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Here are selected minireviews of films in theaters, listed alphabetically.
Some reviews originate at other newspapers that do not award star ratings.
“2012”
Super Disaster. ** 1/2. PG-13. The director stages earthquakes and tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. He reduces Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Washington and even Vatican City to rubble. You’ll likely be laughing too hard to care. For a movie about the end of the world, “2012” pulses with a goofy sort of life. “2012” is overwrought and overproduced, an orgy of Hollywood excess and incoherence. It’s also among the most entertaining movies you’ll see this year. (Christopher Kelly, McClatchy Newspapers) 160 minutes
“The Blind Side”
Drama. ***. PG-13. The mystery of what makes Leigh Anne Tuohy such a steely magnolia isn’t resolved in John Lee Hancock’s affirming drama. But Sandra Bullock’s turn as the woman who brings a hulking, shut-down, African American teen named Michael Oher into her well-to-do Memphis family convinces us it has a lot to do with love. Tim McGraw and newcomer Quinton Aaron also star in this adaptation of Michael Lewis terrific nonfiction tale of gridiron star Oher and the Tuohy’s, football and family. (Kennedy) 126 minutes
“Brothers”
Drama. **. R. Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal do strong work as an upstanding Marine and his black sheep brother in this adaptation of a Danish drama about the collateral damages wrought by war but even more so family dynamics. When Sam (Maguire) goes missing in Afghanistan, Tommy (Gyllenhaal) steps up to help his sibling’s wife and daughter. Grace is played with grace by Natalie Portman, who is too often burdened with clunky, sentimental dialog. Jim Sheridan directs David Benioff’s adaptation. (Kennedy) 110 minutes
“Disney’s A Christmas Carol”
A Classic. ***. PG. Get past the bah-humbugging Disney’s branding of Charles Dickens invites and audiences can settle in for Robert Zemeckis’ entertaining “performance capture” retelling of the tale of a miser made a better man by the visits of four ghosts one Christmas Eve. Jim Carrey is agile, winning and oft unrecognizable as Ebenezer Scrooge and the three ghost of Xmas. Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Bob Hoskins also appear in multiple roles. (Kennedy) 95 minutes
“Everybody’s Fine”
Holiday Drama. ** 1/2. PG-13. Robert De Niro as Frank, a blue-collar retiree in upstate New York. A recent widower, Frank is looking forward to having his four children home for a reunion. One by one they cancel. Despite health problems, Frank decides to hit the road. He’ll pay surprise visits to his offspring, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell. (Robert W. Butler, McClatchy Newspapers) 94 minutes
“Fantastic Mr. Fox”
Animated. ** 1/2. PG. What a delightful outing director-writer Wes Anderson provides in this (and Noah Baumbach’s) adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s tale. When the 0h-so-clever and dapper Vulpes vulpes of the title takes on three gluttonous (and increasingly infuriated) farmers by the names of Boggis, Bunce and Bean, it’s quite the adventure. George Clooney and Meryl Streep provide the voices of Mr. Fox and his no-bull Missus. Jason Schwartman plays their sulkly son Ash, who gives in to the stuff of kid anxieties when his near-perfect cousin Kristofferson (Eric Anderson) arrives. A vivid example of stop-motion animation, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is yet another sign we’re living in an animation heyday. (Kennedy) 88 minutes
“The Fourth Kind”
Thriller. **. PG-13. Someone or something has been terrorizing the people of Nome, Alaska. “The Fourth Kind,” is an unintentionally silly thriller about alien abduction. For those who care about such things, encounters of the fourth kind are ones in which the subject’s body is physically carried off, often to be probed in ways that are far too horrible to describe. (Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post) 98 minutes
“Horse Boy”
Autism Documentary. **. Not Rated. Parents wish produces an arduous trek across Mongolia in search of a shaman to help their autistic son. “The Horse Boy” captures parents undergoing various rituals suggested by their Mongolian guides. It suggests that horses might not be the cure-all that the father hopes. (Wesley Morris, The Boston Globe) 93 minutes
“The Men Who Stare at Goats”
