MOVIES

Movies are rated on a letter-grade scale, from A to F. Opinions by R-J movie critic Carol Cling (C.C.) are indicated by initials. Other opinions are from wire service critics.

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.

AWAY FROM HER

(A-) An Alzheimer’s patient (an exquisitely subtle Julie Christie) goes into a nursing home and transfers her affections to an even more fragile patient (Michael Murphy), prompting an emotional crisis for her forgotten husband (Canada’s craggy Gordon Pinsent), in actress-turned-filmmaker Sarah Polley’s heart-piercingly poignant adaptation of Alice Munro’s short story "The Bear Went Over the Mountain." Despite the wrenching subject matter, it’s far from depressing — and at times downright exhilarating — to watch a movie as quietly precise and emotionally insightful as this one. (110 min.) PG-13; profanity, sexual references. (C.C.)

BLACK BOOK

(B+) Director Paul Verhoeven returns to his native Netherlands for this gripping, sardonically perverse thriller about a Jewish singer (Carice van Houten) who joins the Dutch resistance during World War II after her family is murdered — and seduces a Nazi officer ("The Lives of Others’ " Sebastian Koch) to find out who betrayed them. It isn’t pretty, but for all its melodramatic hoohah, it feels pretty real. In English, Dutch, German and Hebrew with English subtitles. (145 min.) R; strong violence, graphic nudity, sexual situations, profanity. (C.C.)

BLADES OF GLORY

(C+) Will Ferrell goes for the gold as an arrogant figure skater who teams with a flamboyant rival ("Napoleon Dynamite’s" Jon Heder) to shake up the pairs division when they’re both barred from solo competition. Like "Zoolander" with a Zamboni, this dumb-with-a-capital-D goofball farce takes its (almost) fleshed-out sketch-comedy idea as far as an ice-skating buddy movie with we’re-not-gay jokes and a psycho stalker can go. Which isn’t that far. (94 min.) PG-13; crude and sexual humor, profanity, comic violent image, drug references.

BUG

(B+) Tick … tick … tick. Paranoia and insect bites make for one crawly movie, about a motel room, a damaged woman (a gutsy Ashley Judd) and the boyfriend (Michael Shannon) who brings out the worst in her. This quasi-experimental mental exercise from veteran creepologist William Friedkin ("The Exorcist") is so intense and loony it may work at some theaters like audience repellent. Still, it’s a fascinating exercise in paranoia and terror that sticks to the brain like intellectual flypaper. (102 min.) R; strong violence, sexuality, nudity, profanity, drug use.

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.

DELTA FARCE

(D) In this blue-collar comedy, three drinking buddies (Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall and DJ Qualls) git ‘er done — sort of — when a gung-ho Army sergeant (Keith David) mistakes them for reservists and puts them on a plane headed for Iraq. It’s dopey Army comedy in the tradition of "Buck Privates" and "Stripes" — with the sights aimed lower and blissfully unaware of its own monumental tastelessness. It’s not very good, but at least it’s not evil. (90 min.) PG-13; crude and sexual humor.

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.

DISTURBIA

(B-) Think of "Rear Window" with digital equipment and front lawns and you’ll know what to expect from this spirited, smart-alecky thriller in which an eavesdropping teen (Shia LaBeouf) tries to figure out if the soft-spoken bachelor (David Morse) next door is a cold-blooded killer. So what if you can see every plot twist bearing down like a rush-hour commuter express? "Disturbia" still boasts a scrappy charm. (104 min.) PG-13; sequences of terror and violence, sexual references.

FIGHTER PILOT

(B) Wild blue yonder: Nellis Air Force Base zooms into the giant-screen spotlight with this Imax documentary, now at the Luxor, focusing on Red Flag combat training exercises. The midair sequences are almost sickeningly exhilarating, but plodding on-the-ground portions seem earthbound. (48 min.) NR; all ages.

