Green Zone—Idealistic but raw combat drama, set in the early days of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, as a dedicated Army officer (Matt Damon) tries to discover why his unit's search for the Saddam regime's weapons of mass destruction continually comes up empty, and finds himself caught in a power struggle between a Defense Department intelligence agent (Greg Kinnear) who's indifferent to the justification for American intervention and a rogue CIA station chief (Brendan Gleeson) who believes the whole operation rests on a foundation of lies and fabrications. Director Paul Greengrass' uneasy mix of political conspiracy yarn and action adventure, loosely inspired by journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran's 2007 bestseller "Imperial Life in the Emerald City," increasingly takes on the qualities of a personal crusade by its hero, thus blunting its ability to dissect larger questions of real-life morality. Considerable action violence, some of it bloody, torture, several uses of profanity, frequent rough and crude language.  L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. (R) 2010
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Brooklyn's Finest—Seamy New York police drama chronicling a week in the lives of a cynical patrolman (Richard Gere) on the verge of retirement, an undercover operative (Don Cheadle) desperate for promotion to a safe desk job and a narcotics officer (Ethan Hawke) tempted to steal drug money to provide for his ill wife and growing family. Though Catholic imagery pervades director Antoine Fuqua's grim journey through Gotham's criminal underworld, faith provides no meaningful guidance to the conflicted characters as they cross legal and moral boundaries, and as the obscenity laden-script lurches from bloodshed to explicit scenes of sexuality. Frequent bloody violence, including beatings, shootings and strangulation, graphic nonmarital sexual activity, upper female nudity, a few uses of profanity, unremitting rough and crude language.  O -- morally offensive. (R) 2010
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Alice in Wonderland—Very loosely inspired by, but not recklessly departing from, Lewis Carroll's famous books, this 3-D fantasy-adventure mixes animation and live action as it follows its plucky Victorian heroine (Mia Wasikowska) -- here a 19-year-old -- down the rabbit hole into a strange, nonsensical realm where she conspires with the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) and various frazzled fauna to end the despotic rule of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter). Although younger viewers will be frightened by certain sequences, director Tim Burton refrains from indulging in the more macabre or avant-garde aspects of the tale; and yet, while it conveys a salubrious message with vaguely Christian echoes, the film's aesthetic impact is lessened by the lack of a coherent visual style. Sequences of fantasy action and violence, including a skewered animal eyeball, human characters striking one another; images of mild animal cruelty, some discussion of beheadings, a character smoking a water pipe and one instance of light profanity.  A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG) 2010
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Cop Out—This vulgar buddy comedy follows two unconventional New York police detectives (Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan) as they try to recover the valuable baseball card Willis' character was planning to sell to finance his daughter's wedding but which was stolen by a petty thief (Seann William Scott), and passed on to a memorabilia-obsessed drug lord (Guillermo Diaz). As penned by Robb and Mark Cullen and directed by Kevin Smith, foul-mouthed dialogue and bullet-riddled action sequences drown out the mostly smile-free script's faint messages about marital trust and self-sacrificing parental love. Considerable, sometimes gory, action violence; a scene of torture; pervasive rough and crude language; about a dozen uses of profanity; and much sexual and scatological humor.  O -- morally offensive. (R) 2010
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The Crazies—A small-town sheriff (Timothy Olyphant), his deputy (Joe Anderson), the sheriff's doctor wife (Radha Mitchell) and her office assistant (Danielle Panabaker) fend off their neighbors who have been transformed into homicidal maniacs by an environmental accident affecting the local water supply while also struggling to evade capture by Army troops bent on quelling the outbreak at any cost. A potentially thought-provoking parable about ecological irresponsibility and military excess in an emergency is lost amid the bloodletting in director Breck Eisner's relatively lavish updating of George A. Romero's low-budget 1973 horror exercise. Excessive gory violence, some gruesome images, at least a half-dozen uses of profanity, pervasive rough and much crude language.  O -- morally offensive. (R) 2010
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Shutter Island—Prolix psychological thriller set in 1954 follows a U.S. marshal (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his new partner (Mark Ruffalo) to a storm-swept island in Boston Harbor on which an asylum for the criminally insane becomes the venue for elaborately staged hysterics borne of trauma and guilt. Adapted from a Dennis Lehane novel, the picture amounts to a genre exercise for director Martin Scorsese, and affords DiCaprio and other respectable actors the chance to declaim excessively coarse dialogue in service of an overblown mystery. Pervasive rough, crude and crass language; frequent profanity; a number of sexual references and discussions of violent acts; many potentially disturbing images of corpses in a concentration camp setting and in connection with an act of infanticide; a number of fairly graphic episodes of gun violence; and an instance of partially obscured frontal male nudity.  O -- morally offensive. (R) 2010
