Writer/director Quentin Tarantino's highly stylized, Oscar-winning salute to old-time crime novels flips back and forth in time to interweave tales of temptation, violence, and redemption. The tangled roster of characters includes hit man odd couple Vincent and Jules (John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson), coke-sniffing mobster's wife Mia (Uma Thurman), and crooked boxer Butch (Bruce Willis). With Harvey Keitel, Ving Rhames, Maria de Medeiros, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Christopher Walken. 154 min. Widescreen; Soundtracks English DTS HD 5.1 Master Audio, French Dolby Digital stereo; Subtitles English, French; featurettes; trivia. Two-disc set.

Christopher Nolan steps back into the director's chair for this sequel to Batman Begins, which finds the titular superhero coming face to face with his greatest nemesis - the dreaded Joker. Christian Bale returns to the role of Batman, Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over the role of Rachel Dawes (played by Katie Holmes in Batman Begins), and Brokeback Mountain star Heath Ledger dons the ghoulishly gleeful Joker makeup previously worn by Jack Nicholson and Cesar Romero. Just as it begins to appear as if Batman, Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman), and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) are making headway in their tireless battle against the criminal element, a maniacal, wisecracking fiend plunges the streets of Gotham City into complete chaos.

Texas, 1870 Ex-Confederate officer turned traveling news reader Jefferson Kidd (Tom Hanks) agreed to take charge of a semi-feral 10-year-old girl (Helena Zengel)-newly freed from an upbringing with the Kiowa-and deliver her to her surviving relatives in Coatesville. Their journey through a territory fraught with political tension, as well as more palpable peril, is colorfully recounted in this take on the Paulette Jiles western novel from Paul Greengrass; Mare Winningham, Elizabeth Marvel co-star. 118 min. Widescreen; Soundtrack English.