Here are selected capsule reviews of movies in current release. Information is based on the most up-to-date theater schedules available and subject to change.
13 Going on 30 (star)(star)
“Big” meets time travel in this comedy that’s as mixed up as an adolescent girl. Leaning heavily on her toothy-grinned charm, Jennifer Garner plays Jenna, who in 1987 wishes she were 30 and suddenly wakes up in 2004 as an adult with no memory of the previous 17 years. The movie shows how painful being 13 can be, then peddles cheap nostalgia for that age. PG-13. 1:37.–M.C.
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (star)(star)1/2
Writer-star Will Ferrell, as San Diego TV anchor-stud Ron Burgundy, and co-writer-director Adam McKay make fun of three ripe targets: TV newscasting, male chauvinism and `70s fashions. Aided by a top cast (Christina Applegate as Ron’s anchor competish, Fred Willard, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell), they craft a cute, silly, funny movie with some edgy satire and out-there sight gags. PG-13. 1:35.–M.W.
Around the World in 80 Days (star)(star)
This sort-of remake borrows the title of Jules Verne’s novel and the 1956 best picture Oscar winner, but it changes persnickety British gentleman Phileas Fogg into an absent-minded inventor (Steve Coogan) and focuses on Jackie Chan’s Passepartout, who’s trying to return a stolen Jade Buddha to his Chinese village. The transplant of a standard Chan plot onto this adventure tale never takes. PG. 2:05.–M.C.
Before Sunset (star)(star)(star)(star)
This sequel to one of the best modern romantic movies, Richard Linklater’s 1995 “Before Sunrise,” continues, nine years later. The breathless, sweet and very smart tale of Texan Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Parisian Celine (Julie Delpy), who met magically in Vienna, lost each other and now reunite in Paris for another lively, bittersweet, heart-stirring stroll of love-chat and amour. R. 1:20.–M.W.
Bon Voyage (star)(star)(star)(star)
From Jean-Paul Rappeneau (“Cyrano de Bergerac”) comes a supremely amusing French romantic comedy-mystery-adventure, set during the hectic 1940 days after the German victory. Brilliantly written and gorgeously mounted, full of great actors (Gerard Depardieu, Isabelle Adjani, Virginie Ledoyen) and fabulous scenery, a full-blooded entertainment that turns serious themes to pure pleasure. In French and German with English subtitles. PG-13. 1:54.–M.W.
Breakin’ All the Rules (star)(star)1/2
Writer-director Daniel Taplitz’s romantic comedy strains to be screwball but is effortlessly likable. A relaxed Jamie Foxx is Quincy, who writes the best-selling “The Breakup Handbook,” prompting his cousin (Morris Chestnut) and his old boss (Peter MacNicol) to seek his breakup advice. A love hexagon, pairing Quincy with his cousin’s ex (the winsome Gabrielle Union), ensues. PG-13. 1:25.–M.C.
Bukowski: Born Into This (star)(star)(star)
John Dullaghan’s raw and defining documentary looks at the life–and the myth–of legendary writer Charles Bukowski, who was much more than just a drunk and a womanizer, though he was those things too. No MPAA rating (profanity, sex and adult themes). 1:53.–A.B.
The Chronicles of Riddick (star)(star)
David Twohy’s belated sequel to “Pitch Black” abandons the original’s horror-film structure for science-fiction adventure sprawl, with too many planets and populations to care about. At the center again is Vin Diesel’s self-regarding Riddick, who now doesn’t seem all that different from your typical reluctant movie hero as he attempts to thwart the Necromongers and their plan to convert conquered populations. PG-13. 1:58.–M.C.
A Cinderella Story (star)1/2
A contemporary reworking of the classic fairy tale, this Hilary Duff vehicle takes a stab at high school life and purports to get teenagers. Duff is Sam, a teenage outcast who does chores all day for her plastic surgery-enhanced step-mom, and her only joy in life is to IM, e-mail and text-message her secret admirer. PG. 1:36.–A.B.
The Clearing (star)(star)
Robert Redford plays Wayne Hayes, a wealthy bulldog of a Pittsburgh businessman kidnapped by his disgruntled ex-employee (Willem Dafoe), in this bland thriller. Wayne’s wife, Eileen (Helen Mirren), keeps a stiff upper lip while dealing with the FBI and revelations of her husband’s infidelity. But even this trio of screen veterans can’t enliven the boring script and familiar adrenaline rushes. R. 1:31.–A.B.