FRACTURE

(C+) A calculating tycoon (Anthony Hopkins, who could play this role in his sleep) shoots his adulterous wife, confesses to the crime — and is determined to keep his cocky prosecutor (a mannered Ryan Gosling) off guard — in a slick but empty battle-of-wits thriller that once again proves "howdunits" are seldom as compelling as "whodunits." True to its title, cracks begin to appear the minute you look too closely at "Fracture," a movie that wants desperately to be clever — but turns out to be distressingly routine. (112 min.) R; violence, profanity, sexual references. (C.C.)

GEORGIA RULE

(D+) Three generations clash in a misbegotten comedy-drama about a rebellious teen (Lindsay Lohan) whose had-it, dysfunctional mother (Felicity Huffman) hauls her back to the Idaho farm run, with an iron hand, by her flinty mother (Jane Fonda). Very little about these characters is believable — including the idea that they’re related. It all suggests an Ingmar Bergman script as directed by Jerry Lewis. (113 min.) R; sexual content, profanity.

GRACIE

(B) A warm, coming-of-age drama — with an edge — about a feisty girl (the terrific Carly Schroeder) dealing with her brother’s death, her father’s aloofness, and a desire to play boys varsity soccer in ’70s New Jersey. Inspired by the experiences of "Leaving Las Vegas" star Elisabeth Shue, this fact-based tale — from Shue’s director husband, "An Inconvenient Truth" Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim — proves that a movie about decent people dealing with believable problems and discovering within themselves the capacity to change can be a winner in a summer full of ogres, superheroes and pirates. Who knew? (92 min.) PG-13; brief sexual content.

KNOCKED UP

(B) The "40-Year-Old Virgin" team of writer-director Judd Apatow and co-stars Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann (alias Mrs. Apatow) reunite for this seriously hilarious (and surprisingly sweet) tale of a drunken one-night stand and its all-too-permanent aftermath, as a movin’-on-up cable TV reporter ("Grey’s Anatomy’s" Katherine Heigl) discovers that she’s expecting — and that a chubby, schlubby stoner (Rogen, in an at-long-last breakthrough as a leading man) is the equally shocked papa-to-be. With its rude, crude humor, this raucous comedy may make you squirm in your seat. But it won’t matter much — because, for most of the movie, you’ll be on the floor, collapsing with laughter. (132 min.) R; sexual situations, drug use, nudity, profanity. (C.C.)

LIONS 3D: ROAR OF THE KALAHARI

(B+) This award-winning National Geographic production, filmed in the wild by Tim Liversedge, goes 3-D, 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.

MR. BROOKS

(C+) A respectable businessman, devoted husband and father (a surprisingly convincing Kevin Costner, cast way against type) battles his maniacal alter-ego (gleefully evil William Hurt), who transforms him into Portland’s notorious Thumbprint Killer. Dane Cook co-stars as a voyeur who catches him in the act — and blackmails him so he can learn his murderous ways; Demi Moore’s the kick-butt detective on everybody’s trail. Despite Costner and Hurt’s effective Jekyll-and-Hyde dynamic, "Mr. Brooks" suffers from director Bruce Evans’ plodding pacing; we’re as anxious for things to get moving as we are about the characters’ fates. (120 min.) R; strong bloody violence, graphic sexual content, nudity, profanity. (C.C.)

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.

NEXT

(C+) Leaving Las Vegas proves a complicated proposition for a small-time showroom magician (melancholy Nicolas Cage, back in Glitter City for the fourth time) gifted — and cursed — with the ability to foresee a few minutes into the future, especially when Eurotrash terrorists threaten to detonate a nuclear device, prompting an FBI agent (Julianne Moore) to track him down in hopes of averting disaster. Like a lot of junk food, this cinematic twaddle proves ridiculously easy to swallow. (96 min.) PG-13; violent action, profanity. (C.C.)

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END

(B-) Yo ho-hum — and then some — as this rollicking buccaneer band gets a few new hands on deck (including Chow Yun-Fat as a Singapore pirate lord) and resurrects some old friends — notably Geoffrey Rush as that scenery-chomping scoundrel Barbossa and, inevitably, the deliriously swishbuckling Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), who’d never let a little thing like being trapped in the limbo of Davy Jones’ Locker interrupt his (or our) fun. This movie could use a lot more Depp (what movie couldn’t?), but for all its blockbuster bombast, it delivers enough rib-tickling hijinks to power through occasionally rough seas. (168 min.) PG-13; intense action/adventure sequences, frightening images. (C.C.)

