LITTLE ROCK — At area theaters
75
ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKQUEL, PG
David Seville’s chipmunk wards Alvin, Simon and Theodore return in the sequel to sing in three-part harmony, along with the Chipmunks’ female counterparts, the Chipettes. With Jason Lee, Justin Long, Anna Faris, Christina Applegate, Amy Poehler; directed by Betty Thomas. (88 minutes)
68
ARMORED, PG-13 A crew of officers at an armored transport security firm risk their lives when they embark on the ultimate heist - against their own company. (88 minutes)
85
AVATAR, PG-13 A former Marine confined to a wheelchair becomes a half-human, half Na’vi “avatar” and tries to help save a civilization on a distant world against corporate interests who want to strip-mine the place for valuable ore. (160 minutes)
86
THE BLIND SIDE, PG-13 Sandra Bullock plays a well-to-do white woman who takes in a homeless black teenager (Quinton Aaron) from a broken home and helps him fulfill his potential on and off the football field. Based on a true story. (126 minutes)
81
THE BOOK OF ELI, R In the not toodistant future, across the wasteland of what was once America, a lone warrior (Denzel Washington) fights to bring the knowledge that could be the key to the redemption of civilization. (118 minutes)
80
THE BOONDOCK SAINTS II: ALL SAINTS DAY
, R
When a priest is murdered in Boston, the MacManus brothers (Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus) abandon their secluded life in Ireland to look into the case. (117 minutes)
88
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS
, PG
A geeky scientist invents a device that causes food to rain from the sky. Animated. (81 minutes)
75
COUPLES RETREAT, PG-13 Four Midwestern couples on a group-rate vacation to a tropical island discover that the resort’s couples therapy is not optional. (107 minutes)
80
EDGE OF DARKNESS, R Mel Gibson plays a veteran Boston homicide detective and single father who, when his 24-year-old daughter is murdered on the steps of his home, runs up against corporate cover-ups and government collusion in his solitary search for answers. With Ray Winstone, DannyHuston, Shawn Roberts, Bojana Novakovic; directed by Martin Campbell. (108 minutes)
77
EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES, PG Brendan Fraser plays a man who walks away from his successful career path and teams with a brilliant but unappreciated and unconventional scientist (Harrison Ford) when his two youngest children are diagnosed with a fatal disease. Inspired by a true story. With Keri Russell, Courtney B. Vance; directed by Tom Vaughan. (106 minutes)
90
FANTASTIC MR. FOX, PG Three unsophisticated farmers, tired of sharing their chickens with a crafty fox, decide to dispose of him and his family. Based on the story by Roald Dahl. Animated. (87 minutes)
90
THE HURT LOCKER, R Three members of the Army’s elite Explosive Ordnance Disposal squad battle insurgents and each other as they search for and disarm a wave of roadside bombs on the streets of Baghdad. (131 minutes)
82
THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS
, PG-13
Christopher Plummerplays the title character, a mysterious traveling showman who possesses the unique ability to guide the imagination of others, now desperate to save his teenage daughter from the consequences of a deal he made with the devil. (122 minutes)
80
IT’S COMPLICATED, R Meryl Streep plays the owner of a thriving West Coast bakery/restaurant and the mother of three grown children who finds herself having an affair - with her ex-husband (Alec Baldwin). (104 minutes)
70
LAW ABIDING CITIZEN, R Gerard Butler plays a family man who, years after his wife was murdered during a home invasion, begins to take revenge on the prosecutor (Jamie Foxx) and others who allowed one of her killers to get off lightly. (108 minutes)
78
LEAP YEAR, PG Amy Adams plays a woman determined to get married to the perfect guy, whose plan to follow her boyfriend to Dublin so she can propose to him on Feb. 29 goes predictably awry. (97 minutes)
67
LEGION, R An out-of-the-way diner becomes the unlikely battleground for the survival of the human race whenGod sends his legion of angels to bring on the Apocalypse. With Paul Bettany, Dennis Quaid, Lucas Black, Kate Walsh, Charles S. Dutton; directed by Scott Stewart. (100 minutes)
83
