Opening this week:

2012: 2012- It's the end of the world as we know it. Director Roland Emmerich brings us more Irwin Allen inspired calamity. John Cusack and Amanda Peet star.

Pirate Radio -- Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Bill Nighy light up the airwaves in this semi-fictional story of rouge DJ's who broadcast from a boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Brit-com vet Richard Curtis directs.

In theaters:

9: Another Man (or in this case, Rag Doll) vs. Machine tale where characters must discover the true nature of their origin in order to capably combat the tyranny of monolithic robots. There's not much original going on here besides the visual beauty and top-notch voice work from a slew of great actors.

Amelia: The story of Amelia Earhart (Hillary Swank), the first woman to complete a solo transatlantic flight and damn near the first to circumnavigate the planet by airplane or any other means. The film tells Earhart's story in a series of long flashbacks intercut into the highlights of her final voyage. Featuring Richard Gere and Ewan McGregor, too.

Astro Boy: The classic black and white anime transferred to modern color 3-D. Featuring a typical Astro Boy plot (aliens come to destroy earth, Astro Boy would rather they didn't) and it has some great star-studded voice work. Looks, in the end, to be fairly corny.

The Box

Director Richard Kelly tries to rebound from Southland Tales with this adaptation of Richard Matheson's tale of a mysterious box with a button that, when pressed, grants a young couple a million dollars. The catch? A total stranger will die. I'm not seeing the problem.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: Another childhood treasure brought to 3-D life. Starring Tulsa's own Bill Hader, it focuses on a small town where scientists are trying to cure global hunger by making food rain from the sky. Their plan backfires when giant pancakes and pieces of toast begin to flood the land.

Couples Retreat: In this new buddy comedy, a husband (Vince Vaughan) drags his wife, and friends (and their wives) to a kooky island resort. Facing the thin line between marriage and divorce, they must take unorthodox therapy involving swimming and stripping to their skivvies. Ahh, paradise.

Disney's A Christmas Carol: The oft told story of humbuggery and redemption brought to 3-D life by director Robert Zemeckis using the same mo-cap tech that rendered Beowulf and The Polar Express. Jim Carrey gives voice to a truly decrepit-looking Scrooge.

District 9: A giant spacecraft inexplicably descends into earth's atmosphere and finds a resting spot above Johannesburg, Africa. After several months, the government breaks into the ship, discovering thousands of barely-alive alien creatures. They're rescued, flown down to earth and placed in a refugee camp dubbed District 9. Twenty years later, the aliens have multiplied, with numbers north of a million, and the camp has become a third world slum.

Fame: Christopher Gore's 1980 musical revamped to a modern setting-- seems OK if you're into that type of thing.

The Fourth Kind: Encounters of the closest kind occur in this tale of an Alaskan town where mass disappearances point to the possibility of alien abductions. Based on a true story. Lots of people convulse on couches. We'll see.

From Mexico with Love: During the day, Hector Villa plays a farm worker and at night, he becomes a boxer in the ring, in order to pursue his title dreams and support his ailing mother. As usual in fighting films, he gains a little success and has a large fight hovering over his head plus an underlying love story.

Good Hair: Comedian Chris Rock, on a break from filming his 5 millionth HBO special, addresses the wonders of African-American hairstyles and racial identity.

The Informant: Matt Damon is a bumbling, would-be James Bond in this comedy about corporate espionage. He's the VP of a corporate giant, but turns informant for the FBI when his company is accused of a price-fixing scheme.

The Invention of Lying: British comic Ricky Gervais plays a writer in a strange, rarely-approached land where nobody lies. He figures out how to when he has to comfort his dying mother with the thought of the afterlife. He soon after becomes the authority on "God" and writes the Ten Commandments on both sides of a pizza box. Surreal.

Law Abiding Citizen: Gerard Butler is back in full swing as a disillusioned convict in this fast-paced thriller. Jamie Foxx plays the district attorney, and he lets the killer of Butler's family walk free. As a result, Gerard Butler begins to fiercely antagonize Jamie Foxx and his family, while stuck in a jail cell. Tony Scott movies are usually good, and this one doesn't look far behind.

Love Happens: Aaron Eckhart and Jennifer Aniston meet by chance at one of the former's self-help seminars and form an inseparable bond. Eckhart is a widowed motivational speaker of sorts, who slowly comes to realize that he hasn't entirely come to terms with his wife's death. Aniston helps him to do so.

The Men Who Stare at Goats

George Clooney and Ewan McGregor star in this comedy about a reporter whose lead reveals the existence of a military program aimed at creating AN elite unit of "psychic soldiers." It looks like hilarity ensues.

Michael Jackson's This Is It: More than 100 hours of concert footage, rehearsals and interviews are spliced together to craft this 112-minute documentary about the King of Pop's final days. Michael never danced the wrong move or hit a sour note in his life, and "This Is It" looks to be nothing less than a feast for the eyes.

Pandorum: Corporal Bower (Ben Foster) and Lieutenant Payton (Dennis Quaid) awaken from hypersleep to a spaceship that appears to be deserted and out of commission. Bower begins to explore the ship, and he comes across hideous demon-like monsters that rove in packs and seem hellbent on hunting and eating the astronauts. The question is whether the monsters are real or simply hallucinations brought on by pandorum (a form of deep space insanity).

Paranormal Activity: In this horror flick, some pretty weird stuff happens in a couple's brand-new suburban home. The woman has been tormented and disturbed by a malevolent entity since she was 8, and now they decide to get rid of the spirits by filming them. It's filmed with the same camera style as Cloverfield, but concentrates the events of the film throughout a much smaller space to create a feel not unlike a Silent Hill game.

Saw VI: Psychological torturer Jigsaw continues his legacy. In this sixth entry in the "Saw" series, some more hapless cops and lawyers die and get killed in some more gruesome ways, and Jigsaw's cameras are there to capture every waking moment. Yay.

The Stepfather: A recent military school graduate comes home to find his mom in an almost too-perfect relationship. With the help of his dear old dad and fine girlfriend, they paint a startling portrait of the man his mother is in love with: a baddie!

Circue du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant: The hilarious John C. Reilly is a traveling vampire who turns a goofy teen into his assistant--hence the title. Another flick that rides the crest of this sudden vampire wave, there's also plenty of vengeance and snake people.

Where the Wild Things Are: Maurice Sendak's timeless classic brought to the silver screen after 46 years. The ten-page book was originally about a boy named Max who growls at his mother and gets sent to his room without supper. There, he creates a world inhabited by ferocious monsters who hail him as their ruler. With costumes created by Muppets' Jim Henson, it definitely looks good.

Whip It: In Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, she touches on America's pastime: roller derby. Set in small-town Texas, an indie-rock girl finds her passion in life as a roller queen after disowning the typical beauty pageant cowboy lifestyle that surrounds her. Dealing also with such subjects as weird as disappointment and alter egos.

Zombieland: Woody Harrelson and Jessie Eisenberg get their zombie on in this must-see comedy. It's the American answer to "Shaun of the Dead", the infamous British zombie parody, and almost as outrageous and funny. Surprisingly well-written and featuring the best cameo appearance in a long time, "Zombieland" is a priority for any fan of zombies.