This week in theatres - "Taken," "New in Town" and "The Uninvited"

Three distinct genres try their luck.

After debuting earlier this year in France, 20th Century Fox finally releases the eagerly anticipated crime actioner "Taken" on January 30th. The intense film is helmed by Pierre Morel, known for the indie gem "District B13" and helmer of the upcoming "From Paris with Love" starring John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

"Taken" stars Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen and Jon Gries and is written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen.

What's it about?

“I don’t know you who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you’re looking for a ransom, I can tell you, I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills acquired over a very long career in the shadows, skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that will be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you. And I will kill you.”

With these chilling words to a member of a band of kidnappers, former government operative Bryan Mills begins the longest 96-hours of his life – and the hunt for the fearsome organization that has taken his daughter Kim.

Mills had only recently given up his government career as what he calls, a “preventer” – “I prevented bad things from happenings,” he says – to be near Kim, who lives with Bryan’s ex-wife Lenore and her new husband. To make ends meet, Bryan joins some former colleagues for special security details (like guarding a pop diva), but most of his time and energy are spent re-connecting with Kim.

Bryan’s familial goal is nearly derailed when Kim requests his permission to spend time in Paris with a friend. All too aware of the dangers that could lie ahead for Kim in a foreign land, Bryan says no, but Kim’s disappointment leads him to very reluctantly relent.

Bryan’s worst fears are realized when Kim and her friend Amanda are suddenly abducted – in broad daylight – from the Paris apartment at which they’ve just arrived. Moments before Kim is dragged away by the as yet unseen and unknown assailants, she manages to phone Bryan, who begins to expertly piece together clues that will take him to the darkness of Paris’s underworld, and to the City of Light’s plushest mansions. He will face nightmares worse than anything he experienced in black ops – and let nothing and no one stop him from saving his daughter.

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Lionsgate distributes the comedy "New in Town" from Gold Circle Films. Renee Zellweger, Harry Connick Jr., J.K. Simmons, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Frances Conroy, Mike O'Brien and Rashida Jones star in the comedy helmed by Jonas Elmer from the writing by C. Jay Cox and Ken Rance.

What's it about?

The story tells of Lucy Hill (Renée Zellweger), an ambitious, up and coming executive living in Miami. She loves her shoes, she loves her cars and she loves climbing the corporate ladder. When she is offered a temporary assignment - in the middle of nowhere - to restructure a manufacturing plant, she jumps at the opportunity, knowing that a big promotion is close at hand. What begins as a straight forward job assignment becomes a life changing experience as Lucy discovers greater meaning in her life and most unexpectedly, the man of her dreams (Harry Connick, Jr.).

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Horror-wise, Paramount pitches it's "The Uninvited" offering rated PG-13 and starring Elizabeth Banks, Arielle Kebbel, Emily Browning, David Strathairn and Maya Massar.

Charles Guard and Thomas Guard direct the film and write the screenplay alongside Carlo Bernard based on the motion picture written by Kim Jee-Woon ("3 Extreemes II").

What's it about?

Based on Kim Jee-Woon's 2003 Korean horror film, “Changhwa Hongryon,” “The Uninvited” revolves around Anna (Emily Browning), who returns home after spending time in the hospital following the tragic death of her mother. Her recovery suffers a setback when she discovers her father (David Strathairn) has become engaged to her mother’s former nurse, Rachel (Elizabeth Banks). That night, Anna is visited by her mother's ghost, who warns her of Rachel's intentions. Together, Anna and her sister (Arielle Kebbel) try to convince their father that his current fiancée is not who she pretends to be, and what should have been a happy family reunion becomes a lethal battle of wills between stepdaughters and stepmother.