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Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief—A mildly troubled New York high school student (Logan Lerman) discovers his true identity as a demigod -- offspring of the Greek sea god Poseidon (Kevin McKidd) and a human mother (Catherine Keener) -- and embarks on a quest to prevent a war among the deities of Mount Olympus, assisted by a semi-divine teen girl warrior (Alexandra Daddario) and a courageous but untested adolescent satyr (Brandon T. Jackson). Director Chris Columbus' glossy but shallow screen version of the first in novelist Rick Riordan's best-selling series of children's novels relies on some slick special effects to keep the adventure moving forward, though the titular hero's transformation from a 12- to a 17-year-old introduces elements unsuitable for some of the book's younger fans, while parents who see the tale's mythological premise as more than a literary device will hesitate to allow impressionable youngsters to view it. Pagan themes, brief domestic discord, a few instances of sexual innuendo, a couple of crass terms. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG) 2010
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Valentine's Day—Ensemble romantic comedy, directed by Garry Marshall, charting the amorous ups and downs of a series of interconnected Los Angelinos over the titular holiday, including a newly engaged florist (Ashton Kutcher) and his live-in fiancee (Jessica Alba), a teacher (Jennifer Garner) and her doctor beau (Patrick Dempsey), a long-married couple (Shirley MacLaine and Hector Elizondo) preparing to renew their vows, and a pair of 18-year-old high school students (Emma Roberts and Carter Jenkins) planning to lose their virginity together. As unengaging as it is unwieldy, screenwriter Katherine Fugate's tale of loves lost and found rejects marital infidelity, but otherwise takes the full physical expression of affection as a given, before marriage, before college and between members of the same gender. Implicit approval of nonmarital sexual activity and homosexual acts, partial nudity, adultery and phone-sex themes, sexual references and jokes, brief irreverent humor, a half-dozen crude and some crass terms.  O -- morally offensive. (PG-13) 2010
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The Wolfman—Alternately spooky, savage and silly, this remake of the 1941 monster classic starring Lon Chaney Jr. tells of a decent if troubled man (Benicio Del Toro) periodically transformed into a hirsute beast after returning to his ancestral estate in England following the brutal murder of his brother in 1891. Striking a tone that might be described as "visceral camp," director Joe Johnston entertains by rendering the trappings of lycanthrope lore with first-rate special effects and actors -- Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving -- willing to feast on the material. Frequent episodes of moderately graphic violence including fleeting images of human entrails, decapitations and severed limbs; an instance of partial upper female nudity; several references to prostitution; one use of profane language. A-III -- adults. (R) 2010
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From Paris With Love—A Paris-based American diplomat and low-level CIA agent (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) yearns to be a real spy but finds himself bewildered when assigned to partner a trigger-happy visiting operative (John Travolta) whose wild pursuit of drug dealers and terrorists sees the pair cutting a bloody swath through the French capital's criminal underworld while the novice's prolonged absence from home causes friction with his live-in Gallic girlfriend (Kasia Smutniak). As directed by Pierre Morel, the proceedings are occasionally amusing but far more often gleefully violent, with Adi Hasak's F-word heavy script glamorizing the mayhem and winking at the Travolta character's tawdry encounter with a streetwalker. Constant, sometimes bloody action violence, offscreen sexual activity with a prostitute, cohabitation, drug use, a couple of profanities, pervasive rough and much crude language. O -- morally offensive. (R) 2010
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Dear John—This frequently sentimental drama, set in South Carolina, charts the love-at-first-sight romance between a Special Forces sergeant (Channing Tatum) home on leave to visit his mildly autistic father (Richard Jenkins) and an affluent college student (Amanda Seyfried), their prolonged separation due to his reenlistment following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and their efforts to maintain their bond by long-distance letter writing. Though the portrayal of the conflicted filial relationship is moving, director Lasse Hallstrom's adaptation of Catholic writer Nicholas Sparks' best-selling 2006 novel focuses mostly on the emotionally unrealistic evolution of the lovers' attachment, and endorses its premature consummation along the way. Nongraphic premarital sexual activity with partial nudity, a few uses of profanity, at least four instances of the S-word. A-III -- adults. (PG-13) 2010
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Edge of Darkness —After his adult daughter (Bojana Novakovic) is brutally murdered, a Boston police detective (Mel Gibson) investigates her secretive work for a nuclear research firm (led by Danny Huston), aided by her fearful boyfriend and co-worker (Shawn Roberts) and by a shadowy fixer (Ray Winstone) whose loyalties are ambiguous. In a reasonably absorbing but gritty adaptation of the acclaimed 1985 BBC miniseries of the same title, director Martin Campbell mixes sometimes shocking violence into a stark tale of loss and corruption, and skirts the dark edges of vigilantism. Complex moral issues, considerable and sometimes bloody violence, an implied premarital relationship, a few uses of profanity, much rough and some crude language. L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. (R) 2010
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When in Rome—Perky romantic comedy about a work-obsessed New York museum curator (Kristen Bell) who travels to Rome for her sister's (Alexis Dziena) wedding and falls for the best man (Josh Duhamel), but their path to bliss takes a detour when she defies local custom by removing several coins from the "Fountain of Love," causing the quartet of eccentric strangers who deposited the change (Danny DeVito, Will Arnett, Jon Heder and Dax Shepard) to become hopelessly infatuated with her. While the youthful, slightly pixilated priest (Keir O'Donnell) who performs the nuptials comes in for some gentle ribbing, director Mark Steven Johnson's pleasantly diverting, blithely illogical ensemble piece is mostly worry-free with only a fleeting scene of newlywed friskiness barring endorsement for teens. Brief nongraphic marital lovemaking with implied nudity, mildly irreverent portrayal of a clergyman and a few crass expressions.  A-III -- adults. (PG-13) 2010
