Crazy, Stupid, Love ****

A kind of modern American bedroom farce, "Crazy, Stupid, Love" examines the loves and longings of Cal (Steve Carell) and Emily (Julianne Moore) and their family, from the 13 year-old with a crush to the baby sitter and various others whose unexpected appearances make for for some of the movie's funniest moments. Cal and Emily's separation and impending divorce throw their lives into disarray, as suddenly single Cal learns the moves from smooth operator Jacob (Ryan Gosling) and Emily explores her affair with co-worker David (Kevin Bacon). Emma Stone plays a prominent part in a parallel story about a law student's aspirations for love and commitment. It's a first-rate cast with good material for all, and even the kid and the baby sitter get uncommonly serious treatment and provide uncommonly good performances. It's really more adult than the PG-13 rating, and adults will be the ones who go see it, and who will enjoy it.

Cowboys & Aliens ***

They had me when I heard the title, and the still from the movie above is more or less what I imagined I would see in "Cowboys & Aliens." While there are fascinating encounters between the two worlds, what we have here is a largely successful blend of mostly Western with sci-fi themes. We have the stranger come to town, who is an amnesiac with Ninja reflexes, a local strong man, the straight-arrow sheriff, a mysterious woman, a gang of thieves, and marauding Indians, all of whom must uneasily unite in the face of an evil alien invasion. The playout is exciting and fun in the way only special-effects-heavy comic book fantasy movies can be, but also satisfying in the way only a good old-fashioned Western can be. Harrison Ford and especially Daniel Craig are superb in their roles, and director Jon Favreau does a masterful job emulating and juggling the cinematic genres, and keeps it gritty.

How to Live Forever **

You get more of the flavor by paying attention to the asterisk in "How to Live Forever*" (*Results May Vary). Baby Boomer Mark Wexler travels the world looking for the secrets to long life, and interviews many researchers, hucksters, celebrities, funeral directors, centenarians, and the oddly badly-dressed old age verifier for the Guinness Book of World Records. It's often fascinating, and ends up being more of a movie about How to Live, forget the Forever part. It's also a bit disjointed, and could have used more focus in the writing and organization. Rent this one if your interested, but I wouldn't recommend a trip to the cinema to see it.

Friends With Benefits ***

Contemporary, witty, saucy, funny, fast-paced, and full of chemistry between two likable, attractive stars - what more could you ask for in a romantic comedy? "Friends with Benefits" follows Los Angeles art director Dylan (Justin Timberlake) who is lured to New York by headhunter Jamie (Mila Kunis). There is lots of the usual "meet cute," which is deft and feels authentic, and the two become friends after he takes the job.

Both are bouncing off unsuitable romantic entanglements and decide that it would be better just to have a "friend with benefits" than to get entangled again. OK, what happens from there may be predictable, but the journey is fun, and full of some delicious, unpredictable moments, like Woody Harrelson as an aggressively gay sports editor, and delightful cameos.

I also liked the movie's irreverence for its own cliches, as Dylan and Jamie watch rom coms together and talk about their ridiculous conventions, not to mention the obvious use of L.A. locations for New York. Oh look, there's the Statue of Liberty! Just beyond the palm trees! "Friends" is so cheeky, it does some of the same itself. It's an adult comedy, but does not stoop to raunchy comedy for its own sake, and slyly but knowingly forgoes some tried and trues while embracing others. It's fun.

Captain America: The First Avenger ****

An unexpectedly muscular and artistic origin movie, wonderfully evocative of the '40s, a sepia-toned, immersive 3D experience, "Captain America: The First Avenger" delivers on all levels. Chris Evans is perfectly cast, first morphed, Benjamin-Button like, into the spunky, skinny kid with heart who can't get into the WWII Army, transformed by an experiment into a paragon of physical prowess. Sent on the road as Captain America to sell war bonds rather than do any actual fighting, he gets his chance save a friend and his company while entertaining the troops in Italy. Evans' Steve Rogers is definitely qualified to stand alongside Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark and Chris Hemsworth's Thor in the upcoming Avenger movies.

Supporting players are all top notch: Stanley Tucci as the scientist, Dominic Cooper as a rich dare-devil government contractor, Tommy Lee Jones as the irascible commanding officer, the imposing Hugo Weaving as the megalomaniac du jour, the lovely Sebastian Stan as the best friend, and of course the cantilevered Hayley Atwell as the resourceful government agent, coach, and love interest. The music is rousingly patriotic, and the editing is sure-footed and clean.

But it is the look and feel of the movie that sets it apart. Much of this is doubtless due to the vision of director Joe Johnston, who has a background in special effects, but he has powerful collaborators in cinematographer Shelly Johnson and production designer Rick Heinrichs, who has created an award-caliber series of sets. Not since "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" have I seen such a complete vision of another time mixed with other-worldly technology, a steam punk tour de force.

Winnie the Pooh ****

The new "Winnie the Pooh" from Disney would be wonderful for kids in the early years of reading, but just fine for younger and older, too. There are layers of meaning and life lessons for all. And at just over an hour, it won't tax many attention spans. Hand drawn in the old style, and interspersed with forays onto the written page by various characters, this story of a day with a Very Important Thing To Do brings all of the beloved characters - Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Kanga, Roo, Owl, and poor Eeyore, who has lost his tail - into play with all of their characteristic foibles. It's also chocked full of new songs that will make this version a daily favorite for some young fans come DVD release, I'm sure. Voices are spot on, and the narration by John Cleese is superb.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 *****

A completely satisfying, epic conclusion to the film series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2" is the most grim, dark, and grownup installment of the most successful film franchise in history. The movie inserts us easily into the last quest of Harry and his faithful wizard lieutenants Ron and Hermione as they continue their mission to find and destroy the multiple objects that house the soul of Lord Voldemort. Shot entirely in IMAX 3D, it's fitting to have the latest gadgetry serve to heighten the drama, although it seldom calls attention to itself. The actors we have watched grow up have all matured in their craft, especially Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, and multiple Potter episodes director David Yates once again draws the very highest caliber performances from a thoroughbred stable of British acting talent. Special effects deliver a visceral punch at every turn, and composer Alexandre Desplat, who has been delivering amazing work lately ("The King's Speech," "The Tree of Life," "A Better Life") continues the dramatic and sweeping musical components he started in Pt. 1. This last of the Harry Potter movies deserves the huge box office it is sure to earn.

