MOVIES

Motion Picture Association of America ratings:

G – General audiences, all ages.

PG – Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

PG-13 – Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children under 13.

R – Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or guardian.

NC-17 – No one under 17 admitted.

NR – Not rated.

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

(B-) It doesn’t always come together, but visionary “Frieda” director Julie Taymor’s magical musical mystery tour through the ’60s boasts so many visual splendors (to say nothing of imaginative renderings of more than 30 Beatles tunes) you’re tempted to overlook the stale, trite romance between a working-class Brit named Jude (Jim Sturgess) and a starry-eyed, all-American idealist named Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood) somewhere in New York City. (131 min.) PG-13; sexual situations, drug use, nudity, profanity, brief violence, mature themes. (C.C.)

THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD

(B+) Andrew Dominik’s witty and pictorially voluptuous account of infamous outlaw Jesse James’ betrayal at the hands of a once-devoted gang member. Brad Pitt is properly scary as a paranoid James, while Casey Affleck gives a performance of glorious complexity as his disillusioned acolyte. (160 min.) R; strong violence, brief sexual references.

BALLS OF FURY

(C) Goodness, gracious — there’s nothing great about the strained spoof “Balls of Fury,” in which a disgraced table tennis prodigy (Dan Fogler) gets a shot at redemption by competing in a secret tournament hosted by a criminal mastermind (Christopher Walken, hip-deep in broad self-parody). Every Kung Fu cheapie and “Karate Kid” rip-off is evoked through bleary lenses and awkwardly staged sight gags. (90 min.) PG-13; crude and sex-related humor, profanity.

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM

(B+) You can’t go home again, but amnesiac spy guy Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) keeps trying, racing to uncover the final clues to his past — in New York, where it all began. After too many underwhelming threequels , this one more than lives up to its predecessors, thanks to a top-chop cast (including David Strathairn and Joan Allen) and director Paul Greengrass’ ability to combine exhilarating action with a weighty sense of dread. (114 min.) PG-13; violence, intense action sequences. (C.C.)

THE BRAVE ONE

(C) Jodie’s got a gun: A New York public radio host (Jodie Foster) becomes a pistol-packin’ urban avenger after slimy thugs beat her fiancé to death and leave her for dead in Central Park. Despite Foster’s full-bore intensity (and co-star Terrence Howard’s steady presence as the cop on her case), “The Brave One” proves that artists the caliber of Foster and director Neil Jordan (“The Crying Game”) are just as capable of making a soulless revenge thriller as any Hollywood hack. (122 min.) R; strong violence, profanity, sexuality. (C.C.)

CORAZON MARCHITO

(Not reviewed) They’re devoted best friends (Ana Seradilla, Mauricio Ochmann) who’ll do anything for one another. She needs a good job, so he’s helping her find one. He’s looking for love, so she sets him up with eligible women. There’s just one thing wrong: they’re both overlooking the obvious in this romantic comedy from director Eduardo Lucatero. In Spanish with English subtitles. (110 min.) NR.

DEEP SEA 3D

(B) Get up close and personal with ocean wildlife, unveiled in the reach-out-and-touch weirdness of IMAX 3D at the Luxor. This giant-screen documentary introduces exotic denizens of the deep so extravagantly extraterrestrial, nothing created by Hollywood’s special effects labs could possibly compete. (40 min.) G; all ages.

DINOSAURS 3D: GIANTS OF PATAGONIA

(B+) Now at Luxor’s IMAX theater, this excursion traces the evolution — and extinction — of giant prehistoric beasts that rip each other’s faces off in thrilling computer-generated segments showcasing species we didn’t see in “Jurassic Park.” Paleontologist Rodolfo Coria proves a congenial tour guide, while Donald Sutherland’s droll narration emphasizes a quality all but extinct in large-format documentaries: humor. (40 min.) NR; very large, very loud dinosaurs.

