Some reviews originate at newspapers that do not award star ratings. Ratings range from zero to four stars.
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“Anonymous”
Reviewed on Page 1D
“Puss in Boots”
Reviewed on Page 1D
“In Time” Reviewed on Page 6D
“The Rum Diary” Reviewed on Page 8D
“Connected”
Reviewed on Page 8D
“Blackthorn” Reviewed on Page 2D
“The Names of Love” Reviewed on Page 8D
“All’s Faire in Love” Reviewed at “The Hammer”
Reviewed at
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Here are selected mini-reviews of films in theaters, listed alphabetically.
“5 0/50”
Cancer dramedy. R. Joseph Gordon-Levitt strikes the right note of fear even as he puts on a brave face as an earnest young man who learns he has cancer. (Lisa Kennedy, The Denver Post) 100 minutes“The Big Year”
Obsessive-compulsive comedy. PG. Beware the comedy that heralds its cast as “the Dream Team.” Because a good as Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson can be, the trio doesn’t elevate this tale of three birders trying to outdo each other to the heights one would hope or expect. (Kennedy) 104 minutes“Dolphin Tale”
Boy meets dolphin. PG. In 2005 a bottlenose dolphin lost her tail and a group of people banded together to make her a new one. Much of this movie is about loner Sawyer Nelson (Nathan Gamble) and the dolphin he helps save. (Kennedy) 113 minutes“Dream House”Thriller. PG-13. Hotshot book editor Daniel Craig decides to retire from his lush Manhattan publishing job to write a novel and spend more time at home with wife Rachel Weisz and their two young daughters. They learn that their new house had been the site of a murder. (Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times) 91 minutes
“Drive”Wheelman drama. R. Ryan Gosling in a high-performance vehicle fueled with an unlikely mixture: existential crime thriller and John Hughes teen flick. (Kennedy) 104 minutes
“Footloose”
Dance/romance. PG-13. Kids are dancing and frolicking, maybe even having a few beers, to the title song of a 1984 movie. Then tragedy strikes. Bomont, Ga., becomes the town that banned organized dances and the new kid in town loves to dance. (Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel)113 minutes
“Gun Hill Road”Drama. R. Harmony Santana stars as transgender teen Michael/Vanessa in this beautifully acted debut feature. Esai Morales mixes frustration and paternal want to fine affect as Enrique, an ex-con returning to a changed family. Judy Reyes’ makes certain wife and mother Angela is never in danger of being a stand-by-her- man victim. (Kennedy) 88 minutes
“Ides of March”
Political drama. R. Idealistic press spokesman Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) finds himself caught in a riptide of his own making during a democratic primary battle. (Kennedy) 101 minutes“Johnny English Reborn”Spy comedy. PG. Rowan Atkinson is called back into service by a new boss, Pegasus (Gillian Anderson), who needs his help to thwart an assassination. Paired off with the very young and almost equally clueless Agent Tucker (Daniel Kaluuya), English is off to Hong Kong to keep the world safe. (Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times) 101 minutes
“Machine Gun Preacher”
Action. R. Sam Childers (Gerard Butler), newly released from prison. When his wife tells him she’s become a Christian, he gets loud and threatening and tells her that she will always be a stripper and a junkie no matter what she says. Then he finds religion. (Mick LaSalle, San Franciscio Chronicle) 127 minutes
“Margin Call”Financial thriller. R. Timely trauma, er, drama set in an investment house as the trickle turned into a deluge of toxic debt. (Kennedy) 109 minutes“The Mighty Macs”Athletic drama. G. About the glory days of Immaculata University’s women’s basketball team. (Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel) 100 minutes
“Moneyball”Baseball homer. PG-13. As Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane, Brad Pitt may be the No. 1 reason this tremendous — yet intimate — sports tale soars over the fences. (Kennedy) 133 minutes“My Afternoons With Margueritte”
