STILL IN TOWN
Anna Karenina ★★★ 1/2 14A
Joe Wright’s remounting of Leo Tolstoy’s story of infidelity is sumptuous, though its artificial theatricality removes us from the emotions. Keira Knightley is beautiful and gawky as the unhappily married Anna. (Jay Stone)
Argo ★★★★ 14A
Ben Affleck’s entertaining thriller revisits the 1979 rescue of American hostages in Iran. Affleck stars as a CIA agent who puts together a fake movie so he can smuggle the Americans out disguised as Canadian filmmakers. (Jay Stone)
Django Unchained ★★★★ 18A
Quentin Tarantino tells the story of American slavery as a spaghetti western. Jamie Foxx is Django, a slave-turned-bounty hunter who travels with his mentor to free his wife, a slave to a vicious plantation owner played by Leonardo DiCaprio. (Jay Stone)
Cloud Atlas ★★ 1/2 14A
David Mitchell’s novel becomes an ungainly film spanning centuries. Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and others play multiple roles in a sci-fi extravaganza with a message — we are all connected — that hardly seems worth it. (Jay Stone)
Flight ★★★ 18A
Similar to his film Cast Away, this Robert Zemeckis feature offers a spectacular start to a survival story. Flight features Denzel Washington as a boozy commercial pilot struggling to come clean after a tragic crash, yet the script moves in circles. (Katherine Monk)
Flight of the Butterflies ★★★★ G
A 3D Imax film about the migration of monarch butterflies, this film shows the voyage with magical scenes of insects flying right off the screen and close-ups of a caterpillar transforming itself inside a chrysalis. (Jay Stone)
Here Comes the Boom ★★ PG
A middle-aged teacher tries to save his school’s music program by entering a mixed-martial arts fight to raise $50,000. A swing that misses. (Andre Ramshaw)
Hitchcock ★★★★ PG
Anthony Hopkins channels Alfred Hitchcock in this beautifully executed period piece that takes us to the filming of Psycho. Exploring both emotion and history, director Sacha Gervasi creates a film that is entertaining and educational — without losing its sex appeal. (Katherine Monk)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey ★★★ 1/2 PG
The first in a trilogy of films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel runs 169 minutes. It’s a long haul for a slim volume, but after a slow start director Peter Jackson fills the screen with imaginative creatures and exciting battles. Too bad the new high film speed robs the movie of warmth. (Jay Stone)
Hotel Transylvania ★★ 1/2 PG
Adam Sandler stars as a vampire who runs a hotel for monsters, where he can keep his daughter safe. Kids will find the 3D razzle-dazzle and animation seductive, but grown-ups may tire of the dirty diaper theme. (Katherine Monk)
Ice Age: Continental Drift
★★★ PG
Manny, Diego and Sid are back for another round of extinction-themed hijinks. The script is the weakest in the franchise, but there’s something darkly compelling about watching evolutionary Armageddon dressed as family fluff. (Katherine Monk)
Jack Reacher ★★★ 14A
Tom Cruise stars as a drifter who solves crimes and rights wrongs while remaining a ghostly cipher. In this case, he helps a lawyer Helen solve the case of a sniper. The implausibilities mount, but Cruise brings intensity to a violent revenge fantasy. (Jay Stone)
Life of Pi ★★★ 1/2 PG
Oscar winner Ang Lee adapts the like-named Yann Martel novel in stunning, high-def 3D, with enough cinematic magic to pull off this heavy mix of soul-searching and action-survival. (Katherine Monk)
Lincoln ★★★ 1/2 PG
Daniel Day-Lewis is persuasive as The Great Emancipator in Steven Spielberg’s biopic about the last few months of the U.S. president’s life. There’s reverence even as Lincoln makes underhanded deals to free the slaves, and the political machinations give the film its intrigue. (Jay Stone)
Les Misérables ★★★★ PG
Tom Hooper brings Victor Hugo’s novel to the big screen with emotional success thanks to an Hugh Jackman and a tool chest full of cinematic goodies. The historical and political sides feel undeveloped, but then again, no one goes to the movies for a history lesson. (Katherine Monk)
Parental Guidance ★★ G
Billy Crystal and Bette Midler do the best they can in this so-called comedy about grandparents who look after three high-strung kids while the parents are away. The best running gag is that Crystal’s character, a recently fired baseball announcer named Artie, gets nicknamed Fartie by one of his charges. (Chris Knight)
Pitch Perfect ★★★ PG-13
It’s a Glee-type musical with a more comic sensibility. Anna Kendrick plays a college student who joins an a cappella singing group that’s trying to defeat the male team. Romance is in the air, but it’s the music that carries the day. (Jay Stone)
Playing for Keeps ★★ PG
A silly romantic comedy with Gerard Butler as a retired soccer star who attracts the attentions of all the wives in town — but he’s trying to reunite with his ex, played by Jessica Biel. More humiliating than funny. (Jay Stone)
Red Dawn ★★ PG
A remake of the like-named action film about middle America being invaded — this time by North Korea — with only a feisty group of teenagers willing to go to war to stop them. It’s a paranoid fantasy that combines adolescent angst with survivalist fervour. (Jay Stone)
Rise of the Guardians ★★★ G
Beneath this slick piece of holiday fantasy is a message about personal responsibility. Jack Frost struggles with his new duty as a Guardian — a force that cares for children in exchange for faith. It’s complex and often funny, but it fails to move us at an emotional level. (Katherine Monk)
Silver Linings Playbook
★★★ 14A
Bradley Cooper plays a man who returns from a mental hospital and tries to resume his life, yet his wife has a restraining order against him and he’s not entirely stable. Director David O. Russell sells the screwball and dramatic sides, but it’s awkward and uneven. (Katherine Monk)
Skyfall ★★★ 1/2 PG
When the names of embedded agents fall into the wrong hands, James Bond (Daniel Craig) must destroy the vendor, who might be working on the inside. The film is entertaining, and Craig is compelling. Yet, there’s one too many winks to make us weep. (Katherine Monk)
This is 40 ★★★ 14A
Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann reprise their roles from Knocked Up in this dramatic comedy that attempts to take the mickey out of middle age. While the spirit of the film is heartfelt, director Judd Apatow’s lowbrow humour leaves the script a little soggy. (Katherine Monk)
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2 ★★★ PG
The last instalment in the five-film franchise finds Bella (Kristen Stewart) learning how to be a vampire, while the evil Volturi threaten her half-immortal newborn. (Chris Knight)
Wreck-It Ralph ★★★ 1/2 PG
A 3D animated film about a video game villain who wants to be a hero by helping a little girl find herself. A familiar plot, helped by ingenious design. (Jay Stone)
Ratings key
Excellent: ★★★★★
Good: ★★★★
Average: ★★★
Fair: ★★
Poor: ★