"A Christmas Story"

Opening This Week:

BLACK SWAN—Darren Aronofsky directed this thriller starring Natalie Portman as a dancer who becomes unbalanced trying to prepare the dark role of the Black Swan in Swan Lake. With Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, and Winona Ryder. See the interview with Darren Aronofsky in this issue. Amherst, Eastern Hills

TINY FURNITURE—Indie comedy starring writer-director Lena Dunham as a recent college graduate who moves back into her artist mother’s Manhattan loft. Reviewed this issue. North Park

HOW DO YOU KNOW—Romantic comedy starring Reese Witherspoon as a woman torn between two men, a disgraced business executive (Paul Rudd) and a pro baseball player (Owen Wilson). Co-starring Jack Nicholson and Tony Shaloub. Directed by James L. Brooks (As Good as It Gets). Reviewed this issue. Market Arcade, McKinley, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Transit, Regal Walden

TRON: LEGACY—Sequel. Starring Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, and Bruce Boxleitner. Directed by Joseph Kosinski, whose former work has been for Xbox games. (Opens Wed) Hamburg Palace, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden

YOGI BEAR—Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake as the voices of Yogi and Boo-Boo. Directed by Eric Brevig. Lockport Palace, Market Arcade, McKinley, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Transit, Regal Walden

ETC:

A CHRISTMAS CAROL (England, 1951)—Generally considered the best film version of the classic Charles Dickens story, with Alistair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge. Look for Patrick Macnee, The Avengers’ John Steed, as the young Jacob Marley. Also starring Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns, Hermione Baddeley, Michael Hordern, Miles Malleson, Ernest Thesiger, and Hattie Jacques. 6:30pm Fri-Sat. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376 / www.screeningroom.net)

A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983)—Admit it: This is the Christmas movie you’ve seen more than any other, and the one you’re most likely to watch again. Humorist Jean Shepherd’s stories form this basis for this portrait of Christmas in a blue-collar, Midwestern city in the 1930s. Starring Darren McGavin, Melinda Dillon, and Peter Billingsley. Directed by Bob Clark (Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things). 7pm Thu. Hamburg Palace Theatre, 31 Buffalo St, Hamburg (649-2295 / www.hamburgpalace.com)

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)

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE—See above. 1pm Sun. Hamburg Palace Theatre, 31 Buffalo St, Hamburg (649-2295 / www.hamburgpalace.com )

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE—See above. 7pm Fri-Sun; 4pm Sat. Lockport Palace Theater, 2 East Ave., Lockport (438-1130)

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE—See above. 8:30pm Fri, Sat; 7:30pm Sun, Wed, Thu. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376 / www.screeningroom.net)