Whip It (2009)

First-time director Drew Barrymore knows how to have a good time — roller derby, trash talk and food fights. Ellen Page (in a Stryper T-shirt) delivers the pathos as a 17-year-old at odds with her mom. Kristen Wiig and Juliette Lewis are great in supporting turns.

d: Drew Barrymore | imdb.com | trailer

The Blind Side (2009)

Based on the book by Michael Lewis, spunky Memphis mama Sandra Bullock (in a one-note performance) and her family adopt a black kid, and football success ensues in a big-budget version of a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. Michael Oher is reduced to a mute.

d: John Lee Hancock | imdb.com | trailer | New room | Lunch

Extract (2009)

Mike Judge (“Office Space”) captures more mundane workplace moments, but there isn’t enough smart satire to sustain the film. Jason Bateman owns an extract flavoring company and resides in a sexless marriage (to Kristen Wiig). Ben Affleck plays his druggie pal.

d: Mike Judge | imdb.com | trailer

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)

In a remake of the 1974 thriller, Denzel Washington plays the dispatcher in charge when John Travolta hijacks a subway train, demanding $10 million in an hour. Tony Scott’s direction can be distracting, but the performances are top-notch.

d: Tony Scott | imdb.com | trailer

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

Robert Shaw and friends hijack a New York City subway train, holding its passengers hostage and demanding $1 million in an hour. The always authentic Walter Matthau proves his equal in negotiations in a taunt urban thriller.

d: Joseph Sargent | imdb.com | trailer | Taking Pelham
The man who stole your train | Unwelcome aboard | She’s moving.

A Single Man (2009)

Fashion designer Tom Ford’s first film is a bit pretentious, but it captures the look and feel of Los Angeles in 1962 — from skinny ties to the Cuban missile crisis. Colin Firth, a gay college professor, mourns the death of his partner in a human performance.

d: Tom Ford | imdb.com | trailer | Becoming George

Fanboys (2009)

In a movie about “Star Wars” fanboys that could appeal only to “Star Wars” fanboys, four self-indulgent geeks, joined later by Kristen Bell, travel from Ohio to George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch in California to steal an early copy of “Star Wars: Episode I.”

d: Kyle Newman | imdb.com | trailer | Take your shirt off.