Our critics recommend...

Admission

See Steven Rea's preview on this page.

The Croods The world's first prehistoric family embarks on a journey of discovery after their cave is destroyed in this animated family feature.

Olympus Has Fallen See Steven Rea's preview on this page.

On the Road A young writer's life is changed when he hits the road with a free-spirited couple. Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, and Kristen Stewart star.

Spring Breakers See Steven Rea's preview on this page.

Upside Down Adam (Jim Sturgess) tries to reconnect with his onetime love, Eden (Kirsten Dunst), who lives in a parallel world where the laws of gravity work in reverse.

The We and the I A group of Bronx high schoolers act out and experience relationship changes while riding the bus after the final day of the school year.

Reviewed by critics Steven Rea (S.R.), Carrie Rickey (C.R.), and David Hiltbrand (D.H.). W.S. denotes a wire service review.

Amour Michael Haneke's remarkable and heartbreaking portrait of an elderly Parisian couple stars French New Wave icons Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva. When she falls ill, he must take care of her, throwing the quiet, comfortable lives of these two retired musicians into chaos. This sad and beautiful, and occasionally frightening, masterpiece won the Oscar for best foreign-language film. 2 hrs. 07 PG-13 (adult themes) - S.R.

Barbara Nina Hoss gives an amazingly controlled, nuanced performance as a doctor exiled to the provinces in the cold, gray East Germany of 1980. Mistrust hangs in the air in this hushed, suspenseful character study. A gem from filmmaker Christian Petzold. PG-13 (sex, adult themes) - S.R.

The Gatekeepers Dror Moreh's Oscar-nominated documentary finds six former heads of Israel's counterterorism agency speaking with striking candor, and with no little regret, about the decisions that backfired, the iron-fisted policies that brought about more violence, more bloodshed, not less. If there's a way out of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, these men may have the answer. 1 hr. 37 PG-13 (violence, adult themes) - S.R.

Silver Linings Playbook A head-spinning wonder of a movie about love, pain, reinvention, rehabilitation, and the totemic power of an NFL franchise, with Bradley Cooper as a guy dealing with bipolar disorder and heartbreak, best actress Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence as a young widow with her own troubles, and an amazing supporting cast. From director David O. Russell, based on Matthew Quick's novel, and about as Philly-centric as you can get. 2 hrs. 02 R (profanity, sex, drugs, violence, adult themes) - S.R.

Argo

Ben Affleck stars in and directs the far-fetched but factual tale of a CIA plot to extricate six U.S. Embassy workers from Tehran as the 1979 Iran hostage crisis unfolds. The best-picture Oscar winner has Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, and crackling humor amid the white-knuckle suspense. 2 hrs.

R

(violence, profanity, adult themes) -

S.R.

Like Someone In Love Abbas Kiarostami ventures to Japan - only the second time the Iranian filmmaker has shot outside his homeland - for this mischievous, melancholy tale about a young prostitute and a learned old professor. It's not about sex. But it is lovely. 1 hr. 49 No MPAA rating (adult themes) - S.R.

Lore Five children, led by a strong-minded teenage girl, trek across Germany in the first days after the fall of the Third Reich. The siblings' father was a Nazi officer, they have been taught to hate the Jews, and a chance encounter puts those teachings to the test. A fierce and powerful coming-of-age saga, about the trauma of war, about legacy, about collective guilt. 1 hr. 49 No MPAA rating (violence, sex, nudity, adult themes - S.R.

No Gael Garcia Bernal stars as a hot young ad exec in 1988 Chile who joins the media campaign to oust military dictator Augusto Pinochet in this fictionalized piece of reeling, ricocheting history. 1 hr. 58 R(violence, adult themes) - S.R.

Side Effects Filmmaker Steven Soderbergh's tightly coiled psychological thriller - with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo's Rooney Mara, Jude Law, and Catherine Zeta-Jones - would make James M. Cain proud. On one level, a dark take on the culture of pharmaceutical cure-alls; on another, a classic, twisting noir. R (violence, profanity, sex, nudity, drugs, adult themes) - S.R.

The Waiting Room A documentary focusing on the poor, uninsured visitors to a treatment center in Oakland, Calif., Peter Nicks' documentary resists the temptation to editorialize while shining a light on the darkest corner of the American health-care system. 1 hr. 21 No MPAA rating (profanity, adult situations) - W.H.

The Call **

A sordid slice of abduction porn, with Halle Berry as a veteran 911 operator who is not, no way, never, going to let the 16-year-old girl trapped in the trunk of a psycho's car disappear and die. Abigail Breslin displays a wide range of shrieks, squeals, yelps and sobs as the victim, and Morris Chestnut is Berry's LAPD cop boyfriend. 1 hr. 34

R

(violence, profanity, adult themes) -

S.R.