Gentle comedy. PG-13. Handyman Germain (Gerard Depardieu) forges a bond over park pigeons with a tiny, elegant, older woman named Margueritte (Gisèle Casadesus). Germain and Margueritte fall in a kind of love. He’s the son she never had. She’s the mother we know he deserves. (Wesley Morris, Boston Globe) 88 minutes
“Paranormal Activity 3”
Fright fest. R. In this prequel, we get to know “Toby,” the unseen demonic frenemy of preteen daughter Kristi. 80 minutes
“Real Steel”Action. PG-13. With its underground metal battlers and pro-circuit robots, this father-son saga, starring Hugh Jackman and Dakota Goyo, is rock ’em, sock ’em — and sweet. (Kennedy) 126 minutes“Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness”Biography. Unrated. The story of Sholem Aleichem (1859-1916), best known for creating Tevye the dairyman, later the subject of “Fiddler on the Roof.” (Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune) 93 minutes
“Special Treatment”
Sex drama. Unrated. Art-history major who years ago became a high-priced Paris prostitute specializes in kinky clients who require elaborate role-playing on her part. She is a coolly proud, fearless woman, confident of her looks and abilities even as she approaches 50, though she finds it increasingly difficult to deny that her soul is withering away. (Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times) 96 minutes
“Take Shelter”DramaR. Want to know what torment looks like? Consult actor Michael Shannon. The tall, craggy- faced Kentuckian delivers a turn of profound tribulation in “Take Shelter,” portraying a family man bedeviled by cataclysmic dreams. Written and directed by Jeff Nichols, the film is a work of hushed emotional veracity. Portraying the wife, Jessica Chastain once again proves she’s the real deal. (Kennedy) 120 minutes“The Thing”Horror. R. The Norwegians have found something frozen in ice. And they want to keep it secret. So they drag a too-young American paleontologist with a bit of experience dealing with ancient frozen corpses and a few other folks in to figure out what it was. (Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel) 102 minutes
“The Three Musketeers”
Action. PG-13. This movie exists for its digital airborne sailing vessels and deadly retro-futuristic flamethrowers. Somewhere in there, you’ll find a trio of cynical, out-of- work musketeers, the casualties of “budget cuts,” as one of them notes early on. The Dumas adventure classic is now a steampunk’d migraine. (Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune) 102 minutes
“Toast”
Culinary comedy. Not rated. Chef looks back on his life: his mother who could make just toast, and his over-the-top stepmother. (Chris Hewitt, St. Paul Pioneer Press) 91 minutes
“The Way”
Road picture. PG-13. The “way” in this case is the Camino de Santiago,the famed Catholic pilgrim’s path from France into Spain, crossing the Pyrenees and ending at the cathedral in Santiago de Compostelan. Emilio Estevez directs dad Martin Sheen on this epic hike in a story of a father taking one last shot at getting to know his son and making a test of his own physical condition and faith. Sheen plays Tom, a successful, widowed eye doctor who hasn’t seen much of his grad-student-turned-mystic-traveler son, Daniel (Estevez).(Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel) 115 minutes
“Weekend”True romance. Not rated. Brit writer-director Andrew Haigh’s tale of guy-meets-guy is as luminous and carnal as it is emotionally true. After Russell (Tom Cullen) leaves a party at his straight best friend’s home, he stops by a gay bar where he meets Glen (Chris New). Their hookup and the 48 hours that follow are made less simple when the slow-burning fact of a deeper affinity throws each for his version of a loop. (Kennedy) 96 minutesGIANT SCREENIMAX — Denver Museum of Nature & Science
DinoMAX 3D double feature: “Dinosaurs Alive!” and “Waking the T. Rex: The Story of SUE”; “Under the Sea 3D” and “Born to Be Wild 3D.” Dates, times and tickets vary. 2001 Colorado Blvd., 303-322-7009,
IWERKS — The Wildlife Experience
“Dinosaurs Alive!” Animalopolis” and “Dolphins.” Dates, times and tickets vary. 10035 S. Peoria St., Parker, 720- 488-3300,
