The Girl Who Played With Fire ***

"The Girl Who Played With Fire," the second of the movies based on the Stieg Larsson Millennium trilogy of novels, is workmanlike, advancing the further story of journalist Michael Nyqvist's investigations, and Lisbeth Salander's final attempt to settle her scores, once and for all, with her evil father. Thankfully, the three movies were shot in sequence with all creative and performing talents the same. However, perhaps endemic to its position, the middle of the three stories seems more transition than drama. It is nevertheless well done, and a must see for Larsson fans, who can only anticipate the final movie coming soon.

Rated R. 129 minutes. Daniel Alfredson - Director, Jonas Fryberg - Writer (screenplay), Stieg Larsson - Writer (novel), Peter Mokrosinski - Cinematographer, jacob Groth - Composer, Mattias Morheden - Editor. Distributed in the U.S. by Music Box Films.

Principal actors: Mikael Blomkvist, Noomi Rapace.

The Kids Are All Right ****

Complications ensue when the children of lesbian parents track down their sperm donor biological father. It sounds like it could be a comedy, and there are funny moments, but director/writer Lisa Cholodenko has constructed a thoughtful, insightful, and dramatic film that exposes the strengths and weaknesses of the relationship of the two moms.

With the older child (Mia Wasikowska of "Alice in Wonderland") approaching college age, and the younger (Josh Hutcherson of "Bridge to Terabithia") dealing with adolescent growing pains, the kids are becoming adults and questioning everything. Annette Benning, in an Oscar-worth performance, and Julianne Moore play the parents. Mark Ruffalo completes the outstanding cast. This movie is much more than all right, it's superb.

Rated R. 106 minutes. Lisa Cholodenko - Director / Writer, Stuart Blumberg - Writer, Gary Gilbert - Producer, Philippe Hellmann - Producer, Jordan Horowitz - Producer, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte - Producer, Celine Rattray - Producer, Daniela Taplin Lundberg - Producer, Igor Jadue=Lillo - Cinematographer, Carter Burwell - Composer, Julie Berghoff - Production Designer, Jeffrey M. Werner - Editor. Distributed by Focus Features.

Principal actors: Annette Benning, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work ***

Or you could call it "Joan Rivers, Inc." An up-close and intimate look at her life at 75, from the daily ritual of the heavy makeup to the hard-won gigs (and she will almost literally work anywhere) we see her life as it is and, in archival footage, what it was as she worked her way to the top. Nothing, it seems, is off limits, and the most painful parts of her life are there along with the most joyful. Shot over a 14 month period by Ricki Stern and her sister, Annie Sundberg, this amazing documentary provides a backstage portrait that is intriguing, involving, sad, raucously funny, and thought-provoking.

Rated R. 84 minutes. Ricki Stern - Director, Annie Sundberg - Co-Director, Seth Keal - Producer, Anne Sundberg - Producer, Charles Miller - Cinematographer, Paul Brill - Composer, Penelope Falk -Editor. Produced by Break Thru Films. Distributed by IFC Films.

Principal subjects (as themselves): Joan Rivers, Flo Fox, Kathy Griffin, Don Rickles, Melissa Rivers.

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.