Opening:

BARNEY’S VERSION—Adaptation of Mordecai Richler’s final novel, starring Paul Giamatti as an irascible television producer who reflects back on his life. With Dustin Hoffman, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver and Bruce Greenwood. Directed by Richard J. Lewis (Whale Music). Reviewed this issue. Amherst

BIG MOMMAS: LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON— FBI agent Malcolm Turner (Martin Lawrence) introduces his stepson (Brandon T. Jackson) to the technique of fighting crime in drag at an all-girls school. With Jessica Lucas and Michelle Ang. Directed by John Whitesell. Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Transit, Regal Quaker, Regal Walden Galleria

I AM NUMBER FOUR— Disney thriller about a boy with unusual powers on the run from mysterious pursuers. Starring Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer, and Dianna Agron. Directed by D.J. Caruso (Disturbia). Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Transit, Regal Quaker, Regal Walden Galleria

SOMEWHERE—Drama starring Stephen Dorff as an actor who reassesses his life after a visit from his 11-year-old daughter (Elle Fanning). Directed by Sophia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides). Reviewed this issue. North Park

UNKNOWN—Thriller starring Liam Neeson as a man who awakens after an accident in Berlin to discover that someone else has assumed his identity. Co-starring Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz, and Frank Langella. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan). Reviewed this issue. Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, McKinley, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

ETC:

CASABLANCA (1941)—Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in what is by general consensus Hollywood’s greatest romance, maybe even the best film ever. Call it a miracle of studio craftsmanship, a whole that exceeds the sum of its parts, and an almost mythological example of why we love movies so much. Directed by Michael Curtiz. With Paul Heinreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, S.Z. Sakall and Dooley Wilson. Fri 9 pm. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376 / www.screeningroom.net)

HENRY’S FUTURE (NR)—Locally-made romantic drama about a lonely bachelor who puts his faith in the words of a psychic who predicts that he is about to meet the woman of his dreams. www.henrysfuture.com. Thurs 17, 7pm The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376 / www.screeningroom.net).

MY TEHRAN FOR SALE— Docudrama shot surreptitiously in Tehran about young Iranians struggling to live in an increasingly repressive culture. Presented by the International Women’s Film Festival. Reviewed this issue. Thurs Feb 24. Market Arcade Film and Arts Center, 639 Main St. (855-3022)

NIAGARA (1953)—Marilyn Monroe’s last film before becoming a major star in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was this thriller in which she plays a wife scheming to murder her husband (Joseph Cotton) while vacationing just a few miles north of Buffalo. With Jean Peters and Richard Allen. Directed by Henry Hathaway. Fri 7 pm, Tues & Thurs 7:30 pm. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376 / www.screeningroom.net)

ORLANDO (1992)—Sally Potter’s adaptation of the Virginia Woolf novel about a young nobleman (Tilda Swinton) who achieves immortality along with gender fluidity. With Billy Zane and Quentin Crisp. Opening the 15th International Women’s Film Festival. Thurs Feb. 17, 7 pm. Market Arcade Film and Arts Center, 639 Main St. (855-3022)

PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (1956)—Ed Wood’s best remembered film is hardly the “worst movie ever made,” but it is one of the most entertaining bad ones. The fun lies not in the story about aliens intent on destroying Earth before we destroy the universe but from the cardboard sets, stock footage, and overripe acting from an assortment of Hollywood wannabes (padded out with a few minutes of left-over footage of Bela Lugosi, shot just before his death). Fri-Sun 6, 8 pm. pm. HD Video Café, 5445 Transit Rd, Williamsville (688-4933 / www.hdvideocafe.com).

RAISING LITERACY, LIFTING COMMUNITIES—Short film by Loren Sonnenberg concerning the effects of low literacy rates in Buffalo and efforts to improve them. Presented by Squeaky Wheel; free and open to the public. Thurs Feb. 24 Noon. Central Library, 1 Lafayette Square (www.squeaky.org).

ROMEO AND JULIET—The Culture in Cinema series presents an HD broadcast of The Globe Theater’s production of Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy, acclaimed by London critics for its spirit of reckless vitality and its fresh cast, including Adetomiwa Edun, Ellie Kendrick, Philip Cumbus, Rawiri Paratene and Tom Stuart. Directed by Dominic Dromgoole. Thurs Feb. 24, 7 pm. Amherst Theater, 3500 Main St. (834-7655 / www.dipsontheatres.com).

SLAP SHOT (1977)—Paul Newman as an aging hockey player who revives his second-rate team by encouraging them to get into more fights on the ice. Classic seventies comedy (replete with hideous clothes) that became one of Newman’s biggest hits. Co-starring Strother Martin, Michael Ontkean, Jennifer Warren, Lindsay Crouse, Melinda Dillon, and M. Emmet Walsh. Directed by George Roy Hill (The Sting). Sat 9 pm. Hamburg Palace Theater, 31 Buffalo St., Hamburg (649–2295)

THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD (1965)—Made at the height of James Bond’s popularity, this adaptation of the John le Carre novel gives a rather less glamorous depiction of the spy business, with Richard Burton excellent as a British agent who resists efforts to retire him to a desk job. Co-starring Claire Bloom and Oskar Werner. Directed by Martin Ritt (Hud). Presented as part of the Buffalo Film Seminars. Tue, 7pm. Market Arcade Film and Arts Center, 639 Main St. (855-3022)

SHUGA—Acclaimed drama looking at the lives of a group of college students in Nairobi. Opening this year’s WNY Black Film Festival, the program also includes the locally produced short “Run,” directed by Edreys Wajed. Sat 6 pm. Market Arcade Film and Arts Center, 639 Main St. (855-3022)

WOMEN ART REVOLUTION—Filmmaker Lynn Hershman-Leeson (Strange Culture) drew on her own experiences for this historical documentary about the “Feminist Art Revolution” of the 1970s. Presented by Hallwalls and the International Women’s Film Festival. Sat 3, 8 pm; Sun 3 pm. Hallwalls, 341 Delaware Ave. (854-1694 / www.hallwalls.org).