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The Box

Starting Friday:

THE BOX

Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne.

A suburban couple (Cameron Diaz and James Marsden, right) are offered a simple wooden box by a mysterious stranger (Frank Langella) who promises the press of its button will bestow $1 million, with the stipulation that pressing this button will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere in the world -- someone they don't know.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Polo Park, St. Vital, Kildonan Place, Garden City, Grant Park, Towne. PG

Thanks to technology, Jim Carrey and Robert Zemeckis' new take on the Charles Dicken's classic brings to life the fantasy about miser Ebenezer Scrooge's holiday redemption in a way old Hollywood never could have dreamed.

COCO AVANT CHANEL

Grant Park. Subject to classification.

Before she became a 20th-century fashion maven, the orphaned Gabrielle Chanel (Audrey Tautou) worked in a provincial bar as singer and a seamstress for the performers, earning the nickname Coco from the song she sang nightly with her sister.

AN EDUCATION

Grant Park. PG

Jenny (Carey Mulligan) a very bright girl on the cusp of her 17th birthday, finds herself in a whirlwind romance with the much older David (Peter Sarsgaard), who introduces her to a lifestyle she never imagined could be hers -- but with unanticipated consequences.

FOOD, INC.

Cinematheque. PG

Pity the title Naked Lunch was taken. Otherwise, it would have been a good monicker for this provocative doc -- back by popular demand -- about how food production has largely come into the hands of a few corporations who demonstrably care more about the bottom line than they do about workers, farmers and consumers. 3-1/2 stars (Reviewed by Randall King)

THE FOURTH KIND

Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne

Unlike the benign aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the creatures in this film are engaged in abduction ... and general messing with the lives of various citizens of Nome Alaska, the startling conclusion of a doctor (Milla Jovovich) investigating several cases of apparent pyschosis.

THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS

Grant Park, Polo Park, St. Vital, Kildonan Place, Globe. 14A

A reporter (Ewan McGregor) trying to lose himself in the romance of war gets more than he bargains for when he meets a special forces agent (George Clooney) who reveals the existence of a secret, psychic military unit whose goal is to end war as we know it.

NOW PLAYING

The following movies have been previously reviewed by Free Press movie critic Randall King, unless otherwise noted. For a complete list of theatres, see tomorrow's listings.

AMELIA

Grant Park. G

Hilary Swank stars as the pioneering aviatrix in this biopic co-starring Richard Gere and directed by Mira Nair. Whatever it was that made Amelia Earhart the darling of the skies back in the 1930s eludes the director. This murky biography hopscotches through the era like one of those sleek silver Electra planes that Amelia banged around in. 2 stars (Reviewed by Jay Stone)

AMREEKA

Grant Park. 14A

A single mother leaves the West Bank with dreams of an exciting future in the promised land of small-town Illinois, only to scramble to make a living at a neighbourhood White Castle. This first feature by Cherien Dabis was shot in Winnipeg. 4 stars

ASTRO BOY

Polo Park, Towne. G

A robot with the soul of a boy is exiled from his floating city to make his own way in the garbage-strewn world in this CG-update of the classic Japanese TV series, featuring the voices of Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage and Donald Sutherland. For a transparent attempt to build a new franchise, this is unexpectedly fun. 3 stars

THE BOYS ARE BACK

Globe. PG

Clive Owen stars as a newly widowed dad who resolves to bring up his sons in an undisciplined laissez-faire manner in this comedy-drama. 3-1/2 stars

CIRQUE DU FREAK: THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT

Kildonan Place, Polo Park, Towne. PG

A teenager unknowingly breaks a 200-year-old truce between two warring factions of vampires when he joins a touring sideshow filled with monstrous creatures. A celebration of this wussified new breed of vampire, the movie is an occasionally clever but muddled adaptation of Darren Shan's books. 2 stars (Reviewed by Peter Hartlaub)

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS

St. Vital. G

An animated feature about a wacky inventor who somehow manages to turn food into precipitation. Like the perfect gourmet meal, it's visually stunning and only gets better once you sample it. 4 stars (Reviewed by Rick Bentley)

THE COLLECTOR

Towne. 18A

A horror thriller in the Saw template wherein a burglar turns hero when he breaks into a house only to discover another intruder has already come in and is torturing and killing the occupants... after setting deadly traps throughout the abode, of course. (Reviewed by Jay Stone) 1 star

COUPLES RETREAT

Grant Park, Kildonan Place, St. Vital. PG

If you're looking for plot, narrative intricacy or layers of subtle characterization, you're barking up the wrong palm tree. This is a movie about four amiable couples, their low-level relationship woes, and the South Pacific getaway that makes everything all better. A slight but sweet coming-of-middle-age story for couples. 2-1/2 stars (Reviewed by Colin Covert)

LAW ABIDING CITIZEN

Kildonan Place, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. 18A

Gerard Butler vows elaborate revenge after his wife and daughter are murdered, not only on the criminals but on the justice system that enabled the bad guys. The movie wastes two powerful actors: Butler seethes like a pontificating right-wing blogger and Jamie Foxx, as a prosecutor trying to stop the campaign of terror, is uncharacteristically dullsville. 1-1/2 stars

MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT

Grant Park, Kildonan Place, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne, Garden City. PG

Michael Jackson's final musical testament was cobbled together from rehearsal footage prior to his abortive concert tour. 3-1/2 stars (reviewed by Rob Williams)

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

Globe, Polo Park, St. Vital. 14A

This low-budget horror flick causes more terror with a billowing sheet or a creaking door than all the Saw movies put together. Director Oren Peli's less-is-more "documentary" about a couple haunted by a demon might be the most genuinely scary movie in years. 4 stars (Reviewed by Jill Wilson)

SAW VI

Garden City, Polo Park, Towne. 18A

The moralist psycho Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) died two movies ago, but is still making his presence felt in this latest round of grisly gameplay starring Costas Mandylor. It's the usual hysterical/gory stuff, but since the designated victim is an insurance company exec (Peter Outerbridge), the movie is surprisingly topical on the American health-care debate. Hey, it makes more sense than Glenn Beck. 2 stars

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Garden City, Grant Park, Kildonan Place, Polo Park, Towne. PG

Spike Jonze's adaptation of the classic kids' story embellishes Maurice Sendak's minimalist nine sentences with a backstory to the wolf-costumed Max (Max Records). Max's troubled home life is imaginatively refracted through his fantastic adventures among a motley group of affable but dangerous monsters. It's a fine movie ... it's just not really a kids movie. 3-1/2 stars

ZOMBIELAND

Polo Park, St. Vital 18A

A quartet of survivors of a zombie plague follow their dream of a life free of cannibalistic undead. Director Ruben Fleischer boldly splices the post-apocalyptic-flesh-eating-cannibal movie with the wistful coming-of-age movie, and darned if he doesn't make it work. Too bad the middle section of the film loses integrity -- both in structure and in principle -- due to a gratuitous extended cameo that pulls the audience out of the story for a session of unseemly celebrity worship. 3 stars

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 5, 2009 E20