The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center continues its celebration of Black History Month with a visit from Roland S. Martin, a veteran journalist and author whose latest book, the verbosely titled 'The First: President Barack Obama's Road to the White House as Originally Reported by Roland S. Martin,' was just published. A contributor to CNN, Martin has been a tornado of journalistic activity over his awards-strewn, 20-year career.  

Thomson’s 1,076-page tome is as addictive as ever, bound to keep readers engrossed as they move from entries that have appeared in every edition since the first (in 1975) to new and/or updated capsules on those who’ve emerged since his most recent edition in 2004. His elegant prose, incisive critical skills and encyclopedic grasp of film history remain on display, as does his sometimes perplexing omissions, quirky personality, dry wit and seemingly willful subversions of popular opinion.  

The 2008 economic meltdown is ripe for dramatic interpretation. John Wells, the bigwig TV producer/writer behind 'ER' and 'The West Wing,' steps up with his take on the Death of the American Dream and corporate greed run amok, and does so armed with a righteous indignation that is only sporadically earned. Grade: C.   

Sofia Coppola’s first film since 2006's underrated 'Marie Antoinette' is laden with the writer/director's now firmly established concerns: attractive (often young) people yearning to connect and find some sort of deeper meaning in their privileged lives, whether they know it or not. Grade: B.  

Matt Reeves' remake of Swedish filmmaker Tomas Alfredson's atmospheric vampire thriller — both of which are based on John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel 'Let the Right One In' — is not as restrained or as poetic as its predecessor, but Let Me In's nuanced take on the genre generates unexpected empathy for its central duo in near equal measure.  

Linda and Tony Cole were devastated as they witnessed their son's life altered forever by a condition they had never heard of. But they didn't give up. Flash forward a dozen years, and the husband-and-wife team have relayed their family's ordeal in the just-published 'Resurrecting Anthony: A True Story of Courage & Destination,' which they hope those in similar situations can use to 'learn how to cope, how to be open and accepting of offered help, and how to advocate for needed services."  

The veteran British filmmaker Mike Leigh again immerses his working-class characters in the messiness of everyday life, this time focusing his neorealist gaze on Gerri (Ruth Sheen) and Tom (Jim Broadbent), happily married sixtysomethings who revel in their long, still-evolving relationship and in simple pleasures like tending their garden. Grade: B-.  

The cinematic dead zone known as January gets a welcome jolt this week as the Cincinnati Jewish and Israeli Film Festival returns with another unique batch of offerings. The six-day festival (Saturday-Feb. 3) provides "insights on various aspects of Jewish life, culture and history" via seven films that run the gamut in terms of genre, subject matter and stylistic approach.  

Summing up a year is always a tricky proposition. It's even trickier at this late date in our rapidly fracturing cultural landscape. Consensus on anything — from our politics to the very nature of reality — is more fleeting than ever in a world where context is obliterated by encroaching, fast-moving technologies that allow us to create our own narrowly defined headspaces.  

Covington-based Powerhouse Factories' annual poster party is back, armed with another smorgasbord of gig posters from both the Factory's archive and newer creations for such diverse bands as Fang Island, The Walkmen, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Ghostface Killah (who actually made a curious tour stop at the Mad Hatter a few months back), Screaching Weasel, of Montreal, Holy Fuck and Neon Indian. The party provides attendees with a number of stellar gift options for the music fan on your Christmas list.