Films

Capsule reviews with star ratings are written by reviewers for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Opening today:

Adam

A man (Hugh Dancy) with Asperger’s syndrome falls for a new neighbor (Rose Byrne). Running time: 1:37 Rating: PG-13 (language, sexual content) River Park Square: 11:50 a.m., 2:30, 5, 7:25, 9:55.

The Final Destination

Horrible fates await friends who narrowly escaped death during a horrific race car crash. Running time: 1:21 Rating: R (sexuality, language, violent accidents) Hayden: 1, 3:10, 5:15, 7:15, 9:15. River Park Square: 10:30 a.m., 12:40, 2:50, 5, 7:15, 9:30. Spokane Valley: 12:15, 2:35, 4:45, 7:05, 9:30.

The Final Destination 3D: NorthTown: 12:30, 2:35, 4:50, 7:30, 10:10. Riverstone: 2, 4:50, 7:45, 10:25. Village Centre: 11:20 a.m., 1:20, 3:20, 5:20, 7:20, 9:20.

Halloween II

Unstoppable Michael Myers continues his murderous rampage. Running time: 1:41 Rating: R (sexual humor, language, sexuality) NorthTown: 1, 4:15, 8, 10:35. River Park Square: 10:45 a.m., 1:45, 4:30, 7, 9:35. Riverstone: 1, 3:55, 7:30, 10:15. Spokane Valley: noon, 2:25, 4:50, 7:15, 9:45. Village Centre: 12:30, 2:45, 5, 7:10, 9:35.

Taking Woodstock

Motel manager Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin) plays a pivotal role in getting the historic concert off the ground. Running time: 2:00 Rating: R (drug use, nudity, language, sexual content) NorthTown: noon, 3:40, 7, 9:45. River Park Square: 10:35 a.m., 1:20, 4:15, 7:15, 10:05. Riverstone: 1:25, 4:25, 7:10, 10. Spokane Valley: 12:40, 3:25, 6:55, 9:40.

Continuing:

(500) Days of Summer

••• Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel star in this engagingly breezy tale of a guy with a broken heart and the girl who broke it. Running time: 1:35 Rating: PG-13 (language, sexual material) River Park Square: 10:30 a.m., 12:45, 3, 5:20, 7:45, 10. Village Centre: 10:50 a.m., 12:50, 3, 5:10, 7:15, 9:20.

Amazon

Filmmaker Kieth Merrill journeys through rain forests to follow the route of the Amazon River. Running time: :39 Rating: IMAX (Riverfront Park): 11 a.m., 1, 3, 5, 7.

Boondock Saints

A pair of brothers go on a vigilante hunt, killing mobsters while being hunted themselves by the FBI. Running time: 1:50 Rating: R (violence, language, sexual content) Garland: noon.

Dinosaurs Alive!

Dinosaurs from the Triassic to the Cretaceous period come to life on the giant IMAX screen. Running time: :40 Rating: Not Rated IMAX (Riverfront Park): noon, 2, 4, 6.

District 9

South Africa assigns a restricted area for extraterrestrial refugees. Running time: 1:51 Rating: R (violence, language) Hayden: 12:05, 2:30, 5, 7:20, 9:35. NorthTown: 12:55, 5:15, 7:55, 10:25. River Park Square: 10:35 a.m., 11:05 a.m., 1:15, 1:45, 3:50, 4:30, 6:45, 7:20, 9:25, 10. Riverstone: 1:30, 4:10, 7:20, 9:55. Spokane Valley: 12:10, 3:10, 7, 9:50. Village Centre: noon, 2:20, 4:50, 7:20, 9:50.

Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!

This G-rated family film hits all the right visual notes, but it fails to emphasize what brought us here in the first place: the rhythms and tones of Dr. Seuss’ poetry. Running time: 1:28 Rating: G Garland: 9:30 a.m.

Food, Inc.

•••• Robert Kenner’s absolutely alarming documentary examines how the industrialization of the food making and food delivery systems over the last fifty years have impacted our health and environment. Running time: 1:34 Rating: PG (disturbing images) Magic Lantern: 4, 5:50, 7:45.

Funny People

••• Adam Sandler stars as a famous funnyman not unlike … well, Adam Sandler in Judd Apatow’s ambitious comic meditation on death, celebrity, sex, buddydom and the stand-up biz. Running time: 2:26 Rating: R (sexual humor, language, sexuality) River Park Square: 9 a.m..

G-Force

•• Disney’s dud about a team of high-tech guinea pig spies is a perpetual motion machine of meaningless action, as a squad of elite rodents tries to thwart a housewares industrialists plan of world domination. A mix of CG and live action, with real humans Bill Nighy and Zach Galifianakis, and the voices of Nicolas Cage, Penelope Cruz, Sam Rockwell and Tracy Morgan. Running time: 1:28 Rating: PG (action, rude humor) NorthTown: 12:10, 2:45, 5:10. Spokane Valley: 12:35, 2:55, 5:25.

