In the action comedy "Tropic Thunder," a group of actors shooting a war movie gets involved in the real thing. It stars and is directed by Ben Stiller, center.

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Opening Friday

Battle in Seattle *1/2 — R for language and some violence. Activists protest the World Trade Organization in Seattle. Charlize Theron. 99 minutes. Review on Page 17. Loft.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa **1/2 — PG for some mild crude humor. The band of talking animated animals from the 2005 hit reunite for another adventure. Ben Stiller lends his voice. 89 minutes. Review on Page 12. El Con, Marketplace, Century Park, Park Place, DeAnza, Desert Sky, Foothills, Harkins, Tower, Uptown.

Rachel Getting Married ***1/2 — R for language and brief sexuality. A woman who has battled addiction for 10 years attends her sister's wedding. Anne Hathaway. 114 minutes. Review on Page 16. El Con.

Role Models ***1/2 — R for crude and sexual content, strong language and nudity. Because of their hijinks, energy drink salesmen are forced to join a youth mentorship program. Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott. 100 minutes. Review on Page 10. El Con, Marketplace, Century Park, Park Place, Cinemark, DeAnza, Desert Sky, Foothills, Harkins, Tower.

Soul Men **1/2 — R for pervasive language, and sexual content including nudity. Two soul singers who haven't spoken to each other in years reunite after a bandmate dies. Samuel L. Jackson. 103 minutes. Review on Page 13. El Con, Marketplace, Century Park, Park Place, Foothills, Harkins, Tower, Uptown.

Sukiyaki Western Django — R for strong violence. A Japanese Western about enemy clans hunting for the same treasure. In Japanese, with subtitles. 121 minutes. Loft.

Continuing Friday

Appaloosa *** — R for some violence and language. Two friends come to the aid of a small town terrorized by a rancher. Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen. 114 minutes. Foothills, Desert Sky, Harkins, Tower.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua ** — PG for some mild thematic elements. A small dog gets lost in Mexico. Drew Barrymore lends her voice. 93 minutes. El Con, Marketplace, Century Park, Park Place, Cinemark, DeAnza, Foothills, Harkins, Tower.

Body of Lies ** — R for strong violence, including some torture, and for language throughout. A CIA agent discovers a terrorist hiding in Jordan, and must trust unsavory allies to accomplish his mission. Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe. 128 minutes. Century Park, Park Place, Cinemark.

Bottle Shock ** (Star rating derived from Metacritic.com) — PG-13 for strong language, sexual content and drug use. A comedy/drama about the California wine industry. Alan Rickman. 110 minutes. Crossroads.

Burn After Reading *** — R for pervasive language, some sexual content and violence. The Coen brothers direct a comedic drama about ne'er-do-wells who steal a CIA agent's memoirs. Brad Pitt. Gateway.

Changeling **1/2 — R for violent and disturbing content, and language. A woman's son is kidnapped and police return a different boy, claiming he's hers. Clint Eastwood directs. Angelina Jolie stars. 141 minutes. El Con, Marketplace, Park Place, Desert Sky, Foothills, Harkins, Tower, Uptown.

City of Ember * — PG for mild peril and some thematic elements. In this family adventure film, kids struggle to escape a land of darkness. Saoirse Ronan. 95 minutes. Gateway, Oracle View.

The Dark Knight **** — PG-13 for intense violence and menace. The Caped Crusader faces the Joker in this highly awaited follow-up to "Batman Begins." Christian Bale, Heath Ledger. 152 minutes. Century Park.

Eagle Eye ** — PG-13 for intense action and violence, and for language. Two average people become unwitting accomplices to an assassination plot. Shia LaBeouf. 118 minutes. Marketplace, Century Park, Park Place, Cinemark, Foothills, Harkins.

The Express *** — PG for thematic content, violence and language involving racism, and for brief sensuality. A biopic on Ernie Davis, the first black football player to win the Heisman trophy. Dennis Quaid. 110 minutes. Gateway.

Flash of Genius *** — PG-13 for brief strong language. An inventor fights for credit for his windshield wiper invention, which was stolen by carmakers. Greg Kinnear. 119 minutes. Crossroads.

Ghost Town ***1/2 — PG13 for some strong language, sexual humor and drug references. A man who dies and is revived discovers he can now contact ghosts in this comedy. Ricky Gervais. 102 minutes. Crossroads, Gateway.

A Girl Cut in Two *** — Not rated. Two men pursue a TV weather girl in this dark comedy. In French, with subtitles. Ludivine Sagnier. 115 minutes. Loft.

The Haunting of Molly Hartley — PG-13 for strong thematic material, violence and terror, brief strong language and teen drinking. A haunted high school girl tries to make a fresh start. Shannon Marie Woodward. 87 minutes. El Con, Marketplace, Century Park, Park Place, Cinemark, DeAnza, Foothills, Harkins, Tower.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year *** — G for all audiences. Students stage a musical that addresses their concerns with growing up, going to college and entering the real world. Ashley Tisdale. 118 minutes. El Con, Marketplace, Century Park, Park Place, Cinemark, DeAnza, Foothills, Harkins, Tower.

The House Bunny *1/2 — PG-13 for sex-related humor, partial nudity and brief strong language. A former Playboy model teaches girls in a sorority to be more attractive in this comedy. Gateway, Oracle View.

