The hotly anticipated film adaptation of Alan Bennett’s The History Boys is here, complete with sexy boys (and one fat one), skinny ties (and one bow one), and a soundtrack full of New Wave classics (and two quavery renditions of “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered”). Performance editor Brendan Kiley makes the audacious claim that “the best movie of the year is actually a play.” How very heterosexual of you, Brendan.

Charlotte’s Web is opening this week, and while it isn’t a perfect movie, it does feature the adorable illustrations of Seattle artist and Stranger illustrator Kathryn Rathke. Here is one of her sheep:

Or perhaps you’d prefer the tragic tale of a Christian indie rocker overtaken by his glamorous protegé Sufjan Stevens. (By bizarre coincidence, Stranger news reporter Angela Valdez is featured in this documentary interviewing Stevens. You may not recognize her, however; Angela describes this phase of her life as the time “before I learned to be a girl.”) Sean Nelson loves Danielson: A Family Movie to pieces here. (Plays at Northwest Film Forum for one week only.)

The final installment of Northwest Film Forum’s Béla Tarr series is Werckmeister Harmonies, a strange and wonderful fake allegory about a prince and a whale and the stars. Very beautiful. It plays through Sunday.

Also opening: The kiddie fantasy movie Eragon (bleh, says Andrew Wright); Will Smith and his cute son Jaden in The Pursuit of Happyness (bleh, says Brendan); and Unknown (nifty (scroll down), says Andrew Wright).

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Check out even more reviews in The Stranger’s Film Shorts, including the amusing Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds (I feel dirty just typing that), It’s a Wonderful Life, and Santa Smokes.

And as always, our carefully compiled, lovingly updated Movie Times. You should probably call ahead to make sure the theater has power.