Opening This Week

EARTH—Feature length version of the BBC-Discovery Channel nature documentary series “Planet Earth.” Directed by Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield. Reviewed this issue. Flix, Maple Ridge, McKinley, Regal Elmwood, Regal Hollywood, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

FIGHTING—A New York counterfeiter finds a new line of work as a bare-knuckle street fighter. Starring Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard, and Luis Guzmán. Directed by Dito Montiel (A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints). Flix, Regal Elmwood, Regal Hollywood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

GOODBYE SOLO—Character study involving two people in a cab in Winston-Salem, North Carolina: the driver, an ebullient immigrant from Senegal, and the passenger, an older white man who offers him a fat sum for a lengthy trip. Starring Red West and Souleymane Sy Savane. Directed by Ramin Bahrani (Chop Shop). Reviewed this issue. Eastern Hills

THE INFORMERS—Adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel about how sucky LA was in the 1980s. Starring Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, Mickey Rourke, Winona Ryder, Rhys Ifans, Amber Heard, Chris Isaak, and Brad Renfro, which gives you an idea of how long this has been sitting on the shelf (Renfro died in January 2008). Directed by Gregor Jordan (Buffalo Soldiers). Reviewed this issue. Amherst, Eastern Hills, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker

OBSESSED—Thriller about an asset manager (I don’t know what that is, but it sounds crooked) stalked by a psycho office temp. Starring Idris Elba, Beyoncé Knowles, Ali Larter, Jerry O’Connell, Christine Lahti, and Bruce McGill. Directed by Steve Shill. Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Hollywood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Transit Drive-In

SIN NOMBRE—Sundance award winner (best director, best cinematography) about South Americans who travel through Mexico on the tops of freight trains in order to get to the American border. Starring Edgar Flores and Paulina Gaitan. Directed by Cary Fukunaga. Reviewed this issue. Amherst

THE SOLOIST—Drama based on the true story of the relationship between a Los Angeles Times reporter (Robert Downey Jr.) and a homeless schizophrenic (Jamie Foxx) who is a Juliard-trained musician. With Catherine Keener, Stephen Root, Tom Hollander, and Lisa Gay Hamilton. Directed by Joe Wright (Atonement). Reviewed this issue. Flix, Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Hollywood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR—Documentary about the unimonikered fashion designer, filmed in the year before his retirement. Directed by Matt Tyrnauer. Reviewed this issue. North Park

ETC:

FLOATING WEEDS (Japan, 1959)—Yasujiro Ozu’s lightly comic tale of a traveling theatrical troupe visiting an island where one of its members must deal with a past romantic entanglement. Introduced by Bruce Jackson and Diane Christian. Thurs Apr. 23, 7:30 pm. Albright Knox Art Gallery, 1285 Elmwood Ave. (882.8700)

GRAN TORINO—Clint Eastwood returns to acting as an unbending Korean War veteran who resents the Asian immigrants who have taken over the neighborhood where he lives. Eastwood also directed. Co-starring Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, and John Carroll Lynch. Sat 8pm; Tue 7:30pm. Fredonia Opera House, 9 Church St. Fredonia (716-679-0891) www.fredopera.org

MIGRATED MEDIA—As part of the launch of a new initiative to move obsolete moving-image media into digital formats for the 21st century, a program of preserved and newly digitized work from artists including Gary Hill, Barbara Hammer, Matthew Schlanger, Peer Bode and Connie Coleman and Alan Powell. Fri 8pm. Squeaky Wheel, 712 Main St, Buffalo

OUT OF THE POISON TREE (2007)—On the eve of the long-awaited Khmer Rouge trial, an American survivor of the genocide returns to Cambodia hoping to unlock the mystery of her father’s disappearance in 1975. Directed by Beth Pielert. Mon, 7:30 pm. Wick Center, Daemen College, 4380 Main St., Amherst (839-8253)

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975)—Dig out your fishnet stockings and bustiers and get ready to do the Time Warp again with Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Meat Loaf and Magenta. Sat midnight. Palace Theater, 31 Buffalo St., Hamburg (649–2295)

THE TRIAL (1963)—Orson Welles’ adaptation of Franz Kafka’s novel, starring Anthony Perkins as Josef K, who is persecuted by a faceless bureaucracy for an unnamed offense. With Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider and Welles. Sun 4pm. Palace Theatre, 31 Buffalo St, Hamburg (649-2295) www.hamburgpalace.com

200 MOTELS (1971)—Frank Zappa conceived this film based on the premise that “Touring makes you crazy.” Expect the air to smell sweet (which Zappa would have hated). Starring Zappa, Theodore Bikel, Flo and Eddie, various other members of the Mothers of Invention, Keith Moon as the Hot Nun and Ringo Starr as Frank Zappa. Directed by Zappa and Tony Palmer. Sat 10pm. Palace Theater, 31 Buffalo St., Hamburg (649–2295)

THE WRESTLER— Mickey Rourke’s Oscar-nominated performance as a professional wrestler who refuses to get out of the ring even though he’s 20 years past his prime. With Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood. Directed by Darren Aronofsky (The Fountain). Thurs, Sun, Tues 7:30pm. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376) www.screeningroom.net