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Legion—Theologically skewed apocalyptic horror outing in which a despairing God unleashes hordes of demonic angels to destroy human civilization but, rebelling against the plan, the archangel Michael (Paul Bettany) battles to defend a remote roadside cafe (owned by Dennis Quaid and Charles S. Dutton) long enough for its pregnant waitress (Adrianne Palicki) to give birth to humanity's future savior. Director and co-writer Scott Stewart's feature debut intersperses relentless violence with metaphysical mush to create a long, grim slog that leaves viewers feeling as besieged as the characters (also including Lucas Black and Tyrese Gibson) trapped in the lonesome eatery. Convoluted religious themes; constant, though mostly nongraphic, violence; an out-of-wedlock pregnancy; a couple of uses of profanity; much rough language (including at least 25 uses of the F-word); and some crude and crass terms. O -- morally offensive. (R) 2010
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Extraordinary Measures—Engaging medical drama, based on actual events, about the often prickly partnership between a successful pharmaceuticals executive (Brendan Fraser) -- two of whose children (Meredith Droeger and Sam M. Hall) are afflicted by the same rare and fatal disease -- and the eccentric scientist (Harrison Ford) whose pioneering but underfunded research may offer the only hope of saving the kids. Director Tom Vaughan's adaptation of Geeta Anand's 2004 book "The Cure," which also features Keri Russell as the businessman's rock-solid spouse, makes no mention of the Catholic faith that helped to sustain the real-life dad, but does chart his relentless, against-the-odds struggle to overcome the illness, a battle which initially seemed likely to derail his career and deprive him of what little time he might have left to spend with his son and daughter. Brief nongraphic marital lovemaking, at least five uses of profanity, about a dozen crude and a half-dozen crass terms.  A-III -- adults. (PG) 2010
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Tooth Fairy—Feeble fable in which a disillusioned minor-league hockey player (Dwayne Johnson) who discourages children from dreaming big and denies the existence of the titular sprite is sentenced by the matriarch of Fairyland (Julie Andrews) to spend two weeks as a winged tooth fairy, a secret mission that complicates his relationship with his girlfriend (Ashley Judd) and threatens his macho standing among his teammates (including skateboarding star Ryan Sheckler). Director Michael Lembeck's mostly family-friendly comedy, which also features Stephen Merchant as Johnson's officious but good-hearted pixie mentor, never really takes flight, while scenes of unnecessary roughness on the ice and an out-of-place exchange about the onset of puberty preclude endorsement for all. Moderate hockey violence, some mild sexual references and brief scatological humor.  A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG) 2010
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The Spy Next Door—Generally good-hearted but thin martial-arts comedy in which an undercover spy (Jackie Chan) posing as a mild-mannered pen salesman is left in charge of his divorced girlfriend's (Amber Valletta) three kids (Madeline Carroll, Will Shadley and Alina Foley), even as he works to thwart the evil schemes of a Russian criminal (Magnus Scheving) bent on cornering the international petroleum market. Director Brian Levant's family-oriented offering -- which also features country singer Billy Ray Cyrus and comedian George Lopez as Chan's CIA colleagues -- while sketchy, is mostly free of worrisome content and charts its central character's self-sacrificing efforts to protect the youngsters and win their trust, but scenes of hand-to-hand combat makes it unsuitable for the smallest viewers and brief interludes of mildly risque humor further restrict its appropriate audience. Considerable, though nongraphic martial arts violence, acceptability of divorce, some vaguely sexual humor, at least one crude term.  A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG)  2010
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The Book of Eli—This unexpectedly contemplative and lyrical, if violent, homage to spaghetti Westerns, martial arts films and religious faith follows a lone hero (Denzel Washington) as he traverses a post-apocalyptic landscape using his considerable fighting skills to safeguard the only extant copy of the King James Bible. Director siblings Albert and Allen Hughes have succeeded at making an entertaining and relatively substantive movie, while refraining from saturating the proceedings in blood or prolonging the violent passages. Still, some moviegoers will find the pairing of scripture with stylized aggression unnecessary and avoidable. Intermittent strong violence including gun- and swordplay and a killing intended to be merciful, much rough language, some crude language, and brief sexual innuendo. L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. (R) 2010
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Daybreakers—This potentially intriguing, but excessively violent tale, set in a futuristic world where a mysterious plague has transformed the vast majority of the population into vampires, and where the blood supply drawn from the few remaining mortals is rapidly dwindling, follows the efforts of a conscientious undead researcher (Ethan Hawke) to develop a viable substitute, his conflict with the greedy chief (Sam Neill) of the conglomerate sponsoring his work and his eventual partnership with two fugitive humans (Willem Dafoe and Claudia Karvan) who may have discovered an alternative solution to the crisis. Co-writers and directors Peter and Michael Spierig effectively conjure a society where blood-suckers are the norm and use it to make satiric points about corporate excess and environmental irresponsibility, but the intermittently gory proceedings move toward a climactic scene of orgiastic bloodletting. Graphic gruesome violence, including decapitation, dismemberment and exploding bodies; upper female nudity; at least three uses of profanity; and some rough and crude language. O -- morally offensive. (R) 2010