EASTERN PROMISES

(B+) Director David Cronenberg and star Viggo Mortensen, who brought you 2005’s standout “A History of Violence,” reunite for an intriguing gangster thriller about the Russian mob in London. Naomi Watts (as an inquisitive innocent) and Armin Mueller-Stahl (as a deceptively courtly mob boss) provide striking support, but this is Mortensen’s movie all the way, and once again he and Cronenberg prove kindred spirits, challenging audiences to form their own conclusions — after they’ve delivered more than a few body blows. (100 min.) R; strong, brutal, bloody violence, graphic sexuality, nudity, profanity. (C.C.)

ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE

(D+) Cate Blanchett reprises her star-making role as the willful, fair-minded and ever-virginal Queen Elizabeth I, who’s forced to battle Mary, Queen of Scots (Samantha Morton), the Spanish Armada — and her attraction to dashing adventurer Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen). The costumes are opulent, the music obnoxious. Silence would be a blessing to this less-than-equal sequel, which substitutes symphonic din in place of drama. Stay with the first picture. (114 min.) PG-13; violence, sexuality, nudity.

FEEL THE NOISE

(C) Old story, new beat: After a run-in with local thugs, an aspiring New York rapper (B2K’s Omarion Grandberry) flees to Puerto Rico and the father (Giancarlo Esposito) he never knew, bonding with his teenage stepbrother (“Raising Victor Vargas’ ” Victor Rasuk) and finding his salvation in the musical melting pot of reggaeton, a spicy blend of hip-hop, reggae and Latin beats. Jennifer Lopez produces this acceptable if resolutely average musical drama, which never misses a chance to invoke a “follow your dreams” cliché. (86 min.) PG-13; sexual content and references, violence, drug use, profanity.

THE FINAL SEASON

(C+) The new baseball coach (a solid Sean Astin) of a small-town Iowa high school facing closure vows to bring one more championship home in a fact-based heartwarmer that’s underwritten, overscored — and saved by a sure-thing story. Powers Boothe, Rachael Leigh Cook and Tom Arnold anchor the capable supporting cast. There’s not quite as much corn in the movie as there is in the Iowa field that run through it — but it’s close. (114 min.) PG; profanity, teen smoking, mature themes.

FRESHMAN ORIENTATION

(C-) A college freshman (Sam Huntington, alias “Superman Returns’ ” Jimmy Olsen) pretends to be gay to get close to his sorority dream girl (Kaitlin Doubleday) in this low-budget attempted comedy filmed a few years ago under the (much better) title “Home of Phobia.” It’s not incompetently made or badly acted — but there’s not a fresh idea in it, and everyone on screen seems to be in a different comedy. (91 min.) R; sexual content, profanity, drug use.

THE GAME PLAN

(C) Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson acquits himself nicely enough in this overcooked kitsch-fest, in which he plays a preening pro quarterback forced to get over himself when he meets the 8-year-old daughter (adorably bratty Madison Pettis) he never knew he had. Kyra Sedgwick, Morris Chestnut and Roselyn Sanchez co-star in a family-friendly Disney romp that’s as artificial as it is predictable. (110 min.) PG; mild thematic elements.

GOOD LUCK CHUCK

(D+) Bad luck for the audience: This boorish exercise in high-testosterone low comedy casts Dane Cook as a dentist (Dane Cook) whose former girlfriends always become engaged to other guys. Poor Jessica Alba turns up as a klutzy aquarium penguin specialist who might be his Ms. Right, but even her cutie-pie appeal withers in the face of the sexed-up, dumbed-down humor. (96 min.) R; strong sexual content including crude dialogue, nudity, profanity, drug use.

HALLOWEEN

(D) Musician-turned-director Rob Zombie gets into the spooky spirit early, reincarnating John Carpenter’s 1978 shocker about masked psycho Michael Myers (“X-Men’s” Tyler Mane) — and attempting to fill in the blanks when it comes to the mystery behind his mayhem. That mystery was the very reason Carpenter’s original still stands as one of the scariest movies ever. This isn’t even scary — just another biff-bam-off-with-your- head-ma’am slasher film. (110 min.) R; strong brutal bloody violence and terror, sexual content, graphic nudity, profanity.

