At area theaters
82 ABOUT LAST NIGHT, R Not a remake but a "modern reimagining" of the 1986 film. (100 minutes)
77 THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2, PG-13 Only Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) can protect his fellow New Yorkers from the formidable villains that threaten the city, including Electro (Jamie Foxx), as Spidey comes to realize that all of his enemies have one thing in common: Oscorp. (142 minutes)
87 BEARS, G From Disneynature, a year in the life of two Alaskan mother bears as they impart life lessons to their impressionable young cubs. (77 minutes)
86 BELLE, PG Inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate mixed race daughter of Adm. Sir John Lindsay, raised by her aristocratic great-uncle and his wife, whose lineage affords her certain privileges but whose status causes suitors to avoid her -- until she meets an idealistic young vicar's son bent on changing society, including ending slavery in England. With Gubu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson, Sarah Gadon, Penelope Wilton; directed by Amma Asante. (104 minutes)
71 BLENDED, PG-13 After a disastrous blind date, single parents (Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore) agree on only one thing: They never want to see each other again. Then they discover they've signed up for a family vacation with their kids at a luxurious African safari resort and are stuck together for a week in the same suite. With Joel McHale, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Kevin Nealon; directed by Frank Coraci. (117 minutes)
90 CHEF, R Director Jon Favreau plays the title character, who having suddenly quit his job at a prominent Los Angeles restaurant after refusing to compromise his creative integrity for its controlling owner, ends up in Miami teamed with his ex-wife, his friend and his son to launch a food truck. With Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale, Dustin Hoffman. (115 minutes)
88 DRAFT DAY, PG-13 The general manager of an NFL team (Kevin Costner) must quickly decide what he's willing to sacrifice in pursuit of perfection -- while negotiating a trade for the No. 1 pick. (110 minutes)
87 GODZILLA, PG-13 Everybody's favorite post-nuclear monster, Godzilla, battles malevolent creatures that are bolstered by humanity's scientific arrogance. (123 minutes)
87 THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, R The legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars and the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend become involved in the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune. (100 minutes)
82 HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, PG A small-town father (Greg Kinnear) must find the courage and conviction to share his son's extraordinary, life-changing experience with the world. (100 minutes)
85 LEGENDS OF OZ: DOROTHY'S RETURN, PG Animators once again invade the Land of Oz, this time with a 3-D musical based on the adventure books by Roger Stanton Baum, Oz creator L. Frank's great-grandson. Dorothy (voice of Lea Michele) is whisked back to Oz to try to save her old friends the Scarecrow (Dan Aykroyd), the Lion (Jim Belushi), the Tin Man (Kelsey Grammer) and Glinda (Bernadette Peters) from a devious new villain, the Jester (Martin Short). (88 minutes)
89 THE LEGO MOVIE, PG An ordinary, rules-following, perfectly average Lego minifigure (voice of Chris Pratt), mistakenly identified as the key to saving the world, joins a fellowship of strangers on an epic quest to stop an evil tyrant. Computer animated in 3-D. (100 minutes)
90 LOCKE, R On the eve of the biggest challenge of his career, a businessman gets a phone call that could unravel the life he has worked diligently to craft, including the job to which he has dedicated himself and the family he adores. With Tom Hardy, Ruth Wilson, Olivia Colman, Andrew Scott, Tom Holland; directed by Steven Knight. (85 minutes)
82 MILLION DOLLAR ARM, PG A once-successful sports agent (Jon Hamm) being edged out by bigger, slicker competitors comes up with an idea to save his business: Seek ball players among Indian cricket players for the next baseball pitching sensation. The goal: Get the two finalists from among thousands of hopefuls signed to a major-league team. (124 minutes)
87 MOMS' NIGHT OUT, PG What could go wrong when a young mom and her friends seek a peaceful, grown-up evening of dinner and conversation, leaving their husbands to watch the kids for a few hours? (98 minutes)
86 MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN, PG Super-genius canine Mr. Peabody and his mischievous boy, Sherman, took all kinds of time-travel adventures, via their "Wabac" machine, on the old Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends show. But when Sherman and his friend Penny accidentally rip a hole in the universe, wreaking havoc on the most important events in world history, Mr. Peabody must come to their rescue. Animated. (90 minutes)
86 MUPPETS MOST WANTED, PG The Muppet gang, on a world tour and selling out grand theaters in several European capitals, find themselves entangled in an international crime caper headed by a master criminal who's a dead ringer for Kermit. (112 minutes)
72 NEED FOR SPEED, PG-13 This latest video-game derivative involves a blue-collar mechanic (Aaron Paul), just out of prison on a manslaughter frame-up, who takes on his arrogant ex-partner in a cross-country race against time that begins as a mission for revenge but proves to be one of redemption. (130 minutes)
82 NEIGHBORS, R After the birth of their baby, a young couple suffering from arrested development battle the next-door fraternity house. (96 minutes)
82 NOAH, PG-13 Russell Crowe plays the patriarch whom God chooses to save human and animal life before an apocalyptic flood destroys the world. (138 minutes)
86 ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE, R An underground musician, deeply depressed by the direction of human activities, reunites with his resilient and enigmatic lover. Their relationship, which has endured several centuries at least, is soon disrupted by her wild and uncontrollable younger sister. With Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt, Anton Yelchin; directed by Jim Jarmusch. (123 minutes)
72 THE OTHER WOMAN, R Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann and Kate Upton team up to punish the lying, three-timing jerk who has been cheating on them. (109 minutes)
87 THE RAILWAY MAN, R Based on his memoir, the true story of Eric Lomax, a British Army officer tormented as a Japanese prisoner of war who, decades later, sets out the confront the the interpreter he holds responsible for much of his treatment. With Nicole Kidman, Stellan Skarsgard, Colin Firth, Jeremy Irvine, Hiroyuki Sanada; directed by Jonathan Teplitzky. (116 minutes)
70 RIDE ALONG, PG-13 A squad-car ride-along turns into 24 hours of insanity when a high school security guard (Kevin Hart), trying to show he has what it takes to marry the sister (Tika Sumpter) of a decorated detective (Ice Cube), enters the police academy. (100 minutes)
75 RIO 2, G Our animated animal heroes, trying to fit into the Amazon wilds after being hurtled out of the big city, encounter a vengeful rival and worse -- an unpleasant in-law. (101 minutes)
78 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE, R So, although all 300 Spartans died by the end of the first movie, since when has that ever stopped the making of a sequel? The Spartans' heroic sacrifice has delayed the armies of Persian Emperor Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) just long enough for Athenian General Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton) to try to unite all Greece against the invaders. (102 minutes)
85 TRANSCENDENCE, PG-13 Johnny Depp plays the foremost researcher in the field of artificial intelligence, working to create a sentient machine that combines the entirety of human knowledge with the full range of human emotions, a project that has made him the prime target of anti-tech extremists who will do whatever it takes to stop him. (119 minutes)
88 X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, PG-13 The ultimate X-Men ensemble -- those from the original trilogy joining forces with their younger selves -- fights an epic battle for the survival of the species that must change the past to save the future. With Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Nicholas Hoult, Ellen Page, Shawn Ashmore, Peter Dinklage; directed by Bryan Singer. (131 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 on 05/30/2014