Identity Thief **1/2 Jason Bateman is the mark whose identity, and credit line, are appropriated by a plus-size, potty-mouthed con artist, played with (literal) punch by Melissa McCarthy, in this cheesy comedy. When he uncharacteristically goes after her, an odd-couple slapstick road movie ensues. 1 hr. 52 R (profanity, violence, sex, adult themes) - S.R.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone *1/2 A pair of legendary Las Vegas magicians (Steve Carell, Jim Carrey) try to rekindle their sagging act by getting back in touch with their magical roots. 1 hr. 40 PG-13 (sexual content, dangerous stunts, drugs, profanity) - W.S.

Jack the Giant Slayer **1/2 Bryan (X-Men) Singer tackles the old fairy tale about a land of human-eating giants and the beanstalk that gets the young hero up there. In this case, to rescue a beautiful princess. Nicholas Hoult and Eleanor Tomlinson are the teenage heroes, Ewan McGregor is a valiant knight, and Stanley Tucci is the trusted royal adviser who turns out to be, well, villainous and vile. 1 hr. 54 PG-13 (slobbering ogres, violence, scares, adult themes) - S.R.

Oz the Great and Powerful ** James Franco, awake and even kind of animated, is the title character - a carnival magician who gets in over his head when he finds himself in a strange and trippy land populated by Munchkins, Tinkers, Quadlings, and a trio of criminally overdressed and over-made-up witches, played by Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, and Michelle Williams. 2 hrs. 10 PG (flying, fanged baboons, intense scares) - S.R.

Stoker *** Chan-wook Park's English language debut is a visually beautiful and creepy gothic psychokiller about a teenage girl (Mia Wasikowska), her frosty mom (Nicole Kidman) and the mysterious uncle (Matthew Goode) who moves in with them. Desire, menace and madness ensue. 1 hr. 52 R (violence, sexual violence, sex, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Reviewed by Wendy Rosenfield (W.R.), Jim Rutter (J.R.) and David Patrick Stearns (D.P.S.)

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The Addams Family

(Academy of Music) Little Wednesday Addams has grown up and fallen in love with - gasp - a normal person! What's a creepy family to do? Opens Tuesday.

Good People (Walnut Street Theatre) A tough South Boston single mother with money troubles seeks help from a high school boyfriend who made good. In previews, opens Wednesday.

Seminar (Philadelphia Theatre Company) Novelist wannabes hear brutal truths from a celebrity teacher in Teresa Rebeck's comedy. In previews, opens Wednesday.

A Raisin in the Sun

(Arden Theatre) With this Lorraine Hansberry classic, Walter Dallas creates a "just folks" atmosphere that illuminates the play's continuing relevance. Through April 21.

- D.P.S.

Assassin (Act II Playhouse) This coproduction with InterAct is a rare and powerful look at moral consequences in sports, based on a real gridiron tragedy. Ends Sunday. - J.R.

The Bends (Flashpoint Theatre Company) Friends from college reunite, drink, catch up, drink, drink, etc., in this world premiere by Megan Mostyn-Brown. Through March 31.

Cooking With the Calamari Sisters (Society Hill Playhouse) Mamma Mia! Two guys portray behavior-challenged Italian sisters in a spoof of cooking shows that gets wilder as it progresses. Extended through May 19.

Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them (Theatre Confetti) This drama about a pair of abandoned siblings has adult themes but might work best for a teen audience. Through March 24. - W.R.

Forever Plaid (Media Theatre) Four guys, close harmony, old tunes, and a dream deferred. Through March 31.

Henry V (Lantern Theatre Company) Prince Harry now is king - and what a king. Through April 14.

Hurlyburly (New City Stage) Drugs, alcohol, and Hollywood disconnection tangle in David Rabe's roiling 1984 drama. Through next Sunday. - D.P.S.

Othello (Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre) This production lasers in on what motivates its fine Iago's malicious actions. Through May 31. - W.R.

The Trip to Bountiful (People's Light and Theatre Company) Horton Foote's play about an old woman's desire to see her childhood home one last time. Through April 7.

Under the Whaleback (Wilma Theatre) Riveting production and sensational cast lift the North American premiere of this sea play by Richard Bean (One Man, Two Guvnors). Through April 21. - J.R.

At 2 p.m. Sunday, WRTI-FM (90.1) broadcasts Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra in a February performance of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, principal trumpeter David Bilger in Hummel's Trumpet Concerto, and Haydn's Symphony No. 1.

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