Our Movie Critic's Weekend Selections

Venus In Fur Roman Polanski's wickedly smart, playful adaptation of David Ives' Tony-nominated play is a dizzying two-character piece about power, perversion, subjugation, seduction, the battle of the sexes, and the relationship between an actress and her director. Polanski's wife, Emmanuelle Seigner, and Mathieu Amalric, who bears a striking resemblance to Polanski, star. No MPAA rating

Life Itself Inspiring documentary portrait of Roger Ebert, the famously prolific thumb-slinging movie critic whose life story is the stuff of movies itself - and whose resilience in the face of an 11-year struggle with cancer is nothing short of extraordinary. R

Ida Two women - an orphan raised in a convent, preparing to take her vows, and a hard-bitten former prosecutor and judge - meet in Pawel Pawlikowski's extraordinary film, embarking on a trip across the bleak terrain of 1960s Communist Poland. It's a journey at once tragic, hopeful, and unforgettable. PG-13