At the Movies: ‘Flight,’ ‘Wreck-It Ralph,’ more

Denzel Washington stars in 'Flight' as airline pilot who saves a plane from crashing. --Paramount Pictures

OPENS TODAY

‘Flight’
Denzel Washington plays an airline pilot who saves a flight from crashing, but an investigation into the malfunctions reveals something troubling. (R, 138 minutes)

‘The Man with the Iron Fists’
On the hunt for a fabled treasure of gold, a band of warriors, assassins and a rogue British soldier descend upon a village in feudal China, where a humble blacksmith looks to defend himself and his fellow villagers. RZA, Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu and Cung Le star. (R, 96 minutes) (Review not available.)

‘Wreck-It Ralph’ 1/2
The latest Disney animated feature is about a video game villain who wants to be a hero and sets out to fulfill his dream, but his quest brings havoc to the whole arcade where he lives. (PG, 108 minutes)

LIMITED RELEASE

‘Amber Alert’
When a group of friends decide to follow a car they’ve seen posted on an Amber Alert, things start to go very wrong. (R, 80 minutes)

Will Ferrell stars in 'The Campaign.' --Warner Bros.

NOW PLAYING

‘Alex Cross’
Based on the character from the best-selling novels by James Patterson, Tyler Perry plays the homicide detective/psychologist who meets his match in a serial killer (Matthew Fox). This movie is a good example of what a seriously talented director — in this case, Rob Cohen — can do with a terrible script. Cohen compensates by taking every bit of action and pumping it up, making something that could have been unwatchable into almost something worth seeing. (Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle) (PG-13, 101 minutes)

‘Argo’
As the Iranian revolution reaches a boiling point, a CIA “exfiltration” specialist concocts a risky plan to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador. Ben Affleck directs and stars in this seamless blend of detailed international drama and breathtaking suspense, with just the right amount of dry humor to provide context and levity. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press) (R, 120 minutes)

‘Chasing Mavericks’ 1/2
When a young surfer discovers that the mythic Mavericks surf break, one of the biggest waves on Earth, exists just miles from his home, he enlists the help of a local legend to train him to survive it. The mentor-student relationship works here and the surfing footage is awe-inspiring, but the movie is a bit overlong. (Roger Moore, McClatchy Newspapers) (PG, 116 minutes)

‘Cloud Atlas’ 1/2
An exploration of how the actions of individual lives affect one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution. Tom Hanks and Halle Berry star in this bloated, pseudo-intellectual, self-indulgent slog through some notions that are really facile. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press) (R, 172 minutes)

‘Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel’
This dizzily enjoyable documentary is a look at the life and work of the fabulous wit and influential fashion editor of Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue magazines. (Manohla Dargis, New York Times) (PG-13, 86 minutes)

‘End of Watch’
Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena play police officers who are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel during a routine traffic stop. The movie is a vivid series of impressionistic sketches of a year in the lives of these L.A. patrolmen, and the main actors fully inhabit their well-rounded characters. (Roger Moore, McClatchy Newspapers) (R, 109 minutes)

‘Frankenweenie’
Young Victor conducts a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life, only to face unintended, sometimes monstrous consequences. Tim Burton expands his original 1984 animated short into a beautifully bizarre feature-length film, a visual and thematic return to the best Burton has offered in his earliest films, such as “Edward Scissorhands” and “Beetlejuice.” (Christy Lemire, Associated Press) (PG, 87 minutes)

‘Fun Size’
A girl’s Halloween plans go awry when she’s made to baby-sit her brother, who disappears into a sea of trick-or-treaters. With her best friend and two nerds at her side, she needs to find her brother before their mom finds out he’s missing. Well written but weakly executed, the movie covers the high school party comedy checklist well, but it doesn’t make its own mark on the genre. (Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle) (PG-13, 90 minutes)

‘Here Comes the Boom’
Kevin James plays a high school biology teacher who tries to become a successful mixed martial arts fighter in an effort to raise money to prevent extracurricular activities from being axed at his financially strapped school. The movie’s attempt to balance silliness and seriousness is undermined by the flat-out absurdity of the premise, and considering how inevitable the story is, the movie feels long. (Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle) (PG, 105 minutes)

