“THE BIG YEAR”

103 Minutes (PG)

David Frankel (“Marley and Me”) returns with this comedy about three avid birdwatchers (Jack Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson) competing for the big prize at a national competition. We’re smiling already.

“CIRCUMSTANCE”

106 Minutes (R)

Teenage lesbian love in Tehran, and the family clashes and cultural drama that ensue. More interesting for its view into a closed, conservative society than for its insights into love, sex and rebellious youth.

“COURAGEOUS”

129 Minutes (PG13)

Four men, one calling: To serve and protect. As law enforcement officers, Adam Mitchell, Nathan Hayes, David Thomson and Shane Fuller are confident and focused. Yet at the end of the day, they face a challenge that none of them are truly prepared to tackle: fatherhood.

“FOOTLOOSE”

113 Minutes (PG)

The 1984 Kevin Bacon hit gets a contemporary redo by “Hustle & Flow” director Craig Brewer. Newcomer Kenny Wormald takes over as the big-city teen who relocates to a small town where a reverend (Dennis Quaid) has outlawed loud music and dancing. This is our time, dammit! Kick off those Sunday shoes.

“HIGHER GROUND”

109 Minutes (R)

Vera Farmiga directs and stars in this stunning film about a lost soul who finds faith but longs for a tangible connection with God.

“THE THING”

103 Minutes (R)

This prequel to the 1982 John Carpenter chiller — still one of the scariest movies ever — features the same title but tells a different tale, revealing what really happened to those frozen Norwegian scientists the cast of the original film found slaughtered in Antarctica. Hint: A shape-shifting alien from another planet may have had something to do with it. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton and Jonathan Lloyd Walker co-star for director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., who makes his debut.

— Compiled from

wire reports

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