Movie Minis

OPENING

• After Midnight (2004) (No MPAA rating: Adult subject matter) — An Italian comedy that uses the Museum of Cinema in Turin as a principal location and movie allusions as a frame of reference. Fired from her job, a young woman takes refuge in the museum, where she’s befriended by a wistful night watchman. A limited engagement, exclusively at the American Film Institute Silver Theatre. In Italian with English subtitles.

• A Tout de Suite (2004) (No MPAA rating: Adult subject matter) — A French crime thriller about a Parisian art student who becomes the moll of a bank robber and finds herself abandoned during a getaway trek across the Mediterranean. In French with English subtitles. Exclusively at the Landmark E Street Cinema.

• Bewitched (2005) (PG-13: Slapstick violence, mildly coarse language and drug references) — **1/2. Nicole Kidman is a very good witch, indeed, in this clever if vapid remake of the old sitcom. She plays a real witch who somehow gets cast as a fictional witch in a TV update of the 1960s series alongside an actor (Will Ferrell) who prefers the spotlight stay on him. Mr. Ferrell’s comic gifts are on full display here, and the story-within-a-story concept generates more laughs than expected. Reviewed by Christian Toto.

• Kings and Queen (2004) (No MPAA rating: Adult subject matter) — A comedy-drama from the French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin, who casts Emmanuelle Devos as a gallery owner who turns to an unstable ex-husband, a musician played by Mathieu Amalric, when she needs someone to adopt her young son while she devotes herself to a terminally ill father. Mr. Amalric’s suitability is clouded by his temporary incarceration for psychiatric observation, under the scrutiny of a clinic director played by Catherine Deneuve. In French with English subtitles. Exclusively at the Avalon.

• Land of the Dead (2005) (R: Graphic violence, gore, adult language and drug use). George A. Romero, whose “Night of the Living Dead” created the whole zombie genre, returns to his gruesome roots for the fourth part in his undead series. In this one the zombies rule the world, but a small group of humans survives in a city with walls that keep the creatures out — for now.

• Rize (2005) (PG-13) — An urban dance saga about aspiring young people from South Central Los Angeles who stage dance competitions inspired by African tribal traditions.

• Saving Face (2005) (R) — A domestic-romantic comedy about a lesbian affair that develops between Chinese-American partners in New York City. The difficulties include concealment from one’s straitlaced family in Queens and the other’s determination to relocate to Paris. Some dialogue in Mandarin with English subtitles.

• War of the Worlds (2005) (PG-13) — Steven Spielberg’s update of the H.G. Wells classic. A prodigious alien attack of mysterious origin is launched on the United States. Many civilians must fend for themselves as the military tries to defend against the onslaught. Tom Cruise stars as a divorced father from New Jersey; he struggles to protect daughter Dakota Fanning while searching for her mother, Miranda Otto. Mr. Spielberg has reassembled a trusted team for this return to science-fiction spectacle. Opens Wednesday.

NOW SHOWING

• The Adventures of Sharkboy & Lavagirl in 3D (2005) (PG: Action violence and a brief excretory joke) — **1/2. “Spy Kids” director Robert Rodriguez brings his puckish sense of humor to this tale of a boy whose dreams get him in all sorts of trouble. Said child (Cayden Boyd) dreams up a fantasy realm featuring the title characters, who later turn to the boy for help when their planet faces extinction. The film’s 3-D sequences disappoint, but children will cheer over the silly humor and heroic maneuvers. Reviewed by Christian Toto.

• Apres Vous (2005) (R: Occasional profanity and sexual candor) — **1/2. Director Pierre Salvadori and his co-writers sustain some witty character observation and preposterous complications. Daniel Auteuil, as a compulsively helpful headwaiter, rescues a potential suicide named Louis (Jose Garcia) and feels obliged to follow through on his generosity, despite inconvenience and Louis’ ingratitude. Eventually the rescuer is rewarded with a new sweetheart: Louis’ ex-girlfriend (Sandrine Kiberlain), a lanky flower shop proprietor with a wistfully bedraggled appeal. Mr. Auteuil is in expert control of a self-effacing temperament and expressively beady eyes. In French with English subtitles.

• Batman Begins (2005) (PG-13: Action movie violence and disturbing themes) — **1/2. “Memento” director Christopher Nolan gallantly tries to re-start the Batman movie franchise with a thoughtful but ultimately wan prequel. Christian Bale is just fine as the Caped Crusader, whose past we learn through a series of cogent flashbacks. But the lack of an arresting villain and murky battle sequences render “Batman Begins” inferior to the 1989 feature starring Michael Keaton. Reviewed by Christian Toto.

• The Bridge of San Luis Rey (2005) (PG: Ominous episodes and some sexual allusions; fleeting violence and gruesome illustrative details) — *1/2. Irish director Sarah McGuckian botches a remake of Thornton Wilder’s novella, the Pulitzer Prize winner of 1928. Gabriel Byrne, Geraldine Chaplin and Adriana Dominguez project the right temperaments for the author’s meditations on fate, estrangement and eternal mysteries, but the estimable Kathy Bates is out of place as a colonial Spanish aristocrat dwelling in Lima, Peru, in the early 18th century. For the rest — including Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and F. Murray Abraham — it’s a look-out-below fiasco.

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