Not too many movies opening this week — but there’s plenty to bring home. Here are some recent releases to check out.
“Jennifer’s Body”
Do not let feelings about Megan Fox deter you from some horror fun. The hybrid of low talent and klieg-light overexposure is nearly likable for being so dislikable in this tale of girl friendship and demonic possession. Amanda Seyfried is best friend Needy, who isn’t as passive as her name suggests. Penned by Diablo Cody, directed by Karyn Kusama, the R-rated flick is a riot-grrrl-style riff (with some fine riotous moments) on a genre that too often displays its female troubles. R. 1 hour, 32 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
“It Might Get Loud”
“It Might Get Loud” is a documentary about boys and their toys — about men and the guitars that have helped catapult them to superstardom. The strength of the Davis Guggenheim-directed film is the miniature portraits of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, U2’s the Edge and the White Stripes’ Jack White. As he follows the artists around England, Ireland and the American South, Guggenheim uncovers some truly telling pictures and captures some inspired moments of the individuals in their own spaces. PG. 1 hour, 37 minutes. Ricardo Baca
“District 9”
“E.T., go home, quick!” might have been the message in this aliens-among-us ride. Neill Blomkamp’s visceral film follows Wikus van de Merwe (Shartlo Copley), in the days after the bureaucrat was exposed to alien DNA while evicting non-human refugees from a vast shanty town. With its mash-up of visual styles (documentary, newsreel, straight-on action) and its fearless tussle with hot-button issues, “District 9” has the acrid tang of a classic. Time will settle that. But already, newcomer Blomkamp is a director to be reckoned with. R. 1 hour, 55 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
“(500) Days of Summer”
Boy meets girl. It seems so simple. Even so in director Marc Webb’s super debut (wondrous screenplay by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber), it’s 500 days of joy and disaster as Tom and Summer prove how love can be a figment of yearning and utterly real — sometimes at the same moment. Joseph Gordon-Levitt continues to trace the arc of subtle but true stardom. Zooey Deschanel is all eyes and smart talk as she rebuffs romantic nonsense at every turn. PG-13. 1 hour, 36 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
