This week in new movies: A cornucopia of literary adaptations, special effects, and Javier Bardem. No Country for Old Men is FINALLY opening in Austin, and we couldn't be more excited (or strangely aroused by Bardem's "lost Beatle from hell" haircut and Wranglers ensemble.)

Beowulf: Robert Zemeckis reprises the motion-capture animation technique he used in Polar Express and applies it to everyone's fave Anglo-Saxon epic poem. Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Crispin Glover and Angelina Jolie (as Grendel's mother!) star, and advance word is that the results are actually highly watchable.

No Country for Old Men: Definitely our pick for the week, this Coen brothers adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel promises to be one of the best in the Coen cannon. Bardem plays stone cold psycho killer Anton Chigurh, who torments welder Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) and sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) over a bag of stolen drug money in circa-1980 Texas border country. Craggy landscape, even craggier masculinity, a killer source novel, and the deft touch of the Coen boys at the top of their game? Yes, please!

Southland Tales: Dear Richard Kelly: You gave the world so much awesome with Donnie Darko that we forgive you for fumbling with this goofy special-FX-laden not-so-distant-future apocalyptic confusing graphic novel spin-off starring The Rock. That is, if you can forgive us for not wanting to see it.

Love in the Time of Cholera: We have mixed feelings about our favorite novel by Gabriel García Márquez getting the Hollywood treatment. We're sure director Mike Newell (Mona Lisa Smile, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) had the best intentions in re-creating the immortal 50-year crazy/sexy/creepy love affair of Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza. But Márquezian magic realism is hard to get right onscreen, and this movie looks like it's headed straight for "read the book instead" territory, and why wasn't amazing Colombian actress Catalina Sandino Moreno cast as Fermina Daza instead of playing a minor role as her best friend? On the plus side, Javier Bardem gets to work his creep appeal as the mournful but sexed-up poet Florentino Ariza, and the story's lush setting in turn-of-the-century coastal Colombia guarantees that it will at least look pretty.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium: Dustin Hoffman does his best Gene Wilder impression as Mr. Magoriun, the 243-year-old owner of a magical toy store that is rendered heavily in whimsical CGI. Feeling his age, Mr. Magorium hands the business over to his store manager (Natalie Portman). This could be a fine film to take the young ones to if you don't object to them being exposed to the scorching nuclear winds of rampant product placement.

[Showtimes]