Coffee and Cigarettes (star)(star)1/2
Shot over 17 years, Jim Jarmusch’s 11 linked black-and-white shorts feature performers playing versions of themselves as they meet over java and smokes. The results are hit-or-miss, with the best segments pairing Iggy Pop with Tom Waits, Alfred Molina with Steve Coogan, and Cate Blanchett with herself (as her resentful cousin). But even in these, the movie has little that’s fresh to say about celebrity culture. R. 1:36.–M.C.
Control Room (star)(star)(star)1/2
Documentarian Jehane Noujaim takes us inside the Arab news network Al Jazeera and U.S. military Central Command for an eye-opening look at how the U.S. war with Iraq has been covered and media-managed. The movie shows perspectives and footage rarely seen over here while suggesting that Al Jazeera’s staffers aren’t so unlike their American counterparts in how they approach their work. No MPAA rating (some graphic war footage, language). 1:24.–M.C.
The Corporation (star)(star)(star)
Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbot’s exhaustively researched documentary on what corporations are, and how they got that way, based on co-writer Joel Bakan’s book, is good serious stuff: A non-fiction film on weighty issues that also entertains. Examining big business from a skeptical, even hostile viewpoint, it’s so full of information and dense with analysis, it keeps you hooked. No MPAA rating (parents are not cautioned for objectionable material, but mature concepts and discussions will make it difficult for small children). 2:15.–M.W.
The Day After Tomorrow (star)(star)1/2
A genuinely spectacular but terminally predictable sci-fi movie from Roland Emmerich (“Independence Day”) about the cataclysmic consequences of global warming–a new Ice Age, no less–this “Day” mixes grand, epic effects and amazing visualizations of catastrophe with a cliched, sappy family-in-crisis plot wasting Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal and Emmy Rossum. PG-13. 2:02.–M.W.
De-Lovely (star)(star)(star)
Kevin Kline is delightful and delicious in Irwin Winkler’s ambitious, glitteringly well produced musical bio of the life of Cole Porter, the great sophisticated pop lyricist-composer, whose loving marriage to socialite Linda (Ashley Judd) and secret homosexuality made his life a “night and day” tragicomedy. Lots of great Porter songs sung by Kline and a pop-star gallery, but not quite the top. PG-13. 2:05.–M.W.
DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story (star)1/2
Another lame Ben Stiller comedy, as the actor further sullies his track record by mugging wildly as a jerk fitness freak trying to take over a gym run by a regular guy (a laid-back Vince Vaughn). This matter must be settled on a dodgeball court, with overgrown “Bad News Bears” wannabes and gym rats flinging red rubber balls at each other. PG-13. 1:36.–M.C.
The Door in the Floor (star)(star)
Tod Williams’ adaptation of the opening section of John Irving’s “A Widow for One Year” is literate, sensitive, unconvincing. It covers a summer in the troubled marriage between children’s author Ted (a compelling Jeff Bridges) and his still-grieving wife Marion (a flat-toned Kim Basinger) years after the deaths of their teen sons. Ted’s teen intern (Jon Foster) somehow reawakens Marion’s maternal and sexual instincts. R. 1:51.–M.C.
Fahrenheit 9/11 (star)(star)(star)(star)
Michael Moore’s incendiary Cannes Palme d’Or-winning documentary is a shocking, sad, fiercely funny look at George W. Bush’s handling of terrorism and the Iraqi war: Another howitzer blast of heartland humor and journalistic chutzpah–and Moore’s (“Bowling for Columbine”) cheekiest, gutsiest, most hilarious ordinary-guy assault yet on the halls of the rich and mighty. R. 1:56.–M.W.
Garfield: The Movie (star)(star)
When cat owner Jon Arbuckle (Breckin Meyer) adopts a brainless dog, Odie, his feline Garfield (voiced by Bill Murray) must overcome his lazy, selfish ways. In line with the comic strip of the last 10 years, no laughs are produced in the adventure to rescue Odie when he runs away. PG. 1:25.–R.E.
