2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY (NR) 1968. Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi masterpiece returns to the big screen. Humanity discovers a giant monolith, and two astronauts (Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood) embarks on a voyage of discovery. However, artificial intelligence HAL 9000 (voiced by Douglas Rain) has other plans. Kubrick cowrote the screenplay with science fiction legend Arthur C. Clarke, but the legendary filmmaker’s epic visuals, scored to memorable classical works, are what stun. Kubrick won his only Academy Award—for Best Visual Effects no less—for this film.

• 2016: OBAMA’S AMERICA (PG) Call me critically conflicted about 2016: Obama’s America. The unabashed polemic from conservative author Dinesh D’Souza is an anti-Obama sermon preached perfectly to the Fox News congregation. Quality-wise, 2016 could survive (but still lose on technical points) a punching match with Michael Moore’s mighty left much better than any other conservative doc. D’Souza pleasantly dispenses with any birther conspiracy nonsense early in the film’s occasionally insightful Obama bio section. An anti-Obama screed based on an anti-colonialist reading of the president grates much less than the typical baseless cries of “Socialist!” The final act is where D’Souza goes a little bat shit crazy (that’s a technical term), when the college president posits the extreme changes a second term, lame duck Obama will accomplish. For such a politically astute guy who spends the entire first act of his film reminding us how much he believes in America, D’Souza does not seem to place much faith in the system of checks and balances instilled by the founding fathers (who he rightfully reveres) in our Constitution. Convincing a like-minded audience that Obama needs to go is easy; I want to see D’Souza try and convince anyone that Mitt Romney is a solution. 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER (R) The historically playful Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter gets most things right until it whiffs on a tremendously silly climax that involves the 16th president personally overseeing a secret mission to save the Union Army at Gettysburg. Unfortunately, Seth Grahame-Smith, the author of the book upon which AL:VH is based, is proving far less resourceful as a screenwriter than as a historical revisionist (see Dark Shadows). A quick perusal of the book’s plot reveals a much more believable retelling of the Lincoln mythology; the movie not so much. Requiring fewer leaps of stylistic logic than director Timur Bekmambetov’s last movie, Wanted, the Russian helmer of Nightwatch/Daywatch still throws in a smattering of ridiculously unrealistic fight choreography. Little-known Benjamin Walker, who resembles a young Liam Neeson, acquits himself adequately as Lincoln. No other performance—all villainous vamps and useless sidekicks—matters. Had Grahame-Smith stuck more closely to his novel, AL:VH might have worked better. The key to historical revisionism is to hew as closely to the truth as possible. Then again, some whimsies—say, a stovepipe-hatted president fighting vampires on a train—might be better off left on the page as they look far too ridiculous in the cinematic light.

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (PG-13) Filmmaker Benh Zeitlan’s feature debut certainly lives up to its sky-high expectations. Six-year-old Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) lives in the Bathtub, a tiny community beyond the levee with her daddy, Wink (Dwight Henry). As Wink grows weaker from illness, the only world Hushpuppy has ever known starts to crumble. First come the rains, then the people that live on the dry land and finally the mythical, recently thawed aurochs. Still, Hushpuppy fights and survives. This fantastical tale unfolds in a harsh world that feels so realistic the film could be mistaken for a documentary. Zeitlan, who also co-wrote the pulsing, string-heavy score, captures the ruthlessness of rural poverty without the assumed pandering. Newcomers Wallis and Henry dominate the non-professional cast; their absence from the field come awards season will be stunning and heartbreaking. The film deserves to be this year’s Oscar dark horse. I have seen nearly 100 films in theaters this year, and not a single one of them has offered an emotional, imaginative, narrative experience approaching Beasts of the Southern Wild. Such a rare, singular cinematic moment is rare in this day of sequels, reboots and readymade blockbusters. Go see this film now.

THE BOURNE LEGACY (PG-13) Tony Gilroy has been scripting exceptional Bourne films for a decade now. His first time directing one plays exactly like his previous two directing efforts (Michael Clayton and Duplicity), well-crafted but unexciting. Matt Damon’s unseen Jason Bourne is on the run, but another enhanced secret agent, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner, who’s an adequate replacement for Damon), is in the crosshairs of some nasty government spooks, sociopathically led by Edward Norton. Cross and pretty scientist, Marta Shearing (Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz), travels across the globe to find the means to permanently enhance the superspy’s mental abilities. This admirable, modern action franchise has always lacked in the fun department (I’ve never wanted to rewatch a Bourne); now it misses Paul Greengrass’ kinetic, athletic, handheld style. Legacy is more desk jockeying than spy gaming. (Call the undergrads; Cross proves to be one hell of a fake ID crafter.) Its respectable action set pieces lack the ooh/ahh moment. Still, I’m curious to see the franchise advance with a Bourne/Cross faceoff or team up, but I’d prefer if Gilroy returns to scripting and Greengrass to behind the camera.

