At area theaters
68 AFTER EARTH, PG-13 A teenager (Jaden Smith) embarks on a perilous journey to get help to his critically injured father (Will Smith) after a crash landing strands them on Earth 1,000 years after cataclysmic events forced humanity’s escape. (100 minutes)
88 BEFORE MIDNIGHT, R Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy and director Richard Linklater reunite for the third meeting of Jesse and Celine - first on a European train with one romantic evening together in Vienna in Before Sunrise; then, nine years later in Paris in Before Sunset; and now, both in their 40s, they meet again nine years later, still in Greece. (109 minutes)
87 THE BLING RING, R Teenagers go on a thrilling and disturbing crime spree in the Hollywood hills, tracking their celebrity targets (including Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom and Rachel Bilson) online, and stealing more than $3 million in luxury goods from their homes. Based on “true events.” (90 minutes)
79 THE CROODS, PG When thecave that has always shielded them from danger is destroyed, the world’s first prehistoric family discovers an incredible new world filled with fantastic creatures. Animated. (98 minutes)
86 DESPICABLE ME 2, PG Steve Carell returns as the voice of semi-supervillain Gru, now the step-parent of three little girls and the master of minions, with “a host of new and outrageously funny characters.” Animated. With voices of Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, Steve Coogan, Ken Jeong, Benjamin Bratt; directed by Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin. (98 minutes)
82 THE EAST, PG-13 Brit Marling plays a former FBI agent who has taken a job at an elite private intelligence firm and finds her priorities changing dramatically after she infiltrates an anarchist group that executes covert attacks upon major corporations. With Alexander Skarsgard, Ellen Page, Toby Kebbell, Shiloh Fernandez; directed by Zal Batmanglij. (116 minutes)
82 EPIC, PG A teenage girl magically transported into a secret universe where the forces of good and evil do battle deep in the forest joins a ragtag team of “fun and whimsical characters” to save their world - and ours. Animated. (102 minutes)
87 FRANCES HA, R A New Yorker who is an apprentice for a dance company but who’s not really a dancer, throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as the possibility of their fulfillment fades. (86 minutes)
74 THE HANGOVER PART III, R No wedding. No bachelor party. A grieving Alan turns to his friends in the Wolfpack, and when the Wolfpack hits the road, all bets are off. (100 minutes)
79 THE HEAT, R An uptight, straitlaced FBI special agent (Sandra Bullock) teams up with a foulmouthed, short-fused Boston cop (Melissa McCarthy) to bring down a drug lord. (117 minutes)
77 THE INTERNSHIP, PG-13 Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson play salesmen with careers torpedoed by the digital world who, trying to prove they are not obsolete, talk their way into a coveted internship at Google, where they must compete with tech-savvy geniuses barely half their age. (119 minutes)
89 THE KINGS OF SUMMER, R Three young guys, in the ultimate act of independence, decide to spend their summer building a house in the woods and living off the land - and testing their friendship. With Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Moises Arias, Mary Lynn Rajskub; directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts. (93 minutes)
75 THE LONE RANGER, PG-13 Spirit warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), a man of the law, into a masked legend of justice and fighter against greed and corruption. With Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, James Badge Dale, Ruth Wilson, Helena Bonham Carter; directed by Gore Verbinski. (149 minutes)
78 MAN OF STEEL, PG-13 Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Henry Cavill as the latest cinematic incarnation of Superman, blasted to earth as a boy, yadda, yadda … discovers he has unusual powers, yadda, yadda … must go through a process to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do, yadda, yadda … and discover the hero within so he can save the world and yadda, yadda, yadda, become the symbol of hope for all mankind. (143 minutes)
85 MONSTERS UNIVERSITY, G In this Monsters Inc. prequel, college-bound Mike Wazowski (voice of Billy Crystal), in his first semester at Monsters University, finds his plans to become a primo Scarer sidelined when he crosses paths with hotshot Sulley (voice of John Goodman) and discovers that the mismatched pair will have to work together, along with an odd bunch of misfit monsters, to make it to the top. Animated. (110 minutes)
89 MUD, PG-13 Writer/director Jeff Nichols shot most of this movie in Arkansas, a Mark Twain-like adventure involving two boys who find a man hiding on a Mississippi River island with a pocketful of tall tales that turn out to be true. (130 minutes)
77 NOW YOU SEE ME, PG-13 A super-team of the world’s greatest illusionists known as “The Four Horsemen” pull off a series of daring heists against corrupt business leaders during their performances, showering the stolen profits on their audiences while staying one step ahead of an elite FBI squad that’s trying to nail them. (101 minutes)
78 PAIN & GAIN, R Based on the true story of a group of Miami-area bodybuilders involved in a campaign of kidnapping, extortion and murder. (129 minutes)
71 THE PURGE, R In a future America, the government has sanctioned an annual 12-hour period in which any and all criminal activity - including murder - becomes legal, and a resident of a gated community (Ethan Hawke) and his family must make it through the night without turning into the monsters from whom they hide. (85 minutes)
67 SCARY MOVIE 5, PG-13 More horrific send ups and lampoonery of more horror movie films and franchises. (85 minutes)
87 STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, PG-13 After a shocking act of terrorism, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine), in defiance of regulations and with a personal score to settle, leads the Enterprise crew on a manhunt to “capture an unstoppable force of destruction and bring those responsible to justice.” (132 minutes)
87 THIS IS THE END, R Six friends (Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride, Jonah Hill) are trapped in a house after a series of strange and catastrophic events devastate Los Angeles. (107 minutes)
82 WHITE HOUSE DOWN, PG-13 A Capitol cop (Channing Tatum) turned down for his dream job - to be a Secret Service agent - nonetheless gets his chance to save the president (Jamie Foxx) and his daughter when a heavily armed paramilitary group takes over the White House. (137 minutes)
87 WORLD WAR Z, PG-13 Brad Pitt plays a United Nations guy in a race against time to stop a “pandemic” (a virus that kills, reanimates and turns people into flesh-eating zombies). (116 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 31 on 07/12/2013