Movie Stars

"Allah Made Me Funny" A documentary with a tiny budget and a big spirit that follows three Muslim comics - Mohammed "Mo" Amer, Bryant "Preacher" Moss, and Azhar Usman - as they travel the country looking for laughs and understanding. The point is that these guys are ordinary Americans. Unfortunately, that extends to more of the jokes than you'd probably like. (83 min., unrated) (Ty Burr)

"Appaloosa" Ed Harris's slightly offbeat western gives us a two for-hire lawmen (Harris and Viggo Mortensen) whose friendship is complicated when a widow (Renée Zellweger) comes to the New Mexico town that's hired them to keep the peace. The movie is traditional insofar as the western is a genre that tolerates certain character flaws. Unwarranted killing is a crime; promiscuity is not. And so Harris affectionately mines these rela-tionships for comedy. (114 min., R) (Wesley Morris)

"Beverly Hills Chihuahua" A spoiled rich Chihuahua winds up stranded in Mexico City. It's from Disney, so naturally the dog talks. It sounds like Drew Barrymore, whom you can imagine sending Cameron Diaz annoyed text messages. ("OMG, how did u do 3 Shreks? So bored.") OMG, indeed. With the voices of George Lopez, Edward James Olmos, Andy Garcia, and Plácido Domingo. American kids will go crazy: so many accents, so much fur. (84 min. PG) (Wesley Morris)

"Blindness" Julianne Moore tends to be at her best when the world is at its worst. And things are pretty bad in "Blindness," a perversely enjoyable, occasionally harrowing adaptation of José Saramago's 1995 disaster allegory. A mysterious epidemic has left an entire city sightless - Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover, Gael Garcia Bernal - except Moore. This is a movie whose sense of crisis feels right on time. The director Fernando Meirelles ensures that the obviousness of the symbolism (in the global village we're all blind!) doesn't negate the power of either what it's symbolizing or what Moore has to do. (120 min., R) (Wesley Morris)

"Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" A mash-up of early John Hughes movies, "Before Sunrise," and "Juno" that charmingly becomes more than the sum of its parts. Michael Cera and Kat Dennings play New Jersey teens running around Manhattan and falling in love over one long night; the iPod-shuffle soundtrack is a character unto itself. Director Peter Sollett genuinely likes people, though, and he revives the stale material with camaraderie and hope. (90 min., PG-13) (Ty Burr)

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