Opening:

BATTLE LOS ANGELES—Sci-fi spectacle with Aaron Eckhardt leading a Marine platoon against alien invaders in Los Angeles. Co-starring Ramon Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan, Michael Peña, and Michelle Rodriguez. Directed by Jonathan Liebesman (Darkness Falls). Reviewed this issue. Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden

MARS NEEDS MOMS—Disney sci-fi, animated using the “motion capture” process Robert Zemeckis’ developed for A Christmas Carol, which I found unsettlingly creepy. With the voices of Seth Green and Joan Cusack. Directed by Simon Wells (The Prince of Egypt). Flix, Lockport Palace, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, McKinley, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Transit, Regal Walden

RED RIDING HOOD—From the director of Twilight, Catherine Hardwicke, a horror fantasy based on the fairy tale. Starring Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Lukas Haas, Virginia Madsen, and Julie Christie. Reviewed this issue. Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden

ETC:

COUP DE TORCHON (France, 1981)—One of the very best film adaptations of the bleak novels of Jim Thompson is this blackly comic movie (based on Pop. 1280) starring Philippe Noiret as the lackadaisical cop of a colonial town who decides to clean things up. Co-starring Isabelle Huppert and Stéphane Audran. Directed by Bertrand Tavernier (’Round Midnight). Presented as part of the Buffalo Film Seminar. Tue 7pm. Market Arcade Film and Arts Center, 639 Main St. (855-3022).

THE GENERAL (1927)—Widely considered Buster Keaton’s crowning achievement, which is to say, one of the greatest comedies in cinema history. He stars as a Southern engineer of a train during the Civil War, and the stunt sequences involving the real, full-sized locomotive are still astonishing. Tue 7:30 pm. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376 / www.screeningroom.net0)

GRACE, MILLY, LUCY...CHILD SOLDIERS—Documentary about girls forced to serve with the rebel “Lord’s Resistance Army” in Uganda. Reviewed in last week's issue. Presented by the International Women’s Film Festival. Thu March 10. Market Arcade Film and Arts Center, 639 Main St. (855-3022)

MINE—The fate of pets separated from their owners during Hurricane Katrina forms the basis for a documentary that examines how we treat animals as an extension of how we treat other people. the New York Times praised this film by Geralyn Pezanoski “Smart, sincere and affecting.” Mon 7pm. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376 / www.screeningroom.net)

MY SWEET MISERY—Indie black comedy about a disconnected man haunted by a past that is coming full circle in strange and surreal ways. Winner of several film festival awards for cinematography. Starring Zach Hanks, Anna Chlumsky, and Thomas Jay Ryan. Directed by Matthew William Jordan. Fri-Sat 7pm; Sun 4, 7pm. Fri-Sat 7 pm, Sun 4 7pm. HD Video Café, 5445 Transit Rd, Williamsville (688-4933 / www.hdvideocafe.com)

REFUGEES: BUFFALO’S NEXT GENERATION—Short video by Brett Williams and Scott Murchie about issues faced by refugee students. Presented by Squeaky Wheel; free and open to the public. Thu Feb 17, noon. Central Library, 1 Lafayette Square, www.squeaky.org.

THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (1945)—Noir thriller starring Dorothy McGuire as a mute servant girl who fears she may be the next victim of a serial killer who preys on disabled women. With George Brent, Ethel Barrymore, Rhonda Fleming, and Elsa Lanchester. Directed by Robert Siodmak (The Killers). Sat 7:30pm. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376 / www.screeningroom.net)

TIERRAS LIBRES—Documentary about Venezuela’s agrarian reform. Filmmaker Edward Ellis (a Buffalo native) was production coordinator for Oliver Stone’s documentary South of the Border. Cosponsored by PUSH and Latin America Solidarity Committee of WNY Peace Center. Sat 7pm. PUSH, 271 Grant Street

LA VIE EN ROSE—Biography of the diminutive singer Edith Piaf, whose hard-luck life and direct style endeared her to audiences in France from the 1930s through the 1960s. Starring Marion Cotillard, Sylvie Testud, Pascal Greggory, Emmanuelle Seigner and Gérard Depardieu. Directed by Olivier Dahan (La Vie Promise). Thu March 10 7pm. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376 / www.screeningroom.net)