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Short takes

Reviews by Daily News critic Gary Thompson, unless noted. ATONEMENT. World War II and false accusations block affair between blueblood (Keira Knightley) and servant's boy (James McAvoy). (R) B-

Reviews by Daily News critic Gary Thompson, unless noted.

ATONEMENT. World War II and false accusations block affair between blueblood (Keira Knightley) and servant's boy (James McAvoy). (R) B-

THE BAND'S VISIT. An Egyptian band gets lost then stranded in Israel in this amusing crowd-pleaser. (PG-13) D (Wire services)

BE KIND REWIND. Hackneyed comedy about two video store clerks who remake classic films after they destroy their tapes. Jack Black, Mos Def. (PG-13) D (Wire services)

CHARLIE BARTLETT. Rich kid (Anton Yelchin) demoted to public school becomes popular handing out prescriptions. (R) C-

DEFINITELY, MAYBE. Ryan Reynolds tells daughter Abigail Breslin how he met her mother. The definition of chick flick. (PG-13) B- (Wire services)

FOOL'S GOLD. Mediocre comedy about a treasure hunt, but mostly about Matthew McConaughey's naked torso. (PG-13) C

IN BRUGES. Two hit men (Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell) on assignment in Belgium. (R) B- (Wire services)

JUMPER. Guy (Hayden Christiansen) learns to teleport, uses incredible new power to . . . hit on girl. Samuel L. Jackson gets a paycheck. (PG-13) C

JUNO. Smart-aleck teen (Ellen Page) gets pregnant, selects couple as adoptive parents. (PG-13) A

MICHAEL CLAYTON. Law-firm fixer (George Clooney) who is brought in to clean up the mess when a prominent partner goes bonkers. Back in theaters off its Oscar noms. (R) B+

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. A creep (Javier Bardem) and a sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) look for a cowboy (Josh Brolin) with a bag of loot. Coen brothers at their best. (R) A

PERSEPOLIS. Cartoon comedy about Iran's Islamic revolution works beautifully. (PG-13) A-

THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES. City kids move to enchanted country house, get involved in faerie-goblin war. Pretty good adaptation. (PG) B

STEP UP 2 THE STREETS. Girl dancer gets booted from her crew, competes in the big Baltimore dance contest with geeks from her new school. The last five times you saw this story it was better. (PG-13) C- (Wire services)

27 DRESSES. Katherine Heigl is a semi-pro bridesmaid pursued by cynical reporter (James Marsden). (PG-13) C

TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE. Top-notch documentary tracing torture issue back to the first days of the invasion of Afghanistan. Impressive reporting by Alex Gibney. (Not rated) A

THERE WILL BE BLOOD. Harsh, well-told story of a ruthless oilman (Daniel Day-Lewis) in turn-of-the-century Texas, adapted from muckraker Upton Sinclair's novel. (R) B

VANTAGE POINT. Preposterous, but kinda watchable break down of a presidential assassination attempt from various viewpoints. Dennis Quaid. (PG-13) B-

WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS. Funny actors do their best with so-so script about tense family reunion. (PG-13) B-