HAPPY FEET
In the great nation of Emperor Penguins, deep in Antarctica, you're nobody unless you can sing -- which is unfortunate for Mumble (Elijah Wood), who is the worst singer in the world. He was born dancing to his own tune -- tap dancing. Though Mumble's mom, Norma Jean (Nicole Kidman), thinks this little habit is cute, his dad, Memphis (Hugh Jackman), says "it just ain't penguin." Besides, they both know that without a Heartsong, Mumble may never find true love. As fate would have it, his one friend, Gloria (Brittany Murphy), happens to be the best singer around. Mumble and Gloria have a connection from the moment they hatch, but she struggles with his strange "hippity-hoppity" ways. Mumble is just too different -- especially for Noah the Elder (Hugo Weaving), the stern leader of Emperor Land, who ultimately casts him out of the community. Away from home for the first time, Mumble meets a posse of decidedly un-Emperor-like penguins -- the Adelie Amigos. Led by Ramon (Robin Williams), the Adelies instantly embrace Mumble's cool dance moves and invite him to party with them. In Adelie Land, Mumble seeks the counsel of Lovelace the Guru, a crazy-feathered Rockhopper penguin who will answer any of life's questions for the price of a pebble. Together with Lovelace and the Amigos, Mumble sets out across vast landscapes and, after some epic encounters, proves that by being true to yourself, you can make all the difference in the world. Vitals: Director: George Miller. Stars: Voices of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving. 2006, CC, MPAA rating: PG, 108 min., Family Animation, Box office gross: $190.695 million, Warner.

PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS, THE
Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a family man struggling to make ends meet as a marginally employed salesman. Despite his valiant attempts to help keep the family afloat, the mother (Thandie Newton) of his five-year-old son Christopher (Jaden Christopher Syre Smith) is buckling under the constant strain of financial pressure. No longer able to cope, she reluctantly decides to leave. Chris, now a single father, continues doggedly to pursue a better-paying job using every sales skill he knows. He lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, and although there is no salary, he accepts, hopeful he will end the program with a job and a promising future. Without a financial cushion, Chris and his son are soon evicted from their apartment and forced to sleep in shelters, bus stations, bathrooms, or wherever they can find refuge for the night. Despite his troubles, Chris continues to honor his commitment as a loving and caring father, using the affection and trust his son has placed in him as an impetus to overcome the obstacles he faces. Inspired by a true story. Vitals: Director: Gabriele Muccino. Stars: Will Smith, Thandie Newton, Jaden Smith. 2007, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 117 min., Drama, Box office gross: $146.121 million, Sony.

TURISTAS
Turistas" follows six college students who, while backpacking across Brazil, get stranded in the jungles and imprisoned by a military group with a bloody agenda. After a terrifying bus accident maroons the diverse group of young adventure travelers in a remote Brazilian beach town, they slowly discover that the white sand beaches and lush jungles are concealing a darker, unsettling secret. Vitals: Director: John Stockwell. Stars: Josh Duhamel, Melissa George, Olivia Wilde, Desmond Askew, Beau Garrett, Max Brown, Raul Guterres, Andrea Leal. 2006, CC, MPAA rating: R, 89 min., Horror, Box office gross: $7.025 million, (Fox).

VAN WILDER 2: THE RISE OF TAJ
Taj Badalandabad (Kal Penn), the personal assistant to the legendary Van Wilder, has just graduated Coolidge College and is now on his way to England's Camford University. Taj is on a quest to follow in the footsteps of his father's legend as a ladies' man at Camford, beginning with membership to an exclusive campus Fraternal Guild, the Fox and Hounds, where Taj hopes he will become the next generation of Badalandabads to be deservedly nicknamed the "Sultan of Sheets." But when Taj arrives at the venerated campus, he quickly discovers that he has not, in fact, been accepted to the Fraternal Guild, and that the stuffy head of the Fox and Hounds -- Pip Everett (Daniel Percival), the Earl of Grey -- is, in fact, a wanker. After his faithful bulldog Ballzac leaves a present on one of the Fox and Hounds antique chairs, Taj seeks out the only housing available on campus and finds himself suddenly "Head of House" for a group of student misfits -- Sadie (Holly Davidson), a gorgeous Cockney girl with a mouth like a sailor; Seamus (Glen Barry), an ale-swillin' English-baiting Irishman; Gethin (Anthony Cozens), a dual math and quantum physics major who is not only brainy but super-nerdy; and Simon (Steven Rathman), who never speaks. Taj reaches deep to channel his inner Van Wilder and decides to take on the challenge set before him -- not only will he transform the band of misfits into Big Men (and Woman) on Campus, he will give the Fox and Hounds and Pip a run for their money. Vitals: Director: Mort Nathan. Stars: Kal Penn, Glen Barry, Lauren Cohan, Anthony Cozens, Tom Davey, Holly Davidson, William de Coverly, Shobu Kapoor, Dan Percival, Daniel Percival, Ashley Rae, Steven Rathman, Amy Steel, Beth Steel. 2006, CC, MPAA rating: R, 98 min., Comedy, Box office gross: $4.259 million, Fox.

ON THE INDIE FRONT:
"Color Me Kubrick" (2006) , which just opened theatrically last weekend, stars John Malkovich in the true story of a man who posed as director Stanley Kubrick while the director was in production on his last film, "Eyes Wide Shut," despite knowing very little about his work and looking nothing like him; from Magnolia Home Entertainment ... "Candy" (2007) stars Heath Ledger, Geoffrey Rush and Abbie Cornish in a tale about a charming but reckless young poet who falls in love with a beautiful young student who is attracted to his bohemian lifestyle and drug addiction; their passionate relationship alternates between bursts of ecstatic oblivion and bouts of despair and self-destruction; from ThinkFilm ... "Albert Fish" (2007) is a docudrama that details the horrific true story of Albert Fish, the cannibal and serial killer who lured children to their deaths in Depression-era New York City, from Facets Multi-Media.

FOR THE FAMILY:
"The Pebble and the Penguin Family Fun Edition" (1995) brings back the Don Bluth animated feature, with the voices of Martin Short, Tim Curry, Jim Belushi and Hamilton Camp, in a two-disc set for 14.99, from MGM ... "Noisy Nora ... and More Stories About Mischief" (2006) features the title story plus "T Is for Terrible," "Cannonball" and "Goggles" in careful adaptations of children's classics; $14.95 from Scholastic Video Collection ... for older kids theirs "Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes -- Volume 1," a single disc with four episodes from Cartoon Net series, $14.98 from Fox.