Spring Arts: Film Calendar

"Osama," the first post-Taliban Afghan film, depicts the hardships of a young girl forced to disguise herself as a boy (named Osama) in order to get work in the draconian world run by the Taliban.

MARCH TBD -- "Springtime in a Small Town" about an emotionally repressed family in a desolate post-World War II China, is directed by "The Blue Kite" director Tian Zhuangzhuang.

MARCH

5 -- "Starsky & Hutch," a movie version of the 1970s TV series, features Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson as the detectives who drive a Torino and get their tips from a snitch called Huggy Bear (Snoop Dogg).

"Kitchen Stories," from Norwegian filmmaker Bent Hamer, is about two older men who strike up a friendship when one is commissioned to observe the other for a government study on bachelors.

"Hidalgo" stars heartthrob Viggo Mortensen as a Pony Express courier who competes in a horse race in Saudi Arabia. Desert prince Omar Sharif has a cameo.

"James' Journey to Jerusalem," a social satire, is about a Christian African tribe that sends James (Siyabonga Melongisi Shibe) on a spiritual journey to Jerusalem.

"The Reckoning," set in the 14th century, follows a defrocked priest (Paul Bettany) on the run who joins a band of traveling actors led by Willem Dafoe.

"Mr. Ibrahim," set in a Paris neighborhood in the 1960s, is about the friendship between a Turkish shopkeeper (Omar Sharif) and a teenage Jewish boy.

12 -- "Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London," a kiddie espionage caper, stars Frankie Muniz as the CIA junior agent.

"Secret Window," a thriller based on a Stephen King novel, stars Johnny Depp as a writer stalked by a psychotic stranger (John Turturro).

"Spartan," written and directed by David Mamet, is about a government agent (Val Kilmer) investigating the disappearance of the president's daughter, only to find a bigger plot in the White House.

"NASCAR 3D: The Imax Experience" puts you in the driver's seat.

"The Prince & Me" is about a Midwestern college girl (Julia Stiles) who falls in love with a fellow student, only to discover he's a Danish prince.

"Girl Next Door" takes the cliche to its ultimate end when a high school senior (Emile Hirsch) discovers the girl (Elisha Cuthbert) he's fallen for used to be a porn star.

17 -- "Divan" follows filmmaker Pearl Gluck's mission to retrieve a turn-of-the-century couch, which happens to be a family heirloom.

19 -- "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," another game of the mind from screenwriter Charlie ("Adaptation") Kaufman, follows the attempts of a man (Jim Carrey) to erase his own memory after an experiment leaves his girlfriend (Kate Winslet) unable to remember him.

"Taking Lives," a murder mystery, is about an FBI profiler (Angelina Jolie) assigned to track down a serial killer who assumes the identities of his victims.

"Jersey Girl" is Kevin ("Clerks") Smith's first obscenity-free drama. Ben Affleck plays a single father and widower with a daughter whose spirit is renewed when he makes a new friend (Liv Tyler).

"Good Bye Lenin!," a quirky crowd pleaser set in the former East Germany, is about a young man (Daniel Bruehl) who's determined to keep news of the Iron Curtain's dissolution from his mother, who's a Communist Party zealot.

"Dawn of the Dead," a remake of George Romero's 1979 zombie flick, stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames and Mekhi Phifer as humans facing an epidemic of flesh eaters.