Ian Mcshane

"The Dark Is Rising" is one of the lesser-known fantasy-novel series for younger readers. Written by Susan Cooper from 1965 through 1977, the five books don't have the cultural cachet or the readership of, say, "The Lord of the Rings," "The Chronicles of Narnia," "A Wrinkle in Time," or "Harry Potter. " That just makes Cooper's fans more impassioned, though; one of my co-workers calls the books "only the most formative series of my childhood years. " With this in mind, I suggest the makers of "The Seeker" enter a witness-protection program posthaste.

I kind of love Ian McShane in “The Pillars of the Earth,’’ the new Starz miniseries set in 12th-century England. As the wonderfully, absurdly evil Bishop Waleran Bigod, he is wearing a wig that made me think of Norman Bates’s mother. At times, he’s in enough mascara to lead Green Day, and he spits out his lines as if he were starring in “King Lear.’’ He’s creepy — McShane, who was Al Swearengen on “Deadwood,’’ can’t not be creepy — but he’s got camp allure, too. He carries off his churchly drag with aplomb, and thunder literally claps when he...

"Hot Rod" delivers Andy Samberg from "Saturday Night Live" to the movies. The occasion is a piece of nonsense about Rod Kimble (Samberg), the adult son of a dead stuntman, who attempts to jump a fleet of buses to raise $50,000 for his emasculating stepfather's heart operation. Rod hates the stepfather (Ian McShane) but desperately wants him healthy so he can finally win one of their regularly scheduled cellar brawls. It will, at last, make him feel like a man. If the movie weren't so playfully dumb -- did you ever think you'd see Ian McShane throw Andy Samberg through a basement shelving unit?

If an evening spent watching John Hurt say the most unprintable things sounds like an enticement, then by all means hurry to “44 Inch Chest,’’ where his mouth could use a bath. The title does promise a disreputable event. Is this a documentary about a porn professional? Or a gym rat? Neither. It’s a stagy, half-entertaining, half-tedious acting competition between five excellent Englishmen. Hurt is merely the eldest of the lot, playing a codger named Peanut. He scrunches his faces and snarls all his lines.

"Kings" is very odd, kind of cool, and probably totally doomed. This ambitious new drama resembles little else on TV right now, and that may make it something of a prime-time albatross. Get a load of the detectable influences in the first few episodes: The Bible, Aaron Spelling, ABC's now-canceled "Dirty Sexy Money," Shakespeare's history plays, "I, Claudius," Showtime's "The Tudors," and retro-futuristic science fiction. Did I forget to mention George W. Bush as an influence?

I kind of love Ian McShane in “The Pillars of the Earth,’’ the new Starz miniseries set in 12th-century England. As the wonderfully, absurdly evil Bishop Waleran Bigod, he is wearing a wig that made me think of Norman Bates’s mother. At times, he’s in enough mascara to lead Green Day, and he spits out his lines as if he were starring in “King Lear.’’ He’s creepy — McShane, who was Al Swearengen on “Deadwood,’’ can’t not be creepy — but he’s got camp allure, too. He carries off his churchly drag with aplomb, and...

If an evening spent watching John Hurt say the most unprintable things sounds like an enticement, then by all means hurry to “44 Inch Chest,’’ where his mouth could use a bath. The title does promise a disreputable event. Is this a documentary about a porn professional? Or a gym rat? Neither. It’s a stagy, half-entertaining, half-tedious acting competition between five excellent Englishmen. Hurt is merely the eldest of the lot, playing a codger named Peanut. He scrunches his faces and snarls all his lines.

"Bigger, Stronger, Faster" A very entertaining documentary about what steroids mean to America, seen through the fretful eyes of director Chris Bell and his brothers, bodybuilders all. The film hops over the wall of media outrage and wonders why Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire are accused of cheating when our entire culture rewards winning at all costs. As surreally entertaining as a Michael Moore film and less pushy too. (107 min., R) (Ty Burr) "The Foot Fist Way " A low-budget comedy about a loser tae kwon do instructor (the remarkable Danny McBride, who co-wrote the script)

Good news for family psychiatrists across the land: "Coraline" is opening today, which means on Monday they'll have a whole new clientele of traumatized young children whose parents saw the PG rating and thought this was the latest "Kung Fu Panda. " It is not. A darkly invigorating stop-motion tour down the rabbit hole of childhood anxieties, "Coraline" is a movie only Wednesday Addams could love. Well, Wednesday and anyone who loves her; if you have a 10-and-up who's drawn to alt-comics, smart books, dark clothing, and general pop culture subversion, the movie will be his or her Wonderland.