Godzilla (star)(star)(star)1/2
The original version of “Godzilla,” director Ishiro Honda’s epochal tale of a post-nuclear sea monster’s horrendous assault on Tokyo, shorn of the silly Raymond Burr scenes shot for the American release and restored to its original length. Long regarded as one of Japan’s great movies, the restoration–bleaker, scarier and more intentionally funny–shows why. With Takashi Shimura. In Japanese with English subtitles. No MPAA rating (parents cautioned for special-effects monster violence). 1:38.–M.W.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (star)(star)(star)1/2
This third “Harry Potter” movie, based on an especially potent installment in J.K. Rowling’s series, shakes the candy coating off of the franchise, as director Alfonso Cuaron makes us see this magical, increasingly dark world with fresh eyes. Daniel Radcliffe delivers his most assertive performance yet as the 13-year-old wizard who fears he’s been hunted by an escaped murderer, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman). PG. 2:22.–M.C.
Home on the Range (star)(star)
The new Walt Disney cartoon feature is a big animated western with six good Alan Menken songs (sung by Bonnie Raitt, k.d. lang, Tim McGraw), lots of funny animals, expensive animation and star voice actors (Roseanne Barr, Judi Dench and Cuba Gooding Jr.). But its central premise is absolutely ridiculous: cows vs. gunfighters. Fast and silly, with malfunctioning jokes. PG. 1:16.–M.W.
I, Robot (star)(star)(star)
Star Will Smith’s and director Alex Proyas’ flashy sci-fi thriller, about murder and conspiracy in the robotized world of Chicago 2035 was inspired by Isaac Asimov’s legendary robot stories and Three Laws of Robotics. Not a direct adaptation, it’s still one high-tech thriller that really works–because of its eye-popping CGI feats, Smith’s hip humor and the ideas and humanity behind them. PG-13. 1:14.–M.W.
I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead (star)(star)1/2
An eerie, minimalist noir study about a small-time thug (Clive Owen) forced out of reclusive retirement after the rape and suicide of his brother (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). As with Mike Hodges’ last success, “Croupier,” this one is more about ambience, nuance and evocative textures than plot, though it slyly keeps you guessing and concludes with a tantalizingly ambiguous puzzle. R. 1:42–S.S.
Kill Bill, Vol. 2 (star)(star)1/2
This is the sound of a filmmaker in love with his own voice. The overlong second part of Quentin Tarantino’s revenge epic emphasizes exposition and dialogue over action but fails to deliver on the first movie’s promise, in part because Tarantino seems clueless about real-world emotions. As the bloodthirsty Bride, Uma Thurman remains a force. R. 2:16.–M.C.
King Arthur (star)(star)1/2
A violent, revisionist look at King Arthur’s knights from director Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”), writer David Franzoni (“Gladiator”) and producer Jerry Bruckheimer (“Bad Boys”); they make the Middle Ages look like East L.A. after a riot. Besides Clive Owens’ steely-eyed Arthur, we get a killer Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd), a deadly Guinevere (Keira Knightley) and boorish Sir Bors (roaring Ray Winstone). PG-13. 2:10.–M.W.
The Ladykillers (star)(star)(star)1/2
The new Coen brothers movie, remade from the 1955 Alec Guinness-Peter Sellers classic, is a baroque dark comedy with Tom Hanks and Marlon Wayans as thieves and Irma P. Hall as their indestructible landlady. Gleaming with style, exploding with wit and slapstick, it’s another offbeat Coen gem: an elegant, mad movie and an enjoyable, brainy throwback. R. 1:44.–M.W.
Man on Fire (star)(star)1/2
Denzel Washington plays a flawed superman in Tony Scott’s “Man on Fire,” a super-thriller that drowns an engrossing story in ultra-violence and glitz. He’s an alcoholic bodyguard so charmed by 9-year-old Dakota Fanning that he wages war on Mexico City’s underworld when she’s kidnapped. R. 2:22.–M.W.
Mean Girls (star)(star)(star)
Lindsay Lohan stars as 15-year-old Cady, whose childhood in Africa with her zoologist parents leaves her ill-equipped for the jungle politics of high school in Evanston. Navigating the cliques and esoteric social costumes, Cady befriends social outcasts and the cool girls. PG-13. 1:33.–R.E.
