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At the Movies: ‘Identity Thief,’ ‘Side Effects,’ more

OPENS TODAY

‘Identity Thief’
A mild-mannered businessman travels from Denver to Miami to confront the deceptively harmless-looking woman who has been living it up after stealing his identity. Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy star. (R, 111 minutes)

‘Side Effects’
The lives of a successful New York couple unravel when a new drug is prescribed by the wife’s psychiatrist to treat her anxiety. Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Channing Tatum star. (R, 90 minutes)

‘Top Gun: An IMAX 3D Experience’
The Tom Cruise action favorite from 1986 gets the deluxe treatment, digitally remastered for IMAX and 3-D projection. At Regal Dole Cannery (PG, 110 minutes)

LIMITED RELEASE

‘Lost in Thailand’
Two rival Chinese business managers fly to Thailand where the company’s chairman is on retreat, and instead meet up with an unexpected travel companion. At Consolidated Kahala and Pearlridge (NR, 105 minutes)

‘The Sorcerer and the White Snake’
Jet Li plays a sorcerer fighting for the soul of a young physician who has fallen in love with a woman whose true identity is that of a 1,000-year-old snake demon. At Consolidated Kapolei and Pearlridge (PG-13, 100 minutes)

OPENS THURSDAY

‘Beautiful Creatures’
A young man and woman uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history and their small Southern town. (PG-13, 89 minutes)

‘Escape from Planet Earth’
In this animated feature, an astronaut finds himself caught in a trap when he responds to a distress signal from a notoriously dangerous alien planet. (PG, 95 minutes)

‘A Good Day to Die Hard’
Bruce Willis returns as John McClane, who this time travels to Russia to help out his seemingly wayward son and finds out instead he’s a CIA operative working to prevent a nuclear-weapons heist. (R, 97 minutes)

‘Safe Haven’
Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough star in Nicholas Sparks’ latest romance, as a young woman with a mysterious past falls in love with a widower, forcing her to confront a dark secret that haunts her. (PG-13, 115 minutes)

NOW PLAYING

‘Argo’
Ben Affleck directs and stars in this Oscar nominee, a seamless blend of detailed international drama and breathtaking suspense, as a CIA “exfiltration” specialist who concocts a risky plan to get six Americans out of Iran as the revolution reaches a boiling point. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press) (R, 120 minutes)

‘Broken City’ 1/2
In a city rife with injustice, an ex-cop seeks redemption and revenge after being double-crossed and then framed by the mayor. Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe and Catherine Zeta-Jones star in this slyly entertaining drama that leans more heavily on acting and dialogue than gunplay and chases. (Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram) (R, 109 minutes)

‘Bullet to the Head’ 1/2
After watching their respective partners die, a New Orleans hit man and a Washington, D.C., detective form an alliance to bring down their common enemy. Sylvester Stallone and director Walter Hill join forces for a hard-hitting exercise in beefy, brainless fun. (Jordan Mintzer, Hollywood Reporter) (R, 91 minutes)

‘Django Unchained’
With the help of his mentor, a slave-turned-bounty hunter sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner. There’s something gleefully satisfying in watching evil people get what they have coming, but this Oscar-nominated film is Tarantino at his most puerile and least inventive. He always gets good actors who deliver, though, and performances by Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Oscar nominee Christoph Waltz, Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson make it all intermittently entertaining. (David Germain, Associated Press) (R, 165 minutes)

‘Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters’ 1/2
Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton star in this unique spin on the fairy tale that is more Gatling guns and grenades than the Brothers Grimm. They play bounty hunters who track and kill witches all over the world. High-concept pitch or no, the movie doesn’t really work. (Roger Moore, McClatchy Newspapers) (R, 88 minutes)

‘A Haunted House’
Horror only has a ghostly presence in this ramshackle, found-footage spoof from “Scary Movie’s” Marlon Wayans. A man turns to a priest, a psychic and a team of ghost-busters to help get a demon out of his possessed wife. (R, 86 minutes)

‘The Hobbit: An Unfinished Journey’ 1/2
A curious Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, journeys to the Lonely Mountain with a vigorous group of Dwarves to reclaim a treasure stolen from them by the dragon Smaug. It’s both visually dazzling and utterly distracting, and at more than three hours, the movie is overstuffed with prologues, a sidestepping back story and boring, drawn-out scenes. The first of a trilogy, this may pay off by the time the finale arrives in the summer of 2014, but right now it looks like something that would’ve been better told in one movie. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press) (PG-13, 169 minutes)

