30 Days of Night (R) (2.5)
The sun disappears for 30 consecutive days in Barrow, Alaska — the northernmost town in America — and fast-moving vampires use this opportunity to feast on the people of the small town. The humans are led by a young cop (Josh Hartnett) looking to reunite with his ex (Melissa George), and the community is, as you may expect, unprepared for a fierce attack by an army of vampires
Skip it: The intense depiction of the noisy, speedy killers at first distracts you from wondering why it doesn’t take them 30 minutes, not 30 days, to knock off a tiny town. Soon, though, “30 Days of Night” turns into the same old “zombie” movie with longer fangs.
Catch it: If you share the optimism of one of the townspeople who exclaims, “We got walkie-talkies, it’ll be fine.”
Bottom line: Ben Foster and Danny Huston are creepy as a mysterious stranger and the vampire leader, respectively, but the most memorable thing about “30 Days of Night” is still the number of heads decapitated by an ax.
Lars and the Real Girl (PG-13) (3 stars)
Lars (Ryan Gosling), to the dismay of his brother (Paul Schneider) and his brother’s wife (Emily Mortimer), brings home a full-size, mail-order doll as his girlfriend. Not given much of a choice, Lars’ co-workers and the rest of the Wisconsin small town play along and treat Lars’ girlfriend, Bianca, as if she’s real.
Skip it: If you don’t want to hear one of Lars’ co-workers gripe, “I wish I had a woman that couldn’t talk.”
Catch it: The cast is more perfect than anything you can order on the Internet. Lars has identifiable issues — related to the death of his mother at a young age and his fear of being touched — but the movie reminds us that while everyone does things that might be commonly perceived as weird, hardly anyone wants to be talked out of doing it.
Bottom line: The movie is almost too nice in having everyone play along with Lars, but what’s impressive is that “Lars and the Real Girl” isn’t out to laugh at a weirdo. It’s out to explore the difference between an eccentricity, a phase and a problem.
Things We Lost in the Fire (R) (2.5 stars)
After her husband Brian’s murder, Audrey (Halle Berry) invites Brian’s best friend Jerry (Benicio Del Toro), a recovering heroin addict, to move in with her and her two kids. Together, they try to cope with their loss and ignore any ill-advised temptation.
Skip it: Too many scenes feel like they’re being played not in a movie theater but on the big screen at the Academy Awards. Oscar season always brings in hard-hitting, depressing drama, but “Things We Lost” evolves as a story of sadness from the outside looking in, rather than a vivid depiction of hearts finding ways to become unbroken.
Catch it: To enjoy the ridiculousness of kids’ logic. Apparently, when Brian (David Duchovny) was younger, he peed in a pool because he didn’t want to get his bathing suit wet.
Bottom line: Del Toro (“21 Grams”) remains one of Hollywood’s most compelling presences, and he’s the most interesting character in a movie that offers little for the grieving wife to do.
