CONTINUING THIS WEEK

AUSTRALIA

A gorgeous film, with strong performances, exhilarating images, and yes, sweeping romantic melodrama. Reviewed by Roger Ebert, Universal Press Syndicate.

BRIDE WARS

Best friends (Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson) help each other plan their respective weddings before a scheduling snafu turns them into bridezillas, each competing to outdo the other's ceremony.

CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

A meandering, overlong film that meditates on love, aging and death, starring Brad Pitt as a man who reverse-ages. Reviewed by Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service.

DEFIANCE

Based on the true story of a group of Jews in Belarus who defied the Nazis, hid in the forest, and maintained a self-contained society.

DOUBT

A cat-and-mouse game between a cunning old nun (Meryl Streep) and a free-spirited priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Deeply disturbing, leaving the audience plenty to chew on. Reviewed by Roger Moore, McClatchy- Tribune News Service.

GRAN TORINO

Clint Eastwood's performance as disgruntled Korean War vet Walt Kowalski is drawing Oscar buzz. Kowalski sets out to reform his young neighbor, who tried to steal Kowalski's prized 1972 Gran Torino to join a gang.

HOTEL FOR DOGS

Two siblings turn an abandoned warehouse into a home for stray dogs. Family-friendly comedy.

LAST CHANCE HARVEY

Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson are two depressed strangers in London, who find refuge in each other.

MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D

A horror flick that can make you scream and laugh at the same time. "The Miner" is a pick-swinging maniac — in 3-D.

MILK

Sean Penn stars as San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk in the story of a transformed life, a victory for individual freedom over state persecution. Reviewed by Roger Ebert, Universal Press Syndicate.

NOTORIOUS

The life and early death of Christopher Wallace, known as the rapper Notorious B.I.G.

NOT EASILY BROKEN

An injury ends a husband's major league dreams and after more than a decade of marriage, the successful wife and struggling husband face the real question of if they belong together. Not reviewed.

PAUL BLART: MALL COP

Kevin James stars as a fat, funny mall cop who transforms himself into an action hero.

THE READER

Fine performances, especially by Kate Winslet as a woman who works as a Nazi guard at Auschwitz, in a film that's relentlessly downbeat. Reviewed by Bill Goodykoontz, Gannett News Service.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

A taut, tense and witty tale of human tragedy and triumphant humanity set against the sweep of modern India. It's the story of Jamal, a poor orphan who finds himself on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" Reviewed by Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service.

TWILIGHT

A very loyal big-screen version of the best-selling book by Stephenie Meyer. It's the love story of a human girl and a vampire boy, and his efforts to protect her from other vampires. Reviewed by Rick Bentley, McClatchy-Tribune News Service.

THE UNBORN

A creepy-looking thriller about a young woman (Odette Yustman) who discovers she's the heir of a family curse.

VALKYRIE

The new Tom Cruise/Bryan Singer movie isn't bad, but it isn't good. The drama based on the plot to kill Hitler is too obsessed with details and doesn't quite come to life. Reviewed by Robert W. Butler, McClatchy-Tribune News Service.

THE WRESTLER

Mickey Rourke plays the battered, broke pro wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson, in the role of a lifetime.

OUT THIS WEEK

UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS

The prequel story traces the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires and their onetime slaves, the Lycans.

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

Titanic shipmates Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kathy Bates reunite for a heart-tugging drama set in the 1950s.

INKHEART

Brendan Fraser plays a man who has the gift, when reading aloud, of bringing fictional characters to life and trapping living people in the pages of a book.

I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG

French film follows a woman's release from prison and re-entry into sisterhood. Kristin Scott Thomas stars.