The Bishop's Wife

Opening:

HITCHCOCK—Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock, encountering studio resistance and marital tension as he puts Psycho into production. With Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Danny Huston, Toni Collette, and Jessica Biel. Directed by Sacha Gervasi (Anvil: The Story of Anvil). Reviewed this issue. Amherst, Eastern Hills

LAY THE FAVORITE—Comedy starring Rebecca Hall as a Florida stripper who becomes the assistant to a professional sports bettor (Bruce Willis). Co-starring Vince Vaughn, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Laura Prepon. Directed by Stephen Frears (The Grifters). Reviewed this issue. McKinley

PLAYING FOR KEEPS— Gerard Butler as a former pro athlete reduced to coaching his son’s soccer team. With Jessica Biel and Noah Lomax. Directed by Gabriele Muccino (Kiss Me Again). Flix, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

ETC:

THE BISHOP’S WIFE (1947)—Cary Grant as an angel sent to help a bishop (David Niven) so obsessed with fundraising for a new cathedral that he’s neglecting his wife (Loretta Young). One of the best holiday fantasies ever to come out of Hollywood, with one of Grant’s most irresistible performances. Fri 7:30 pm. The Old Chestnut Film Society, Philip Sheridan School, 3200 Elmwood (836-4757)

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. Aurora

THE MERRY WIDOW—From the Semper Opera House in Dresden, Germany, a new production of Franz Lehr’s operetta about a wealthy widow in search of a new husband. Screening Room

RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE—Don’t bring the kids to this darkly comic re-imagining of Santa Claus, here excavated in an archeological dig in northern Finland. Screening Room

A SEPARATION (Iran, 2011)—Winner of this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, a drama detailing the complications that ensue when a couple decide to divorce because the mother wants to take their adolescent daughter to another country. Aurora.

THE STORY OF FILM AN ODYSSEY—The sixth installment of the epic documentary by Irish film critic Mark Cousins, an ambitious history of cinema that covers the global filmmaking community from the 1890s through the present day. If you don’t have four years to spend in film school, this is the next best thing. Screening Room

URBANIZED (2011)—A documentary about the design of cities, looking at the issues and strategies behind urban design and featuring some of the world’s foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers. Part of the Global Urban Imaginaries series. Directed by Gary Hustvit (Helvetica). Hallwalls

FROM THE BACK OF THE ROOM—Documentary about female involvement in DIY punk and hardcore music over the past 30 years. Sun 7pm. Burning Books Bookstore, 420 Connecticut St.