Film Clips: What’s in theaters today?

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David Oyelowo plays Joe "Lightning" Little in "Red Tails," a film that depicts the travels and travails of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen. Also featured are Terrence Howard and Bryan Cranston.

Updated: January 20, 2012 11:24AM

OPENING FRIDAY

EXTREMELY LOUD &INCREDIBLY CLOSE ★ ★ 1/2

Rated: PG-13 for emotional thematic material, some disturbing images, and language

Stars: Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Thomas Horn, Viola Davis

After his father dies during the attacks on the World Trade Centers, a boy (Horn) attempts to find one final message from his father by tracking down the lock that fits a mysterious key. Stephen Daldry (“The Hours,” “The Reader”) directed the drama. Reviewed in this section.

HAYWIRE

Rated: R for some violence

Stars: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender

After she is betrayed during a mission, a black-ops super-agent (Carano) seeks payback. Steven Soderbergh (“Contagion”) directed the action-thriller.

PINA

Rated: PG for some sensuality/partial nudity and smoking

Stars: Pina Bausch, Regina Advento

This documentary on the career of German choreographer Pina Bausch, a leading proponent of modern dance since the 1970s, is German’s official submission for the 2012 best foreign language film Oscar. Directed by Wim Wenders (“Wings of Desire”).

RED TAILS

Rated: PG-13 for some sequences of war violence

Stars: Bryan Cranston, Cuba Gooding, Jr. , Terrence Howard

After being relegated to ground duty, a crew of African-American fighter pilots in the Tuskegee training program is finally called into combat under Col. A.J. Bullard (Howard). TV director Anthony Hemingway (“CSI: New York”) directed the war drama.

UNDERWOR LD: AWAKENING

Rated: R for strong violence and gore, and for some language

Stars: Kate Beckinsale, Michael Ealy

In the latest installment in the “Underworld” action/fantasy franchise, human forces discover the existence of the Vampire and Lycan clans and attempt to eradicate both, resulting in payback from Vampire warrior Selene (Beckinsale).

STILL PLAYING

THE ADV ENTURES OF TINTIN

Rated: PG for action-adventure violence, some drunkenness and brief smoking

Stars: Daniel Craig, Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis

A young adventurer (Bell) becomes involved in a race for maps leading to sunken treasure with the sea-captain descendant (Serkis) of a mariner who scuttled his ship to keep it from pirates. Steven Spielberg directed the motion-capture animated adventure based on stories by the Belgian comic-book artist Herge.

THE ARTIST

Rated: PG-13 for a disturbing image and a crude gesture

Stars: John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo

A silent-movie star (Dujardin) worried about the effect sound movies will have on his career falls in love with a young dancer (Bejo). Michel Hazanavicius (“OSS 117”) directed the romance. In French with subtitles.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Rated: G

Stars: Jerry Orbach, Angela Lansbury, Robby Benson

After conquering Broadway, Disney’s 1991 animated classic returns for a victory lap — in 3-D y et.

CARNAGE★ ★ ★ 1/2

Rated: R for language

Stars: Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz

Roman Polanski’s adaptation of Yasmina Reza’s savagely satirical Tony-winning dark comedy isn’t nearly as funny as the brilliant production mounted last year at the Goodman Theatre, but it’s got the savage thing down cold. That will probably please Reza, who intends her dissections of bourgeoise pretense (as in her 1998 Tony-winner “Art”) to be tragedies and is annoyed when her victims find them amusing. Essentially a comedy of inadequate manners, “Carnage” pits two sets of upper-middle-class parents against each other in an attempt to deal like civilized adults with a schoolyard fight between their two 11-year-old sons. Very soon, polite discussion devolves into open hostility, projectile vomiting, heavy drinking and generally appalling behavior that leaves no one unscathed. If you’re conflict-averse, this may not be for you, but it’s a wicked treat watching Reilly, Foster, Waltz and Winslet revel in Reza’s scathing dialogue — especially Foster, whose turn as a holier-than-thou liberal humanitarian gradually giving in to apoplectic rage must be seen to be believed.

