In local theaters

January 5, 2008 at 2:00a.m.

“ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS” (C-): By placing somewhat realistic-looking, CGI-animated chipmunks in a live-action film, director Tim Hill hopes to enliven the old chipmunks, created nearly 50 years ago. After their tree is chopped down and brought to Los Angeles, they are soon taken in by out-of-work musician Dave Seville (Jason Lee). The biggest failure of the film is the animation of the caroling critters, who are essentially without expression. But in this bloody holiday season of murderous barbers, ruthless oilmen and harrowing Texan killers, where is a family to go? 92 minutes. Rated PG for some mild rude humor.

“BEE MOVIE” (A): Jerry Seinfeld stars in, co-wrote and co-produced this colorful jaunt about a bee named Barry who dares to leave the tradition and rigidity of New Hive City for the vast unknown of the outside world — specifically, the corner of 67th and Columbus on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. There he meets and falls for a florist named Vanessa (voiced by Renee Zellweger), who helps him sue the entire human race for stealing the bees’ honey and selling it. 90 minutes. Rated PG for mild suggestive humor.

“BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOUR DEAD” (C): Director Sidney Lumet, working from the first script by playwright Kelly Masterson, harkens to his own classic “Dog Day Afternoon” with this story of a heist fueled by desperation, in which one bad decision leads to another with devastating results. But the veteran filmmaker also seems to be aiming for family dysfunction and tragedy on a Shakespearean scale, which proves elusive. 123 minutes. Rated R for a scene of strong graphic sexuality, nudity, violence, drug use and language.

“CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR” (B): A crisp, biting satire that confidently mixes sex and politics, this combination of director Mike Nichols and writer Aaron Sorkin glides along so smartly and smoothly, it makes you wonder how it’s possible that these two have never teamed up before. It’s based on the true story of a congressman (Tom Hanks), a Houston socialite (Julia Roberts) and a CIA operative (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who conspired to arm Afghanistan’s mujahedeen against Soviet invaders in the early 1980s. 97 minutes. Rated R for strong language, nudity/sexual content and some drug use.

“ENCHANTED” (B): After years of watching the monstrously successful “Shrek” franchise parody everything beloved about those classic animated Disney movies, Disney is showing a sense of humor and making fun of itself. Wide-eyed, would-be princess Giselle (the irresistible Amy Adams) is banished by the wicked Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) from her idyllic cartoon playland to the harsh reality of Times Square before she can marry her one true love, Prince Edward (James Marsden). Little girls and tweens will love this movie, and adults will laugh heartily and often at the way director Kevin Lima and writer Bill Kelly tweak familiar fairy-tale details. 107 minutes. Rated PG for some scary images and mild innuendo.

“THE GOLDEN COMPASS” (B): Nicole Kidman’s presence in this elaborate fantasy flick is emblematic of the movie itself: aesthetically lush but ultimately cold to the touch. It’s also probably too scary for a lot of kids, with its themes of totalitarianism and mind control. It’s about a 12-year-old orphan who receives the last remaining golden compass, a device that provides the true answer to any question, and must use it to find other children who’ve been abducted by a government body that wants to rid them of free will. 114 minutes. Rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence.

“THE GREAT DEBATERS” (C+): Denzel Washington, as director and star, manages to find the right tone much of the time. He stars as Melvin B. Tolson, the debate coach at the all-black Wiley College in Marshall, Texas. In 1935, Wiley’s debaters did something unprecedented: They competed against several predominantly white schools and won, including Harvard (in real life, Wiley beat USC, but you get the idea). 123 minutes. Rated PG-13 for depiction of strong thematic material including violence and disturbing images, and for language and brief sexuality.