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Youth in Revolt—Sometimes witty but consistently sex-focused coming-of-age comedy about a lonely California teen (Michael Cera) whose sophisticated cultural tastes make him a fish out of water in his divorced parents' (Jean Smart and Steve Buscemi) lowbrow world, and his obsessive love for a like-minded girl (Portia Doubleday) he meets on vacation at a trailer park. Director Miguel Arteta's adaptation of "Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp" -- the first in C.D. Payne's series of novels about the titular adolescent -- sees Cera developing a suave but amoral alter ego willing to cause mayhem to help his timid original reunite with, and lose his burdensome virginity to, the object of his desire. Explicit animated images of intercourse, nongraphic premarital (and probably underage) sexual activity, masturbation, drug use, at least one profanity, much sexual humor and considerable rough and crude language. O -- morally offensive. (R) 2010

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Leap Year—Likable romantic comedy in which a controlling Boston real estate consultant (Amy Adams) follows her commitment-shy live-in boyfriend (Adam Scott) to Ireland, where he's attending a cardiologists' convention and where she hopes to take advantage of a national tradition allowing women to propose on Leap Day, but bad weather derails her plans, forcing her to rely on a laidback rural innkeeper (Matthew Goode) to get her to Dublin in time. Though the background details are closer to 1952's "The Quiet Man" than to the post-Celtic Tiger contemporary reality, the central opposites-attract relationship in director Anand Tucker's Hibernian idyll is old-fashioned in the best sense, with physical restraint allowing room for a dexterously acted, if somewhat formulaic, portrayal of deepening emotional engagement, and helping to make this -- despite the elements described below -- probably acceptable for older teens. Implied cohabitation, some mildly sexual humor, at least two uses of profanity and one of the S-word, and a few crass terms.  A-III -- adults. (PG)  2009

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The Lovely Bones—Narrating from beyond the grave, a 14-year-old girl (Saoirse Ronan) recounts her murder at the hands of a psychopath (a squirm-provoking Stanley Tucci) and the effects of the crime on her devastated parents (Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz), her boozy but sensible grandmother (Susan Sarandon) and her sensitive younger sister (Rose McIver), who eventually joins the obsessive dad in a determined hunt for redress. Director and co-writer Peter Jackson's adaptation of Alice Sebold's best-selling 2002 novel features a visually rich, though theologically vague vision of "the In-Between," a picturesque purgatory in which the youthful heroine is trapped as she works through her rage and desire for revenge, but the attempt to blend genres with a story that mixes elements of suspense, emotion-driven drama and a morality tale about the limits of human justice and the dangers of fixation eventually becomes scattershot. Themes of perversion and crime, gory images, scenes of harsh violence, brief nongraphic marital lovemaking, at least one use of profanity and of the F-word, a few crude and crass terms.  A-III -- adults. (PG-13) 2009

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It's Complicated—A decade after their divorce, a couple (Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin) reconnect and have an affair, despite his second marriage to a much younger wife (Lake Bell) and her budding romance with an architect (Steve Martin). Though it highlights the lasting emotional toll exacted on children when their parents split, writer-director Nancy Meyers' aesthetically smooth-running romantic comedy is aptly titled from a Catholic moral perspective, since -- assuming their union was valid to begin with -- the pair's seeming adultery, presented as a daring feminist adventure for Streep's well-delineated character, would in fact be marital lovemaking, yet the breach of trust with the new "spouse" can hardly be excused, and adds a further twist to an ethically tangled story demanding careful evaluation by mature viewers. Complex moral issues; skewed values; implied sexual activity, some of it adulterous; off-screen masturbation; fleeting rear nudity; considerable drug use; some sexual references and humor; and a half-dozen crude or crass terms. L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. (R) 2009

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Sherlock Holmes—This vigorous but frequently violent addition to the chronicles of the iconic sleuth sees Holmes (entertainingly sly Robert Downey Jr.) and his perennial sidekick Dr. Watson (Jude Law) on the trail of a Satan-worshipping homicidal aristocrat (Mark Strong) who has inspired a wave of public panic by apparently rising from the dead after his execution, while Watson's plans to abandon detective work to marry the young woman (Kelly Reilly) for whom he's fallen, as well as the appearance of a femme fatale (Rachel McAdams) who has bested and befuddled Holmes in the past, heighten the tension. As envisioned by director Guy Ritchie, this brawny Sherlock slugs his way through several bone-crunching square-offs across Victorian London while investigating the dark doings of the Masonic-style secret society to which the errant lord belonged and which may hold the key to his seemingly supernatural powers. Considerable action violence, occult themes, satanic activity, brief irreverence, a sexual situation, a few sexual references and jokes. A-III -- adults. (PG-13) 2009

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Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel—Harmless but mostly routine comedy with music, mixing animation and live action, in which the familiar trio of harmonizing rodents (voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney) have a series of slapstick misadventures, eventually winding up in the inept care of a gadget-obsessed slacker (Zachary Levi), becoming school students, and entering a singing competition that pits them against a group of chipmunk divas (voices of Amy Poehler, Anna Faris and Christina Applegate). A bit of gently rude humor aside, director Betty Thomas' extension of the 50-year-old franchise, which includes hit recordings, a pair of TV cartoon series and this feature's 2007 predecessor, "Alvin and the Chipmunks," is unobjectionable, though its positive lessons about choosing loyalty over selfishness come wrapped in an entertainment package that feels somewhat shopworn. A-I -- general patronage. (PG)

