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.
Reviewers include: A.B. = Allison Benedikt; M.P. = Michael Phillips; M.W. = Michael Wilmington.
ATL (star)(star)1/2: If “Roll Bounce” and “Boyz n the Hood” had a PG-13 baby, it would be “ATL.” Director Chris Robinson plays roller-skating scenes for cheap nostalgia and the drug culture feels watered down for the MPAA. PG-13. 1:45.–A.B.
Basic Instinct 2 (star)1/2: No one’s having much fun, least of all an apparently narcoticized Sharon Stone. A risible opening-credits sequence mixing vehicular recklessness with other pursuits settles into risk-averse mode. R. 1:53.–M.P.
Brick (star)(star): Good performances (especially Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s) in writer-director Rian Johnson’s debut feature, a California high school-set noir, are undermined by a weak mystery and a choice of style over substance. R. 1:50.–A.B.
Brooklyn Lobster (star)(star)(star): Director Kevin Jordan’s autobiographical tale of the family business features strong performances by Danny Aiello and Jane Curtin. No MPAA rating (language, sexual inferences). 1:30. –M.W.
Don’t Come Knocking (star)(star)(star): Director Wim Wenders and writer Sam Shepard reunite with Shepard starring as a western star fleeing his hedonistic life to find the family he missed. With Jessica Lange and Sarah Polley. R. 1:50.–M.W.
Friends With Money (star)(star)(star)1/2: Director Nicole Holofcener does it again in a class-conscious tale of four friends (Jennifer Aniston, Joan Cusack, Frances McDormand and Catherine Keener) and the men who love (and hurt) them. R. 1:28.–A.B.
Ice Age: The Meltdown (star)(star)(star): A lesser movie than the slap-happy original–and it’s hard to accept that the first movie’s ice age now begins to vanish like a cold snap, sending the gang on an odyssey to an ark. PG. 1:30. –M.W.
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Compiled by Regina Robinson
