MOVIE REVIEWS YOUR GUIDE TO THE BIG SCREEN
Numbers following movie capsules are keyed to Manhattan theaters only. ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER.
— (R). Insipid action thriller about Abraham Lincoln’s hidden life as a monster hunter. From young kid to Illinois congressman to, yes, bearded President, Lincoln battles bloodsuckers, though the movie sucks the brains right out of you. 1, 12, 15, 18, 19, 28, 29, 36, 38 —Joe Neumaier
THE AVENGERS. — (PG-13). Marvel’s mega-populated, mega-great superhero team-up makes the comic book film genre feel new again. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) join forces to defeat Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and the audience is the true winner. 1, 12, 15, 18,
19, 28 —J.N.
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD. — (PG-13). This indie drama won awards and raves at Cannes and Sundance, but feels like subpar Terrence Malick. In a remote part of the Louisiana bayou, a 6-year-old girl and her father struggle to survive. Community, resilience and imagination get them through, but director Benh Zeitlin’s film often substitutes magical realism to fill up the well where story should go. 10, 26— J.N.
BERNIE. — (PG-13). Jack Black gives a fine performance as a tightlystrung mortician, whose sweet ways convince his neighbors he could never be an old-lady murderer. Director Richard Linklater has a great feel for East Texas manners and mores, but the movie becomes a lesser imitation of a Coen brothers lark. 5 —J.N. THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL.
— (PG-13). John Madden’s disappointingly shallow dramedy, about British pensioners who retire to India, is redeemed only by its top-notch cast - including Judi Dench, Maggie Smith,
Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson. 5, 7, 28, 36 —Elizabeth Weitzman
BRAVE. — (PG). Pixar’s feisty, pristine family adventure about a warrior princess and a curse, suffers from too much reliance on old-fashioned conceits. Still, the new heroine Princess Merida, and her fight to bring together her family and the tribes of her ancient land is solid and sweet, if not extra-special. 5, 11, 12,
13, 15, 18, 27, 28, 29, 38 —J.N.
DARK SHADOWS. — (PG-13). Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have met the ghoul of their dreams: Barnabas Collins, who, in this re-do of the cult ’60s TV show, must save his rich and strange family (including Michelle Pfeiffer and
Chloe Grace Moretz) while defeating the witch (Eva Green) who cursed him.
13 —J.N.
THE DICTATOR. — (R). If you can stop laughing long enough, you’re bound to find something to appall you in Sacha Baron Cohen’s outrageous, often-hilarious satire. He plays a Middle Eastern despot whose trip to New York — and romance with vegan feminist Anna Faris — challenges his violently racist,
misogynistic ways. 1, 19 —E.W.
THE INTOUCHABLES. — (R) François Cluzet and Omar Sy star in this French dramedy about a wealthy quadriplegic whose friendship with his new aide reawakens his spirit. Though there’s a lineage here to such Hollywood flicks as “Scent of a Woman,” you don’t see the buddy-flick clichés coming, and the cast makes you feel like you’re in good hands. 2, 21 —J.N.
THE INVISIBLE WAR. — (NR). Another crucial documentary from Kirby Dick, who exposes an epidemic of sexual violence in the military. The film has already influenced policy at the highest levels, and should be seen by all.
14 —E.W. MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST
WANTED. — (PG). Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock) and the gang try to reach America via a circus traveling through the continent. The result, however, is a grotesque menagerie that turns once-quirky characters into unfunny corporate nothings. 1, 12, 15, 18, 19, 27, 28, 29, 35,
36 —J.N.
MAGIC MIKE. — (R). If you come for the show, you’ll get your money’s worth: Steven Soderbergh makes sure his movie about men stripping has plenty of both. But it’s also got unexpected gravity, thanks to a committed lead performance from Channing Tatum. Matthew McConaughey and Alex Pettyfer costar. 1, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15, 18, 28,
34, 35 —E.W.
MEN IN BLACK 3. — (PG-13). Ten years after the bloated “MIB2,” Barry Sonnenfeld’s intergalactic franchise has returned with renewed humor and energy. In order to save Earth, Will Smith travels back to 1969 and joins forces with fellow MIB Josh Brolin (perfectly cast as a young Tommy Lee Jones). 1, 12, 15, 19,
27, 29 —E.W.
MOONRISE KINGDOM. — (PG-13). Wes Anderson brings his characteristic whimsical precision to this charming, if somewhat remote, romance. On an isolated island, two lonely preteens fall in love and run away. The cynical adults
in their lives (Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Frances Mcdormand) will either be their downfall or salvation.
1, 7, 15, 18, 19, 28, 35, 36 —E.W.
