Avatar ***

"Avatar" is a technically dazzling, seamlessly crafted sci-fi adventure tale set on a far-off planet where a paraplegic marine is able to inhabit and control the body of a specially-engineered native, who can not only survive, but thrive in the poisonous atmosphere. In his avatar body, he befriends the natives to advance the aims of the company that brought him there to extract a valuable mineral. The marine learns the ways of the natives, and comes to understand and respect the interconnectedness of life on this beautifully-imagined world. The movie is great fun and emotionally engaging, even if you do wonder if you're cheering a tribe that has disturbing parallels to the peoples and cultures that the U.S. has fought, or is fighting, here and abroad. See it for the superb special effects, battle scenes, and the best transfer of actors to animated images to date.

Rated PG-13. 162 minutes. James Cameron - Director / Writer / Producer / Editor, Jon Landau - Producer, Mauro Fiore - Cinematographer, James Horner - Composer, Rick Carter - Production Designer, Robert Stomberg - Production - Productiion Designer, John Refoua - Editor, Stephen Rivkin - Editor. Produced and distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.

Principal actors: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Peter Mensah, Laz Alonso, Wes Studi, Stephen Lang, and Matt Gerald

Sherlock Holmes ***

This is not your father's "Sherlock Holmes." The new Sherlock, starring Robert Downey Jr. as the title character, with Jude Law as his friend and partner Dr. Watson, bursts on the scene not just as a neatness challenged, keenly observant, and incredibly intelligent detective, but as the muscular, brawling action hero heir to a raft of James Bond and comic book character action movies. Throw in a woman in love with Holmes (Rachel McAdams) who is not only smart, but who can steal, fight, and shoot as well as the men, and you've got a thoroughly modern Hollywood formula set in Victorian London. For me, it's a guilty pleasure two hour escape, and a lot of fun.

The plot Holmes must defeat is similarly exotic, involving black magic at the highest levels of government and ingenious gadgets in service of a scheme for world domination. I told you it wasn't your father's, or even Conan Doyle's, Sherlock Holmes. The action scenes are well done, the special effects creating circa 1870's London are superb, and the quick flash-back sequences visually explaining how Holmes reached his conclusions are economical and effective. I enjoyed the movie, and would love to see the sequel that is sure to follow.

Rated PG-13. 128 minutes. Guy Ritchie - Director, Michael Robert Johnson - Writer (screenplay) (screen story), Anthony Peckham - Writer (screenplay), Simon Kinberg - Writer (screenplay), Lionel Wigram - Writer (screen story) / Producer, Arthur Conan Doyle - Writer (characters Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson), Susan Downey - Producer, Dan Lin - Producer, Joel Silver - Producer, Joel Silver - Producer, PHilippe Rousselot - Cinemmatographer, Hans Zimmer - Composer, Sarah Greenwood - Production Designer, James Herbert - Editor.

Principle actors: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan, and Kelly Reilly.

A Single Man ****

The most arresting thing about "A Single Man" is Colin Firth's incredibly contained yet emotional performance as George, an English professor in '60's L.A. coping with the loss of his partner of 16 years, Jim, played in flashbacks by Matthew Goode. The second most arresting thing about the movie is that it was directed and written (screenplay) by Tom Ford, the fashion designer. It's a very, very good first effort, and full of marvelous touches that set an effective tone and style.

We follow George for an entire day, one that George has decided will be his last, and the heightened awareness that he brings to every encounter makes him - and us - notice things as if for the first time. We see his performance as a lecturer, talking to a student, visiting his old friend and one-time lover Charley (excellently played by Julianne Moore), and remembering his life with Jim. Gradually we come to know him and his life through this one day.

This is the 60's, remember, and the 1964 novel by Christopher Isherwood on which the movie is based is firmly rooted in its period. One of the earliest gay liberation works, "A Single Man," depicts the life of an "invisible minority," as George says in a lecture, afraid to say its name, a minority that even the family of a life partner of 16 years would refuse to recognize. The oppressed must speak in code, and convey meaning in a glance, which Ford captures perfectly. It's not just the too long held gaze that speaks here, though, it's seeing that he's depicting, as eyes and looks form a recurrent leit motif throughout the film.

It's the 60's speaking through Charley when she says that George and Jim's 16 years were not real somehow, that it was a substitution for something else. George refuses to let her get away with it, which is good. But it's the 60's, I'm afraid, that is responsible for the ending, in a bit of melodrama that I don't think a gay author today would indulge in. Up to that point, however, it's a marvelous film, and sure to bring Firth and Ford some well-deserved attention.

Rated R. 99 minutes. Tom ford - Director / Writer (screenplay) / Producer, Christopher Isherwood - Writer (novel), David Scearce - Writer (screenplay), Andrew Miano - Producer, Robert Salerno - Producer, Chris Weitz - Producer, Eduard Grau - Cinematographer, Abel Korzeniowski - Composer, Dan Bishop - Production Designer, Joan sobel - Editor. Produced by Artina Films. Distributed by The Weinstein Company.

Principle actors: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Goode, Jon Kortajarena.

The Young Victoria ****

Sumptuous, stately, beautifully composed, and well-acted, "The Young Victoria" is above all a triumph for its star, Emily Blunt. A story about the tumultuous first years of Victoria's reign, the movie manages to bring life to what could have been empty tableaux and drawing room dialog. Instead we have an intimate look at life inside the palaces and stunning costumes.

