Movie Cricket

The studios released their big guns — "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Old Dogs" and "Ninja Assassin" — on Wednesday, but there are a couple of titles opening today worth a mention.

One, opening at the Tower Theatre, is a re-release of Federico Fellini's 1973 classic "Amarcord," which won the Oscar for Foreign-Language film in 1975. Fellini looks back fondly at the Italian seaside town where he spent his early, formative years — with a nostalgic and humorous depiction of the characters of the town. His kaleidoscopic visuals are classic Fellini, and his memories are evidence of where he got the ideas for his grand carnival delights of "8 1/2" and his other great films. Considering that we're about to be inundated with Fellini references, with the musical "Nine" — an adaptation of "8 1/2" — seeing "Amarcord" is a good way to brush up.

Also opening, at Brewvies Cinema Pub, is "Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day," Troy Duffy's sequel to his 1999 cult fave about Irish mobster brothers (Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus) in Boston. It was not screened for local critics.