G-Force in Disney Digital 3D: Village Centre: 10:50 a.m., 3, 7:20.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

••1/2 Channing Tatum stars in this loud, long, crowd-pleasing action film. The battles are so fast and furious, youll hardly notice how thin and cartoonish the plot is. Running time: 1:58 Rating: PG-13 (action violence) Hayden: 12:15, 3:15, 6:15, 9:05. NorthTown: 12:40, 4:25, 7:40, 10:20. River Park Square: 11:15 a.m., 2, 4:45, 7:35, 10:10. Riverstone: 1, 4:15, 7, 10:05. Spokane Valley: 12:30, 3:40, 6:45, 9:25.

The Goods: Live Hard. Sell Hard.

•• Jeremy Piven stars as a slick, cynical salesman who brings his team into Temecula, Calif., to try to save a floundering used car lot. Not without its laughs, but not with anyone to like, either. Running time: 1:29 Rating: R (nudity, language, sexual content, drug material) River Park Square: 10:40 a.m., 1:05, 3:25, 5:40, 7:50, 10:10. Riverstone: 1:45, 6:40. Spokane Valley: 7:50, 10:10.

The Hangover

••• Four guys go to Vegas for a bachelor party, and mayhem and memory-loss ensue. A loopy farce from the warped mind that brought you “Old School,” with a scene-stealing performance from indie comedy dude Zach Galifianakis. Running time: 1:39 Rating: R (nudity, language, sexual content, drug material) NorthTown: 7:45, 10:15. River Park Square: 11:45 a.m., 2:10, 4:35, 7:10, 9:45. Riverstone: 1:40, 4:05, 6:50, 9:30. Village Centre: 2:40, 7:20.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

••• Slower and talkier than its predecessors, but not in a bad way, “HP6” is a bubbling cauldron of hormonal angst, as Harry, Hermione and Ron contend with Draco, the Death Eaters and the evil Professor Snape and with their respective amorous urges. Running time: 2:33 Rating: PG (language, sensuality, violence) NorthTown: 11:50 a.m., 3:10, 6:35, 9:50. River Park Square: 11 a.m., 2:15, 6:15, 9:35. Riverstone: 1:15, 4:40, 7:55. Spokane Valley: 1:05, 4:30, 7:45. Village Centre: noon, 3:10, 6:20, 9:30.

Humpday

Two straight pals decide to make a gay porno. Running time: 1:34 Rating: R (drug use, language, sexual content) Magic Lantern: 7:25, 9:10, 10:45.

The Hurt Locker

•••1/2 Kathryn Bigelow’s riveting and profoundly tense war movie, set in Baghdad in 2004, follows the members of a bomb squad as they go looking for IEDs, looking to stay alive. Far and away one of the strongest of the films to come out of the Iraq conflict. Running time: 2:07 Rating: R (language, war violence) Village Centre: 11:20 a.m., 1:50, 4:20, 6:50, 9:25.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 3D

•• Call it “The Crass Menagerie,” this attempt to wring every last nickel from the animated series about a clan of prehistoric animals. Running time: 1:34 Rating: PG (rude humor) Village Centre: 12:50, 5:10, 9:30.

Inglourious Basterds

•• Quentin Tarantino’s tonally schizoid Jewish revenge fantasy rewrites World War II history to give Brad Pitt and company a chance to do a lot of jive riffing, while the movie mashes up the combat exploits of the “Dirty Dozen,” the madcap slapstick of “Duck Soup” and “Hostel” gore. Running time: 2:32 Rating: R (sexuality, language, violence) Hayden: noon, 3, 6, 9. NorthTown: 11:55 a.m., 12:25, 3:20, 3:55, 6:45, 7:15, 10, 10:30. River Park Square: 11 a.m., 12:15, 1:30, 2:30, 3:40, 5, 6:15, 7, 8:30, 9:40, 10:15. Riverstone: 1:10, 4:35, 8. Spokane Valley: 12:45, 4, 8. Village Centre: 12:30, 3:30, 6:30, 9:30.

Julie & Julia

•••1/2 In Nora Ephron’s captivating film about Julia Child and her influence, Meryl Streep’s performance as Child is cuisine disguised as comfort food, a complex preparation yielding effects both broadly entertaining and subtly moving. With Amy Adams as Julie Powell, the cook-blogger besotted by Child, plus Stanley Tucci and Chris Messina. Running time: 2:04 Rating: PG-13 (language, sensuality) Hayden: 12:10, 2:50, 6:10, 8:50. NorthTown: 12:15, 4:05, 7:10, 10:05. River Park Square: 10:40 a.m., 1:30, 4:20, 7:25, 10:15. Riverstone: 1:45, 4:45, 7:50. Spokane Valley: 1, 3:45, 6:30, 9:15. Village Centre: 11:15 a.m., 1:40, 4:15, 7, 9:35.