‘The Impossible’ 1/2
Oscar nominee Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor star in the true-life story of vacationers caught in the deadly tsunami that hit southern Thailand in 2004. The dramatic emphasis is on the anguish of a mother and her son (Watts and Tom Holland), who survive the waves and are separated from the rest of their family. Both actors are terrific in their roles, but the film is unfortunately less an examination of mass Asian destruction than the tale of a spoiled holiday for wealthy, entitled Western travelers. (A.O. Scott, New York Times) (PG-13, 114 minutes)

‘The Last Stand’
Action superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger gets his first leading role in a decade in this story about a sheriff and his inexperienced staff who go after a drug cartel boss who escaped from prison. Korean director Kim Jee-woon’s American filmmaking debut is full of big, violent set pieces and broad comedy, and Arnold proves he’s still game for the mayhem, surrounded by a strong supporting cast led by Johnny Knoxville. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press) (R, 107 minutes)

‘Les Miserables’ 1/2
Director Tom Hooper’s sweeping Oscar-nominated adaptation of the hit Broadway musical is given an operetta treatment that can be soaring and glorious — or, when the lyrics slip into anachronistic vernacular, wincingly lame. This big-budget movie summons the mighty forces of CGI to create vast tableaux of castles and monasteries, shipyards and slums, found in France in the tumultuous first half of the 19th century. It stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and a scene-stealing Anne Hathaway. (Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer) (PG-13, 157 minutes)

‘Life of Pi’ 1/2
Ang Lee’s Oscar-nominated film is about a young man who survives a disaster at sea and is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor, a fearsome Bengal tiger. This is gorgeous, ruminative, soulful, provocatively entertaining and the most artful use of digital 3-D technology to date. (David Germain, Associated Press) (PG, 127 minutes)

‘Lincoln’
As the Civil War continues to rage, America’s president struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield and fights with many inside his own Cabinet on the decision to emancipate the slaves. Steven Spielberg’s splendid, multi-Oscar-nominated film stars Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role and is less a biopic than a political thriller, a civics lesson that is energetically staged and alive with moral energy. (A.O. Scott, New York Times) (PG-13, 149 minutes)

‘Mama’
Guillermo del Toro is the producer behind this horror story about a couple faced with the challenge of raising the husband’s young nieces who were supposedly left alone in the forest for five years. Del Toro and collaborator Andres Muschietti make this chilling ghost story work thanks to great performances by Jessica Chastain as the reluctant mother replacement and, as the feral girls, Isabelle Nelisse and Megan Charpentier. (Roger Moore, McClatchy Newspapers) (PG-13, 100 minutes)

‘Movie 43′ 1/2
An “outrageous” new ensemble comedy starring big names in small films collected over the years. The line between gross-out humor that’s inspired and the kind that’s witless is fine indeed, and this regrettably hit-and-miss movie obliterates it with poop and movie stars. (Ty Burr, Boston Globe) (R, 90 minutes)

‘Oscar Nominated Short Films 2013′
Two separate programs of animated and live-action short films up for contention at this year’s Academy Awards. (Not rated, 98 minutes/animated, 124 minutes/live action)

‘Parental Guidance’
It’s the collision of the generations as an old-school couple agree to look after their three grandkids when their type-A helicopter parents need to leave town to work. Billy Crystal plays it like “revenge of the geezer,” and the movie would be the worse for it if not for the counterbalancing performances of Bette Midler and Marisa Tomei. (Manohla Dargis, New York Times) (PG, 104 minutes)

‘Parker’ 1/2
Jason Statham plays a thief with a unique code of professional ethics who is double-crossed by his crew and left for dead. This is a rather perfunctory action film (although it plays like the bloodiest promotional video ever made for Palm Beach tourism), and Statham’s on autopilot here, despite the obvious physical demands of the part. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press) (R, 118 minutes)

‘Quartet’ 1/2
At a home for retired opera singers, the annual concert to celebrate Verdi’s birthday is disrupted by the arrival of a diva and the former wife of one of the residents. The bursts of energy that accompany practices and performances woven throughout give the film much of its vigor. Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon and Billy Connolly star in the genteel comedy directed by Dustin Hoffman. (Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times) (PG-13, 98 minutes)

‘Silver Linings Playbook’
After a stint in a mental institution, a former teacher moves back in with his parents and, during his attempts to reconcile with his ex-wife, meets a mysterious girl with problems of her own. This exuberant Oscar-nominated movie from director David O. Russell does almost everything right. An intensely focused Bradley Cooper gives a surprisingly effective performance, and Jennifer Lawrence gives her character an aching, tender and lovely quality. (Manohla Dargis, New York Times) (R, 122 minutes)

‘Sisterakas’
The Philippines’ highest grossing film of all time is a broad comedy that revolves around a couple of fashion-crazy half siblings and stars popular celebrities Kris Aquino, Vice Ganda and Ai-Ai delas Alas. (NR, 110 minutes)

