5 Things You Should Know About

MOVIES

Flash of Genius Directed by Marc Abraham; rated PG-13; out now Greg Kinnear plays the kind of mildly obsessive guy who might invent the intermittent windshield wiper. And then sue, claiming the Ford Motor Co. stole it from him. And insist on representing himself in court. This is an intelligent, if long, fact-based tale of the pitfalls and pinnacles that meet a genuinely independent thinker. B

Religulous Directed by Larry Charles; not yet rated; out now A documentary from the famously godless comedian Bill Maher and the director of Borat creates hopes of a rowdier, sharper exposé than this one. A series of impious questions posed to believers of every stripe, Religulous (soft g) has its funny and offensive moments, but it lacks the pungent personality and editorial skills of any Michael Moore movie. B-

Rachel Getting Married Directed by Jonathan Demme; rated R; out now Kym (Anne Hathaway) gets sprung from an asylum just in time to upset her large family at the multicultural wedding of her sister (Rosemarie DeWitt). This haphazard drama offers insights into the tensions and tendernesses of any wedding weekend, though it sometimes seems as long as one. Bill Irwin is a dear as the girls' father. C+

DVDS

The Visitor Written and directed by Thomas McCarthy; rated PG-13; out Oct. 7 Yes, it's the story of a carapace of a widower whose life is changed by the illegal immigrants he finds living in his apartment. But as massively sappy as that sounds, the film so delicately and thoughtfully picks its tragedies out of the blur of everyday life that it has a quiet power. Perfect to watch with smart friends after dinner. B+

TELEVISION

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Cartoon Network; Fridays, 9 p.m. E.T. If you judge this series by the standards of the original trilogy--i.e., if you expect it to be good--then yes, it's as disappointing as the summer movie it follows. If you think of it as a kid-oriented spin-off product--well, it still suffers from characters with all the vibrancy and pizazz of a PowerPoint marketing plan. But a successful marketing plan, since the vivid CGI (and lots of Yoda) will draw the younglings. C-