Some reviews originate at newspapers that do not award star ratings; some movies are not screened in advance for critics. Ratings range from zero to four stars.
OPENING THIS WEEK
“To Rome With Love” * * * *
Reviewed on Page 1C
“The Savages” * * ½
Reviewed on Page 5C
“Pink Ribbons, Inc.”
Reviewed on Page 8C
“Woman on the Fifth”
Reviewed at
“The Do-Deca-Pentathlon”
Not reviewed
CONTINUING
Here are selected mini-reviews of films in theaters, listed alphabetically.
“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”
Action horror. * * R. This Timur Bekmambetov-directed film rules the film school. It’s home to some beautifully bloody visuals, especially those of the 16th U.S. president (played by a slightly wooden Benjamin Walker) carrying out his (mostly) secret double life as an angst-filled, trench coat-wearing vampire hunter. But getting there is hardly a treat. The movie — based on a book by Seth Grahame-Smith, the same mind behind the similarly playful “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” — has a difficult time with narrative. And even though it lends itself to Bekmambetov’s hyperstylized production, the disconnect between intention and final product is a head scratcher. (Baca) 105 minutes
“Brave”
Princess adventure. * * * PG. Pixar’s latest adventure is gorgeous to be sure: all Scottish vale and inlet and forest. But the whiz-bang company’s first feature spotlighting a female protagonist feels like a throwback gussied up as reinvention. Kelly Macdonald provides the feisty brogue of princess Merida, whose father encourages her wildness while her mother, Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson), loses points for reining in her crimson-haired daughter in. (Kennedy) 95 minutes
“A Cat in Paris”
Animation. * * * PG. By day, Dino seems like an everyday cat, cuddling with the little Parisian girl who adores him. But this felonious feline has a dark side, and so does this mysterious, suspenseful and tender valentine to noir films and the City of Light. “A Cat in Paris,” nominated last year for an Oscar as best animated film and making its English-language debut from France, opens up as cat burglar Nico, with Dino in tow, makes a daring jewelry heist (a well executed set-piece). In the mornings, Dino is back in the arms of 7-year-old Zoe, who has not uttered a word since the slaying of her father, a crime that has her police-commissioner mother obsessed with seeking justice. Soon enough, a plot to purloin a rare statue by gangster Victor Costa – the murderer of Zoe’s father – will put Dino, Nico and Zoe in danger. At the Chez. (David Lewis, San Francisco Chronicle) 67 minutes
“Gerhard Richter Painting”
Documentary. * * * Corinna Belz’s documentary delivers on the promise of its title. It shows us the world’s most famous living painter, who turned 80 in February, at work with greater intimacy than any other film portrait of a contemporary artist provides. Viewers already familiar with or curious about Richter’s paintings will find this inside look fascinating. Others may snooze through the long, nearly silent passages that Belz lavishes on Richter as he brushes color on canvas, mutely ponders the results, drags paint over surfaces with large squeegees or scrapes it off with palette knives. At the Denver FilmCenter. (Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle) 97 minutes
“Magic Mike”
Comedy. * * * R. This film has the fascination of most backstage movies: It shows a naive kid being drawn into the world of show business. He is Adam (Alex Pettyfer), a good-looking 19-year-old, who meets Magic Mike (Channing Tatum) while they’re working on a roofing job. Mike dances three nights a week at Xquisite, a marginally successful Tampa strip club. Mike brings Adam along to the club, where he’s fast-talked by the boss, Dallas (Matthew McConaughey). The kid has no desire to strip, but is pushed onstage wearing his street clothes and told to take them off down to his jockey shorts. He is awkward and embarrassed – and not surprisingly an enormous hit because the ladies think his shyness is an act, and they love it. (Ebert) 110 minutes
“Monsieur Lazhar”
Classroom drama. * * * ½ PG-13. In an opening scene of “Monsieur Lazhar,” one of this year’s Academy Award nominees in the foreign language category, it is Simon’s day to pick up cartons of milk and deliver them to his Montreal fourth-grade classroom before the school day begins. Looking in through the door, he realizes that his teacher has hanged herself from a ceiling pipe. This incident, reported in a Quebec newspaper, is the inspiration for Bachir Lazhar (Fellag) to present himself at the office of the school principal and volunteer to teach the class. At the Chez. (Ebert) 94 minutes
“Moonrise Kingdom”
Coming-of-age tale. * * * ½ PG-13.
