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Movies playing locally

Published online on Friday, Apr. 10, 2009

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The rating system: A, excellent; B, good; C, so-so; D, poor; F, terrible. Unless noted otherwise, reviews are by Bee critics Donald Munro (DM) and Rick Bentley (RB).

OPENING

Dragonball: Evolution: Live-action version of the popular Japanese animated series.

Hannah Montana: The Movie: Superstar Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) goes back to her musical roots when she begins to doubt her career.

Observe and Report: A mall security officer takes his job way too seriously. Seth Rogen stars.

ONGOING

Adventureland (B+): A young man must take a job at a small-time amusement park. He not only earns some cash but learns some life lessons. Director Greg Motolla, who also wrote the script, has made a film that has broad appeal because it doesn't sink to sophomoric absurdities. The result is a film for anyone who has spent a summer trying to understand love while dealing with a miserable job. Both are shown as growing experiences. In less skillful hands the subject matter would have been just the annoying thread to take moviegoers from one silly sex scene to another vomit eruption. Rated R (language, adult situations, sexual references). 102 minutes. (RB)

Bride Wars (B-): Two friends (Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway) find themselves in a battle when their weddings are booked for the same day. Hudson and Hathaway are at their best as friends trying to sabotage each other's wedding. It's light entertainment as long as you don't examine the plot too closely. The abrupt attitude change between the women seems a little manipulative. Rated PG (adult themes, mild language). 95 minutes. (RB)

Coraline (C+): A young girl discovers what seems to be a perfect version of her own world. Rated PG (scary images). 101 minutes. (RB)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (B+): A man (Brad Pitt) ages backward in this film based on a story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Something warm and wonderful happens in this cheery cinematic fable with an epic sweep. Rated PG-13 (brief war violence, sexual content, language and smoking). 159 minutes. (DM)

Duplicity (B): Two former spies (Julia Roberts, Clive Owen) go to work for competing corporations. "Duplicity" is a romantic comedy with spies, a heist picture with sex and a corporate intrigue thriller filled with funny banter. Rated PG-13 (language, sexual content). 124 minutes. (Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel)

Fast and Furious (D): Vin Diesel and Paul Walker hit the road again. Director Justin Lin, working with a script by Chris Morgan that seems casually glued together (is it just me, or are there parts of this movie that imply that the U.S. border with Mexico is located right outside Los Angeles?) doesn't waste a lot of time trying to figure out how and why the craggy Dom (Diesel) and the scruffy Brian (Walker) reunite. Lin does deliver a reasonable number of high-octane car chases, of course, which is presumably what fans of the genre want to see. Rated PG-13 (intense sequences of violence and action, some sexual content, language, drug references). 99 minutes. (DM)

The Haunting in Connecticut (D): Virginia Madsen stars in this story of family haunted by spirits that live in their home. The title is "Haunting," not "Stabbing, Hatcheting or Butchered with a Machete in Connecticut," so it won't appeal to the hard-core gore crowd. Rated PG-13 (intense sequences of terror). 92 minutes. (Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel)

He's Just Not That Into You (C-): Couples make their way through the troubles of dating. Jennifer Aniston and Ben Affleck star. It is the movie equivalent of watching somebody learn to juggle. A lot of things go into the air. Most are dropped. Rated PG-13 (sexual content, brief strong language). 129 minutes. (Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel)