NEW MOVIES

"Bolt" (PG). Not reviewed. This children's-oriented animated comedy features the voice of John Travolta as a canine television celebrity forced to make the transition from Hollywood to New York. Opens Friday, Nov. 21.

"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" (PG-13). This is the Holocaust as seen through a child's eyes. When a German boy's father is appointed commanding officer of a Nazi concentration camp, the boy doesn't understand why its inhabitants wear what he calls striped pajamas. The serious topic is nearly undone by a contrived script. Grade: C+ Opens Friday, Nov. 21.

"Twilight" (PG-13). Not reviewed. Catherine Hardwicke directs the much-anticipated screen version of Stephenie Meyer's novel about a teen girl's romance with a mysterious vampire. Opens Friday, Nov. 21.

NOW PLAYING

"Changeling" (R). Director Clint Eastwood achieves a stilted tone in this true story about a single mother in Los Angeles in the 1920s whose young son goes missing. Grade: B- Valley Center 9, Owings Mills 17, Towson Commons 8, Hunt Valley 12

"High School Musical 3: Senior Year" (G). Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens finally approach graduation in a wholesome musical comedy that's as easy to watch as it is predictable. There are plans to continue the series, so here's a title the producers may want to consider: "High School Musical 4: GED." Grade: B- Valley Center 9, Owings Mills 17, Towson Commons 8, Hunt Valley 12, AMC White Marsh, Charles Theatre

"Let the Right One In" (R). This technically well-crafted Swedish vampire movie is just as smart thematically. Traditional symbolic interpretations of the vampire as a social outcast are applied to the story about a lonely 12-year-old schoolboy becoming friends with a 12-year-old girl who happens to be a vampire. Grade: B+ Charles Theatre

"Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" (PG). This animated sequel has the lion (Ben Stiller), zebra (Chris Rock), giraffe (David Schwimmer) and hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) exploring mainland Africa. Although the plot doesn't do much more than trot out the same cuddly characters, some attempts are made to advance the story. Grade: C+ Valley Center 9, Owings Mills 17, Towson Commons 8, Hunt Valley 12, AMC White Marsh

"My Name Is Bruce" (R). This is a self-reflexive "B" horror movie in which director-star Bruce Campbell plays himself confronting a demon terrorizing a small town. Some of the intentionally dumb scenes are funny and others are just plain dumb. Grade: C+ Harbor East Theatre

"Quantum of Solace" (PG-13). See review, Page 10. Grade: C

"Role Models" (R). Yet another rude comedy in which grown men act like juveniles. Seann William Scott and Paul Rudd play slackers whose mischief leads to a community service sentence that involves mentoring troubled teens. Although scattered bits are funny, most of the movie is as lame as it is profane. Grade: C Valley Center 9, Owings Mills 17, Towson Commons 8, Hunt Valley 12, AMC White Marsh

"The Secret Life of Bees" (PG-13). Based on a best-selling novel and featuring Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson and Queen Latifah, this honey-drenched story about a girl growing up in racially segregated South Carolina in 1964 is easy to like, but its thematic messages are so bluntly delivered that it has a paint-by-number quality. Grade: B- Owings Mills 17, Hunt Valley 12, Rotunda Cinemateque

"Soul Men" (R). An unintentional sadness hovers over this silly comedy, because star Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes (in a cameo) died before its release. Mac and Samuel L. Jackson are enjoyably cast as feuding soul singers who agree to reunite. Their long drive from Los Angeles to New York results in a slapstick-filled road movie that coasts on its cheap laughs. Grade: C+ Valley Center 9, Owings Mills 17, Towson Commons 8, Hunt Valley 12, AMC White Marsh, Senator Theatre

"Synecdoche, New York" (R). Writer-director Charlie Kaufman may not be as clever as he thinks he is in this dizzyingly opaque study of a theater director (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his complicated love life. Kaufman assumes that confusion is a virtue. With Emily Watson, Samantha Morton, Catherine Keener and Michelle Williams. Grade: C Charles Theatre

"Zack and Miri Make a Porno" (R). Writer-director Kevin Smith's mostly unsuccessful comedy features Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as financially desperate friends who decide to make a pornographic movie. The first half of Smith's movie is marred by so much profanity-laced dialogue that it becomes tiresome; and the second half is marred by such a sentimental turn that it seems forced. Grade: C Valley Center 9, Owings Mills 17, Towson Commons 8, Hunt Valley 12

All capsule reviews and grades are by Mike Giuliano unless otherwise noted. Bookings change on Friday. For showtimes and to confirm listings, call the phone-in number in Screen Scene.

SCREEN SCENE

Charles Theatre
1711 N. Charles St.,
410-727-FILM

Hunt Valley Cinema 12
Shawan Road,
410-329-9800

Maryland Science Center IMAX Theater
410-685-5225

Muvico Egyptian 24
Arundel Mills Boulevard at Route 100,
443-755-8992

Owings Mills 17
Mill Run Circle,
443-394-0081

Rotunda Cinematheque
711 W. 40th St.,
410-235-4800

R/C's Eastpoint Movies 10
7938 Eastern Blvd.,
410-284-3100

Senator Theatre
5904 York Road,
410-435-8338

Towson Commons 8
York Road at Pennsylvania Avenue,
410-825-5233

Valley Center 9
9616 Reisterstown Road,
410-363-4194

West Nursery 14
Linthicum,
410-850-8999

White Marsh Theatre
White Marsh Boulevard,
410-933-9428

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