A gritty look at Jewish life in Nazi Poland
“In Darkness”: Agnieszka Holland’s Oscar-nominated true-life account of a group of Polish Jews who lived in a city’s sewers for 14 months, evading Nazis and enduring unspeakable discomfort and dread – and of the sewer worker who helped them, first for the money, then for more morally complex reasons. Troubling, inspiring, frightening. (2:25, R for violence, disturbing images, sexuality, nudity and language) • • •
“A Little Bit of Heaven”: The “c” in this Big C melodrama must stand for cute, as Kate Hudson, playing “the youngest and hottest vice president in advertising,” is diagnosed with terminal cancer. She falls for her doctor – Gael Garcia Bernal – and things devolve from there into whirlpools of shameless sentiment. With Whoopi Goldberg as God. Really. (1:47, PG-13 for sexual content, including crude references, and language) No stars
“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows”: The sequel’s afoot, with Robert Downey Jr. returning as the Victorian era action hero, Jude Law playing his dutiful, doctorly sidekick, Watson, and Jared Harris as the evil mastermind Moriarty. Lots of stop-and-start fight scenes, lots of explosions, lots of pseudo-ratiocinating smarty-pants talk. (2:08, PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some drug material) • •
“Thin Ice”: Greg Kinnear stars as a sleazeball insurance agent trying to scam an absent-minded old farmer (Alan Arkin) out of a prized violin. Larceny and murder ensue in this nicely turned, increasingly dark morality tale. With Billy Crudup, Lea Thompson. (1:34, R for language, and brief violent and sexual content) • • •
“Jeff, Who Lives at Home”: Jason Segel stars as a 30-year-old stoner, holed up in his mom’s basement (nicely played by Susan Sarandon) and interpreting seemingly random events as portentous signs of life-changing magnitude. Ed Helms, the great Judy Greer and Rae Dawn Chong co-star; from sibling filmmakers Jay and Mark Duplass, of “The Puffy Chair,” “Baghead” and “Cyrus” fame. (1:23, R for language including sexual references and some drug use) • • •