It's A Wonderful Life

Opening This Week:

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER—Sequel. Sorry, the title took up so much space there’s no room for a description. Directed by Michael Apted (Gorillas in the Mist). Flix, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden

CLIENT 9: THE RISE AND FALL OF ELIOT SPITZER—Self-explanatorily titled documentary. Directed by Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side). Reviewed this issue. Eastern Hills

THE TOURIST—Remake of the French film Anthony Zimmer, with Johnny Depp as the American in Paris who has the misfortune to look like a man wanted by Interpol. Angelina Jolie has the Sophie Marceau part; co-starring Paul Bettany, Timothy Dalton, Steven Berkoff, and Rufus Sewell. Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others). Reviewed this issue. Flix, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden

ETC:

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)—Jimmy Stewart gets to see what life for his friends and community would have been like had he never lived in Frank Capra’s holiday classic. Co-starring Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers, Beulah Bondi, Frank Faylen, Ward Bond, Gloria Grahame, H.B. Warner, Frank Albertson, Sheldon Leonard, and Charles Lane; 3, 7pm nightly except Sun. HD Video Café, 5445 Transit Rd, Williamsville (688-4933 / www.hdvideocafe.com)

MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947)—Perennial Christmas favorite starring Edmund Gwenn as a New York department store Santa who claims to be the real deal. With Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Gene Lockhart, William Frawley and a nine-year-old Natalie Wood. Directed by George Seaton (Airport). 7:30 Fri, Tues. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376 / www.screeningroom.net)

SCROOGE (England, 1935)—Considered one of the best adaptations of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, this is one of the most visually striking versions of the oft-told tale, with sets and lighting influenced by German expressionism. Sir Seymour Hicks had been playing Scrooge on stage since 1913. Directed by Henry Edwards. 7:30 Tues. Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, 25 Nottingham Court

DIE WALKÜRE—Encore screening of the opening night of a new production of Wagner’s opera from the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Starring Simon O’Neill, John Tomlinson, Vitalij Kowaljow, Waltraud Meier and Nina Stemme Conducted by Daniel Barenboim and directed by Guy Cassiers. 7 pm. Weds. Dipson Amherst Theater, 3500 Main St. (834-7655 / www.dipsontheatres.com)

WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954)—It 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 the urge to wallow in it this time of year is irresistible. Starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, and Dean Jagger. Directed by Michael Curtiz (Casablanca). 5:30, 7:30 pm Fri, Mon, Thurs. HD Video Café, 5445 Transit Rd, Williamsville (688-4933 / www.hdvideocafe.com)