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Avatar—Among the most expensive and highly anticipated films ever made, director James Cameron's visually arresting science-fiction adventure sends a paraplegic soldier (Sam Worthington) to a planet called Pandora where he falls in love with a native princess (Zoe Saldana) and must choose between her ecologically enlightened culture and his own violent, rapacious species. Amid passages resembling a Vietnam War movie, a western -- pitting bellicose interlopers against spiritual natives in harmony with their natural environment -- and a Disney animated musical, Cameron marshals impressive resources to tell an entertaining story, though whether the aliens' pantheistic religion is meant to be a model for humanity or merely an indigenous cult remains unclear. Frightening action sequences with much intense, war-related violence, an implied sexual encounter, partial upper female and rear nudity, a consistently sensual undercurrent, frequent profanity, considerable crude and crass language A-III -- adults. (PG-13)

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Did You Hear About the Morgans?—Pleasant, if largely predictable, romantic comedy in which a recently separated New York couple (Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker) accidentally witness the contract killing of an arms dealer and, as part of the government's protection program, are abruptly relocated to rural Wyoming where, sheltered and shielded by a no-nonsense federal marshal (Sam Elliott) and his gun-toting wife (Mary Steenburgen), they gradually discover the joys of down-home living as they reassess their relationship. Writer-director Marc Lawrence's fish-out-of-water tale is an unabashed celebration of marriage and family life and, though it features extensive discussion of the negative effects of infidelity, is mostly free of objectionable material, making it probably acceptable for older teens. Adultery and infertility themes, off-screen marital lovemaking, a few mildly sexual jokes, at least one crude and one crass term. A-III -- adults. (PG-13)

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Nine—Glossy but morally shallow musical drama -- set in 1965 Italy and based on the life of Federico Fellini -- in which a celebrated film director (Daniel Day-Lewis) suffers a creative and personal crisis, scrambling to conceal the fact that his latest work, about to go into production, has no script, and struggling to maintain his relationships with his wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Penelope Cruz), his favorite actress and muse (Nicole Kidman) and his costume designer confidante (Judi Dench). Director Rob Marshall's adaptation of Arthur L. Kopit and Maury Yeston's 1982 Broadway hit, itself an homage to Fellini's "8 1/2," treats adultery as a symptom of sophistication, and present the Catholic Church as, by turns, irrelevant, repressive and hypocritical. Pervasive negative portrayal of Catholicism, brief nongraphic adulterous sexual activity, recurrent adultery theme, partial upper female and rear nudity, a couple of uses of profanity, a few crass terms. O -- morally offensive. (PG-13)

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Invictus—Uplifting sports drama, based on actual events, about South African President Nelson Mandela's (Morgan Freeman) campaign to unite his country behind the national rugby team (led by Matt Damon), once a widely hated symbol of white privilege under apartheid, as it became an unlikely contender in the 1995 World Cup competition. Adapted from John Carlin's book, "Playing the Enemy," director Clint Eastwood's account effectively chronicles how Mandela transformed the race for the championship into an opportunity to break down lingering racial prejudice and to demonstrate the generosity and openness to reconciliation of the newly empowered black majority, a salutary tale whose moral and artistic merits counterbalance the elements listed below, making it probably acceptable for mature teens. Brief scenes of violence, at least one use of the F-word, a few instances of crude and crass language and some mild sexual references. A-III -- adults. (PG-13) 2009

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The Road—This moving but relentlessly grim drama, set in the wake of an unspecified apocalypse, follows the desperate journey of a father (Viggo Mortensen, mesmerizing) and son (fine newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee) as they travel through a devastated America encountering cannibals, thieves and shell-shocked survivors (notably Robert Duvall) on their way to what they hope will be a marginally better life along the coast. Occupying the pitted no-man's-land between a Samuel Beckett play and "The Road Warrior," director John Hillcoat's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is a stark examination of one man's efforts to preserve, and pass on, humane values, refreshed only by the instinctive goodness of his youthful companion, though his quasi-idolatrous view of the boy, like the borderline-blasphemous sentiments expressed by other characters, would be unacceptable in a less extreme context. Complex moral and theological issues, grisly images, cannibalism and suicide themes, rear and brief partial nudity, a few uses of profanity, occasional rough and crude language. L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. (R) 2009
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Brothers—After his upstanding Marine brother (Tobey Maguire) is reported dead in Afghanistan, a newly released ex-con and charming ne'er-do-well (Jake Gyllenhaal) matures as he cares for his grieving sister-in-law (Natalie Portman) and young nieces (Bailee Madison and Taylor Geare), but his sibling, who has actually been taken prisoner, suffers a moral breakdown in captivity that threatens to haunt him for life. Though a fine cast that also includes Sam Shepard as the family's Vietnam-vet patriarch do their best to lend intensity to this cautionary tale about the dehumanizing effects of war and the gulf between combat and civilian life, the cliches and simplistic characterizations in David Benioff's script leave director Jim Sheridan's adaptation of Susanne Bier's 2004 Danish film flatfooted. Sporadic intense violence, including torture; drug use, adultery and suicide themes; a few uses of profanity; frequent rough and some crude language. A-III -- adults. (R) 2009
