Movie Minis

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• Annapolis (2006) (PG-13: Violence, sexual content and adult language). James Franco (“Tristan & Isolde”) stars as a blue-collar plebe making his way through the U.S. Naval Academy’s rigorous programs. He struggles at first, but finds a new path to glory and honor when he signs on for the school’s competitive boxing program. “Annapolis” co-stars Jordana Brewster, Donnie Wahlberg and Tyrese Gibson.

• Big Momma’s House 2 (2006) (PG-13) — A return engagement for Martin Lawrence as the comedy-prone FBI agent named Malcolm Turner, once again undercover while disguised as a corpulent and mouthy septugenarian known as Big Momma. Nia Long also rejoins the cast, and John Whitesell directed.

• Bubble (2006) (R: Violence, dark themes, drug use and adult language). Director Steven Soderbergh (“Oceans 12”) enlists a group of amateur actors for this small-scale murder mystery set in a poor working town. The film, the first salvo in his effort to release films simultaneously in theaters, on cable and on DVD, follows a trio of doll factory workers whose lives intersect with tragic consequences.

• Cache (2005) (R ) — Also known as “Hidden,” this suspense thriller from the German writer-director Michael Haneke co-stars two of France’s best actors, Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche, as an endangered husband and wife. A TV talk show host, Mr. Auteuil becomes aware that someone has him under persistent and intimate surveillance.

• Nanny McPhee (2006) (PG) — Emma Thompson tries on an identity in the Mary Poppins tradition while adapting one of Christinna Brand’s “Nurse Matilda” books for young people and playing the starring role. A governess with magic powers, Nanny McPhee is hired by a widower, Colin Firth, with seven bratty kids. Nanny’s own appearance has a way of changing as she changes the brood’s behavior patterns. With Angela Lansbury in her first movie role in many years. Directed by Kirk Jones of “Waking Ned Devine.”

• Roving Mars (2006) (G) — ***. A new Imax featurette that summarizes the building and deployment of the remarkable robot explorers Spirit and Opportunity that made successful landings on Mars two years ago. The subject merits a more expansive running time than 40 minutes, but what’s there is choice. Exclusively at the National Air and Space Museum’s Imax theaters at Independence Avenue and Sixth Street SW and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly.

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• Brokeback Mountain (2005) (R) — A movie version of an Annie Proulx short story about two young men who blunder into sexual intimacy while isolated one summer tending sheep in the Wyoming mountains. Although the men marry and have children, they sustain an affair during reunions over many years. Heath Ledger, who remains a cowhand in Wyoming, and Jake Gyllenhaal, who moves to Texas, portray this melancholy love match. Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway are cast as their respective spouses. Directed by Ang Lee from a screenplay by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. Not reviewed.

• Capote (2005) (R: Fleeting graphic violence and occasional profanity) — **. An admirably earnest but monotonous and underwritten biographical drama about author Truman Capote. Cleverly impersonated by Philip Seymour Hoffman, the subject is recalled during the period when he was researching and writing the best-selling crime chronicle “In Cold Blood,” based on the murder of a family in rural Kansas. Screenwriter Dan Futterman and director Bennett Miller overlook opportunities to clarify Capote’s mixed motives and deceitful methods. Catherine Keener as Capote’s childhood friend Harper Lee and Bruce Greenwood as his companion, Jack Dunphy, play authors who both seem displeased with the drift of his project, which includes a prison-cell infatuation with one of the killers.

• Casanova (2005) (R: Frequent prurient allusions in an 18th century setting; intermittent mockery of the Roman Catholic Church) — *1/2. A costume romance from director Lasse Hallstrom, who fails to finesse a mock-biographical dud set in Venice, circa 1756. Heath Ledger reverts to his earlier tentative form in the title role, meant to be dashing and irresistible. Sienna Miller is a high-minded pill as his love object. Both assume disguises and false names with weary frequency. Jeremy Irons is the heavy, a spoilsport from the Vatican, and Oliver Platt makes a grotesque splash as an alleged pork fat mogul from Genoa who is courting the heroine.

• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) (PG: Intense battle sequences and frightening moments) — ***1/2 C.S. Lewis’ beloved text gets the big-screen treatment and loses none of its appeal in the translation. The classic tale of four siblings who enter an enchanted realm via a wardrobe door brims with crafty creatures and delightful performances. The book’s spiritual subtext remains in place, but children will be too busy marveling at all the colorful action to notice. Reviewed by Christian Toto.

• End of the Spear (2006) (PG-13: Occasional graphic violence) — ***. A compelling independent feature that dramatizes a true-life calamity of the 1950s and its redemptive aftermath. Five missionaries in Ecuador make contact with a remote tribe and are speared and hacked to death. Relatives and colleagues of the victims do manage to establish a mission among the tribe, pacifying tribesmen who had participated in the killings. Directed in Panama by Jim Hanon, who had made a documentary, “Beyond the Gates,” about the same subject. With Louie Leonardo and Chad Allen in the principal roles.

• Fun with Dick and Jane (PG-13: Brief profanity, drug references, sexual humor) — *1/2. A tepid, at times cringe-worthy, remake of a 1977 comedy starring Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni as a couple driven to robbery by hard corporate luck. Directed by Dean Parisot. Reviewed by Scott Galupo.

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