The Big Lebowski plays this week as part of the Buffalo Film Seminar, at the Market Arcade Film and Arts Center.

Opening This Week

COOL IT—Documentary based on the book by Bjørn Lomborg, exploring his ideas on how to deal with climate change and impending energy shortages. Directed by Ondi Timoner. Reviewed this issue. Eastern Hills

FAIR GAME—Naomi Watts as Valeria Plame, the CIA agent who was outed by the Bush administration as revenge for her husband’s (Sean Penn) informed insistence that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. Directed by Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity). Reviewed this issue. Regal Galleria, Regal Transit

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART ONE—It’s Hollywood’s last chance to squeeze some money out of this franchise, so why not split into two movies? With so many British stars that it’s easier just to say who isn’t in it: Helen Mirren, Tim Roth, and Daniel Day-Lewis. Reviewed this issue. Amherst, Angola, Aurora, Flix, Lockport , Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, McKinley, Regal Elmwood, Regal Galleria , Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit

THE NEXT THREE DAYS— Russell Crowe as a man who decides to break his wife (Elizabeth Banks) out of prison after she is sentenced for killing her boss. With Olivia Wilde and Brian Dennehy. Directed by Paul Haggis (Crash). Flix, Maple Ridge, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Galleria, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit

ETC:

THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998)—Jeff Bridges as the ultimate slacker in this oddball tribute to the Philip Marlow genre concocted by the Coen Brothers, who claim they have no idea why it has garnered such a cult following. But like all cult movies, it gets better every time you watch it. Co-starring John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tara Reid, David Thewlis and John Turturro. Presented as part of the Buffalo Film Seminar. 7 pm Tues. Market Arcade Film and Arts Center, 639 Main St. (855-3022).

DAVID COPPERFIELD (1969)—Charles Dickens’ sprawling novel offers too much to squeeze into one film, but this television adaptation benefits from an all-star cast that features Richard Attenborough, Cyril Cusack, Edith Evans, Pamela Franklin, Wendy Hiller, Laurence Olivier, Michael Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, Sinéad Cusack, Ron Moody as Uriah Heep and Robin Phillips in the title role. Directed by Delbert Mann (Marty). 7 pm Fri, 4 pm Sat. Angola Screening Room, Center & North Main. Village of Angola

LOUIS SULLIVAN: THE STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE—New documentary about the career and tragic life of the American architect whose work includes Buffalo’s Guaranty Building. 7:15 pm Tues. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376 / www.screeningroom.net)

REAR WINDOW (1954)—Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller starring James Stewart as a photographer, confined to a wheelchair by a broken leg, who spies on his neighbors from the window of his Greenwich Village apartment and discovers that one of them has committed a murder. The mystery is less interesting than Hitchcock’s exploration of the perverse pleasures of voyeurism. With Grace Kelly, Raymond Burr, and Thelma Ritter. 8 pm Fri, Sun, Weds. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376 / www.screeningroom.net)

STOOGEFEST—Eyeballs will be poked, cranium will be smacked, and nyuk-nyuks will be nyuked by Curly, Larry and Moe, and possibily Shemp too. Weds 8pm. Hamburg Palace Theatre, 31 Buffalo St, Hamburg (649-2295 / www.hamburgpalace.com)

WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954)—It’s hasn’t aged terribly well, the mawkishness of the plot is mitigated only by the film’s failure to pay much attention to it, and the title song (which first appeared over a decade earlier in Holiday Inn) is framed with the reverence of a visit from the Pope. But while it’s appearing a tad early this season, the urge to wallow in it is undeniable, at least if you’re of a certain age. Starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, and Dean Jagger; look for George Chakiris as a dancer. Directed by Michael Curtiz (Casablanca). 6, 8 pm Fri, Sat, Mon, Tue. HD Video Café, 5445 Transit Rd, Williamsville (688-4933 / www.hdvideocafe.com)