LITTLE ROCK — At area theaters
78
ALPHA AND OMEGA, PG Two wolves (voices of Justin Long and Hayden Panettiere) try to find their way home to their pack after being kidnapped. Animated. With voices of Christina Ricci, Danny Glover, Dennis Hopper, Larry Miller; directed by Anthony Bell, Ben Gluck. (85 minutes)
88
THE AMERICAN, R George Clooney plays an assassin, constantly on the move and always alone, who takes an assignment to construct a weapon for a mysterious contact. (105 minutes)
85
CATS & DOGS: THE REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE
, PG
House pets continue their epic struggle for control of planet Earth in this sequel to the 2001 comedy. (82 minutes)
88
DESPICABLE ME, PG A supervillain has to put his plans for the greatest heist in history - he’s going to steal the moon - on hold when he’s put in charge of three small orphan girls. Animated. (95 minutes)
80
DEVIL, PG-13 The title character starts with mischief and proceeds to terror in an urban elevator, based on an idea by M. Night Shyamalan, whose name is being used to sell thefilm even though he neither wrote the screenplay nor directed. With Chris Messina, Geoffrey Arend, Bojana Novakovic, Jenny O’Hara, Bokeem Woodbine; directed by John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle. (80 minutes)
83
DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS, PG-13 A renowned publisher encourages his friends to find the most pathetic guests possible for their weekly dinner party. (110 minutes)
87
EASY A, PG-13 In this modern reimagining of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Emma Stone plays a scheming student who plots to give her popularity a lift by convincing her fellow students she’s ... well, the title pretty much says it all. Directed by Will Gluck. (92 minutes)
78
EAT PRAY LOVE, PG-13 On the heels of a painful divorce, a woman who once made it her goal in life to marry and rear a family finds her priorities suddenly shifting. (133 minutes)
78
THE EXPENDABLES, R Sylvester Stallone directs and heads up a group of mercenaries undertaking anear-impossible operation to overthrow a South American dictator. (98 minutes)
87
GET LOW, PG-13 Robert Duvall plays a Tennessee recluse who, possessed of a lifelong secret, wants to have his funeral while he’s alive. (100 minutes)
86
THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE
, R
The publisher (Michael Nyqvist) of a magazine that exposes the crooked and corrupt practices of establishment Swedish figures adopts a young journalist’s meticulously researched thesis about sex trafficking in Sweden and those in high office who abuse underage girls. Sequel to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Subtitled. With Noomi Rapace, Annika Hallin, Per Oscarsson; directed by Daniel Alfredson. (129 minutes)
83
GOING THE DISTANCE, R Drew Barrymore and Justin Long play a couple who find their long-distance relationship is wearing thin. (97 minutes)
81
GROWN UPS, PG-13 Over a Fourth of July weekend, 30 years since they graduated from high school, five former basketball teammates gather atthe lake house where they celebrated their biggest victory to mourn the passing of their coach and realize that just because they’re all grown up doesn’t mean that they’ve lost that old spark. (102 minutes)
80
I’M STILL HERE, not rated Casey Affleck captures in documentary fashion the 2008 announcement by Joaquin Phoenix that he’s retiring from acting to launch a hip-hop career. (108 minutes)
90
INCEPTION, PG-13 Leonardo DiCaprio plays the ultimate dream thief, stealing secrets from deep within the subconscious, an international fugitive who gets a chance at redemption: not to steal an idea this time, but to plant one. (148 minutes)
83
THE KARATE KID, PG In this remake, Jaden Smith (son of Will) learns more than martial arts from Chinese master Mr. Han (Jackie Chan). (126 minutes)
90
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, R Domestic partners (Annette Bening, Julianne Moore) of two teenage children reluctantly accede to the son’s request for help in tracking down his biological father (Mark Ruffalo). (104 minutes)
68
THE LAST AIRBENDER, PG A 12-year-old boy (Noah Ringer) provides the last hope for restoring harmony to a land consumed by chaos. (103 minutes)
72
LOTTERY TICKET, PG-13 A kid from the projects (Bow Wow) who wins $370 million in the lottery must fight to protect his ticket during a long and treacherous holiday weekend. (99 minutes)
75
NANNY MCPHEE RETURNS, PGSo does Emma Thompson in the title role of the magical nanny who appears when she’s needed the most and wanted least. This time she shows up at the door of a harried young mother (Maggie Gyllenhaal) trying to run the family farm while her husband is away at war. (100 minutes)
83
RAMONA AND BEEZUS, G A sense of fun, adventure and mischief come in handy when youngster Ramona Quimby (Joey King) puts her mind to helping save her family’s home. (104 minutes)
75
RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE, R Milla Jovovich returns in this fourth entry of the franchise, set this time in Hong Kong. (100 minutes)
71
SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD,
PG-13
A young swain (Michael Cera) must fight seven sinister exes of the young woman (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) whose hand and heart he hopes to win. (112 minutes)
76
SHREK FOREVER AFTER, PG The fourth, and reportedly last, in the saga of the ogre-turned-ruler (voice of Mike Myers), who, trying to restore his lost ogre mojo, signs an ill-advised pact with the underhanded Rumpelstiltskin. Animated. (91 minutes)
85
THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE,
PG
A seemingly average guy (Jay Baruchel) with hidden talents is the reluctant recruit of a master magician (Nicolas Cage) in a fight against the forces of darkness. (111 minutes)
68
THE SWITCH, PG-13 Jennifer Aniston plays a middle-aged woman who takes conceiving a child into her own hands by artificially inseminating herself with a married friend’s sperm. (100 minutes)
77
TAKERS, PG-13 A Los Angeles detective races to bust a group of hip thieves before they can carry out a $20 million heist. (107 minutes)
90
THE TOWN, R A determined FBIagent and a woman with the power to bring them all to their knees hunt four thieves on the streets of Boston. With Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner; directed by Affleck. (120 minutes)
86
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE,
PG-13
The love triangle among mortal Bella (Kristen Stewart), vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) and werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner) teeters as the werewolf pack and the Cullen clan join together to fight a new breed of vampires. (124 minutes)
68
VAMPIRES SUCK, R While the prom looms, an anxious, nonvampire teen girl torn between two boys must get around her controlling father, who treats her like a child. (80 minutes)
Movie-rating
point system
Movies are rated on
a scale from 50 to
100. Guidelines for
moviegoers:
96-100 Transcendent
90-95 Exceptional
80-89 Better than most to remarkable
70-79 Average
60-69 Awful to mediocre
50-59 Irredeemable
MovieStyle, Pages 35 on 09/24/2010