The contradiction inherent to all Wes Anderson films — the juxtaposition of the meticulous artificiality of the settings and the passionately wistful emotions that are longing to burst free — is at its most effective in a while in “Moonrise Kingdom.” The director and co-writer’s tale of first love, filled with recognizable adolescent angst and naive fumblings, feels at once deeply personal and universally relatable. (Lemire) 94 minutes
“People Like Us”
Drama. * * ½ PG-13. For his directorial debut, blockbuster writer/producer Alex Kurtzman (“Star Trek,” “Transformers”) offers a human-scale drama that comes with laughs, tears and a fair amount of melodramatic lessons. Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks star as half siblings. Sam and Frankie know nothing about the other’s existence. This changes when Sam learns of his father’s death and, in an effort to make good on his father’s wishes, seeks out his sister and her son, Josh (newcomer Michael Hall D’Addario). Things will get twisted and tender and the film has an ending of surprising redemption. Michelle Pfeiffer brings a believable mix of frustration and protectiveness to the story as Sam’s mother. (Kennedy) 115 minutes
“Prometheus”
Sci-fi. * * * R. Ridley Scott’s quasi-prequel, starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron, has muck-in-the-dark menace. And this space-travel misadventure also has the gaping mouthed beasts of Scott’s sci-fi/horror classic “Alien” that so resemble a Freudian fright mashup of sex organs. But if you’re hoping for a visceral reprise of “Alien,” you’re bound to be thwarted. (Kennedy)124 minutes
“Rock of Ages”
Musical. * * * ½ R. With its tale of young lovers working in a legendary rock club on L.A.’s Sunset Strip, Adam Shankman’s adaptation of Chris D”Arienzo’s Broadway musical makes a ridiculously tasty hash of corn and sleeze. (Kennedy) 123 minutes
“Seeking a Friend for the End of the World”
Dramedy. * * * ½ R. Making popcorn entertainment out of humankind’s demise is a bad habit Hollywood can’t seem to break. But screenwriter Lorene Scafaria’s directorial debut, starring Steve Carell and Keira Knightley as neighbors who embark on a sentimental journey as the clock tics, keeps it authentic, not with digitally rendered images of disaster but with believable, messy emotions. Their roadtrip is less fraught with danger than rife with strange characters. After all, there would probably be as many individual responses to an end we see coming as there are differentiated snowflakes. (Kennedy) 101 minutes
“Ted”
Comedy. * * * R. John, Lori and a stuffed bear make three in this potty-mouthed, amusing guy fairy-tale from Seth MacFarlane, creator of TV’s envelope-pushing animated series “Family Guy.” Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis have frisky chemistry as the couple whose romantic future is in doubt thanks to John’s best friend Ted, a walking, talking, trouble-stirring stuffed bear. MarFarlane provides Ted’s gruff voice and crass observations. It’s your typical Peter Pan crisis comedy pushed to some very weird places. Giovanni Ribisi arrives as a creepy fan of the bear. (Kennedy) 106 minutes
“Your Sister’s Sister”
Dramedy. * * * R. The title of “Your Sister’s Sister” means, I think, that you have a sister and are a sister, in an endless loop. It opens with a memorial service a year after the death of Jack’s brother. Everyone has good memories about him except Jack (Mark Duplass), who abruptly points out some of his brother’s shortcomings. He leaves the room, and is followed by Iris (Emily Blunt), who we think may be his wife and in fact is his best friend. She tells Jack he should get away for a while, and offers her family’s vacation cottage on an island off the coast of Washington state. That sets up a spontaneous, engaging character study of three people alone in a cabin in the woods. At the Chez. (Ebert) 90 minutes
