Movies

Opening Friday

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days In this acclaimed movie, which won the Golden Palm at Cannes last year, a Bucharest college student helps her friend obtain an illegal abortion in 1980s Romania. English and Romanian with subtitles.

The Hottie and the Nottie Before Nate (Joel Moore) can marry the girl of his dreams (Paris Hilton), he must find a man for her less attractive friend (Christine Lakin).

Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show This documentary follows the cross-country comedy tour by Vince Vaughn and four stand-up comedians of his choosing.

Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins Martin Lawrence, Michael Clarke Duncan, and James Earl Jones star in this comedy about a popular L.A. talk-show host who's brought down to earth when he returns to his Southern roots.

Youth Without Youth In pre-World War II Europe, a timid professor's life is unexpectedly changed after a cataclysmic event. Starring Tim Roth, Alexandra Maria Lara, and Bruno Ganz. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

Excellent (****)

Persepolis Marjane Satrapi's brilliant adaptation (with Vincent Paronnaud) of her graphic-novel memoir to animated film. Recounting her childhood and youth in Iran from the fall of the shah to the rise of the mullahs, Satrapi creates a universal coming-of-age story that's as unique as a fingerprint. 1 hr. 35 PG-13 (mature themes, war sequences, profanity, marijuana use) - C.R.

Very Good (***1/2)

Enchanted Supercalifragilistic. Amy Adams is a delight as the cartoon princess from Andalasia who falls down a well, climbs up a sewer and finds herself - a real live woman now - smack in the middle of Times Square, searching for true love's kiss. With Patrick Dempsey and James Marsden, songs by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. 1 hr. 47 PG (innuendo, mild cartoon violence) - C.R.

The Great Debaters Enthralling Depression-era David and Goliath story about a debating team from historically black Wiley College that faces off against blue-blood national champs from Harvard. Directed by and starring Denzel Washington, with Forest Whitaker, Jurnee Smollett and Nate Parker. 2 hrs. 07 PG-13 (discreet sex, lynching victim) - C.R.

Juno A 16-year-old girl (sensational Ellen Page) has an unplanned pregnancy, plans to give up the baby for adoption. Improbably endearing comedy about a decidedly unfunny situation. Also starring J.K. Simmons, Allison Janney, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman and Michael Cera. 1 hr. 31 PG-13 (sexual candor, procreative candor, mild profanity) - C.R.

The Kite Runner Moving adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's best seller about the intertwined lives of Afghan boys whose friendship and lives are forever altered one day before Soviet tanks, and then Taliban fundamentalists, roll into Kabul. With the splendid Homayoun Ershadi and the mournful Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada. 2 hrs. 02 PG-13 (mature themes, sexual violence) - C.R.

Let's Get Lost Bruce Weber's remarkable 1988 documentary about jazz trumpeter Chet Baker is worth revisiting on the big screen. Shot in beautiful black-and-white, and featuring Baker, in scenes - and in concert - a year before his death, it's a sad, beautiful portrait of the legend of West Coast cool. 1 hr. 59 No MPAA rating (profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Michael Clayton First-rate thriller about a second-rate guy. George Clooney gives a sterling performance as the morally tarnished title character, a fixer at a law firm where everything is coming apart. 2 hrs. R (profanity, sexual candor) - C.R.

No Country for Old Men The Coen brothers' taut, terrific adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel about a psycho killer, a Vietnam vet, a Lone Star sheriff, and the bag of money that brings them together in the stark borderlands of 1980 West Texas. With Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, and Javier Bardem. 2 hrs. 02 R (violence, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

The Savages The superb Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman costar in Tamara Jenkins' mordant and poignant portrait of siblings caring for the ailing parent (Philip Bosco) who abandoned them in childhood. 1 hr. 53 R (profanity, sexual candor) - C.R.

There Will Be Blood Paul Thomas Anderson steers Daniel Day-Lewis through 30 years in the life of a prospector turned petro king in this turn-of-the-(20th)-century epic about obsession, greed, folly and madness. Adapted from Upton Sinclair's Oil!, the film is a few barrels short of a masterpiece, but its star delivers a performance that's astounding. 2 hrs. 38 R (violence, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Also on Screens

Cloverfield **1/2 Lost boy J.J. Abrams produces the first monster movie of the YouTube age, in which a gang of five young New Yorkers run for their lives - camcorder ready and recording - as a giant reptilian squid thing wreaks havoc on the city, and on their party plans. 1 hr. 22 PG-13 (violence, scares, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert **1/2 Singing sensation Miley Cyrus performs as herself and as Hannah Montana during her 2007 tour. Presented in 3D. 1 hr. 14 G - W.S.

Meet the Spartans * The creators of Epic Movie are back with a spoof of everything from action movies like 300 to Britney Spears. The genre of the "movie-genre spoof" has about worn out its possibilities. 1 hr. 13 PG-13 (crude and sexual content throughout, language, some comic violence) - W.S.

Over Her Dead Body ** A one-eyelash-above-average supernatural rom-com about a bride (Eva Longoria Parker) who has a lethal encounter with an ice sculpture and who, from the afterlife, intimidates women from dating her fiance (Paul Rudd). What ensues may be predictable, but the performances of Rudd and Lake Bell are anything but. 1 hr. 35 PG-13 - C.R.