SHREK THE THIRD

(C+) Talk about your middle-aged spread: this latest installment in the fractured fairy-tale franchise proves it’s tough to generate laughs when we already know the joke. This time around, the title ogre (once again voiced by Mike Myers) and pals Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) search for an heir to the throne of Far, Far Away, while Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) plots to seize power with a little help from his villainous f(r)iends. (93 min.) PG; crude humor, suggestive content, swashbuckling action. (C.C.)

SPIDER-MAN 3

(B-) The third time’s hardly the charm in a diverting but definitely less-than-equal sequel (also in Imax at the Palms), as our friendly neighborhood webslinger (Tobey Maguire) confronts his dark side, quarrels with a whiny Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) and battles not one, not two, but three villains (James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace). It all adds up to too many plot twists and not enough plot, too many characters and not enough character. (139 min.) PG-13; intense action violence. (C.C.)

300

(C) Well, at least it’s not 300 minutes long. This adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel only feels that way, as 300 strapping Spartans try to repel thousands of Persian invaders during the bloody Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. Everything looks cool, but "300" is so busy reveling in bombastic, blood-drenched excess that the acting can’t hope to match the action; the chiseled, Chippendales-ready performers resemble action figures hacking their way through a video game’s cartoon carnage. (117 min.) PG-13; graphic battle sequences, sexual situations, nudity. (C.C.)

28 WEEKS LATER

(C-) The deadly virus that rampaged through "28 Days Later" didn’t disappear, it merely took a break. So has everything that made Danny Boyle’s 2002 horror hit feel fresh and human-sized. This sort-of sequel — a screeching, hyperbolic exercise in film-school nihilism — finds survivors of the "Rage" plague (including Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne and Catherine McCormack) return to London, where a dormant form of the virus flares up, transforming the uninfected into crazed brain-munchers. (113 min.) R; strong violence and gore, profanity, nudity.

VACANCY

(D-) Bickering spouses (Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale) suffer car trouble and wind up in an isolated motel’s honeymoon suite — the locale for a series of snuff films starring unsuspecting guests. Yes, it is a horror flick and supposed to be violent. But the way in which it gets off on the violence — and, ostensibly, hopes the audience does too — is especially distasteful. When it’s over, you’ll feel grimy, sickened and desperately in need of a shower. (97 min.) R; brutal violence and terror, brief nudity, profanity.

THE VALET

(B-) In this romp, French farce master Francis Veber focuses on a restaurant parking valet (endearingly hapless Gad Elmaleh) hired by a French business tycoon (the able Daniel Auteuil) to squire his supermodel mistress (Alice Taglioni) so his canny wife (Kristin Scott Thomas, scintillating as always) won’t catch on to his infidelity. It’s not a patch on such riotous Veber classics as "La Cage aux Folles" and "The Dinner Game," but this whirligig comedy just begs for an English-language remake — set in Las Vegas. In French with English subtitles. (83 min.) PG-13; sexual content, profanity. (C.C.)

WAITRESS

(B+) A pregnant, small-town waitress (winsome Keri Russell) finds herself caught between an unhappy marriage to a possessive lout (Jeremy Sisto) and a risky affair with her dreamy new doctor (Nathan Fillion) in a bittersweet slice of life that’s a little flaky, yet undeniably tasty. Writer-director Adrienne Shelly (who co-stars with "Curb Your Enthusiasm’s" Cheryl Hines and old pro Andy Griffith) finds the humor in the movie’s heartfelt observations — and the shadows lurking beneath its sunny disposition. (104 min.) PG-13; sexual situations, profanity, brief violence, mature themes. (C.C.)

WILD HOGS

(D) Weekend warriors (Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy) go from mild to wild when they rev up their suburban lives on a cross-country motorcycle trip. Or, more precisely, they embarrass themselves by falling off motorcycles, setting fire to inanimate objects and indulging in hissy fits with spectacularly unfunny results, while others (including those of us in the audience) watch helplessly. (100 min.) PG-13; crude and sexual content, violence.