Movies in Theaters

New This Week

Battleship

Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker
Director: Peter Berg
The Scoop: Watch out, "Jumanji," because there's a new movie about a board game and this one uses gigantic guns to ensure victory. This one stars Kitsch as a bad boy turned Navy officer who has to save humanity one grid at a time when alien boats land in the Pacific. We're just praying that at some point co-star Neeson gets to intone the timeless phrase, "You sank my battleship!"
Rated PG-13, 131 min. | Watch the trailer

What to Expect When You're Expecting

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Brooklyn Decker, Jennifer Lopez, Anna Kendrick
Director: Kirk Jones
The Scoop: If you thought "Battleship" was a strange candidate to be adapted into a movie, check out this one, an ensemble, baby-themed rom-com based on the popular pregnancy manual. Lopez, Diaz and a half dozen other Hollywood ladies star as women in various states of pregnancy, all dealing both with rampaging hormones, buns in the oven and the men in their lives.
Rated PG-13, 110 min. | Watch the trailer

Virginia

Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Emma Roberts, Ed Harris
Director: Dustin Lance Black
The Scoop: When Oscar winning screenwriter Black tried his hand at directing two years ago, the result, "Virginia," was universally slagged by critics. So Black did something unusual by Hollywood standards: he listened to the critics, went back to the drawing board and reworked the entire film. Now it's finally hitting theaters, which is a good thing for fans of Connelly, as the Oscar winning actress gives a fantastic performance as an unstable woman in an affair with a sheriff.
Rated R, 116 min., limited | Watch the trailer

Hysteria

Starring: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh Dancy, Jonathan Pryce
Director: Tanya Wexler
The Scoop: Dancy and Gyllenhaal co-star in this Victorian period piece that's not exactly your run-of-the-mill costume drama. It features a bunch of vibrators. We're guessing you won't find that in "Pride and Prejudice." Actually, "Hysteria" is all about the invention of the first vibrator; fittingly, it's been pleasing audiences on the indie circuit for the last year or so before finally achieving a major release.
Rated R, 100 min., limited | Watch the trailer

The Samaritan

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Luke Kirby, Ruth Negga
Director: David Weaver
The Scoop: Jackson stars in this indie thriller as a former grifter who, after 25 years in the clink, is finally released, giving him a second lease on life. But when a former acquaintance shows up and wants him to return to his crooked ways, Jackson is forced to begin the ultimate con … with his own life at stake. Man, it sounds pretty cool when we put it that way, doesn't it?
93 min., limited | Watch the trailer

Also Playing

Chimpanzee

Starring: A bunch of monkeys
Director: Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield
The Scoop: Disney has made a habit of putting out family friendly nature documentaries every Earth Day (see: "Oceans," African Cats," etc.) and this year is no different. "Chimpanzee" is one of those IMAX extravaganzas, this time focusing on the life and adventures of chimps. Heck, some of the proceeds from ticket sales will go to help chimps. And that's no monkey business (okay, you can boo us for that).
Rated G, 78 min. | Watch the trailer

The Five-Year Engagement

Starring: Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Chris Pratt, Alison Brie
Director: Nicholas Stoller
The Scoop: Segel's latest everyman rom-com is about a guy and his lucky bride (Blunt) who, thanks to a serious of no doubt hilarious misadventures, end up getting stuck in a seemingly endless engagement without actually getting married. Segel knows what he's doing – and we know what he's doing too – so if you like this sort of thing, you'll be more than happy making the commitment to see this.
Rated R, 124 min. | Watch the trailer

The Raven

Starring: John Cusack, Alice Eve, Luke Evans
Director: James McTeigue
The Scoop: Just so we're clear, this is not a movie version of the famous Edgar Allen Poe poem. Instead, it's a period drama about a series of murders inspired by Poe poems in which a detective (Evans) enlists the help of Poe himself (Cusack) in solving the horrifying case. Will adaptation-slash-murder mystery work? Go ahead and ponder that on a midnight dreary.
Rated R, 110 min. | Watch the trailer

Think Like a Man

Starring: Michael Ealy, Gabrielle Union, Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson
Director: Tim Story
The Scoop: Four dudes discover that their gals are all using relationship advice from a self-help book (written by Steve Harvey, naturally) to get their way, so the menfolk decide to turn the tables. The best Tyler Perry movie Tyler Perry isn't in.
Rated PG-13, 122 min. | Watch the trailer

The Dictator

Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, John C. Reilly
Director: Larry Charles
The Scoop: Cohen may have taken his inspiration from Charlie Chaplin's classic 1940 anti-Nazi political satire "The Great Dictator," but that's pretty much where the similarity ends. Let's just say Chaplin didn't have "Borat" on his resume. This time Cohen uses his in-your-face schtick to lampoon the problems of the Middle East. Should be easy to avoid controversy with this one.
Rated R, 83 min. | Watch the trailer

