ASTRO BOY **½
(Encore on Comcast) This iteration of the rocket-propelled superboy takes its cues from the original Japanese manga rather than the 1960s TV cartoon and is all the more interestingly weird for it. Freddie Highmore voices the computer-animated hero, a Pinocchio-in-reverse who was a little boy and is now a robot. Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, and Donald Sutherland also aurally appear. (PG; runs through Dec. 23) TY BURR
THE TREE OF LIFE **½
(Comcast Movies: All Movies) This is a collection of conversations that lost souls and true believers have with themselves while keeping their heads to the sky. But the movie is church via the planetarium. (PG-13; runs through March 25) WESLEY MORRIS
