Feng Xiaogang’s “Aftershock,” a huge hit in China, traces 30 fraught years in the life of a mother, beginning with a natural disaster in 1976 and ending with another one in 2008.

The British actor and comedian Russell Brand first won notice for turning his life into a performance piece about addiction. Now he has a new book and appears in Julie Taymor’s “Tempest.”

Rachel McAdams, currently in “Morning Glory,” has established herself as an actress equally adept at comedy and drama.

For “127 Hours,” his adaptation of Aron Ralston’s book about his self-amputation in a hiking accident, the director Danny Boyle challenged his star, James Franco.

The filmmakers behind the 3-D animated comedy “Megamind” designed a villain with a big brain, as well as a big heart.

In “The King’s Speech,” Colin Firth portrays a wartime monarch with a stuttering problem.

In Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” Natalie Portman portrays an ambitious ballerina consumed by a fairy-tale role.

“The Illusionist,” the new movie by the French animator Sylvain Chomet (“The Triplets of Belleville”) is based on a treatment by the great comic actor and filmmaker Jacques Tati.

Paul Reubens’s effort to redeem Pee-wee Herman, his man-child creation has brought him to Broadway.

A look at some DVD selections for the holiday season.