PEOPLE LIKE US. — (PG-13). A dramedy from action screen-writer-turned-director Alex Kurtzman follows a hyper-jerky salesman (Chris Pine) as he goes to his dad’s funeral and follows clues to meet the sister he never knew he had. Pine and Elizabeth Banks, as the mystery sibling, are fine in obvious roles, and the movie wins you over despite feeling manipulative. 1, 7, 11, 14, 15, 18,
28, 35, 36 —J.N.
PROMETHEUS. — (R). Director Ridley Scott’s revisit to the “Alien” universe yields a prequel that’s thoughtful and scary, but unfortunately pulls short before it becomes great. Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace are among the crew of a ship sent to find mankind’s alien creators. What they get instead is deepspace terror of the highest order. 1, 7, 15,
18, 19, 27, 28, 38, 39 —J.N.
ROCK OF AGES. — (PG-13). Kitschy hair-metal musical, notable mostly for its collection of big stars in appalling ’80s wigs. Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Catherine Zeta-jones, Paul Giamatti and Julianne Hough are among the LA fame-seekers who center around a megalomaniacal rocker (played, perfectly, by Tom Cruise). 7, 12, 13, 15,
19, 28, 39 —E.W.
SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED. — (R). Proof that money and fame have nothing on ingenuity and wit, this delightful indie comedy stars “Parks and Recreations” Aubrey Plaza as a journalist investigating a self-proclaimed timetraveler (a wonderful Mark Duplass). 13,
14, 28 —E.W. SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE
WORLD. — (R). Funny, moving dramedy about a pair (Steve Carell, Keira Knightley) who meet as a meteor is set to destroy Earth in three weeks time. A surprisingly deep and heartfelt movie that only belatedly succumbs to obvious end-of-days conceits. 7, 13, 14, 15, 28,
32 —J.N.
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN. — (PG-13). Overlong, but visually creative revisionist fairy tale, in which Snow White (Kristen Stewart, who’s bland) has to rescue her country and battle the evil Queen (Charlize Theron, who’s deliciously over-thetop). 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 28,
29, 38 —E.W. SOMETHING FROM NOTHING: THE ART
OF RAP. — (NR). Director Ice-T’s fun, informative documentary about the musical form’s beginnings walks us back through New York in the ‘80s. The self-congratulatory nature of rap camouflages deep respect for the pioneers who came before. But there is
lots of ego here, though that’s earned, too. 10 —J.N.
TAKE THIS WALTZ. — (R). Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen work hard to counter the ostentatious quirkiness of Sarah Polley’s determinedly unsubtle romance. Williams is a young Toronto wife who is dismayed to find herself drawn towards an intense neighbor (Luke Kirby), and away from her kindhearted husband (Rogen). 10, 24 —E.W.
TED. — (R). “Family Guy” fans will love Seth MacFarlane’s hilariously twisted big-screen directorial debut. A straight-faced Mark Wahlberg is excellent as a Boston slacker whose girlfriend (Mila Kunis) thinks it’s time he gave up his stuffed teddy bear. The problem: the bear is alive (and voiced by MacFarlane). 1, 7, 12, 15, 18, 19, 28, 29,
36, 38 —E.W.
THAT’S MY BOY. — (R). Adam Sandler’s latest unsurprisingly stupid comedy finds the star playing a guy whose high school dalliances with a teacher made him a dad at 14. Now 42, he’s a loser who has to win over his about-to-be-married son (Andy Samberg). 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,
27, 29 —J.N.
THINK LIKE A MAN. — (PG-13). A funny, game cast (including Taraji P. Henson, Gabrielle Union and Kevin Hart) elevates this battle-of-the-sexes romcom, though it too often feels like an infomercial for the Steve Harvey book that inspired it. 1 —E.W.
TO ROME WITH LOVE. — (R). After the victory that was “Midnight in Paris,” the latest Woody Allen film is a stumble, a forced roundelay of comedy and romance in the Eternal City. Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig and Ellen Page are among the neurotic hoping to grasp something lasting. 2, 26,
32 —J.N. WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE
EXPECTING. — (PG-13). A pandering, Garry Marshall-like movie from the pregnancy guidebook that wastes Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez and others in five intersecting tales of imminent parenthood. It may be the first Mother’s Day comedy to bring on morning sickness. 11, 13 —J.N.
YOUR SISTER’S SISTER. — (R). Intimate and lovely dramedy about a grieving Seattle slacker (Mark Duplass) who’s in love with his best friend (Emily Blunt), but sleeps with her sister (Rosemarie DeWitt). 9, 24 —E.W.