A Better Life ****

A moving story about an undocumented immigrant single father in Los Angeles working hard to provide for his teen age son, "A Better Life" vividly portrays the strands of life they both must deal with, from gangs to the uncertainties of day labor. Clearly estranged from each other at the beginning, a crisis brings them together as they embark on a quest to salvage the future which the father, Carlos Galindo, was building. Low key and dispassionate, the movie rings with authenticity and will pull you into its world. Mexican star Damian Bichir as the father, best known in the U.S. for a stint on "Weeds," is the steady, beating heart of the drama, and young Jose Julian brings fire to his role as the son learning some life lessons. Remarkable in the genre for dealing with a father and son relationship, "A Better Life" presents a perspective that will make you think about immigration in a new way.

Larry Crowne ***

Even though I knew I was being manipulated, and even though I knew that going to college in middle age after losing your job would not mean falling in with the cool crowd, and even though I knew that the chances of getting Julia Roberts as a professor were exceedingly slim, I still found myself smiling throughout "Larry Crowne." Tom Hanks, as star/writer/director suffuses this movie with his own sunny personality, and you just want to believe that good guys will win out in the end, and that hard work in college will pay off, even if it didn't when you gave your all to the big box store that used you up and tossed you aside. It's a fairy tale version of life after the harsh reality of contemporary retail capitalism, but one you want to embrace and enjoy. Supporting players are all fine, and the pacing is good, which speak well to Hanks' skill as a director in what I think is his first time behind the camera. But the script is too weak to support all of the superstructure, and wastes a great opportunity for Hanks and Roberts, who do have on-screen chemistry, to really connect.

Page One: Inside the New York Times ****

A fascinating and timely look at the U.S. newspaper of record in a year of sweeping changes in media usage patterns, as newspaper advertising income drops 30% at the same time readership on competing outlets on the Internet increases, and paper after paper goes out of business or into bankruptcy. Focusing largely on the Media desk and editor David Carr, "Page One" provides an intimate look at the jockeying for A1 story placement and how the Times is responding and adapting to the changing media landscape. There are no easy answers, and no clear way forward, punctuated by the layoff of 100 of the paper's 1400 journalists, but there is a clear sense of the institution's dedication to integrity and the real value of on-the-round journalism versus online aggregators and bloggers.

Horrible Bosses ****

Funny, inventive, quirky, and foul-mouthed raunchy, "Horrible Bosses" is a welcome adult comedy in the post-Apatow tradition. Chocked full of fine comedic turns by a truly stellar cast, it's also a showcase for actors you wouldn't expect to see together. The story follows three buddies, played in low key by Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jason Sudeikis, who suffer daily from over-the-top horrible bosses. And the bosses, all certifiable, are played to the hilt by Jennifer Aniston as a sexually voracious dentist, Kevin Spacey as a castrating corporate megalomaniac, and an unrecognizable Colin Farrell as a comb-over playboy cokehead. Trapped by circumstances, including the economy and other pressures, the trio decide that murder is their only way out. What happens when these white bread brothers embark on a criminal plot is embarrassingly hysterical. It's great fun and rated R for good reason.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon IMAX 3D *

Huge, impressive, expensive special effects battle scenes, screeching scenes of destruction, and the totally improbable survival of the major human characters once again define the latest installment of Michael Bay's Transformer series. This time instead of re-writing ancient history, "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" rewrites recent history, explaining the moon race as a mission to investigate an alien spaceship that crashed on the other side of the moon.

The movie is high on visual style, and features a particularly decorative girlfriend for Sam Witwicky (Victoria's Secret supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whitely), who was doubtless chosen for this part because of her amazing ability to come out of the most harrowing dangers, like free falling from skyscrapers and sliding down the glass sides of tilting buildings, with her high heels still on and intact. Shia LaBeouf and Josh Duhamel return, with some welcome characterizations from Frances McDormand, Patrick Dempsey, and John Malkovich.

The plot again pits the robot Decepticons against our friends the robot Autobots. Through a series of twists too ridiculous to recount, it becomes necessary for the Decepticons to lay waste to Chicago. I must say it's nice to see another metropolis besides New York, Tokyo, or L.A. suffer an apocalypse. The movie is just what you would expect, although about half an hour longer than even the most rabid fan would ask for.

The Trip ***

When his girlfriend backs out of a planned trip to great northern England restaurants for The Observer, actor/writer/producer Steve Coogan must take his best friend and source of eternal aggravation, Rob Brydon. This movie documents their trip and conversations along the way on their week-long road trip. There are moments of high hilarity, as Brydon trots out his repertoire of impressions, and they both speculate about the lives of the famous writers whose homes and heaths they visit. But there's always an undercurrent, as Coogan indifferently beds a succession of women and deals on the phone with his ex-wife, son, agents, assistants, and girlfriend on assignment in the U.S., and confronts his middle age and stalled career. It's an interesting slice of life effort with a bleak final image, of Coogan in his posh London apartment, alone, surveying the foggy view.