Films

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

Opening today:

Bandslam

A musician (Aly Michalka) hires the new guy in town to manage her fledgling rock band. Running time: 1:51 Rating: PG (language)

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

District 9

South Africa assigns a restricted area for extraterrestrial refugees. Running time: 1:51 Rating: R (bloody violence, language)

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

The Goods: Live Hard. Sell Hard.

Hired to save a local car dealership, a high-powered salesman (Jeremy Piven) falls in love. Running time: 1:29 Rating: R (nudity, language, sexual content, drug material)

River Park Square: 10:45 a.m., 1:05, 3:25, 5:40, 7:50, 10:10. Riverstone: 12:50, 4:20, 7:50, 10:35. Spokane Valley Mall: 12:30, 2:40, 4:50, 7:10, 9:25.

Ponyo

A young goldfish (Noah Cyrus) embarks on a quest to become human. Running time: 1:40 Rating: G

NorthTown Mall: noon, 3:45, 7, 9:35. River Park Square: 10:45 a.m., 1:10, 3:40, 6:15, 9. Riverstone: 12:20, 3:55, 7:05, 9:40.

The Time Traveler’s Wife

A time-traveler (Eric Bana) repeatedly moves in and out of his true love’s (Rachel McAdams) life. Running time: 1:47 Rating: PG-13 (disturbing images, nudity, sexuality)

NorthTown Mall: 12:30, 4:15, 7:30, 10:15. River Park Square: 10:50 a.m., 1:25, 4:10, 7, 9:45. Riverstone: 12:30, 4, 7:15, 10. Spokane Valley Mall: noon, 2:30, 5, 7:30, 10. Village Centre: 11:40 a.m., 2:10, 4:40, 7:10, 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. Too cute at times, but easy to live with. 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.

A Perfect Getaway

Honeymooning hikers (Milla Jovovich, Steve Zahn) find trouble in paradise. Running time: 1:37 Rating: R (graphic violence, language, sexual references, drug use)

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

Aliens in the Attic

Vacationing youths battle an invading force of tiny aliens bent on conquering the world. Running time: 1:26 Rating: PG (violence, language, suggestive humor)Village Centre: 10:45 a.m., 12:45.

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): 11 a.m., 12:15, 1:30, 2:45.

Earth

Animal mothers struggle to raise their young in an increasingly harsh environment. Running time: 1:30 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. This is advocacy filmmaking at its strongest – and most essential. Running time: 1:34 Rating: PG (disturbing images) Magic Lantern: 4:30, 6:20, 8:10, 9:50.

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. With Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill, Aubrey Plaza and Jason Schwartzman. Running time: 2:26 Rating: R (crude sexual humor, language, sexuality)

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

G-Force

•• Disney’s 3-D 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 industrialist’s 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 (rude humor)

Hayden: 1, 3:10, 5:15, 7:15, 9:15. River Park Square: 10:40 a.m., 12:50, 3, 5:10, 7:20, 9:35. Spokane Valley Mall: 12:05, 2:20, 4:40, 7:05, 9:30.

G-Force in Disney Digital 3D

NorthTown Mall: 12:20, 2:40, 4:55, 7:25, 9:45. Riverstone: 12:35, 3:35, 6:50, 9:30. Village Centre: 12:10, 2:20, 4:30, 6:45, 8:50.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

The G.I. Joe team uses the latest technology in their battle against a mysterious organization. Running time: 1:58 Rating: PG-13 (violence)

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

Goodbye Solo

A Senegalese cab driver in North Carolina tries to talk a suicidal old Southern man out of jumping from a ledge. Running time: 1:31 Rating: R (language)

Magic Lantern: 4, 6, 7:45, 9:30.

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)

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

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. Like a high school romance, only with wands, spells and potions. Running time: 2:33 Rating: PG (language, sensuality, scary images, violence)

Hayden: noon, 3, 6, 9. NorthTown Mall: 11:50 a.m., 3:15, 6:40, 9:55. River Park Square: 11 a.m., 2:15, 6:15, 9:40. Riverstone: 1:15, 6:30, 9:55. Spokane Valley Mall: 11:40 a.m., 3:15, 6:35, 9:50. Village Centre: noon, 3:10, 6:20, 9:30.

The Hurt Locker

•••1/2 Kathryn Bigelows 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)

River Park Square: 10:50 a.m., 1:40, 4:35, 7:30, 10:15.

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 (peril, rude humor)

Village Centre: 12:20, 2:20, 4:40, 6:50, 9.

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 Julia, plus Stanley Tucci and Chris Messina. Running time: 2:04 Rating: PG-13 (language, sensuality)

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

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

•• Ben Stiller returns in this knee-jerk sequel to the surprise 2006 family-friendly smash, a super-sized rehash transplanted from New York’s Museum of Natural History to the sprawling Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., with lots of running around and CG effects. Amy Adams, Robin Williams and Owen Wilson are among the gang of museum figures come-to-life. Running time: 1:45 Rating: PG (language)

Garland: 12:10, 5:05.

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. With Betty White. Running time: 1:48 Rating: PG-13 (language, nudity, sexual content)

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

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. With Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana and Leonard Nimoy. Running time: 2:06 Rating: PG-13 (sexual content, violence)

Garland: 2:25, 7:15.

Terminator Salvation

••1/2 Man and machine can’t seem to get along in this sci-fi shoot-em-up, the fourth installment in the “Terminator” series. The year is 2018 and the mood is post-apocalyptic, with Christian Bale as John Connor, the resistance fighter leading the battle against the evil Skynet and its relentless robot army. There are a few moments of self-referential humor, but generally the tone is solemn, severe, sermonistic. Running time: 1:56 Rating: PG-13 (violence, language)

Garland: 9:50.

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. Running time: 2:29 Rating: PG-13 (drug material, crude and sexual material, intense sci-fi action and violence, language)

IMAX (Riverfront Park): 3:45, 7, 10:15. NorthTown Mall: 3:30, 6:55. River Park Square: 9:55. Riverstone: 9:50. Village Centre: 1.

The Ugly Truth

•1/2 Career woman meets caveman in this unfunny comedy starring Katherine Heigl, the 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)

Hayden: 12:30, 2:45, 5:05, 7:10, 9:30. NorthTown Mall: 12:05, 2:30, 5:10, 7:40, 10:35. River Park Square: 11:50 a.m., 2:20, 4:55, 7:15, 9:30. Riverstone: 12:05, 4:35, 7:25, 10:10. Spokane Valley Mall: 12:20, 2:50, 5:15, 7:35, 10:05. Village Centre: 12:20, 2:40, 5, 7:20, 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. It darts unpredictably between comedy and adventure, defying gravity and age alike. Running time: 1:29 Rating: PG (peril)

River Park Square: 11:20 a.m., 2:05, 4:30, 7:05, 9:35. Spokane Valley Mall: 11:35 a.m.