At area theaters
81 THE BOXTROLLS, PG A community of quirky, mischievous underground creatures have lovingly raised an orphaned human boy (voice of Isaac Hempstead Wright), who must go above ground to save them from a villain (voice of Ben Kingsley) plotting to get rid of the Boxtrolls. Animated. With voices of Elle Fanning, Dee Bradley Baker, Steve Blum, Toni Collette, Jared Harris, Tracy Morgan, Simon Pegg; directed by Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable. (97 minutes)
78 DOLPHIN TALE 2, PG Another true story inspired by the life of Winter the dolphin (a resident of the Clearwater, Fla., Marine Aquarium who plays herself in the film), with a new baby dolphin named Hope who was rescued by the aquarium in 2010. (107 minutes)
85 EARTH TO ECHO, PG A trio of inseparable friends whose neighborhood is being destroyed by a highway construction project discover that the strange signals they've been getting on their phones are coming from a small alien who has become stranded on Earth. (91 minutes)
77 THE EQUALIZER, R Denzel Washington plays a guy who believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and begun a new, quiet life -- until he feels obligated to come out of self-imposed retirement and help a young girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters. With Marton Csokas, David Harbour, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo; directed by Antoine Fuqua. (131 minutes)
78 THE EXPENDABLES 3, PG-13 Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham and the rest of the team face off against the Expendables co-founder turned villain (Mel Gibson) by bringing in new blood: younger, faster and more tech-savvy. (126 minutes)
75 THE GIVER, PG-13 Based on Lois Lowry's young adult novel. Brenton Thwaites plays a young man who, when he begins to spend time with the sole keeper of all the community's memories (Jeff Bridges), begins to discover the dark and deadly truths of their seemingly ideal and contented secret past. (94 minutes)
90 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, PG-13 Another Marvel marvel: A brash human adventurer (Chris Pratt), after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe, joins up with a quartet of disparate misfits to sidestep an unrelenting bounty hunt and ... yep, you guessed it ... guard the galaxy. (121 minutes)
88 HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2, PG Heroic Viking Hiccup and his faithful dragon Toothless must protect the peace and save the future of men and dragons from the power-hungry Drago. Animated. (105 minutes)
86 THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY, PG Manish Dayal plays a culinary ingenue with the gastronomic equivalent of perfect pitch who, with his displaced from India family, opens an Indian restaurant in the south of France. That sparks an all-out war with the owner (Helen Mirren) of a Michelin-starred French restaurant across the street. (122 minutes)
80 IF I STAY, PG-13 Chloe Grace Moretz plays a young woman whose choice of whether to pursue her musical dreams at Juilliard or be with the love of her life (Jamie Blackley) changes in an instant; caught between life and death for one revealing day, she faces a completely different decision. (106 minutes)
83 MALEFICENT, PG In this prequel/remake of Sleeping Beauty from the villain's point of view, Angelina Jolie plays the title role of a beautiful young woman who, after a ruthless betrayal begins to turn her pure heart to stone, becomes bent on revenge and places a curse upon the newborn infant of her persecutor's successor. (97 minutes)
78 THE MAZE RUNNER, PG-13 A young man (Dylan O'Brien) finds himself trapped in a massive maze with a group of other boys. With no memory of the outside world other than strange dreams about a mysterious organization, he must piece together fragments of his past with clues he discovers in the maze to uncover his true purpose and a way to escape. (113 minutes)
68 NO GOOD DEED, PG-13 A charming stranger (Idris Elba) terrorizes and subsequently threatens the life of a devoted mother of two (Taraji P. Henson) and her family. (84 minutes)
71 PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE, PG World famous air racer Dusty (voice of Dane Cook) learns that his engine is damaged and he may never race again, shifts gears and enters the world of aerial firefighting, joining a dynamic crew of elite firefighting aircraft devoted to protecting historic Piston Peak National Park from raging wildfire -- including spirited super scooper Dipper (voice of Julie Bowen). (83 minutes)
83 THE SONG, PG-13 An aspiring singer-songwriter (Alan Powell), struggling to escape the long shadow of his country-music legend father, writes a breakout hit that leads to stardom and a world of temptation that endangers his new marriage. With Ali Faulkner, Caitlin Nicol-Thomas; directed by Richard Ramsey. (112 minutes)
80 TAMMY, R Melissa McCarthy plays a woman whose personal problems have mounted to the point where she's ready to quit town but, broke and without wheels, her only option is a road trip to Niagara Falls with her grandma Pearl (Susan Sarandon) riding shotgun. (96 minutes)
78 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, PG-13 Four outcast brothers rise from the sewers and work with a fearless reporter (Megan Fox) and her wisecracking cameraman (Will Arnett) to save New York and unravel the evil Shredder's (Tohoru Masamune) diabolical plan. (101 minutes)
83 THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU, R After the death of their father, four grown siblings must return to their childhood home and live under the same roof together for a week, along with their over-sharing mother (Jane Fonda) and an assortment of spouses, exes and might-have-beens. (103 minutes)
82 TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION, PG-13 As humanity picks up the pieces after an epic battle that destroyed a great city but saved the world, a shadowy group reveals itself in an attempt to control the direction of history and an ancient, powerful new menace threatens Earth. (157 minutes)
89 THE TRIP TO ITALY, not rated Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon play two men on a road-trip assignment to do a series of restaurant reviews in Liguria, Tuscany, Rome, Amalfi and Capri -- one tired from the responsibilities of being father of a young child and seeking some adventure, the other, on hiatus from a life of abstinence and a hard job in Los Angeles, now with the time to return to Europe and see his children. (108 minutes)
77 A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES, R Liam Neeson plays an ex- New York cop working as an unlicensed private investigator who reluctantly agrees to help a heroin trafficker (Dan Stevens) hunt down the men who kidnapped and brutally murdered his wife. (113 minutes)
78 WHEN THE GAME STANDS TALL, PG Jim Caviezel plays the coach who took a high school football team from obscurity to a record-shattering 151-game winning streak. (115 minutes)
MovieStyle on 10/03/2014