Some reviews originate at newspapers that do not award star ratings. Ratings range from zero to four stars.
OPENING
“J. Edgar”***
Reviewed on Page 6D
“Like Crazy”***
Reviewed on Page 6D
“Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life”**1/2
Reviewed on Page 5D
“Puncture”***
Reviewed on Page 6D
“Immortals”*1/2
Reviewed on Page 5D
“Jack and Jill” *
Reviewed on Page 5D
“The Greening of Whitney Brown” Not reviewed
CONTINUING
Here are selected mini-reviews of films in theaters, listed alphabetically.
“50/50”
Cancer dramedy.* * 1/2 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. Seth Rogen is his boneheaded, ultimately decent-hearted best friend. (Lisa Kennedy, The Denver Post)100 minutes
“Anonymous”
Who-wrote-it drama. *** 1/2 PG-13.
Self-appointed master of disaster Roland Emmerich bemoans a cataclysm of a literary sort in this entertaining if wrongheaded period film, about who the writer of the works credited to William Shakespeare actually was. Was it the loutish, boozy actor Will Shakespeare? Or might it have been Edward De Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford? Set amid the political intrigue of Elizabethan England, the movie makes no bones about whom it’s rooting for. Rhys Ifans’ De Vere is prone to longing gazes as he hears his words spoken but cannot claim them as his own. As queen, Vanessa Redgrave delights in Elizabeth’s love of theater. (Kennedy) 130 minutes
“Blackthorn”
Western. * * * R.
Blackthorn” imagines a scenario for the continuing story of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and gives us a different kind of Western — somber, reflective and set in the elevated plains and salt flats of Bolivia.(Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle) 98 minutes
“Footloose”
Dance/romance.* * 1/2 PG-13.
Kids are dancing and frolicking, maybe even having a few beers, to the title song of a 1984 movie. Then tragedy strikes. (Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel) 113 minutes
“The Ides of March”
Political drama.* * * R.
Fine performances and more than fresh insights are the draw in this involving if familiar campaign drama. (Kennedy) 101 minutes
“In Time”
Sci-fi.* * 1/2 PG-13.
Justin Timberlake is Will Salas, a young guy who will be “25” to the end of his days. Or hours. (Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel) 109 minutes
“Margin Call”
Financial thriller.* * * 1/2 R.
Starring a deck of aces in Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany and Zachary Quinto. Demi Moore and Simon Baker also add simmer and ice to this timely trauma, er, drama set in an investment house as the trickle turned into a deluge of toxic debt. (Kennedy) 109 minutes
“Martha Marcy May Marlene”
Psychological thriller. * * 1/2 R.
It takes less than five minutes for “Martha Marcy May Marlene” to go from lulling to deeply unnerving, its mood seamlessly shifting from bucolic observance to low-grade but steady dread. Writer-director Sean Durkin’s story of a woman fleeing a cultlike community heralds the debut of an impressive filmmaking talent and the equally promising arrival of actress Elizabeth Olsen. (Kennedy) 111 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
“Puss in Boots”
Hello-kitty flick. *** PG. This “Shrek” spinoff lacks the lasting lessons required of fairy tales. Still, there are funny bits about cats, as well as the people who love them. (Kennedy) 90 minutes
“Real Steel”
Action.* * 1/2 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
“The Rum Diary”
Gonzo bio.* * 1/2 R.
This is based on Hunter S. Thompson’s heavily autobiographical novel of the same name, which he wrote as a 22-year-old in the early 1960s after a stint as a young reporter in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Jake Coyle, Associated Press) 120 minutes
“The Skin I Live In”
Horror.* * * R.
In Spanish with English Subtitles.Pedro Almodà var’s latest is an outrageous and engrossing brocade of horror and thriller remnants — from Alfred Hitchcock to Luis Buà uel to Georges Franju. Antonio Banderas is Dr. Robert Ledgard, a well regarded, increasingly reclusive plastic surgeon who has, for deeply personal reasons, spent the last six years attempting to perfect a skin that is as tough as armor but sensitive to a caress. Elena Ayana portrays Vera, his stunning patient/prisoner. (Kennedy)117 minutes
“Take Shelter”
Drama. * * * 1/2 R.
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. Are they portents of a coming apocalypse or signs of mental illness? 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 Three Musketeers”
Action. * PG-13.
This movie exists for its digital airborne sailing vessels and deadly retro-futuristic flame-throwers. 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. (Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune) 102 minutes
“Tower Heist”
Comedy. * * * 1/2 PG-13.
A comedy about working-class stiffs who stick it to the Wall Street type who stole their savings? (Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel) 104 minutes
“A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas”
Comedy. * 1/2 R.
A very, very Harold and Kumar yuletide movie, with rampant sex gags and whorls of pot smoke in stereovision. They converse in the language of the crotch-obsessed, and while Harold — the one played by John Cho — now abstains from marijuana, there are plenty of bongs in action elsewhere.(Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle) 90 minutes