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The Princess and the Frog— Enchanting animated musical, set in 1920s New Orleans, in which a voodoo sorcerer (voice of Keith David) casts a spell that complicates the lives of a visiting prince (voice of Bruno Campos), the headstrong heiress he hopes to marry (voice of Jennifer Cody) and her industrious working-class best friend (voice of Anika Noni Rose). As directed and co-written by John Musker and Ron Clements, the lavish hand-drawn romance, which also features delightful voice work by Michael-Leon Wooley as a jazz-loving alligator and Jim Cummings as a Cajun firefly, emphasizes the value of love over material wealth and provides quality entertainment for all ages, though images of fire-breathing masks and evil sprites may scare some tots.  A-I -- general patronage. (G)
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Ninja Assassin— Hyperactive, contrived and excessively violent comeback for the martial-arts genre with a thin plot, a heavily ramped-up spatter factor and soulful Korean pop star Rain (aka Jeong Ji Hoon) playing a stone-cold ninja fighter, trained from childhood to become an assassin, who breaks with his gang in time to stop a string of murders in Germany, save the agent (Naomie Harris) investigating them and wreak revenge on his former comrades. Pervasive violence, with mutilation, stabbings and gunplay, frequent bloody and grisly images and some rough and crude language.  O -- morally offensive. (R) 2009
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Old Dogs— Passable comedy in which a sports marketing executive (Robin Williams) learns, seven years after the fact, that his quickly annulled second marriage produced fraternal twins (Conner Rayburn and Ella Bleu Travolta) whose mother (Kelly Preston), on the eve of being imprisoned briefly for an environmental protest, entrusts the kids to his care, distracting him from work on a major business deal, much to the annoyance of his longtime partner and best friend (John Travolta). Its morally murky back story aside, director Walt Becker's dizzy dad escapade is mostly harmless, though a talented cast can do little with David Diamond and David Weissman's thin, derivative script. A drunken wedding, a few instances of vaguely sexual and mildly scatological humor, some rough slapstick. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG) 2009
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The Twilight Saga: New Moon—Lovelorn gothic romance sequel in which a well-mannered vampire (Robert Pattinson), anxious to protect the mortal high school student (Kristen Stewart) who has captured his heart from the less controlled members (especially Jackson Rathbone) of the undead clan with which he lives, breaks off their relationship and disappears, but the American Indian friend (Taylor Lautner) to whom she turns for solace not only wants to be more than mere pals, he has a supernatural secret of his own. With temptations of the flesh kept at bay for fear of temptations of the blood in director Chris Weitz's adaptation of the second book in Stephenie Meyer's best-selling series of young-adult novels, the chaste but intermittently violent proceedings play out against a picturesque background ranging from the misty Northwest to the sunny hills of Tuscany. Considerable action violence, a vague sexual reference, at least one mildly crass term.  A-II -- adults and adolescents.  (PG-13)
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The Blind Side —Inspirational family drama, based on real events, in which a wealthy white couple (Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw) in Memphis, Tenn., offer shelter to a homeless black student (Quinton Aaron) from their children's (Lily Collins and Jae Head) school and, as he becomes an increasingly integral part of their clan, help him to hone his football skills while also hiring a determined tutor (Kathy Bates) to raise his academic standing. Driven by Bullock's field-sweeping performance as the feisty, religiously motivated adoptive mother, writer-director John Lee Hancock's unapologetically Christian tale of human solidarity across racial and class divides, adapted from Michael Lewis' 2006 best-seller "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game," is funny, shrewd and ultimately uplifting. Brief nongraphic marital lovemaking, at least one profanity, a few sexual and drug references, a half-dozen crass terms.  A-III -- adults. (PG-13) 2009
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Planet 51—Delightful animated comedy based in a galaxy far, far away where little green aliens live in a 1950s "Happy Days"-style suburbia, complete with white picket fences, backyard barbecues and monster movies playing at the drive in. When a real alien, in the shape of a human astronaut (voice of "The Rock," Dwayne Johnson), drops from the sky, all heck breaks loose as this E.T. tries to return home with the help of a gaggle of teens led by a shy would-be astronomer (voice of Justin Long). Some mildly suggestive humor aside, co-directors Jorge Blanco, Javier Abad and Marcos Martinez's generally wholesome film, which features positive life lessons about friendship, loyalty, and acceptance of others, offers fun for all ages.  A-I -- general patronage. (PG) 2009
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Fantastic Mr. Fox —Droll stop-motion animated adventure, set in the animal world of rural Britain, in which the titular vulpine creature (voice of George Clooney), now a respectable newspaper columnist with a wife (voice of Meryl Streep) and son (voice of Jason Schwartzman), tries to recapture his wild past as a chicken thief poaching on local farms, but his renewed raiding, abetted by his daring nephew (voice of Eric Anderson), enrages a trio of mean-spirited farmers whose escalating countermeasures endanger the whole burrowing community. A touch of menace and a fleeting joke about Mrs. Fox's youthful indiscretions aside, director and co-writer Wes Anderson's clever, lovingly crafted adaptation of Roald Dahl's 1970 children's book offers sophisticated family entertainment, with abundant fun for youngsters and a few insights into the tensions and paradoxes of human nature for adults. A-I -- general patronage. (PG) 2009
