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Previous story: Movie Times (Friday, December 16 - Thursday, December 22)
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Film Now Playing

It's a Wonderful Life

Opening:

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIP—WRECKED—Sequel. Starring Jason Lee, David Cross and Jenny Slate. Directed by Mike Mitchell (Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo). Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

FOOTPRINTS—An amnesiac (Sybil Temtchine) wakes up in front of Graumann’s Chinese Theater and spends the day using the famous location to retrace her memories. Co-starring H.M. Wynant, Pippa Scott and John Brickner. Directed by Steven Peros. Screens

YOUNG ADULT—Charlize Theron as a divorced writer trying to rekindle a romance with her married ex-boyfriend. With Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson and Elizabeth Reaser. Directed by Jason Reitman (Juno). Reviewed this issue. Amherst, McKinley, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS—Sequel. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Jared Harris, Stephen Fry, Noomi Rapace and Rachel McAdams. Directed by Guy Ritchie (Snatch). Reviewed this issue. Aurora, Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

ETC:

A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983)—Admit it: this is the Christmas movie you’ve seen more than any other, and the one you’re most likely to watch again. Humorist Jean Shepherd’s stories form this basis for this portrait of Christmas in a blue collar midwestern city in the 1930s. Starring Darren McGavin, Melinda Dillon and Peter Billingsley. Directed by Bob Clark (Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things). Thurs 6:30. Hamburg Palace

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)—Jimmy Stewart gets to see what life for his friends and community would have been like had he never lived in Frank Capra’s holiday classic. Co-starring Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers, Beulah Bondi, Frank Faylen, Ward Bond, Gloria Grahame, H.B. Warner, Frank Albertson, Sheldon Leonard, and Charles Lane. Fri-Sat 8; Sun, Tue & Thu 7:30 The Screening Room. Also Sun 1 pm. Hamburg Palace

SANTA’S COOL FILM FESTIVAL—Retro package including a digitally restored version of the 1964 camp classic Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, vintage Technicolor Christmas cartoons by Max and Dave Fleischer, and Christmas wishes from 1950s celebrities like Howdy Doody, Abbott and Costello, Shari Lewis, and Ozzie & Harriet. Sun 5 The Screening Room. Also Fri 7; Sat 3 5 7; Sun 5 7 Angola Screening Room.

SCROOGE (England, 1935)—Considered on of the best adaptations of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, this is one of the most visually striking versions of the oft-told tale, with sets and lighting influenced by German expressionism. Sir Seymour Hicks had been playing Scrooge on stage since 1913. Directed by Henry Edwards. Sat 6 The Screening Room.