The Mother (star)(star)(star)
Director Roger Michell’s and writer Hanif Kureishi’s “Mother” is a soap opera with guts. A little gem of British acting, it takes the classic May-December class-crossing romantic structure of “All That Heaven Allows” and makes something rawer, more real and sexy. R. 1:52.–M.W.
My Architect: A Son’s Journey (star)(star)(star)(star)
This powerful film is a portrait of director Nathaniel Kahn’s father, visionary architect Louis Kahn–who fathered Nathaniel out of wedlock. Done with amazing emotional balance and openness, it becomes a quiet, inspiring, deeply moving study of family, the vagaries of genius and the almost sublime power of great architecture. No MPAA rating. 1:56.–M.W.
Napoleon Dynamite (star)(star)
The surprise comedy hit of the last Sundance Film festival, from 24-year-old first time co-writer-director Jared Hess didn’t tickle me much. It’s a “nerds rule” small town high school comedy of sometimes amusing, sometimes annoying whimsy and satire, with a likably gawky newcomer star (Jon Heder) and a sometimes likably absurd mood. PG. 1:28.–M.W.
NASCAR 3D: The IMAX Experience (star)(star)
This educational IMAX overview of NASCAR, which trips along through a re-enactment of stock car racing’s origins, its mechanics, rules and race day, could make a city-dweller wish they were sitting atop an RV parked in the infield, drinking a cold one. But true fans might be disappointed by the brevity of 3-D racing action. PG. :48.–E.F.
The Notebook (star)(star)(star)
Nick Cassavetes’ movie version of Nicholas Sparks’ 1996 best seller–with James Garner, Gena Rowlands, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, as old and young couples whose love stories are juxtaposed (and may be the same)–is corny. But it’s also absorbing, sweet and powerfully acted–a movie about falling in love and looking back that avoids many of the genre’s syrupy dangers. PG-13. 2:01.–M.W.
The Passion of the Christ (star)(star)1/2
Director-co-writer Mel Gibson’s serious, earnest, sometimes admirable, often brutally powerful film on the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus (Jim Caviezel) is a passionate but gruesomely physical picture on a subject that needed more spirituality and transcendence–at least to succeed in moving us in the way Gibson so obviously wants. More gore than power and glory. In Latin and Aramaic with English subtitles. R. 2:05.–M.W.
Raising Helen (star)(star)
Director Garry Marshall (“Runaway Bride”) continues making movies that feel like television. “Raising Helen,” though sold on the smiley, squinty charms of Kate Hudson, is no fun single-gal tale but rather a predictable lite lesson about how tough it is to be a mom. Hudson’s Helen becomes her sister’s kids’ guardian when the sister and husband get snuffed in a car accident. PG-13. 1:59.–M.C.
Saved (star)(star)
At times about tolerance, sort of about embracing faith, kind of about eschewing it, and probably about learning to love yourself, this new teen comedy is ambitious in its attempt to expose religious hypocrisy and satirize the contemporary Christian youth movement. But it lacks a strong leading performance from Jena Malone or a conclusion to match its subversive charm. PG-13. 1:32.–A.B.
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (star)
Digging deep into the series’ nostalgia pockets, director Raja Gosnell resurrects some of the cartoon’s most famous villains–but misses the campy fun of the first film. To call this movie a dog would be an insult to canines, so let’s just say “Scooby-Doo 2” is a Scooby-Don’t. PG. 1:33.–R.E.
Shrek 2 (star)(star)(star)
The title ogre (Mike Myers) and his ungainly bride Fiona (Cameron Diaz) meet the parents (hers–a baffled king and queen) in this computer-animated sequel that’s less surprising than the original but also less discordant in its efforts to amuse kids and adults. Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and the swashbuckling Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) provide the laughs; the pop-culture references grow tired. PG. 1:45.–M.C.
Since Otar Left (star)(star)(star)1/2
Julie Bertuccelli’s feature film debut about three generations of Georgian women–matriarch Eka, her daughter Marina and granddaughter Ada–is a lovely portrait of familial and female bonds, made particularly human with beautifully authentic dialogue. When Eka’s son Otar dies, Marina and Ada keep the news from Eka, not realizing that, of the three, she needs protecting least of all. No MPAA rating (language). 1:42.–A.B.
