Our critics recommend...
Movies
Opening Friday
Adoration A high-school student combines his family history, a false identity, and a terrorist plot for a school project and puts it out over the Internet, resulting in a strong public reaction. Directed by Atom Egoyan.The Brothers Bloom The world's best con men take on one last job, involving an eccentric heiress. Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz, and Mark Ruffalo star.
Dance Flick The Wayans brothers spoof musical-dance films.
The Girlfriend Experience A high-end New York prostitute (Sasha Grey) juggles her career with other life challenges. Steven Soderbergh (Ocean's Eleven, Traffic) directs.
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Ben Stiller returns as the bumbling security guard who interacts with historical figures in exhibits he guards.
Summer Hours Siblings part with memories in the form of their deceased mother's goods, which they are forced to sell. English and French with subtitles.
Terminator: Salvation John Connor (this time, Christian Bale) leads a group of human survivors in an effort to prevent the machines from finishing off mankind. Opens Thursday.
Tulpan A young sheep herder on the Kazakhstan steppe desperately seeks a wife, a requirement for gaining his own flock. Russian and Kazakh with subtitles.
Excellent (****)
Reviewed by critics Carrie Rickey (C.R.), Steven Rea (S.R.), and Dan DeLuca (D.D.). W.S. denotes a wire-service review.Goodbye Solo Director Ramin Bahrani's film is a wise and soulful study of two very different men - a resilient Senegalese cabbie and a crusty white Southerner nearing life's end. Set in Winston-Salem, N.C., and full of quietly revealing performances, this is beautiful, powerful stuff that speaks to the human condition. 1 hr. 31 No MPAA rating (profanity, adult themes) - S.R.
Sugar Half Nelson filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck follow a young Dominican pitcher as he joins a single-A team and dreams of playing in the majors. A baseball movie, a stranger-in-a-strange-land movie, a movie about real people facing real challenges in the real world, this is a modest, masterful gem. 1 hr. 54 R (drugs, adult themes) - S.R.
Very Good (***1/2)
Anvil! The Story of Anvil Sacha Gervasi's absurd and affecting rockumentary follows stalwart Canadian heavy metal demigods Anvil as they struggle and strive to go on headbanging into their 50s. A deeply moving portrait of artists who remain stubbornly, illogically committed to their music, even when it seems that no one is listening. 1 hr. 30 No MPAA rating (Profanity, brief nudity, sex toys used for musical purposes) - D.D.I Love You, Man Metrosexual meets caveman in this fresh comedy starring Paul Rudd as a newly engaged guy without a male friend to be his best man, and Jason Segel as a prospect. With Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg. 1 hr. 45 R (profanity, sexual candor) - C.R.
Sin Nombre Cary Fukunaga's startlingly impressive first feature is ruthless in its depiction of the brutality and degradation confronting the hordes of illegal immigrants crossing rivers and hopping trains, trying to get to the United States. The paths of a teenage Honduran girl and a Mexican gang member intertwine as they head for the Rio Grande. 1 hr. 36 R (violence, profanity, sex, adult themes) - S.R.
Star Trek J.J. Abrams' enjoyable reboot of the sci-fi saga takes a refreshing chug from the fountain of youth, imagining what happened When Kirk Met Spock. With Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, and Leonard Nimoy. 2 hrs. 06 PG-13 (brief sexuality, action violence) - C.R.
State of Play A journalist (Russell Crowe) and a politician (Ben Affleck), once college roommates, play hide-and-seek in this enthralling thriller where murder mystery and political scandal intersect. With Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, and the ever-resourceful Jason Bateman. 2 hrs. 07 PG-13 (violence, profanity) - C.R.
Also on Screens
Angels & Demons **1/2 Ron Howard's trimmer follow-up to his bulky The Da Vinci Code is a ticking-bomb thriller tightly wrapped in a papal plot and cinched in the ribbons of religion and science. With Tom Hanks as the symbologist teamed with a fetching physicist (Ayelet Zurer) to save the Vatican. 2 hrs. 18 PG-13 (graphic, bloodcurdling and gut-wrenching killings) - C.R.Ghosts of Girlfriends Past **1/2 Christmas Carol update with Matthew McConaughey as a heartbreaker who behaves badly to protect his fragile heart and Jennifer Garner as the one gal who's onto him. An average rom-com, a better-than-average McConaughey movie. 1 hr. 40 PG-13 (sexual candor, profanity) - C.R.
Next Day Air 1/2 star Lives are thrown into turmoil when a drug shipment winds up in the wrong hands. Donald Faison and Mike Epps star in this crime comedy that aims low and unfortunately hits its target. 1 hr. 30 R (drugs, profanity, violence, sexual content and nudity) - W.S.
Obsessed *1/2 A happily married exec's life takes a turn when an office temp stalks him. Beyoncé Knowles, Idris Elba, and Ali Larter star. 1 hr. 45 PG-13 (mature themes, profanity, violence) - C.R.