THE LOVELY BONES, PG-13 A murdered girl watches over her family - and her killer - from heaven, weighing her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal. (135 minutes)
89
THE MESSENGER, R An Iraq war veteran (Ben Foster) who has narrowly escaped death in combat struggles with his new post at the Casualty Notification Office under the mentorship of a senior officer (Woody Harrelson). With Samantha Morton, Jena Malone, Eamonn Walker; directed by Oren Moverman. (105 minutes)
83
NINE, PG-13 In this musical 1 adaptation of Federico Fellini’s 8 /2, Daniel Day-Lewis plays a famous film director who reaches a creative and personal crisis of epic proportions, while balancing the numerous women in his life, including his wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Penelope Cruz), his film star muse (Nicole Kidman), his confidante andcostume designer (Judi Dench), a young American fashion journalist (Kate Hudson) and his mother (Sophia Loren). (112 minutes)
70
NINJA ASSASSIN, R One of the world’s deadliest assassins (Rain) breaks free of the group that transformed him into a trained killer, preparing to exact his revenge on the clan that executed his friend. (99 minutes)
79
PLANET 51, PG In this animated comedy, an American astronaut finds the planet he’s just landed on is inhabited, with the residents happily living in a little-green-people, white-picketfence existence, not unlike America in the 1950s. (91 minutes)
88
PRECIOUS, R Gabourey Sidibe plays a 16-year-old in 1987 Harlem, pregnant for the second time by an absent father, who must wait hand and foot on her abusive mother and who gets a chance at a way out when a teacher at an alternative school gives her the attention she desperately needs. (109 minutes)
87
THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, G A beautiful New Orleans girl agrees to kiss a frog who desperately wants to be human again, but their road to a happy ending first takes an adventurous twist through the Louisiana bayous. Animated. (95 minutes)
88
THE ROAD, R The film version of Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel about a son and his father struggling to survive in a damaged world. (119 minutes)
80
SHERLOCK HOLMES, PG-13 Robert Downey Jr. plays the legendary detective, battling a new nemesis whose deadly plot could destroy England. (125 minutes)
71
THE SPY NEXT DOOR, PG Jackie Chan plays an undercover CIA superspy who decides to give up his espionage career to settle down with his next-door neighbor and girlfriend, but first he must win over her three opinionated kids. (92 minutes)
75
TO SAVE A LIFE, PG-13 Randy Wayne plays a well-rounded, middle-American teen who starts questioning everything he has taken for granted after the death of a childhood friend. With Deja Kreutzberg, Joshua Weigel, Kim Hidalgo, Sean Michael Afable; directed by Brian Baugh. (120 minutes)
71
TOOTH FAIRY, PG Dwayne Johnsonplays a hard-charging minor league hockey player whose nickname “The Tooth Fairy” comes from his smashmouth style of play and who, for discouraging a youngster’s hopes, is sentenced to a week as a real tooth fairy. With Ashley Judd, Julie Andrews, Billy Crystal; directed by Michael Lembeck. (102 minutes)
90
UP IN THE AIR, R George Clooney plays a corporate hatchet man forced to fight for his job when his company downsizes its travel budget, just as he is on the cusp of his goal of reaching 10 million frequent-flier miles and just after he meets the frequent-flier woman of his dreams. (109 minutes)
72
WHEN IN ROME, PG-13 An ambitious young New Yorker (Kristen Bell), disillusioned with romance, takes a whirlwind trip to Rome, where she defiantly plucks magic coins from a fountain of love and inexplicably ignites the passion of a passel of odd suitors.With Josh Duhamel, Will Arnett, Jon Heder, Danny DeVito, Anjelica Huston; directed by Mark Steven Johnson. (91 minutes)
90
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE,
PG
A rambunctious and sensitive boy who feels misunderstood at home escapes to where the Wild Things desperately long for a leader to guide them, just as he longs for a kingdom to rule. (94 minutes)
86
THE YOUNG VICTORIA, PG Emily Blunt plays Queen Victoria in the turbulent first years of her reign. (100 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 02/05/2010
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