"ANOTHER EARTH" HHH 1/2 (PG-13). CineArts Sequoia A new planet four times the size of the moon, appears in the sky of Earth. Searching for it out her car window, a young woman (Brit Marling) causes a car crash, killing a mother and child and sending the father (William Mapother) into a coma. After he emerges from the coma, she contrives to work as his housecleaner, and they develop a fragile relationship without him realizing who she is. The presence of Earth 2 in the sky suggests alternative lifelines we could have lived. Marling makes an impressive debut, and the film is thought-provoking. 92 minutes
"THE CHANGE-UP" H 1/2 (R) CineArts Marin, Century Larkspur Landing, Century Northgate, Century Rowland Plaza, Fairfax Theatre, Tiburon Playhouse . One of the dirtiest-minded mainstream releases in history. It has a low opinion of men, a lower opinion of women and the lowest opinion of the intelligence of its audience. It is obscene, foul-mouthed, scatological, creepy and perverted. Starring Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman as best buddies whose minds are switched between their bodies, providing
the occasion for them to act as crude beings with no respect for decency. The film goes out of its way to be vulgar and offensive. From Roger Ebert. 101 minutes.
"CRIME AFTER CRIME" Not yet reviewed. Not yet rated. Smith Rafael Film Center. Yoav Potash's award-winning documentary tells the story of the legal battle to free Debbie Peagler, an incarcerated survivor of domestic violence. Her cause is taken up by two volunteer attorneys: Joshua Safran, who witnessed spousal abuse as a child and whose identity as an Orthodox Jew fuels his work on the case, and Nadia Costa, a former social worker for Children's Protective Services in Los Angeles (Costa joins a discussion moderated by Marisa Gonzales of California Coalition of Women Prisoners at 7 p.m. Aug. 5). From Smith Rafael Film Center. 93 min.
"The Guard" HHH1/2 (R)Century Regency, Brendan Gleeson is wonderful as an Irish cop with shaky standards; he steals drugs from accident victims, parties with hookers and deals in graft. But he loves his mother. Partnered against his will on a big drug case with an FBI agent (Don Cheadle), he rises to the occasion, but not before much dialogue of sly wit. A rich human comedy with a gripping ending and much humor along the way. From Roger Ebert. 95 minutes.
"RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES" HHH (PG-13). Century Cinema, Century Northgate, Century Rowland Plaza, Fairfax Theatre. James Franco stars as a scientist who tests an anti-Alzheimer's drug on chimpanzees and finds it dramatically increases their intelligence. After the experiment is called off, he brings a baby chimp home, and Caesar (a motion-capture performance by Andy Serkis) flourishes until he rebels after being sent to an unkind primate shelter. With Freida Pinto as a beautiful primatologist, John Lithgow as an Alzheimer's victim. The movie has its pleasures, although the chimps seem smarter than the humans. From Roger Ebert. 105 minutes.
"BRIDESMAIDS" HHH 1/2 (R) Century Northgate. Kristen Wiig's new comedy is about a group of women friends who are as cheerfully vulgar as the guys in "The Hangover." Wiig plays Annie, whose Milwaukee bakery shop has just gone bust, and whose longtime friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) is getting married. Naturally, she expects to be maid of honor, but begins to fear a rival in Helen (Rose Byrne), the rich and overconfident trophy wife of the groom's boss. Gifted with getting in her own way, she creates havoc during a bachelorette trip to Vegas; the level of raunch approaches "The Hangover," and is sometimes sort of brilliant. From Roger Ebert. 128 minutes.
"BUCK" HHH (PG) Smith Rafael Film Center. Buck Brannaman was the original "horse whisperer," the character Nicholas Evans based his novel on and Robert Redford used as the on-set consultant for his 1998 film. Traveling the country giving clinics, he's an advocate for an empathetic approach to horses in which firm kindness is used that respects a horse's feelings. We learn that Buck was beaten as a child, and we intuit that he treats horses as he wishes he had been treated. Wonderful horse scenes and a touching portrait of a good man. From Roger Ebert. 88 minutes.
"CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER" HHH (PG-13) Century Larkspur Landing, Century Northgate, Century Rowland Plaza. A real movie, not a noisy assembly of incomprehensible special effects. Of course it's loaded with CGI, but it has texture and properly tells a full story. Chris Evans stars as Steve Rogers, a puny kid who is transformed into a muscular superhero and battles a Nazi uber-villain known as the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving). With Hayley Atwell as a sultry WAC, Tommy Lee Jones as an Army colonel, Stanley Tucci as a scientist and Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, who will go on to develop Iron Man. From Roger Ebert. 125 minutes.
