Opening This Week:

THE BOX—Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko) wrote and directed this adaptation of the Richard Matheson story (basis of a famous Twilight Zone episode) about a couple who are offered a million dollars if they do something that will result in the death of a person they don’t know. Starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, and Frank Langella. Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

A CHRISTMAS CAROL—Faced with the choice between watching a Robert Zemeckis motion-capture film (a la The Polar Express) starring Jim Carrey as both Scrooge and his various ghosts, and a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, I would request a nicely scented cedar. Angola, Aurora, Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, McKinley, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Transit, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

COCO BEFORE CHANEL—Audrey Tautou stars in a biography of the early years of designer Coco Chanel. Co-starring Benoît Poelvoorde and Alessandro Nivola. Directed by Anne Fontaine (How I Killed My Father). Reviewed this issue. North Park

THE FOURTH KIND—Supposedly based-on-fact film about a psychologist (Milla Jovovich) who uncovers evidence of alien abductions in Nome, Alaska. With Elias Koteas and Will Patton. Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi. Reviewed this issue. Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, McKinley, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS—Adaptation of the Jon Ronson book about a US Army program to incorporate New Age techniques into warfare. Starring George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey, and Jeff Bridges. Directed by Grant Heslov. Reviewed this issue. Flix, Maple Ridge, 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, if not the most popular Hollywood film period. 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. Sat. midnight. Amherst Theatre, 3500 Main St. (834-7655) www.dipsontheatres.com.

THE EDGE OF NEVER—Director Bill Kerig will introduce his documentary about the efforts of young skier Kye Petersen to tackle the route in Chamonix, France where his father Trevor was killed in 1996. Please note that tickets for this special event are $20 for adults, $10 for kids under 12. Fri. 7, 9:30pm. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376) www.screeningroom.net

GENERAL NIL (Poland, 2009)—Biography of the Polish officer who was persecuted and executed by the communist regime in 1953. Directed by Ryszard Bugajski (Interrogation). Part of the Polish Film Showcase. Fri 6pm. Montante Cultural Center, 2001 Main St (883-7000)

HAPPY GILMORE (1996)—Adam Sandler as a hockey player who brings his pugnacious style to the golf course. With Julie Bowen, Frances Bay, Carl Weathers, and Bob Barker. Directed by Dennis Dugan (You Don’t Mess with the Zohan). Sat. midnight. Amherst Theatre, 3500 Main St. (834-7655) www.dipsontheatres.com.

ILE WAZY KON TROJANSKI? (HOW MUCH DOES THE TROJAN HORSE WEIGH?, Poland, 2008)—Fantasy about a businesswoman (Ilona Ostrowska) who gets her wish to revisit some regrets she has in her life from 15 years earlier. Directed by Juliusz Machulski (Sexmission). Part of the Polish Film Showcase. Sun 2pm. Montante Cultural Center, 2001 Main St. (883-7000)

THE INFORMANT!—Steven Soderbergh directed this bizarrely funny film based on the true story of Mark Whitacre, a whistle-blower at Archer Daniels Midland who exposed a multi-national price-fixing conspiracy to the FBI but neglected to tell them a few uncomfortable truths about himself. Starring Matt Damon and Scott Bakula. Sat 8pm; Tue 7:30pm. Fredonia Opera House, 9 Church St. Fredonia (716-679-0891) www.fredopera.org

MALA MOSKWA (LITTLE MOSCOW)—Tensions in a Polish town occupied by the Russian army in the late 1960s stymie the love between the wife of a Russian officer and a Polish soldier. Director Waldemar Krzystek will present his award winning film, which opens a series of recent Polish cinema. Thurs Nov. 5m 6pm. Riviera Theatre, 67 Webster St. North Tonawanda, (716) 692-2113 (www.canisius.edu/polish/events.asp)

RYSA (SCRATCH, Poland, 2008)— A couple’s 40th anniversary is disrupted by a videotape suggesting that the husband was involved in a state surveillance program against his wife’s father. Directed by Michal Rosa. Preceded by the documentary Children in Exile, about Polish children who were deported to the Soviet Gulag. Part of the Polish Film Showcase. Sat 3pm. Hamburg Palace, 31 Buffalo Street, Hamburg (649-2295)

SOLARIS (USSR, 1972)—Not to be confused with Steven Soderbergh’s 2002 remake, Andrei Tarkovsky’s metaphysical science fiction epic (based on a Stanislaw Lem novel) falls into the 2001 school of intellectually challenging, deliberatively paced speculative fiction. A psychiatrist travels to a space station to investigate whether the planet it is orbiting has produced the madness that affects the station’s crew. Presented as part of the Buffalo Film Seminar. Tues 7pm, Market Arcade Film and Arts Center, 639 Main St. (855-3022).