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

(B-) Familiarity breeds contentment, not contempt, in the bleak fifth chapter of J.K. Rowling’s beloved tales, which finds an authoritarian bureaucrat (smilingly sinister Imelda Staunton) seizing power at Hogwarts magic academy — and casting a suspicious eye on Harry (quietly intense Daniel Radcliffe), who rebels when the powers-that-be doubt that villainous Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) has returned. Not great or wildly imaginative, but good enough to get the job done. (138 min.) PG-13; fantasy violence, frightening images. (C.C.)

THE HEARTBREAK KID

(C-) Watching Ben Stiller squirm usually means major yuks. This time, yuks turn to yuck as Stiller squirms to break free of this strained, lame-brain comedy about a honeymooner who finds his Ms. Right — while he’s honeymooning with someone else. Unlike the scathingly satirical 1972 original, this remake (from “There’s Something About Mary” auteurs Peter and Bobby Farrelly) settles for raunchy slapstick that’s remarkable only for its misogyny — and its lack of true laughs. (116 min.) R; strong sexual situations, nudity, crude humor, profanity. (C.C.)

IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON

(B) Out of this world: moving, heroic documentary about the Apollo lunar missions and the only humans to have set foot on another world (at least most of them; Neil Armstrong, the first to take one small step for man, is conspicuously absent). Often funny and warmly human, thanks to the always articulate and occasionally eloquent recollections of the high-flying interviewees, perhaps the most exclusive club in human history. (100 min.) PG; mild profanity, brief violent images and smoking.

IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH

(B) When his soldier son disappears after returning from Iraq, a retired Army MP (Tommy Lee Jones) investigates with the help of a dogged detective (Charlize Theron). This mournful mystery with topical overtones reflects “Crash” writer-director Paul Haggis’ puppetmaster tendencies; he can’t help but state, restate and overstate his points. Yet Jones’ towering, almost wordless eloquence provides almost makes up for it. (113 min.) R; violent and disturbing content, profanity, sexual situations, nudity. (C.C.)

KING OF CALIFORNIA

(B+) Michael Douglas gleefully shows his edgy side in writer-director Mike Cahill’s hip, gentle little comedy in which he plays a quixotic mental patient searching for treasure buried beneath a suburban store. Evan Rachel Wood (also onscreen in “Across the Universe”) is Douglas’ daughter and reluctant Sancho Panza. (93 min.) PG-13; profanity, mature themes, drug references.

THE KINGDOM

(B-) A terrorist bombing at a U.S. compound in Saudi Arabia launches an FBI agent (Jamie Foxx) and his crack investigative team (Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman) on a mission to flex American muscle and find out whodunit. Peter Berg (“The Rundown,” “Friday Night Lights”) directs this kick-butt action thriller with hammer-down intensity, but don’t expect anything remotely resembling piercing insight. (110 min.) R; intense, graphic brutal violence, profanity. (C.C.)

LIONS 3D: ROAR OF THE KALAHARI

(B+) This award-winning National Geographic production, filmed in the wild by Tim Liversedge, goes 3D, focusing on a lion king’s battle with a young challenger for control of his throne — and a valuable water hole in Botswana’s Kalahari desert. It’s not a new movie, but this remastered giant-screen version, now at the Luxor’s IMAX theater, has been magically transformed: you’re not merely there, you’re a lion, an honorary member of the pride. (40 min.) NR; animal violence.

MANDA BALA (SEND A BULLET)

(B) Brazil’s dark side, from kidnapping to political corruption, inspires a documentary that merely grazes the surface of the problem — but what a surface. The movie has a great flashiness and with other material and other subjects, director Jason Kohn’s chic and self-consciously styled approach might seem gaudy. But the world of these kidnappings is as bizarre and surreal as the crimes are gruesome and terrifying. In English and Portuguese with English subtitles. (85 min.) NR; violence, profanity.