"You walk around dazed, squinting into fold-out maps. You don't know how to talk to people, how to get anywhere, what the money means, what time it is, what to eat or how to eat it. Being stupid is the pattern, the level and the norm. You can exist on this level for weeks and months without reprimand or dire consequence. . . . There is nothing to think about but the next shapeless event. " DON DeLILLO, "The Names" That is as precise a description of what it means to be a tourist in an unfamiliar country as has ever been written, but it hardly sounds like the stuff of...

"Kings" is very odd, kind of cool, and probably totally doomed. This ambitious new drama resembles little else on TV right now, and that may make it something of a prime-time albatross. Get a load of the detectable influences in the first few episodes: The Bible, Aaron Spelling, ABC's now-canceled "Dirty Sexy Money," Shakespeare's history plays, "I, Claudius," Showtime's "The Tudors," and retro-futuristic science fiction. Did I forget to mention George W. Bush as an influence?

Good news for family psychiatrists across the land: "Coraline" is opening today, which means on Monday they'll have a whole new clientele of traumatized young children whose parents saw the PG rating and thought this was the latest "Kung Fu Panda. " It is not. A darkly invigorating stop-motion tour down the rabbit hole of childhood anxieties, "Coraline" is a movie only Wednesday Addams could love. Well, Wednesday and anyone who loves her; if you have a 10-and-up who's drawn to alt-comics, smart books, dark clothing, and general pop culture subversion, the movie will be his or her Wonderland.

"Bigger, Stronger, Faster" A very entertaining documentary about what steroids mean to America, seen through the fretful eyes of director Chris Bell and his brothers, bodybuilders all. The film hops over the wall of media outrage and wonders why Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire are accused of cheating when our entire culture rewards winning at all costs. As surreally entertaining as a Michael Moore film and less pushy too. (107 min., R) (Ty Burr) "The Foot Fist Way " A low-budget comedy about a loser tae kwon do instructor (the remarkable Danny McBride, who co-wrote the script)

"The Dark Is Rising" is one of the lesser-known fantasy-novel series for younger readers. Written by Susan Cooper from 1965 through 1977, the five books don't have the cultural cachet or the readership of, say, "The Lord of the Rings," "The Chronicles of Narnia," "A Wrinkle in Time," or "Harry Potter. " That just makes Cooper's fans more impassioned, though; one of my co-workers calls the books "only the most formative series of my childhood years. " With this in mind, I suggest the makers of "The Seeker" enter a witness-protection program posthaste.

"Hot Rod" delivers Andy Samberg from "Saturday Night Live" to the movies. The occasion is a piece of nonsense about Rod Kimble (Samberg), the adult son of a dead stuntman, who attempts to jump a fleet of buses to raise $50,000 for his emasculating stepfather's heart operation. Rod hates the stepfather (Ian McShane) but desperately wants him healthy so he can finally win one of their regularly scheduled cellar brawls. It will, at last, make him feel like a man. If the movie weren't so playfully dumb -- did you ever think you'd see Ian McShane throw Andy Samberg through a basement...

"You walk around dazed, squinting into fold-out maps. You don't know how to talk to people, how to get anywhere, what the money means, what time it is, what to eat or how to eat it. Being stupid is the pattern, the level and the norm. You can exist on this level for weeks and months without reprimand or dire consequence. . . . There is nothing to think about but the next shapeless event. " DON DeLILLO, "The Names" That is as precise a description of what it means to be a tourist in an unfamiliar country as has ever been written, but it hardly sounds like the...

Renée Zellweger plays Emily Jenkins, a harried social worker in a big city trying to stay on top of her caseload. She lives alone. Each night she drives her Volvo home to her television and her fish tank. As in many other horror movies, all is unremarkable, until . . . In this case, Case 39. Emily and her cop buddy Mike (Ian McShane of “Sexy Beast’’) rescue a timid girl (Jodelle Ferland of “Tideland’’) from an appalling home life. Let’s just say her demented parents think their daughter would make a nice meat loaf.

HOLY ROLLERS ★★ (Showtime on Comcast) Inspired by an actual case in which Hasidic Jews in New York served as mules for an international drug ring, this cross-cultural crime drama has a great premise and no idea where to take it. Jesse Eisenberg is fine as the conflicted hero, but the film falls apart with too much plot and not enough urgency. (R; runs through Feb. 14) TY BURR PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES ★★ (Comcast Movies: All Movies) Under Rob Marshall's direction this thoroughly unnecessary sequel gets the job done but just barely, and without...