Movie picks 

Films recommended by our reviewers are indicated by an *.

Abduction (PG-13)

The film focuses on a youth who discovers the parents who raised him aren't his real folks, a revelation that triggers events and leaves him running for his life. — Not reviewed

Picture Show

Captain America: The First Avenger (PG-13)

This is a WWII-set comic book adventure about a once-meek U.S. soldier turned hero thanks to an experimental super serum that grants strength and agility far beyond that of a normal human being. — Not reviewed

Picture Show

Cars 2 (G)

It felt like Pixar promised us that it would remain grounded in something more vital than the sparkle and speed of contemporary computer-generated movie-making. But with Cars 2, it feels as though that promise has been broken. — Scott Renshaw

Picture Show

*Contagion (PG-13)

This is no mere disaster movie; it's a meticulous doomsday scenario imagined by someone with a clear need to visualize the worst as a salve to his anxiety. — Justin Strout

Picture Show

Crazy, Stupid, Love. (PG-13)

For two hours, the film offers up a terrific cast and some genuinely funny moments, but its inability to find real greatness can be encapsulated by one scene — an attempt at sophistication that's too often undercut by sitcom simplicity. — Scott Renshaw

Picture Show

Dolphin Tale (PG)

The amazing true story of a brave dolphin and the compassionate strangers who banded together to save her life. — Not reviewed

Chapel Hills 15

*Footloose (PG-13)

The fidelity with which this film attempts to reproduce the original is something rarely seen in contemporary remakes. And by virtue of doing very little that's different, it does a whole lot right. — Scott Renshaw

Chapel Hills 15, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown

*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (PG-13)

It's fair to say that while Hallows 2.0 is far from a perfect piece of filmcraft, director David Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves know exactly how to guide us through this final chapter. — Scott Renshaw

Picture Show

The Help (PG-13)

Set in Mississippi in the '60s, a southern society girl returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends' lives upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. — Not reviewed

Picture Show

*Immortals (R)

Immortals is pretty much completely bonkers — that is its secret and its glory. It's sort of about mad King Hyperion, but what's important here isn't what's going on, but how what is going on is presented. The style is substantial, the meat of the meal here. And it is hugely intriguing. — MaryAnn Johanson

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown

In Time (PG-13)

Welcome to a world where time has become the ultimate currency. You stop aging at 25, but there's a catch: you're genetically engineered to live only one more year, unless you can buy your way out of it. — Not reviewed

Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown

J. Edgar (PG)

J. Edgar almost never offers the buzz of discovery. It's merely a 50-year kaleidoscope of American history, with the founder of the modern FBI serving as Forrest Gump. — Scott Renshaw

Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Kimball's Peak Three, Tinseltown

Jack and Jill (PG)

Family man Jack (Adam Sandler) must deal with his twin sister, Jill, when she visits for Thanksgiving and then will not leave. — Not reviewed

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown

Killer Elite (R)

Every Jason Statham flick is the same. Is the action any fun? Not even. Newbie director Gary McKendry doesn't know much about staging an interesting fight. He does love him some metaphors, though. — MaryAnn Johanson

Picture Show

The Lion King (G)

A chance to catch Walt Disney Picture's 32nd animated film again, in theaters for two weeks only. — Not reviewed

Picture Show

*Margin Call (R)

The 2008 financial collapse was so large in scale, and so unfathomable to most people, that it practically begged for Hollywood's blustery mythmaking. Margin Call, written and directed by newcomer J.C. Chandor, thankfully resists the urge to go big even as it depicts the very moment when people at a fictional securities firm realize the error of their ways. — Justin Strout

Kimball's Peak Three

*Moneyball (PG-13)

Moneyball could have been a standard-issue "underdog sports team" tale, but it takes angles that are at times completely original, and so well-executed that they feel completely original. — Scott Renshaw

Hollywood Interquest

Paranormal Activity 3 (R)

Two sisters try to make sense of the supernatural events they experienced as children. — Not reviewed

Carmike 10, Tinseltown

Puss in Boots (PG)

Puss in Boots takes arguably the best part of the last two Shrek movies, stretches it as thin as can be, and leaves us hating cats. — Dan Hudak

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown

Real Steel (PG-13)

A film set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech, Real Steel stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2,000-pound, eight-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. — Not reviewed

Carmike 10, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

*Rise of the Planet of the Apes (PG-13)

Escapism isn't about what happens on the screen, but what happens to us: You want to lose yourself in a movie. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is the essence of the summer flick, and this is how you do it. — MaryAnn Johanson

Picture Show

Seven Days in Utopia (G)

The film follows Luke Chisolm, a talented young golfer. When his first big shot is a very public disaster, Luke escapes and finds himself unexpectedly stranded in Utopia, Texas, home to eccentric rancher Johnny Crawford. — Not reviewed

Picture Show

The Smurfs (PG)

When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the Smurfs out of their village, they're forced through a portal and into our world. They must find a way home. — Not reviewed

Picture Show

Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (PG)

Marissa Cortez Wilson's world turns upside down when the Timekeeper threatens to take over the planet and she is called back into action by the OSS. — Not reviewed

Picture Show

The Three Musketeers (PG-13)

If Alexandre Dumas wrote a Resident Evil movie, this would be it. This is a terrible, terrible movie: It cheats; it's flat and empty; and it ends with the threat of a sequel. — MaryAnn Johanson

Carmike 10

*Tower Heist (PG-13)

I'm truly stunned by how much I love Tower Heist. But delightedly so. Seriously, see this movie and ask yourself why more big, silly entertainments can't be this smart. — MaryAnn Johanson

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Hollywood Interquest, Tinseltown

*A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (R)

Of course, there are moments where the jokes don't work, and even though it clocks in at just 90 minutes, the buzz feels like it's wearing off in the movie's later stages. But the movie succeeds by remaining sweet as a sugarplum, and dank as best buds can be. — Anders Wright

Carmike 10, Chapel Hills 15, Cinemark 16, Tinseltown

The Way (PG-13)

Tom, an American doctor, goes to France after his adult son is killed in the Pyrenees during a storm while walking The Camino de Santiago, also known as The Way of St. James. Tom's purpose is initially to retrieve his son's body, however, in a combination of grief and homage to his son, Tom decides to journey on this path of pilgrims. — Not reviewed

Kimball's Peak Three

Zookeeper (PG)

Kevin James stars as a lovelorn zookeeper who gets a little help from his animal buddies in order to find a mate. — Not reviewed

Picture Show