‘Stand Up Guys’ 1/2
Two aging con men try to get the old gang together for one last hurrah before one of the guys takes his last assignment: to kill his comrade. Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin pretty much reprise roles they’ve played to perfection before. (Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune) (R, 94 minutes)

‘Warm Bodies’
A paranormal romantic comedy starring Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer about the relationship between a teenage girl and a zombie boy that may transform the entire lifeless world. The movie is a sweetly funny and touching riff on “Beauty and the Beast” and “Romeo & Juliet” — if the Beast feasted on flesh or Romeo came back from the dead. (Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram) (PG-13, 97 minutes)

‘Wreck-It Ralph’ 1/2
The latest Disney Oscar-nominated 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. The studio takes a page out of Pixar’s well-worn playbook and ends up with a screwball farce with a novel setting and more edge than your average Disney ‘toon. (Roger Moore, McClatchy Newspapers) (PG, 108 minutes)

‘Zero Dark Thirty’
The Oscar-nominated drama of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and his death at the hands of Navy SEAL Team 6 in May 2011. This is a cool, outwardly nonpartisan intelligence procedural that seamlessly weaves truth and drama, and Kathryn Bigelow’s direction here is unexpectedly stunning, at once bold and intimate. (Manohla Dargis, New York Times) (R, 157 minutes)

SPECIAL

‘Die Hard’ marathon
10:45 a.m. Wednesday, Consolidated Ward Titan XC, $20
All four Bruce Willis movies — “Die Hard,” “Die Hard 2,” “Die Hard: With a Vengeance” and “Live Free or Die Hard” — play back to back in anticipation of the latest movie in the franchise, opening Thursday, “A Good Day to Die Hard.”

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)

Opera in Cinema: ‘Lohengrin’ from the Teatro alla Scala, Milan
1 p.m. Sunday ($25 general, $20 museum members)
Rene Pape, Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros star in this highly anticipated production of Wagner’s deeply romantic opera. (275 minutes, plus two intermissions)

‘Chicken with Plums’
1 and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
The latest adaptation of one of Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novels, it’s about a renowned violinist who, when his beloved instrument gets broken, decides to confine himself to bed to await death. (2011, 93 minutes)

‘Hello, I Must Be Going’
1 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
Circumstances force a young divorcee (Melanie Lynskey) to move back in with her parents in the suburbs, where an affair with a younger man rejuvenates her passion for life. (2012, 95 minutes)

‘Taboo’
1 and 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Nagisa Oshima’s rarely shown final film is a portrait of homosexual longing among samurai training in a compound during the Shogun era. (1999, 100 minutes)

MOVIE MUSEUM

3566 Harding Ave. (735-8771): $5 general, $4 members; reservations recommended

‘Un Altro Mondo’
Noon, 2 and 4 p.m. today
Silvio Muccino directs and stars as a young wealthy man who is pulled away from his easy lifestyle in Rome to travel to Kenya to see his dying father, only to find that he is the legal guardian of an 8-year-old stepbrother. (2010, 110 minutes)

‘A Simple Life’
6 and 8:15 p.m. today; and noon, 2:15, 4:30 and 6:45 p.m. Sunday
Hong Kong action star Andy Lau in a change-of-pace drama, playing an ordinary man who decides to care for his family’s aged wet nurse, who has been with them for four generations. (2011, 118 minutes)

‘Flight’
12:30, 3, 5:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday
Oscar nominee Denzel Washington plays an airline pilot who saves a flight from crashing, but an investigation into the malfunctions reveals something troubling. (2012, 138 minutes)

‘Fireworks’
9 p.m. Sunday; and 12:30, 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. Monday
A popular Italian comedy about a man’s frenzied romantic life, as told to a psychoanalyst he meets while on holiday in the Maldives. (1997, 100 minutes)

‘The Sessions’
Noon, 2, 4, 6 and 8 p.m. Thursday
A man in an iron lung (John Hawkes) who wishes to lose his virginity contacts a professional sex surrogate (Oscar nominee Helen Hunt) with the help of his priest (William H. Macy). (2012, 95 minutes)

BODY & SPIRIT DOCUMENTARY FILM SERIES

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

‘The Last Paradise’
6:30 p.m. Sunday
A documentary that follows a pioneering group of New Zealand adventurers, compiled from a lifetime of original footage taken from around the world. (2011, 84 minutes)

MONDAY MOVIE CAFE

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

‘Strictly Ballroom’
7 p.m. Monday
In Baz Luhrmann’s splashy debut, a maverick dancer risks his career by performing an unusual routine and sets out to succeed with a new partner. (1992, 92 minutes)