Ponyo

•••1/2 Hayao Miyazaki’s animated fable about a goldfish who would be a girl elicits pie-eyed, gape-mouthed awe. Running time: 1:40 Rating: G River Park Square: 10:45 a.m., 1:10, 3:40, 6:20, 9.

Post Grad

•1/2 Gilmore girl Alexis Bledel stars as a perky college grad whose plans go offtrack when she can’t land a job. Slinking back to her kooky family’s home, she contends with depression, a hunky South American neighbor, and a slew of clumsily comedic dilemmas. Feeble and innocuous stuff. Running time: 1:29 Rating: PG-13 (language, sexual situations) River Park Square: 10:55 a.m., 1:55. Riverstone: 4:20, 9:20. Spokane Valley: 3:20, 9:10. Village Centre: 11:40 a.m., 1:40, 3:40, 5:40, 7:40, 9:45.

The Proposal

••• This romantic lark (do you call it a rom-romp?) features Sandra Bullock as a prickly boss and Ryan Reynolds as her human pincushion of an assistant. She wants a green card, he wants a promotion, so they make a deal. Running time: 1:48 Rating: PG-13 (language, nudity, sexual content) River Park Square: 11:10 a.m., 2, 4:40, 7:10, 9:55. Riverstone: 1:05, 3:45, 6:35, 9:25. Spokane Valley: 12:25, 6:40.

Shorts

••1/2 In this kiddie comedy, a young boy discovers a mysterious rock that grants his every wish – in other words, a disaster waiting to happen. The movie gets off to a great start but eventually loses steam. Running time: 1:29 Rating: PG (action, rude humor) Hayden: 12:30, 2:45, 5:05, 7:05, 9:10. NorthTown: 11:45 a.m., 2:25, 4:40, 6:55, 9:35. River Park Square: 11:15 a.m., 1:25, 3:50, 6:30. Riverstone: 1:35, 3:50, 7:15, 9:35. Spokane Valley: 12:50, 3, 5:10, 7:20, 9:35. Village Centre: 11:15 a.m., 1:15, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15, 9:15.

Star Trek

•••1/2 J.J. Abrams’ enjoyable reboot of the sci-fi saga takes a refreshing chug from the fountain of youth, imagining what happened when Kirk met Spock. Running time: 2:06 Rating: PG-13 (sexual content, action, violence) Garland: 9:55 a.m..

The Time Traveler’s Wife

•• A kooky, head-spinning romantic mess, adapted from the best-selling novel, with Eric Bana as the time-traveling hunk and Rachel McAdams as the starry-eyed miss who has loved him since she was 6. Remarkably dull for such a wild, woolly idea. Running time: 1:47 Rating: PG-13 (nudity, sexuality) NorthTown: 12:45, 4:35, 7:25, 9:55. River Park Square: 10:50 a.m., 1:25, 4:10, 7:05, 9:45. Riverstone: 1:20, 4, 6:55, 9:45. Spokane Valley: 11:55 a.m., 2:30, 5, 7:30, 10. Village Centre: 11:40 a.m., 2:15, 4:45, 7:15, 9:45.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

•• Michael Bay’s follow-up to his entertaining 2007 film is bigger, longer and louder – but in this case, more is less. Charismatic Shia LaBeouf and saucy Megan Fox reprise their roles as the teenagers caught up in an alien blood feud between 20-ton iron giants. Running time: 2:29 Rating: PG-13 (drug material, sexual material, action, violence, language) Garland: 2:10, 7:05.

The Ugly Truth

•1/2 Career woman meets caveman in this unfunny comedy starring Katherine Heigl as a tightly wound, loveless producer of a morning TV show, assigned to produce segments for randy relationship guy Gerard Butler, who says that men can’t evolve. Running time: 1:35 Rating: R (language, sexual content) River Park Square: 4:10, 6:35, 9:15. Riverstone: 1:55, 4:30, 7:25, 9:50. Village Centre: 12:10, 5, 9:35.

Unmistaken Child

A Nepalese monk begins a long search for the reincarnation of a revered Buddhist master. Running time: 1:44 Rating: Not rated Magic Lantern: 3:30, 5:30, 9:40.

Up

•••• Buoyant Pixar film about a childless grouch (voice of Ed Asner) and a fatherless boy (Jordan Nagai) who float off to the wilds of Venezuela in a house lashed to helium-filled balloons. Running time: 1:29 Rating: PG (action) Garland: 12:10.