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.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (PG-13) Were The Amazing Spider-Man the first Spider-Man movie, critics and fans would hail it as spectacular. Following Sam Raimi’s surprisingly poorly aged films, this fourth film is the unfortunate epitome of unnecessary. Where Christopher Nolan did us an outstanding service reinterpreting the world of the Dark Knight, (500) Days of Summer’s Marc Webb and his trio of scripters rely on lazy, convenient plotting to rehash Spidey’s origins with a few cosmetically mysterious changes. No longer a simple orphan, Peter Parker’s parents abandoned him as a result of papa Parker’s top secret genetic experiments, which produce the (no longer radioactive) spider that turns Pete into a superhero and Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) into the film’s villainous Lizard. Ten years ago, mass audiences accepted the idea of a teenaged crime fighter with the powers of an arachnid. Too bad these filmmakers didn’t just jump straight into the web-head’s world as their super-blockbuster excels once it gets the mythology revising out of the way and allows new Spidey Andrew Garfield, who nails the wall-crawler’s smart-alecky, costumed persona, to use those powers to patrol the streets of NYC as your friendly neighborhood web-slinger.

THE AVENGERS (PG-13) The various Avengers—Robert Downey, Jr.’s Iron Man, Chris Evans’ Captain America, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, another new Hulk (this time Mark Ruffalo gets to unleash the beast) and the rest—have assembled, and together they are a blast. But before they can battle Thor’s mischievous brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who is intent on enslaving the world with his other-dimensional army, Earth’s mightiest heroes have to sort out a few things amongst themselves. Joss Whedon and Zak Penn capture the bickering essence of a super-group. Every single one of these heroes benefits from Whedon’s trademark snappy banter and way with ensembles. These characters thrive by not having to carry the movie on their own (the Hulk especially benefits from sharing the spotlight).

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, led sociopathically 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.

BRAVE (PG) A good, not great, Pixar film, Brave strays into traditional Disney territory after a tremendously magical first act. Headstrong Scottish Princess Merida (wonderfully voiced by the lovely Kelly Macdonald) wants to choose her own destiny. She does not want to marry the first-born of the clans allied with her father (v. Billy Connolly), but her mother, Queen Elinor (v. Emma Thompson), will hear none of her complaints. In typical stubborn teenage fashion, Merida short-sightedly asks a wood-carving witch (v. Julie Walters) for a spell to change her mother. The aftermath of the spell leads to some heartwarming and charming derring-do, but the sitcom-ish mix-up is a bit stock for what we’ve come to expect from the studio that gave us Wall-E and Up, two animated features that transcended their cartoonish origins. (UGA Tate Theater)

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.

• DREDD (R) A huge improvement over the 1995, Sylvester Stallone-starring version of Carlos Ezquerra and John Wagner’s judge, jury and executioner, this Dredd (showing in both two and three dimensions) stars The Lord of the Rings’ Karl Urban, who must have been exhausted from holding that perma-frown, as the futuristic lawman. Teamed with a rookie partner (the surprisingly capable Olivia Thirlby), Judge Dredd must escape from a high rise apartment building controlled by a gang led by the brutal Ma-Ma (Lena Headey, who is getting good at playing mean, powerful women a la “Game of Thrones”’ Cersei Lannister). Dredd calls to mind the violent, satirical future of Robocop (minus the fun), the environment-driven narrative of The Raid: Redemption and the best of John Carpenter’s tightly controlled thrillers Assault on Precinct 13 and Escape from New York (not to mention JC’s classic, minimalist themes from those great films). Props to scripter Alex Garland (the frequent Danny Boyle collaborator wrote 28 Days Later… and Sunshine); he provides questionable directing choice Pete Travis (Vanishing Point) with a brilliant blueprint for a new ultraviolent, sci-fi cult classic. Who needs a remake of Robocop when the Judge is protecting the streets?

