John Travolta stars in From Paris with Love. Cranky's movie review

When In Rome didn't screen for us down in the trenches press geeks. Why should it? It will get clobbered by . . .

Mel Gibson in Edge of Darkness. It's Mel versus a lot of emotionless white guys in suits, who all tend to look alike in a mish-mash of a story about a Boston PD Detective in search of his daughter's killer. Since everyone assumes the cop is the target, imagine the surprise when it turns out the daughter (and  her previously secretive life) wore the bullseye. The story tries so hard to be tricky it falls flat.

Saint John of Las Vegas (NY/LA; wide 2/12) stars Steve Buscemi, Peter Dinklage, Romany Malco and Sarah Silverman in the indie star of the week. A story of insurance fraud investigators, another pass or two on the script by writer/director Hue Rhodes and there may have been something to write home about. But there's not

There are also a ton of horror films releasing this week -- which we don't cover anymore -- except that one of 'em is the Neil Gaiman fangirl versus Alan Moore fangirl thingie called The Graves. As a fan of both writers we were actually interested in the thing. We'll await the inevitable DVD release.

Avatar from writer/director James Cameron, in 3D. Earth is out of fuel, so (we're) strip mining a moon in the Alpha Centauri system for a miracle cure. The natives of said moon don't like that. But we've got imitation natives bred to infiltrate and destroy said locals. Until one of our guys (Sam Worthington) gets all thumpa thumpa for local talent (Zoë Saldana) and, well, you watch the Best of the Year. Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez and Giovanni Ribisi co-star. Cranky's movie review

It's Complicated stars Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin. Femme skewed date flick for those of parental age or older. Streep is 10 years divorced from Baldwin, who wants a second chance since the new wife and kid are wearing him out. Turns into  her first affair, ever, and we haven't even gotten to Steve Martin.

A good sit

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus comes via the genius mind of Terry Gilliam. Like most Gilliam originals, you'll need at least two views to begin to get all the stuff packed into the script or production design. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) is1000 years old and has promised his daughter (Lily Cole) to the devil (Tom Waits) on her 16th birthday. Enter Heath Ledger (as Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell) and alongside Verne Troyer, hang on for the ride.

The Lovely Bones stars Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz as the parents of the lovely Saoirse Ronan, unfortunately murdered by neighbor Stanley Tucci. The victim watches her family deal from an "in-between" place in Peter Jackson's adaptation of the best selling novel. Our sister adored the book, and we suspect a lot of what you bring in will affect  your reaction. We didn't hate it but neither were we moved. Susan Sarandon does a great turn as a hard drinkin' and smokin' grandma who steps in when the parental units start to crack. A dateflick, believe it or not, aimed at the ladies.

Young Victoria stars Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend. It's very well made story of political intrigue involving the succession to the British throne 100+ years ago but if you don't care about British history, wait and rent. Cranky's movie review

Nine, adapts the Broadway musical that adapted Fellini's 8½. Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson and Sophia Loren star. From Chicago director Rob Marshall. zzz. Cranky's movie review

Up in the Air stars George Clooney as a corporate suit who flies from city to city, terminating employees of other corporations. Clooney's a slick dude, until he meets his match in a femme terminator and a grad student looking to make his job obsolete. Or, in other words, she's looking to terminate the terminator  Cranky's movie review

Invictus stars Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon in a Clint Eastwood film about how the game of rugby unified South Africa in the year after apartheid racial laws fell. Eastwood's film is not about an underdog athletic club pitting in-bred racism against superior opponents (though that is true). It's about nation-building. But if you know nothing about Rugby or its World Cup, and can't get through the South African accents (we plead guilty on both counts) Invictus is a lost cause.

Sherlock Holmes stars Robert Downey Jr. and  Jude Law. Terrific production design aside, whatever it is it isn't Sherlock Holmes.

What it is is terrible. It'll make a fortune, but it's terrible.

Did You Hear About the Morgans? stars Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker, with Sam Elliot and Mary Steenburgen. Squabbling New Yorkers in witness protection in Wyoming. So boring it was painful to sit through and pointless to write about. So...

Having enough jokes to power a 30 second television spot is not enough to justify paying for a theater ticket. Pass it by.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is where to take the kiddies who loved the first one. Knowing what happened then will help y'all follow what happens in this one.