At the theaters

New at the theaters

'Children of Men'

Starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine. Based on a P.D. James science-fiction novel, "Children of Men" is set in a futuristic dsytopia where humankind is on the brink of extinction and a sole pregnant woman holds the key to survival. A disillusioned bureaucrat and a woman from his past are tasked with shepherding the pregnant woman to a secret organization that's been researching how to restore fertility to the world's population. Rated R for strong violence, language, some drug use and brief nudity, running time 109 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'Code Name: The Cleaner'

Starring Cedric the Entertainer, Elizabeth Hurley and Lucy Liu. An amnesiac janitor carries information that is incriminating to the FBI in his subconscious. In order to stop him from talking, agents dupe him into thinking he is an undercover secret agent. Rated PG-13 for sexual content, crude humor and some violence, running time 91 minutes. (Town Plaza Cinema)

'Freedom Writers'

Starring Hilary Swank, Imelda Staunton and Patrick Dempsey. Tensions are at a boiling point in an inner-city school where racial violence -- black against Hispanic against white against Asian -- has turned the campus into a battleground. To help the students all get along, an idealistic young teacher encourages her students to keep personal journals so that they can then share their innermost feelings with each other in a peaceful way. Rated PG-13 for violent content, some thematic material and language, running time 132 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'Happily N'Ever After'

Starring the voices of Sigourney Weaver, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze and George Carlin. An alliance of evildoers led by Frieda looks to take over Fairy Tale Land. But when Ella realizes that her stepmother is out to ruin her storybook existence, she takes a dramatic turn and blossoms into the leader of the resistance effort. Rated PG for some mild action and rude humor, running time 87 minutes. (Town Plaza Cinema)

STILL PLAYING

'Black Christmas'

Starring Michelle Trachtenberg, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Oliver Hudson. In this remake of the 1974 slasher film, a group of sorority sisters find themselves terrorized by a murderous psycho who plans to kill them off one by one before Christmas break. Rated R for strong horror violence and gore, sexuality, nudity and language, running time 84 minutes. Starts Monday. (Town Plaza Cinema)

'Blood Diamond'

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Stephen Collins. In civil war-torn 1990s Sierra Leone, a South African mercenary and a Mende fisherman pursue a missing diamond. Rated R for strong violence and language, running time 138 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'Casino Royale'

Starring Daniel Craig, Judi Dench and Jeffrey Wright. James Bond's first "007" mission leads him to Le Chiffre, banker to the world's terrorists. Rated for intense sequences of violent action, a scene of torture, sexual content and nudity, running time 144 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'Charlotte's Web'

Starring Dakota Fanning, Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Buscemi, Kathy Bates and Thomas Haden Church. Fern can see that Wilbur is a special animal as she raises him, the runt of the litter, into a terrific pig. As Wilbur moves into a new barn, he begins a second friendship with the most unlikely of creatures, a spider named Charlotte, and their bond inspires the animals around them to come together as a family. When the word gets out that Wilbur's days are numbered, Charlotte begins writing messages in her web to save her friend's neck. Rated G, running time 98 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'Eragon'

Starring Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich and Djimon Hounsou. Eragon is a young farm boy who finds a blue stone in the mountains. The stone turns out to be a dragon egg, and Eragon soon bonds with the dragon and discovers that he's one of the last Dragon Riders. Later, Eragon's family is killed by the marauding Ra'zac, and he must learn to fight before a war begins. Rated PG for fantasy violence, intense battle sequences and some frightening images, running time 99 minutes. (Town Plaza Cinema)

'The Good Shepherd'

Starring Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Joe Pesci, Keir Dullea, Alec Baldwin and Michael Gambon. Edward Wilson, a student at Yale, is recruited to join the secret society Skull and Bones, a brotherhood and breeding ground for future world leaders. Wilson's sincere belief in American values render him a prime candidate for a career in intelligence, and he is soon recruited to work for the OSS (the precursor to the CIA) during World War II. Rated R for some violence, sexuality and language, running time 168 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'Happy Feet'

Starring the voices of Nicole Kidman, Elijah Wood and Hugh Jackman. In the great nation of Emperor Penguins in Antarctica, you're nobody unless you can sing, which is bad news for Mumble, who is the worst singer in the world. But he sure can tap dance. Rated G, running time 108 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'The Holiday'

Starring Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, Edward Burns, Jack Black, Kate Winslet and Eli Wallach. Desperate for a change of scenery, two women meet online and swap houses for the Christmas holiday, discovering that a change of address really can change your life. Rated PG-13 for sexual content and some strong language, running time 135 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'The Nativity Story'

Starring Shohreh Aghdashloo, Keisha Castle-Hughes and Eriq Ebouaney. In this biblical adaptation, Mary and Joseph are forced to leave their home of Nazareth and take an arduous 100-mile trek to Bethlehem. Rated PG for some violent content, running time 100 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'Night at the Museum'

Starring Ricky Gervais, Mickey Rooney, Ben Stiller, Dick Van Dyke and Robin Williams. Larry Daley accepts what appears to be a menial job as a graveyard-shift security guard at a museum of natural history. During Larry's watch, extraordinary things begin to occur: Mayans, Roman gladiators and cowboys emerge from their diorama to wage epic battles; in his quest for fire, a caveman burns down his own display; Attila the Hun pillages his neighboring exhibits, and a T. rex reminds everyone why he's history's fiercest predator. Amid the chaos, the only person Larry can turn to for advice is a wax figure of President Teddy Roosevelt. Rated PG for mild action, language and brief rude humor, running time 108 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'The Pursuit of Happyness'

Starring Will Smith, Dan Castellaneta, Thandie Newton and Jaden Smith. Based on the life of Chris Gardner, a self-made millionaire, this drama stars Will Smith as a man who finds himself jobless and homeless at age 30, living in a San Francisco train station with his infant son. Determined to beat the odds, he finds work as a trainee at a brokerage firm and climbs the corporate ladder. Rated PG-13 for some language, running time 118 minutes. (Town Plaza Cinema)

'Rocky Balboa'

Starring Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Tarver and Burt Young. Sylvester Stallone returns for a sixth time as Rocky Balboa, the tough-as-nails Philadelphia boxing champ. In this installment of the sports saga, the 54-year-old Balboa is lured out of retirement for one final fight when a computer simulation claims he could beat the current champ, Mason "the Line" Dixon. Rated PG for boxing violence and some language, running time 102 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'We are Marshall'

Starring Matthew McConaughey, David Strathairn and Matthew Fox. After a plane crash claims the lives of 75 members of the Marshall University football team and its coaching staff, young coach Jack Lengyel and his assistant try to keep the program going, despite the emotional weight of the accident and the concerns of the community. Rated R for some violence, sexuality and language, running time 127 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

-- From staff reports