• END OF WATCH (R) Writer-director David Ayer has had enough practice at the tough cop thriller; he wrote Training Day, Dark Blue and S.W.A.T. before directing Harsh Times (which he also wrote) and Street Kings. It was about time he got one perfect, and End of Watch may be as close as he ever gets. Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña vividly play Brian Taylor and Mike Zavala, two hotshot cops partnered on the violent streets of South Central Los Angeles. The partners’ genuine love for each other drives this film from opening to close and makes the otherwise rote gangs and gunplay narrative so much more affecting. Gyllenhaal’s talent never seems to plateau, and Pena’s bro-bocop was sublime; their chemistry genuine. I haven’t been this surprisingly moved since Warrior. Ayer puts some rousing, beautiful monologues in the mouths of his uniformed characters. Fortunately, his choice of handheld, first-person shooter camera trickery works; End of Watch is the rare videogame influenced movie that I’d rather have watched than played. Generic cop dramas are rarely crafted so skillfully and with such authentic danger and frank sentiment that they transcend genre. The lonely French Connection needed some peers with which to hang out.

FINDING NEMO (G) 2003. I came late to the Finding Nemo party and have not taken to it like other Pixar greats. Maybe the addition of a third dimension will help. Clownfish Marlin (v. Albert Brooks) goes searching for his son, Nemo (v. Alexander Gould), who is lost in the big, scary ocean. Fortunately, Marlin has pal Dory (v. Ellen Degeneres), a blue tang fish, to help him out. Director Andrew Stanton went on to make Wall-E. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

HISTORIAS...QUE SO EXISTEM QUANDO LEMBRADAS (NR) 2011. Stories That Only Exist When Remembered or Found Memories is the debut feature from Brazilian filmmaker Julia Murat about life in the village of Jotuomba. This film is the first of the 2012 Latin American Film Festival, whose theme is Latin American Women Behind the Camera. Screenings take place every Thursday through Oct. 18. Each film will be introduced by a faculty member or graduate student, who will also lead a post-film discussion. (Georgia Museum of Art)

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA (PG) Count Dracula has a teenage daughter? Count Dracula runs a high-end resort? Count Dracula is voiced by Adam Sandler?! That’s the high, family horror concept in animator Genndy Tartakovsky’s feature debut. (Tartakovsky’s got a well populated filmography including “Dexter’s Laboratory,” “The Powerpuff Girls” and “Star Wars: Clone Wars.”) Sandler’s Drac becomes overprotective of his daughter (v. Selena Gomez) when a human boy discovers his resort and his Mavis. Naturally, Kevin James is Frankenstein to Sandler’s Count.

• HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET (PG-13) Another soporific, unscary PG-13 horror movie that will draw in the teens and tweenies, House at the End of the Street stars The Hunger Games’ Jennifer Lawrence as Elissa, who moves to a new town with her divorced mom (Elisabeth Shue). Soon Elissa is smitten with her cute new neighbor, Ryan (Max Theriot, a horror vet from My Soul to Take), the town bogeyman whose parents were murdered by his younger sister, Carrie Anne. Despite an overactive, handheld camera, director Mark Tonderai does little of note with the script from David Loucka, who wrote the even less frightening Dream House. (Too bad story contributor Jonathan Mostow didn’t direct; his Breakdown was much more chilling.) Pleasantly, the movie’s costumer chose to clothe the beautiful Lawrence in tank tops. Besides that sartorial diversion, HATES proves that little potential yields little disappointment. The only intriguing gambit is how the movie’s twist is perpetuated, not spoiled, by the trailer. However, that twist isn’t worth a theatrical viewing of this pedestrianly average horror flick.  

ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT (PG) Manny (v. Ray Romano), Diego (v. Denis Leary) and Sid (v. John Leguizamo) return in a fourth adventure, which is good news for the millions not waiting for this fatigued franchise to go extinct. The trio get separated from the herd, which includes Manny’s wife, Ellie (v. Queen Latifah), and daughter, Peaches (v. Keke Palmer), and meet a pirate crew led by Captain Gutt (exceptionally voiced by “Games of Thrones” Emmy winner Peter Dinklage). Nothing unpredictable happens (Sid messes things up, no one cares), and the suspense is even less harrowing than your typical television cartoon. The rest of the celebrity voices are a mixed bag as well. Wanda Sykes brings the funny as Sid’s toothless granny, but Drake and Nicki Minaj are non-starters. Aziz Ansari is wasted and J-Lo is present. This kiddie flick is only for children that don’t want to watch Brave or Madagascar 3 again.

KILLER JOE (NC-17) Academy Award winner William Friedkin and Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Letts must have enjoyed their collaboration on Bug because they’re back together for this black comic crime thriller. A young man decides to put a hit out on his evil mom so he can collect the money he needs to pay off a life-endangering debt. As if a new Friedkin film weren’t enticing enough, the cast includes Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Gina Gershon and Thomas Haden Church. (Ciné)

LAST OUNCE OF COURAGE (PG) A movie memorable for how terribly made and utterly out of touch with the reality of American governance it is, Last Ounce of Courage makes the faithful hits from Sherwood Baptist’s movie ministry look like Hollywood blockbusters. Years after losing his soldier son in combat, a small town mayor, Bob Revere (Marshall R. Teague), wages the culture war against the government, represented by a liberal Washingtonian, Warren “The Hammer” Hammerschmidt (Fred Williamson). Fortunately for all Americans, Bob is protecting our constantly endangered, yet never defined freedoms. Mostly, Bob is fired up about the highly publicized, non-existent War on Christmas (from "Talking Points" by Bill O’Reilly, courtesy of Fox News). The universe in which this movie takes place is so skewed. A small mountain town populated by folk of the same religio-political persuasion is not the place where this value battle would be fought. The movie insultingly conflates religion and patriotism, while relegating minorities to the roles of villain, kindly janitor and the needy. Bob even loses his job and is later arrested for “violation of church and state,” whatever that is. This amateurish, self-righteous and Chuck Norris-approved movie should never have seen a release outside of the local church fellowship hall. 

LAWLESS (R) Despite what works in John Hillcoat’s follow-up to The Road, the main characters of Lawless—a family of bootlegging brothers played by Tom Hardy, Shia LeBeouf and Jason Clarke—don’t quite welcome viewing visitors to Franklin County, VA, “the Wettest County in the World.” Facing off against a perfumed dandy of a sheriff, Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce, as if he’s auditioning to play the new Dick Tracy villain, No Brows), the legendary Bondurant Brothers survive sure death time and again, but the story never makes their continued existence the viewer's imperative outside of “If the bros die, the film ends.” West Central Georgia does a fine job of portraying early 20th-century Virginia; the below the line crew does a phenomenal job. Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ soundtrack gives the film a jauntier energy than either its writing or performances. The muscular, sturdy Hardy croaks his lines without changing his facial expression once, and still, the prospect of him leaving the film early, forcing viewers to spend even more time with LeBeouf’s yippy littlest Bondurant, Jack, chills. Gary Oldman barely peeks in as gangster Floyd Banner. Lawless has loads of potential, but the resulting film fails to arrest.

LOST BOYS OF PARADISE (NR) Local filmmaker Phillip Blume's first film shows Nathan Hardeman, a Guatemalan UGA alum and his real-life pursuit to help young boys avoid the cycle of gang violence in Guatemala's slum, Paradise. Almost 95 percent of boys in Paradise die from gang violence or drug abuse before they are 23. Filmmakers will be present at the screening. (Ciné)

LOOPER (R) Rian Johnson’s first film, Brick, was so good that I’ll be forever interested in his latest feature, no matter what it is. (I liked his sophomore effort, The Brothers Bloom, but it’s not Brick.) This sci-fi actioner stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a future mob hitman who realizes his latest target is a future version of himself. With Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Jeff Daniels and the awesome Garrett Dillahunt (check him out on Fox’s “Raising Hope”).

