Appaloosa R, 1:54
Western ** 1/2 Leisurely, off-and-on buddy western, set in the New Mexico territory in 1882, in which co-writer and director Ed Harris plays a gunslinger who goes up against wily rancher Jeremy Irons. — M.P.
The Dark Knight
PG-13, 2:32
Drama **** Sensational and darkly sinister, director and co-writer Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to “Batman Begins” transcends its pulp origins and may be the most beautiful-looking and unnerving comic book franchise picture ever made. — M.P.
Ghost Town
PG-13, 1:43
Comedy *** 1/2 Classy, unexpectedly moving ghost comedy, starring Ricky Gervais as a misanthropic Manhattan dentist whose brush with death leaves him with the ability to commune with the spirits. Tea Leoni plays the widow of ghost Greg Kinnear, Kinnear enlists Gervais in preventing her remarriage. — M.P.
Miracle at St. Anna
R, 2:46
Drama ** Spike Lee tackles a great, sprawling subject, adapting James McBride’s novel about four African-American soldiers stranded behind enemy lines but welcomed by members of a besieged Tuscan community. — M.P.
Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
PG-13, 1:29
Comedy *** Michael Cera and Kat Dennings star in this agreeable all-nighter, as a couple of Jersey kids search for their favorite band all over Manhattan while falling in love.
— M.P.
Nights in Rodanthe
PG-13, 1:37
Drama ** Richard Gere and Diane Lane face a hurricane, their demons and the way they look by candlelight as nobly and passionately as a cornball script allows. Based on the Nicholas Sparks romancer. — M.P.
The Women
PG-13, 1:54
Comedy * 1/2 No one adapting Clare Boothe Luce’s play “The Women” has figured out how women actually talk and act. That was fine for Luce and George Cukor (director of 1939 version), who were mocking spoiled society wives. But Diane English seems to want viewers to sympathize with her toxic, shallow characters. — T.R.
