NOW PLAYING

By Armond White

30 Minutes or Less A satire about the competition for money and recognition that drives Americans crazy. It's made more humorous than cynical by Danny McBride and Jesse Eisenberg's solipsistic humanity as kidnapper and victim. Minor but authentic new millennium century comedy. Dir. Ruben Fleischer.

Bill Cunningham New York Saluting the New York Times' roving photographer assigned to the fashion world, this promotional doc hides the Times' hegemony behind Cunningham's modest, unassuming wielding of power. Dir. Richard Press.

The Black Power Mixed Tape 1967-1975 An unenlightening curio that pilfers unused footage shot by Swedish TV documentary reporters about U.S. black radicalism. It waxes nostalgic about matters now swept under the "post-black" carpet. Dir. Goran Olsson.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams Exploring the prehistoric Chauvet Cave drawings in France, this 3D doc contemplates mankind's earliest effort to mark territory. An awed yet agnostic art lecture. Dir. Werner Herzog.

Columbiana Striking entertainment but also an emotional action movie. As a sexy, damaged assassin hunting down drug dealers to avenge her parents, Zoe Saldana gives the movie star performance of the year-a soulful, modern-day Irma Vep. Dir. Olivier Megaton.

The Debt Shameless-bordering-on-ludicrous Holocaust exploitation as a Mossad trio brings a Nazi war criminal to justice. In flashbacks, Jessica Chastain plays the same rueful agent as Helen Mirren-a cipher out of a spy novel. Dir. John Madden.

Drive Fake toughness, fake sentimentality, fake style infected by Michael Mann. Brooding existential stuntman and petty criminal Ryan Gosling is so laconic and cool he's inadvertently comic. This second-rate actor occasionally drops his Steve McQueen impersonation and lets slip Mickey Rourke's old smile. Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn.

Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life An inventive political, cultural and ethnic defense of France's '60s pop icon and rebel Serge Gainsbourg shows a caricaturist's whimsy-especially in the subtext of Jewish self-consciousness, psycho-political anime effects and Eric Elmosnino's lead performance. Laetitia Casta does a worthy, knock-out Brigitte Bardot impersonation. Dir. Joann Sfar.

The Help America's s Jim Crow history reduced to sisterhood entertainment about servants and masters. Still, the white actresses (Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard) take center screen, squeezing out the black actresses (Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer). Dir. Tate Taylor.

Midnight in Paris Name-dropping 1920s American expatriates in Paris (Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, etc.), Woody Allen takes on another story about cheating, narcissistic bourgeois (Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams) evading responsibility to each other. Don't be fooled by the mock-surrealism, this is obnoxious. Dir. Woody Allen.

Our Idiot Brother Not even Paul Rudd's charm can redeem this story of a holy fool-a hippie throwback-who shames his three bourgeois sisters. It's smug, preachy and visually hideous. Dir. Jesse Peretz

Restless Doomed girl (Mia Wasikowska) and gloomy boy (Henry Hopper) crash funerals and muse on death and godlessness. A nihilistic love story for depressive teens. Dir. Gus Van Sant.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes Rousing and thoughtful sequel that does full justice to the original series. It's also a completely modern vision of our anxieties about science and society. With an especially moving performance by Andy Serkis as the ape who learns revenge. Dir. Rupert Wyatt.

Straw Dogs (2011) An affront to our art heritage and sense of humanity, this shoddy remake of Sam Peckinpah's 1971 masterpiece reduces psychological depth (about a man defending his home) to cheap slasher film theatrics and dumb political agit-prop. Dir. Rod Lurie.

Toast Biopic about British food writer Nigel Slater's childhood (Oscar Kennedy and Freddie Highmore) is actually funny and edgy about the development of a gay male's sensibility. Helena Bonham Carter wonderfully portrays Slater's nemesis/inspiration-a full-blown, memorably ambivalent characterization. Dir. S.J. Clarkson.

Warrior Actors Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton and Nick Nolte as brothers and dad who take family dysfunction to the boxing ring. Loopy premise but lots of high drama and deep theatrics. Dir. Gavin O'Connor.

Weekend (2011) Rather precious but not unaffecting love story about two young gay British men (Tom Cullen and Chris New) facing the limits of attraction and commitment. An indie take on the '70s classic Sunday Bloody Sunday. Dir. Andrew Haigh. Mia Wasikowska and Henry Hopper in Gus Van Sant's Restless.