THE CAMPAIGN (R) One expects big laughs from a Will Ferrell-Zack Galifianakis political comedy, but one merely hopes for a sharp enough satirical framework to build upon. Austin Powers director Jay Roach, has honed his political teeth on HBO’s “Recount” and “Game Change” and provides the proper support for Ferrell/Galifianakis’s silly showdown as North Carolina congressional candidates. Ferrell’s helmet-haired Democratic incumbent Cam Brady, loosely based on John Edwards, peddles to the “America, Jesus and freedom” crowd as he takes on Galifianakis’s oddball Republican challenger, Marty Huggins (His pants! His sweaters! His run!). Both comics are at their recent best; Ferrell had time to hone his Southern shtick on “Eastbound & Down,” and Galifianakis was born in NC. But the real meat of this comedy is how serious it is about campaign finance reform. As the Motch Brothers, Dan Ackroyd and John Lithgow are a not even thinly veiled shot at the Koch Bros. Dylan McDermott enjoys his rare comedic turn as the Motch’s hired gun. The rather rancorously funny movie ends with a surprisingly optimistic view of American politics that might not be tonally consistent with the previous acts but is certainly pleasingly patriotic.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (PG-13) Fanboy expectations of all-time greatness aside, The Dark Knight Rises concludes filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy as satisfyingly as one can hope. Having taken the fall for the murder of Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight, Batman is no longer welcome in Gotham City, which is all right with shut-in Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), the eccentric billionaire who continues to mourn the death of his love, Rachel. (Interestingly, The Joker is never mentioned.) But a new evil, the muscle-and-respirator-clad Bane (Tom Hardy, finally doing the great Bat-breaker justice), has risen, requiring Batman to return to action. Meanwhile, a pretty cat burglar named Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway, making audiences forget both Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry) has targeted Gotham’s elite. Nolan delivers the dense blockbuster we expect after TDK and Inception. He plays a masterful game of cinematic chess, knowing how to perfectly place every component—script, actors, action set pieces—on the board. A brilliant blockbuster, TDKR cannot best its immediate predecessor; the three-quel lacks the Ledger zeitgeist and shockingly needs more Batman. Still, The Dark Knight Rises darkly comic-bookends the movie summer that blissfully began with Joss Whedon’s candy coated Avengers. I’m sad Nolan’s time in Gotham is over.

THE EXPENDABLES 2 (R) This sequel sharpens its blunt bludgeon of a predecessor by promoting Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis (who, let’s be honest, knows he does not belong in these movies) to slightly more than glorified cameos and adding Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme. The title is honest; the main team of Expendables—save Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham—is expendable, slowing the brisk flick whenever tasked with doing more than blowing the heads off a nameless opposing army. The nominal plot involves a mission of vengeance after JCVD’s Eurotrash villain, Vilain (yep, that’s how it’s spelled), kills the youngest, prettiest, newest Expendable. For no narrative reason, fellow mercs Trench (Ah-nuld, who still has that unfathomable screen appeal) and Booker (Norris) show up along the way to assist the Expendables when they’re in trouble and wind up brightening the movie with more personality and wit, despite their witless dialogue, than regulars Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews or Randy Couture. With a climactic mano-a-mano showdown between Sly and JCVD that is the absolute apotheosis of mindless action, this sequel is the superior guilty pleasure in every way except one. No Eric Roberts.

FOR A GOOD TIME, CALL… (R) Two former collegiate adversaries turned roommates, Lauren and Katie (Seth Rogen’s wife Lauren Miller and the fantastic Ari Graynor), team up to pay their rent by starting a phone sex line. The funny trailers promise a good time, but I’m not sold yet. Justin Long and Rogen are the comedy’s familiar dudes; Mimi Rogers and Nia Vardalos also appear. Director Jamie Travis makes his feature debut filming star Miller and cowriter Katie Anne Naylon’s script.