Protected, controlled, and manipulated by her mother and her mother's favorite, who aspired to be regent for the young Victoria, if only her uncle would die before her majority, Victoria asserts herself and refuses to be ruled. Her early years on the throne are marked by political miscalculations but a growing maturity. Her romance with Albert, who she came to love in spite of the fact that he had been carefully coached too woo her, is carefully constructed and convincing. At the end I wanted to know more about this fascinating woman.

Rated PG. 100 minutes. Jean-Marc Valee - Director, Julian Fellowes p Writer, Sarah Ferguson - Producer, Tim Headington - Producer, Graham King - Producer, Martin Scorsese - Producer, Hagen Blgkanshki - Cinematographer, Ilan Eshkeri - Composer, Patrice Vernette - Production Designer, Jill Bilcock - Editor, Matt Garner - Editor. Produced by GK Films. Distributed in the U.S. by Apparition.

Principle actors: Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent, Thomas Kretschmann, and Mark Strong.

Up in the Air *****

Ryan Bingham's life may sound empty, living out of a suitcase, spending so much time in airplanes and hotels that his apartment looks more barren than any motel, but he's not complaining. In fact he thrives on the routines, the frequent traveler perks, and the casual hookups that come with the territory. His job removes him from the messiness of everyday life even more: he's a professional downsizer, swooping in with folders of termination notices and severance outlines to deliver the bad news the employer would rather outsource.

Until one day his employer decides to upgrade to a more technologically advanced solution - remote firings done via web cam and the Internet. Bingham, played by a pitch-perfect George Clooney, sees his carefully-constructed world about to crumble, and convinces his boss to let him take the young hotshot who came up with the plan, recent college grad Natalie Keener, superbly played by Anna Kendrick, on the road to show her why life and the death of your job is more complicated than that.

Ryan Bingham and Natalie Keener both have a lot to learn. Bingham begins to open up his shell a bit with a fellow road warrior, a stunningly good Vera Farmiga, and Natalie gets some bad news delivered in a cold technology wrapper that ought to make her think. Things begin to change, but not in the easy landing kind of way you might expect. The story is grown up, post romantic, and faithful to present-day road warrior culture. It's an examination that will make you think, but won't give you the obvious answers.

Rated R. 109 minutes. Jason Reitman - Director / Writer (screenplay) /Producer, Sheldon Turner - Writer (screenplay) Walter Kirn - Writer (novel), Jeffrey Clifford, {roducer, DanDubiecki - Producer, Ivan Reitman - Producer, Eric Steelberg, - Cinematographer, Rolfe Kent - Composer, Steve Saklad - Production Designer, Dana E. Glauberman - Editor. Produced by Cold Spring Pictures. Distributed by Paramount Pictures.

Principle actors: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, Tamala Jones, and Chris Lowell.

Invictus ****

"Invictus" tells the little-known story of how Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) in his first term as president of South Africa, used the national rugby team, the Springboks, in their quest for the world rugby championship of 1995, as a tool to help unite his deeply divided country. Freeman exudes the moral authority you would expect from someone who has played God (twice), and who was anointed by Mandela himself as his first choice to play him in a movie. And Matt Damon, who in another masterful character role plays the captain of the team, Francois Pienaar, gives us a totally believable and accessible study of a Afrikaner who comes to feel the support of all South Africans, not just the white ones.

In tackling the almost mythical Mandela, director / producer Clint Eastwood wisely focuses on the game always as an adjunct to the heavy lifting Mandela was doing in his day job. The game proves an apt metaphor as well as actual inspiration for the nation, and Eastwood delivers his trademark simplicity of style that communicates without extra flourishes or showmanship. And don't worry about the rugby - the sports scenes are handled well enough to know what's going on without having to understand the game. Here it's the emotion that counts, not the rules.

A note on the title: "Invictus" is the name of a Victorian poem by William Ernest Henley that got Mandela through some dark days in his 27-year imprisonment. Henley, crippled by bone tuberculosis, wrote, on his hospital bed, the poem that includes the famous lines " I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, which means "unconquered" in Latin, was added as the title later by an editor.

Rated PG-13. 134 minutes. Clint Eastwood - Director / Producer, Anthony Peckham - Writer (screenplay), John Carline - Writer (book "Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation"), Robert Lorenz - Producer, Lori McCreary - Producer, Mace Neufeld - Producer, Tom Stern - Cinematograher, Kyle Eastwood - Composer, Michael Stevens - Composer, James J. Murakami - Production Designer, Joel Cos - Editor, Gary D. Roach - Editor.

Principle actors: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon.

Pirate Radio ***

Set on a ship in the North Sea in the 1960's, "Pirate Radio" purports to tell us the story of a wildly popular rock and roll station forced to transmit from international waters because of the restrictions of a too-prim British government. There's a large and colorful cast, including a nicely rumpled Philip Seymour Hoffman as a DJ, and Bill Nighy in a marvelous turn as the station's business manager. There are good helpings of drugs, sex, and, of course, rock and roll throughout. Writer/ Director / Producer Richard Curtis manages to keep everything afloat, as it were, in spite of the number of characters, but I was bothered by an absence of the men who kept the ship going, the captain and the crew, who rate only one passing mention. This was probably a calculation by Curtis to keep the story from getting too overloaded, and my companion said he never noticed. It's a fun movie, and a great chance to revisit some great songs. And don't leave before the credits, which feature a gallery of famous album covers.

Rated R. 116 minutes. Richard Curtis - Director / Writer / Producer, Hilary Bevan Jones - Producer, Tim Bevan - Producer, Eric Fellner - Producer, Danny Cohen - Cinematographer, Mark Tildesley - Production Designer, Emma E. Hickox - Editor.

Principle actors: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nigh, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Sturridge, Talulah Riley, and January Jones.