Author:   Ken Hanke

Blood for Dracula, part of a series of Classic Cinema From Around the World, will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12, at Courtyard Gallery, 9 Walnut St. in downtown Asheville. Info: 273-3332.

The Story: A 14-year-old boy must help the forces of good overcome the forces of evil. The Lowdown: Generic fantasy that wants to be the next Harry Potter, but fails due to a lackluster script, a bland lead and fussy direction.

The Story: A shallow middle-aged man marries a ditsy woman only to discover that she's a living nightmare, so naturally on their honeymoon he falls in love with someone else. The Lowdown: A monumentally unpleasant, unfunny "romantic comedy" that confuses the merely grotesque with funny.

The Story: Six people form a literary group on the novels of Jane Austen and discover that the books seem to be about their own lives. The Lowdown: A remarkably pleasurable entertainment that also has much to say about the choices we make in our artistic preferences.

Walk-in Theatre will present Kingpin at dark on Friday, Oct. 12, in the parking lot behind the Bledsoe Building in West Asheville. The film is sponsored by the merchants of the Bledsoe building. Admission is free -- and once again, please leave pets and alcohol at home.

The Story: A successful middle-aged man discovers he has no friends and sets out to correct that in order to win a bet with his business partner. The Lowdown: A gentle, humane, warmly funny movie from Patrice Leconte. It's all about friendship, and what better topic could there be?

The Hendersonville Film Society will show The Taming of the Shrew at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville. (From Asheville, take I-26 to U.S. 64 West, turn right at the third light onto Thompson Street. Follow to the Lake Point Landing…

The Hendersonville Film Society will show The Importance of Being Earnest at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 7, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville. (From Asheville, take I-26 to U.S. 64 West, turn right at the third light onto Thompson Street. Follow to the Lake Point Landing…

The Story: A multi-storied film about the love lives of several characters who live in Portland, Ore. The Lowdown: Good dialogue and performances -- plus a refreshingly adult view of sex -- aren't quite enough to overcome absurd contrivances and a clockwork plot.

The Media Arts Project will present The Guest Worker Wednesday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. at the Fine Arts Theatre.

The Story: An ex-military policeman tries to find out the truth about his son's murder, which occurred soon after the young man's return from a tour of duty in Iraq. The Lowdown: Despite the usual ham-fisted shortcomings and reductive simplifications of director-writer Paul Haggis, his latest film is worth seeing for strong performances and thematic…

Orpheus, part of a series of Classic Cinema From Around the World, will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, at Courtyard Gallery, 9 Walnut St. in downtown Asheville. Info: 273-3332.

The Birds will be shown by Traveling Bonfires Saturday Movies at Eaties Saturday, Sept. 29, at 6 p.m. at Eaties Cereal Bar, 48 Commerce Street in Asheville. Info: 545-3539 or 505-0476.

The Hendersonville Film Society will show Carnegie Hall at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville. (From Asheville, take I-26 to U.S. 64 West, turn right at the third light onto Thompson Street. Follow to the Lake Point Landing entrance and park…

The Story: A midwife in search of the identity of a dead mother finds herself drawn into the world of a powerful family in the Russian Mafia. The Lowdown: Brutally and unflinchingly violent, yet compelling and altogether brilliant filmmaking from David Cronenberg. One of the year's best, but not for the squeamish.

The Story: A man with a knack for having every girl he sleeps with dumping him and then immediately finding her true love, finds the party's over when he falls in love and therefore dares not consummate the relationship. The Lowdown: Vile, tasteless, mean, trashy, smarmy, stupid and, worst of all, unfunny.

The Story: An elite FBI team travels to Saudi Arabia to investigate a terrorist attack on a housing compound at a U.S. oil company. The Lowdown: A sometimes effective actioner positioned as a more deeply political movie than it actually is.

The Milky Way, part of a series of Classic Cinema From Around the World, will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28, at Courtyard Gallery, 9 Walnut St. in downtown Asheville. Info: 273-3332.

The Story: Ace zombie fighter Alice tries to help a group of survivors escape zombie-infested regions for a supposedly zombie-free patch in Alaska. The Lowdown: A lot of standard zombie-flick action enlivened by unintended laughs.

The Story: A couple whose romance is in trouble decides to spend a couple days in Paris. The Lowdown: A clever, insightful romantic comedy that announces Julie Delpy as a filmmaker of note.

The Story: Documentary about global warming. The Lowdown: Leonardo DiCaprio cowrote, coproduced and narrates this well-intended, but largely redundant film that scores some points for suggesting solutions anyone can employ.