• THE MASTER (R) Auteur Paul Thomas Anderson’s tremendous, flawless cinematic masterpieces can be pompous, emotionally distant and inscrutable to a fault. The Master proves no less perfectly composed and no less difficult to process. Volatile, World War II vet Freddie Quill (Joaquin Phoenix) is struggling to adjust to post-war life when he meets author Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the founder of a spiritual movement called The Cause. Despite Anderson’s basing Dodd on Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, don’t expect an evisceration of the controversial religion; you’ll leave disappointed. Instead, revel in the never mundane, constantly homoerotic study of two vastly different, wonderfully deep characters. Phoenix powers Quill with explosive animalistic instinct (it’s the sort of performance audiences have come to expect from the seemingly crazed thespian), while Hoffman duels his fiery costar with Dodd’s cool, intellectual restraint. Like indispensable cogs, removing either men would stop Anderson’s precise cinematic engine. Other films will rival The Master for cinematic excellence this year. These films will engage audiences on a simpler level and probably waltz off with next year’s top prizes. But audiences up for the challenge will likely find no more enriching a work this year than Anderson’s latest gem.

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. (Ciné)

THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN (PG) From an odd, sweet place, Frank Zappa’s son Ahmet, comes The Odd Life of Timothy Green. The locale is familiar, though, 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.

THE OTHER DREAM TEAM (NR) And you thought Michael, Magic, Bird and company were the only Dream Team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. The Lithuanian Olympic basketball team was formed amidst the country’s independence movement and somehow Jerry Garcia got involved. Director Marius A. Markevicius makes his feature directing debut, though he was an associate producer for Like Crazy and the well-received Peter Weir film, The Way Back. Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

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.

PITCH PERFECT (PG-13) At its best, Pitch Perfect could be Bring It On for the college singing group set; at its worst, I’m assuming a “Glee”-less knockoff. Anna Kendrick is a college freshman who invigorates the campus girls' singing group, The Bellas, and takes them up against the big boys. I’m hoping for the former with Avenue Q director Jason Moore and “30 Rock” writer Kay Cannon. With Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow and Adam Devine from the deviantly hilarious “Workaholics.”

THE POSSESSION (PG-13) After an opening attack that is neither intriguing or chilling, The Possession settles into a suitable, if soporific groove. This Exorcist-wannabe, naturally based on a true story, benefits from Jeffrey Dean Morgan (looking particularly Javier Bardem-ish) as the basketball coach father of a young girl (played by Natalie Calis with more depth than the usual horror movie moppet in danger) that starts exhibiting strange behavior after picking up an antique box at a yard sale of the lady from the movie's opening scene. The box, a Dibbuk (demon) box of Hebrew lore, leads to more Judaic horror a la The Unborn (Catholicism being so five minutes ago as the go-to faith for the horror genre). Director Ole Bornedal knows how to adequately craft a small horror flick (the original Nightwatch, not to be confused with the Russian Night Watch, deserves viewing; skip the American remake), but he can't get much terror out of Boogeyman writers Juliet Snowden and Stiles White's script. The Possession best take advantage of an anemic horror market, as aware genre fans know there are better flicks on the way (V/H/S, Sinister).

PRINCESS MONONOKE (PG-13) 1997. From Sept. 27 through Oct. 21, Ciné presents the Studio Ghibli Film Series, a retrospective that includes four of Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpieces. The first up is Princess Mononoke. Hayao Miyazaki’s best known film prior to 2001’s Spirited Away, this magnificent animated adventure involves a cursed young prince who winds up in the midst of a war between beast and man. The English adaptation of this film was written by acclaimed novelist and comic book writer Neil Gaiman. (Ciné)

RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (R) Well, the lesser breed of Resident Evil—movie rather than video game—returns with a fifth entry that is the (relative) best yet. Writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson finally (sort of) embraces the series’ video game origins, even favoring franchise favorite characters over actors in the opening credits (we know from the get-go that the movie features Sienna Guillory as Jill Valentine, Johann Urb as Leon S. Kennedy, Kevin Durand as Barry Burton, Bingbing Li as Ava Wong and Shawn Roberts as the series’ big bad, Albert Wesker) and tossing Las Plagas into the T-virus mix. Monotonous B-grade action dominates the C-grade, cosplay acting and writing for the next hour and a half. Fans will find it hard to believe the acting—mostly stiff, strange action poses filmed for minimal 3D effect—is worse than the original Resident Evil’s poor voice acting. Still, this fan of every canonical entry in Capcom’s flagship series would respect the movies much more were this relatively more faithful film the initial entry.