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2012—In the disaster movie to end all fiasco flicks, a doomsday cataclysm results in billions losing their lives as the earth's crust breaks apart, dismantling civilization and rearranging the continents. Director Roland Emmerich gives his special-effects wizards license to test the limits of the technically plausible and morally palatable, while asking moviegoers to take heart as the scenario affords a White House geologist (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and a divorced science-fiction writer (John Cusack) the chance to exhibit altruism, even as their exploits are interspersed with disturbing apocalyptic imagery, including the destruction of St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. Considerable crude and crass language, much profanity, a rough gesture and a few instances of sexual innuendo.  A-III -- adults. (PG-13) 2009

Fame— Ensemble drama with music follows a class of gifted students (most prominently Kay Panabaker, Asher Book, Naturi Naughton and Collins Pennie) and their dedicated teachers (among them Kelsey Grammer, Charles S. Dutton and Bebe Neuwirth) through four years at a New York City high school for the performing arts. Director Kevin Tancharoen's remake of Alan Parker's 1980 celebration of creative exuberance jettisons most of the original's objectionable elements but, some enjoyable musical numbers aside, the results are mostly tepid. A scene involving suicide, a sexual situation, underage drinking, at least one use of profanity, and a half-dozen crude and a few crass terms. The  A-III -- adults. (PG) 2009
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Pandorum — Complex and deeply cliched sci-fi horror excursion in which two astronauts (Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster) awaken from an eight-year hypersleep to learn that their spacecraft, a sort of Noah's Ark designed to keep life from Earth in existence, has a balky power plant and a violent past. Director Christian Alvart serves up a heaping helping of pesky mutants with ninja skills, but the largely routine proceedings are somewhat redeemed by a surprisingly upbeat double-twist ending. At least one rough term, occasional profane and crass language, and some martial arts and knife violence. A-III -- adults.(R) 2009
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Surrogates — Generally intriguing futuristic thriller, set in an America where people live their lives through ideal-looking robotic surrogates that they remote-control by their thoughts, follows an FBI agent (Bruce Willis) and his partner's (Radha Mitchell) investigation of a high-profile murder as well as his struggle to reconnect with his wife (Rosamund Pike) who refuses to interact with him except via her mechanical alter ego. Director Jonathan Mostow's adaptation of Robert Venditti's graphic novel is a cautionary tale about the perils of technology, especially its potential to cut us off from human contact and the world of nature, and an exploration of the values undergirding a successful marriage. Considerable action violence, drug use, brief sexual situations, a couple of uses of profanity and a few crude and crass terms.A-III -- adults. (PG-13)2009
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Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs— Loosely based on the 1978 children's book, this animated fantasy concerns a previously ridiculed young inventor (voice of Bill Hader) who fashions a machine that makes food fall from the sky, and who finds a kindred spirit in a rookie weather reporter (voice of Anna Faris) assigned to cover the bizarre climactic phenomenon. Serving to warn against overindulgence and extol the virtues of persistence and ingenuity, the film boasts dazzling 3-D visuals deployed to entertaining, if not always appetizing, effect by co-writers and directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord. Considerable cartoon violence, some rude expressions, a scatological reference and a few moderately scary action sequences. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG) 2009
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All About Steve — Tiresome romantic comedy about a motormouthed, trivia-spouting crossword-puzzle writer (Sandra Bullock) whose isolated life is transformed when she falls instantly for a TV news cameraman (Bradley Cooper) she meets on a blind date, her obsessive love prompting her first to throw herself at him in a bid for immediate intimacy, then to dog him from one news event to the next, egged on, as a practical joke, by a vain reporter (Thomas Haden Church) for his network. Director Phil Traill's feature debut is hobbled by a central character whose supposed quirkiness is grating rather than endearing and, a few digs at media excess aside, neither the humor nor the more serious moments affirming individuality and emotional sensitivity succeed. Nongraphic nonmarital sexual activity, some sexual humor and references, a half-dozen uses of profanity, frequent crude or crass language, and an obscene gesture.  A-III -- adults. (PG-13) 2009  
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Aliens in the Attic — Mostly harmless comic adventure in which a group of young cousins (principally Carter Jenkins, Austin Butler and Ashley Tisdale) battle a quartet of aggressive extraterrestrials (voices of Josh Peck, J.K. Simmons, Thomas Haden Church and Kari Wahlgren) who've invaded their vacation home as a preliminary step to world domination. Director John Schultz's mildly diverting fantasy offers lessons about family unity and the value of education, but also includes dialogue inappropriate for younger viewers, who might otherwise enjoy it most. A few sexual references, occasional innuendo and at least one crass term. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG) 2009