• HIT & RUN (R) Funnyman Dax Shepard stretches his filmmaking abilities (he wrote, co-directed, co-edited and starred) and proves adequate, if not award worthy, behind the camera. Shepard’s Charlie Bronson is in Witness Protection after diming on his bank-robbing buddies (Bradley Cooper in a bad dreadlock wig and a suited-up Ryan Hansen). When his new identity is compromised, Charlie and his new girlfriend, Annie (Kristen Bell), go on the run. The laughs are predictable, but the stunt driving is pretty remarkable. Hit & Run wouldn’t go very far or very fast minus Shepard’s love of cars (he’s a real life racer) and his talented pals (fiancée Bell, best friend Cooper, and “Parenthood”’s Joy Bryant, among others), who power down the movie’s clichéd comic action straight-aways. The movie’s driving force remains as shaggily likable as ever (check Shepard out on NBC’s exceptional “Parenthood”) and shows he’s more than just a funny face. His humorous hot rod plays a little small on the big screen but should reach its audience destination on DVD and pay cable.

HOPE SPRINGS (PG-13) If older people talking about and having sex makes you uncomfortable, skip Hope Springs. But if you want a mature, intimate romantic dramedy about an ailing, aging marriage, warmly and realistically portrayed by two consummate professionals, you will find no other film this summer that comes close to Hope Springs. Kay (Meryl Streep) and her husband, Arnold (master griper Tommy Lee Jones), have what appears to be a loving marriage, yet the heat has been lost. They sleep in separate bedrooms; he barely looks at her, much less touches her. Kay wants a change, and she believes she’s found the means in Dr. Bernard Feld’s (a lightly used Steve Carell, who knows how to pick a project) intensive couples counseling. Naturally, Arnold wants nothing to do with Kay’s plan but reluctantly agrees to keep her happy. The film progresses with few narrative surprises but a lot of tonal ones. The trailer implies a broader, less deftly handled, older sex comedy. Streep and Jones will have none of that, providing the less dignified moments with some emotional heft and landing the lightweight dramatic punches with the grace everyone expects from these two greats.

THE HUNGER GAMES (PG-13) While a successful adaptation of a difficult book that near everyone has read, The Hunger Games has little cinematic spark. It’s a visual book report that merely summarizes the plot. It’s well-written, but still a book report. Seabiscuit director Gary Ross was not the most obvious choice to direct this dystopian adventure in which 24 teenagers are randomly selected for a contest in which only one will survive.

THE INTOUCHABLES (R) 2011. The extremely popular French film is based on the book "You Changed My Life" by Abdel Sellou. A wealthy, wheelchair-bound man hires a man from the slums to be his caretaker, eventually forming a lifelong bond between them as they share their cultures and viewpoints. It's the highest-grossing non-English language movie ever.

LAWLESS (R) During the Depression, a gang of bootleggers (including Tom Hardy and Shia LeBeouf) in Franklin County, VA must take on some profit-grubbing revenoors. John Hillcoat follows up his respectable adaptation of The Road with his second collaboration with rocker and screenwriter Nick Cave (they previously worked together on The Proposition). Wettest County is another 2012 release that was filmed here in the cinematic hotbed that Georgia has become. With Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain and Gary Oldman.

MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST WANTED (PG) By now, franchise fans know what to expect from the adventures of Alex the lion (v. Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (v. Chris Rock), Melman the giraffe (v. David Schwimmer) and Gloria the hippo (v. Jada Pinkett Smith). These four former denizens of the New York Zoo team up again with those wacky penguins and some nutty Lemurs (voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer and Andy Richter) in an aborted attempt to return home. This time, the gang is waylaid in Europe by a circus featuring animals voiced by Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad” season five cannot get here fast enough), Jessica Chastain and the reliably funny yet equally annoying Martin Short. But a crazed French animal control officer, Captain Chantel Dubois (v. Frances McDormand), is hot on the animals’ trail. No one should be coming into Madagascar 3 blind. This third entry proffers more cute fun in a long first act chase than either of its predecessors, and that’s before any of the appealing new characters are introduced.

