Easy A (PG-13 for profanity, mature themes, drug use, and teen sexuality). Romantic comedy, loosely based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, about a pretty high school girl (Emma Stone) who develops a bad reputation when she starts charging classmates for letting them pretend she’s slept with them. With Amanda Bynes, Lisa Kudrow, Patricia Clarkson, Fred Armisen, Thomas Haden Church, Stanley Tucci, and Malcolm McDowell.
Hereafter (PG-13 for mature themes, disturbing images and brief profanity). Clint Eastwood directs this otherworldly drama about three haunted souls whose lives serendipitously intersect, an American blue-collar worker with psychic powers (Matt Damon), a French tsunami survivor (Cecile De France), and a British schoolboy (Frankie McLaren) grieving the death of his twin brother (George McLaren). Cast includes Jay Mohr, Richard Kind, and Tex Jacks.
It’s Kind of a Funny Story (PG-13 for sexuality, drug use, profanity, and mature themes). Comedy based on Ned Vizzini’s novel of the same name about a clinically depressed 16-year-old (Keir Gilchrist) who gets a new lease on life after checking himself into a mental health clinic. Cast includes Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts, Viola Davis, Zoe Kravitz, and Lauren Graham.
Jackass 3-D (R for nudity, profanity, crude humor, and dangerous stunts). Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-O and the rest of the fearless slaphappy stuntmen return for another round of jaw-dropping death-defying feats, this time in 3-D.
Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (PG for scary action sequences). Animated adventure about an intrepid barn owl (Jim Sturgess) who led an escape of kidnapped owlets from an orphanage where they were being brainwashed to join an army led by their evil captors. Voice cast includes Helen Mirren, Geoffrey Rush, Sam Neill, Hugo Weaving, and Abbie Cornish.
Let Me In (Unrated). Remake of Let the Right One In, the Swedish horror film about a bullied 12-year-old boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who discovers that his new friend (Chloe Moretz) and her mute father (Richard Jenkins) are hiding a big secret. With Elias Koteas, Cara Buono, and Seth Adkins.
Life as We Know It (PG-13 for profanity, drug use, and sexuality). Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel co-star in this romantic comedy about two acquaintances who can’t stand each other until they have to live under the same roof to care for their suddenly orphaned goddaughter (Alexis Clagett) after her parents perish in an untimely accident. Cast includes Josh Lucas, Hayes MacArthur, and Christina Hendricks.
Mao’s Last Dancer (Unrated). Biopic recounts the acrobatic exploits of Li Cunxin (Chi Cao), a peasant plucked from poverty at the age of 11 to train at the prestigious Beijing Ballet Academy and who blossomed into one of the world’s elite dancers. With Joan Chen, Bruce Greenwood, and Suzie Steen. In English and Mandarin with subtitles.
My Soul to Take (R for sexual references, profanity, and graphic violence). Wes Craven directs this grisly slasher film about a serial killer (Christopher Place) who returns to his hometown to stalk seven teenagers born on the night he was thought to have died. Ensemble includes Max Thieriot, Frank Grillo, Emily Meade, Denzel Whitaker, Shareeka Epps, and Zena Grey.
Never Let Me Go (R for nudity and sexuality). Science fiction fantasy of love and betrayal revolving around a trio of classmates (Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, and Keira Knightley) whose secret fate is revealed only after graduation from their deceptively idyllic, British boarding school. With Charlotte Rampling, Sally Hawkins, and Nathalie Richard.
Nowhere Boy (R for profanity and sexuality). Pre Beatles biopic chronicling John Lennon’s (Aaron Johnson) turbulent teenage years prior to his forming a rock and roll band with Paul McCartney (Thomas Brodie Sangster) and George Harrison (Sam Bell).
Paranormal Activity 2 (R for profanity and brief violence). Horror film about an ill fated family that set up security cameras all around their new home in the wake of what they believed to be a series of break-ins. With Katie Featherston and Gabriel Johnson.
Red (PG-13 for intense action sequences and brief profanity). Comical screen adaptation of the DC Comics series about a retired CIA agent (Bruce Willis) who reassembles his old team (Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, and John Malkovich) after learning that there’s an assassin on the loose intent on harming him and his woman (Mary-Louise Parker). With Karl Urban, Rebecca Pidgeon, and Emily Kuroda.
Secretariat (PG for mild epithets). Horseracing movie, reminiscent of Seabiscuit, recounting how the inexperienced owner (Diane Lane) of a cash strapped stable somehow miraculously raised the first Triple Crown-winner in a quarter century with the help of a wily horse whisperer (John Malkovich) and a jockey (Otto Thorwarth) in need of redemption. With James Cromwell, Scott Glenn, and Fred Thompson.
The Social Network (PG-13 for sexuality, profanity, and drug and alcohol use). David Fincher directs this biopic about billionaire Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) who founded Facebook in 2004 while still a student at Harvard. Cast includes Justin Timberlake, Rashida Jones, Max Minghella, Andrew Garfield, Brenda Song, Mara Rooney, and Joseph Mazzello.
The Town (R for sexuality, drug use, graphic violence, and pervasive profanity). Ben Affleck directs and stars in this Beantown crime caper, based on Chuck Hogan’s best seller Prince of Thieves, about the mastermind of a bank heist who finds himself falling for the pretty teller (Rebecca Hall) his gang took hostage. With Jeremy Renner, Chris Cooper, and Pete Postlethwaite.
Waiting for Superman (PG mature themes, mild epithets, and smoking). Oscar winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) directs this documentary exposing the failings of the dropout factories and academic sinkholes comprising America’s public education system. With appearances by Harlem Principal Geoffrey Canada, D.C. Schools Superintendent Michelle Rhee, and Teachers’ Union President Randi Weingarten.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (PG-13 for brief profanity and mature themes). Oliver Stone reunites with Michael Douglas who reprises his Oscar-winning role as Gordon Gekko. Here, the disgraced corporate raider teams with his estranged daughter’s (Carey Milligan) fiancé (Shia LaBeouf) to take revenge on the hedge fund manager (Josh Brolin) responsible for the death of the young man’s mentor (Frank Langella). With Charlie Sheen, Susan Sarandon, Donald Trump, and Eli Wallach.
You Again (PG for rude behavior and brief mild epithets). Comedy about a young woman (Kristen Bell) who decides to sabotage her brother’s (James Wolk) impending wedding after she realizes he’s about to marry the girl (Odette Yustman) who bullied her back in high school. With Betty White, Sigourney Weaver, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Cloris Leachman.
You Will Meet a Tall, Dark Stranger (R for profanity). Woody Allen directs this romantic comedy, set in England, revolving around two couples in crisis. An elderly gent (Anthony Hopkins) abandons his wife (Gemma Jones) to chase his lost youth in the arms of a carefree call girl (Lucy Punch), while his daughter (Naomi Watts) develops a crush on her charming cosmopolitan boss (Antonio Banderas). With Freida Pinto, Josh Brolin, and Roger Ashton-Griffiths.
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