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The Final Destination — Repellent horror sequel in which a young man’s (Bobby Campo) premonition of impending death saves him, his girlfriend (Shantel VanSanten), two of their pals (Haley Webb and Nick Zano) and a number of strangers from perishing in a speedway accident, but the Grim Reaper is not to be cheated, and the survivors begin to die off in a series of horrifically gruesome misadventures. Director David R. Ellis’ utterly callous fourth installment in the franchise amounts to little more than an exercise in gross-out special effects, with a gratuitous scene of debased casual sex tacked on for bad measure. Conventional and 3D formats. Pervasive gory violence, including mutilation, brief graphic nonmarital sexual activity, a couple of uses of profanity, some rough and much crude language.  O -- morally offensive. (R) 2009  
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G-Force — 3-D fantasy adventure, combining live action and animation, in which a team of three guinea pigs (voices of Sam Rockwell, Tracy Morgan and Penelope Cruz) and a mole (voice of Nicolas Cage), all trained and equipped as government agents by an innovative scientist (Zach Galifianakis), work to foil the plans of a sinister industrialist (Bill Nighy) bent on world domination. As directed by Hoyt H. Yeatman Jr., this exuberant, at times spectacular, rodent romp portrays the crime-fighting team, which eventually includes an enthusiastic but inept pet-store guinea pig (voice of Jon Favreau), as an improvised family, sustained by cooperation, self-sacrifice and forgiveness; these are positive lessons for all but the most impressionable viewers, who might be frightened by repeated scenes of peril. A-I -- general patronage. (PG) 2009
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Halloween ll — Writer-director Scott Zombie creates a horror film so boring and predictable, even Michael Myers (Tyler Mane) looks embarrassed to be put through his desultory homicidal paces. Deborah Myers (Sheri Moon Zombie, the director's wife), is Michael's semi-spooky, cliche-spouting ghost of a mother, and Scout Taylor-Compton reprises her scream-queen role as Michael's disturbingly foulmouthed sister Laurie, with whom he longs to have a violent, delusional reunion. Strong violent content, including multiple stabbings, a strangling and a fatal stomping, fleeting upper female nudity, pervasive rough and crass language and occasional sexual banter.  O -- morally offensive. (R) 2009
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The Hangover — A 100-minute assault of crude behavior, violence, racial stereotypes and male nudity strung along a thin plot of three groomsmen (Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha) searching for their pal the bridegroom (Bradley Cooper) after a drunken and drugged Las Vegas debauch the night before the wedding. Producer-director Doug Phillips and screenwriters Jon Lucas and Doug Moore work on the assumptions that any loutish behavior is hilarious, and if it's funny when a grown man gets hit in the face by a car door, it's even funnier when it later happens to an infant. Intermittent violence; pervasive crass, crude and profane language; upper female and explicit male nudity; drug use; frequent urination; and crude sexual gags, one involving an infant.  O -- morally offensive. (R) 2009
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince — At the behest of his mentor (Michael Gambon), the now-teenage wizard (Daniel Radcliffe) ingratiates himself with a returning Hogwarts instructor (Jim Broadbent) who once taught his archenemy Lord Voldemort and whose memories may hold the key to defeating the villain, while adolescent romantic tensions complicate the lad's relationship with his two closest friends (Rupert Grint and Emma Watson). As directed by David Yates, this sixth adaptation of J.K. Rowling's hugely popular fantasy novel series is a richly textured, though at times overcrowded, adventure narrative in which good and evil are clearly delineated, but characters present a range of moral shading. Also shown in Imax. Moderate action violence, occasional peril, a couple of crass expressions, and a few vaguely sexual references. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG) 2009
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I Can Do Bad All By Myself — A selfish club singer (Taraji P. Henson) learns the redemptive power of unselfish love when she finds herself caring for her dead sister's three children (Hope Olaide Wilson, Kwesi Boakye and Frederick Siglar). Writer-director Tyler Perry's adaptation of his own stage drama is a hard-driving, if entirely predictable, morality play with music in which his trademark comic character, "Madea" Simmons, has only a brief supporting role. Implied adultery, a brief scene of sexual menace, a fleeting glimpse of a male backside and a bit of crass language. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG-13) 2009

Inglourious Basterds — Provocative World War II fantasy in which a team of ruthless Jewish-American commandoes led by a hard-bitten Southern officer (Brad Pitt) and a young French Jewish woman (Melanie Laurent) passing as a gentile cinema owner in occupied Paris plot independently to assassinate key Nazi leaders during a gala film premiere, even as the German officer (Christoph Waltz) who killed her family threatens both schemes. Between episodes of graphic bloodletting, writer-director Quentin Tarentino weaves a suspenseful, though somewhat lurid, alternate history, but the Americans' systematic brutality toward enemy soldiers can only be accepted within a genre far removed from Strong violent content, including torture and mutilation, brief graphic sexual activity, complex moral issues, a few uses of profanity, and much rough and some crude language. L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. (R) 2009
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Jennifer's Body — A fetching but cynical high school student (Megan Fox) is mysteriously transformed into a cannibalistic demon preying on her male schoolmates, much to the distress of her timid best pal (Amanda Seyfried) whose boyfriend (Johnny Simmons) may become the next item on the monster's menu. Director Karyn Kusama's failed attempt to satirize teen female rivalry by inflating it into an occult struggle for life or death relishes gore and exploits adolescent sexuality. Frequent savage violence, cannibalism, strong sexual content, including graphic (presumably underage) sexual activity and lesbian kissing, a couple of profanities, irreverence and much rough and crude language.  O -- morally offensive. (R) 2009
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