films

Opening today:

Nobel Son

The son of a prize-winning scientist is kidnapped by a young man who claims to be his half-brother. Running time: 1:50 Rating: R (language, sexuality, violence)

River Park Square: 11:25 a.m., 2:10, 4:40, 7:15, 9:40. Riverstone: 12:20, 4, 7:10, 9:50. Spokane Valley Mall: 12:50, 3:45, 6:50, 9:45.

Punisher: War Zone

A disfigured mob boss known as Jigsaw seeks revenge against Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson). Running time: 1:47 Rating: R (language, brutal violence, drug use)

Hayden: 1:30, 4, 6:50, 9. NorthTown Mall: 12:10, 2:40, 5:10, 7:45, 10:15. River Park Square: 11:10 a.m., 1:40, 4:15, 7, 9:30. Riverstone: 12:30, 4:40, 7:50, 10:30. Spokane Valley Mall: 1, 3:50, 7, 9:50. Village Centre: noon, 2:20, 4:40, 7, 9:20.

Continuing:

Australia

••1/2 Baz Luhrman’s epic has all the sweep of a Broadway musical and just as many clichés, both visual and thematic. Set in the years leading up to World War II, it also boasts at least two storylines too many. Running time: 2:45 Rating: PG-13 (sensuality, language, violence)

Hayden: 12:45, 4:15, 7:45. NorthTown Mall: 2:10, 6, 9:25. River Park Square: 11:10 a.m., 12:30, 2:40, 4:15, 6:15, 7:50, 9:55. Riverstone: noon, 1:05, 4:10, 6:30, 8, 10:05. Spokane Valley Mall: 12:40, 4:15, 7:50. Village Centre: 11:15 a.m., 2:30, 6:15, 9:30.

Bolt

A dog who thinks his TV superpowers are real begins a cross-country journey back to Hollywood. Running time: 1:36 Rating: PG (peril)

Hayden: 12:55, 3, 5:05, 7:15, 9:20. NorthTown Mall: noon, 2:20, 4:50, 7:15, 9:40. River Park Square: 11:20 a.m., 12:25, 1:55, 2:45, 4:30, 5:15, 6:50, 7:45, 9:10, 10. Riverstone: 12:10, 3:40, 7, 9:35. Spokane Valley Mall: 12:45, 1:15, 3:30, 4, 6:30, 9:20. Village Centre: 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:50, 1:50, 3:15, 4:15, 5:30, 6:30, 7:45, 8:50, 9:50.

Disney Digital 3-D version: NorthTown Mall: 12:50, 3:20, 5:40, 8, 10:20. Riverstone: 12:40, 4:20, 7:25, 10.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

A Jewish boy and the son of a concentration camp commander are friends despite a separating fence. Running time: 1:34 Rating: PG-13 (involving the holocaust, mature thematic material)

River Park Square: 11:55 a.m., 2:50, 5:20, 7:40, 9:50.

Changeling

••1/2 Clint Eastwood takes a real-life story about a woman (Angelina Jolie) who, in 1928, loses her son. While Jolie gives a good performance as someone willing to take on the then-corrupt L.A. police, Eastwood’s beautifully sterile movie travels in too many directions. Running time: 2:21 Rating: R (disturbing content, language, violence) Village Centre: 3:40, 8:45.

The Dark Knight

•••1/2 Heath Ledger buoys Christopher Nolan’s feature film that has the Batman (Christian Bale) trying to aid a new prosecutor (Aaron Eckhart) in their common fight against the murderous Joker (Ledger). Running time: 2:32 Rating: PG-13 (violence, menace)

Garland: 7:20.

Deep Sea 3-D

Ocean-dwelling creatures forge unusual partnerships in order to survive. Running time: 40 Rating: G

IMAX (Riverfront Park): 11:30 a.m.

Eagle Eye

•• Set up by an all-seeing presence, a young guy (Shia LaBeouf) and single mother (Michelle Monaghan) must break the law or suffer the consequences. Running time: 1:58 Rating: PG-13 (violence, language)

Garland: 10 p.m.

Fireproof

A firefighter (Kirk Cameron) tries to save his struggling marriage. Running time: 2:02 Rating: PG (peril)Garland: 5:05. Village Centre: 11 a.m., 1:20, 6:40.

Four Christmases

•• Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn star in this comedy about a couple doomed to spend Christmas with their divorced parents. There are as many laughs evoked as lessons learned, but none are particularly inspired. Or inspiring. Running time: 1:28 Rating: PG-13 (language, sexual humor)

Hayden: 1:25, 3:25, 5:25, 7:25, 9:25. NorthTown Mall: 12:15, 1, 2:25, 3:15, 4:55, 5:30, 7:05, 7:50, 9:20, 10:05. River Park Square: 11:30 a.m., 12:35, 2, 3, 4:30, 6:45, 7:30, 9:15, 10. Riverstone: 12:15, 3:45, 4:15, 7:15, 7:40, 9:45, 10:25, 12:45. Spokane Valley Mall: 1:20, 1:50, 4:10, 4:40, 6:45, 7:15, 9:30, 10. Village Centre: 10:45 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:45, 1:30, 2:50, 3:40, 5, 5:45, 7:10, 7:50, 9:15, 10.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Troy (Zac Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) plan an elaborate spring musical. Running time: 1:52 Rating: G