"CARS 2" HHH 1/2 (G) Century Northgate. The inventor of a new alternative fuel (voice by Eddie Izzard) sponsors a World Grand Prix, which comes down to a duel between Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) and Francesco Bernoulli (John Turturro). They get mixed up in a secret war involving defenders of fossil fuels and the British spies Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) and Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer). Great fun by the animation master John Lasseter, and better than "Cars" (2006). See it in 2D if you can. From Roger Ebert. 107 minutes.
"COWBOYS & ALIENS" HHH (PG-13) Century Larkspur Landing, Century Northgate, Century Rowland Plaza, Fairfax Theatre. Without any doubt the most cockamamie plot I've witnessed in many a moon. Daniel Craig is a stagecoach robber with amnesia, Harrison Ford is a tyrannical rancher, Sam Rockwell is a saloon keeper, Olivia Wilde is a pretty lady who's not from around these parts. The aliens are throwbacks to classic bug-eyed monsters. I liked the Western material more than the aliens, but then, that's the way I am. As preposterous moneymakers go, it's wildly inventive. Directed by Jon Favreau. From Roger Ebert. 118 minutes.
"CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE." HHH (PG-13) Century Regency, Century Rowland Plaza, CineArts Sequoia, Fairfax Theatre, Tiburon Playhouse. A sweet romantic comedy about good-hearted people. Imagine that. No snark. No raunch. Steve Carell and Julianne Moore balance on the edge of divorce, Emma Stone plays a sweetheart, Marisa Tomei steals scenes, and Analeigh Tipton and Jonah Bobo are cute as an impossible teenage couple. Oh, and Ryan Gosling plays a lounge lizard and lady-killer. Yes. Ryan Gosling. And very well, too. From Roger Ebert. 117 minutes.
"FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS" HHH (R) Century Regency, CineArts Marin. Follows romcom formulas as if directed by an autopilot, but that's not to say it isn't fun. Mila Kunis plays Jamie, an executive headhunter in New York City. Justin Timberlake plays Dylan, the hotshot behind a popular website. They agree to have sex without emotional attachment, and you know how well that works. But they're both the real thing when it comes to light comedy. Not a great movie, but I enjoyed them in it. From Roger Ebert. 109 minutes.
"HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2" HHH 1/2 (PG-13) Century Larkspur Landing, Century Northgate, Century Rowland Plaza, Fairfax Theatre. After seven earlier films reaching back a decade, the Harry Potter saga comes to a solid and satisfying finale. The time has come for Harry to face Lord Voldemort in their final showdown, and their conflict is staged in a series of dramatic sequences containing power and conviction. Many of the familiar characters from earlier in the series are brought back onstage for a last hurrah. From Roger Ebert. 131 minutes.
"HORRIBLE BOSSES" HHH 1/2 (R) CineArts Marin, Lark Theater, Century Regency. Very funny and very dirty, in about that order. Involves three horrible bosses and three employees who vow to murder them. The movie works because of how truly horrible the bosses are, what pathetic victims the employees are, and how bad the employees are at killing. Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Aniston stand out in a strong cast including Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx and Charlie Day. From Roger Ebert. 100 minutes.
"MIDNIGHT IN PARIS" HHH 1/2 (PG-13) Century Regency, Lark Theater, Tiburon Playhouse. Woody Allen's enchanting new comedy stars Owen Wilson as an American who visits Paris with his fiancee (Rachel McAdams), and finds himself seduced by dreams of living there in the 1920s when Hemingway and Fitzgerald hung out at Gertrude Stein's fabled salon. With charm and whimsy, Allen tickles the fantasies of everyone who ever loved an American lit class. With Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, French first lady Carla Bruni, Marion Cotillard and Michael Sheen. From Roger Ebert. 94 minutes.
"THE NAMES OF LOVE" HHH (R) Smith Rafael Film Center. A French comedy about an odd couple: An uninhibited young woman (Sara Forestier) who sleeps with "fascists" to convert them to her left-wing notions, and a middle-aged scientist (Jacques Gamblin) who specializes in bird diseases. He is half-Jewish, she half-Arab; their relationship opens the door to a satire of French politics. Sara Forestier won this year's Cesar Award as best actress. From Roger Ebert. 84 minutes.
