Theater key: GX = Galaxy 14; HM = Harvest Moon Twin Drive-In, Gibson City; LC = Lincoln Cinemas; NL = Normal Theater; PL = Palace Cinemas; PK = Parkway Cinemas; PR = Princess Theater, LeRoy; ST = Stadium 14; UN = University Cinemas

Opening Wednesday, Nov. 25

Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day: 117 min.; R (bloody violence, language, nudity) Sequel to the 1999 film, this time with the Irish brothers framed in the murder of a Catholic priest in Boston. (GX)

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant: 108 min.; PG-13 (intense supernatural violence/action, disturbing images, thematic elements, language) A teen crosses paths with a traveling freak show and breaks a truce between two vampire factions.  (UN)

Fame: 107 min.; PG (thematic material, teen drinking, sexual situation, language) Remake of the 1980 hit about the latest crop of students at an elite New York public high school for the arts. (UN)

The Fantastic Mr. Fox: 88 min.; PG (action, smoking, slang humor) Animated version of Roald Dahl's tale about a patriarchal fox who slips back into his old chicken-thieving ways. (GX, PK, ST)

Ninja Assassin: 99 min.; R (strong bloody stylized violence throughout, language) An assassin (Rain) trained by a secret underground clan turns on his tutors in a campaign of revenge. (GX, PK, PL, ST)

Old Dogs: 88 min.; PG (mild rude humor) A middle-aged divorcee and long-term bachelor are entrusted with taking care of 6-year-old twins. (GX, LC, PK, PL, ST)

Surrogates: 89 min.; PG-13 (intense sequences of violence, disturbing images, language, sexuality, drug-related scene. Humans interact vicariously through robots who are better-looking versions of themselves. Bruce Willis stars. (UN)

Opening Thursday, Nov. 26

The Bishop's Wife: 109 min.; unrated. A dapper angel (Cary Grant) turns up to help a problem-plagued bishop (David Niven) and his wife (Loretta Young). (NL, Nov. 26-27.)

Opens Saturday, Nov. 28: The Shop Around the Corner. 99 min.; unrated. Two pen pals (James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan) work at the same Budapest shop but don't know it. (NL, Nov. 28-29.)

Coming soon

Scheduled to open in area theaters next weekend (Dec. 4) are:

Armored, an action thriller that won't be high on the list of Brink's Security Top 10 movies of '09. It's about a crew at an armored transport security firm that decides to bite the hand that feeds it -- they plot a heist against the company itself. Their scheme is designed to harm no one, until, that is, an unplanned witness intercedes. Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburne, Skeet Ulrich, Amaury Nolasco and Fred Ward star.

Brothers, a dose of serious family angst from a director well-versed in same, Jim Sheridan ("My Left Foot," "In America"). Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire star as polar-opposite brothers -- the former a bad seed just out of prison, the latter an all-American Marine presumed missing in Afghanistan. When Maguire unexpectedly returns home, the family dynamics have shifted, including those between himself and his wife (Natalie Portman), and with his parents (Sam Shepard, Mare Winningham).

Film clips

Mystery Science Theater 2009: Fans of the late, lamented Mystery Science Theater 3000 have been getting by with several home video variants in recent years involving various participants of the beloved movie-tweaking series of Comedy Central/Sci-Fi Channel yore. One of the variants, dubbed RiffTrax, has been issuing a new line of DVDs featuring series alums Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett ("MST3K's" Mike, Tom Servo and Crow T. Robert, respectively). The RiffTrax crew is moving from video to cinemas for one night only, 7 p.m. Dec. 16, for a live broadcast, RiffTrax Live: Christmas Shorts-Stravaganza, with special guest 'Weird Al' Yankovic. They'll be skewering an animated version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," along with a host of other holiday shorts and commercials. The live broadcast will be followed by a taped encore at 7 p.m. Dec. 17. The closest participating cinemas are the Willow Knolls 14 in Peoria and the Pekin Showplace in Pekin. Admission: $9.

Freebies: LeRoy's Princess Theater is screening Pixar's summer hit, Up, free at 11 a.m. Saturday.