Friends With Kids ***

When they see what happens to the relationships of their friends when they have kids, the two best friends in the group decide they won't make the same mistake. They decide to have a kid, but remain happily single. Of course it doesn't exactly work out as they expected, and like the similarly named "Friends with Benefits," where two friends decided to have the fun of sex without the entanglements of emotions, life and love tend to happen.

Distinguished by snappy dialogue and couples you can believe live and work in New York, "Friends with Kids" is a fresh and funny examination of couples of a certain age, working through the challenges of raising kids. Director/ writer/ producer Jennifer Westfeldt is also the perfectly cast Julie, the beautiful, witty, too smart BFF of Jason, a debonaire Adam Scott, who channels Cary Grant in his handsome, wise-cracking heyday. The couples of their group include a tasty salad of types, and feature terrific performances by Jon Hamm, Kristin Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'Dowd, Megan Fox, and Edward Burns. It's an adult comedy and a welcome respite from the usual featherweight stories we see too much of.

Coriolanus ****

Bloody and violent, with staccato speeches rapid as machine gun fire, this "Coriolanus" is set in some present day generic Eastern European state where the politics of Rome overlay surprisingly well. Speeches about off-stage developments flow easily from news readers on flat screen televisions, and the plotting of spineless politicians knows no boundaries of time or age. Ralph Feinnes, who both directed and stars in this seldom seen tragedy of "Shakespeare's Rambo," establishes early on the war hero's devotion first to his craft - fighting and warfare - and secondly, if at all, to the people. It's a story of pride and revenge, and the destruction it wreaks on family and state. Feinnes is outstanding. Vanessa Redgrave reigns as his mother in the Spartan mold, Volumnia, and Jessica Chastain is luminous as his confused, devoted wife, Virgilia. Gerard Butler also gets a real role, and acquits himself well as Coriolanus' rival, Aufidius.

Mirror, Mirror **

"Mirror Mirror" features fanciful, gorgeous costumes, elaborate sets, and a comic, slightly ironic retelling of the story of Snow White and the evil queen. But this spectacle is rather hollow in the end, with cardboard cutout figures moving through tableaux on the stage, as if moved by unseen strings and magnets under the floorboards. While I admire the sheer audacity and lushness of Tarsem Singh's imagination, there is too often, as here, a tendency to dwell on the surface, the trappings rather than involve the audience. For me, nothing he has done since has matched the magical mixture of "The Fall" (2006), where flights of fantastical imaginings and fabulous fables were balanced with a real story of hurting people finding their way.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi ****

Jiro is Jiro Ono, 85-year-old master sushi chef, who has devoted his life to his 10-seat restaurant in the Tokyo subway, an establishment Michelin has awarded three stars, which means it's worth a journey to the country to eat there. Jiro is a perfectionist, well-known to his suppliers, who will offer only those fish they know will meet his standards, an exacting boss and teacher of his sons and employees, and a very hard worker. This straight-forward documentary shows us every aspect of his life, details his history, and, like the best work of the genre, shows his relationship to his city and its culture, and gives us a sense of the changes he has seen in his long career. It helps if you love sushi, but even a strictly beef and potatoes viewer will understand his attention to quality and consistency, his pursuit of a purity of experience, and an artist's love of his medium. The film, like Jiro, is an outstanding example of its kind.

The Hunger Games ***

"The Hunger Games" depicts the barbaric hunt and battle to the death of young "tributes" in a dystopian future, chosen to represent their starving districts for the entertainment of the fortunate 1% in the capital and the distraction of the poor 99% back home. As one of the approximately 11 people who have not read the book, I found it a chilling alternate universe, fleshed out convincingly and well-imagined. Many of those who have read the book have complained of the lack of detail and back story, but that is the way of all movies, and at least the author, Suzanne Collins, was involved and has a screenplay credit, which is generally interpreted as a seal of approval.

The young heroine Katniss Everdeen, convincingly played by Jennifer Lawrence, who was such a standout in "Winter's Bone" in a role that has more than a few similarities, is well-prepared for the hunting game, not by training, but by her hardscrabble life. She forms an alliance of convenience with the other tribute from her district, Peetah, a softly appealing Josh Hutcherson. Woody Harrelson as the alcoholic coach, and Stanley Tucci as a purple-haired future reincarnation of Ryan Seacrest add depth and verve to the show. I found it quite interesting, but I think fans of the book will enjoy the film most.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen ****

When a government fisheries expert is drafted by the prime minister's office into a scheme to help a prominent sheik realize his dream of bringing salmon fishing to his desert kingdom, you might expect a bit of, ahem, swimming upstream. Ewan McGregor is the hapless functionary who must help the government, represented by an acid-tongued and very funny Kristin Scott Thomas, and the sheik's investment house, represented by a beautiful and really smart banker played by Emily Blunt (I know, type-casting). Director Lasse Hallstrom ("Chocolat," "The Cider House Rules") does a fine job with a small budget. Amr Waked ("Syriana") brings some nuance to the role of the sheik in a role studded with land mines. The chemistry between McGregor and Blunt is palpable, and the story is a small parable about how we might help people help themselves. I thought it was terrific.

This Means War **

The idea is engaging and provides for a mix of technology-heavy action with an old rom-com story: two best-friend CIA agents fall for the same girl and use their wiles in an all-out contest for her affections. But it's a difficult mix to maintain, since the fights and brawls need a little edge to avoid being totally cartoonish, but too much realism destroys the romantic comedy aura. The result is an uneven picture with some good moments, not a new model for a subset of the genre. An attractive cast of Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy, and Chris Pine are very entertaining, and Chelsea Handler as Witherspoon's sister gives scene-stealing advice from the other side of matrimony. "This Means War" is not a bad choice if you're in the mood for a slightly different kind of romance.