‘Hotel Transylvania’ 1/2
In this animated movie, Dracula, who operates a high-end resort away from the human world, goes into overprotective mode when a boy discovers the resort and falls for the count’s teenage daughter. Veteran Cartoon Network director Genndy Tartakovsky brings an undeniable visually zippy style to the movie, but the ghost of a script provides him with little substance. (Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter) (PG, 91 minutes)

‘Looper’ 1/2
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis star in this science-fiction film set in the future where mob targets are sent 30 years into the past where a hired gun awaits. Director Rian Johnson has made a compelling film that establishes the machinery of the time-travel concept, then steadily pushes it into the background in favor for exploring his characters and the difficult questions they face. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press) (R, 118 minutes)

‘Paranormal Activity 4′
It’s been five years since the disappearance of Katie and Hunter in the second sequel, and a suburban family witnesses strange events in their neighborhood when a woman and a mysterious child move in. This new installment adds very little new information while playing out the inevitably unpleasant outcomes that await the characters, preferring to recycle plot elements from previous films. (Justin Lowe, Hollywood Reporter) (R, 88 minutes)

‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’
An introverted high school freshman is taken under the wings of two seniors who welcome him to the real world. Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller star in this funny and touching coming-of-age story, which is principally a showcase for the pretty young cast, notably Miller, who brings texture to his witty if sensitive gay quipster. (Manohla Dargis, New York Times) (PG, 87 minutes)

‘Pitch Perfect’ 1/2
A college freshman is cajoled into joining her school’s all-girl singing group, where the Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition. This is a frothy, funny, dizzy and derivative farce stuffed with comic caricatures, hilarious one-liners and blessed with a cast that’s up to a little song-and-dance. (Roger Moore, McClatchy Newspapers) (PG-13, 112 minutes)

‘Seven Psychopaths’
A struggling screenwriter inadvertently becomes entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends kidnap a gangster’s beloved Shih Tzu. Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson and Christopher Walken star in this profane, gruesome and hysterically over-the-top movie. (Roger Moore, McClatchy Newspapers) (R, 109 minutes)

‘Silent Hill: Revelation 3D’ 1/2
In this sequel to the popular horror video game, Heather Mason is drawn into a strange and terrifying alternate reality that holds answers to the horrific nightmares that have plagued her since childhood. The movie quickly devolves into a smorgasbord of sutured faces and blades poking the viewer in the eye. (Ethan Gilsdorf, Boston Globe) (R, 94 minutes)

‘Sinister’ 1/2
Found footage helps a true-crime novelist realize how and why a family was murdered in his new home, though his discoveries put his entire family in the path of a supernatural entity. This modestly creepy blend of “The Ring” and “The Shining” whiffs on a horror film fundamental: Nobody seems that scared. (Roger Moore, McClatchy Newspapers) (R, 110 minutes)

‘Tai Chi Zero’
A young man, who travels to a peaceful village to learn a powerful martial arts form, becomes the best hope for survival for the townsfolk when a man arrives with a plan to build a railroad through the village. This cross-cultural steampunk/martial arts/comic-book Sino-Anglo mash-up is visually entertaining and littered with in-jokes and references to other movies. (Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram) (PG-13, 100 minutes)

‘Taken 2′ 1/2
Liam Neeson stars in the sequel to the 2008 hit. In Istanbul, retired CIA operative Bryan Mills and his wife are taken hostage by the father of a kidnapper Mills killed while rescuing his daughter. The movie turns out to be a lethargic retread and is strikingly unoriginal. (Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram) (PG-13, 91 minutes)

‘This Guy’s in Love with U, Mare!’
Heartbroken that his longtime crush is now attached to a woman, a gay man sets out to ruin that relationship by pretending to be straight and courting the affections of his love’s girlfriend. Luis Manzano, Toni Gonzaga and Vice Ganda star in this Filipino comedy. (NR, 105 minutes)

ARTHOUSE

DORIS DUKE THEATRE

Honolulu Museum of Art, 900 S. Beretania St., entry on Kinau Street (532-8768); $10 general, $8 museum members (tickets also available online at www.honolulumuseum.org):

Shield Your Eyes with Schuyler Tsuda, Matt McVickar and Jim Hearon
7:30 p.m. today ($15 general, $12 museum members)
Live experimental music accompanies three noted avant-garde films: The Brothers Quay’s “Street of Crocodiles” (1987); “The Heart of the World,” by Guy Maddin (2000); and Kenneth Anger’s notorious “Lucifer Rising” (1972).