MAGIC MIKE (R) Acclaimed filmmaker Steven Soderbergh’s peek beneath the thong that barely covers the underworld of Florida’s male strippers is a thoroughly entertaining and humanistic slice of life flick; imagine a less polyester-clad Saturday Night Fever. Alabama native Channing Tatum stars as Magic Mike, a nice guy with a rocking bod and killer dance moves who longs to make custom furniture. After taking a new dancer, Adam (Alex Pettyfer), under his wing, Mike falls for Adam's sister, Brooke (Cody Horn), who shows Mike what he looks like to the rank-and-file. Despite scripter Reid Carolin relying on the same cookie cutter plot that supported ancient Hollywood musicals All About Eve and Showgirls, Magic Mike has some new moves thanks to Soderbergh’s electric direction and well-selected beefcake. Tatum’s haters are proven wrong by his extremely charismatic performance, but it’s Matthew McConaughey that delivers the unexpected, award-worthy turn as aged stripper-turned-impresario, Dallas. I know the ladies are in; dudes, don’t miss out on Soderbergh’s best-received feature since Ocean’s 11 just because of all the potential penises (or penis envy).

MANKILLERS (R) 1987. Ciné’s Bad Movie Night presents Mankillers, AKA 12 Wild Women. Presumed dead CIA agent Rachel McKenna (Lynda Aldon) assembles the roughest, toughest gang of death row ladies she can to take down rogue agent Mickland (William Zipp), who is working for a Colombian drug cartel. Starting in 1983, writer-director David A. Prior continues to produce awful, cheap, generically titled actioners. Who isn’t gung-ho for a late-'80s, hot lady Dirty Dozen with Russ Meyer regular Edy Williams?

MEN IN BLACK III (PG-13) Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones reprise their roles as Agent J and Agent K. Apparently, Smith’s J time travels back to 1969 to stop an alien from assassinating his partner, whose younger version is played by Josh Brolin. Director Barry Sonnenfeld returns and could really use a hit. With Alice Eve, Jemaine Clement, Emma Thompson and Bill Hader as Andy Warhol.

MOONRISE KINGDOM (PG-13) Wes Anderson provides 2012 with a twee coming of age tale about Sam and Suzy (wonderful newcomers Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward), two tweens that learn about love after running away from their tiny island home. Any moviegoers not already enchanted by Anderson’s previous whimsies will not be won over by his newest, extremely eccentric romance. Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand and Harvey Keitel are among the adults that inhabit Anderson’s isolated, stagy island. I don’t recall enjoying a live-action Anderson fancy as much since 2001’s The Royal Tenenbaums.

THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN (PG) From an odd, sweet place, Frank Zappa’s son Ahmet, comes The Odd Life of Timothy Green, though the locale is familiar to screenwriter-director Peter Hedges, who adapted his own novel What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? for director Lasse Hallstrom, who must have been busy as this project seems tailor-made for his sentimental modern fairy tales. Before finally accepting their barren existence, Cindy and Jim Green (Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton) put all their wishes for a child in a box and bury them in their fertile garden. After a freak storm, the Greens have a new arrival, 10-year-old, leaf-legged Timothy (CJ Adams). Desiring to right all the wrongs of their own childhoods, Cindy and Jim attempt to give Timothy the perfect adolescence. The Odd Life of Timothy Green might appeal more to kind-hearted, older kids, thanks to Adams’ cute but not cutesy Timothy, despite its being an above average parenting fable. As for these parents, Garner’s appeal chills the further “Alias” recedes, though Edgerton works hard to warm her. It’s a good thing they have David Morse, Dianne Wiest, Common, Ron Livingstone, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Rosemarie DeWitt and the always excellent M. Emmet Walsh to rely upon.

PARANORMAN (PG) This marvelous, family horror flick is the writing-directing debut of Corpse Bride/Coraline storyboard artist Chris Butler, whose time apprenticing under Tim Burton and Henry Selick was well-spent. For my genre-tainted money, it bests Pixar’s Brave as the year’s best animated feature. I was smitten from its Grindhouse opening well through the closing credits scored to The White Stripes’ “Little Ghost.” This hip, stop-motion animated feature pulls no punches like '80s kiddie adventure and horror movies like Goonies and Something Wicked This Way Comes; the tale of a sweet, 11-year-old, oddball named Norman (v. Cody Smit-McPhee, The Road) is a perfect first scary movie for the son or daughter of a diehard horror fan. Norman’s battle to stop a 300-year-old witch from destroying his town (which climaxes in the bravest act I’ve witnessed in recent animation) is filled with real scares (of the PG variety), smart nods to slasher classics like Halloween and Friday the 13th, atypical character design (Norman’s features are more than a tad asymmetrical) and suffers from a trailer that unfortunately undersells that it’s an honest-to-god horror flick that should frighten and delight kids of all ages.

