“Angels & Demons”
**
Professor Robert Langdon returns to interpret dark signs and obscure symbols in Ron Howard’s latest adaptation of a Dan Brown conspiracy tale. Tom Hanks stars, along with Ayelet Zurer, Ewan McGregor and Armin Mueller-Stahl, in a tale that features a dead pope, a murdered physicist, a vengeful secret society called the Illuminati, and a bomb of antimatter pulsing beneath Vatican City. With dialogue that is often exposition, “Angels & Demons” might well be the most expensive audio book ever. PG-13. 2 hours, 18 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
“Four Christmases”
**
This romantic comedy is pretty generic, though you might still be grateful for it. The jokes are old, but they hit as often as they miss. And while the free-spirited lovers at the film’s center succumb predictably to tradition, they also serve as an accurate sendup of today’s overly modern relationships. Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon convincingly play Brad and Kate, leisure-obsessed 30-somethings who are anti-marriage, anti-children and pro-themselves. For these two San Franciscans, even Christmas comes free of responsibility. When fog grounds their flight, Brad and Kate must visit their four divorced parents, all familiar characters. PG-13. 1 hour, 29 minutes. Rafer Guzman, Newsday
“Shorts”
** 1/2
It’s a connected collection of “shorts” — short films about kids (and adults) who encounter a magical wishing rock deep in the heart of Texas. It mocks America’s Crackberry (and iPhone, etc.) epidemic in a kid-friendly farce about being careful what you wish for. Along the way, parents learn to be a team, a megalomaniac learns that ruling the world isn’t a worthy goal, and kids learn to only wish for the important things in life — world peace, an end to global warming and “a limitless supply of candy bars.” PG. 1 hour, 27 minutes. Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
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