“I AM LEGEND” (C): Will Smith conjures both pathos and absurd laughs as Robert Neville, a military scientist whose immunity to a deadly virus leaves him stranded in Manhattan with only his trusted German shepherd for companionship. But it’s the visual effects in director Francis Lawrence’s film that truly dazzle. But then along come the Infected — the ones who didn’t die from the virus but rather were transformed into shrieking, flailing crazies — and “I Am Legend” turns from a quiet meditation on the nature of humanity into a B-movie schlockfest. 100 minutes. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence.

“JUNO” (A): Juno MacGuff is the kind of teenager we all wish we could have been: quick-witted, frighteningly smart and comfortable enough in her own skin to resist those high-school pressures to conform, even as her body expands with an unplanned pregnancy. And “Juno” is the kind of movie all indie comedies wish they could be: light and lovable, perhaps a bit too pleased with the cleverness of its dialogue, but a charmer nonetheless. Ellen Page as Juno absolutely shines in this second feature from director Jason Reitman, once again showing a deft touch with tone following his 2006 debut, “Thank You for Smoking.” 91 minutes. Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexual content and language.

“NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN” (A): This film marries the strengths of novelist Cormac McCarthy and filmmakers the Coen brothers in ways that are deceptively simple and profoundly moving, set against the harshly beautiful, seemingly endless landscape of West Texas. Set in 1980, the tale follows three vastly different men tied together by a big-money drug deal gone bad. Josh Brolin is perfectly cast as the stoic Vietnam vet who stumbles upon the bloody aftermath, finds a briefcase stuffed with $2 million and impulsively makes off with it. Javier Bardem is chilling as the mysterious, murderous psychopath chasing after him to get the cash back. And Tommy Lee Jones is right in his element as the sheriff tracking them both and lamenting the loss of his honorable way of life in an increasingly senseless world. 122 minutes. Rated R for strong graphic violence and some language.

“P.S. I LOVE YOU” (D-): This totally contrived pile of uberschmaltz, directed by Richard LaGravenese and based on a novel by Irish writer Cecelia Ahern, finds Hilary Swank’s Holly Kennedy widowed at 29 when her husband dies of a brain tumor. But somehow in his waning state, Gerry (Gerard Butler) was lucid enough to construct for her an elaborate spiritual scavenger hunt, arranging to have letters sent to her for a year after his death, each signed — you guessed it — “P.S. I Love You.” 126 minutes. Rated PG-13 for sexual references and brief nudity.

“SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET” (A): The quintessential Tim Burton movie, even though it springs from somebody else’s celebrated mind. Everything about Stephen Sondheim’s revered musical, which provided the inspiration for the film, seems tailor-made for the director’s sensibilities. Truly, what other filmmaker could tell the story of a vengeful barber (Johnny Depp) who slits his customers’ throats and the lovesick baker (Helena Bonham Carter) who grinds up the dead bodies for her meat pies? 117 minutes. R for graphic bloody violence.

“WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY” (B): “Walk Hard,” a take-off on the music biopic, hits all the familiar conventions we’ve seen in overly earnest movies like “Ray” and “Walk the Line.” What keeps the movie giddy and buoyant throughout is the presence of John C. Reilly, a comic actor who can break your heart with his underdog sweetness, and who isn’t afraid to go to the goofiest places possible for the big laugh. 96 minutes. Rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language.

“THE WATER HORSE: LEGEND OF THE DEEP” (B): This extremely sweet tale of a lonely boy named Angus (Alex Etel) who finds an egg and befriends its contents once it hatches — a slimy, mischievous but irresistibly cute creature that can only be described as a baby water horse — will tug at anyone’s heart. The facially expressive animal, whom Angus names Crusoe, makes squeaky and scratchy noises as it wobbles about the family’s Scottish house during World War II, causing trouble. As Crusoe grows, he gets too big for the bathtub and must be moved to the loch. It’s a fuzzy but amusing way of explaining the legend of the Loch Ness monster, and a lovely tale of loyalty and unexpected friendship. 111 minutes. Rated PG, for some action/peril, mild language and brief smoking.

Wire services