Capsule reviews of films opening this week:

"Funny Games" — Here's what's funny about writer-director Michael Haneke's film, a nearly identical English-language remake of his own 1997 thriller set in Austria. Haneke wants to condemn Hollywood pop culture for reveling in violence, and he intentionally places the most brutal acts of his sadistic hostage drama just outside the frame. Yet the violence is still there — it's completely germane to the story — and even though you can't see it, it still achieves the same sort of unsettling effect. This is what we would refer to as "having it both ways," in any language. This time, Naomi Watts and Tim Roth star as wealthy married couple Ann and George, who are on their way with their young son (Devon Gearhart) to their tasteful vacation home in an upscale waterfront community. Soon after they arrive, the exceedingly polite Peter (Brady Corbet) shows up in preppy all-white (with conspicuous white gloves) and asks to borrow some eggs for a neighbor. Then his partner Paul (Michael Pitt) arrives, who is similarly dressed and just as creepily ingratiating. Clearly, they're not there for the eggs. Haneke puts a feeling of unease in the pit of your stomach from the beginning, and through intimate staging and impossibly long takes, creates a steadily building tension. Then he ruins the effect about an hour in by having Pitt turn to the camera, break the fourth wall and cheekily address the audience. R for terror, violence and some language. 112 min. Two stars out of four.