New at theaters

'Great Debaters'

Starring Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett and Kimberly Elise. Professor Melvin Tolson, a brilliant but volatile debate team coach, uses the power of words to shape a group of underdog students from a small black college in the deep south into a historically elite debate team. A controversial figure, Professor Tolson challenged the social mores of the time and was under constant fire for his unconventional and ferocious teaching methods as well as his radical political views. In their pursuit for excellence, Tolson's debate team receives a groundbreaking invitation to debate Harvard University's championship team. Rated PG-13 for depiction of strong thematic material including violence and disturbing images, language and brief sexuality, running time 123 minutes. (Town Plaza Cinema)

'Water Horse: Legend of the Deep'

Starring Emily Watson, Alex Etel, David Morrissey and Ben Chaplin. When Angus, a young Scottish boy, finds an enchanted egg, he takes it home and soon finds himself face-to-face with an amazing creature: the mythical water horse of Scottish lore. Angus begins a journey of discovery, facing his greatest fears and risking his life to protect a secret that would give birth to a legend. Rated PG for mild action/violence, some language and smoking, running time 111 minutes. (Town Plaza Cinema)

Still showing

'Aliens vs. Predator Requiem'

Starring Steven Pasquale, Shareeka Epps, John Ortiz and Johnny Lewis. Warring alien and predator races descend on a small Colorado town, where unsuspecting residents must band together for any chance of survival. Rated R for violence, gore and language, running time 86 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'Alvin and the Chipmunks'

Starring Jason Lee, David Cross, Cameron Richardson and Jane Lynch. Three chipmunk brothers are adopted by a man named Dave. Based on the 1950s cartoon series about a music group of chipmunks comprised of mischievous group leader Alvin, tall and quiet Simon, and chubby, impressionable Theodore. Rated PG for some mild rude humor, running time 92 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'August Rush'

Starring Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Terrence Howard and Robin Williams. Twelve years ago, Lyla Novacek, a young cellist, and Louis Connelly, an Irish singer-songwriter, were drawn together. Months later Lyla was led to believe she had lost their unborn child in a car accident. Their orphaned son uses his musical talent as a clue to find his birth parents. Rated PG some thematic elements, mild violence and language, running time 114 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'Charlie Wilson's War'

Starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Ned Beatty. Charlie Wilson, an alcoholic womanizer and Texas congressman, persuaded the CIA to train and arm resistance fighters in Afghanistan to fend off the Soviet Union. With the help of rogue CIA agent, Gust Avrakotos, the two men supplied money, training and a team of military experts that turned the ill-equipped Afghan freedom-fighters into a force that fought the Red Army to a stalemate. However, the result also empowered the Taliban and terrorists including Osama bin Laden. Rated R for strong language, nudity, sexual/content and some drug use, running time 97 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'Enchanted'

Starring Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Susan Sarandon and Timothy Spall. A classic Disney fairytale collides with modern-day New York City in a story about a fairy-tale princess from the past who is thrust into the present by an evil queen. Rated PG for some scary images and mild innuendo. (Cape West Cine)

'The Golden Compass'

Starring Nicole Kidman, Dakota Blue Richards, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliott and Eva Green. Lyra Belacqua is an orphan who lives happily in Jordan College, Oxford, playing with local boys and terrorizing the professors. However, when Lyra overhears scholars discussing a plot against her uncle, Lord Asriel, centering a mysterious substance called Dust, her curiosity is roused. Soon Lyra is in over her head as she uncovers a frightening plot and a whole new world of possibilities. Rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence, running time 114 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'I Am Legend'

Starring Will Smith, Alice Braga, and Salli Richardson-Whitfield. Robert Neville is a brilliant scientist, but even he could not contain the terrible virus that was unstoppable, incurable and manmade. Somehow immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City, and maybe the world. But he is not alone. He is surrounded by "the Infected" -- victims of the plague who have mutated into carnivorous beings who can only exist in the dark and who will devour or infect anyone or anything in their path. Perhaps mankind's last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But his blood is also what the infected hunt, and Neville knows he is outnumbered and quickly running out of time. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, running time 100 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'National Trerasure: Book of Secrets'

Starring Nicolas Cage, Jon Voight, Harvey Keitel, Ed Harris, Diane Kruger and Justin Bartha. When a missing page from the diary of John Wilkes Booth surfaces, Benjamin Franklin Gates' great-great grandfather is suddenly implicated as a key conspirator in Abraham Lincoln's death. Determined to prove his ancestor's innocence , Ben follows an international chain of clues that takes him on a chase from Paris to London and ultimately back to America. This journey leads Ben and his crew not only to surprising revelations -- but to the trail of the world's most treasured secrets. Rated PG for some violence and action, running time 124 minutes. (Town Plaza Cinema)

'No Country for Old Men'

Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson and Kelly MacDonald. Llewelyn Moss finds a pickup truck surrounded by dead men. A load of heroin and $2 million in cash are still in the truck. When Moss takes the money, he sets off a chain reaction of catastrophic violence that not even the law -- namely aging, disillusioned Sheriff Bell -- can contain. Rated R for strong graphic violence and some language, running time 122 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'P.S. I Love You'

Starring Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Gina Gershon, Lisa Kudrow, Harry Connick Jr. and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Holly Kennedy is beautiful, smart and married to the love of her life -- a passionate, funny and impetuous Irishman named Gerry. So when Gerry's life is taken by an illness, it takes the life out of Holly. The only one who can help her is the person who is no longer there. Before he died, Gerry wrote Holly a series of letters that will guide her, not only through her grief but in rediscovering herself. The first message arrives on Holly's 30th birthday and in the weeks and months that follow, more letters from Gerry are delivered in surprising ways, each sending her on a new adventure. Rated PG-13 for sexual references and brief nudity, running time 126 minutes. (Town Plaza Cinema)

'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'

Starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Jamie Campbell Bower and Jayne Wisener. Unjustly sent to prison, a man vows revenge, not only for that cruel punishment, but for the devastating consequences of what happened to his wife and daughter. When he returns to reopen his barber shop, he becomes Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, who "shaved the faces of gentlemen who never thereafter were heard of again." Sweeney's amorous accomplice, Mrs. Lovett, creates diabolical meat pies. Based on the hit Broadway musical, which tells the infamous story of Benjamin Barker, also known as Sweeney Todd. Rated R for graphic bloody violence, running time 117 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story'

Starring John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Tim Meadows and Kristen Wiig. America loves Dewey Cox! But behind the music is the up-and-down-and-up-again story of a musician whose songs would change a nation. On his rock 'n' roll spiral, Cox sleeps with 411 women, marries three times, has 22 kids and 14 stepkids, stars in his own '70s TV show, collects friends ranging from Elvis to the Beatles to a chimp, and gets addicted to -- and then kicks -- every drug known to man. But despite it all, Cox becomes a national icon and eventually earns the love of a good woman -- longtime backup singer Darlene. Rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language, running time 101 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

-- From staff reports