THE WOMAN WITH THE 5 ELEPHANTS This quiet, important addition to Holocaust documentaries follows Svetlana Geier as she visits Ukraine for the first time in more than 60 years. Geier was a renowned translator of Russian literature into German; in the 1990s, she began working on the five great novels by Dostoyevsky. Whatever guilt she holds inside about the past is palpable in the silences filmmaker Vadim Jendreyko allows to shape the story. Friday, Feb. 17, only. Not rated. 93 minutes. In German and Russian with subtitles. The Screen (Jennifer Levin) IMDB

THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY The latest picture from Japan’s Studio Ghibli is the studio’s most accessible family film not directed by Spirited Away’s Hayao Miyazaki (who co-wrote). Based on Mary Norton’s 1952 children’s book The Borrowers, it’s the tale of tiny people who live under the floorboards of a house and “borrow” items from the human residents. The gentle plot is thin, but the treasure of the film lies in how the animators shrink you down into this microcosmic world. The screen is full of vivid colors, and the brilliant sound effects make even the smallest noise impressive. Rated G. 94 minutes. Regal Stadium 14 (Robert B. Ker) IMDB | Official site

PINA Wim Wenders, the German filmmaker known for Wings of Desire and Paris, Texas, has created a stunning documentary about choreographer Pina Bausch, who died suddenly in 2009. The film, nominated for an Academy Award in the Documentary Feature category, uses 3-D technology in a surprising way. Instead of taking you on a thrill ride, the director uses the broadening of the senses that the extra-dimensional technique offers to draw you into Bausch’s dances and to create intimacy that sometimes borders on the extreme. Rated PG. 103 minutes. In various languages with subtitles. Screens in 3-D only. Regal Stadium 14 (Michael Wade Simpson) IMDB

GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE It was only a matter of time before Nicolas Cage made a movie with director Mark Neveldine (Crank: High Voltage), as no idea is too crazy for either of them. Few people clamored for a sequel to the nutso 2007 movie Ghost Rider, which was not as well received as other films based on Marvel comics, but those who asked for it will most likely enjoy it. Rated PG-13. 96 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D. Storyteller Dreamcatcher Cinema IMDB | Official site

CORIOLANUS Ralph Fiennes brings his acclaimed stage version of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus to the screen with thunder, blood, and muscle in a polished film- directing debut. Trimmed by screenwriter John Logan to a lean couple of hours and wrenched into the present day (much of it was shot in Belgrade, evoking the bloodbath of the ’90s), this Coriolanus has the look and feel of an action flick wrapped in the rich language of the Bard. Fiennes, head shaved and face streaked with mud and gore, is a ferocious warrior, and Vanessa Redgrave is at her very best as Volumnia, his iron-willed mommie dearest. The story can be a bit of a challenge to follow at times, but the payoff is powerful. Rated R. 122 minutes. CCA (Jonathan Richards) IMDB | Official site

THE VOW Amnesia is something that seems to happen in movies far more often than real life. In this movie, Paige (Rachel McAdams) suffers memory loss in a car accident, and her husband, Leo (Channing Tatum), labors to help her remember him. Director Michael Sucsy (Grey Gardens) no doubt hopes audiences will forget that they’ve seen these romantic clichés a thousand times. Rated PG-13. 104 minutes. Regal Stadium 14 ()

THE 2012 OSCAR-NOMINATED LIVE ACTION SHORT FILMS While the entries in the live-action program are all well made, they face stiff competition from the films in the animated and documentary categories and consequently rank last in terms of viewing priority. Nonetheless, the U.S.-made Time Freak is innovative and clever, while the Norwegian film Tuba Atlantic is far more weird than anything in the animation program. It’s weirder than the dancing zombie in A Morning Stroll, which is really saying something. Not rated. Approximately 85 minutes. The Screen (Jeff Acker)

THE 2012 OSCAR-NOMINATED DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILMS Four Chiles

Hats off to the Academy voters who chose the shorts in this category. There is little of the fluff and self-indulgence that plague so many of today’s feature-length “documentaries” — an increasingly loose term. Razor-sharp focus on traumatic events in Japan, Iraq, Pakistan, and the U.S. connect viewers to the reality of human struggle in ways that are alternately devastating and uplifting. Incident in New Baghdad and The Barber of Birmingham — about James Armstrong of Alabama, a “foot soldier” in the civil rights movement — are neck and neck for sheer impact. Not rated. Approximately 115 minutes. The Screen (Jeff Acker)

THE 2012 OSCAR-NOMINATED ANIMATED SHORT FILMS The brightest star in Oscar’s strongest showcase of animation in years has to be The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, a paean to the joy of reading that is nothing short of magical. Wild Life offers a haunting look at an Old West homesteader. A Morning Stroll is fiendishly wacky, and the low-key, droll Dimanche/Sunday is fun, though animal lovers will gasp at a disturbing sequence toward the end. Pixar’s entry, La Luna, is enchanting, but those books will put you over the moon. Not rated. Approximately 60 minutes. The Screen (Jeff Acker)

THIS MEANS WAR Reese Witherspoon plays a woman who dates two hunks at once. Chris Pine and Tom Hardy are Reese’s pieces, and they’re also best friends at the CIA. When they find out they’re dating the same woman, they compete for her affections using their special training, advanced weaponry, and taxpayer dollars. Opens Tuesday, Feb. 14. Rated PG-13. 98 minutes. Regal Stadium 14 ()