Igor *1/2 — PG for some thematic elements, scary images, action and mild language. An animated comedy set in a land of mad scientists and monsters. John Cusack lends his voice. 89 minutes. Gateway, Crossroads, Oracle View.

Journey to the Center of the Earth *** — PG for intense adventure action and some scary moments. Explorers discover a living realm underneath the planet's surface. Brendan Fraser. 92 minutes. Gateway, Oracle View.

Mamma Mia! **1/2 — PG-13 for some sex-related comments. The stage musical, featuring the music of ABBA, comes to the big screen. Meryl Streep. 108 minutes. Gateway, Oracle View.

Max Payne * (Star rating derived from Metacritic.com) — PG-13 for violence including intense shooting, drug content, some sexuality and brief strong language. An agent whose family was killed and a female assassin whose sister was slain team up to avenge the deaths. Mark Wahlberg. 86 minutes. El Con, Century Park, Park Place, Foothills, Harkins, Tower.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist * — PG-13 for mature thematic material including teen drinking, sexuality, language and crude behavior. Unlikely lovebirds get together to search for a hidden concert. Michael Cera. 90 minutes. Harkins.

Passengers ** (Star rating derived from Metacritic.com) — PG-13 for thematic elements including some scary images, and sensuality. A therapist counsels plane crash survivors, falling for one of her clients. Anne Hathaway. 100 minutes. Century Park.

Pineapple Express **** — R for pervasive language, drug use, sexual references and violence. A stoner sees a cop commit murder, then goes on the run. Seth Rogen. 111 minutes. Gateway, Crossroads, Oracle View.

Pride and Glory *** — R for strong violence, pervasive language and brief drug content. A cop discovers corruption involving his brother-in-law. Edward Norton. 125 minutes. Marketplace, Foothills, El Con, Park Place, Harkins, Tower.

Quarantine ** (Star rating derived from Metacritic.com) — R for bloody, violent and disturbing content, terror and language. Jennifer Carpenter. A TV reporter and her cameraman are stuck inside an apartment building under quarantine. 89 minutes. Century Park, DeAnza, Harkins.

Righteous Kill ** — R for violence, pervasive language, some sexuality and brief drug use. New York detectives track the case of a serial killer. Al Pacino, Robert De Niro. 100 minutes. Gateway, Crossroads, Oracle View.

RocknRolla — R for pervasive language, violence, drug use and brief sexuality. Members of London's underworld scramble to get their hands on dirty money from a Russian mobster's plan. Guy Ritchie directs. 100 minutes. El Con, Park Place, Foothills, Harkins.

Saw V * (Star rating derived from Metacritic.com) — R for grisly violence and torture, language and brief nudity. A forensics expert tries to protect his secret that he's a killer who follows the spirit of the terrible reign of Jigsaw. Tobin Bell. 88 minutes. El Con, Marketplace, Century Park, Park Place, Cinemark, DeAnza, Foothills, Harkins, Tower.

The Secret Life of Bees *1/2 — PG-13 for thematic material and some violence. Dakota Fanning. A girl whose mother has died runs away from home and is taken in by beekeeping sisters. 110 minutes. El Con, Park Place, Foothills, Harkins.

Step Brothers *** — R for crude and sexual content, and pervasive language. Two spoiled men become stepbrothers. Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly. 95 minutes. Oracle View.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars *** — PG for sci-fi action violence, brief language and smoking. The animated "Star Wars" sequel traces the galactic turmoil between episodes II and III. 98 minutes. Gateway.

Traitor *** — PG-13 for intense violence, thematic material and brief language. The federal government targets a special operative who works with terrorists. Don Cheadle. Gateway, Crossroads, Oracle View.

Transsiberian ***1/2 — R for some violence, including torture and language. In this thriller, penned by Tucsonan Will Conroy and director Brad Anderson, an American couple encounters danger on a train ride from China to Moscow. Woody Harrelson. 111 minutes. Crossroads.

Tropic Thunder **1/2 — R for pervasive language including sexual references, violence and drug material. Ben Stiller stars and directs this comedy about a war film set in a real life war zone. 107 minutes. Gateway, Crossroads, Oracle View.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona ***1/2 — PG-13 for mature thematic material involving sexuality, and smoking. Woody Allen writes and directs a romantic comedy about a painter who romances two Americans. Scarlett Johansson. 96 minutes. Crossroads.

W. **1/2 — PG-13 for language including sexual references, some alcohol abuse, smoking and brief disturbing war images. Oliver Stone's examination of George W. Bush. Josh Brolin. 129 minutes. El Con, Century Marketplace, Park Place, Foothills.

WALL-E **1/2 — G for all audiences. A Pixar animated film about a robot attempting to find acceptance and love. 98 minutes. Gateway, Crossroads, Oracle View.

What Just Happened *** — R for language, some violent images, sexual content and some drug material. Robert De Niro plays a producer who can't get his latest movie going in this comedy. 107 minutes. El Con.

The Women ** —PG-13 for sex-related material, language, some drug use and brief smoking. A woman leaves her cheating husband. Meg Ryan, 114 minutes. Gateway, Crossroads.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno — R for strong crude sexual content including dialogue, graphic nudity and pervasive language. Writer/director Kevin Smith's comedy about lifelong platonic friends who make a sex film. Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks. 102 minutes. El Con, Marketplace, Century Park, Park Place, Cinemark, Desert Sky, Foothills, Harkins, Tower.

– Phil Villarreal