Sleepover (star)(star)(star)
A routine but respectable teen movie aimed mostly at 14-year-old girls. Julie (Alexa Vega) and her friends are challenged to a scavenger hunt by a rival clique made up of the in-crowd. Slapstick mixes with some gentle moralisms about identity and mother-daughter conflicts, amusing no doubt for its target audience and refreshing enough for anyone else. PG. 1:30.–S.S.
Spider-Man 2 (star)(star)(star)1/2
Spidey’s second cinematic adventure gives comic-book movies, sequels and summer popcorn flicks a good name, improving upon its 2002 predecessor in almost every way. The focus is Peter Parker’s (Tobey Maguire) struggles to reconcile his everyday identity with his heroic alter ego; while Spider-Man thwarts criminals and battles the extra-limbed Doc Ock, Peter yearns to reveal his love to Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). PG-13. 2:05.–M.C.
The Stepford Wives (star)(star)1/2
Director Frank Oz’s and writer Paul Rudnick’s remake of the 1975 thriller about suburban wives turned into smiling, submissive robots, is a nightmare comedy that works as comedy–but not as nightmare. Despite a top cast (Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Bette Midler, Christopher Walken and Glenn Close) it makes you laugh (sometimes) more than shiver–and the satire suffers. PG-13. 1:33.–M.W.
Super Size Me (star)(star)(star)1/2
The logic of Morgan Spurlock’s Sundance Award-winning documentary may not be airtight, but this attack on McCulture is no whopper. Reacting to McDonald’s claims that its food can be part of a healthy diet, the affable Spurlock subjected himself to 30 days of nothing but McDonald’s fare, and his health suffered in surprising, dramatic ways. A Big Mac may never taste the same. No MPAA rating (sexual talk). 1:36.–M.C.
The Terminal (star)(star)(star)1/2
A shining big-studio gem, in which Tom Hanks plays a good-hearted Eastern European traveler trapped in New York City’s JFK airport. It’s beautifully acted, expertly crafted, another Spielbergian technological marvel and (for him) a rare adult romance. Some audiences may find the life-inspired story slightly implausible. With Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stanley Tucci and the hilarious Kumar Pallana. PG-13. 2:01.–M.W.
This Old Cub (star)(star)(star)
Jeff Santo can be forgiven for laying it on thick in his documentary about his dad, because we all love Ron Santo, too. The movie is rooted mostly in the present, as the elder Santo battles diabetes and dreams of joining baseball’s Hall of Fame. It could use more baseball footage and fewer testimonials, but Santo proves an inspirational figure. No MPAA rating (family). 1:26.–M.C.
Troy (star)(star)(star)(star)
Wolfgang Petersen’s spectacular, if over-compressed movie saga of the Trojan War is the best Hollywood movie of its kind since “Spartacus.” Like Kubrick’s saga, this is a battle epic that laces spectacle with psychology, bloody warfare with eroticism, adventure with politics. R. 2:43.–M.W.
Two Brothers (star)(star)(star)1/2
Director Jean-Jacques Annaud (“The Bear”) returns to the wild for this captivating tale of two tiger cubs that are separated in their Southeast Asia jungle sanctuary before being reunited many adventures later. Although the human subplots sag, Annaud deserves praise for portraying people (particularly Guy Pearce’s fortune hunter) and wild animals with far more nuance than your typical family animal movie allows. PG. 1:45.–M.C.
Van Helsing (star)(star)(star)
Stephen Sommers’ high-tech revision of Universal horror classics “Dracula,” “Frankenstein” and “The Wolf Man” is under written, over-directed, over-produced and almost constantly over-the-top. But it’s also, at its best, breathtaking fun. Hugh Jackman is the Indy Jones-ish Van, backed by Kate Beckinsale, Kenneth Roxburgh (Dracula) and more CGI than any movie deserves. PG-13. 2:12.–M.W.
White Chicks (star)1/2
In this goofy movie, director-writer Keenen Ivory Wayans asks us to believe that actor-writers Marlon and Shawn Wayans, as two accident-prone African-American FBI agents, could disguise themselves as famous high society blond sisters at a posh Hamptons’ bash and fool everybody, including the sisters’ best buddies. PG-13. 1:45.–M.W.
