Films
Capsule reviews with star ratings were written by critics for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Opening today:
The Class
An account of a literature teacher’s experiences in an inner city school in Paris. Running time: 2:09
Rating: PG-13 (language) River Park Square: 10:45 a.m., 1:30, 4:20, 7:20, 10:20.
Dragonball: Evolution
A young warrior (Justin Chatwin) must collect a series of mystical objects. Running time: 1:26
Rating: PG (language, violence) NorthTown Mall: 11:45 a.m., 2:15, 4:20, 6:45, 9:40. River Park Square: 11:20 a.m., 1:25, 3:35, 5:45, 7:50, 10:10. Riverstone: 11:30 a.m., 2:05, 4:35, 7:05, 9:30.
Hannah Montana: The Movie
Soaring popularity threatens to take over teen phenomenon’s (Miley Cyrus) life. Running time: 1:32
Rating: G Hayden: 12:25, 2:40, 4:55, 7:05, 9:20. NorthTown Mall: 11:30 a.m., 2, 4:30, 7, 9:30. Post Falls: 12:50, 3:45, 5:50, 7:55. River Park Square: 11 a.m., 1:35, 4:20, 7, 9:30. Riverstone: 11 a.m., 1:45, 4:30, 7:30, 10. Spokane Valley Mall: 1:40, 4:20, 7, 9:40. Village Centre: 10:20 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:30, 1:45, 2:45, 4, 5, 6:15, 7:10, 8:30, 9:20.
Observe and Report
A mall security officer (Seth Rogen) wants to prove his prowess by catching a flasher. Running time: 1:26
Rating: R (drug use, graphic nudity, language, sexual content, violence) Hayden: 1:05, 3:10, 5:20, 7:30, 9:35. NorthTown Mall: 12:45, 2:55, 5:10, 8, 10:15. Post Falls: 1:20, 3:40, 6:05, 8:05. River Park Square: 10:30 a.m., 12:45, 2:55, 5:10, 7:25, 10. Riverstone: 11:45 a.m., 2:30, 4:55, 7:45, 10:15. Spokane Valley Mall: 1:50, 4:40, 7:30, 10. Village Centre: 11 a.m., 1, 3, 5:10, 7:20, 9:30.
Continuing:
Adventureland
••• Greg Mottola’s smart, winning coming-of-age comedy stars Jesse Eisenberg as a college grad who finds a summer job at a rundown amusement park circa 1987. And then he finds true love, in Kristen Stewart (“Twilight”). But things aren’t that simple. Running time: 1:46
Rating: R (drug use, language, sexual references) NorthTown Mall: 12:20, 4:10, 7:35, 10:10. River Park Square: 11:20 a.m., 1:45, 4:25, 7:05, 9:40. Riverstone: 11:25 a.m., 2:10, 4:50, 7:40, 10:25. Spokane Valley Mall: 12:50, 3:50, 6:45, 10:05. Village Centre: 11 a.m., 1:30, 4, 6:30, 9:10.
Bride Wars
•1/2 So how bad can a movie with Goldilocks (Kate) Hudson and Cinderella (Anne) Hathaway be? So excruciating that Hudson’s sunshine can’t warm it and Hathaway’s rose redolence can’t mask its stink. This one about the best buds turned mortal enemies when their weddings are accidentally booked the same day is the rotten – and possibly poisoned - apple of fairytale movies. Running time: 1:30
Rating: PG (language, rude behavior, suggestive content) Garland: 5:50.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
••• Brad Pitt stars as a man who ages backward, beginning in 1918 and heading into the 21st century. An epic Gumpian yarn, with Cate Blanchett as the love of his life, and fine turns from Taraji P. Henson and Tilda Swinton. Running time: 2:47
Rating: PG-13 (war violence, language, sexual content) Garland: 9:35.
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): 12:30, 1:45, 3, 4:15, 5:30, 6:45, 8.
