FEAR X
unrated, 91 mins.

Greatly influenced by Kubrick, David Lynch, and the Coen brothers, Nicolas Winding Refn’s drawn out, sluggish noir is a misfire. Harry (John Turturro) lives his life in a daze. By day he is a mall security guard. In the evenings he watches, obsessively, hours upon hours of surveillance footage from that mall, hoping to find clues that will unlock the mystery of who shot and killed his wife in the establishment’s parking lot.

Eventually, inside a neighbor’s home, Harry comes across a photograph of a woman (Ms. Unger) whom he believes to have been involved in some way. (That his theory is correct is a coincidence of almost unspeakable improbability.) The photograph leads him to a hotel that is perhaps a perfect blend of the Earl from “Barton Fink,” and the Overlook from “The Shining.” There he makes his last stand, and discovers the truth.

Mr. Turturro’s portrayal of a man quietly losing his mind, searching only for the reason his wife is dead, rather than seeking vengeance for her death, is meditative and emphatically believable. But he is left to carry the entire film, for the screenplay (cowritten, surprisingly, by the late novelist Hubert Selby Jr.) gives him no help.

You may want to check out the terrific, pulsing, almost never-ceasing score written by Brian Eno and J. Peter Schwalm, however.

– Edward Goldberger

ALIENS OF THE DEEP
G, 47 mins.

After subjecting us to films like “True Lies” and “Titanic,” James Cameron is trying to use his powers for good: He has spent the past few years researching and creating underwater documentaries. “Aliens of the Deep” is his second IMAX project focusing on underwater life. Unfortunately, the resulting film is less a learning tool than a real-life “Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou.”

Mr. Cameron misunderstands the appeal of this film. He has assembled a crew of ethnically diverse, attractive, and friendly scientists, who probably have a deep knowledge of their subjects, but they have little opportunity to display it here. At only 47 minutes, there is little time to delve deeply into the subject matter. Meanwhile, Mr. Cameron wastes precious time watching his crew react to things the audience should be seeing. Such scientific responses as, “That is the bomb!” and “Awesome!” halt the momentum of the film again and again.

“Aliens of the Deep” attempts to show the connection between the extreme environments in our own ocean and possible life on other planets. As such, it boasts high-tech equipment and life that thrives in inhospitable locales. The life-giving properties of water shown here are amazing, but Mr. Cameron has not mastered his medium. For all the fascinating sea creatures, you hardly notice the film is in 3-D.

Captain Cameron’s endeavor was admirable, but his resources would have been better spent making a coherent film rather than creating computer-animated alien fish and showing off his gadgets.

– Meghan Keane

ARMY OF ONE
unrated, 70 mins.

Though a bit rushed at 70 minutes, “Army of One” is a compelling documentary that details the lives of three people who enlisted in the U.S. Army after September 11, 2001.

Sara is pushed into enlisting by her father, who is disappointed in his daughter, a college graduate who has failed, thus far, to make anything of her life. Nelson, a high school dropout who lives in the South Bronx, joins up hoping to find respect and opportunity. Thaddeus gives up his stockbroker job in Chicago to pursue the hunt on Osama bin Laden. One of these subjects embraces the Army life; the other two find they are in over their heads.

Director Sarah Goodman’s film is not preachy, and this keeps it from becoming a propaganda piece. The Army is, on one hand, criticized for “tricking” its applicants into thinking that their path leads directly to glory (“Recruiting is nothing different from retail,” one person remarks, “You know you’re selling something that has its problems.”) Yet Army life, at least how Ms. Goodman presents it, proves not to be the harrowing nightmare films like “Full Metal Jacket” might have us believe.

That Ms. Goodman obtained such access into the armed forces seems in itself an accomplishment, or else we should be demanding more such stories from television as well as film. Her film is one that anyone interested in the lives of soldiers, or perhaps in enlisting themselves, should make a point of seeing.

– Edward Goldberger

TRAVELERS & MAGICIANS
unrated, 105 mins.

Unfolding in parallel stories, Khyentse Norbu’s “Travelers and Magicians,” begins with an introduction to Dondup (Tsewand Dandup), a government worker in a small, remote Bhutanese village who pines to live in America, where a likely job as an apple picker may be less prestigious, but will pay more in a day than he makes now in a week. Sneaking off, he misses his bus and is forced to hitchhike to his destination.

While waiting for a ride, Dondup reluctantly befriends a few other hitchhikers, including a young monk who hopes to travel to an upcoming Buddhist festival. Dondup tells the nameless monk (Sonam Kinga) that he wants to live in America, the land of his dreams, and the monk responds by telling him the story of a lazy magician’s student named Tashi (Lhakpa Dorji), who finds his own dreamland, with results that are less than pleasing.

The film is drenched in beautiful Himalayan landscapes. While Mr. Norbu’s fable is lightweight, it is also a likable, warmhearted tale.

– Edward Goldberger