OPENING THIS WEEK:

AWAKE—Music video director Anton Corbijn makes his feature debut with this biography of Ian Curtis, lead singer of Joy Division, who committed suicide the night before the band was set to begin its first tour of the United States. Starring Sam Riley and Samantha Morton. Eastern Hills, McKinley

SAAWARIYA—Fanciful Bollywood movie (the first financed by an American studio) about a shy man who falls in love with an unhappy woman, only to learn that she has an absent lover. Starring Ranbir Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee and Sonam Kapoor. Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Regal Transit

SLEUTH—Less a remake than a rethinking of the 1972 film about a duel of wits between a mystery writer and his wife’s young lover, with Michael Caine and Jude Law taking the parts played in the earlier film by Lawrence Olivier and Caine. Written by Harold Pinter. Directed by Kenneth Branagh. Reviewed this issue. North Park

THE GOLDEN COMPASS— Adaptation of Philip Pullman’s award-winning fantasy novels about a girl living in a community of scholars who travels to an alternate dimension to find why other children have been disappearing. Starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards, Ben Walker, Sam Elliott, Christopher Lee, Kristin Scott Thomas and the voices of Freddie Highmore, Ian McKellen, Ian McShane and Kathy Bates. Directed by Chris Weitz (About a Boy). Reviewed this issue. Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Hollywood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit

THE ROCKET—Biography of Maurice Richard (Roy Dupuis), Canadian hockey star of the 1950s who had to battle prejudice from English-speaking teammates. Directed by Charles Binamé. McKinley

ETC:

BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974)—An early film from Bob Clark, the director of A Christmas Story, from which it couldn’t be more different. Also known as Silent Night Evil Night, this proto slasher movie (minus the silly gore) is an effective little chiller in the style of Halloween (which it predates by a few years). With Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon, and Andrea Martin. Fri, 9pm. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376).

DYSFUNCTIONAL HOLIDAY SCREENING & CELEBRATION—Squeaky Wheel’s annual night of screenings and installations focusing on “obnoxious relatives, crass consumerism, gluttonous feasts and the baby Jesus.” Fri, 8pm. Squeaky Wheel, 712 Main Street (www.squeaky.org)

LLIK YOUR IDOLS—New documentary on the “Cinema of Transgression,” the underground film movement that grew out of the New York “No Wave” scene of the early 1980s, featuring interviews and clips from Richard Kern, Bruce LaBruce, Lydia Lunch, Thurston Moore, Nick Zedd and others. The program also includes a screening of Richard Kern’s 1985 Super 8 short “You Killed Me First” starring Karen Finley, Lung Leg and David Wojnarowicz. Thurs Dec. 13, 8pm. Hallwalls, 341 Delaware Ave. (854-1694, hallwalls.org)

SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS (1964)—An object lesson in being careful about what you let your kids watch, because they’ll grow up being nostalgic for it, just as far too many people from my generation have warm memories of this godawful, no-budget holiday movie. A camp classic even before we realized that the nine-year-old actress playing Martian child Girmar was the one and only Pia Zadora. Fri 9 pm. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in the Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376)