STILL IN TOWN

12 Years a Slave ★★★★ 14A Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as Solomon Northup, a black man born free in New York state before the Civil War, only to end up kidnapped and sold as a slave in the south. Director Steve McQueen brings a clinical edge to this true story, making viewers feel complicit in the moment. Despite the ugliness, it’s a beautiful film thanks to the acting and visuals. (Katherine Monk)

About Time ★★★ 14A Richard Curtis (Love Actually), master of the charming transAtlantic rom-com, returns with a featherweight story. Jim (Domhnall Gleeson), who loves Mary (Rachel McAdams), has the ability to travel back in time and correct his errors. The result is entertaining whimsy with no real point except to watch an expert cast at work. (Jay Stone)

All is Lost ★★★ 1/2 PG Robert Redford makes the most of his emotional and historical collateral as he plays a solo sailor stuck on a sinking yacht in this minimal piece of suspense from Margin Call director J.C. Chandor. Chandor positions Redford as the aging alpha male trying to use his wits and brawn to stay alive. (Katherine Monk)

Blue is the Warmest Color

★★★ R This critics’ darling picked up the best directing and best actress prizes at Cannes, but this overly long sex-drenched melodrama feels limp because it misses out on the rush of love. Instead, it substitutes long sex scenes that lead nowhere, but fill the screen with enough racy moments to keep us distracted. French with English subtitles. (Katherine Monk)

Captain Phillips ★★★ 1/2 14A Paul Greengrass’s you-are-there drama recreates the real-life 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of an American container ship. It’s gritty stuff, and Tom Hanks is believably strong as the boat’s skipper, but the story lacks the urgency of Greengrass’s United 93. (Jay Stone)

Carrie ★★★ 14A This remake is remarkably similar to the 1976 original. For those new to the story, it’s a mix of puberty, bullying, bad parenting and out-ofcontrol telekinesis, with Chloë Grace Moretz shoulder-hunching her way through the title role, and Julianne Moore excellent as her religious-nut mother. (Chris Knight) Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 ★★★ G In this animated 3-D sequel, animal food hybrids threaten the world and Flint must save the day. It’s big on food puns, and wildly colourful, but the story may confuse the youngest viewers. (Jay Stone)

The Counselor ★★ 14A Ridley Scott’s latest outing feels incomplete and ineffective. In the cautionary tale starring Michael Fassbender as a slick Texas lawyer looking to get rich quick, Scott fills each frame with glam but he fails to make us care about the story as our lawyer ends up knee-deep in a drug deal gone bad. (Katherine Monk)

Despicable Me 2 ★★★ 1/2 G Super-villain Gru, who has become a devoted father, is recruited by agent Lucy to capture a new criminal. It lacks the heart of the first film, but the madcap anarchy never stops. (Jay Stone)

Don Jon ★★★ 1/2 18A Joseph Gordon-Levitt writes, directs and stars in this feature debut about a fellow with an addiction to online pornography. Despite the subject matter, the script keeps the comedy coming, while the drama brings emotional depth. (Katherine Monk)

Ender’s Game ★★ PG Asa Butterfield stars as Ender Wiggin, a talented young battle strategist recruited by the Earth’s top defence force to fight aliens. A weird science-fiction story imagined by Orson Scott Card only gets weirder in the hands of Gavin Hood, who tries to humanize material that’s largely robotic. Harrison Ford and Viola Davis have a handful of decent scenes, but we don’t really care about our hero. (Katherine Monk)

Enough Said ★★★ 1/2 PG Nicole Holofcener (Friends With Money) writes and directs this story of Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), a middle-aged masseuse who realizes she’s dating the ex of her new best friend. Despite some sitcom moments, Louis-Dreyfus and co-star James Gandolfini bring humanity to every moment and make this a sweet, satisfying piece of grown-up entertainment. (Katherine Monk)

Escape Plan ★★ 14A Sylvester Stallone stars as Ray Breslin, a prison consultant who escapes from jails to show up their security weaknesses. But when he agrees to go into a U.S. prison for political prisoners, he discovers that it’s been rigged so he’ll never get out. Enter fellow inmate Emil Rottmayer (Arnold Schwarzenegger); exit all thoughtfulness of story. (Chris Knight)

Free Birds ★★★ 1/2 G Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson play turkey buddies in this refreshing piece of animation geared around Thanksgiving. Thrown back in time using a secret machine, Reggie and Jake must find a way to change the menu and convince the colonists that turkey makes a poor meal. This giddy piece of fluff scores points being uncaged and foul while remaining completely kid-friendly. (Katherine Monk)

Gravity ★★★ 1/2 PG Sandra Bullock plays a medical engineer who ends up free-floating in outer space without any hope of rescue in this taut thriller from Alfonso Cuaron. Because the 3D visuals are jaw-dropping and there’s a sense of real space and real time, it’s hard not to feel all the excitement and terror of being in orbit — even when some of the dialogue is so leaden it leaves shrapnel wounds. (Katherine Monk) Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

★★ 14A Johnny Knoxville, head of the Jackass troupe of stunt performers and pranksters, dons prosthetic makeup to become an old man taking his “grandson” (Jackson Nicoll) on a road trip. Their crude stunts fool the public, and we’re invited to laugh at them. For fans only. (Jay Stone) Jerusalem ★★★ 1/2 STC An Imax movie about the city that’s central to three great world religions. Director Daniel Ferguson takes us to Biblical sites and into holy buildings to see how closely the faiths adhere to the same message. (Jay Stone)

Last Vegas ★ 1/2 PG Just shy of 70, lifelong bachelor Billy (Michael Douglas) is getting married and wants a last hurrah bachelor party in Las Vegas. For this boondoggle, he rounds up his childhood friends. Obstacle: he and best friend Paddy (Robert De Niro) are estranged. About as much hilarity ensues as can, juxtaposed between melancholy intimations of mortality. (Nathalie Atkinson)

Lee Daniels’ The Butler

★★★ 14A Forest Whitaker plays a butler in the White House who served presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan. His story — and the parallel tale of his son, an angry activist — provides a cross-section of the civil rights movement that seems more pedantic than personal. (Jay Stone)

Monsters University ★★★ G Designed as a prequel to Monsters, Inc., this reel lacks the imaginative power of its predecessor but it still proves entertaining as it gives us the backstory behind Mike and Sully’s friendship. (Katherine Monk)

Planes ★★ G In this Disney offering, Dusty Crophopper is a lowly crop-dusting plane with dreams of winning an around-the-world aerial race. The problem? He is afraid of heights. With the support of his mentor and new friends, Dusty sets off to make his dreams come true. (David Berry)

Prisoners ★★★ 1/2 14A Denis Villeneuve directs this smart, well-conceived thriller about two girls who disappear, and the desperate search to find them. Though some notes will feel strained, Villeneuve lets the story fragment into existential vignettes that allow the two male characters to explore personal morality. (Katherine Monk)

Rush ★★★★ 14A A compelling film about car racing and the men who do it. Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl play James Hunt and Niki Lauda, who staged a monumental duel to be Formula One champion in 1976. It’s a character study as much as a movie about cars, and director Ron Howard makes it electrifying. (Jay Stone)

Thor: The Dark World ★★★ 1/2 PG Thor battles some nasty elves to gain control of a supernatural weapon that could obliterate Earth. Thanks to Chris Hemsworth’s muscles, Natalie Portman’s comic timing and Stellan Skarsgård’s underpants, this film offers all the silly entertainment and classical morality one expects from the modern comic book blockbuster. (Katherine Monk)