CONTRABAND

Rated: R for violence, pervasive language and brief drug use

Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Giovanni Ribisi, Kate Beckinsale

After going straight, a former smuggler (Wahlberg) is drawn back into the trade to make good on a deal botched by his brother-in-law — and to protect his wife (Beckinsale). Icelandic actor/director Baltasar Kormakur (“The Sea”) directed the crime drama.

THE DEVIL INSIDE

Rated: R for disturbing violent content and grisly images, and for language including some sexual references

Stars: Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth

A young woman (Andrade) asks exorcists to help her prove that her mother was possessed by demons and not criminally insane when she murdered three people. William Brent Bell (“Stay Alive”) wrote and directed the horror thriller. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

Rated: R for brutal violent content including rape and torture, strong sexuality, graphic nudity and language

Stars: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Stellan Skarsgard

A magazine publisher (Craig) joins forces with a computer hacker (Mara) to track down a serial murderer. David Fincher (“The Social Network”) directed.

HUGO★ ★ ★ 1/2

Rated: PG for mild thematic material, some action/peril and smoking

Stars: Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jude Law

The most flamboyantly cinematic film in director Martin Scorsese’s long career, “Hugo” is a gorgeous and dazzling movie to behold. “Hugo” is all about secrets and dreams and work and family and time and magic and movies, especially about mo vies.

THE IRON LADY★ ★ 1/2

Rated: PG-13 for some violent images and brief nudity

Stars: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent

Though Meryl Streep’s performance as the iron-willed (and occasionally iron-fisted) British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is richly detailed and compelling, the same can’t be said for this surprisingly superficial bio-drama. Instead of grappling with the details of Thatcher’s wildly polarizing political career, director Phyllida Lloyd (who also directed Streep in “Mamma Mia,” how crazy is that?) has opted for the story of Margaret Thatcher: Human Being, with mixed results. Opening 15 years after she was forced out of office by her own party, after the early effects of Alzheimer’s had taken hold, “Iron Lady” shows us Thatcher talking with her long-dead husband (Jim Broadbent), and reflecting on the ups and downs of her personal life. “Iron Lady” presents Thatcher as a sterling example of old-fashioned, stiff-upper-lip values, whose determination to do great things, combined with fierce self-discipline and determination allowed her to triumph over the old-boy network and the terrorists and the trade unions—eventually paying off with a portrait in 10 Downing Street.. And Streep, pulling out all the stops as she did playing Julia Child in “Julia & Julia,” is convincing enough to make us buy into it. Almost. But surely, there is much, much more to be revealed about the Right Honorable Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher

JOYFUL NOISE

Rated: PG-13 for some language including a sexual reference

Stars: Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Keke Palmer

The star performers (Latifah and Parton) of a small-town church choir have conflicting ideas about the best way to participate in a national competition. Todd Graff (“Bandslam”) wrote and directed the comedy.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL

Rated: PG-13 for sequences of intense action and violence

Stars: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton

When they are shut down after being falsely accused of an attack on the Kremlin, the IMF team goes rogue to restore its reputation. Brad Bird (“Up,” “The Incredibles”) directed.

SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some drug material

Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams

Holmes and Watson (Downey Jr. and Law) meet their greatest challenge from the evil Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), the only criminal who is the detective’s intellectual equal. Guy Ritchie returns to direct the sequel to his 2009 hit.

WAR HORSE★ ★ ★

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of war violence

Stars: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, Peter Mullan

Steven Spielberg’s epic World War I drama about the soul-connection between a farm boy and a thoroughbred stallion-turned-plowhorse-turned-wartime-beast-of-burden, is beautifully crafted, grand in scope and deeply moving at its best. Two things, though, prevent “War Horse” from achieving the sort of emotional impact Spielberg is famous for: A storyline that struggles to reconcile material best suited for young audiences, a la “E.T.,” with hard-hitting anti-war statements, a la “Saving Private Ryan”; and a detached point of view that makes it difficult to identify closely with any of the characters. That said, “War Horse” is never less than visually dazzling, and its pacifist message, along with the general idea that life is precious, regardless of class or nationality or species, are driven home by effective performances across the board.