Frankenstein

Opening:

THE LEGO MOVIE—If this is a hit, it’s only a matter of time before The Play-Doh Movie and The Popsicle Sticks Movie. You have been warned. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (21 Jump Street). Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, New Angola, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

THE MONUMENTS MEN—George Clooney wrote, directed and stars in this fact-based World War II drama about a team assigned to keep the Nazis from destroying the art treasures they plundered. With Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin and Hugh Bonneville. Reviewed this issue. Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Walden Galleria

THE PAST—Writer-director Asghar Farhadi’s first film since his Oscar winning A Separation is this drama about a man who returns to the family he abandoned only to be caught up in his wife’s difficulties with her new partner. Starring Bérénice Bejo, Ali Mosaffa, and Tahar Rahim. Reviewed this issue. Amherst

VAMPIRE ACADEMY—Blood sucking schoolgirls. It’s rated PG-13. Starring Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, and Danila Kozlovsky. Directed by Mark Waters (Mr. Popper’s Penguins). Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Walden Galleria

ETC:

FRANKENSTEIN—Danny Boyle directed this National Theater stage adaptation of the classic story with Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller alternating in the roles of Victor Frankenstein and his creature. The Sunday broadcast features Miller as the monster; Monday Cumberbatch takes the role. Sun 12; Mon 7 Amherst

THE LIFE OF OHARU (Japan, 1952)—The great Japanese filmmaker Kenji Mizoguchi considered this his masterpiece, a study of the treatment of women in the 17th century where a highborn woman is ruined when she falls in love with a man of an inferior class. Starring Kinuyo Tanaka and Toshiro Mifune. Presented as part of the Buffalo Film Seminars. Market Arcade.

MARIAGE A MENDOZA (France, 2012)—Two French brothers get into trouble in Argentina while on their way to their cousin’s wedding. Starring Nicolas Duvauchelle, Philippe Rebbot and Paloma Contreras. Directed by Edouard Deluc. Screening Room. More info this issue.

PAULINE DETECTIVE (France, 2012)—Comedy starring Sandrine Kiberlain as a woman on a Riviera vacation to get over being dumped by her boyfriend who gets involved in the investigation of a murder. Directed by Marc Fitoussi (L’éducation anglaise). Screening Room

ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953)—Get a head start on Valentines Day with this classic romantic comedy, a loose remake of It Happened One Night set in Europe with Audrey Hepburn as a runaway princess and Gregory Peck as a newspaperman after her story. Directed by William Wyler (Wuthering Heights). Screening Room

SECONDS (1966)—Rock Hudson gave his best performance in this unsettling drama as a middle-aged man who gets the opportunity to recreate his life, at unexpected expense. With John Randolph, Murray Hamilton, Jeff Corey, Will Geer and Salome Jens. Directed by John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate). Hallwalls