to marry off her five daughters (Keira Knightley, Jena Malone, Talulah Riley, Rosamund Pike, and Carey Mulligan) to appropriate eligible bachelors, especially the wealthy Mr. Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen). Cast includes Donald Sutherland and Dame Judi Dench.
Rent (PG 13 for sex, expletives, and mature themes). Original Broadway cast (with the addition of Rosario Dawson) returns to reprise their roles in screen version of Tony and Pulitizer Prize-winning musical. Ostensibly inspired by Puccini's La Boheme, update is set over the course of one very eventful year in the lives of a group of Greenwich Village bohemians burdened by a variety of issues.
Shopgirl (R for sex and expletives). Adapting his own novella of the same name, Steve Martin stars in this romantic comedy as a wealthy, worldly-wise older man who finds himself in a love triangle with a Saks Fifth Avenue cashier (Claire Danes) torn between him and a man (Jason Schwartzman) her own age.
The Squid and the Whale (R for sex and expletives). Dysfunctional family drama, set in Brooklyn in 1986, focuses on the emotional fallout visited upon the 12 and 16 year-old sons of an unhappily married couple (Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels) going through a messy divorce.
Syriana (R for violence and profanity). George Clooney heads the ensemble cast in the lead role of this multi-layered, political potboiler, based on See No Evil, Robert Baer's memoir of his international derring-do during a 21-year career with the CIA. With Oscar-winners Matt Damon, William Hurt, and Chris Cooper, Amanda Peet, Jeffrey Wright, Tim Blake Nelson and Christopher Plummer.
Walk the Line (PG-13 for profanity, mature themes, and a depiction of drug dependency). Joaquin Phoenix impersonates Johnny Cash, while Reese Witherspoon plays wife June in this life and times bio-pic based on two autobiographies by the late country singer who'd "been everywhere, man" and always dressed in black. Cast includes Tyler Hilton as Elvis Presley, Shooter Jennings as his father, Waylon, Jonathan Rice as Roy Orbison, Waylon Payne as Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Holiday as Carl Perkins.
Yours, Mine, and Ours (PG for crude humor). Dennis Quaid and Renée Russo invoke fond memories of Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball who starred in the original version of this blended family comedy about a widower with 8 kids whose marriage to a widow with 10 urchins of her own turns into a nightmare when they all try to live under one roof.
Zathura (PG for fantasy action, scenes of peril, and mild profanity). Based on the Chris Van Allsburg children's book of the same name, this sci-fi sequel to Jumanji revolves around the outer space adventures encountered by two brothers (Jonah Bobo and Josh Hutcherson) who find a board game which magically catapults them toward a faraway purple planet. With Tim Robbins and Kristen Stewart.