THE POSSESSION (PG-13) Sam Raimi is back in horror producing mode for Nightwatch (the 1994 Danish thriller and its 1997 Hollywood remake) filmmaker Ole Bornedal’s new genre flick. Based on allegedly true events, The Possession involves a little girl haunted by an evil ancient spirit that lives in the antique box she bought at a yard sale. The girl’s dad (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his ex-wife (Kyra Sedgwick) team up to save their little girl. Screenwriters Juliet Snowden and Stiles White gave us Boogeyman and Knowing, so be careful around this Possession.

• PREMIUM RUSH (PG-13) Like the fixed gear, steel frame cycle pedaled by bike courier protagonist Wilee (another winning turn by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Premium Rush has one speed—very fast—and no brakes. After being given a plain looking envelope, Wilee is chased and tormented by Detective Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon, giving his umpteenth, masterfully nutty performance), who is in deep with both the Chinese and the generically Eastern European underworlds. Don’t be turned off by Premium Rush’s biker subculture. It’s a simple, ultra fast-paced, superbly tense thriller that one of the year’s best at what it does. We’re talking one of the top-two bike messenger flicks of all time (right up there with Quicksilver, the only other bike messenger flick I can think of.) The first summit between JGL and Shannon, two of the best, undervalued American actors working today, lives up to expectations. Writer-director David Koepp might script the biggest of the big blockbusters, but his directorial efforts are all interesting, if not wholly successful, genre entries. Premium Rush, his fifth, is the best yet. You don’t even need to have a clue what a fixed gear bike is to dig it.

SPARKLE (PG-13) This good old-fashioned movie musical retells a very familiar tale (that’s honestly not too far removed from Dreamgirls) but does so with toe-tapping music and solid performances from “American Idol” champ Jordin Sparks and Derek Luke (among others). Three sisters—Sparkle (Sparks), Sister (Carmen Ejogo) and Dee (Tika Sumpter)—from Detroit find success as a musical act, but drugs and abusive relationships (does Mike Epps even know what nuance means?) tear them apart, pretty much like their holier than thou mother (Whitney Houston, in her final performance, which also marks her first time on screen since 1996’s The Preacher’s Wife), a failed singer, told them it would. The original, seemingly forgotten Sparkle starred Irene Cara (better known for Fame and the Oscar winning “Flashdance…What a Feeling”), was cowritten by Joel Schumacher (?!) and featured future En Vogue hits, “(Giving Him) Something He Can Feel” and “Hooked on Your Love.” Not as ambitious as Dreamgirls, the new Sparkle hits the right, albeit imitative (kind of like the “American Idol” competitor it stars), notes but will probably only be remembered as Whitney’s last appearance.

THUNDERSTRUCK (PG) Sixteen-year-old basketball megafan Brian and his idol Kevin Durant accidentally switch basketball talent when they meet after Brian misses a half-court shot at an Oklahoma City Thunder game. New hot-shot Brian and disgraced Durant must find a way to switch back before the Thunder misses the playoffs.

TOTAL RECALL (PG-13) The new Total Recall won’t satisfy anyone. Fans of the original will wonder why anyone would choose to watch an ugly, uninspired action/sci-fi flick that’s one Dylan McDermott away from a Syfy special event; those unfortunates who have never seen the original will wonder why anyone would bother remaking it. When factory worker Doug Quaid (Colin Farrell) attempts to get some fake memories installed, he discovers he’s really a secret agent in the middle of a class-based struggle between working-class revolutionaries and the privileged upper class led by Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston; again, if you’re not watching “Breaking Bad,” catch up immediately). The new Total Recall attempts to overcome its lack of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bewildering charisma, Paul Verhoeven’s sharp satire and the original script by Alien’s Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett by incorporating two high-profile hotties (Jessica Biel and Kate Beckinsale) and director Len Wiseman’s love of lens flares. As much as I love videogames, their ascension has devastated the once vibrant action/sci-fi subgenre. Filmmakers keep creating visually striking, narratively vacuous products inspired by games such as Halo and Half-Life that lack gaming’s key ingredient—interactivity. I’d much rather have played Total Recall than bothered watching it.