Carlisle (Peter Facinelli) comes to Bella’s (Kristen Stewart) aid after she is injured in an accident in “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”

A version of this review appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. 3 of 4 stars.

‘New Moon’ not as biting as book
‘Twilight’ fans will enjoy second installment in movie saga, but too much potential is left on novel’s pages

A bigger budget and a pack of charismatic werewolves work wonders for “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” the second film in the supernatural romance saga.

The sequel can’t avoid moments of…

From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.

“Cheri”

Director Stephen Frears, screenwriter Christopher Hampton and star Michelle Pfeiffer of 1988’s delicious “Dangerous Liaisons” reunite for “Cheri,” another worthwhile exploration of love, sex and conniving in period France that isn’t as well-honed as their previous Oscar-winning effort.

Set at the turn of the 20th century in France, “Cheri” journeys into a world of classy, high-power courtesans, AKA prostitutes, beautiful women who skillfully maneuver rich and influential men into funding their lavish lifestyles.

Clever courtesan Lea de Lonval (Pfeiffer), 49, is contemplating retirement, having become…

From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.

Rock

Trans-Siberian Orchestra “Night Castle” (Atlantic Records)

Trans-Siberian Orchestra makes its theatrical return to new music with the double-album “Night Castle,” a rock opera about hope and hate, love and war, redemption and forgiveness.

Since the symphonic-rock holiday harbingers have continued to tour often, especially around Christmastime, it may seem that TSO never left. But “Night Castle” is the orchestra’s first new album since its 2004 best-seller “The Lost Christmas Eve” and its first non-holiday offering since 2000’s “Beethoven’s Last Night.”

For diehard fans, the long-awaited “Night…

From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.

Rock

Original soundtrack “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” (Summit Entertainment/Chop Shop/Atlantic Records)

Music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas and director Chris Weitz gather a talented stable of indie-rock stars and up-and-comers to give the sequel “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” its sonic resonance.  

All the rockers involved excel at making otherworldly music, which makes them ideal for punctuating the film’s vampire-human-werewolf love triangle.

Death Cab for Cutie opens the album with the moody urgency of “Meet Me on the Equinox,” the chart-topping soundtrack’s lead single, while Band…

From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.

“Up”

It’s a credit to the storytelling masterminds at Pixar Animation Studios that “Up,” a movie crammed with balloon-buoyed houses, talking dogs and goofy flightless birds, makes me cry every time I see it.

Emotional resonance and unbridled imagination allow Disney/Pixar’s 10^th and most fantastical animated feature film to truly soar.

Grieving the death of his wife, retired balloon salesman Carl Frederickson (voice of Ed Asner) decides to make good on an unfulfilled promise to his spouse. He attaches thousands of balloons to their house and sails…

A version of this review appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.

Country

Carrie Underwood “Play On” (19 Recordings Limited/Arista Nashville)

Contemporary country star Carrie Underwood stretches her strong soprano, her songwriting skills and musical boundaries on her third album, “Play On.”

The Checotah native co-wrote seven of the 13 songs, ranging from “What Can I Say,” a twangy heartbreaker with country brother act Sons of Sylvia, to the anthemic title track, which could well be next season’s “American Idol” farewell theme. The album’s sonic diversity reveals the 2005 “American Idol” winner’s…

From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.

“Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure” Blu-Ray+DVD pack

Disney returns to Pixie Hollow for the charming “Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure,” the second direct-to-DVD computer-animated movie in its popular fairies franchise.

As the fairies are busily working to bring in fall, Tinker Bell (voice of Mae Whitman) gets an important assignment from Queen Clarion (Anjelica Huston): to craft the Autumn Scepter for the Autumn Revelry. This year, the fall celebration will feature a rare Blue Moon, so Tink will top the staff with an…

AC/DC singer Brian Johnson performs at a recent stop of the “Black Ice Tour.” (Associated Press photos)

AC/DC guitarist Angus Young wails away during a recent show.

AC/DC’s “Black Ice Tour” skidded into the Ford Center Wednesday night with the unrelenting force and can’t-take-your-eyes-off-it spectacle of a massive train wreck.

And that’s exactly how the Australian rock gods started the show. The giant screens came to life with a bawdy animated video of a devilish Angus Young, distracted by naughty groupies, driving a runaway engine. The large-scale cartoon culminated in pyrotechnics flaring, a…

A version of this review appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.

Country

Joe Nichols “Old Things New” (Universal Records South)

Country singer Joe Nichols uses his wonderfully rich baritone to craft “Old Things New,” another solid neotraditionalist effort from the Arkansas native.

The Grammy-nominated crooner specializes in country music that is traditional in both sound and sentiment. Mandolins, fiddles and steel guitars drench sorrowful ballads, funny drinking songs and tributes to Merle Haggard and strawberry pie.

But Nichols succeeds in what the album title suggests: For all their customary trappings, the songs…

From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. 2 1/2 of 4 stars.

 ”Amelia” biopic never really takes flight

While “Amelia” doesn’t crash and burn, the new biopic of Amelia Earhart fails to soar as high as it should, given its fascinating subject.

Director Mira Nair’s (“The Namesake”) film plots the kind of course the pioneering aviatrix shunned: the safe one. Though Earhart is an intriguing historical figure who was ahead of her time, “Amelia” is an exceedingly old-fashioned and conventional biopic.

Though Ronald Bass and Anna Hamilton Phelan’s script unfortunately stays earthbound, two-time Oscar…