Opening:

LIMITLESS—Sci-fi starring Bradley Cooper as a copywriter who discovers a drug that gives him superhuman powers. With Robert De Niro and Abbie Cornish. Directed by Neil Burger (The Lucky Ones). Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden

THE LINCOLN LAWYER—Matthew McConaughey as a slick Beverly Hills lawyer with doubts about the innocence of his client, accused of a brutal rape. With Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe and William H. Macy. Directed by Brad Furman (The Take). Flix, Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden

MADE IN DAGENHAM—A dramatization of the 1968 strike at the Ford plant in England, where female workers walked out in protest against being paid less than their male co-workers. Starring Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins and Miranda Ricahrdson. Directed by Nigel Cole (Calendar Girls). Reviewed this issue. North Park

PAUL—Sean of the Dead’s Simon Pegg and Nick Frost wrote and star in this comedy as a pair of comic book geeks driving across America who pick up an alien Hitchhiker (voice of Seth Rogan). Directed by Greg Mottola (Superbad). Reviewed this issue. Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, McKinley, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, 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. Tues. 7 pm. Market Arcade Film and Arts Center, 639 Main St. (855-3022).

CULTURE IN CINEMA: PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA—An all-Russian program featuring the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 (with soloist Stephen Hough) and Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony No. 5. Fri. 2 pm Amherst Theatre, 3500 Main St. (834-7655 / www.dipsontheatres.com).

CULTURE IN CINEMA: THE MAGIC FLUTE—Live from the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, a new production of Mozart’s perennially popular comic opera, sung in German with English subtitles. Thurs March 24 3 pm. Amherst Theatre, 3500 Main St. (834-7655 / www.dipsontheatres.com).

FILMS OF JEFF KRULIK—A program of short films by the Washington DC amateur filmmaker, including the infamous Heavy Metal Parking Lot, King Of Porn and Mr. Blassie Goes To Washington. Free and open to the public. Mon 7:30 pm. Sugar City Arts Collaborative, 19 Wadsworth St.

GASLAND—Winner of this year’s Academy Award for Best Documentary, Johs Fox’s film studies the Halliburton-developed drilling technology of “fracking,” which uses high-pressure water to release underground natural gas but which may cause enormous damage to the water table. Sun 3 pm. Hamburg Palace Theatre, 31 Buffalo St, Hamburg (649-2295 / www.hamburgpalace.com).

EL MONSTRO DEL MAR—A hit at last fall’s “Buffalo Screams” horrorfest, this Australian feature initially looks like a sneak preview of Quentin Tarantino’s remake of Faster Pussycat Kill Kill but winds up as an homage to the 1950s monster movies of Roger Corman. Along the way it’s filled with tattooed goth chicks (and lots of psychobilly and 1960s soul music. The titular monster is gloriously non-CGI, but the saturated photography of the Ozzie shore gives it an interesting otherworldly atmosphere. Thurs March 24 8pm. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376 / www.screeningroom.net).

OXHIDE (China, 2005)—Daily life in an impossibly cramped Beijing apartment takes on epic proportions in this intimate portrait of a working-class Chinese family. Directed by Liu Jiayin. Reviewed this issue. Part of the International Women’s Film Festival. Thurs March 24, 7 pm. Market Arcade Film and Arts Center, 639 Main St. (855-3022).

ROUND THE CLOCK: BUFFALO’S WORKERS AND THE FIGHT FOR ECONOMIC JUSTICE—Short video by Christine Zinni about the efforts of city workers to obtain a living wage. Presented by Squeaky Wheel; free and open to the public. Thu Feb 24, noon. Central Library, 1 Lafayette Square, www.squeaky.org.

SPELLBOUND (1945)—Salvador Dali designed the dream sequence for this Alfred Hitchcock drama starring Ingrid Bergman as a psychiatrist who falls in love with the amnesiac (Gregory Peck) she is treating. With Leo G. Carroll and Rhonda Fleming. Sat, Tues 7:30 pm. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376 / www.screeningroom.net).