The Avengers

Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson
Director: Joss Whedon
The Scoop: What happens when you take the leads from three of the biggest superhero films of all time ("Iron Man," "Thor" and "Captain America") and put them in the same movie together? You get arguably the most ambitious crossover event in the history of cinema. You also get "The Avengers," which promises to pack more superhero action into each frame than most films do in two full hours. Avengers Assemble!
Rated PG-13, 143 min. | Watch the trailer

Dark Shadows

Starring: Johnny Depp, Eva Green, Chloe Moretz, Michelle Pfeiffer
Director: Tim Burton
The Scoop: Depp and Burton have formed one of the most unique artistic partnerships in Hollywood history and this time they use that creepy synergy in an adaptation of the classic gothic horror soap opera "Dark Shadows." Depp plays Barnabas Collins, a vampire who is also the head of a household full of other weirdoes. Forget Team Edward, we're Team Depp.
Rated PG-13, 112 min. | Watch the trailer

The Cabin in the Woods

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford
Director: Drew Goddard
The Scoop: Not a whole lot is known about "The Cabin in the Woods," thanks mainly to the fact that writer/director Goddard and co-writer Joss Whedon wants to keep the surprises a surprise for as long as possible. But we do know that the film is a thinly veiled homage to Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead," only with some kind of crazy sci-fi twist. Good enough for us.
Rated R, 95 min. | Watch the trailer

The Three Stooges

Starring: Sean Hayes, Chris Diamantopoulos, Will Sasso, Jane Lynch
Director: Bobby & Peter Farrelly
The Scoop: We know what you're thinking: The Three Stooges? Aren't they, like, dead? Technically they are, but it's also true that Stooges fans are among the most dedicated fans around – and that includes the Farrelly Brothers, whose entire body of work suddenly makes sense. This effort to resurrect the legendary comedy trio stars Diamantopoulos, Hayes and Sasso as Moe, Larry and Curly. Get your nyuks ready.
Rated PG, 92 min. | Watch the trailer

The Lucky One

Starring: Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling, Blythe Danner
Director: Scott Hicks
The Scoop: Based on a novel by Nicolas Sparks… actually, do we even need to say anything more? Well, just in case you still want info about the latest ode to true love from the master of modern romance, this stars Efron as a war vet (acting!) who returns from the battlefield to try and track down the mystery pen pal who acted as his lucky charm. Love probably ensues.
Rated PG-13, 101 min. | Watch the trailer

Safe

Starring: Jason Statham, Chris Sarandon, James Hong, Catherine Chan
Director: Boaz Yakin
The Scoop: Statham returns to what he does best – kicking everybody's ass – in "Safe." This time around he plays a former special ops super agent who undertakes a mission to rescue a kidnapped 12-year-old girl and ends up battle everyone from the Russian mafia to the New York Police Department. That doesn't actually sound all that safe to us, but hey, we're not Jason Statham, either.
Rated R, 95 min. | Watch the trailer

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Starring: Hugh Grant, Salma Hayek, Jeremy Piven
Director: Peter Lord, Jeff Newitt
The Scoop: Sorry, Johnny Depp fans, but this "Pirates" film doesn't include any Jack Sparrow whatsoever. What it does have, though, is animation from Aardvark (the folks behind "Wallace and Gromit") and a family friendly story about a Pirate Captain (that's his name) who sets out on a quest to defeat his rivals for the coveted Pirate of the Year Award.
Rated PG, 88 min. | Watch the trailer

Bernie

Starring: Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, Matthew McConaughey
Director: Richard Linklater
The Scoop: Hey, remember back when Black appeared in the sweet comedy "School of Rock?" Well, you may not remember that the movie was directed by Linklater. Since it was, though, it's not really a surprise that Black is back with his best performance in years, as a nice, pleasant man who ends up murdering his elderly girlfriend in order to give her money to the needy. That sounds just weird enough to be awesome, right?
Rated PG-13, 98 min. | Watch the trailer

Girl in Progress

Starring: Cierra Ramirez, Eva Mendes, Patricia Arquette, Matthew Modine
Director: Patricia Riggen
The Scoop: Not to be confused with "Girl, Interrupted," "Girl in Progress" charts the life of a teenager (Ramirez) trying to find her way in the world. Complicating matters is the fact that her relatively young mother (Mendes) is also struggling to figure out her own life as well, leading to the rare double coming of age story.
Rated PG-13, 90 min., limited | Watch the trailer