Comedy. ** 1/2. R. There are some truly funny moments in this adaptation of Jon Ronson’s nonfiction book about a military operation that trained soldiers in paranormal warfare. But, given the context of wars the U.S. remains embroiled in, the audience is right to expect more pointed, poignant insights — paranormal or otherwise. Jeff Bridges, George Clooney and Kevin Spacey star as the founder of the New Earth Army and his two most talented conscripts. Ewan McGregor plays the reporter who stumbles upon their much weirder than fiction story. (Kennedy) 95 minutes
“Ninja Assassin”
Ninja Action. * 1/2. R. In Japan, where the blades are shiny and sharp and if the fake blood isn’t staining the lens, you’re not trying hard enough, there’s a tradition of sword-and-splatter pictures. For a thousand years, “The Nine Clans” have taken in orphans from around the world and forged them into cold- blooded killing machines. Meet their price, and they’ll kill anybody you say. (Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel) 99 minutes
“Oh My God”
Documentary. ** 1/2. Not Rated. Celebrities — Ringo Starr, Hugh Jackman, Bob Geldof and Seal, among others — get pride of place in the credits of “Oh My God,” Peter Rodger’s picturesque but shallow inquiry into the meaning of God. The film, which Rodger directed, wrote, produced and photographed on location in nearly two dozen countries, is the documentary equivalent of a spiritually angled coffee-table book of world travels. (Stephen Holden, New York Times) 99 minutes
“Old Dogs”
Comedy. *. PG. Seven years after his whirlwind 24-hour marriage to Kelly Preston, an uptight fellow named Robin Williams learns he’s the father of twins. Dan and his best friend and business partner, footloose bachelor John Travolta, end up baby-sitting these two for a couple of weeks. (Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune) 88 minutes
“Pirate Radio”
Nostalgia. ***. R. It’s about the heyday of offshore “pirate radio” stations — broadcasting from old merchant ships to a Britain dying to hear the Golden Age of British pop, but denied it by the staid BBC. The good ship Radio Rock is filled with the usual dizzy cast of castaways It’s 1966, and they’re all stuck on a rusty red hulk in the North Sea, where they live, sleep, drink and kick out the jams. (Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel) 112 minutes
“Planet 51”
Animated Sci-fi. ** 1/2. PG. The 1950s Hollywood tradition was that an alien spaceship landed on Earth and was surrounded fearfully by military troops. “Planet 51” is true to the tradition, but this time the ship comes from Earth, and it lands on a planet inhabited by little green men. It’s still the 1950s, however. It’s perfectly pleasant as kiddie entertainment, although wall-to-wall with pop references to the American 1950s. (Roger Ebert) 90 minutes
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Drama. ****. R. You’ll remember her name. Claireece Precious Jones is an obese, illiterate, abused Harlem teen. Yet Gabourey Sidibe’s performance makes those woefully adjectives insuffient of her humanity. And Mo’Nique’s turn as her brutalizing mother is jaw-dropping. This front runner for an Oscar is directed by Lee Daniels and produced by local company Smokewood Entertainment. Mariah Carey and Paula Patton also star. (Kennedy) 109 minutes
“The Road”
Apocalyptic Allegory. ** 1/2. R. A father and his young son make their way toward the coast after an unspecified disaster has wrecked the planet. Viggo Mortensen plays “The Man.” His son, “the Boy,” is portrayed by Australian Kodi Smit-McPhee. Austrailan Director John Hillcoat could find few more dedicated partners in this horrowing undertaking than Viggo Mortensen. He’s a truth seeker. In mining for the authentic, he makes the Man a complex but hardly admirable figure. Charlize Theron appears as the Man’s wife and the Boy’s mother. While Hillcoat deftly reaps the grim, he never heeds the seedling of hope in this big-screen adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer-winning fable about parental love in an abject world. (Kennedy) 113 minutes
“Zombieland”
Zombie Comedy. ***. R. We pity the foolish zombie who tries to take a bite out of Tallahassee in this comedy that values the prey over the predators. Woody Harrelson is the gun-toting zombie slayer. Jesse Eisenberg endears as Columbus, the guy who proves flight might be just as effective as fight. Abigail Breslin and Emma Stone are sister survivors Little Rock and Wichita the women they meet on the road. In a world in which loved ones (or the cute girl next door) turn ravenous, trust is an issue. (Kennedy) 81 minutes
