Mini reviews

For an online film guide, see augustachronicle.com/movies:

NEW THIS WEEK

Amelia ( **1/2, PG-13): Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank tries for a third with this glossy biopic of Amelia Earhart, who disappeared in 1937 while trying to fly solo around the world. Co-starring Richard Gere as her husband and Ewan McGregor as her lover. Augusta Exchange

ASTRO BOY ( **, PG): The computer-animated adventures of a boy robot (voiced by Freddie Highmore) and his scientist creator (Nicolas Cage). Augusta Exchange, Evans, Aiken

CIRCUE DU FREAK: THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT (PG-13): The first of Darren Shan's popular series of novels to be filmed centers on a teenager (Chris Massoglia) who is turned into a vampire by a bloodsucker (John C. Reilly) and joins a circus. Because really, what else are you going to do now? Augusta Exchange, Evans, Aiken

SAW VI (R): Not to be confused with Saw V or Saw IV. Because this one is WAY different. Augusta Exchange, Evans, Aiken

THIS IS IT (PG): Big screen Michael Jackson tribute. Evans

ONGOING

9 (PG-13): The survivors of the apocalypse battle the machines trying to exterminate them. Evans

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS ( ****, PG): Animated adaptation of the beloved children's book about a town where food rains from the sky. Augusta Exchange, Evans, ends today at Aiken

COUPLES RETREAT (PG-13): Evans, Aiken, Augusta Exchange

DISTRICT 9 ( ****, R): Attention all sci-fi movie fans: Get ready to have your butt kicked. Masters

FAME (PG): Influential 1980 musical about the New York City High School of the Performing Arts gets a toning-down of the original R-rating to a High School Musical-friendly PG-13. Evans, ends today at Augusta Exchange

G-FORCE (PG): Guinea pigs become mini James Bonds. Masters

G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA ( **, PG-13): An elite military squad fights the evil COBRA. Masters

THE HANGOVER (R): Four friends retrace their steps the morning after a night of hard partying in Las Vegas. Masters

THE INVENTION OF LYING (PG-13): In an alternate universe in which the concept of lying does not yet exist, a man (Ricky Gervais) develops the ability to fudge the truth. Evans

LAW ABIDING CITIZEN ( *, R): A father whose family is murdered takes revenge on criminals and the legal system. Augusta Exchange, Evans, Aiken

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (R): A young couple discovers suburbia isn't a safe haven from demonic infestation. Augusta Exchange, begins Friday at Evans, Aiken

PONYO ( ***1/2, G): Ponyo will defy her father, fall in love with a human boy and trade fins for feet. Begins Friday at Masters

THE PROPOSAL (PG-13): Romantic comedy with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Masters

SORORITY ROW ( **, R): Sorority sisters get picked off by the ghost of their past sins. Masters

STEPFATHER (PG-13): The man momma married may not have been the best choice, what with him being psychotic and all. Augusta Exchange, Evans, Aiken

SURROGATES (PG-13): FBI agents (Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell) investigate a murder involving artificial "surrogates," robotic aliases used by recluses to represent them in the outside world. Evans, ends today at Aiken, Augusta Exchange

TOY STORY 1 & 2 IN 3D (G): Converting Pixar's history-changing cartoons Toy Story and Toy Story 2 into 3-D and pairing them, in theaters, for a double feature reminds us how very good these movies were and remain, how great the computer animation and how witty and sentimental the scripts. Augusta Exchange, ends today at Evans

THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE ( **, PG-13): Lovers are thrown together and torn apart by cruel Father Time. Begins Friday at Masters

TYLER PERRY'S I CAN DO BAD ALL BY MYSELF **, PG-13): Madea (Tyler Perry) entrusts young delinquents to their aunt (Taraji P. Henson). Augusta Exchange, Evans, ends today at Aiken

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (PG): A boy in a wolf suit is adopted by a clan of tooth-and-clawed monsters. Awww. Augusta Exchange, Evans, Aiken

ZOMBIELAND (R): A gun-toting Woody Harrelson and a wuss scared of his shadow (Jesse Eisenberg) join forces to survive in a world overrun by flesh-eating zombies in this derivative but still entertaining horror comedy from first-time director Ruben Fleischer. Evans, Augusta Exchange, ends today at Aiken

ENDING TODAY

The goods: Live hard, sell hard (R): A used-car liquidator is hired by an auto dealership. Augusta Exchange

I HOPE THEY SERVE BEER IN HELL (R): An unreformed alpha male leads two friends into an evening of unrepentant dabauchery. Augusta Exchange

THE INFORMANT! ( ***, R): Director Steven Soderbergh returns to the mainstream with this comic drama about a corporate whistleblower (Matt Damon) working with the FBI to expose a price-fixing conspiracy. Evans

JENNIFER'S BODY ( **, R): JUNO screenwriter Diablo Cody returns with a horror comedy starring Megan Fox. Evans

LOVE HAPPENS (PG-13): A self-help guru writes a book about mourning, then falls for one of his readers (Jennifer Aniston). Augusta Exchange, Evans

MY ONE AND ONLY (PG-13): A mother takes her two sons on the road searching for a sense of family. Based on the early life of Hollywood legend George Hamilton. Augusta Exchange

PANDORUM (R): Astronauts awaken from cryogenic sleep aboard a spaceship and can't remember who they are or what their mission is. Augusta Exchange