Human Rights Festival: ‘Salaam Dunk,’ with short ‘Bouly le campeur’
1 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday (evening screening includes reception, $15 general, $12 museum members)
“Salaam” is a documentary about an Iraqi women’s basketball team at the American University of Iraq-Sulaimani in Kurdistan. (2011, 82 minutes)

‘Call Me Kuchu’ and ‘This Way Out’
1 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday
“Kuchu” is an openly gay man in Uganda who sacrifices his life fighting to repeal his country’s homophobic laws. The other documentary tells the story of three individuals who escaped persecution from their home countries because of their homosexuality, claiming refugee status in the U.S. (90 minutes / 2004, 32 minutes)

‘The Return of the War Room,’ with shorts ‘Testify! A Voice for Human Rights in the U.S.’ and ‘The Universal Declaration of Human Rights’
7:30 p.m. Monday
“The Return” is a thought-provoking look at how the political and media landscapes have changed since Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker’s revealing and irreverent documentary on the 1992 Clinton presidential election. (2008, 82 minutes)

‘Bidder 70,’ with shorts Stories of TRUST: Calling for Climate Recovery
1 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
“Bidder 70″ is the story of environmental activist Tim DeChristopher, who used an act of civil disobedience to derail a Bureau of Land Management oil and gas auction in Utah. (73 minutes)

‘The Lady,’ with shorts ‘Courage’ and ‘The Power of Words’
1 and 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Michelle Yeoh plays Aung San Suu Kyi, the inspirational figure at the core of Burma’s democracy movement, in this dramatic tribute by Luc Besson. (2011, 132 minutes)

MOVIE MUSEUM

66 Harding Ave. (735-8771): $5 general, $4 members; reservations recommended:

‘Eliminate: Archie Cookson’
Noon, 1:30, 3 and 9 p.m. today; and 5:15 and 8:30 p.m. Monday
A washed-up British spy becomes the target of a psychopathic hit man sent to retrieve stolen tapes that land on the spy’s desk in “Eliminate.” (2011, 91 minutes)

‘The Campaign’
4:30, 6 and 7:30 p.m. today; and noon, 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday
Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis star in this comedy about the efforts of two powerful CEOs trying to oust a longtime North Carolina congressman. (85 minutes)

‘The Mourning Forest’
Noon, 1:45, 3:30, 5:15, 7 and 8:45 p.m. Saturday
In this Japanese drama, a caregiver at a small retirement home takes one of her patients for a drive to the country, but the two wind up stranded in a forest where they embark on an exhausting and enlightening two-day journey. (2007, 97 minutes)

‘Safety Not Guaranteed’
3:15, 4:45 and 8 p.m. Sunday
Three magazine employees in Washington state head out on an assignment to interview a man who placed a classified ad seeking a companion for time travel in “Safety Not Guaranteed.” (86 minutes)

‘Criss Cross’
Noon, 1:45, 3:30 and 7 p.m. Monday
Burt Lancaster, Yvonne DeCarlo and Dan Duryea star in this landmark film noir about a truck driver and his ex-wife, who conspire with a gang to have his own truck robbed en route. (1949, 88 minutes)

‘The Brain’
Noon, 2 and 6:15 p.m. Thursday
David Niven and Jean-Paul Belmondo star in this comic crime caper restored to its uncut and undubbed version. (1969, 115 minutes)

‘Greed in the Sun’
2:45, 4:30 and 6:15 p.m. Sunday
Jean-Paul Belmondo stars in this adventure comedy set in Morocco about a truck loaded with valuable goods making its way across the Sahara. (1964, 130 minutes)

BODY & SPIRIT DOCUMENTARY FILM SERIES

Still & Moving Center, 1024 Queen St. (397-7678); $5:

‘Connected’
6:30 p.m. Sunday
“Connected” is Tiffany Shlain’s “autoblogography” about love, death and technology. (85 minutes)

MONDAY MOVIE CAFE

TheVenue, 1146 Bethel St. (436-4326); $10, $5 students

‘The Pruitt-Igoe Myth’
7 p.m. Monday
“Myth” is a historical documentary about the wholesale changes that took place in American cities in the decades after World War II through the story of the infamous housing development in St. Louis. (2011, 83 minutes)