"THE SMURFS" HHH (PG) Century Northgate, Century Rowland Plaza. The Muppets took Manhattan, so why not the Smurfs? The little blue trolls with the mushroom homes and the most aggravating theme song in musical history invade Manhattan in a bright, broad live-action, computer-animated comedy. It may not be the family film least insulting to its audience's intelligence this season. Still, "The Smurfs" has brains, heart and style. From Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune. 109 minutes.
"THE TREE" Not yet reviewed. Not rated. Lark Theater. In this drama directed by Julie Bertucelli, a young girl in the Australian countryside becomes convinced that her late father's spirit lives on in a giant fig tree. Starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Morgana Davies and Marton Csokas. 100 minutes.
"THE TREE OF LIFE" HHHH (PG-13) Smith Rafael Film Center. A film of vast ambition and deep humility, attempting no less than to encompass all of existence and view it through the prism of a few infinitesimal lives. Terrence Malick remembers his boyhood in Waco, Texas, in deep and loving detail, and in the self-discovery of the characters, he shows humans feeling their way through the immensity of time and space. A masterpiece. With Brad Pitt as the father, the ethereal Jessica Chastain as the mother, Hunter McCracken as the oldest son, and Sean Penn as the son in adulthood. From Roger Ebert. 138 minutes.
"WINNIE THE POOH" HHH (G) Century Northgate. A sweet, innocuous children's movie based on the enduring tale of goings-on in Hundred Acre Wood. Obviously intended for gradeschoolers and below, it may be appreciated by adults who grew up reading the A.A. Milne books with drawings by E.H. Shepard, because the animation style draws much from Shepard and the words on the pages are sometimes made to seem real. This could make a nice introduction to moviegoing for a small child. From Roger Ebert. 69 minutes.
"ZOOKEEPER" HHH (PG) Century Northgate. A good-natured comedy about how the animals at the zoo coach Kevin James on his romantic life. Since he ends up with Rosario Dawson, they must know what they're talking about. What it comes down to is a buddy movie where the best buddy is a gorilla. The animals all talk, and are voiced by such as Nick Nolte, Adam Sandler, Sylvester Stallone and Cher. From Roger Ebert. 104 minutes.
"BENJI" — Lark Theater, 549 Magnolia Ave., Larkspur; 924-5111; www.larktheater.net. Aug. 6, 11 a.m.: An endearing stray dog saves two children in this 1974 classic. 85 mininutes. Rated G. $5
"31st ANNUAL SAN FRANCISCO JEWIH FILM FESTIVAL — Smith Rafael Film Center, 1118 Fourth St., San Rafael; 454-1222; www.cafilm.org. Aug. 6 to 8: The annual film fest includes "Incessant Visions: Letters From an Architect," "Bobby Fischer Against the World," "Little Rose" and others. Advance tickets available at sfjff.org. $10.50 to $12.
FILM NIGHT IN THE PARK — Creek Park, 400 block of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, San Anselmo; 272-2756; www.filmnight.org. Aug. 5, 8 p.m.: "Gasland." Donations.
READ IT/WATCH IT TEEN SUMMER CINEMA — Sausalito Public Library, City Hall Council Chambers, 420 Litho St.; 289-4121; www.ci.sausalito.ca.us/library. Aug. 9, 7 p.m.: "Sherlock Holmes." Free.
LIMITLESS — (PG-13, 105 minutes, 2011). We use only a small percentage of our brains. Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) takes a pill that suddenly puts his entire brain online. He finishes his novel at typing speed, wins at poker, invests in the market and runs it up to millions. The girl who dumped him (Abbie Cornish) takes him back. Robert De Niro plays a billionaire who hires him. But everything depends on a supply of the pills. POTICHE — (R, 103 minutes, 2011). A whimsical comedy, based on a Parisian stage success, with Catherine Deneuve as the placid wife of a mean-tempered factory boss, and Gerard Depardieu as the local communist mayor. When the workers take the husband hostage, it's up to the wife and the mayor to reconcile the situation, and in the process they revive some of their own old memories. No big deal, but pleasant, if only to see these two legends working so effortlessly together. SOUL SURFER — (PG, 106 minutes, 2011). Based on the true story of Bethany Hamilton (AnnaSophia Robb), a champion surfer who in her early teens was attacked by a shark and lost almost all her left arm. One month later, she was back on a surfboard, has won several championships and is, at age 21, a professional surfer. A story of remarkable resilience and determination, but so cheerful and upbeat it scarcely seems convincing. Surely there was more anguish and despair? Some flagging of resolve? With Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt as the parents, and Sonya Balmores as a mean-spirited competitor.
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