ROBOT & FRANK (PG-13) I’m sold by the title and the logline. Aging jewel thief Frank (Frank Langella) and the robot butler (voiced by Peter Sarsgaard) given to him by his son plot a heist. This sci-fi dramedy won director Jake Schreier Sundance’s Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Award for his feature debut. Maybe the film will end up playing a bit silly or sappy, but I’m willing to give this unique pic a shot. With James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Susan Sarandon, Ana Gasteyer and Jeremy Sisto. (Ciné)

SLEEPWALK WITH ME (NR) Standup comic Mike Birbiglia cowrote, codirected and starred in this comedy about life as a sleepwalking standup comic whose career and relationship are stuck in neutral. The trailer is one of the best I’ve recently seen at Ciné. “This American Life” fans take note that the popular radio show and this film share producers. Winner of the Best of Next! Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and the Writer/Director Award at the Nantucket Film Festival. With Lauren Ambrose (“Six Feet Under”) and James Rebhorn. (Ciné)

SOLOMON KANE (R) Another creation of Robert E. Howard, the literary father of Conan the Barbarian and Kull, Solomon Kane is a Puritan slayer of all things evil. James Purefoy stars as the titular spiritual killer, who is battling the Overlord, whose army of Raiders are rampaging across England. Writer-director Michael J. Bassett was responsible for the 2006 horror thriller Wilderness and the upcoming Silent Hill: Revelation 3D. With Max von Sydow, Rachel Hurd-Wood and the late Pete Postlethwaite.

STEP UP REVOLUTION (PG-13) Let’s go ahead and get the criticisms out of the way. The acting and story are crap. Emily (Kathryn McCormick from “So You Think You Can Dance”), a professional dancer comes to Miami and falls for Sean (Ryan Guzman, the series’ latest C-Tates knockoff), who leads a local dance crew. Too bad, Sean and his gang’s neighborhood are being threatened by a development planned by Emily’s father (the eyebrows of Peter Gallagher). Who cares, you say? Tell you about the dancing? The dancing is fantastic. Massive flash mobs utilize laser lights, smoke bombs, costumes and more to stage some of the dance-chise’s most jaw dropping routines (which are often and unfortunately chopped up by too many reaction shots). The choreography is so creative and the 3D so well integrated that this overall subpar movie would be an Academy Award winner, were the Academy to dole out awards for such a thing as choreography. This movie isn’t for everyone, but anyone who digs Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” (many of whose former dancers and choreographers, like the ingenious Christopher Scott of the League of Extraordinary Dancers, were involved in this production) won’t want to miss it.

TED (R) I’m not sure what it says about Ted, the funny feature debut of “Family Guy” creator Seth McFarlane, that I, an admitted “Family Guy” detractor, laughed more than anyone else in the theater. Despite the overflowing gay jokes and some poor setups (the introduction to Giovanni Ribisi’s antagonist was awkwardly random), the fairy tale of 35-year-old John (Mark Wahlberg) and Ted (v. McFarlane), the teddy bear he was given on Christmas Day 1985 that came to life via wish, hits the mark more than it misses so long as the talking teddy is involved. Human leads Wahlberg and the increasingly awesome Mila Kunis are appreciated, as is Patrick “Puddy” Warburton; sadly, Joel McHale is wasted. Any movie in which a central gag revolves around the Queen-scored, cult fave Flash Gordon (star Sam Jones even makes a beefy cameo) is OK in my book, no matter how many tired pot jokes it tokes. Being familiar with, but not appreciative of, McFarlane’s oeuvre, I pleasantly left with more laughs than I expected to receive.