MICHAEL CLAYTON

(B+) One man’s corporate failure is another man’s moral triumph in this brainy legal thriller about a world-weary fixer for an elite law film (a peak-form George Clooney) who’s had it with cleaning up behind-the-scenes messes. Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton and Sydney Pollack anchor the ace supporting cast of a movie that’s best suited to those willing to pay attention as the manipulative characters plot their moves, score their points — and gauge the price they’ll eventually have to pay. (120 min.) R; profanity, including sexual dialogue. (C.C.)

MR. WOODCOCK

(C+) A successful self-help author (Seann William Scott) discovers that he can’t follow his own advice after he returns home to surprise his mother (Susan Sarandon), only to receive an even bigger shock when he encounters her new flame: his former, much despised gym teacher (Billy Bob Thornton). A fitfully amusing comedy that capitalizes on Thornton’s deliciously subversive talent for tormenting the young. (87 min.) PG-13; crude and sexual content, mature themes, profanity, mild drug references.

MYSTERY OF THE NILE

(B+) This IMAX documentary, playing at the Luxor, chronicles the first descent of the Blue Nile from source to sea, a 3,250-mile, 114-day odyssey that brings explorers face-to-face with rapids, crocodiles, bandits, malaria, sandstorms and the fierce desert sun. (47 min.) NR; all ages.

THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS 3D

(A) Trick and treat: Tim Burton’s 1993 stop-motion animated classic — about the toast of Halloweentown, Jack Skellington, and his attempt to co-opt Christmas — returns in 3D, which makes a great thing even better. (76 min.) PG; scary images. (C.C.)

NO RESERVATIONS

(C) Break out the Alka-Seltzer: An uptight chef (Catherine Zeta-Jones) finds child care on the menu when she becomes guardian of her niece (“Little Miss Sunshine’s” Abigail Breslin) in a bland translation of the delightful 2002 German comedy “Mostly Martha.” Aaron Eckhart co-stars — as the resident free spirit — in a movie that doesn’t really leave a bad taste; it doesn’t leave much taste at all, save perhaps for the cloying echoes of Velveeta cheese. (103 min.) PG; sexual references, profanity.

RATATOUILLE

(B+) Bon appetit: “Incredibles” writer-director Brad Bird serves up the summer’s tastiest animated treat as Remy, a rat with gourmet sensibilities, teams with a hapless kitchen helper to restore an on-the-skids Paris restaurant to glory. With its all-star vocal cast (including Ian Holm, Janeane Garofalo and, as the restaurant critic from hell, Peter O’Toole) and inventive slapstick routines, “Ratatouille” ranks as a cinematic feast for kids of all ages. (110 min.) G; mild cartoon violence. (C.C.)

RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION

(C) “Resident Evil” meets “Mad Max” in a post-apocalyptic fake Vegas reclaimed by the desert (created by Oscar-winning “Pan’s Labyrinth” production designer Eugenio Caballero in Mexicali, Mexico), where Alice (Milla Jovovich, yet again a butt-kicking dynamo) leads the charge against the deadly virus still threatening humanity. Returnees Oded Fehr and Mike Epps join newcomers Ali Larter, Spencer Locke and Ashanti in this been-there, done-that zombie smackdown. (95 min.) R; strong horror violence, nudity.

RUSH HOUR 3

(C-) After taking Las Vegas by storm in “Rush Hour 2,” detectives Lee (Jackie Chan) and Carter (Chris Tucker) head to Paris, where they tangle with Chinese Triads in another formulaic odd-couple-cop-buddy romp that’s equal parts dinner-theater revue and live-action Saturday-morning cartoon — a whirring, soulless pop product for those who don’t expect much more from a movie beyond cheap laughs and frantic diversion. (91 min.) PG-13 for sequences of action violence, sexual content, nudity and language.

SEA MONSTERS: A PREHISTORIC ADVENTURE

(B+) Go under the sea — and back in time — with this IMAX 3D documentary from National Geographic, now at the Luxor, about the 82-million-year-old creatures that swam the world’s oceans — from the Tylosaurus (the T. rex of the deep) to the most dangerous sea monster of all, the mosasaur. If you want to see something that just screams “Wow!”, this combination of modern-day science and modern-day special effects is better than a lifelong angler’s best fish story. (40 min.) NR; all ages.

