What's in theaters this week

'HAYWIRE': A straight-up action picture may sound unusual coming from Steven Soderbergh, but as he's repeatedly demonstrated throughout his career, he's keen to experiment with every genre imaginable. "Haywire" marks the auspicious film debut of MMA superstar Gina Carano as special-ops Mallory Kane. Carano had never acted before, and not only did she do all her own stunts, she had to do them in a way that she wouldn't injure her male co-stars, including Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender and Channing Tatum.

RATED: R

SHOWING: AMC Showplace Schererville 12 and 16, Showplace Hobart 12, Cinemark at Valparaiso, Portage 16, Lansing 8

'UNDERWORLD AWAKENING': When human forces discover the existence of the Vampire and Lycan clans, a war to eradicate both species commences. The vampire warrioress Selene leads the battle against humankind. Kate Beckinsale stars.

RATED: R

SHOWING: AMC Showplace Schererville 12 and 16, Showplace Hobart 12, Cinemark at Valparaiso, Portage 16 (In 3D in some theaters)

'RED TAILS': The famed Tuskegee Airmen get the John Wayne-style heroic rendering they very much deserve, but also a hackneyed and weirdly context-less story that does them a disservice. George Lucas' pet project has the laudable goal of proving all-black movies can be a success, but "Red Tails" reduces a historical story of deep cultural significance to merely a flyboy flick. The film, directed by TV veteran Anthony Hemingway, superimposes the tale of the black World War II pilots on a dated, white genre of 1940s patriotic propaganda.

RATED: R

SHOWING: AMC Showplace Schererville 12 and 16, Showplace Hobart 12, Cinemark at Valparaiso, Portage 16, Lansing 8

'EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE': Oskar (Thomas Horn), who lost his father (Tom Hanks) in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, is convinced that his dad left a final message for him somewhere in New York City. Upon finding a mysterious key in his father's closet, Oskar sets out in search of the lock that it fits. Feeling disconnected from his grieving mother (Sandra Bullock) and driven by a tirelessly active mind, Oskar's journey takes him beyond his own loss and leads to a greater understanding of his world.

RATED: PG-13

SHOWING: AMC Showplace Schererville 12, Showplace Hobart 12, Cinemark at Valparaiso, Portage 16

'BEAUTY AND THE BEAST': An arrogant young prince (Robby Benson) and his castle's servants fall under the spell of a wicked enchantress, who turns him into the hideous Beast until he learns to love and be loved in return. The spirited, headstrong village girl Belle (Paige O'Hara) enters the Beast's castle after he imprisons her father Maurice (Rex Everhart). With the help of his enchanted servants, including the matronly Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury), Belle begins to draw the cold-hearted Beast out of his isolation.

RATED: G

SHOWING: AMC Showplace Schererville 12 and 16, Showplace Hobart 12, Cinemark at Valparaiso, Portage 16

'THE IRON LADY': The same problems that plagued "La Vie en Rose," starring Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf, exist in this biopic of Margaret Thatcher, with Meryl Streep playing the former British prime minister. While both films feature strong performances from strong actresses playing strong, real-life women, the scripts are weakened by going strictly by the numbers. Sure, Streep reliably nails her impression of Thatcher - the hair, the voice, the steely demeanor. But the film from Phyllida Lloyd (who directed Streep in the ABBA musical "Mamma Mia!"), reduces this high-profile life to a greatest-hits collection of historic moments.

RATED: PG-13

SHOWING: AMC Showplace Schererville 16

'CONTRABAND': Yes, this follows the tried-and-true One Last Job formula. Yes, Mark Wahlberg is nestled deep within his comfort zone as a former master criminal who's lived a dangerous life and gone straight. Still, this is a solid genre picture that knows exactly what it is, has no delusions of grandeur and carries out its task in entertaining and occasionally even suspenseful fashion.

RATED: R

SHOWING: AMC Showplace Schererville 12 and 16, Showplace Hobart 12, Cinemark at Valparaiso, Portage 16, Lansing 8

'JOYFUL NOISE': If some incarnation of "Glee" were to be developed for the Christian Broadcasting Network, it would probably look a lot like this. Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton co-star as longtime enemies battling for control over a small-town Georgia church choir. Keke Palmer and Jeremy Jordan play teens sharing a forbidden love ... through song.

RATED: PG-13

SHOWING: AMC Showplace Schererville 16, Showplace Hobart 12, Cinemark at Valparaiso, Portage 16, Lansing 8

'THE DEVIL INSIDE': In Italy, a woman becomes involved in a series of unauthorized exorcisms during her mission to discover what happened to her mother, who allegedly murdered three people during her own exorcism.

RATED: R

SHOWING: AMC Showplace Schererville 12 and 16, Showplace Hobart 12, Cinemark at Valparaiso, Portage 16, Lansing 8

'WAR HORSE': Just in time for family friendly holiday feel-goodery is Steven Spielberg's sweeping, historical epic. The story began life as a children's book by Michael Morpurgo, then made its way to the London and New York stages to great acclaim featuring inventive puppetry, and now arrives in theaters with all the grandeur a master filmmaker can conjure. "War Horse" features a strong cast and the sort of impeccable production values you would expect. And yet it's overlong, painfully earnest and sometimes even hokey.

RATED: PG-13

SHOWING: AMC Showplace Schererville 12 and 16, Showplace Hobart 12, Cinemark at Valparaiso, Portage 16

'WE BOUGHT A ZOO': This is about a family that buys a zoo. It's as high-concept as you can get, and it's equally straightforward in wearing its heart on its sleeve. We know to expect this because "We Bought a Zoo" comes from writer-director Cameron Crowe. We know there will be some poignantly phrased life lessons in store for this family as they struggle to reconnect after the mother's death.

RATED: PG

SHOWING: AMC Showplace Schererville 12 and 16, Showplace Hobart 12, Cinemark at Valparaiso, Portage 16