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.

• TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE (PG-13) You’ll have no Trouble with the Curve so long as old man jokes, spryly delivered by a grouchier than usual Clint Eastwood, can keep you entertained for two hours. As aging baseball scout Gus Lobel, Eastwood seems to be workshopping a new stand-up routine (after his speech at the Republican National Convention, who knows?). He constantly mutters one-liners to himself, be he alone or sharing a scene with one of the movie’s terrific supporting actors, including Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, or the gaggle of familiar old faces that play Gus’ scouting rivals. When the script asks him to act, Eastwood can still make any movie fan’s day. Adams and Timberlake bring some refreshing youth to this rather aged dramedy. Director Robert Lorenz hasn’t learned as much from his longtime collaborator (he’s been Eastwood’s assistant director since 1995’s The Bridges of Madison County and producer since 2002’s Blood Work) as you’d like; writer Randy Brown’s Mitch Albom-y script doesn’t help. Fortunately, the capable bunch of on-camera talent, led by Hollywood’s elder statesman, should please the hometown crowds wishing to play a game of “Spot the Shots of Athens.”

THE WAITING ROOM (NR) Audiences have seen the inner workings of tons of fictional hospitals. How about seeing a real one for a change? The Waiting Room in an Oakland, CA public hospital serves a large population of uninsured patients, and Emmy Award winning director Peter Nicks’ documentary explores a shift at this typical, overburdened, American hospital. An official selection of the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, the Silverdocs Documentary Festival and True/False Film Fest, The Waiting Room won the Golden Gate Award and an Audience Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival.

WON’T BACK DOWN (PG) This inspirational drama features recent Oscar nominee Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal, who star as two moms working to improve their children’s failing inner city school. How will director Daniel Barnz, whose previous films are Beastly and Phoebe in Wonderland, handle such treacly sounding material? I have my doubts, but this movie could hit home with same audience that made Davis’ The Help a hit. With Holly Hunter, Ving Rhames, Lance Reddick (“The Wire”) and Rosie Perez.

THE WORDS (PG-13) The kindest words I can offer The Words are that I expected much worse. (Don’t mistake that kindly cut for a recommendation.) Author Clayton Hammond (Dennis Quaid) reads his latest work (if the VO is any indication, Hammond is a terrible novelist), the story of young author Rory Jansen (Bradley Cooper), who becomes an overnight literary sensation by stealing the lost novel of an old man (Jeremy Irons). Also, a lit groupie played by Olivia Wilde wants to sleep with Hammond. I get how the Russian nesting egg script would appeal to such a high profile cast, including Zoe Saldana, Ben Barnes, J.K. Simmons, Michael McKean, and more; as a novel, this gooey tale would sail up the charts under the standard of Oprah herself. As a film, the soppy direction of first timers Brian Klugman (Jack’s nephew) and Lee Sternthal mixes with the misjudged casting decisions (Cooper is callow where artistic desperation is needed) for a mushy, three course cinematic meal, which is unfortunate, as each dish is gorgeously and distinctively shot by cinematographer Antonio Calvache. The Words will appeal to the Mitch Albom/Oprah Book crowd, as even badly written pieces of fiction can be compelling.

ZOOLANDER (PG-13) 2001. The last movie Ben Stiller directed before the brilliant Tropic Thunder was this hit and miss Manchurian Supermodel . After having his place as model of the year usurped by newcomer Hansel (Owen Wilson), the clueless Derek Zoolander (Stiller) is brainwashed to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia by evil fashion designer Mugato (the scene-stealing Will Ferrell). Can Blue Steel be wiped from the pop culture hive mind yet? With Stiller’s wife, Christine Taylor, Milla Jovovich and sublime cameos by David Bowie and Billy Zane. (UGA Tate Theater)