There are five movies coming to town this week, which I guess puts us on equal footing with last week in terms of quantity. There are two art titles. Those represent the feast, you see. Then there are three titles that—from all appearances—are about as far from art as one can imagine. That, then, is the famine.

At long last — meaning people can stop asking me — The Artist is coming to Asheville in all its black-and-white (mostly) silent glory. Yes, you can finally go see for yourself what all the fuss is about. At this point, I know it’s opening at The Carolina and the Fine Arts. (It is likely opening at some other venues as well, since the big-box theaters tend to latch on to the surefire art titles they otherwise ignore. Am I suggesting that you should support the independent theaters that bring us art titles all year long? Well, yes, I am.) I know I also promised you another art title this week, but like Bogart in Casablanca, I was misinformed. There are, however, some other things coming out this week in the mainstream realm—Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Haywire, Red Tails and Underworld: Awakening.