Movie Guide

Sterritt ** This psychological mystery involves a murdered child, a troubled young man, and his father - a renowned but cantankerous author. The screenplay aims high in terms of humanity and complexity, but director Hoge drains it of energy with listless meanderings that provide more yawns than insights.

Director: Zack Snyder. With Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer, Ty Burell. (100 min.)

Sterritt ** Remake of George Romero's sardonic 1978 horror movie about terrorized humans hiding in a shopping mall from swarming zombies. The updated version is somewhat lighter on social satire, but even heavier on blood and gore than the grisly original. .

Staff ** Grisly, nightmarish, intense.

Sex/Nudity: 4 instances. Violence: 30 instances, unnecessarily gory. Profanity: 52 instances of strong language. Drugs: 5 scenes.

Director: Lars von Trier. With Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, Patricia Clarkson. (173 min.)

Sterritt **** A woman running from criminals arrives in a small American village of the 1930s, where the townsfolk shelter her and make her a dehumanized servant. Von Trier sets the action on a theatrical stage, spotlighting the existential isolation that weighs on those who don't seek larger visions of life, individuality, and community. Challenging, dramatic, provocative.

Director: Michel Gondry. With Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, Kirsten Dunst. (108 min.)

Sterritt **** A lonely man (Carrey) falls in love with a mercurial woman (Winslet), who has a psychologist erase her memories of him. He decides to do the same, but regrets it during the procedure, resulting in a cerebral cat-and-mouse game in which he hides his mental concept of her in ever-deeper layers of his mind. The story is wise and the filmmaking is witty. Standouts include Carrey in his best performance to date, Wilkinson as a not-so-mad scientist, Mark Ruffalo as his assistant, and the British Winslet doing an American better than most Americans can do.

Staff *** Trip down the rabbit hole, hilarious, believable.

Sex/Nudity: 4 instances of implied sex. Violence: 3 instances. Profanity: 16 instances, mostly mild. Drugs: 12 instances.

Director: Kevin Smith. With Ben Affleck, George Carlin, Liv Tyler, Raquel Castro, Jennifer Lopez. (102 min.)

Staff ** Ollie Trinke (Affleck), a public-relations executive in Manhattan, has a child on the way. But when his beautiful wife (Lopez) dies in the delivery room, Ollie is forced to move in with his father (Carlin) in New Jersey. He takes up a job as a street sweeper but longs to return to the big city. Comical scenes include a Matt Damon cameo and a school performance of "Sweeney Todd." It's no life-changing movie, but it serves up some tender moments. By Lisa Connors

Staff **1/2 Funny, well acted, predictable.

Sex/Nudity: 2 instance of innuendo. Violence: 1 scene of a mother's death during labor. Profanity: 12 instances. Drugs: 18 scenes with drinking or smoking.

Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen. With Tom Hanks, Irma P. Hall, Marlon Wayans, J.K. Simmons. (104 min.)

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