Rambo (no stars) With its first-person shooter perspective and gun-and-run narrative, this fourth installment in the Sylvester Stallone franchise is strictly for the PlayStation crowd. It's not a movie. It's an adrenaline pump and purveyor of raw carnage. 1 hr. 33 R (extreme violence, gore, torture, sexual violence) - C.R.

27 Dresses ** Creamy Katherine Heigl as the perennial bridesmaid, dreamy James Marsden as the Wedding Trasher. Here are actors radiating more star power than should be legally allowable in a rom-com so predictable that the audience knows what they will say before they do. 1 hr. 47 PG-13 (profanity, sexual candor, too much taffeta) - C.R.

Theater

New This Week

Dollface (Prince Music Theatre) Another rewind musical, this one is about 1956. Opens Saturday.

Ethel Waters: His Eye Is on the Sparrow (Hedgerow) Bio-musical, a transfer production from Bristol Riverside Theatre. Opens Thursday.

The Master and Margarita (Mum Puppettheatre) Adaptation of the Russian novel by Mikhail Bulgakov. Previews begin Wednesday, opens Feb.13.

Roosters (Theatre Exile at Christ Church Neighborhood House) Milcha Sanchez-Scott's fierce drama of Latino machismo, cockfighting and magical realism. Opens Wednesday.

Sara Felder's June Bride (Painted Bride) The remarkable Talmudic lesbian juggler, Sara Felder, is back in a new show (last year's was Out of Sight) about same-sex marriage. Opens Thursday.

Skylight (Lantern Theatre) David Hare, one of England's finest, most prolific playwrights (Stuff Happens), wrote this collision between a wildly articulate and intensely angry man and woman. Previews Tuesday, opens Wednesday.

Whistle Down the Wind (Merriam) Andrew Lloyd Webber musical about a stranger in a Louisiana barn who may be an escaped criminal - or Jesus. Opens Thursday.

Continuing

Avenue Q (Forrest Theatre) A sweet and naughty musical featuring some great talent and some giant puppets. A feel-good show that's not for children. Through Feb. 10. - T.Z

Black Gold (InterAct at the Adrienne) Artistic director Seth Rozin wrote and directed this complicated cautionary tale about a black man in Detroit who finds oil in his backyard. There will definitely be blood. Through Feb. 24. - W.R.

A Body of Water (Act II Playhouse) Fine acting enhances this production of Lee Blessing's mysterious, disorienting play about memory, its loss, and attempts to reconstruct the past from unreliable sources. Through Feb. 17. - H.S.

Crispin: The Cross of Lead (People's Light & Theatre) A new adaptation of the Newbery-winning novel about a boy exiled during the post-Black Plague Middle Ages is an interesting production, though the script could use some work. Through Feb. 24. - W.R.

Grace (Luna Theatre at Walnut 5) Craig Wright's disturbing play is both murder mystery and theological debate, and Luna Theatre's gripping production features three terrific performances. Through Feb. 23. - T.Z.

Lend Me a Tenor (New Candlelight Theatre) Candlelight's first nonmusical production is a raucously funny, whiz-bang telling of Ken Ludwig's farce, in which an opera company is missing its internationally famous tenor for a 10th anniversary production. Through March 1. - H.S.

M. Butterfly (Philadelphia Theatre Company) David Henry Hwang's brilliant and complex drama is so good it can survive this visually stunning but otherwise wobbly production. Through Feb. 24. - T.Z.

Me, Myself and I (McCarter Theatre) Tyne Daly stars in this Edward Albee world premiere about identical twins locked in a bizarre struggle for identity. Entertaining and thought-provoking, full of Albee's signature wordplay. Through Feb. 17. - T.Z.

Menopause: The Musical (Society Hill Playhouse) Long-running, popular show about The Change.

The Price (Walnut Street Theatre) Arthur Miller's family drama premiered here in 1968, and this production features Philly native Robert Prosky and his sons, Andy and John, so it's disappointing when the play sends up a muted flare instead of fireworks. Through March 2. - W.R.

Souvenir (Media Theatre) Florence Foster Jenkins was famous for her inability to sing, and blissfully unaware of her deficit. In this enjoyable production featuring Ann Crumb, her story is told through the recollections of her accompanist. Through Feb. 17. - W.R.

Vivien (Independence Studio on 3 at the Walnut) Janis Stevens does a fine job portraying a histrionic Vivien Leigh, even though she's confronted by a pretentious one-woman script that gives us Leigh's demons, but not Leigh. Ends today. - H.S.

Welcome Home, Marian Anderson (Bristol Riverside Theatre) Vanessa Shaw's acting carries this vivid bio-drama about the famous contralto. Through next Sunday.

- H.S.

Wittenberg (Arden Theatre) Luther, Hamlet and Faustus mix it up in 1517 Wittenberg, in this world premiere that is as funny as it is clever. Through March 16. - H.S.

Video

moviemaker Julie Taymor is a bizarre counterculture jukebox musical. Sometimes it works brilliantly, other times you just want to run. With Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, and guests Bono, Joe Cocker, Eddie Izzard and Salma Hayek. 2 hrs. 11 PG-13 (drugs, sex, profanity, interpretive dance, adult themes) - Steven Rea