THE SEEKER: THE DARK IS RISING

(C) Ho-hum hocus-pocus: A young man (Alexander Ludwig) discovers he’s the last in a line of immortal warriors dedicated to battling the forces of the Dark — and time-trips from the past to the future and back to follow the clues leading him to a showdown that could determine the world’s very future. Director David L. Cunningham keeps things moving right along in this adaptation of Susan Cooper’s Newberry Award-winning books, but it’s still malarkey. (94 min.) PG; fantasy action, scary images.

SHOOT ‘EM UP

(B-) Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti lend loads of grace and dashes of gravitas to this willfully outrageous action spoof in which Owen is a carrot-chomping gunslinger protecting an orphaned baby from Giamatti and his armies of assassins. Writer-director Michael Davis’ amiably pointless goof on amiably pointless action movies is so casually ludicrous it would be tough to swallow without its crafty stars, who almost convince us there’s something at stake, although they — and we — know better. (87 min.) R; violence, profanity, sexual content.

SUPERBAD

(C+) When their booze-soaked party plans go awry, inseparable high school seniors (“Arrested Development’s” Michael Cera and “Knocked Up’s” Jonah Hill) face the comic consequences in a raucous, super-raunchy celebration of teen angst and lust that tempers its arrested-development comedic approach with glimmers of genuine insight. It would have been better — and funnier — if you could laugh with “Superbad” as easily as you laugh at it. (112 min.) R; pervasive crude and sexual content, profanity, drinking, drug use, fantasy/comic violence — all involving teens. (C.C.)

3:10 TO YUMA

(B) All aboard: In post-Civil War Arizona, a downtrodden rancher (Christian Bale) joins a posse escorting a wily outlaw (Russell Crowe) to the prison-bound title train, setting up a psychological as well as literal showdown. This rip-snortin’ remake of the 1957 original isn’t the second coming of the Western, dang it, but the dynamic duo of Crowe and Bale demonstrates how satisfying it can be to watch two men — one good, one bad, with more in common than either imagined — facing off in a life-or-death test. (117 min.) R; violence, profanity, sexual references. (C.C.)

TRANSFORMERS

(B-) Rock-’em, sock-’em robots: The mechanical title characters have more personality than the flesh-and-blood ones in a big-screen version of the ’80s cartoon hit (inspired by the shape-shifting Hasbro toys), in which dueling robot aliens bring their extra-terrestrial war to Earth, where a goofy teen (adorkable Shia LaBeouf) unwittingly possesses the key to the conflict. Overlong, overblown, over-everything, but the muscle-car ‘tude and eye-popping effects trigger miles of smiles.. (144 min.) PG-13; intense sci-fi action violence, sexual humor, profanity. (C.C.)

WE OWN THE NIGHT

(B-) In ’80s Brooklyn, a second-generation cop (Mark Wahlberg) clashes with his brother (Joaquin Phoenix), a coked-up nightclub owner linked to the Russian mob. Writer-director James Gray has been down this road before (in “Little Odessa” and “The Yards,” the latter with Wahlberg and Phoenix), which may explain why this foray is sometimes solid and suspenseful, sometimes implausible and woefully familiar. (117 min.) R; strong violence, drug material, profanity, sexual content, brief nudity.

WHY DID I GET MARRIED?

(C) The best of Tyler Perry’s string of therapeutic dramas — which makes it mediocre rather than intolerable. Perry adapts his play, directs and stars (alongside Janet Jackson, Malik Yoba, Tasha Smith and Richard T. Jones) in a tale of married couples shocked by infidelity in their midst. You don’t have to be black to enjoy this, but you do need a strong desire to watch people work out their issues using pop-psychology and self-help techniques. (118 min.) PG-13; mature themes, sexual references, profanity.