If you live in the Northeast, we say enjoy the nice weather today and then, when it gets a bit chillier on Saturday and Sunday, go see one of these movies opening this weekend. You can pick from Matthew McConaughey in a Lincoln, and alien named Paul in an RV, or a non-alien named Paul Giamatti in some kinda crappy car, probably.

Cracks

This 2009 British film stars Eva Green and Juno Temple and is about sexual obsession at a 1930s girls boarding school. Students get crushes on teachers, teachers on students, and very little of it works out well. If you like British school drama mixed with good old sapphistry, this here is the picture for you. (Limited release)

Desert Flower

Another movie from 2009, this one based on the autobiographical book by Waris Dirie, the Somali supermodel turned anti-female genital cutting activist. The movie has garnered acclaim throughout Europe, and now it finally arrives on our shores. Dirie is played by supermodel Liya Kebede, an Ethiopian model turned humanitarian. Parallels! (Limited)

Limitless

Bradley Cooper takes another ill-advised stab at leading man movie stardom with this movie about Robert De Niro looking for his brain pills. See, Robert De Niro can't find his brain pills, and he really needs to take them. He sees that Bradley Cooper has brain pills and he thinks he stole them, so he's like "You takin' my brain pills? You takin' my brain pills? You takin' my brain pills? Then who the hell's brain pills are you taking... You takin my brain bills?" It goes on like that for a while until there's a big explosion and a title card that says "Robert De Niro will return in Brain Pills 2: A Brain Pills Tale." That's exactly what happens in this movie. (Wide)

The Lincoln Lawyer

Matthew McConaughey plays Matthew McConaughey in this movie about Matthew McConaughey being Matthew McConaughey. Marisa Tomei, John Leguizamo, and Ryan Phillipe show up to collect their paychecks, while Matthew McConaughey walks around drawling and having long hair in the background. Is this a sequel about what happens to Jake Brigance after A Time to Kill? Probably, yes. (Wide)

The Music Never Stopped

J.K. Simmons finally gets the lead role in this movie about a father trying to help his adult son (Lou Taylor Pucci) who has developed a condition where he can't remember anything past 1969 (the movie is set in 1986). Pucci's character's brain starts working when he listens to his favorite music, though, so they don't know what's up with that. I don't know why they don't just give him brain pills. Surely Robert De Niro could spare a few. "Keep your hands off my brain pills!" - Robert DeNiro. (Limited)

Paul

British geeks Nick Frost and Simon Pegg travel across the Southwestern US after attending ComicCon, only to run into a lazy, weed-smoking alien who sounds a lot like Seth Rogen. Then shadowy federal agents start pursuing them and hilarious movie references ensue. The buzz on this is that it's not nearly as funny as Frost and Pegg's previous outings, which is too bad. It's almost as if people are sick of Rogen's whole lazy stoner banter shtick. Almost! (Wide)

Tornado Alley

Twister star, and thus tornado expert, Bill Paxton narrates this documentary look at storm chasers studying tornadoes in the Midwest/Plains area. Look for a Helen Hunt cameo as she floats by, caught in a sidewinder, yelling "Help!" That's where she's been all these years! Stuck! (Limited, meaning mostly at IMAX science museum theaters)

Win Win

Paul Giamatti stars in this, the third movie from writer/director Tom McCarthy. It's your typical sports story about a troubled kid who excels when his head's in the game, in this case wrestling. It looks to be a warm little comedy about decent people trying to lead decent lives and getting comically thwarted. Amy Ryan's in it, so that's always good. (Limited)

Winter in Wartime

This popular Dutch movie from 2008 tells the story of a teen boy living in occupied Holland (well, the Netherlands, but how do you say "occupied the Netherlands"?) who discovers an injured English pilot (Jamie Campbell Bower) in the woods and has to try to keep him safe from the Nazis. Funny, when I was a teenager I spent a lot of time wishing a young British man who looked like Jamie Campbell Bower would drop out of the sky, but the rest of the wish certainly didn't involve Nazis. (NY, LA)