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Starring: Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, Dev Patel
Director: John Madden
The Scoop: This could just as easily be called "the best line-up of aging British thespians this side of 'Harry Potter.'" And actually, co-stars Nighy and Smith were both in "Harry Potter." This time, though, the magic revolves around retirees who head to India for their golden years only to learn their dream home is a ramshackle dump run by "Slumdog Millionaire"'s Patel. Then everybody falls in love. Guess someone put a spell on them.
Rated PG-13, 124 min., limited | Watch the trailer

L!fe Happens

Starring: Krysten Ritter, Kate Bosworth, Rachel Bilson
Director: Kat Coiro
The Scoop: "L!fe," which is apparently what happens when the shift button on your keyboard gets stuck, is a "Bridesmaids" style look at the lives a bunch of modern ladies and their dating woes. Ritter, who co-wrote the film, stars as a girl who tries to pick up a dude by pretending her best friend's baby is actually hers. Because there's nothing men love more than single women who have had babies with other dudes.
Rated R, 101 min., limited | Watch the trailer

Detention

Starring: Josh Hutcherson, Dane Cook, Spencer Locke
Director: Joseph Kahn
The Scoop: When a serial killer type begins menacing a high school with a very unlikely principal (Cook), said principal comes up with a clever idea to flush out the bad guy: Send all of the suspects to detention. Clever unless you happen to be one of the kids locked in a classroom with a murderer, that is. Hey, there's a flaw in every plan.
Rated R, 89 min., limited | Watch the trailer

Bad Ass

Starring: Danny Trejo, Charles S. Dutton, Ron Perlman
Director: Craig Moss
The Scoop: Trejo has long been regarded as a bona fide Hollywood badass, but now it's official, as he takes on the role of a man named Bad Ass in a movie called "Bad Ass." Trejo plays a, well, badass who becomes a media sensation when footage of him whopping a dude goes viral. Pretty soon, everybody wants to prove how though they are by taking him out, forcing him to become a reluctant vigilante. And then… he kicks everyone's ass. The end.
Rated R, 90 min., limited | Watch the trailer

Sound of My Voice

Starring: Christopher Denham, Nicole Vicius, Brit Marling
Director: Zal Batmanglij
The Scoop: Cults are creepy. Marling is cool. So what happens when you mix the two? You end up with "Sound of My Voice," a creepy new indie starring Marling as a cult leader being investigated by two journalists. They decide to go undercover to expose her lies, but once inside, can they get out? Or will they end up drinking the Kool-Aid? And is she actually lying at all? You know what you need to do to find out the answers.
Rated R, 84 min., limited | Watch the trailer

A Little Bit of Heaven

Starring: Kate Hudson, Gael Garcia Bernal, Kathy Bates
Director: Nicole Kassell
The Scoop: It's a proven fact: Cancer sucks. However, if you're going to have cancer, like Hudson's character does in the new rom-com "A Little Bit of Heaven," it's very handy to have a sexy single doctor like Bernal as your physician. Which Hudson's character also does. On the one hand, cancer. On the other hand, Bernal. Hey, when life gives you lemons, make love, apparently.
Rated PG-13, 106 min., limited | Watch the trailer

96 Minutes

Starring: Brittany Snow, Christian Serratos, Sharon Morris, Evan Ross
Director: Aimee Lagos
The Scoop: A lot can happen in 96 minutes. For instance, you can see a movie about four young folk (including "The Twilight Saga"'s Serratos) who end up in a car together during a carjacking. A favorite on the festival circuit, "96 Minutes" is a fast paced thriller. But not too fast paced, of course; otherwise this would be called "85 Minutes" instead.
Rated R, 93 min., limited | Watch the trailer

Marley

Starring: Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley, Rita Marley
Director: Kevin Macdonald
The Scoop: Bob Marley is a pop culture icon, so it's a bit of a surprise that there haven't been more high profile films about his life. Well, that's being rectified with this documentary that utilizes rare archival footage as well as interviews with people who knew Marley best, including his son Ziggy as well as other family members. The star treatment Marley deserves.
Rated PG-13, 144 min., limited | Watch the trailer

Darling Companion

Starring: Diane Keaton, Kevin Kline, Dianne Wiest
Director: Lawrence Kasdan
The Scoop: Director Kasdan knows a thing or two about romantic films (see: "The Bodyguard") and this time he adds a dash of comedy as well. But this isn't your typical rom-com, because it stars somewhat more mature and acclaimed actors, namely Keaton and Kline. The story is nominally about how Keaton loves her dog more than her husband up until he loses the dog, but it's really about watching these two stars create movie magic.
Rated PG-13, 103 min., limited | Watch the trailer