Duplicity
••1/2 Clive Owen and Julia Roberts are corporate spies with money and romance on their minds in this riffy, overly intricate caper from “Michael Clayton” writer/director Tony Gilroy. Swanky locales from Dubai to Zurich but little suspense. Running time: 2:05
Rating: PG-13 (language, sexual content) NorthTown Mall: 7:20, 10:05. Post Falls: 12:35. River Park Square: 10:35 a.m., 1:25, 4:10, 7:20, 10:10. Riverstone: 11:50 a.m., 2:40, 8. Spokane Valley Mall: 1:25, 4:25, 7:50. Village Centre: 11:15 a.m., 2, 4:40, 7:20, 9:45.
Fast & Furious
••1/2 Vin Diesel returns for the fourth installment of the street racing franchise, which also brings back the rest of the original cast: Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez. Vroom, vroom. Running time: 1:47
Rating: PG-13 (drug references, violence, language, sexual content) Hayden: 12:30, 2:45, 5, 7:15, 9:25. NorthTown Mall: noon, 3:10, 4, 7:30, 7:50, 10, 10:25, 12:30. Post Falls: 1, 3:20, 5:30, 7:45. River Park Square: 10:40 a.m., 11:15 a.m., 1:30, 2, 4:05, 4:45, 6:45, 7:15, 9:20, 9:50. Riverstone: 11:05 a.m., 11:35 a.m., 1:50, 2:15, 4:25, 5:05, 7:15, 7:55, 10:05, 10:30. Spokane Valley Mall: 12:40, 1:10, 3:40, 4:10, 6:40, 7:10, 9:45, 10:15. Village Centre: 11:15 a.m., noon, 1:45, 2:30, 4:15, 5, 6:45, 7:20, 9:15, 9:45.
The Haunting in Connecticut
•• Tepid ghost story with fine performances by Kyle Gallner as a teen with cancer who sees dead people and Virginia Madsen as his protective mom. Wait to rent this one on DVD as part of a triple feature with 1979’s “The Amityville Horror” and its 2005 remake. Running time: 1:32
Rating: PG-13 (disturbing images, terror) Hayden: 9:30. NorthTown Mall: 12:40, 3:05, 5:30, 7:55, 10:20. River Park Square: 10:55 a.m., 1:20, 2:30, 4:15, 5, 6:40, 7:30, 9:05, 10:05. Riverstone: noon, 2:25, 4:45, 7:25, 9:45. Spokane Valley Mall: 2, 4:45, 7:40, 10:20. Village Centre: 11:30 a.m., 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:35, 9:40.
Hotel for Dogs
•• What Animal Planet is this from? Only casually related to the popular Lois Duncan novel about the youths who keep strays in an abandoned house, the film is about foster kids who hide pups in a condemned hotel they convert into a doggie theme park. With Emma Roberts, Jake T. Austin and Don Cheadle. Running time: 1:40
Rating: PG (language, crude humor) Garland: 3:50.
I Love You, Man
•••1/2 Metrosexual meets caveman in this fresh comedy starring Paul Rudd as a newly engaged guy without a male friend to be his best man and Jason Segel as a prospect. With Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg. Running time: 1:45
Rating: R (crude references, language, sexual references) Hayden: 1:15, 6:50. NorthTown Mall: 11:35 a.m., 2:05, 4:35, 7:05, 9:35. River Park Square: 10:50 a.m., 12:45, 1:40, 3:30, 4:30, 6:30, 7:10, 9:10, 9:45. Riverstone: 12:05, 2:35, 5:10, 7:50, 10:20. Spokane Valley Mall: 1:20, 4:05, 7:15, 10:10. Village Centre: noon, 2:20, 4:35, 7, 9:20.
Knowing
•• A weird and gloomy existential sci-fi thriller with Nicolas Cage as an MIT professor who discovers a page of numbers that seem to predict cataclysmic events. Run for your lives! Running time: 1:55
Rating: PG-13 (language, disturbing images) Hayden: 3:45, 9:05. NorthTown Mall: 12:25, 3:20, 6:40, 9:50. Post Falls: 3:15, 5:40, 8. River Park Square: 10:50 a.m., 1:50, 4:40, 7:25, 10:15. Riverstone: 11:55 a.m., 4:05, 8:05. Spokane Valley Mall: 12:30, 3:30, 6:30, 9:35. Village Centre: 11 a.m., 1:40, 4:10, 6:50, 9:30.
Monsters vs. Aliens
••• This goofy computer-animated romp is an amicable amalgam of the vintage sci-fi schlock “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” and Pixar’s “Monsters Inc.” With the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen and Kiefer Sutherland. Running time: 1:34
Rating: PG (language, crude humor) Hayden: 1, 3:05, 5:05, 7:10, 9:15. NorthTown Mall: 12:10, 2:45, 5:15, 7:40, 9:55. Post Falls: 1:10, 3:25, 5:20, 7:15. River Park Square: 10:30 a.m., 11:10 a.m., 12:30, 1, 1:45, 2:45, 3:25, 4:15, 5:10, 5:50, 6:35, 7:35, 8, 9, 9:45, 10:15. Riverstone: 11:40 a.m., 2:20, 5. Spokane Valley Mall: 1, 1:30, 4, 4:30, 6:50, 7:20, 9:30, 9:55. Village Centre: 10:30 a.m., 12:40, 2:50, 5, 7:10, 9:25.
Monsters vs. Aliens 3D
NorthTown Mall: 11:50 a.m., 2:30, 4:55, 7:15, 9:45. Riverstone: 11:20 a.m., 2, 4:40, 7:20, 9:50. Village Centre: 11:40 a.m., 2, 4, 6:40, 9.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
•• Like one of those Pixie Sticks periodically sipped by its hypoglycemic hero – a pudgeball on a Segway, played by Kevin James – to boost his blood sugar, the film lacks nutritional value but makes you giddy. Completely forgettable, frequently funny and weirdly satisfying in a loser-gets-respect kind of way. Running time: 1:31
Rating: PG (language, crude humor, violence) Garland: 7:45.
Race to Witch Mountain
•• Dwayne Johnson (aka “The Rock”) stars in this cartoonish remake of the 1975 Disney film “Escape to Witch Mountain.” He’s a Vegas cabbie roped into helping two very human-looking teen aliens. Leave your brain at the concession stand. Running time: 1:39
Rating: PG (dangerous and frightening situations, violence) Hayden: 12:50, 3, 5:10, 7:20. NorthTown Mall: 12:05, 2:35, 4:55. Post Falls: 12:40, 3:10, 5:15, 7:20. River Park Square: 11:30 a.m., 2, 4:25, 6:50, 9:15. Riverstone: 11:15 a.m., 1:55, 4:20, 6:50, 9:40. Spokane Valley Mall: 1:15, 4:15, 6:55, 9:50. Village Centre: 11:45 a.m., 2, 4:15, 6:30, 8:45.
Sunshine Cleaning
••• Amy Adams and Emily Blunt glow and glower, respectively, as two sisters who clean up crime scenes in order to finance private school for Adams son. Christine Jeffs directs this dramedy, also boasting fine performances by Alan Arkin and Clifton Collins Jr. Running time: 1:42
Rating: R (disturbing images, drug use, language, sexuality). River Park Square: 11:45 a.m., 2:30, 5:15, 7:45, 10:20. Riverstone: 11:10 a.m., 1:40, 4:10, 6:55, 9:35.
Taken
••• Liam Neeson makes a surprisingly good action hero an ex-covert op who comes to the rescue of his teenage daughter when she and a friend are abducted by sex traffickers in Paris. Wild chases and martial arts mayhem ensue in this brisk, no-nonsense thriller. Running time: 1:31
Rating: PG-13 (violence, language, sexual content, drug references) River Park Square: 10:35 a.m., 12:55, 3:10, 5:30, 7:40, 9:55. Riverstone: 7:35, 9:55. Village Centre: 11:15 a.m., 1:15, 6:15.
Watchmen
••• A fanboy’s fantasy come true, Zack (“300”) Snyder’s reverent adaptation of the lauded graphic novel offers a violent, subversive take on superhero mythology. Set in an alternate 1985, with costumed crimefighters acting cranky and weird, the movie, like the comic, is about power and history – its making, and its reimagining. Running time: 2:43
Rating: R (language, nudity, sexuality, graphic violence) River Park Square: 11:05 a.m., 3, 6:20, 9:40. Village Centre: 3:15, 8:15.