Opening This Week:

THE ART OF THE STEAL—Documentary examining the struggle for control of the Barnes Foundation, an enormous private collection of Post-Impressionist and early Modern art valued at more than $25 billion. Directed by Don Argott (Rock School). Reviewed this issue. North Park

DEATH AT A FUNERAL—Black cast remake of the 2007 Frank Oz comedy about a funeral that uncovers myriad dirty secrets in an extended family. Starring Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, Luke Wilson, Martin Lawrence, Peter Dinklage, Ron Glass, Danny Glover, Regina Hall, Kevin Hart, and James Marsden. Directed by, of all people, Neil LaBute (In the Company of Men). Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO—Adaptation of the first part of Swedish author Stieg Larsson’s best-selling trilogy featuring an odd couple of investigators, a disgraced financial reporter and an emotionally scarred computer hacker. Starring Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, and Sven-Bertil Taube. Directed by Niels Arden Oplev. Reviewed this issue. Eastern Hills

KICK-ASS—R-rated movie about kids who dress up as superheroes. Starring Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Mark Strong, Elizabeth McGovern and Craig Ferguson. Directed by Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake). Amherst, Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden, Transit Drive-In

ETC:

THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)—Restored version of the perennial classic starring Humphrey Bogart in his Oscar-winning role as an African river rat persuaded by a missionary spinster (Katharine Hepburn) to go up against a Nazi ship. Directed by John Huston. Fri-Sat 8 pm. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376) www.screeningroom.net

COLLATERAL (2004)—Michael Mann’s longtime love of film noir comes to a head in this hyper-heated, ambitious genre throwback pitting LA cabbie Jamie Foxx against hired killer Tom Cruise, who forces him to drive him to a handful of nighttime assignments. It has all the elements of a model noir—the nightmarish sense of innocent entrapment; the narrative thrust toward escape; the atmospheric depiction of big city corruption reaching down from a higher stratum to impact the protagonist. With Jada Pinkett Smith, Javier Bardem and Mark Ruffalo. Presented as part of the Buffalo Film Seminar. Tues 7 pm, Market Arcade Film and Arts Center, 639 Main St. (855-3022).

M (Germany, 1931)—Fritz Lang’s visceral thriller about a hunt for a child killer that unites the police and the criminal underworld of Berlin. Peter Lorre became an international star as the murderer, a victim of his compulsions, but it’s Lang’s film: look at his depiction of a city falling under the sway of fascism and you’ll understand why he fled a year later. Free and open to the public. Mon 7:30pm. Wick Center, Daemen College, 4380 Main Street, Amherst

THE TRUE MEANING OF PICTURES: SHELBY LEE ADAMS’ APPALACHIA—Documentary about the photographer’s controversial portraits of rural families. Director Jennifer Baichwal (Manufactured Landscapes) will be present at the screening. Fri 7pm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, 1285 Elmwood Ave. www.AlbrightKnox.org