Ifc Films

It begins like a standard TV spot for an insurance firm, except the firm, "Confederated Life," doesn't quite sound familiar. "For over 100 years, serving a people," a voice says, as the camera pans from a prosperous white family to a servile black man in the background, "and their property." This is the world of CSA: The Confederate States of America. CSA: Confederate States of America (IFC Films) Starring Charles Frank, Shaun Toub, Jeris Poindexter. Directed by Kevin Willmott. Unrated.

Good Hair . ( 3 STARS) When it comes to making a personal documentary without puffing yourself up into a populist Don Quixote, Chris Rock could teach Morgan Spurlock and Michael Moore a thing or two. In fact, that's what Rock does as the good-humored host and guiding creative force behind this exploration of the political and style wars of hair in the African-American community. And as the single celebrity spokeswoman for more natural styles, Baltimore's own Tracie Thoms overflows with charm and insight.

This Film Is Not Yet Rated performs a great service, though not especially well. The service is shining a light on the Motion Picture Association of America and its ratings board, a klatch of anonymous men and women who essentially dictate what Americans are allowed to see in the movies and where they're allowed to see it. For that alone, director Kirby Dick deserves a vote of thanks. This Film Is Not Yet Rated (IFC Films) Documentary by Kirby Dick. Unrated. Time 97 minutes.

Adventureland: (Miramax) Jesse Eisenberg plays a college graduate in 1987 who cannot afford the grand European tour he had planned and must spend the summer working at an amusement park. With Kristen Stewart, Kristen Wiig and Ryan Reynolds. : Everlasting Moments : (IFC Films) A Swedish woman's life is turned upside down when she wins a camera in a lottery. With Maria Heiskanen and Mikael Persbrandt. In Swedish with English subtitles. Fast & Furious: (Universal Pictures) Vin Diesel and Paul Walker get back into their respective driver's seats to bring down a heroin ring.

You Kill Me kills you softly with its smiles. This scruffy gangster comedy about Frank (Ben Kingsley), an alcoholic hit man for the Polish mob in Buffalo, N.Y., proves that craftiness and hip performances can make a tasty pig-in-a-blanket out of an old and tattered sow's ear. You Kill Me (IFC Films) Starring Ben Kingsley, Tea Leoni, Luke Wilson, Bill Pullman. Directed by John Dahl. Rated R. Time 92 minutes.

A Christmas Tale : (IFC Films) Members of a dysfunctional family come together over the holidays after the mother is diagnosed with leukemia. With Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Roussillon and Mathieu Amalric. The Day The Earth Stood Still : (20th Century Fox) Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly star in a "reinvention" of the 1951 classic about the global impact of an enigmatic alien's arrival. Lola Montes: (Rialto Pictures) Restored and recut, this 1955 film revolves around the life and many loves of a beautiful courtesan and dancer, now destitute, who is forced to relive her exploits nightly at a low-rent circus in America.

How far is too far, when it comes to protecting the people you love? What is reasonable, what is off-limits, and who's to decide the difference? Susanne Bier's After the Wedding asks viewers to consider a host of issues, not the least of which may be: How much overwrought melodrama can they take? But the movie is filled with fine acting and piquant storytelling. Those willing to overlook its emotional grandstanding will find much to admire and even more to think about in this Oscar-nominated Danish drama.

It must be some cosmic coincidence that Trust The Man and Russian Dolls are opening on the same day, for as relationship films go, the two releases are mirror images of each other. Whereas the former film, with its big-name American cast, is a contrived, heavy-handed, cliched mess, this one, with a cast collected from every corner of Europe, is heartfelt, honest, insightful and fresh, filled with winning performances, deft direction and a sense of whimsy that adds to, rather than overwhelms, its charms.

Transporter 3 *** ( 3 STARS) The underrated Transporter series doesn't have the cachet of the Bond films, but it's the sleekest, coolest set of action jamborees this side of Jason Bourne. The overdue-to-explode British actor Jason Statham is part of the reason for its success: As a specialist in high-speed automotive transport, he makes stoicism slyly expressive. Then there are the car crashes and the martial-arts choreography. Savor it before Transporter 3 makes way for the gut of Christmas "product."

Last House on the Left : (Rogue Pictures) A couple take revenge on a band of thugs who attacked their daughter and left her for dead. With Tony Goldwyn and Monica Potter. Miss March: (Fox Searchlight) Comatose for four years, a young man awakens to discover his innocent high-school sweetheart is now a popular pinup girl. With Zach Cregger and Molly Stanton. Race to Witch Mountain: (Walt Disney Pictures) A cabbie becomes the unlikely protector of two young aliens on the run from a shadowy organization.

Two Lovers : *** 1/2 In an age when moving romantic dramas are as few and far between as truly funny romantic comedies, this turbulent triangle starring Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw encompasses three varieties of love (and how they all bleed into each other): domestic, romantic, erotic. opening next friday 12 Rounds : (20th Century Fox) A police detective must complete 12 insidious challenges to save his kidnapped girlfriend. With John Cena and Ashley Scott. The Haunting in Connecticut : (Lionsgate)

A Christmas Tale : (IFC Films) Members of a dysfunctional family come together over the holidays after the mother is diagnosed with leukemia. With Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Roussillon and Mathieu Amalric. The Day The Earth Stood Still : (20th Century Fox) Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly star in a "reinvention" of the 1951 classic about the global impact of an enigmatic alien's arrival. Lola Montes: (Rialto Pictures) Restored and recut, this 1955 film revolves around the life and many loves of a beautiful courtesan and dancer, now destitute, who is forced to relive her exploits nightly at a low-rent circus in America.

The documentary Deep Water should be seen and seen again, not written about at length - especially in America. Most Yanks won't know the details of the British-promoted round-the-world yacht race of 1968. But this event stirred the same anticipation in England and on the Continent as NASA's trips to the moon did internationally. And this record of the race and its aftermath boggles the heart and brain. The "unknown" these racers face includes intangibles of character and spirit. Deep Water proves to be the perfect flip side to the inspiring Apollo-program documentary In the Shadow of the Moon.

Drag Me to Hell *** ( 3 STARS) Can you make a horror smash that's not a torture film (and hell to sit through)? Director Sam (Spider-Man) Raimi's return to his blood-thriller roots hasn't won the audience it deserves for its humor and craft. It features a dynamite performance from Alison Lohman as a loan officer who turns down an aged lady's mortgage extension and incurs a Gypsy curse. Opening Wednesday Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: (Paramount Pictures) A new, stronger army of the evil Decepticons returns to Earth to exact revenge on Optimus Prime and his human allies.