River Park Square: 11:05 a.m., 1:40, 4:25, 7:05, 9:45.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

••• Taking up where the 2005 original left off, our heroes – a lion (voice by Ben Stiller) and his New York Zoo friends – crash-land in their Africa homeland. Cute and cuddly as a wildebeest baby. Running time: 1:28 Rating: PG (crude humor)

Hayden: 1:10, 3:10, 5:10, 7:05, 9:10. IMAX (Riverfront Park): 12:30, 2:40, 4:50, 7. NorthTown Mall: 12:30, 2:50, 5:20, 7:30, 9:50. River Park Square: 11:45 a.m., 2:35, 5, 7:20, 9:30. Riverstone: 12:05, 3:50, 6:50, 9:25. Spokane Valley Mall: 2, 4:35, 7:05, 9:35. Village Centre: 10:50 a.m., noon, 1, 2:20, 3:10, 5:20, 7:20, 9:20.

Quantum of Solace

••1/2 Our man 007 (Daniel Craig) tracks down the killers of his lover (see “Casino Royale”), at times going against his own agency and boss (Judi Dench as M). Craig is fine, but too much action tends to makes Bond a dull boy. Running time: 1:45 Rating: PG-13 (violence, sexual content)

NorthTown Mall: 12:05, 2:35, 5:05, 7:35, 10:10. River Park Square: 11:15 a.m., 1:25, 2, 4:10, 4:45, 6:45, 7:25, 9:25, 9:55. Riverstone: 12:50, 4:35, 7:45, 10:20. Spokane Valley Mall: 1:30, 4:30, 7:30, 10:15. Village Centre: 11 a.m., 11:40 a.m., 1:30, 2:10, 4, 4:40, 6:30, 7:10, 9, 9:40.

Role Models

••1/2 Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott team up as two guys who, to avoid going to jail, must do community service as mentors to two troubled kids. A formulaic feel-good climax spoils this distinctly non-PC laugh-fest. Running time: 1:39 Rating: R (crude and sexual content, nudity, language)

NorthTown Mall: 1:10, 3:45, 6:40, 9:10. River Park Square: 11 a.m., 1:15, 3:45, 6:35, 9:05. Riverstone: 12:35, 4:05, 7:30, 9:55. Spokane Valley Mall: 1:40, 4:45, 7:40, 10:20. Village Centre: 4:30, 6:50, 9:10.

The Secret Life of Bees

••• Running away from home, a 14-year-old white girl (Dakota Fanning) finds solace amid a family of black beekeepers (Queen Latifah et al.). Director Gina Prince-Bythewood adapts Sue Monk Kidd’s novel and lends an original feel to a familiar story of early 1960s-South Carolina. Running time: 1:50 Rating: PG-13 (violence)

River Park Square: 11:05 a.m., 1:50, 4:40, 7:15, 9:50.

Synecdoche, New York

••• After being dumped by his wife, a troubled theatrical director (Philip Seymour Hoffman) wins a MacArthur Genius Grant. He then spends the next couple of decades mounting a production based on his own life – which then becomes his actual life. Frustrating, intriguing, brilliant and depressing, this film is for the fan of inventive cinema only. Running time: 2:04 Rating: R (language, sexual content/nudity)

River Park Square: 11:50 a.m., 3, 6:15, 9:35.

Transporter 3

Frank Martin (Jason Statham) becomes involved with the daughter of a Ukrainian official. Running time: 1:45 Rating: PG-13 (drug material, violence, sexual content)

NorthTown Mall: 12:40, 3:30, 6:25, 9. River Park Square: 11:15 a.m., 1:45, 4:10, 6:55, 9:35. Riverstone: 12:55, 4:25, 7:35, 10:10. Spokane Valley Mall: 1:10, 4:20, 7:20, 10:05. Village Centre: 10:50 a.m., 1, 3:10, 5:20, 7:30, 9:40.

Twilight

A teen (Kristen Stewart) is caught up in an unorthodox romance with a vampire (Robert Pattinson). Running time: 2:00 Rating: PG-13 (sensuality, violence)

Hayden: 1, 3:35, 6:15, 8:55. NorthTown Mall: 12:20, 1:05, 3:05, 3:50, 6:10, 6:55, 9:05, 9:55. River Park Square: 11 a.m., 1, 2:05, 4:05, 5, 7, 8, 9:45. Riverstone: 12:25, 1, 3:55, 4:30, 6:45, 7:20, 9:40, 10:15. Spokane Valley Mall: 12:30, 3:40, 6:40, 7:10, 9:40, 10:10. Village Centre: 10:50 a.m., 12:45, 1:45, 3:30, 4:30, 6:15, 7:20, 9:10, 10.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

••• When they can’t come up with money for their rent, roommates Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) recruit a bunch of friends to make a porn film. Like most all Smith efforts, this movie is profane, full of nudity and filthy jokes … and it’s hilarious. Running time: 1:41 Rating: R (graphic nudity, language, crude sexual content)

River Park Square: 11:30 a.m., 1:55, 4:20, 6:50.