BIG SCREEN
Funny Games (R) -- Director Michael Haneke's shot-for-shot remake of his harrowing 1997 German-language thriller, about a couple (Tim Roth and Naomi Watts) and their young son held hostage in their home by a pair of psychopathic punks (Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet). Just as punishing and relentless as the original, and the story is actually a better fit for U.S. audiences. Not for the squeamish.
Horton Hears a Who (G) -- Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett and Seth Rogen provide the voices for this computer-animated retelling of the Dr. Seuss classic about an elephant's trying to protect a community of tiny little creatures.
Never Back Down (PG-13) -- The new kid in school (Sean Faris) takes lessons from a martial arts expert (Djimon Hounsou) so he can kick butt in an underground ultimate-fighting championship for teens. You know, like Karate Kid meets Fight Club.
-- RENE RODRIGUEZ
SMALL SCREENThe Wire (9 p.m. Sunday, HBO) -- After five seasons of deconstructing the implosion of America's urban environment, the most idea-driven drama in television history is finally coming to an end. Using an overworked Baltimore police unit and the inner-city dope dealers it pursues as a prism, The Wire has examined in meticulous detail how policies and institutions -- everything from the war on drugs to standardized school testing -- go off the rails in urban America. But creator David Simon and his writers never lost sight of the fact they were producing a drama rather than a soapbox -- The Wire has always cloaked its politics in riveting storytelling and fascinating characters. The show has never been much for happy endings, so don't expect Sunday's series finale -- where a phony serial-killer scare created by a rogue cop and a sensationalist reporter is about to unravel -- to fade out with lingering kisses and soaring violins.
Canterbury's Law (8 p.m. Monday, Fox) -- This new drama marks Julianna Margulies' return to TV as a win-at-all-costs defense attorney whose scorched-earth approach to both her professional and personal lives has stripped her of every human emotion except rage. Unnervingly watchable.
The Return of Jezebel James (8 p.m. Friday, Fox) -- Parker Posey is a snobby, obsessive-compulsive clean freak who wants a baby but can't have one. Lauren Ambrose is her sister, a slobby slacker barely one step removed from living on the street -- but with a perfectly functioning uterus. Naturally they move in together so Ambrose can carry Posey's baby. So yes, you've seen this sitcom before, when it was estrogen-free and called The Odd Couple and several thousand percent less irritating.
-- GLENN GARVIN
